I find Ariel (Ava) in a mermaid costume, handcuffed (in an underwater dungeon) to the cat post, patiently waiting for her knight (mommy) to come and rescue her.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Angels, prayer and cat revenge
Some days I wonder if there are angels wandering around my house during the day. I don't know why I just have this feeling that they want to check out the human-ness of our lives and it probably provides a great deal of amusement.
Today is one of those days. I knew I would be exhausted today and although tempted to do nothing but watch tv and eat kettle corn in mourning of Ben going back to work, I went to bed at 9 and vowed to be productive. I actually woke up before the kids and decided I would spend some much needed time in prayer. Maybe even get a bowl of cereal and make myself some tea before they woke up.
Well the prayer time went a little long and I heard Ian stirring so I decided to get up and not two steps later discovered that half of the string from Ava's Red Robin balloon was missing. Oh great, I thought to myself, now I have to play hide-and-seek with cat vomit all morning. As I stumbled into the kitchen to make Ian a bottle I discovered that the kitchen faucet had exploded before Ben left. In his effort to clean up the water which had flooded under and on top of the sink, he had used all the paper towels. I knew we had one left from the giant costco bag in the closet. As I was pulling the last roll from the bag I noticed that it was dripping water all over the floor and all over me. Then as I was throwing the bag away I realized that the water was yellow and smelled like cat pee. Oh wait, it was cat pee. Not only was I covered in it but so was the entire floor and closet. Our cat has never done this and my theory is that he was aiming for the bumbo, which I had tossed in the closet after we had friends with a baby over last week. I could tell Stormy did not like the smell of baby Joel and did not want him sitting in the bumbo but I had no idea he would use his pee as a method of punishment.
So after cleaning all of the pee up I finally got Ian his bottle and head for the stairs as Ava comes down in hysterics because I'd left my bed and she didn't get her morning snuggle, which she'd become accustomed to during Ben's vacation. I pulled her into my bed, changed, hopscotched over the trail of vomit I'd now found and after changing Ian and getting him into bed with us, decided that kettle corn and pbs sounded just about right. And it's a good thing I spent the morning in prayer, otherwise those angels would have gotten an earful.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Grandpa love...
is taken to a whole new level when Oreo milkshakes are involved.
Babies can even suddenly learn sign language... please Grandpa?
Will read for ice cream.
Mmm! Yummy!
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Staycation Part 2
We tried a new trail a little further away and it had some amazing views
There was this old suspension bridge that looked like something out of Indiana Jones
Ok, this is not one of my cuties, I just loved the color contrast
Sometimes it's ok for your kids to eat pastries and goldfish crackers for lunch so you can enjoy a pear and brie panini.
It looks like I'll be searching for a part time job so I can afford this new lifestyle of gourmet sandwiches that I've become accustomed to.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Staycation
Remember when spring break used to mean weighing the pros and cons of Spain verses the French Riviera? When the biggest concern of the week was whether or not you would meet a hot guy or accidentally drink too much and fall off his yacht? No? Ok, me neither. Apparently I've been watching too many episodes of Gossip Girl.
But at least there was sun involved and I'm pretty sure I didn't have to convince the people around me to stop eating floss out of the garbage can.
Well those carefree days are over and I for one am not going down without a fight. I am not going to wallow in the fact that we have no money and more rain than the Amazon. We have/had 10 full days to enjoy some precious family time and fun will be had by all.
Let's start with Monday's agenda:
Sleep in
Make a pancake breakfast
Swimming at the aquatic center
long naps
Happy hour at Gustav's
Redbox the Tourist
It was a perfect day.
Tuesday we decided to take our traveling chaos downtown for a city adventure. We started with a ride on the tram which we've always wanted to do but never got around to.
It was pretty thrilling for Ava who declared, (to a full crowd) "this is the most fun thing you've ever taken me to in my whole entire life." I wasn't sure if I should be happy that she was so easily pleased or embarrassed that this whole group of people thought we were the lamest parents ever.
Then we cozied up in Starbucks with warm drinks and doughnuts before taking the train to our favorite toy store, Finnegans.
I thought we had probably pushed our no-naptime-luck with the kids but Ben insisted that we try this trendy hole in the wall sandwich shop. I took one look at the six crowded tables inside and the line out the door and declared to Ben that it was slightly delusional of us to think that we could make this work. I mean seriously. We're not in our twenties anymore. We don't just pop in and out of trendy sandwich shops like we don't have a care in the world. We have more baggage than a crowd of gypsies.
But Ben had faith and not only finagled us a table but a highchair and a place for the diaper bag. Sure it was crowded with a mix of hippies, business people and transvestites, Ava was singing, "Lord I lift you name on high" at the top of her lungs, and I had to shield her from vulger artwork in the bathroom. Nothing could bother me after I had my Mexican coke and pulled pork sandwich with apple slaw. I just looked at my handsome husband with awe for having faith that we could do something spontaneous and fun, even with two high maintenance little people who demand a steady diet of chicken nuggets and poop their pants at random. Ahh...it was pure magic.
And Wednesday I took four hours all to myself and managed to fit in a haircut, pedicure, Target run, trip to Nordstrom Rack (where I found two pairs of amazing shoes in the 75% off bin!), the Library, the farmers market, and a long walk.
All in all it has been a fabulous week and I have learned a few things. First, I need to keep my expectations low and enjoy the little things. Second, my kids are amazing and much more flexible than I give them credit for. Third, I need to stop watching trashy shows on the CW. And finally, sex in the afternoon is so much better than at ten at night. Am I right?! Maybe I can convince Ben's school district to give him noon to one off.
Only 2 more months until summer vacation. Whoo Whoo!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Cinderella
Well this is old news around here but Ava finished up her part in the Cinderella ballet on Saturday night. It all went surprisingly well except for a major pee accident right before her final dress rehearsal that almost ruined her costume. Sadly, I am the only one who had a meltdown and realized that I cannot go a week without a nap. Other than that it was wonderful to see Ava in her element. She had to practically (and once literally) be dragged off the stage. She asked me why she had to spend so much time backstage and told me she was here to dance. I honestly believe she would have used the entire time alloted to do an interpretive ballet solo onstage. It was a little intense with all the rehearsals but I think it was good for her to work hard for something and be proud of what she could accomplish.
Holding her audience captive with a fairytale backstage
Reading in between performances
Getting a pep talk from the doggy
Posing with Cinderella
Practicing the final bow
Sweet clowns
Star cookies for the cast
Cast photo
Flowers and balloons from Daddy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
