Yellow Gold

This was a fab weekend for thrifting. All I'm saying is the key is consistency. The girls have been needing a lamp for their dresser for some time but I knew I wasn't going to buy one for full price. Then I was making my rounds and stumbled upon this gem for $4.99, circa 1984 (according to a stamp on the bottom).

We fell in love with this cute Mommy Duck in her kerchief and her cute little son. They just seemed to have such a happy little story. Upon further investigation however, we did notice that there was some sadness to this find: somebody or something has been lost from this family.


So now the question is, what to put on that spot? I was thinking a little wooden egg. I'm assuming Michael's would have something like that. Any ideas?

Early Spring Walk

Well, I thought I'd do this post to see if we're not the only ones who have great plans turn crappy. Maybe it is that we over plan or get overly excited about stuff so the reality has no choice but to fall short. Here's what happened:

We were having a nice, relaxing Saturday. Nothing to do, no where we had to go. It was the perfect day to get out and do something fun. So that's what we were going to do, get out and do something fun. It was afterall, the first official day of Spring.

But then we took too long showering and getting dressed.

Then we took too long making our picnic.

Then we remembered we needed a new camera battery so Greg had to run to the store.

Then the girls started fighting.

Then the girls started crying.

Then Mommy and Daddy were irritated at the kids.

Then Mommy and Daddy were irritated with each other.

Then it was painfully obvious that we needed to eat the picnic at home.

Then we ate.

Then it was painfully obvious what with the crying and whining and only barely eating that our baby bird needed a nap RIGHT THEN. So we put her down for her nap.

Then a few hours later we tried it all again.

We were so excited to finally get out and it seemed nice and sunny outside so we just dressed in hoodies or light jackets.

So, we drove to the park and started walking.

Then our children ran off and almost got smashed by a herd of bikes and bikers who hated us for having children who could run.

Then the clouds rolled in.

Then Mommy got cold and a little cranky.

Then we got to our snack spot (previously our picnic spot).

Then we saw that the park had been painfully vandalized.

Then we had a snack.

Then the sun came out.

And then we started having fun.

It's ok to be jealous of my sunglasses, most people are.

Our silly girls.

I just wish sometimes it would be fun from the get go. But I guess if it were, we wouldn't really enjoy the good times, right?

My Little Mexi

I love how she loves the same stuff as me sometimes. I LOVE corn tortillas. If you heat them up on your griddle or frying pan and get them all bubbly and crispy, I can eat lots of them too. I just don't eat them on my potty. ;-)

"Family Business"

Whew, what a morning. Through miraculous intervention, my children slept in. I first opened my eyes at 7:52. That is late for us especially considering I gave birth to a rooster. I strained my ears to see if maybe I wasn't the only one awake and I was so I just closed my eyes and went back to sleep. My rooster (who was thrown off by the time change) started crowing at around 8:15. It was great. I jokingly told Greg (who was still sleeping too) that maybe today just shouldn't be a school day. Maybe we should have a family vacation. He sighed and said he couldn't. It was now just about 8:30 and I could hear Chloe finally waking up. Her school was going to start in 8 more minutes. There was no way we would make it there in time so we did what any good parents would do, we called the school to report her absence.

"Reason for absence?" the secretary asked me. "Family Business." I answered.

"Oh, ok." she answered.

"Family Business". Was it really that easy? I thought for sure she would press me with more questions and I'd be forced to divulge that we were just being too lazy and tired today but no. "Family Business" apparently is the magic phrase. What does that mean anyway? I guess that is what I love about it, it can mean anything. Today it means, "It is none of your business why she isn't going to school except that we're too lazy today and it is just kindergarten and we're tired and since it is just a few hours this morning I'd rather just have her stay here."

That's when the phone rings and it is my friend J asking me if I am still planning on picking her son up from kindergarten to play at my house today. She goes on to tell me that she has made plans in the which she is unable to pick up her son. "Uh oh", I think. I can't show up at the school with my two kids to the classroom right next door to Chloe's classroom, can I? So we came up with the most responsible plan we could (wink, wink), she would call the school and tell them that her son was going to leave school early today at which point I'll sneak in, (leave the girls in the car), run by Chloe's classroom and sneaky pick him up. This is fixing to be one awesome day. So maybe sometimes "Family Business" includes "Friend Business" too.

Ode to J

So I have this pretty awesome friend in Canadia named Jeanette. She's an artist and a children's book illustrator. In fact, if you have some time and a story about cutting your hair when you were little, you should totally check this out (like maybe you Emily--when Carlie tried to feather your bangs). Or you can look at some of her paintings here.

Anyway, she's fun, chill, super talented, funny and nice. She has a son who likes to play with Chloe. We swap houses for their play dates on a weekly basis. Yesterday she asked me if I wanted her to take Tats to her house also. I declined because usually when Chloe isn't around, Tati will sleep extra long during her nap but she didn't so I called J and asked if she still wanted to take Tats. I was trying to muscle through this long book that was due at the library (and it was a long waiting list and I already didn't read it the first time I had it) so I was swamped. The girls came home a few hours later. They both had a grand ole time. They were telling me how they painted and it was totally fun and how Tati was thoroughly into it. Then J told me to check my email. I went to my email where I found a message entitled,

"Best Babysitter Ever".

Just see for yourself. Looks like I'll have to add that to her list of things I like about her.

Pollyanna-ing it up!

We've got exciting news around here. The snow is melting. Just look at my back walk.

This is a few days ago:

This was yesterday:

A heat wave has struck. We've been basking in roaring temperatures in the 40's. I even (gasp) only wore a hoodie one day instead of my giant jacket.

It is hard not to get excited that Spring is here but everybody says it is just a fake out. We've got some snow forecasted for Tuesday. Still, we have been having lots of sun shine into our dining room. At lunch time I sit right in front of the window and just let it shine on my face (blinding me) while we eat lunch. I love that. Sun in my face. Sun on my body. Sun in general. We were trying to take advantage of our sunniest spot in the house for my Pollyanna idea.

I got these baby disco ball Christmas ornaments that we decided to use for non-Christmas stuff. The girls love it. I love it too although, I wish we had some crystals because it would sure be cooler but for what we've got, it is cool enough.

Pollyanna is such a great movie. It was a big part of my childhood. Some important lessons I learned from this flick:

• Fishing with a rock is not super effective.
• "Prisms" will paint rainbows on your wall.
• It is fun to chew your food like a cow.
• String beans make a fun and very portable snack.
• Don't try to climb a tree while holding a doll.
• You can always find something to be glad about. They called it "The Glad Game".

Here's my Glad Game for this week to burn off my Winter Blues:

1. I'm glad that Tati's accidents that she has are mostly just pees.
2. I'm glad the stained glass that fell from my kitchen window was only a piece I bought at the thrift store for $3.
3. I'm glad that my kids eat hummus and like it because I love it.
4. I'm glad that Greg let's me sleep in as much as he can because he knows that I'm not a morning person.
5. I'm glad that I've gotten my bootie on my treadmill every day this week and even ran for a bit a few times.

What are you glad for?