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?

Potty Mouth

We've got some pretty interesting lives right now. For an outsider looking in and especially a non-parent, our life would seem crass, or gross and full of way too much information. You see, Tati is potty training. Ok, first off, I think we started a little early. She did just barely turn 2 but I was pregnant at the time and it seemed like a great idea. It has been a longer road than Chloe ever had and I'll admit I even tried to sell out and put her back into diapers on more than one occasion but she HATES the way they feel now. Can't blame her. But we have persevered and are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Potty Training. That statement seems harmless enough but I just don't think it really gives the full picture of what that entails. This is part of the full picture--boots and all. The rest isn't too sharable.

It feels like this is the only thing I'm talking about lately. If you call me and ask me how I'm doing, most likely I will tell about a success on the potty or a horrible accident not on the potty. Yes, I say "potty". It is a dumb word, but it doesn't bother me. So if it bothers, you, say a different word in your head. I only say "potty" if I'm talking about the portable one. A toilet is a toilet. So me using this word often is pretty short lived, so chill. If you come over to my house, I will most likely wow you by showing you my awesome pet who can do tricks like peeing in her potty on near command. It may seem weird to you to have a child just drop her drawers and pee in front of you but see, that's what I'm trying to explain, it isn't weird to me. And if you want to do video chat, I will most definitely have you watch a virtual pee pee party or poop if you're really lucky all the way from another country. You see, even though there are 3 of us who are already trained, we are all constantly on high alert status. We can be ready at a moment's notice to drop what we're doing, run, pick up a child, grab a book to read, get some toilet paper handy and help somebody pull their clothes off. We've also all been known to do all those things within seconds of each other or almost all at once. You see, we are a family and being a family means we are a team and we all work together. Then when we aren't actually running to the toilet, that means we are forever talking about whether or not a pee-pee or a poop are ready to come out. That's the crass part. You see we talk about pee and poop ALL THE TIME! It is no big deal to us because we're all used to it but we do realize how out of the normal it is whenever any "outsiders" come to visit. Plus, it is supposed to seem normal and no big deal to talk about all this stuff with your families. But we even talk to the pee and poop. This was the conversation in the car on Friday when we went to the mall:

Tati: Poop!
Chloe: Uh oh Mommy, Tati said, "Poop!"
Me: I know, I heard her. Tati, do you need to make a poop right now?
Tati: Uh hum.
Me: Ok, well we're in the car right now and Mommy can't stop the car so you need to tell your poo poo to wait for a few minutes. Do you think you can do that?
Tati. Yeah.
Chloe: What did your poo poo say? Is he going to wait?
Tati: Yeah!
(about a minute passes)
Chloe: Is your poop still waiting or is he in your panties?

Chloe is always quizzing her like this and I guess we are too because that is where she learned it from. I think the conversing with the pee and poop is the best though. We use Tati as the intermediary step. Can you ask... Is he ready? What did he say? I think it makes her feel important and it also gives her a sense of control over the situation. Very empowering!

I love seeing her little bootie in her undies. Although with such a little bootie, it is a challenge to find undies that fit. These are those trusty "training" pants from Gerber. Nice and comfy and also absorbant.
One last over share before it is all complete. This time in Tati's life is also coinciding with a phase where everything she sees and measures is measured in families. If something is big, it is a Daddy, something medium is a Mommy and something small is a baby. This can be for anything from animals on t.v. to candies. She wants a "Daddy Candy" means the biggest one. The best was when she made a poop this week and said, "A Daddy!" because well it was big and then she says, "Aww, and a baby one!" and looked at it and then at me with such love of the baby poop and also such pride that she made it in her potty. Ok, it is a little gross and a little hilarious but it is also very sweet. I'm glad that she measures things in family size. I'm thankful that I'm giving her a Daddy and Mommy family to measure by.