merry christmas to all...

...and to all, a good night!

might as well jump

Just because she's cute. And because these were the last photos taken in the jumpy before the kids completely annihilated it. Cause this is what every parent allows their children to do in a jumpy...right?

getting lucky

If you look closely at the YouTube screen on the computer you might see that this Alvin & the Chipmunks tune is called "Getting Lucky". Zuzu, however, prefers to sing "get nugget with you" instead. Because that makes perfect sense.

do you see what I see?

Yesterday began our winter vacation. The point at which the driver got lost trying to avoid a major traffic pile up on the way to the airport began my first migraine of the trip. Me + two kids + rush to airport + migraine = not good.

As we're standing in line at Peet's trying to get mom some water to pop her meds & some apple juice to calm the thirsty children a woman approaches. It's really all a blur now but for some reason I felt the need to tell her about my migraine, and then we raced to the bathrooms. We came across her again near the gate and she asks kindly,

"Are you going to Vegas?"

"No." I reply. "We're headed to Ft. Lauderdale."

Then she explains, "Oh, because I'm a mind-reader and I know what you're going through right now and I can tell it's tough. I was going to offer to help you."

I thank her efforts gratefully and head towards our now boarding flight.

Once the meds kick in and I'm able to relax a little I start to think about the encounter a little more and I wonder. If she was a mind-reader then you'd think she would have known we weren't going to Vegas, right? I mean there were only two planes leaving from that area. Vegas & Ft. Lauderdale. I'm a mom alone with two little kids. You're not a mind-reader, right? Which flight would you guess we were on? Still, I suppose I can't knock her for trying.

wordless wednesday

All zuzu...all the time...
Seriously though, you probably shouldn't watch this unless you already know and love zu cause it's kinda long & pretty darn repetitive. But the grandparents will like it. And that's what really matters tonight, right? (oops. that wasn't all that wordless now was it?)

oh christmas tree...

I caved. It's not that I'm a scrooge. Ok, maybe I am just a little bit. But mostly it's that we don't spend Christmas day here...so why do we need a tree? There are no presents to put under it. And they are messy. And it's just one more thing to remember to feed!

But this year the kids have been begging to decorate the house. Begging. And their definition of "decorate" is not quite as refined as mine. So, I caved. But heck if I was going to go easily. I was going to make this FUN. We were not just going to trim a tree. We were going to "decorate" it.

So, while kids were unsuspectingly catching a flick about aliens I did this...


And they came home to this...


It was 7:00 at night but there was no arguing with them. We had to start the decorating at ONCE. There would be no waiting for tomorrow. Not even a discussion about it. So we whipped open the glue, and the glitter (oh, so much glitter), the pipe cleaners, the beads, the bells, the pom poms, the ribbon, and the $.29 make-shift ornaments and we went to town...


Now if I was the type of person that desired full control over a situation this one would have made me very uncomfortable. (sarcasm included) These kids were hell bent on doing all the decorating themselves. (Is it ok that I said hell in a Christmas tree post?) So, I let them. Well, sort of. I definitely snuck up a few times to twist zuzu's pipe cleaners a little more tightly around the branches. But two nights later, Zu is STILL adding decorations to the tree. They have created quite a masterpiece.

They started with the little white berries...


They strung beads & bells on ribbon & pipe cleaners...


And then there were the glitter ornaments. (Note to self: do not initiate glitter ornament project with two anxious children the day AFTER the house has been cleaned unless you really, really love glitter).

There are snowmen & stars...



angels & hearts...



beads & bells...



and, of course, a little gold star on top.


I'll post a picture of the entire tree when it's all said and done. But we've got a few hundred beads left...and the tree is fake and not apt to die on us any time soon...so it could be a while...

the evolution of lucy

Happy 1st Birthday sweet girl.
We are so glad you are part of our family.
Even if you will never, ever be able to read this.