wordless wednesday..."silly dancing"

The world would be a better place if we all just got real silly and danced like this every now and then...don't you think?

wordful wednesday

I couldn't just post this fuzzy iphone photo without a little background. See, today is Wednesday. We typically spend the morning having coffee and dancing at mommy & me ballet but today Zuzu was just not feeling the ballet vibe so we left and headed home. On the way, I suggested that we stop by our Community Center and reserve the park for her princess birthday party (which ended up being booked the entire weekend of her birthday...THREE MONTHS AWAY). Anyway, while we were there she stumbled upon this room. I remember going there a few years back with Gage when Zuzu was just a newborn. Zuzu obviously had no recollection and wanted to check things out. So, as usual, I obliged.

It's actually quite a set up. They take their huge ballroom with spacious ceilings and windows and turn it into a fairly modest playroom for kids 1-5. It's $5.00 and you can stay as long as you like between the hours of 9-12. She had a blast & spent most of her time in the jumpy house and on this miniature slide. Unfortunately, all I could do for the 45 minutes we were there was obsess over how many germs there were in the room and how long it would be before I could wash our hands. Good times we're having here in California!

oh my!

I was just twittering when I noticed someone tweet through their "wordless wednesday" post. Oh my, I thought. I missed wordless wednesday? Where have I been all week? I immediately opened blogger. Have I really gone two days without blogging and what in the world will I post tonight? OK. Hello? So here I am and it's not Wednesday. People! You don't even live on the east coast so there's no excuse. What time is it in Alaska right now anyway? I like my time. Don't rush me!
I'll be back with less words tomorrow.
Hugs.

not me monday

I did not just polish off a pint of ben & jerry's chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream that I purchased last night all by myself. This might be surprising except that it actually wasn't all that good and as I was (not) shoveling it down my throat just now I was definitely (not) thinking, *oh I'm so glad I don't have to eat this again tomorrow night*. That would be Dumb.

I did not start re-shooting a good number of images for the shop. Again. Someone shoot me! I get bored easily and quite frankly, sales suck this month. Take a look. Let me know what you think of the new cheerful backgrounds. And, while you're there, buy something! (That last part was a joke. Sort of.)

I did not, after successfully weaning Zuzu from her beloved bottles in one day, decide that I could wean Lucy from my bed in one day as well. I'm a rock star, right? Yeah, not so much. I did not fail miserably. Tonight, however, is another night. Do you think princess makeup would work for her too?

I am not, after some kind words & advice from my cyber friend Shauna, experimenting with a new craft this week. Nope. That would be a big fat waste of my time. So you definitely shouldn't stay tuned for the new zuzu girl handmade birthday banners & cupcake toppers. And they are not going to be fabulous either. Nope.

what would dr. spock say?

Remember Zuzu's adventurous game of *I'll show you mine if you show me yours* with her little boy friend from this post? Well, they're at it again. And this time, interestingly enough, it seems they've moved on to an innocent game of bondage. Nope. No typo there. Here, see for yourself...

Him: Now, this is what we're going to do...we're going to fasten half of this around my waist and the other half around yours. Trust me...


Her: I'm not so sure about this contraption. Does it really go around my neck like this?


Him: There we go, that looks better. It was so nice of your dad to help us out there.


Her: Sure, I'll follow you anywhere and, while we're at it, why don't I place my hand gently on your tushie?


And off they go. Into the woods again. At least they couldn't reach their underwear all that easily today...

ladybug! ladybug! fly away home...

...your house is on fire
and your children all gone.

Yeah, I never really understood that one. But I suppose we should credit little Ann for creeping under the frying pan. At least it wasn't a total loss. And, thankfully, our ladybug experience today was nothing at all like that.

Today was our annual "ladybug release" in the oh so impressive, pesticide free, Elementary School garden. The other child pictured below with ours is Gage's 2nd Grade "buddy" who joined in our fun. As you can probably see, Zuzu was a little hesitant at first but by the end of the event she was covered in ladybugs. As were we all. I even brought one to gymnastics with us up the leg of my jeans. It was an interesting drive!

special delivery!

This is not your ordinary delivery. The bag Zuzu has just placed on our friend's doorstep reads, "Bottles for Baby"...and these are definitely not your ordinary bottles. These are Zuzu's last two remaining bottles. I've always told her she could keep using her bottles until she turned three, just like her brother did, but due to her blatant misuse of the evil suckers I put my foot down this morning. In return for the two, used bottles that we gifted to Stephanie's unborn child, Zuzu received princess makeup (yes, I finally gave in), two coloring books, a set of Beauty & the Beast figurines, a ballerina fairy musical jewelry box, and a stack of summer clothes from Target. Fair trade? I think not. But if the over abundance of presents happens to cut me a little slack tonight at bed time when she realizes what we've gotten ourselves into then it's damn worth it. And if you are one of the many people that must encounter me and Zuzu during the course of the day tomorrow a word of wisdom... When we look a little sleepier than usual duck and hide. Duck and hide.

two peas in a pod

Any indication here that these two have older brothers? Nah. When I was growing up I always wished I'd had an older brother and I had no idea about all the fantastic accessories that went along with the deal!

wordless wednesday. alive & swimming...

so we got a fish.

Actually *Gage* got a fish. It wasn't something we'd been planning until a snake came along. See, Gage wanted to capture the snake from the backyard, put it in a box and keep it as a pet (which I've since learned is actually illegal...go figure). Anyway, I said...um, NO. And then something came out of my mouth that might have sounded like this, "We do not need another pet. We already have a dog. If you want a fish some day or something that would be fine." So now, a day later, we have a fish. A beta fish. His name is Jango Fish after Jango Fett in Star Wars. The conversation about Jango Fish tonight revolved mostly around whether or not he was still alive and how long he plans on living. Family of optimists. Sorry I can not provide a photo but Gage & Jango have gone to sleep.

Worth noting is that Zuzu did not want a fish. Zuzu wanted a cat. Gage literally sat her down in the grass and explained that since her father is allergic to cats she would have to choose between Daddy and the cat. After much deliberation she chose Daddy. She then decided that she wanted a horse. "A small horse that will sleep on the rug in (her) bedroom." It took about two hours but I talked her out of the horse as well. She now wants a frog. Ribbit.

tiny bubbles

Bubbles. Fabulous, frivolous, and darn close to free. We love bubbles. Especially on warm spring evenings when the air is still and you can immerse yourself in them fully before they blow away.

Except that our little bohemian likes to eat them. Repeatedly.

young love

This was taken about an hour before they decided it was a good idea to show each other their underwear. It was his idea (believe it or not). "Do you want to see my underwear?" To which my darling daughter retorts, "Sure, do you want to see mine?" Um, hello?? You are THREE and TWO. But wait. It gets worse. At some point in this brief conversation they realize that I am listening intently just waiting for the right time to pounce when one of them suggests that maybe they should be showing each other their underwear in private. They actually look towards the woods behind us. POUNCE.

Thought for the day. When your little girl decides to show a boy her bike for the first time stay close. You never know what she might get in return.

unplugged

I do not have an addictive personality. Never have. I practice some pretty consistent rituals, like a daily grande non-fat latte with one pump of mocha, but this is a choice, not an addiction. Truly. But that's not the point here. The point is that last night I got my first real taste of *addiction*.

Hi, my name is Kristi & I am a cyberholic. That's it. I said it.

Last night, my internet went down. At 9:30pm. Prime time. I hopped around from website to website. Nothing. I restarted the computer. Nothing. I hopped around from website to website again. Nothing. I shut down the computer and re-booted. Nothing. I sat and stared at the computer. Nothing. I then determined that I could deal with not blogging & that I could twitter & facebook from my iphone. So I turned on my phone. Nothing. I was cut off. Severed. I couldn't tweet. I couldn't blog. I couldn't facebook. I couldn't check my mail. I couldn't surf the web. Nothing.

I got the shakes.

Now, I must admit that there was a probable fix for my situation because this has happened before. The solution simply involves a dozen paces into the next room to unplug and re-plug the modem. Works nearly every time. But last night was an unusual circumstance because my dear father in law was sleeping in that very room. The horror.

I did walk quietly to the door, knock softly and ask politely, "are you still awake in there?" Nothing. In my defense, I probably could have tip-toed in quietly and done the deed without him even flinching and I didn't so I had some self control. Even though I spent the next two hours staring longingly at a closed metal box, I was controlled enough not to intrude on a sleeping relative just to get my fix. Right? Please tell me I'm right...

wordless thursday

What? There's no such thing as *wordless thursday*? Says who? I mean how could I not post this picture? Yes, the composition of the photo is pretty crappy but, as we say several hundred times a day, "look at that faaaccceee"! Headband on forehead, phone in mouth, baby in hand, butt in baby's stroller & bubbles in the foreground. It was a picture perfect afternoon.

wordless wednesday

this kitchen is CLOSED

Most everyone already knows that Zuzu doesn't eat. Not meals at least. She's the ultimate snacker and would subsist on popcorn, pretzels, yogurt & granola bars if we let her. And sadly, we often do. But tonight she pushed me past the edge.

I asked the kids what they wanted for dinner and proceeded to take orders and make both kids their dinners of choice. Zuzu wanted a hot dog. She was the only one that did so I was sure to ask, "if I make you a hot dog do you promise to eat it?" To which she nodded convincingly. Yeah, not so much. She would not touch her near perfect hot dog and had the nerve to then request a corn dog instead. (Notice we are not arguing over asparagus & cauliflower over here. These are HOT DOGS for goodness sakes.)

Anyway, I launch into a rant that I'm sure every mother has experienced and went something like this, "I am not a short order cook and this is not a restaurant. I made you what you asked for and if you are not happy with it you will not eat. I will not make anything else and there will be no juice, milk, dessert or snacks until you have eaten that HOT DOG!"

To which she replied, 'but this IS a restaurant."

2,4,6,8...

On the way to the zoo today we were listening to the West Indian Counting Song from one of Dan Zanes' albums when Gage announces that he can count to 200. I reply that if he can count to 200 he can probably count to 300, and 400, and 500...because you simply follow the same rhythm. To which he promptly replies, "but that would take forever!" Oh how I am looking forward to algebra.

planet granite

Proof positive that you can accomplish anything with a little confidence and a pair of great shoes.

smarty pants

This morning I was getting ready to take Zuzu to gymnastics and I remarked a little prematurely, "Now all we need are our shoes and our jackets." Hearing this, Zuzu took off. I heard her enter the garage where we keep our shoes and jackets while I finished getting dressed in my bedroom. I walked out of the closet and Zuzu was wearing her too small Small Paul pink flip flops (with a blue ruffle dress & a blue ribbon tutu mind you) and she had a pair of black Rocket Dog sneakers for me. The black ones with the skulls on them. C'mon, you've seen them. Here...remember? Anyway, I say something like, "Oh Zuzu, you brought me my sneakers. Thank you so much." And she says, "Yes, and they match."

singing for dinner

If only dinner preparation could be this fun for everyone. Maybe I should start wearing an apron & pumps in the kitchen. Nah, I'd probably just break an ankle.