Life in Trixieland

New directions...

2010-07-08T13:40:00.000-05:00

...find me now at Life In Trixieland. Sorry I didn't let you know sooner...

Let's talk about Make Up...

2010-05-10T10:52:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I need to get over the hump and start blogging regularly again. Stuff happens, ya know? Its not like I have a job, 2 kids in school and a husband to visist with at the end of the day or anything...

Anyway, the topic makeup has been on my brain lately. I love it! So, of course, now the "in" think is to be photographed WITHOUT make up!!! What???

Check out my recent post over at All Kinds of Pretty and let me know what you think...

Parenting FAIL or yes, we were totally THAT FAMILY this morning during church...

2010-04-18T20:56:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I feel like a complete failure as a parent. Today was one of those days...

We have been attending the 9:30 service at our chuch - Faith Church in Oakland. A few months ago, Faith started a second service, so that there is a modern/contemporary service at 9:30 and traditional worship at 11:00. I spend my teen years attending churches with a contemporary worship - so I was very excited about this new service. I attend most Sunday mornings with the girls.

I reallly love the format of the modern service. There is just a teensy problem though.

Right now since attendence at the modern (early) service is pretty low there is no children's service for the kids during the sermon. Now, I know what you are thinking - when I was a child, there was no such thing as children's church - we sat through the entire sermon and we were quiet as little church mice...or else!

Well, there is where the FAIL part of this post comes in.

It seems like we have yet to have a Sunday where I have not had to take one (or both) of the girls out of the service for not being quiet or just flat out being disruptive. Most of the time, I am pretty philosophical about it - they try to behave for the most part. But today...oh, today...

It was awful! I took Tara out twice during the praise service - she kept wanting to go back and forth between her seat and her friend - the preacher's daughter...of course. Who is always perfectly quiet... After the second time she came back to our seats, I told her she could not go back to her friend. Much drama ensued, leading to the first visit to the vestibule. The second time, she literally made a break for it and went all wet noodle on me when I tried to keep her in her seat. Cue the second visit to the hallway.

After a sterm lecture from me and a pop on her bottom that she sullenly told me she was going to wipe off...she settled down and started coloring in a coloring book quietly. I'll take it.

Then Savannah, who up until this point was behaving perfectly, decided to snatch the coloring book from Tara and, when Tara (understandably) protested, she stage whispered that she wanted to show her something. She began flipping pages - loudly - and after a moment, I notice several disapproving glances our way. I realize she really doesn't intend to show Tara anything and to settle it, I take the book back.

Cue the drama - and just plain out orneriness from Savannah.

I had had it at that point. I was near tears with embarrassment. I had not been able to listen to the message and I knew that they were being disruptive to others there trying to worship. I yanked them both up and we left right in the middle of the sermon. Well, not really yanked, but you know what I mean.

I have never been so embarrassed by my childrens' behavior!! I fussed all the way home and sent them both to thier rooms until I calmed down enough to talk to them about it. Actually, Dan took Tara and I took Savannah.

Intranets - if there is some secret to getting your kids to behave during the church service, PLEASE let me in on it. Nothing I do seems to make an impression.

I love our modern worship, but right now, I feel the only alternative is to attend the traditional service from now own, so that the girls can attend children's church during the sermon. Honestly, I think that is the only way I will be able to actually spend my time in worship and not as referee. And the traditional service is beautiful and the girls love children's church, so maybe that is where I am supposed to be. I will go back to getting my praise fix from K-LOVE.

I am pretty sure that after today the other attendees of the modern service will not be sad to see us go...

You betcha...

2010-04-12T19:25:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that I despise Sarah Palin? Yeah, I think it has come up before...

So, obviously, I love this...

I heart Tina Fey!

Yum...

2010-04-11T20:35:00.000-05:00

I made this gazpacho.

Heaven. in. my. mouth.

That's all.

Peep, Peep

2010-04-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't been posting lunches that I make for the princesses anymore, but I saw these on another blog the other day and they were so cute I just had to try them. Then they were so cute, I had to take a picture.

Deviled eggs - I mounded the egg yolk filling and added a carrot sliver for the beak and chocolate sprinkles for the eyes. (Yes, I know chocolate spinkles don't go with deviled eggs, but they were the only thing I had around that I could think of to work as the eyes.) Also on the plate, apple slices and pretzels. Simple, I know, but I knew even if they did not like the egg, they would eat the apple and pretzels.

I thought these were so cute and the girls were impressed! With the appearance anyway. Tara ate her entire plate. Savannah, on the other hand, pronounced them cute but would not eat them.

Oh, well, you win some, you lose some. And they are still cute! Peep!!!

Haiku for my hair

2010-04-04T22:57:00.002-05:00

Wind is not my friend.
Nemesis of good hair days.
Damn you, wind, damn you.

Oh, how the proud have fallen...

2010-03-31T21:53:00.000-05:00

Remember way back at the beginning of the school year when I ~~bragged~~ aspired to make the princesses thier school lunches at least 4 times a week?

I had such a great first semester. Then I got bored with photo-blogging the lunches, so that dropped off.

Then I just got bored.

Now, I am doing good to make lunches 2-3 times per week. This is not good, y'all. don't get me wrong - St. Mary's has great lunches as far as school lunches go, but man, they are expensive! About $4.50 a meal. Now, for your average 12-year-old, that is pretty darn good - but when the eaters are ages 4 and 6 - they probably eat about a dollars worth.

I think part of my problem is just letting my evening get away from me. Out of routine. Out of wack.

This is a small thing in the grand scheme of things, but I really do like sending thier lunches and knowing exactly what they are eating. So, just got to get back in the groove.

Oohhh, groove...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIaTEOUCft0

Things I wish my daughters did not have to learn the hard way.

2010-03-16T19:50:00.000-05:00

1. Play-doh gets hard if you leave it out overnight.

2. It hurts when your friend won't play with you.

3. You can't buy everything you want just because you want it.

4. If you do not go to the bathroom before you leave the house, it will be a long miserable ride to school.

5. When you don't share your toys, then your sister won't share hers either.

6. That toy/boy you didn't like will suddenly look oh, so much more attractive when your sister becomes interested.

7. Puppy love hurts.

8. That boy who didn't notice you earlier in the evening did not suddenly fall love with you at closing time.

9. He didn't lose your number, he just didn't call you.

10. Sometimes being sorry isn't enough.

Sometimes I think the hardest part of being a mom is all the things I can't protect them from - right now, its broken toys. One day all too soon, it will be a broken heart (stupid boys!). How I wish I could bottle up everything I ever learned the hard way and give it to them in one dose. But I know that somethings have to be learned by doing. And then, my job is simple. I will be there...always.

I love you, Savannah and Tara.

So, what is the one lesson you wish you could save your kids from learning the hard way?

All Kinds of Pretty

2010-03-14T21:01:00.000-05:00

All Kinds of Pretty is the name of a great blog where I have recently started blogging. The whole idea of it is so awesome - real women, real bodies, real budgets. When I saw Snarky Mommy talking about it, I had to check it out and once I did, I knew I wanted to me a part of it.

Since I came across All Kinds of Pretty, I have really been thinking alot not so much about WHAT I wear, but WHY I wear it. Not just WHAT are my fall backs, but WHY they are? I don't know about you, but I have slightly strange relationship with my clothes. I have certain ones that are make me feel like a goddess and onces that I put on when I want that MILF status. I have jeans that I only wear when none of my others are clean and sweaters that I don't really love but I know they look nice for work.

I think being a part of this site is going to be great for me. There are lots of great women posting there, moms like me, some who balance work outside the home with raising thier families, some whose full-time job IS taking care of thier - we are all so different, but it makes me realize that everyone has that "thing" with thier clothes - clothes help us show the world who we are and they make us feel good. And that is a good thing.

So check us out. I think you'll like it.

It's a Drag...

2010-03-12T20:47:00.002-06:00

So in the news this week is the matter of a gay teenager in Mississippi who has been told she cannot attend her prom wearing a tux and with her date. I could go into a billion reason why this angers me on so many levels - not the least of which is that she is gay - so what? I am sure her classmates already know this and aren't going to be corrupted by her presence with her date. I will go even further and say that she is probably not even the only gay person planning to attend prom - she is just the only one that sought to clarify the "conduct rules" issued about prom attendence beforehand.

But there is another thing about this that annoys me. The part where the school apparently equates the ideal of a woman wearing at tux as dressing in drag. Seriously? Isn't a tux basically a suit jacket and pants? And don't women wear jackets and pants every day in this country? Are we really THAT narrow minded as a society?

Give me a break! Women have been rocking tuxedos since the tuxedo began. Thier suggestion that a woman in pants and a jacket is wearing drag is ridiculous beyond all reason! This is a small point when you consider the much bigger issue at play here - I am praying that Constance McMillan gets to attend her senior prom with the date of her choice in the attire of her choice. And as a mom, I am thrilled that her parents support her in what she is going through here.

But in the meantime, I give you....Women in Tuxedos:

Film Legend Marlene Dietritch

America's Sweetheart, Meg Ryan

"Not that innocent" Britney Spears

Not sure who she is, but she rocks it...

And perhaps the most famous use of tux on a woman in modern times...What a Feelin...Jennifer Beals

So what are your thoughts? Is a tux really "drag"? Seriously? Is the perfectly nice pants suit hanging in my closet "drag"?

It's Dazzling...

2010-02-25T20:42:00.001-06:00

So, this comes as no surprise to those who know me, but I am something of a shoe wh0re. It is a something of a joke between Prince Charming and me - and I will say that he is a pretty good sport about it. He indulges me when my shoes encroach upon his shoe storage space [in our micro closet, a whole other story...] and doesn't laugh [much] when I am trying to decide between the black boots with the block heels, the black boots with the skinny heels or the black boots with the pointy toe.

There is a point to this, I promise. Having 2 little girls tends to cut into my shoe shopping time. Just sayin... So, it was very interesting to me when, while volunteering at an event for St. Jude recently, I happened to overhear some of the field representatives [okay, I was eavesdropping] talking about one of the girls shoes [which I had noticed] and she was telling them about this shoe "club" that she had joined.

Okay - shoe club - now I am really listening. So, I butt into the conversation and get the scoop about ShoeDazzle! Now, you might ask, just what exactly is ShoeDazzle!? It is a shoe "society" with a membership fee of $39.95 a month. Each month, you are sent an email containing a link to 4-5 different shoesm which are selected for you based on criteria that you provided when you joined the site. If you want a pair, you select them and voila! You are the owner of a new pair of shoes for $39.95. If you don't want any shoes, you just make sure to respond by the 5th of each month and decline. And you can cancel at any time. Sounded reasonable to me, so I joined.

The first month, I got the cutest pair of brown ballet flats - something I had been looking for and just never had the time to shop for (thank you, Savannah and Tara...those girls just do not understand that it is important to try on ALL the shoes in your size when going to a shoe department...).

But, it is the second month where I truly fell in love. Just look what showed up in my inbox on Feburary 1:

I adore these shoes!!!! They are the most gorgeous, shiny, leather, RED heels and I am in love! Again, something I have been wanting and just haven't had time to shop for recently.

So, I am a huge fan of ShoeDazzle!!! And it is rubbing off on my co-workers because several of them have joined recently, too!

And, no, ShoeDazzle! is not paying me for this...lol...although I certainly wouldn't mind if they wanted to comp me some shoes...

Yeah, what she said!!!

2010-02-19T19:26:00.000-06:00

So, if you haven't heard about all The Family Guy / Sarah Palin bru-ha-ha, I guess you have been hiding under a rock for the past week.

So, in a nutshell Chris goes on a date with this girl with Down syndrome and at some point during thier conversations, she says she is the daughter of the former governor of Alaska.

Somehow, Sarah Palin made this about her son, Trig, who has Down syndrome. I can't really figure that out...yes, there was a reference to Sarah herself (maybe - really it could be some fictional governor of Alaska...ahhhh, but I digress...), but no one said anything about her son. And guess, what, Sarah? When you are a public figure - which you seemed determined to make yourself (as much as I might wish othewise) - people are allowed to talk about you... Look it up...

I came across this great article today about Andrea Fay Friedman, the actress who provided the voice of the character on The Family Guy. She has such a great take on the whole situation and in an email to the New York Times, explains to Sarah Palin the use of sarcasm.

I loved it so much that I sent the link on over to a great blogger named Ellen whose blog To The Max is one that I follow regularly. Her son has cerebral palsy and I love her take on life and her kids. Her son, Max is especially inspiring to me since I "inherited by marriage" a nephew with cerebral palsy when my brother remarried last year.

Come to find out, Ellen had seen the article (which didn't surprise me), and had actually written a response to the whole issue for Huffington Post. After I read it, I wanted to cheer! Take that, Palin!!! Ellen is right - you should be grateful!

The whole thing just goes to show what I already knew. Sarah Palin will take any opportunity to put herself in front of the media. This was something that actually showed a kid with a Down syndrome doing normal things - including being a brat! People are people. And you know what? Sometimes it really is not all about you.

Is there a 12-step program for this?

2010-02-17T21:05:00.000-06:00

That is 10, count 'em, TEN lunch boxes (and there is one is our fridge at work that is not pictured). This is what happens when someone with a purse obsession starts packing school lunches. My newest faves are the little paper-bag styled ones (the pink one with the peace signs and the blue with the small flowers).

I think I keep the school lunch crowd of teachers entertained - not just with what is IN the lunch box, but in WHICH lunch boxes the girls will be carrying that day. What can I say? I like to change it up...

Welcome to the World, Miss Riley!!!

2010-02-17T20:45:00.000-06:00

I am a great aunt for the second time. My niece Kristyn and her beau Ty are now the proud parents of little Miss Riley. Good - now I can channel all my baby urges her way!!! Not that I have a lot, but every now and then the idea of those sweet little toes and precious little baby sighs give me a yearning... Yeah, don't judge - you know you get it, too, sometimes!!! Kristyn had a textbook labor and delivery, which she totally deserved after the angst-ridden last few weeks she had. Kristyn is tiny and carried very small (I am not kidding, y'all - I looked that pregnant at about 16 weeks with Tara!!!), and anyway, towards the end, there were some concerns that maybe Riley was not growing enough, so, they decided to induce her at just over 37 weeks. But it was perfect!!! She went in Tuesday morning, got hooked up to the pictocin, progressed steadily and had Riley after about 30 minutes of pushing!!! A total trooper! Riley came in at a perfectly respectable 6 pounds 4 ounces and 19 and a half inches long!!! I am over the moon (oh, and Kristyn and Ty are pretty proud, too!!!)

Anyway, without further adieu:

Bibbidy Bobbidy, Whew!!!!

2010-02-08T13:56:00.000-06:00

We have been home for just over a week and I am just now feeling settled in. How do you even begin to sum up a week at Walt Disney World in a blog post and possibly do it justice. At first, I was so overwhelmed with the whole week that I couldn't tell friends and family much more than "it was fabulous!!!" And it was! So, I decided to just let it stew a while and in the meantime, a friend who is going to Disney soon sent me an email with a lot of questions that I was glad to answer. Then inspiration struck - I am going to post her questions and my answers here. So, here goes:

Did you have as much fun as it looked?

Yes - we had as much fun as it looked - probably more! The girls were in heaven and just soaked it all in. We did have to remind them that mama and daddy got to pick some rides/attractions too, but they were good sports about waiting while we rode the big coasters and stuff. I took pictures like crazy trying to capture it all!

How was [the resort]?

We ended up staying on property at Disney's Old Key West resort (instead of where we originally planned to stay off property) - got a great last minute deal at the end of December. It was fabulous and all in all, we only paid a few hundred dollars more once you figured in the price of transportation, etc.

How was the weather?

The weather was great. Only had a few sprinkles on Sunday afternoon. Mornings would start out cooler (high 50's to lower 60's) and would get up to high 60's to lower/mid 70's. We did get to 80 one day. We pretty much wore short sleeves most of the time.

Were the parks pretty empty?

It was not crowded at all by Disney standards. We rarely had a wait longer than 15-20 minutes for anything and most of the time, not that long. I would say for most things, it was a 10 minutes wait or less. We took advantage of the Fast Pass for several attractions - Soarin', Thunder Mountain and a couple of others.

Did you do any other character meals besides Cinderella's Royal Table? Did they take you on time for your reservation? Was the food any good? How much time did the Princesses each hang out and visit at your table?

We only did the Cinderella's Royal Table breakfast. It was really nice - the food was actually really good - we both had an omlet - you had a choice of three different entrees. The girls got a plate with eggs, bacon and french toast. There were also muffins and biscuits, juice and coffee. When you first go in, you get in line to see Cinderella first thing - that was really the only time it felt a little rushed and I think that was really more me, thinking we had to hurry along. She talked to the girls and signed an autograph for them (I didn't know about the books then). They let me take a photo with my camera and then they took a picture. Then you went up the stairs and they showed you your table. After several minutes of eating, they started to introduce the Princesses. We were lucky, we were like the 5th table in the "line". The first princess comes out and goes to each table and spends about 3-4 minutes at each table. Doesn't sound like a lot, but it was plenty of time for her to speak to each of the girls and take a picture. Then she would move to the next table. At about the 8th table, they would introduce the next Princess and they would do the same thing. We saw (in addition to Cinderella at the beginning), Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Ariel. The girls were so amazed. So, to me, the breakfast was worth every penny and then some!

What a way to start the day! The girls spent thier first hour at Disney having breakfast in Cinderella's Castle. (They were kind enough to let the 'rents tag along...)

Were the lines long to see any of the other characters?

We saw all of the Princessess and many other characters. The lines were longest for Ariel, the fairies, believe it or not, and Woody and Jesse. I don't think we waited longer than 20 minutes for any of them. The wait to see Ariel was longest - I do think it was about 25 minutes, then we saw Cinderella and Aurora in Mickey's Toon Town - and the fairies - Fawn, Tinkerbelle and Terrence. Micky and Minnie were in thier own area in Toon town and it went so fast and they took you in groups of about 4-5 families to a spearate room away from the queue, so there must have been 2 or even 3 sets of Mickey/Minnies going on at the same time. Oh and we saw Tiana and Naveen in Liberty Square. In Animal Kingdom, we saw several animal characters and also Pocohontas. She as so sweet! In Epcot, we saw the rest of the Princesses - Snow White - who spent a good 5-6 minutes talking to the girls in Germany, Mulan in China, Belle in France and Jasmine and Alladin in Morocco. Marie (from Aristcats) was also in France. Tara loved meeting all of the princesses, but she was not thrilled about the animal characters. At Hollywood, we saw Leo and Annie (from Little Einsteins), and JoJo. I think the characters meet and greets were Savannah and Tara's favorite part - the characters were so nice and the Princesses took the time to talk to them and give them a hug and post for pictures. It brought tears to my eyes several times just to see the "magic" as silly as that sounds!

Snow White was so great! She spent a good deal of time with the girls and spoke in the same high-pitched voice she has in the movie. You could practically hear the birds chirping around her. And the funny thing was there was a fearess squirrel running from the flower bush behind her to the tree next to it gather leaves for his nest.

Meeting Ariel in her grotto!

The girls were so excited to meet Tiana and Naveen. Tiana is Tara's favorite princess and I think she got a little crush on Prince Naveen!

Which parks/rides did the girls like the best?

The girls love Magic Kingdom best and we went 2 separate days. Thier favorite part was Toon Town. Tara loved the Dumbo ride and they both likes the cars in tomorrow land and the Small World ride. They both rode Goofy's Barnstormer and enjoyed it, but once was enough for that.

Was Animal Kingdom as boring as it sounds?
Animal Kingdom - we really enjoyed it. It is basically a very elaborate zoo, but the girls are crazy about zoos (we have a season pass to ours each year), so it was right up there alley. That is where they got the face painted and saw Pocahontas - which was one of the hightlights of ther trip! There is a really cool "safari" where we saw lots of animals. There is lots of really great scenary - definately a place to walk around and just soak it in. Also, there is a great coaster there - Everest!!! It rocked! There is also a dinosaur ride. So, an enjoyable day, but not as much to do as the other parks - it was a shorter day for us - we got there about 10:30 and left about 5ish. Most other parks we were there first think in the morning and didn't wrap it up until after 7!

Did you stay at the parks the whole day? Or did you go back to the hotel in the afternoon for naps/rest?

We stayed at a park the entire day. We took several breaks throughout the day - they are lots of places for that - all of the parks have a least one "play" area and there are tables and chairs and benches scattered throughout. We would just find a spot to hang out and pull out our snacks and relax for a while.

Redux

2010-01-22T19:15:00.000-06:00

The stinker did it again...I was sleeping sound in my bed and she did it again...

Conversations at 2 a.m.

2010-01-20T14:55:00.000-06:00

More like 2:45 a.m., but that didn't flow so well as a title. Anyway, it goes something like this...

TARA (calling from the top of the stairs): Mama! Mamaaaa! Maaaamaaaa!!!!

ME (stumbling sleepily into the hallway at the bottom of the stairs): What, baby?

TARA: Can I sleep on the couch?

ME (trying to focus and do what it takes to get back into bed as quickly as possible...) Ummm...okay.

TARA (all smiles now): OK, let me get me pillow...and my teddy...

I help her down the stairs (cuz I am so much more coordinated that she at 2 in the morning...yeah, right...).

So I fashion a bed for her, with the brown "soft" blanket, as opposed to the blue or grey blankets that we have as couch throws.

She settles in happily (Lordy, who can be so chipper in the freakin' middle of the night?!?!?).

TARA: Now the blue blanket, Mama.

So, I cover her over with the blue blanket, tuck her in and give her a kiss.

ME: Okay, not go to sleep! See you in the morning...

I stumble back to bed, burrow down in the covers, Daisy settles herself in next to me, and...I hear the thump, thump of little hands pushing open our bedroom door...

TARA (using a LOUD stage whisper): Mama! Mama...

ME: What, baby!?!?!

TARA: Can I sleep upstairs in my bed?

Enter whining...

2010-01-18T10:34:00.001-06:00

Tara, my sweet, precious angel is everything that you could ever want in a daughter. She is such a sweet spirit, she is funny, she is silly, she is smart, she is kind-hearted. I know that she is going to do amazing things with her life and that this world is better because she is in it.

How can you not love this face?

But...

You know there was a "but", right?

THE WHINING...oh, my gosh, THE WHINING!!!

If she is not completely happy, every syllable that somes out of her mouth has the most annoying, broken record, sing-songy tone of angst. Allow me to demonstrate...

Maaaammmaaahhhhhhh...Savannahwon'tletmeplayinherroomandshewon'tplaywithmeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

What do you do about the whining? I think for the longest time, we just assumed that she would grow out of it. But, she turns 4 in a few weeks and the whining is louder and more annoying that ever.

We have started to really call her attention to it, because, honestly, I think a lot of it is habit. We will ask her to repeat herself in a regular voice and, [gasp] miracle of miracles, she is capable of talking in regular sentences...

Prince Charming will also talk back to her in a whine to show her how it sounds - that ususally gets her laughing and she will make a point to speak in a normal voice.

So, are we doing the right thing? Will it get better? Or is she destined to rival Fran Drescher for most annoying voice?

Ewwww...seriously?

2010-01-11T20:42:00.000-06:00

Do you really want to be the woman that dates this guy?

I mean really!?!? Is there a guy in the US these days that is any skeezier? I get actual chills (and not in a good way) just thinking about it!!!

So apparently, he has a new girlfriend - I stress the word "girl." Seriously, at 24 she is not old enough to theoretically be the mother of his oldest daughters - well, I guess she is technically, but you get the point. I just don't get it. She is attractive (couldn't find a good photo except for one from her facebook floating around the web and I draw the line at using that one), wealthy, educated (from Emory, no less).

He is a moderately attractive guy at best, unemployed, the father of EIGHT children. All that might be fine if he were just not so disgustingly skeezy -- (pause for chills again)... What does a beautiful, educated, young woman see in him? I have seen the show, y'all - he ain't got a stellar personality.

I just don't get it.

Oh, well...start the clock on her 15 minutes...

The catch-up lunch post

2010-01-10T20:38:00.001-06:00

So, I got a little (okay, alot) behind on the lunches sometime in December (short month anyway because school let out for Christmas break, Tara had her tonsils out, which meant Savannah stayed with friends and ate the cafeteria meal...ahhh, but I digress...); at some point, I just decided to call it good and just get a fresh start come January. But, I still managed to take a photo of the lunches I did make (and one crazy supper) so now, all in one whack - a bunch o' lunches for your consideration:

1) Wheat thins, mini pepperonis and mozzerella chunks, red bell pepper strips and strawberries (with some blueberries for Tara).

2) Mini pretzels, cheddar cheese cubes, red bell pepper slices and clemintines.

3) This is the supper that either wins me the Mama of the Year Award or causes someone to call Child Services: I call it a Waffle Sundae - A whole-grain waffle with strawberry filling (frozen) with maple and chocolates syrups, whipped cream and a cherry. Hey - minus the chocolate syrup, whipped cream and cherry, it is a very ordinary breakfast - I just let the girls dress it up some for supper. They ate every bite!!!

I came up with Waffle Sundaes after a particulary stressful workday - I wanted something quick and easy that I knew would go over well and would get me out of the kitchen fast and avoid any whining. Since then, I don't pull them out often, but Waffle Sundaes for supper are always a hit!

4) Wheat things, cherries-sweetened cranberries, vanilla yogurt, a ham roll up, grape tomatos for Tara and baby cukes for Savannah and a fudge-covered Ritz for a treat.

5) Hot dog chucks and cheddar cheese cubes, red bell pepper slices, strawberry slices and a mini cupcake for each. This lunch followed Savannah's birthday - the cupcakes were left over from her birthday treat at school.

6) Wheat thins, grilled chicken slices, red bell pepper clices and strawberries and homemade whipped cream.

7) Spaghetti with sauce and parmesan cheese, red bell pepper strips and strawberry slices.

I confess that I did not photograph last week lunches - just needed a little time to get back in the saddle I guess, but tomorrow's lunch is already prepared and photographed, so tune in next wee to kick off our second semester's worth of lunches.

60:1 - Sweet Revenge - Nora Roberts

2010-01-09T09:23:00.000-06:00

So I kicked off this year's reading challenge with an oldie. Once I was a few pages into Sweet Revenge, I realized I have read it before. Probably more than once. But, like a favorite movie, I find myself often going back to books I have read before. So, this one is about a princess who is also a jewel thief who falls in love with the man who is supposed to bring her to justice.

Even though this is technically the 52 in 52 Reading Challenge, since I finished 2009 with a total of 63 books read, I set my goal this year at 60. You might think that I should have pushed myself a bit more and set it for 70 (ahem, Anita...), but I also have several other things I want to challenge myself to do this year (learn to knit, blog more, focus more on my hair clippie hobby) so I am going to go with 60. Here is my promise - if I exceed this year's goal of 60, I will pick a goal of 70 for next year!

Hmmm, what else has been going on with us? It is COLD - I mean COLD. Did I happen to mention it is COLD. And I am not even being a whiny Southerner (okay, maybe a little), but I think it is fair to say that single digit temps qualify as COLD anywhere... I am ready for Spring, but for now, I will settle for the moderate Florida temps we will be enjoying in a couple of weeks at ...DISNEY!!!

Yeah, after months and months and years of Savannnah begging to go to Disney, we are finally going. Honestly, I am probably more excited than the girls. I love Disney. I worked there a semester when I was in college through the Disney College Program. It was absolutely the best experience of my college days and only made me love Disney more than I already did. So, yeah, we are going for the girls, yeah, that's it. Expect more in the coming weeks of the Great Booher Disney Vacation of 2010.

Well, that is all you get for now. Everyone is up and moving around this morning and for me, that means a trip to Wal-Mart is in order. The weekend has begun. Yeah, I live a wild life...

Christmas in pictures (lots of pictures...)

2009-12-27T21:08:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas 2009. The girls are at that perfect age for the magic and excitedment of the holiday season and it was impossible to be around them and not get caught up in thier joy! Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year, but this year was extra special because of my little princesses. Here are some pictures from my mom's annual Christmas Day - this year we coined the term Merry Mimi Christmas - and from our house on Christmas morning.

The girls - Savannah, Mia, Zora, Tara and Caitlin

The little girls - Caitlin and Tara

The big girls - Mia, Savannah and Zora

My girls - Tara and Savannah

My sister's kiddos - Mia and Tripp

The boys - Tristan, Gabriel, Christian, Chance, Chaz and Tripp

The whole crew - Tristan, Gabriel, Chance, Christian, Chaz, Tripp, Caitlin, Mia, Savannah, Zora and Tara

Me and my girls!

Bliss!

Yep - it really is that chaotic - and really that fun!

Ready for Santa!

Look out - she has wheels!

Look - Santa was hungry!

Showing off thier dolls!

Prince Charming got something too! No more instant coffee at 'Dega!

Showing off thier gifts for Mama!

My little artist!

You can't make this stuff up...

2009-12-25T11:49:00.000-06:00

Actual conversations on Christmas Eve:

Prince Charming - I think we should turn off the lights outside and turn them back on in the morning.

Me: Okay.

Minutes later as we are getting into bed...

Prince Charming - I thought you were going to turn off the outside lights?!?

Me - I just said okay! I didn't know that "we" mean't "me"!!!

('Course, I am about as bad I guess - I thought "we" meant "he"...
_______________________

At my in-laws for our annual Christmas Eve supper and gift exchange. We gave Dan's brother a CD of Eric Clapton's greatest hits. Our 18-year-old nephew grabs the CD to check it out.

Nephew - Whatcha got? Who's this? Who's Eric CLAMPTON?!?

Cue the explosive laughter from the older adults in the room. Next up - the confused and slightly embarrassed look on Nephew's face...
_________________________

And one from this morning...

Tara - looking at the new bicycle from Santa (which has a ride-along seat for her baby) - Mama, I don't fit the seat!!!

Me - Baby, that is the seat for your baby.

Tara - wailing - But I wanted a bicycle for ME!!!!
__________________________

You can't make this stuff up, people! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Holiday Rock!

2009-12-18T15:40:00.000-06:00

I dare you to watch and not smile! Yeah, you, ya grinch!!! ;-)

Family Ties

2009-12-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

What is is about going "home" that makes you feel 10 years old all over again? I went home to see my family in Arkansas this past weekend and overall it was a great visit. But, there is that little stuff that always comes up that always takes you back. And not in a good way.

Honestly, can't we all just get along?!?!

So, anyway, there was that. On to other news - Kris the Christmas Elf has been hanging around our house - the girls love having him around and seeing what new place he will be in when they wake in the morning. I love having him around because a reminder that "Kris is watching..." is surprisingly effective. I am hoping that he will be a annual tradition at our house.

Savannah is now down 2 teeth - the second one came out tonight (with a little help from Dr. Mom...). Looks like the tooth fairy will be paying us a visit again soon. And, along with Kris, a suggestion that perhaps a call to the tooth fairy is in order is pretty darn effective. Oh, yeah, I went there proudly! There is nothing I won't stoop to as a mom.

Savannah looked doubtful for a moment and then said skeptically, "You don't really have her phone number, do you???"

I assured her that indeed I did, that it is in the special mommy book they give you when you become a mom.

What? You didn't get your copy?

Mission accomplished!

2009-11-30T20:43:00.000-06:00

I feel a little like Dora!!! I did it - I set my goal and I did it!! 30 posts in 30 days! Yay me!!!

So, what did I really accomplish here?

1. As a new blogger, I really did not have the habit of sitting down and blogging every day - now, I will admit, it has kind of worked its way into my routine after I get the girls down to bed at night.

2. It helped me learn more about what kind of blogger I am. I don't think I will ever have one of those blogs that becomes a "go to" gotta read like Snarky Mommy or Love that Max are for me, but it is a good place to record my musings and share them with the Cyberworld, for whatever that is worth. (Hey, I know I have at least a handful of regular readers. My people - I love you!!!

3. It taught me what I am not - one of those hang it all out there and everyone's opinions be damned. I have lots of off-limit topics that I don't discuss here. I don't curse on here for the most part, because while I don't seem to have any issue with popping off with a word or phrase of the four-letter persuasion when in a close gorup of friends, I tend to automatically not write the same words that I sometimes say. Who knew???

4. I met a goal! Nuff said - big or small - an achieved goal is always a rush for me!

Where do I go from here? I am not sure. I really don't know if I will continue with the Post Every Day Or Else approach I have followed for the past month. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. But I do think that I will be a more regular post than I was. And at least for me, that is enough.

52:52 Challenge, continued...

2009-11-29T15:17:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote this post. Since then, I had read three more books, bringing my total for the year so far up to 55. They are:

52:53 - Bed of Roses - Nora Roberts

52:54 - Dead Until Dark - Charlaine Harris

52:55 - Living Dead in Dallas - Charlaine Harris

I am halfway through Club Dead - Book 3 of the Sookie Stackhouse novels - they are great. Quick reads, funny and engaging. Since I only started Book 1 Monday, that should tell you something!

What the girls ate for lunch #12 and 13 w/e 11/13 and 11/20

2009-11-28T20:56:00.000-06:00

This is 2 weeks worth of lunches - well, really 1 week and 1 lonely day during Thanksgiving week. Anyway, here we go:

Monday - Savannah had a slice of banana bread, cut in half, some "cutie" wedges, a slice of ham and vanilla yogurt. Tara had a slice of ham, wheat thins, "cutie" wedges and banana slices and vanilla yogurt.

Tuesday - Tara asked to "buy" today instead of Wednesday, so it is only Savannah - hot dog and mozzerella chunks, "cutie" wedges, orange bell pepper chunks, wheat things and a chocolate covered ritz cracker.

Wednesday - Tara only - yogurt, pretzel goldfish, blueberries and grape tomatos sliced in half.

Thursday - Tara had pasta and broccoli with cheese sauce, baby carrots and blueberries. Savannah had a strong cheese, mini pretzels, an organic fruit strip, baby carrots and ranch dressing and "cutie" wedges.

Monday - wheat thins, mini pepperonis, mozzerella cheese chunks, red bell pepper slices and strawberries (with some blueberries for Tara).

Enjoy! I hope everyone had as great a Thanksgiving as we did! Now on to Christmas!!!

Around the world in 80 days...

2009-11-27T18:53:00.000-06:00

Well, around Memphis is 12 hours, anyway.

I am zonked so you don't get much tonight - I'm sorry!

We were up at 4 a.m. to go to Walmart.

Then, after dropping the girls off at Kid Station, me and my mom headed to Kohls, then Toys 'R Us, and Target. Took a break for lunch and a mimosa at Olive Garden, then off to the mall for round 2.

We hit Sears, Dilliards, JC Penney's and Macy's.

I am worn out - my feet are killing me and I can't hardly string 2 coherent thoughts together.

My favorite way to spend the day after Thanksgiving!!!!

Turkey Day!

2009-11-26T19:41:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!! This will be a quick post because I have to get in bed early so that I can get us at the crack of dawn for Black Friday shopping. Anyway, here are some pictures of the day:

Charles shaking the cream to make butter - was supposed to be an activity for the girls...the novelty wore off in about 5 minutes.

Is it ready YET?????

FINALLY!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Savannah wanted to eat the turkey "bone".

Tara said "I love turkey day!"

The wishbone - About 10 seconds after I took this picture, Savannah was in tears becuase she didn't get the big piece!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

2009-11-25T22:43:00.000-06:00

So, today I was off and my mom is here, so we used the day to menu plan, grocery shop and prep for tomorrow.

We made caramel sauce from scratch for the caramel-whipped sweet potatoes. Well, actually, we made it twice because we, ahem... over browned it the first time - we were going for "amber" colored and ended up with nearly black. So, yeah, that batch went in the trash. The second batch turned out beautifully and yummy!

We baked the sweet potatoes, mixed the dough for the potato rolls and put it in the fridge to do its first rise, made the corn bread for the dressing, chopped up the onion and celery for the dressing, and made my mom's fabulous coca-cola chocolate cake!

So, tomorrow morning, I will be up bright and early to prep the turkey - 16 pounds of it!!! Once I get it in the oven, we will finish the rolls, make the dressing (Paula Deen's recipe!), make the whipped sweet potatos, make mashed potatos, prepare the "giblet" crazy, make the grean beans almondine and do the marinated asparagus - oh, and the 5-cup fruit salad. Whew! Hungry yet???

Enjoyed having the girls here all day - they played pretty good all day and did not want to go to sleep tonight - having too much fun!!! They are excited about Thanksgiving and when my mom asked Tara what she was thankful for, Tara said she was thankful for Christmas! Savannah is thankful for her birthday, which is next weekend on the 6th.

I will leave you with a little ode to Thanksgiving courtesy of Adam Sandler:

Once a Princess...

2009-11-24T21:35:00.000-06:00

Following is the St. Jude spot on The Today Show this morning. This one really touched me - she is 3 and so is Tara. And they both have that princess thing going that I talked about here. So, it is one of those stories that expecially affects me.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I got to take Tara to ballet tonight - she loves being a ballerina. I hope that someday, this little girl's mother gets to do the same thing.

Tonight I give thanks for Tara and her larger than life personality and the joy with which she just "is."

I love you, Tara!!!

Brick Wall

2009-11-23T21:10:00.000-06:00

Yep - been staring at the sceen a good 10 minutes. Just not that motivated tonight for some reason. I have no clue. I am letting you down, my loyal public. I have failed you.

So, for a few minutes at least, I will grace you with some general ramblings for the sole and specific purpose of having a blog post today. Cop out. For sure. Ask me if I care...

My mom and step-dad are coming to town tomorrow for Grandparents Day at St. Marys. Savannah's Senior K class has a program and Savannah is so excited. After that, they are coming to campus for lunch with me. I am hoping that there will be time for them to take a tour of the hospital while they are here. I really want them to see it.

Speaking of the hospital. Today was the kickoff of Thanks & Giving on The Today Show. You can see the spot here:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I dare you to watch it and not cry. (If you are reading this on FaceBook, you will have to hop on over to my actual blog to see the spot.) Boy, it really makes you think - I cannot imagine watching one of my girls go through something like that. Everytime I see a patient, it always goes through my mind that he or she is someone's son or daughter. And they were just going about thier life when BAM - they walk into a nightmare.

Hmmmm....I really did not intend this to turn into a public service announcement. But, I am grateful with all my being that there is a place like St. Jude for families dealing with that nightmare. This is the time of year to be grateful and to give thanks for all the blessings in your life. I know I am.

What do you know? I had something to say after all...

Rant...I am so over Jacob/Taylor L...

2009-11-22T20:52:00.000-06:00

If I hear one more person ooh and ahh over his chest, I am going to gag! Seriously, people - you need to get out more. He is a good lookin' kid, no doubt - but have you never seen Brad Pitt? http://static.open.salon.com/files/brad-pitt1256828090.jpg

And this one... http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~jfs48/images/BradPitt2.jpg.

Eric Dane? http://highcaliber.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/ericdane-7141591.jpg

Men, people!!! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!

Plus, Taylor Lautner's biggest role prior to Twilight was as Shark Boy in Sharkboy and Lava Girl. http://madisonharris.com/images/sharkboy_lavagirl.jpg And, y'all - that picture is from about 2005.

Honestly, I can't tell if all the hype is over Jacob or Taylor. If it is Jacob - Jacob's role is Bella's life is only ever secondary. He knew that - much as he didn't like it. She never led him on to think otherwise. Plus, y'all - it is a book/movie - it is not like they were ever able to actually make different decisions. And for those who call Bella a "player" or a "tramp" for leaning on Jacob while Edward was gone - get real? Have you never relied on a friend to get you though a bad time - she was never anything but honest with him.

As for Taylor - he is a good lookin' kid. But so are lots of people - I have seen better - and you know you have too - well, maybe not you, you little giggle-girl sitting behind me in the theatre, but anyone over the age of 21 has. When all is said and done, while I can admire the physique - he is just not my type.

I think I just read the Twilight series from an entirely different place than a lot of people. To me, it was only ever Edward - Bella said as much herself. I never considered for a second that she would ever be with anyone but Edward - so I guess to my mind, Jacob was only ever secondary. Bella needed him - I don't think she would have survived Edward's absence without him, but she loves him as a friend - end of story.

So, no - I will NEVER swing over to "Team Jacob" EVER!!!!

I like my guys to sparkle. So, go on...bite me, Edward!

Savannah Saturday

2009-11-21T21:17:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was the Thansksging class party in Savannah's senior kindergarten class. They called it a Thanksgiving feast and let me assure you they were right!/ When I got there, they were taking turns at the different "cooking" stations: cornbread, fruit salad and pumpkin pies. There was also mashed potatos, cranberries and, of course, turkey and dressing. They were all so cute with the seriousness with which they approached thier assigned tasks.

Then, when everything was ready, we sent them outside to play for a few minutes while we set up the "dining room" by making one long "dining table" out of ther class tables. We set the table, fixed thier plates and then called them back inside. How cute was it when they all came back in wearing thier Pilgram bonnets!

They sat down to thier meal, said thier blessing and then dug in! Yum! They had the best time and I have to say, so did I! And, thankfully, there were plenty of leftovers to feed the parents!!!

Me and my princess...

Making her own pumpkin pie.

Move over, Rachael Ray!

Making cornbread takes concentration...

Channeling her inner Pilgram.

Watching the "blessing" was the best part!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Things I learned as a Mama #4

2009-11-20T18:24:00.000-06:00

It is possible to have a full pantry, a full refrigerator and a full freezer and STILL have nothing to eat.

Cinderella on trial

2009-11-19T19:08:00.000-06:00

Interesting article in the New York Times from Decemeber 2006 - What's Wrong with Cinderella by Peggy Orstein.

I don't know why this article bugs me, but it does. We love all things Princess around our house - heck, to me that is one of the great things about having girls - I get to indulge my inner "princess." Isn't that the point?

Maybe it makes me feel defensive or criticized - like we are raising the girls in some way that is going to be harmful to their self-worth as they grow up.

But, I think we are raising our girls with great values. Yeah, it is fun to be a Princess - but in our house, Princesses are strong and brave and figure out who to solve thier own problems. The point is that I don't think "girly" and "princess" have to equal weak or helpless. Savannah and Tara both love the whole "princess" thing, including Tinkerbelle - who is really a fairy, but whatever. They love the Barbie movies and all of those princess stories include a female lead that is good and kind. She may not always start out strong and brave, but she finds that in herself by the end of the movie.

They love tutus and ribbons and glitter and magic wands. And I love that about them.

They believe in fairy tales. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

You oughta know...

2009-11-18T18:43:00.000-06:00

1. I detest Sarah Palin.

2. I struggle to balance being green with the convenience of disposible items.

3. I don't spank my kids, but I will admit to the occasional swat on the bottom - which I always regret...

4. I don't see anything wrong with having an adult beverage in the presence of my kids. In moderation, of course.

5. I voted for Obama.

6. I don't regret my vote.

7. I think whiteknot.org is a great organization.

8. I used to have really lousy self esteem.

9. I think it is disgusting the way they "airbrush" photos these days - no wonder girls have an unattainable idea of beauty these days.

10. Even though I am a lawyer, I detest conflict. It makes me uncomfortable and I will go out of my way to avoid it.

Not sure what brought this on, but most of it comes from articles I have read recently - things I am mulling around in the back of my mind. Some of them may become future blog topics, so this is a way for me to get them out there. This is my blog and these are my opinions. Feel free to share your own thoughts, but I didn't put this out there for debate, so if your comment is about how wrong I am about anything, please don't bother posting it here. If you don't agree with something, that's fine, but go write about it in your own blog - I'd love to read it.

Tara Tuesday

2009-11-17T12:09:00.000-06:00

Tara's turn:

What do you want to say, Tara?

I LOVE PHINEAS AND FERB. I LIKE IF I HAD A BABY HER NAME WOULD BE SAVANNAH GRACE.

Awww...you would name her after your sister?

WHAT DID YOU NAME ME WHEN I WAS A BABY?

You know your name. I named you Tara Faith. What else do you want to say?

IF I HAD A BABY I WOULD NAME HER SALLY WITH A BOTTLE.

Anything else?

YEAH, I MEAN YES, MOMMY. UMMM...I WANNA SAY IF I HAD ONE LITTLE DOGGY I WOULD NAME HER TWO DAISYS.

Is that enough for today?

YES, I WILL DO ONE MORE THING. UMMM...TWO MORE THINGS ACTUALLY. IF I HAVE A PIG AND I WAS GOTTA LITTLE CAR AND UMMM...AND I WAS THINKING IF I STOP DOING THAT I WOULD GET ANOTHER PET AND IT WOULD BE A PET DOGGY AND IF I DIDN'T HAVE A PET, I WOULD BUY ONE THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT THING THAT TIES AROUND.

Ummm...okay...

AND I WANT TO SAY, AND THATS MY ONE THING. BYE, BYE, EVERYONE AND I WISH THAT I HAD A CARE BEAR AND IT WAS BROWN AND WHITE.

Yeah, that's Tara for you! Gotta love her!

What the girls ate for lunch #12 - w/e 11/13/09

2009-11-16T08:49:00.000-06:00

Monday - mini pepperonis, pretzel goldfish, sliced strawberries and orange bell pepper strips.

Tuesday - french toast strips and syrup, sliced strawberries, for Savannah sliced cucumbers, for Tara sliced orange bell pepper strips and for both, a mini rice crispie treat. (Thanks for Tara for help with the staging. :-) )

Thursday - For Savannah - a cereal bar, an organic fruit strip, grape tomatoes, wheat things and apple slices. For Tara, cajun rice with black beans and corn, sliced grape tomatoes, ritz crackers and apple slices.

Friday - ham slices, sliced strawberries, sliced cucumbers and baby potatoes with parmasean cheese.

Things I learned as a Mama #4

2009-11-15T21:07:00.001-06:00

With some starch and a steam iron, you can make an old five dollar bill look crisp and new...

New stop on the Tooth Fairy route...

2009-11-15T20:38:00.000-06:00

Yep - that's my princess showing off her pearly white and that gap-toothed grin! She was so excited, she was like a wiggley puppy!!! That tooth has been loose for a long time and this past week, it was REALLY loose. By the weekend, it was literally dangling in her mouth. Tonight I got her to let me see if I could pop it out and it came out just like that - I didn't even have to tug. That silver hippo was a baby gift from Savannah's Granny Ethel - my grandmother. When she first realized that she had a loose tooth, she insisted on getting down from the top shelf of her bookcase where it has been since even before she was born. Hippo has been waiting by her nightstand for this night for weeks!!!

So, the tooth fairy will have a stop at our house tonight. I hear the going rate for a tooth these days is $5.00???

Savannah Saturday

2009-11-14T09:59:00.000-06:00

The girls are always so interested in what I am writing on the blog about them so I decided to turn the floor over to Savannah today for the first ever Savannah Saturday:

What do you want to say to everyone, Savannah?

HI. MY NAME IS SAVANNAH. I AM A BIG SISTER. I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER THAT BOTHERS ME AND I AM FIVE.

Tell me something about Tara.

I DID! I LOVE PHINEAS AND FERB! AND TARA LIKES OLIVIA. AND THEN SHE LIKES PHINEAS AND FERB.

Do you have something that you are about to lose?

A TOOTH!

Really?!?

YES, REALLY! OKAY, I KNOW...AND MY FAVORITE CHARACTER OF WIZARD OF OZ IS TOTO!!! AND IF I HAD A BABY I WOULD NAME IT LILY.AND MY FOVORITE SINGERS ARE MILEY AND TAYLOR SWIFT.

Anything else?

YES. UMMMMM...MY FAVORITE ANIMAL IS A WILD CAT. THE END.

So there you go. Savannah's first message to the world. Great things are coming, people...

In under the wire...

2009-11-13T23:12:00.000-06:00

I was getting ready for bed when I realized that I had not done a post for today. Ha! But here I am with 59 minutes to spare!!!

Not for lack of good intentions - it has been a really long day! Up at 5:30 - get dressed, get the princesses dressed and off we go to school and work. I spent my lunch hour with Savannah reading to her class. Then meetings at work in the afternoon.

After work, I headed over to The Red Fish Gallery where I have some of my hair clippies for sale. They were having an open house Friday evening and I needed to drop off some cards. Then, I went to the pet store to pick up dog food for the canine royalty that so graciously lets us share space with them Amazing what I can find to buy in a pet store when all I really needed was dog good! I have no idea when I seem to think our dogs needed two MORE types of doggy treats, but I assure you, they do.

So, by then it is 6:00 and I am off to join my mom at a jewelry party she is presenting. She sells Premiere Jewelry and it is gorgeous stuff. Of course, I found a bracelet that I just HAD to have.

I finally got home about 9:30 and found the two princesses and thier exhausted daddy all asleep in our bed! Poor Prince Charming - those girls keep him hopping when he is being Mr. Mom!!!

I got thegirls all tucked in and picked up some around the house, get the dogs and FINALLY got to go relax in the tub!!!

That is when I remembered that I had not done a post today. Well, now I have.

Tune in tomorrow for our new regular feature, Savannah Saturday, a double feature that will be combined with Tara Tuesday.

What is Savannah Saturday, you ask? I will let you know when I figure it out...

Teeth, ears and meltdowns, oh my...

2009-11-12T20:59:00.000-06:00

My apoligies in advance for the randomness of this post, but the girls have pretty much been at the forefront of my mind today and I have lots to update.

Tara had a recheck on her ears today. About three weeks ago, she had a routine hearing screen at school and failed in her right ear. So, as a first step, I took her in to her pediatrician for an ear check and sure enough, ear infection. That was an unpleasant blast from the past for us... Tara had probably half a dozen ear infections before she was a year old; tubes right at a year and continued to have ear infections fairly often after that ...but never enough to consider re-tubing. Her last ear infection was in May, so we had a pretty good respite over the summer. So, fast forward to October and now she has another infection. One round of Suprax later and a week later, no infection, but still fluid in her ears. So, today, we go in for her recheck and would you believe that now BOTH of her ears have ear infections!!!! Now, Tara is my little diva and has always leaned to the dramatic, so while, yeah, she has been a cranky britches of late, she is THREE and hey, she is TARA - how was I supposed to know that she had a pretty darn good reason for being cranky!!! I swear, I am gonna just start giving her a dose of Ibuprophen with her chocolate milk in the morning just to cover our bases!!! Anyway, now she gets the lovely Augmenten which the pharmacist forgot to flavor, so yeah, getting her to take it is going to be super fun... Good thing, I am not above the Dr. Pepper bribe and if you don't know what that is, you apparently don't have kids...

Miss Savannah - she is such a sweetie, but boy, that girl can get her back up out of the blue for no apparent reason at all!!! Since she is such a mellow girl most of the time, not such a big deal, but suddenly this past week, she has been showing that temper in her class at school. Some of you may already know that we went through a rough patch with her last year, enough so that we sought out counseling for her just to rule out any identifiable issues. It really helped her and this year has been beautiful. Well, until this week... Apparently, she has managed to have at least one meltdown in class each day for the past week. What the!?!? When we talk to her about this stuff, she is very candid about her actions and knows exactly what she did and why she should not have done it. She is contrite and I believe she is sincere when she promises that "tomorrow will be better."

My sweet, sweet, smart girl - I wish I could see inside her head and see what is going on with her. Can't do that, but I can see inside her mouth - which I did tonight when I was flossing her teeth. Would you believe there is a big, ol', gnarly molar about three-quarters of the way in!!!! OWWWWW!!!! No wonder she has had a tough week!!!! Poor thing. I am not so naive as to think that that tooth coming in is the sole reason for her off behavior this week, but I do think that if I had a big chuck of rock digging through my gum, I might be a bit more on edge than usual.

Guess I need to make that Ibuprophen for two, huh???

Savannah the Star

2009-11-11T18:51:00.000-06:00

In Savannah's senior-K class at school, the girls take turns being Star of the Week. It is apparently a VERY. BIG. DEAL. When you are Star of the Week, you get pretty much carte blanche to do whatever you want. Savannah talks about it ALL. THE. TIME. and cannot wait for it to be her turn to be Star of the Week. She has been planning since school started.

When you are SOTW, you get to wear a special STAR attached to your dress.

There is the SOTW Interview session, where the classmates get to ask the SOTW questions.

There is the SOTW snack. Savannah wants to bring cotton-candy cupcakes that are in a cookbook that we have.

There is the Star Box - where the SOTW brings in her favorite things. Savannah is planning to bring - among other things - her Teddy and her Piglet. The Piglet is a stuffed animal from when she was a baby and Teddy - well, Teddy is her teddy bear.

Then there is the SOTW Visit. The SOTW can have ANYONE she wants come to visit with her class - including pets! Savannah wants to bring her cousin Mia and also Daisy, our little dog. Daisy is pretty hyper so I may have to bring out the doggy Xanax for that visit. She is already planning to bring doggy treats to show off Daisy's tricks and has said she might have some her classmates try to help Daisy do her tricks.

So, this SOTW is a pretty big deal. Savannah has it all planned out. She will be all ready when it is her turn...

...IN APRIL...

If you read my blog in my Face Book notes...

2009-11-11T08:30:00.000-06:00

You might want to hop on over to lifeintrixieland.blogspot.com to get the full effect. Some of my posts have video clips embedded and they don't seem to import into Face Book for some reason!!! I know you want to see all those Christmas movie clips!!!

He's makin' his list...

2009-11-10T21:25:00.000-06:00

...checkin' it twice.

Gonna find out who's naughty or nice...

Santa Claus is coming to town!!!!

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. Always has been! And now that we have little girls, it is even more fun!

I love everything about it - the songs, the old movies, the smells and sights - seeing Christmas lights - everything!!!

Some of my favorite clips from my favorite movies:

Sisters - from White Christmas (my sister and I used to sing this one... I still know all the words!)

Christmas in Connecticut - my absolute favorite!!!

Holiday Inn - need I say more!!!

Miracle on 34th Street - the 1947 version - the original!!!

My favorite part of this movie is the courtroom scene where the prosecuting attorney objects to the admission of evidence and the judge tells him "Overruled!"

And the film that needs to introduction - Its a Wonderful Life

The whole time I am watching this scene I am going "Would he just kiss her already!!!"

And most importantly - a reminder of what Christmas is really about, brought to us by that fountain of wisdom, Linus...

Ahhhh, can't wait!!!

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

Rebellion

2009-11-09T21:08:00.000-06:00

I have decided I do not like this feeling that I MUST post every single day. I just feel like my blog is becoming less about posting that that interest me and more about posting something becuase I have to. I have to many other things in my life that I HAVE to do to add one more thing to the list! ARGGGGHHHH!!!!

Today was Monday and it was an okay day. Both girls had a good day at school - Savannah is coming along so great in her reading and Tara, well, Tara just enjoys life - what can I say? While Savannah worked on homework this evening, Tara did "homework" too - coloring some pictures for the fridge. Her scibbles are starting to look more like people and things now, so it is so sweet to hear her descibe her work. Her latest was "Girl dress up as a spider." And, if you look a moment, you can totally see that!

I have spent most of the evening working on hair clippies and my newest thing - ribbon headbands. Don't ask me why I spend time making hair accessories - it is just relaxing for me in a way - my own creative outlet, I guess. I have them in a gift shop downtown and am hoping to have them in another store soon. Not quitting my day job, but I do get a satisfaction from doing something creative that people are willing to pay money for.

In other news, going to see Jason Aldean this weekend (YAY!!!) and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I have a theory that people fall into 2 catogories - those who shop Black Friday and those who do not. My mom and I fall into the Those Who Shop catagory! I can't wait! I am hoping to get a large part of our Christmas shopping done. I have picked up a few things here and there for the girls, including a Madame Alexander play doll for each! Planning to hit up etsy.com for some cute clothes for the dolls - course, Tara's will probably end up naked anyway!!!

So, one more post down. I guess the thing to decide is whether I keep up my daily posts at least for the duration of November or if I decide to go back to only posting when I want to. Any thoughts?

What the girls at for lunch #11 - w/e 11/6

2009-11-08T20:14:00.001-06:00

Another week of lunches for you. Getting right to it!

Monday - rotisserie chicken breast, wheat thins, baby carrots and ranch dressing and sliced strawberries.

Tuesday - pretzels, strawberries, yogurt and a string cheese

Wednesday- spaghetti and sauce with a chicken meatball, a banana for Tara and an apple for Savannah.

Friday - boiled egg "bunny" for Tara and "bear" for Savannah, sliced strawberries, nutri-grain bar and a string cheese.

You may have noticed the absence of veggies in most of the lunches. Not sure what happened with my shopping, but for some reason I didn't get any red peppers which are the girls favorites and I ran out of carrots early on. Oh, well - I stocked up this week! Have a great week everyone!!

Annual De-lurking Day

2009-11-07T12:07:00.000-06:00

My friend over at SnarkyMommy has declared today Annual De-lurking Day. Since I have never been shy to borrow from genius, I think it works fine for this blog too! So, if you have been reading, please post a comment and let me know!

I was thinking the other day about all the stuff that goes on in my life that I don't put on my blog. I don't talk about work except in the most general of terms and I don't talk about things with my Prince Charming. And like everyone else, I have work issues and married life issues.

No work because, well, because it is work and I am an attorney and I know better than to talk about it behind its back.

No married stuff (except the good stuff) because there is something in me that feels wrong putting stuff like that here. I really admire the bloggers out there that can let it all hang out and talk about the good, the bad and the ugly on thier blog. Everyone's marriage is different - so, everyone has differnt boundries of what to air in the public forum. For us, though - we keep that type of stuff for a smaller select crowd. In my case, it is my sister - so if you want to know all my dirty laundry, go find her...

Is that just me? Am I approaching this wrong to not talk about the thing that Prince Charming did the other day that made him oh-so-no-charming? What about y'all? Any boundries for you? I'd love to know...

Random thoughts

2009-11-06T22:06:00.000-06:00

I cannot take credit for these - I stole...ummmm, borrowed, them from a friend on my mama's forum (thanks, Kristine!!!). I swear I have had all of these thoughts at least once and some of them made me laugh out loud!!!

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear
your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you
realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on #5. I'm pretty
sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10.. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the
rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I
don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me
if I want to save any changes to my ten-page research paper that I swear I
did not make any changes to.

14. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this --
ever.

15. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damn
it!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

16. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

17. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

18. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?

19. I think the freezer deserves a light as well..

20. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay

Nothing if not predictable...

2009-11-06T12:27:00.000-06:00

I just realized that I have 2 blog posts entitled "Seriously" - clearing I overuse that word.

Other words in my very own repertoire of overuse - "frankly", "fabulous" and "absolutely".

Maybe I should declare a moratorium.

52:52 Challenge

2009-11-05T21:05:00.000-06:00

I am a part of a message board of about 75 women who all had babies in February 2006. We went through out pregnancies together and remain close friends. We are there for each other during good times and bad times...and sometimes just for fun times...

Every January, anyone who wants to sets a reading goal for the year. We call it the 52:52 challenge, but really it can be whatever number you want. I am an avid reader, so I know that I read well over 52 books in an average year (you can't count the first year of each of my daughter's lives...I am lucky I was able to read the mail...but I digress.

So, this year, I set my goal at 52 and tonight I finished my 52nd book!!! THis is the first time I ever kept up with all the titles that I read. I am so excited!!! Anyway, here they are:

1. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

2. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

3. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (unpublished partial manuscript)

4. The Captive Heart by Bertrice Small

5. Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling

6. Sweet Life by Mia King

7. The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory

8. River's End by Nora Roberts

9. The Villa by Nora Roberts

10. The Decadent Duke by Virginia Henley

11. The Accidental Mother by Rowan Coleman

12. Confessions of a Shopaholic - Sophie Kinsella

13. Hidden Riches - Nora Roberts

14. Wanted - Shelly Shepard Gray

15. Coyote's Mate - Lora Leigh

16. Midnight Bayou - Nora Roberts

17. One Day At A Time - Danielle Steele

18. Carnal Innocence by Nora Roberts

19. Three Fates by Nora Roberts

20. The Shadow Queen by Bertrice Small

21. A Love for All Time - Bertrice Small

22. Handle with Care - Jodi Piccoult

23. Peach - Elizabeth Adler

24. Leonie - Elizabeth Adler

25. Doomed Queens - Kris Waldherr

26. Tribute - Nora Roberts

27. Vision in White - Nora Roberts

28. Sooner or Later - Elizabeth Adler

29. Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette - Carolly Erickson

30. The Host - Stephenie Meyer

31. The Associate - John Grisham

32. Marked - PC Cast

33. Betrayed - PC Cast

34. Chosen - PC Cast

35. Untamed - PC Cast

36. The Pact - Jodi Piccoult

37. Once a Princess - Johanna Lindsay

38. You Belong to Me by Johanna Lindsay

39. Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsay

40. Mind Over Matter - Nora Roberts

41. Butterfly - Kathryn Harvey

42. The Blessing Stone - Barbara Wood

43. American Wife - Curtis Sittenfield

44. Black Hills - Nora Roberts

45. The Border Lord and the Lady by Betrice Small

46. Hunted - PC Cast

47. Stars - Kathryn Harvey

48. Private Entrance - Kathryn Harvey

49. City of Bones - Cassandra Clare

50. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

51. Tempted - PC Cast

52. City of Glass - Cassandra Clare

So, there you go!!! Yay me! I still have 2 months to go, so I wonder how many I will finish out the year with?

Little elves who steal shoes...

2009-11-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

I have lost a pair of shoes. Gorgeous red suede ballet slippers. I bought them, had them shipped to my office, showed them off to a coworker when I received them and…

…that is the last I remember seeing them.

I remember thinking at the end of the day as I was gathering up my purse and briefcase that I needed to get the shoe box, but I cannot for the life of me remember if I actually got it then.

Then I went home and as usual, things are crazy – they always are in the evenings – they don’t call it the witching hour for nothing. It was later that night after I was in bed that I thought about my shoes. I remember thinking that I must have set them down with all my stuff. Then the next morning, I looked and they weren’t there. So, I thought I must have left them at work. Then, when they weren’t in my office, I thought I must have left them in my car.

I swear those things have completely disappeared!!! I honestly don’t believe anyone from work took them – that would just be too random! I have left lots of things in my office over the years and believe it to be completely safe. I wonder if they fell out of my car at some point (if you are a mama, you know how that can happen – between my stuff and the girls' stuff, my car is one big overflowing closet on wheels.)

The whole thing makes absolutely no sense to me.

It was the elves…there is no other explanation for it…

Tuesday quickie...

2009-11-03T21:39:00.000-06:00

Post that is. Get your mind out of the gutter.

I was going through the house cutting off lights, turning down the fireplace, letting the dog out, getting ready to head off to bed, when I remembered...

Post every day.

Good grief, 3 days in and I almost slipped.

I sort of have an excuse. Tuesday is "dance" night for the girls. Tara has ballet and tap and Savannah has gymnastics. We don't get home until almost 8 and by the time I get the girls down for bed it is well past 8:30. Not my favorite night of the week.

Clearly, I need to plan ahead with a post for Tuesdays. But for now, you will just have to be content with this little quickie that doesn't really say anything substantive, but hey, it qualifies as a post, so I am good for now. (Unlike a real quickie which manages to pack a lot of substance into not much time... Yeah, I went there...)

Seriously?!?!?!

2009-11-02T20:24:00.000-06:00

I am about to scream!!! I read a "vamp" series called House of Night and I just finished the 6th installment (which was released last week). @^#&@^!*@*@&@*!(!)!_)#(*@(!*!!!! (That is about every expletive that I can think, but for some reason can't bring myself to write!!!) I have heard of cliff hangers, but SERIOUSLY!!!!

SPOILER ALERT...

Ok, ok, I know... - it is a book after all - one written for "young adults" a catagory I don't exactly fall into anymoree... But, whatever - it is a great series and I don't get how a book can move so fast and so slow at the same time. This installment - Tempted - only covers about 3 days - but it went so fast and so slow at the same time. I kept waiting for the big crisis and then BAM - worse than the when Dr. Carter and that med student are lying stabbed in the empty hospital room. Worse than when Meredith realizes it is George who got hit by the bus and I had to spend whole summers waiting to see who would live and who would die.

I can't believe I have however many months before the bext book comes out!!!! I can't wait!!!!

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

2009-11-01T18:56:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, I learned about National Blog Posting Month - you commit to blog every day for a month - specifically, the month of November - but really you can do it anytime. I always thought to myself, "Self, that would be a cool thing to do - what a feeling of accomplishment..." And then I would go on about my business and time would pass until November came around again.

So, this morning, I realize that it is time for NaBloPoMo again and so, here I am, declaring my intentions. I am going to commit to blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. for the month of November. Granted, I can't promise you a blog full of humor, wisdom or education, but there will be words on the screen EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

One of the issues about me and blogging as been that I always let reading get in the way. I LOVE to read. Did I ever tell you that I LOVE to read. Oh, and by the way, I LOVE TO READ. Whenever I have a free moment, that is pretty much what I do. I am doing a 52 in 52 reading challenge on my mom's board and I am on Book 51 and nearly done. I get obsessed with a good book - I can't focus on anything else (for free time). Seriously, when I read the Twilight series last Christmas, I pretty much had, "Not tonight dear, I'm reading Twiglight" stamped on my forehead.

The along with the reading, I have my hair clippie hobby, facebook (duh!!!) and a variety of shows that I Tivo and try to keep caught up on. Then, there is that learn to knit kit I have that I haven't even started on yet... So, ummm, yeah, I guess I haven't ever moved blogging up to the top of the priority list.

But I am turning over a new leaf.

At least for this month, I am going to blog EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Even if it kills me...

Loads of Lunches - What the girls ate for lunch...

2009-10-29T22:16:00.001-05:00

I am 2 weeks behind I think, but don't worry - I have been taking the pictures, I just haven't been good about posting the pictures. So, rather than try to go back day by day, I am just going to post them all here and describe the contents.

First up - This was Monday, October 19 - cinnamon roll (made from pre-made cresent roll dough), for Tara - yellow bell pepper strips, blueberries, and strawberry yogurt; for Savannah - baby carrots, strawberries and vanilla yogurt.

Tuesday, October 20 - honey baked hams slices, wheat thins, baby carrots and broccoli, strawberries (with some blueberries for Tara) and mini pretzels dipped in strawberry yogurt coating.

Friday, October 23 - half a mini pita, orange bell pepper strips, apple slices, vanilla yogurt for Savannah and strawberry yogurt for Tara. Oh, notice the yogurt containers - I posted before about wanting a reusable mini container for snacks and such. Well, I found the perfect solition at One Step Ahead. They are 2oz containers with twist on lids - meant for homemade babyfood, but perfect for snacks on the go or yogurt and such! Yay, me!!!

Monday, October 26 - bow tie pasta with stroganoff sauce and sour cream, foccicia toasts, for Tara - blueberries and yellow bell pepper strips, for Savannah - raisins and orange bell pepper strips.

Tuesday, October 27 - "Fairy bread" - mini bagels with butter spread and sprinkles, apple chunks, pepperonis and mozzerella chunks and red bell pepper strips.

Thursday, October 29 - boiled egg, apple slices, red bell pepper strips and pretzel goldfish.

Friday, October 30 - spaghettie with sauce and cheese sprinkles, banana and mini pretzels with strawberry yogurt coating.

I am learning this year that I can no longer just pack whatever I want and know that it will be eaten. Savannah eats much better nowdays when she helps choose what will be in her lunch. So, we are more interactive this year, but that can only be a good thing!

Catch up post - AKA - more shameless showing off of the kiddos...

2009-10-29T21:33:00.000-05:00

What better way to catch you up on everything going on with me than to say it with pictures...

First up is my little cowgirl...yes, I realize that is a dog she is on and not a horse, but hey, we improvise around here...

YEEHAW!!!!

The 16th was my 37th birthday and the girls (and Dan) made cupcakes for me...heck, who am I kidding...for them...

ALL DONE - YUMMY!

Just silly girls...

Our first every Halloween Pumpkin - the girls picked a kitty cat design...

Last Saturday night, I took the girls to Zoo Boo - an annyal thing at the Memphis Zoo that Savannah has been begging to go since about this time last year. So, we went. Cost was $37 for me and the girls; we had to park way out in the middle of BFE, there were hardly any exhibits open - all the animals were asleep. It was so crowded and cold... But the girls had an absolute blast. I guess that makes it all worthwhile. My mom made thier costumes - they turned out so cute!

My pink cowgirl princess...

My Little Pony... (Savannah was really not having the pictures for some reason...)

Her swishy pony tail...

Why is this little guy important? Tara loves to play with Play Doh. This little elephant is the first thing that Tara has ever made that actually looks like what it is supposed to be...

Just cuz she is cute...

This last picture is special becuause it is Savannah showing off her pearl whites...including a very, very loose one that is about to fall out. Seriously, any day now my first baby will be minus 1 baby tooth. I don't know who is more excited - me or her! I am a little sad too...from now on out, all her firsts will be about bras, periods and boys... I don't think I will ever be ready for all that - thankfully, I have a few years to psych myself up!!!

All done! Ha! Suddenly the crazy day I had a work seems faded away... I love my girls...but you knew that already...

Does a video clip count as a post?

2009-10-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, where have I been? Life has been so completely crazy lately that when I finally get the girls to sleep at night, clean up the evening dishes, make lunches for tomorrow, get myself something to eat, pick up the living room, fold any clothes that are in the dryer, feed the dogs and get the girls' school bags ready for tomorrow, I am just too zonked to do anything other than collapse on "my" chaise and catch up on what I have TIVO'ed. I am sure that you agree that finding out who is being booted from Dancing With The Stars or America's Next Top Model or Top Chef or Project Runway is more important that what my girls ate for lunch or anything else in my life...

But, I am going to try to do better, I promise, so don't give up hope!!!

In the meantime, here is a clip of my youngest showing why just looking at her sweet little face makes me smile...

What the girls ate for lunch #'s 8 & 9 - w/e 10/9 & 10/16

2009-10-18T18:28:00.003-05:00

Another 2 week post because the week before last was fall break so there were only 2 days of lunches that week. This past week was a regular lunch week for us though.

Monday - Grilled chicken strips, cheddar cheese cubes, red bell pepper, brocolli, strawberries (and some blueberries for Tara), wheat thibs and 2 strawberry-dipped pretzels.

Tuesday - For Savannah - half a mini bagel with butter and sprinkles, celery sticks, strawberries and vanilla yogurt; For Tara - half a mini bagel with strawberry butter and sprinkles, blueberries, celery sticks and strawberry yogurt. Savannah came home and announced she did not like the celery sticks. Everything else was a hit, so pretty good overall.

Monday - ham roll-ups, smiley potatoes (mustard for Savnannah, ketchup for Tara), pretzel goldfish, blueberries for Tara, apple chunks for Savannah.

Tuesday - half a mini-bagel with cream cheese and sprinkles, baby carrots with ranch dressing, ham and turkey slices and applesauce.

Thursday - ham slices, baby carrots with ranch, wheat thins, blueberries for Tara, strawberries for Savannah and an organic fruit strip.

Friday - Pig-in-a-blanket, red bell pepper strips, string cheese and an applesauce. (Today was a lazy lunch - I could not get motivated for some reason - the PIB's were leftover from the night before and I went from there...)

Cause sometimes they just do cute stuff...

2009-10-07T20:56:00.000-05:00

Okay, the only point of this post is to share something my littlest diva has taken to doing...

As part of our bedtime routine, I climb into bed with Tara and we have storytime. Every night she picks a book and I read it to her and we spend some time talking about the pictures, just spending some time together just the two of us.

So, onto the cute thing.

For the past week or so, this is the conversation that takes place right after I finish reading the book of the night.

Tara: "Okay, Mama now I read the book to you!"

Me: "Okay, you read to me."

Tara takes the book and settles herself importantly - she does everything but clear her throat as she gets ready to begin.

Tara: "Okay, Mama, I read to you. Now you tell me the words, because I don't know them."

That girl - she cracks me up...

That sucks!!!

2009-10-07T20:45:00.000-05:00

Fingers, that is.

As in the issue that I have been hoping and praying would resolve itself has no - Savannah still sucks her fingers at nearly six years old. I swear, the child came out of the womb with her fingers in her mouth. She has sucked the same 2 fingers - her middle and ring finger on her right hand forever!!! Those fingers are wrinkled and callused and the nails are almost non-existent.

I have always taken the position that the problem would resolve itself - but so far no luck. For about the past year, Savannah has been taking speech therapy for some speech issues that, according to her speech teacher, are exacerbated by her sucking. So, we have embarked on a campaign to help her quit. We took the laid back approach, we took the positive reinforcement approach, we did reminders, incentives, you name it with the single exception of negative consequences (which I don't want to do for this issue) - we have tried about everything.

So, about a week ago, we decided on the ultimate incentive. We told Savannah that when she stops sucking her fingers, she will get a Nintendo DS. And she wants one - BAD!!! She is trying so hard!!! But, it is such an unconscience habit that she does it when she is not thinking about it - including when she is asleep.

So, after talking with Dan and also with Savannah - I ordered a finger guard from One Step Ahead. It is a plastic piece that fits over 2 fingers to serve as a reminder not to suck. We are only going to do it at home - her teachers say she is doing really well at school - I guess she stays busier there and is less apt to fall into an unconscience habit. And the point is to help her kick her habit - not draw more attention to it!!! So, she will wear it at home including while she sleeps and we will see how it goes. She is open to it - she sees it (as she should, I think) as a way to help remind her to do something else other than put her fingers in her mouth.

I really hope we are doing the right thing. She has 2 loose teeth now and I know it is really important to get this licked before her permenant teeth come in.

Are we doing the right thing? What would you do?

Seriously?!!!

2009-10-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

In what world is it ever appropriate to say to your co-worker, "You have a tail..." Seriously?!?! And have you never seen a dress that ties in the back?!?

Things I learned as a Mama #3

2009-10-05T08:33:00.000-05:00

It is cosmically impossible for 2 little girls to agree on which DVD, snack, book, to have at a time. You will know when it happens because the skies will part and angels will sing.

What the girls ate for lunch #7 - w/e 10/2

2009-10-04T21:22:00.001-05:00

Savannah was sick for most of this week, so the last half of the week there is only 1 lunch each day. Thankfully, both girls are fine now and so we are off to school tomorrow. It will be a short week though - Fall Break starts Wednesday! :-)

Monday - Identical lunches except for the fruit. Mini pepperonies, cheddar cheese cubes, Smore goldfish, and strawberries for Savannah and strawberries and blueberries for Tara.

Tuesday - Cheese quesasdilla cutouts, smoked turkey roll ups, baby carrots with ranch dressing, blueberries for Tara and strawberries for Savannah.

Thursday - teriaki chicken meatballs, rice and veggies, baby carrots and sliced Granny Smith apple. The teriake chikcen meatballs are from Costco - Yummy!

Friday - teriaki chicken meatballs, animal crackers, red bell pepper strips, and blueberries and strawberries with an organic fruit strip.

Twice as nice...

2009-10-03T21:20:00.000-05:00

All the hype over the last few weeks about the flu and the swine flu...errrr, I mean, the seasonal flu and the H1N1 flu has everyone around here a little....ummmmm...freaked out. I am talking handwashing instructions in the bathroom and a symtoms sign at the entrance gate to my job (I wonder if anyone has ever stopped and read that sign and went, you know what? I do have fever - I better turn around right now and go home!). And hand sanitizer EVERYWHERE - work, the girls' school, stores... And I am vigilant about flu vaccines. Both girls had thier vaccines about 3 weeks ago and I got the flu mist yesterday (by the way, the flu mist ROCKS!!! I am never getting a flu shot again...well, except for the H1N1 one.)

So, who would have thought I would get a call from Savannah's school Tuesday afternoon saying that Savannah did not feel well and had a slight temperature. GREAT!!!! I should have known it was coming - she had not been eating much and Sunday night and Monday night, she fell asleep on the couch way before bedtime. Sure enough, I get her home and she has a mild temp, but I give her some Tylenol and leave her with her daddy and head off to ballet class with Tara.

Then, that nightm when I am sounds asleep in my bed, I hear her. I go to her and she is BURNING UP! Poor thing! That starts us off on about 36 hours of doing all we can do to keep her fever down to a managable level. I made several calls to the pediatrician's office, but, we opted not to take her in - treatment was going to be the same either way - rest, fluids and lots of ibuprophen and tylenol.

So, yesterday seemed to be the turning point - she was still having an occasional mild temp, but nothing major. Thinking we have made it through this one...Yay!!!

So last night - I am thinking that Tara is acting kind of whiny and clingy. Dum, dum, dum, dum......

Sure, enough, the whininess and clinginess continue this morning - no sleeping in for mama...grrrrrr.....

And, lo and behold (what the heck, does "lo, and behold" mean anyway?), I am getting them rounded up for rest time and notice that both girls feel warm...

Oh, yes...

They BOTH have fever!!!

Shoot me now!!!

When tiny choices contradict...

2009-09-28T12:29:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have been all about making small choices to just be better...some things for ecominic reasons, some things for environmental reasons, some things, just because. One of my new favorit sites is Tiny Choices. It inspires me to just take baby steps.

But, my latest quandry is that sometimes those tiny choices contradict. So, I am having a little personal dilemna... An example...

About a year ago, I starting using resusable shopping bags. At first I bought those black or green ones from the the local grocery store, but now, I have been replacing them with all those cute prints that you can find just about any where. So, good for not using plastic or even paper. But, I seem to have found a way to make it work for the shopper fashionista deep inside me. Not sure if that is in spirit with the whole "less waste" for the environment lifestyle I am trying to embrace. And another...

This school year, I started sending cloth napkins to in the girls school lunches - yay, me! Less waste, right?

But, last night, I sat up and put pretzel goldfish and smores goldfish that I bought in family-sized packaging into little plastic snack-sized zip-lock baggies to keep in my car for our daily commutes. (If you have never traveled with a 3 and a 5 year old for more than 30 minutes at a time, let me alert you to the fact that they ALWAYS get hungry sometimes during your 50 minute commute. Snacks on hand are a must!) So, I am doing good by saving money and no buying those little individual-sized packages of snacks, but I am still producing waster - and plastic waste at that!! Oh, little snack-sized zip-lock baggies, how I love thee!!! You are like that bad boy that I knew my parents wouldn't like, but I couldn't seem to stay away from. You have a sweet, sensitive side that the rest of the world just doesn't see...

I am not sure if I am reducing our carbon footprint, but I am trying really hard to at least not make it any bigger. Maybe the best I can hope for is to break even...

Things I learned as a Mama #2

2009-09-27T16:22:00.000-05:00

From the time a baby is born, you look forward to that day when you reach the holy grail and they are "potty trained." Little do you know that you then enter the ultra glamorous period known as "Maaaamaaa, I POOPED!!! Come and wipe my bottom!!!!"

Reminds me of that scene in Coming to America where Eddie Murphey's character has a body servant to do just that...

Things I learned as a mama #1

2009-09-26T20:52:00.000-05:00

You really can have great sex in 5 minutes flat with a child calling your name from the other room...

What the girls ate for lunch #5 w/e 9-18-09 and #6 w/e 9-25-09

2009-09-24T21:10:00.001-05:00

Okay, this is a 2 week lunch post. With the yard sale over the weekend and a work trip to NYC that I left for on Sunday (more about that in another post :-) ), both weeks were short on lunches and I am just now able to sit down and post them. So, anyways, I have three lunches from last week and 2 lunchess from this week. We got off of our Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday routine - I was busy with prepping for the yard sale last Thursday, so didn't do a Friday lunch and this week - with me being gone - Dan was on Mister Mom duty and so the girls ate from the cafeteria menu the first part of the week. But I made lunches for today and tomorrow and the girls seemed excited to have thier lunch boxes with them when they left this morning.

Monday - grilled chicken brest strips, pretzel sticks, red bell pepper strips and sliced strawberries.

Tuesday - hot dog slices, cheese ravioli with pesto and fresh parmasan, red bell pepper strips and sliced strawberries.

Thursday - Pepperoni slices, pretzel chips, carrot spears, and grapes and sliced strawberries.

Thursday (the 24th) - wheat thins, sliced strawberries and peeled and sliced cucumbers for both; tomato and provoline sandwhich spirals for Tara and a sliced hot dog for Savannah.

Friday - sliced, roasted chicken, orange bell pepper slices, sliced strawberries and a chocolate chip granola bar.

If any of you are packing lunches for your kiddos - I would love to see and hear about them! I am always looking for new ideas!!!

Let's make a deal...

2009-09-23T11:18:00.000-05:00

Even though in spite of all the fancy-schanmcy degrees that I have hanging on my wall at work, deep down inside, I am a garage sale junkie. Not the “going to” type, but the “having one” type. I love it!!!

This past weekend was the annual Country Wood neighborhood yard sale – even though I don’t actually live in Country Wood, I still manage to have a sale there every year. I have a great friend who lives there who graciously lets me use her yard for the sale! I love love love the idea of having someone pay money for my junk!

So, every year I pull all the stuff I have been accumulating over the past year into our front room (which is really our formal living room, but is in reality the girls’ toy room. So, I pull it all together and take the third Friday in September off every year to do my yard sale.

This year, we had an unexpected kink – well, 2 actually – but the main one is that my friend had a fire at her house! She called me on Tuesday night very upset and I could hardly make out what had happened. Anyway, the gist of what I got from her that night was that there was a fire – they were all okay, but there was no power in their house and she did not think that a yard sale that weekend was a good idea.

(Okay, so here is where I admit (shamefully) that a tiny little part of me wanted to go – hey – what about me?!?! What about MY yard sale?!?! But don’t worry – I squashed that itty bitty voice, told it that it should be ashamed and sincerely told my friend not to worry about me, to focus on her family and just let me know if I can help in any way. I won’t get into her situation here, but don’t worry, she and her family are all fine and their house was only damaged on one side and is repairable.)

So, on Wednesday, I get an email from another woman I know talking about her yard sale in Country Wood!!! The skies broke open and the sun shone through!!! I called her and she was more than willing to let me come to her house to yard sale!!!

So, what about the other kink, you ask? Ummm, let’s just say that it has been VERY wet this month! I swear, we have had nothing but rain for the last 3 weeks! But, the annual yard sale is sort of like that ball field that Kevin Costner built in Field of Dreams – if you have it, they will come! And come they did! Sure enough, it rained off and on all day on Friday, but I still managed to have a really good day. It was really funny to see everyone running around in the rain from house to house. I managed to stay mostly dry thanks to the 2 tents we had set up.

Saturday, which is the most important day, stayed overcast most of the day, but it never rained so that was great!!! People came and went all day! I sold a ton of stuff! It is funny (and not always in a good way) how much effort some people go to on order to get a better deal than the listed price of an item. I several pairs of shoes that the girls had outgrown and I priced them all $1.00 each. They were in used condition, but definitely still had plenty of life in them. I had several pairs of Keds and one woman asked me “Hey, these shoes are $1.00?” I told her yes and she said, “Will you take 50 cents since they have been worn?” WTF?!?! They are marked $1 because they have been worn, you crazy lady!!!

So lots of stuff like that all day, but I keep a good attitude about stuff like that – it really doesn’t bother me as long as they are polite. I expect people to “deal” and mostly I am like, sure, whatever – a sale is a sale. But it was just that her reason “because they have been worn” was so odd – hey, lady, in case you weren’t aware…pretty much EVERYTHING at a yard sale has been worn!!!

At the end of the day, I had the greatest thing happen that can possibly happen to you at the end of a yard sale day. A woman who had a resale shop came by and offered a flat price for the children’s clothes that I had left. By that time, all of the good stuff had mostly been picked over and I had already decided to donate the rest to goodwill or whatever. So, when she offered – I took it!

All in all, it was my most successful yard sale to date!!! Probably won’t do it again until next September, but honestly, I love this stuff too much!!!!

Key holder...

2009-09-15T08:40:00.000-05:00

Jus in case you are wondering - It is entirely possible for a 3-year-old who begged to be the "key holder" to lose your keys in the 30 seconds it takes her to walk the 20 feet to the front door...

Do as I say, not as I do...

2009-09-14T19:00:00.000-05:00

Things I hope my daughters get from me:

1. My love of reading
2. My "book smarts"
3. My sense of humor

Things I hope they don't get from me...

1. My ability to follow directions...or not, as the case may be...

On Thursday, Savannah's teachers sent home a permission slip for her (FIRST EVER!) field trip. I signed the permission slip and sent it back in her school folder the next day.

On Friday, the permission slip was in her bag again, with the part highlighted that said, "Please send $12."

So, I wrote a check for $12 and sent it in her school folder today.

This afternoon (Monday), the permission slip was once again in her bag with the words,

Please do not send a check. Cash only.

underlined...

Twice...

My husband says things like this are a result of all that smart stuff I have stuffed up in my head.

Yeah, I like that... That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

What the girls ate for lunch #4 - w/e 9/11/09

2009-09-13T21:00:00.006-05:00

Short lunch week this week becaue of Labor Day. The girls only had 3 days of school. I called Tuesday my Double Monday because it was our first day back to work/school and it was also Dance Night - well, gymnastics for Savannah and ballet/tap for Tara. Now THAT was a long day!!!

We are experiencing a (hopefully temporary) setback in the "waste-free" credo. Those fancy-shmancy Thermoses that I bought the girls - well apparently during transport from home to school to cafeteria, the contents gets pressurized - giving the girls a lovely shower when they pop the spout open to drink. Not a good thing!!! So, I went back to the rubbermaid "juice box" containers and, well, unless they are kept completely upright, they always end up leaking...ugh! So, for now, we are back to pre-packages drinks - but I am not giving up hope of finding a good beverage container option for pre-school set that will fit easily in a lunchbox and be easy to use and not leak or spray!!!

So, onto the lunches...

Tuesday - slice of pepperoni pizza left over frum supper the night before and for Savannah - red and yellow bell pepper strips, strawberries and a cereal bar cut into chucks. For Tara, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries and an applesauce. Not a good lunch day for Savannh - my fault mostly - she came home and announced that she does not like the yellow bell pepper strips and also that the cereal bar got all mushy and crumbled all over everything. I didn't think about the fact that being in the same container with the fruits and veggies might cause it to get mushy. It probably would have been okay if I had put it into a separate container, but all in the same tray like that with no divider was not a good move...

Thursday - For Savannah, a string cheese, wheat thins, red bell pepper strips and sliced strawberries. She ate every bite. For Tara, a little blends yogurt, blueberries, wheat thins, baby carrots and sugar snaps. Another home run!

Friday - Savannah - pepperonis, mozzerella cheese cubes, pretzel sticks, baby carrots with ranch dip, grapes and for a treat, a fruit strip. Tara - tomato and provoline sandwich spirals, grapes, baby carrots and broccoli, applesauce and for a treat, a fruit strip.

I find myself making them similar but different lunches for them. I really thought I would be doing to identical lunches, but Savannah is more picky this year than she has been in the past, and I try to include things that each of them likes. Still, most days at least some components of thier lunches are the same.

As a side note, I am actually finding that in spite of the quite a few cute little bento boxes that we have and the laptop lunchboxes, my favorite lunch container for them is the regular Gladware sandwhich-sized container using the silicone muffin cups as dividers. They seem to hold just the right amount and put all the food on display in a cute way. Same concept as the laptop lunches, but a little smaller and more compact. Anyway, just think it is funny that the gladware I got for less than $1.00 is my lunch-packing fave!!! What lunch containers do you prefer?

Okay then...

2009-09-11T19:53:00.000-05:00

So, I have been wondering how parents determine what is appropriate for thier children to read, if they do not read it themselves.

Last week while I was waiting for the girls to get out of dance and gymnastics class, I was reading a book and talking with several other mothers who were also waiting. The conversation turned to good books for tween-aged children - say between the ages of 9-12. We talked about oldies - Nancy Drew, The Boxcar Children, Lois Lenski books and new ones - Goosebumps, Harry Potter, etc. I brought up The Golden Compass series.

...uhhhh, hello???

The room went dead silent...I kid you not. From the looks on the faces of the women around me, you would have though I suggested The Anarchist Cookbook or Helter Skelter. I literally had women pressing thier lips together and shaking thier heads in disapproval.

I thought that only happened to Opie in epidodes of Andy Griffith.

Now, I know there is controvery surrounding The Golden Compass books, but I have read them all - I think they are beautifully written - and in my opinion (as a former preacher's kid and a present born-again Methodist) I think the hype overshadows the beauty of these books. They are a fantasy story - nothing more, nothing less.

I would have understood the outrage perhaps if these same women opposed Harry Potter and similar books - I know plenty of people who have this opinion and while I don't agree, I do understand thier position at least.

But, no....apparently, boy wizards and demonic beings who literally suck the life of people is okay but alternate universes where a god only exists in the form of a mortal angel is not.

I think it is sad really because I think the overall moral of The Golden Compass - that no one is all good or all bad and that we become who we are by the choices we make is a beautiful message.

If more people believed that and lived thier lives accordingly, I think the world would be a better place.

What the girls ate for lunch #3 - w/e 9/04/09

2009-09-09T20:59:00.002-05:00

Another week down - another week of lunches. Here we go:

Monday: Identical lunches today - smiley potatos with ketchup in the little condiment container, cheddar cheese cubes, strawberries and pineapples and sugar snaps.

Tuesday: Almost identical - sandwich pinwheels with cheese and provolone (freezer section of the grocery), red bell pepper strips, pretzel sticks, grapes and a fruit strip, with some blueberries for Tara (Savannah does not like blueberries). Savannah was not impressed with the pinwheels - Tara ate every bite.

Wednesday was cafeteria day.

Thursday: Okay, today was a bit of indulgence - I made "fairy sandwhiches" for the girls - a butter sandwich (hey, not judging) with pink "fairy" (ummmm...sugar) sprinkles. Savannah's is the heart shape, Tara had the dinasour (a little sad looking). Along with that, they had string cheese chunks, red bell pepper strips and berries (strawberries for both and blueberries added for Tara).

Friday: Last day of the week! Wheat thins, cheese cubes and sugar snaps, strawberries for Savannah and grapes and blueberries for Tara.

I know I have like 5 whole regular readers, but I hope my lunch recaps insprire you to be creative with your own kid's lunches. I spend about 15 minutes or less putting together thier lunches. I really enjoy looking back and knowing what I made them. I am proud of the fact that thier lunches are about 50 percent fruir and veggies!!! Hopefully, they continue to love thier fruits and veggies as they grow!!!

Where to start...

2009-09-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

...I don't even know. I have a trillion and one things to do and what am I sitting her doing? Writing in my blog, checking out facebook, hanging around the etsy site (Gawd, I LOVE that site - you can find ANYTHING there!!!). Oh and watching last nights episode of Top Chef! And Project Runway comes on tonight (TIVO'ing it now), so that means I will be getting my bath late and going to bed later than I should!

And, in the midst of all this - just about 10 feet away from where I am sitting is a huge pile of...well, stuff!!! See, my annual foray into the yard sale business is just three weeks away and as usual, I am way behind on getting ready for it. Oh, I am very good at the drag-it-all-down-the-stairs-and-pile-it-in-the-front-room part of prepping - it is the organizing, cleaning, folding, hanging and tagging that I can't ever seem to get around too!

And I am a total yard sale nerd! I love it! I love setting all my stuff out - seeing everyone paw through it and (Yay!) handing over money to me for stuff I wasn't using anyway!

Oh, well - we are heading into a three-day weekend, so hopefully, I will get some motivation going and get some organization!!!

What the girls ate for lunch #2 - w/e 8/28/09

2009-08-31T20:57:00.004-05:00

So, the second full week of school has come and gone. The girls are settling in nicely - they like their teachers, their friends and Tara is just so thrilled to be going off to her school with her big sister each day!!! Of course, you would think Tara was 16, the way she plans her wardrobe each night before bed. If she wakes before me in the morning, she is standing at the top of the stairs with her clothes in her arms ready to get dressed. She is my little diva, for sure.

Anyway, on to lunches - although I packed lunch for them four days - taking Wednesday off - I only remembered to take pictures of two. I will try to do better next week!

On Monday, the girls had ditalini pasta (Savannah had a red sauce in the little green condiment container), strawberries, cheese cubes and sugar snaps with ranch dressing in the little container. It was a good lunch - they ate most every bite, except for a few sugar snaps that Tara finished on the way home.

On Friday, they had baloney and cheese roll ups, pretzels, fresh pineapple and mini baby carrots. Savannah came home and announced that she did not like her cheese in a roll up...funny, she liked it a month ago...oh well.

We have been doing pretty good with the waste-free lunches. The girls love their thermoses and napkins. We all love the napkins - I am thinking of getting a bunch for the house and eliminating paper napkins and paper towels for the most part! But, don't judge me too harshly, when you see the individually wrapped fruit leathers I got for the occasional lunch treat - hey, they're organic...

What the girls ate for lunch #1 - w/e 8/21/09

2009-08-23T21:10:00.004-05:00

Okay, so here is where I am going to keep up with what I am sending the girls for lunch each week. My goal is to blog about the previous week's lunches on the. I am planning to send them lunch 4 days out of 5! Here goes:

Monday: imitation crab legs, babybel cheese, crackers, strawberries, carrots and ranch dressing

Tuesday: Ham and cheese rollups cut into slices, red bell pepper strips, apple chunks, and a cereal bar for Savannah and a yogurt for Tara.

Wednesday: Savannah was sick, so it was only Tara today - she had a boiled egg, a babybel cheese, red pepper strips and strawberries.

Thursday:

Cafeteria Day!

Friday: Tortallini (only a couple for Savannah, cuz she doesn't really like them, although I keeep trying...), 1/2 a boiled egg, babybel cheese, wheat thins, red pepper strips and strawberries.

So now that I have posted these lunchs, I need to go to the kitchen and make lunches for tomorrow. Savannah wanted pineapple, so I have to cut one up - wish me luck (and expect to see it in lunches all week! :-) )

Hmmm...guilt much?

2009-08-20T18:14:00.004-05:00

Haven’t updated the blog in several days and that makes me feel guilty. Yeah, like I have a big audience out there and they are all so disappointed that they are sitting at their computers looking at my blog and hitting the refresh button in vain every few minutes. I have had so much going on lately and I find myself thinking, that would make great blog material…I need picture of X for my blog. But, here I am, no recent updates in sight.

Yesterday, I read a blog entry from a dear friend from my mommy forum. She is a beautiful soul with 3 gorgeous children – one of whom happens to have special needs. You can read her blog post here: http://colofisch.blogspot.com/2009/08/iceberg.html

I can’t even begin to compare myself to Jenny – I can only hope that if faced with the same set up circumstances, I would able to do it with as much strength and grace as she does. So aside from all that – she brings up a really good points about parents in general whether she meant to or not. And that is what has been stewing around in the back of my mind since I read her post.

As parents, as moms, we are constantly being judged – or at least that is how we feel. Mommy Guilt is something that jumps out to bite me more than I care to admit. And that, my friends, is really just a fear of being judged – by other parents, by teachers, by family members, heck, even by my kids. I am a working mama! I love my job and sometimes, I feel so guilty that I do! And I feel like maybe other parents who spend more time home with their kids doing all those fun crafty things that it never occurs to me to do are judging me – Psssttt…that woman would rather be in an office all day than be at home raising her babies. Well, I do love being in an office and I also love raising my babies. Anyone who has met my little princesses would have to admit that I (okay, we – me and Dan) have done a pretty darn good job! They are sweet, smart, well-mannered (most of the time) – and I love them both to pieces!!! But, there is that little niggling voice in the back of my head that tells me that maybe I lack somehow because I want to go to work – I choose to leave my girls each day. I look at them and sometimes wonder if they would have been better off if I had stayed home with them? Then I think, no, I don’t see how they could be – aren’t they already perfect?

Then there is the matter of what they eat - am I doing the right things? I pack lunches most days, I try to be "green" and I think I do a pretty job, but I did not get there overnight. The first time I ever packed Savannah's lunch (she was not quite 2), I packed her 1/2 of a lunchable and a half a banana. Some people would gasp at the sodium. Others might just say I was being lazy. But hey, she was being fed, she was happy. :) Nowadays, my new thing is a waste-free lunch - lunch bag, thermos, even cloth napkins. I pack them "bento style" and get a kick out of putting things in little compartments and making it look cute. So which is better? Is either one really? In both cases, it got the job done? Just saying...

It goes on and on - whay they eat, what they wear, what we do in our spare time...

I saw a post on facebook today about a coworker who recently had a baby and decided to leave her job at SJ to take something that would allow her more time at home. On the one hand, I am thinking great for her, and I am reading all the congrats she got - all the kudos for "choosing what it important," "work will always be there, but your babies are only little one." Bam! Judging - mommy guilt!!! Now I know that there was really no judging there - those people making those (very nice) comments don't even know me. But...that is how it felt to me.

I am sitting her blogging while the girls watch Bindi the Jungle girl and Savannah eats an ice cream cone and Tara walks around in my high heels that I wore to work. Should I be spending this time doing some creative activity with them? But as Savannah climbs up beside me to talk about her day and hug on me and tell me she loves me and Tara climbs up in her "me too" mode - Nah...for now at least we are all exactly where we need to be.

America's next top model...

2009-08-12T21:00:00.011-05:00

...well, maybe if I wasn't 36!!! So my mom is a great seamstress and she recently came across a "how-to"
online to make a version of the dress generally know as a Le Sac dress. It is basically a sheath dress with a tie at the top that you can wear several different ways depending how how you adjust the sheath and the tie. She made me two (I love being a daughter!!!!) - one in black and one in lilac. I told her I would model it different ways to show the different ways you can wear it. I used the black tie with the lilac dress in all the styles so that you could see how each is tied. Some of them I think will look better with a tie of the same color. Anyway, here you go:

This is a Grecian style:

This is a more basic style:

This is a halter style. I used a rhinestone clip-on earring in the center of the "V" in the front.

And another halter style. This is one of my favorites:

I love this dress! You can really play with the fabric - pulling and tucking it to get the look you want to get. There are several other ways to wear it and I will try to post those later.

Now I just need someplace to go...

Shameless showing off of the progeny...

2009-08-11T18:52:00.003-05:00

Open letter to Wendy's

2009-08-11T18:40:00.003-05:00

Dear Wendys...or McDonalds...or Sonic...or [insert your fast food restaurant of choice here] -

I appreciate fast food. Heck, I love fast food. And, shameful as it is for me to admit, I have managed to ensure that my girls love fast food too. I swear for a lot of months in her toddlerhood, Tara thought every drive up window was a Wendy's (bank, drive thru cleaners - all Wendys!!!). And Sonic!!! Need I expound of the virtues and wonders that are my medium vanilla coke that I get every morning on the way to work? I think not. I LOVE FAST FOOD... Ummm....did I say that already?

Here is what I don't love and I think I can speak for most parents out there...we do not love those stupid little bags of 5 gazillion little cardboard pieces that you put in the kids meal / happy meal / wacky pak. Or those little blow up thingys. Or the CD-Rom trivia games. We HATE them!!! All that means is that we have to spend the entire drive home, saying no, we can't open that now... We hate that. And then we spend the first half hour we get home at the end of our long work day "helping" little girls put together 3D cardboard puzzles that will not lock together and that come apart on one end when you try to attach something on the other end... We hate that. Then we have to step in and mediate / stop the impending bloodshed when one little girl's innocent shove...ummm....nudge causes the other little girl's puzzle to collapse... We hate that. Then we have to yell...ummmm...request that said little girls choose another activity before bedtime. We hate that. Oh, yes and then we have to clean up the gazillion pieces that have managed to get spread from one end of the house to the other... We REALLY hate that.

So, I am begging you Wendys, McDonalds, Sonic and all you other fast food chains out there...

Just put a stupid little mini stuffed animal in the bag and call it a day.

On the dark side...

2009-08-10T19:24:00.003-05:00

So, I went on Saturday for my every-other-month hair appointment. I knew when I went I wanted something darker. I am...um, was, very blond - really - I have been highlighting of some kind for most of my life!!! I have been darker blonde and lighter blond, but even at my darkests, I will still blond enough to qualify as "dark blonde."

No more, people. I am brunette - officially! I feel smarter already...

Seriously, it is dark. It has only been two days, so I am still doing double takes when I see my reflection in a mirror - or any mirrored surface for that matter. When I got home on Saturday, the girls came to the stairs to see me and just got the most confused grins on thier faces. Yeah, they were looking around for Ashton Kutcher and the rest of the Punk'd crew. But, they say they like it, so I guess that means I can keep it.

So far, all the feedback from my fans...er, friends, has been really good. And right after they say, Ooooohhhh, I like it, they then say, "So, what does Dan think?" For the record, he likes it too. Although, honestly, I think he would be fine if I colored it purple so long as I don't cut it! :)

With odds like that, I oughta go play Vegas...

2009-08-06T20:36:00.004-05:00

Today as I was leaving a meeting (a very successful one that I help organize and facilitate, thankyouverymuch...) I was in an elevator with a coworker. My hands were full with meeting stuff and as I am stepping off the elevator, I feel my carefully constructed pile of stuff start to slide. I hear a clatter on the floor and know that yes, I have once again dropped my phone or my blackberry (Yes, I have both - you have a problem with that? No, one of them is not an I-Phone and I have a problem with that...)... So as I am looking all around my feet, I hear my normally uber-mellow co-worker say, "Oh, S&*t!!!" I am all like What?!? He is trying not to laugh and motions to the floor. I am like all umm, yes, I know I dropped something - now where is it. He tells me, the elevator shaft...

Ummm...what?!?!?

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, somehow, I managed to drop my blackberry, have it disengage from its "protective" case, turn upright on its side at just the precise angle to slide in between that abyss of a crack between the elevator and the lobby floor.

Cue the sick feeling in my stomach....

So, I could explain how it all went from there, but I am sure the only part you are interested in is the facgt that I had to explain to about 20 people what happened. After they all stopped laughing, I find out that the very nice man from maintenance was able to go down the basement and retrieve it.

Can you believe it still works perfectly. Not even a scratch. I am feeling pretty smug right about now...

But something tells me that someday, sometime this little scenerio is all gonna come back and haunt me in some coy little company skit or something...

Coulda been worse, I guess...

I coulda dropped it in the toilet...

Your wish is my command...

2009-08-05T19:06:00.002-05:00

So, usually, when I have an opportunity to sum myself up in a sentence or 2, I say something like this:

From 9-5 I am an attorney for a wonderful organization, which makes a great cover for my real identity - Queen Stephenie. Hey - it must be true as I am mama to two little princesses!

Lately, though I am rethinking that. As queen, shouldn't I have more of a life of leisure? Seems I spend all my time responding to commands...er...requests to "Make me some chocolate milk!" and "I need something to eat!" and "Put on Max and Ruby!" and, not to be omitted, "Wipe my bottom!!!!" (okay, that one is from Tara, my littlest princess and to be fair, she is only 3!)

Seems to me that I am no queen...

I'm a body servant.

Day 1

2009-08-04T20:00:00.004-05:00

Here we go. So, lately, I have been wanting to give the blogging world a try again... (some of you may remember The Princess Diaries, which were pretty much an open love letter to my little princesses). And Lord knows, I read enough of them. So here I am. Why Trixieland? Heck if I know. I just like Trixie - it is what I call my little bow-making hobby that I do - you will probably hear more about that later. Anyway, just sounds carefree to me and a little crazy - at least that part is certainly true - ummmm... the crazy part, not the carefree part.

So, here is what you will get here in Trixieland - hopefully come good commentary on whatever is going on in my life at the moment - lots about my kids (the little darlings I put to bed an hour early tonight because, hello??? I am just done with the bickering!!!) Some stuff about my marriage and my darling prince charming of a husband - who I will just call PC here. What you won't here are any details about any arguments we may have or whatever - borrrriinnng, I know - but it just goes agains my grain to air dirty laundry of that sort - even here. Now dish on the little princesses - I can guarentee you a lot of that - they are about the biggest part of my life!

Hmmm...about the work part? I am an attorney and I work for one of the most amazing places in the world - I am so blessed to be able to do what I do in the place that I do it. But, let's just leave it at for 8 hours a day, five days a week, I do my thing to earn my part of the family paycheck and leave it at that.

I am a foodie blog stalker - specifically the bento variety, so I am going to try to do my share to contibute to the bento web space. School starts next week for the little prinesses and I am determined to send lunch for them most days.
So, I have to figure out all the stuff about posting photos and linkbacks and all that stuff. Bear with me and I will get it down...I hope. I also have a groovy new camera and I am having a good time documenting the lives of the little princesses, so I can pretty mch guarentee that you will be seeing those... :)

Enough of an intro - I guess it is time to hit publish or whatever... See you!

Life in Trixieland

New directions...

Let's talk about Make Up...

Parenting FAIL or yes, we were totally THAT FAMILY this morning during church...

You betcha...

Yum...

Peep, Peep

Haiku for my hair

Oh, how the proud have fallen...

Things I wish my daughters did not have to learn the hard way.

All Kinds of Pretty

It's a Drag...

It's Dazzling...

Yeah, what she said!!!

Is there a 12-step program for this?

Welcome to the World, Miss Riley!!!

Bibbidy Bobbidy, Whew!!!!

Redux

Conversations at 2 a.m.

Enter whining...

Ewwww...seriously?

The catch-up lunch post

60:1 - Sweet Revenge - Nora Roberts

Christmas in pictures (lots of pictures...)

You can't make this stuff up...

Holiday Rock!

More Reading = Less Blogging

Family Ties

Mission accomplished!

52:52 Challenge, continued...

What the girls ate for lunch #12 and 13 w/e 11/13 and 11/20

Around the world in 80 days...

Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve

Once a Princess...

Brick Wall

Rant...I am so over Jacob/Taylor L...

Savannah Saturday

Things I learned as a Mama #4

Cinderella on trial

You oughta know...

Tara Tuesday

What the girls ate for lunch #12 - w/e 11/13/09

Things I learned as a Mama #4

New stop on the Tooth Fairy route...

Savannah Saturday

In under the wire...

Teeth, ears and meltdowns, oh my...

Savannah the Star

If you read my blog in my Face Book notes...

He's makin' his list...

Rebellion

What the girls at for lunch #11 - w/e 11/6

Annual De-lurking Day

Random thoughts

Nothing if not predictable...

52:52 Challenge

Little elves who steal shoes...

Tuesday quickie...

Seriously?!?!?!

EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

Loads of Lunches - What the girls ate for lunch...

Catch up post - AKA - more shameless showing off of the kiddos...

Does a video clip count as a post?

What the girls ate for lunch #'s 8 & 9 - w/e 10/9 & 10/16

Cause sometimes they just do cute stuff...

That sucks!!!

Seriously?!!!

Things I learned as a Mama #3

What the girls ate for lunch #7 - w/e 10/2

Twice as nice...

When tiny choices contradict...

Things I learned as a Mama #2

Things I learned as a mama #1

What the girls ate for lunch #5 w/e 9-18-09 and #6 w/e 9-25-09

Let's make a deal...

Key holder...

Do as I say, not as I do...

What the girls ate for lunch #4 - w/e 9/11/09

Okay then...