super cute idea

How cute is this? It makes me want to throw a party right now.

Watching the video makes me wonder how long it would take me to make it look that cute. I'm thinking half a day, 5 hours?

Oh, how cute it would be for Eloise's b-day.

Hansel & Gretel

My parents are in the process of building a new house. Therefore, my mom is shelling off all of our old crap to clear out her basement. One of the few items I kept from this lovely exchange was a bundle of books I had when I was growing up.

All of the books are illustrated by Eloise Wilkin. This is where I fell in love with the name Eloise. Not this Eloise. One of the books she illustrated was Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm.

Eloise loves the Little Einstein's. They did a remake of Hansel and Gretel a while back. It was pretty cute, but the witch left a lasting impression. We often talk at night about how when she is scared of the witch, she can pray or come get mommy.

After digging out the books, I put them on a shelf in her room for display. One night I found the above title and thought, How cute, it will be just like Little Einstein's. WRONG!!!

Let's just say that the witch has different intentions. Such as, eating the little children. Fortunately, I skimmed the book before reading and landed on this line:

"Now, although the old woman seemed so kind,
she was really a wicked witch who ate little children.
So, while Hansel and Gretel were sleeping,
she was thinking of the fine meal she would have"

What!?! I don't remember this when I was a kid. Did my mother really read this to me?

The best part, at the end of the story, Hansel and Gretel shove the witch into the fire and take off with her jewels. And, "they were able to live comfortably and happily ever after". hmmmm.

Still in horror I told Eloise that we weren't going to read the book. She broke into "the meltdown". You know the one that takes forever to bring them back. Where you are just thinking of anything to get them to stop. Anything just short of bribing them with candy.

Could someone please tell me why my parents generation thought this was wholesome? Or rather, a good idea to read this to small children?

some unforgettable images:

I think they forgot about the support system for the chest

Just waiting to eat Hansel

Now that is some fine literature.

Magnificant Weekend

This weekend was the best! And we all have colds. How does that work?

It's works b/c it was finally sunny. For crying in the night, it's been a month since we've seen it around here. We've seen alot of rain and even snow. Yes, snow! This is Oregon, not Ohio.

As some of you may know, I do not like Summer, and I do not like the sun. During the summer months, I spend as much time in the shade as possible. It's not b/c I have fair skin and burn easily, I just don't like being hot and sweaty.

However, yesterday and today, I loved. It was low 70's, high clouds with sun peaking through and a cool breeze. If only the entire summer could be this nice.

Everyone jumped at the chance to finally mow their lawn. We took the opportunity too. Eloise helped us weed the front flower beds while lily took her nap. Eloise was in heaven. There were tons of lady bugs. She would pick them up and carry on 5 minute coversations with each one. She would ask them what they liked to eat, where their mommy was, do they like to eat dirt, etc. Then she would flick them off and offer them some dirt by piling it on top of the poor thing. It was so cute. She even put on my gloves and helped dave put yard debris in the can. That kid loves to be dirty.

After naps we drove to Ikea for $1 ice cream cones and then to the airport to watch planes. It was a slow day, very few planes.

My house was a mess and I loved it. Today we cleaned and played again. Dave and Eloise spent most of the day with their new Mega Bubble Gun. I sent Dave to pick out a bubble maker so we were released of our duty to stand there. And he came back with this Giganto bubble gun which we still have to do.

Here's my most favorite pics(I'm really bummed it's a bit fuzzy - I need a new camera). I love that Dave is the daddy of two girls. It's so precious.

NYC

My mom, sister and I are taking a trip to NYC in August. August? Yes, August. I know, humidity, heat, eck. (I can't muster up what it feels like to be in the warm weather considering the cold spell we have had). But this is the only time my sister can get a break and it's really a trip for her 40th b-day. I'm tagging along.

This is big trip for a few reasons:

One. My sister and I are 9 years apart. (I was not an accident. My parents just took a long time to decide. Really!) The age difference has not facilitated the best sibling relationship. She was married when I was in the 8th grade and had kids when I was a junior in high school. But the years have brought about the process of healing and we are about to attempt another trip as mom and daughters. (We traveled to San Diego right before I got engaged about 7 years ago and let's just say, it didn't go so well.) Now having 2 daughters of my own, I see this in a whole new light. I'm doing this for my mom. To give her a wonderful, joyous trip to remember with her girls. I did not have that attitude traveling to San Diego.

Two. First time apart from Lily. And first time apart from both girls for more than 2 days. I suggested to Dave that he take the girls up to my parents. My sister's kids will be there with my dad. My girls love their teenage cousins and feel very much at home at my parents. He thought it might be kind of cool to stay home and handle things on his own. hmmm. I told him I wouldn't even do 6 days on my own. But if he wants to take on the challenge, so be it. So we're going to try a few practice runs first.

Three. Neither my sister or myself have been to NYC. Frankly, I've never really had a desire to go. BUT....I know that there are really fantastic things to do there. So I need some help. Those of you who have been to NYC, let me know your favorites and "must-do's while there". For those of you who haven't been there, what would you want to do if you were going to NYC?

Bad mommy moment

So yesterday we went to open gym at Gymnastics. It was really fun, besides following Eloise around and preventing her from cutting in line or walking in front of a rope swing with a 7 year old dangling from it.

On our way home I had to run a few errands. I wanted to be quick b/c it was lunchtime and I knew they needed naps.

First, Costco had a great sample day. I basically fed my girls lunch while shopping. They loved everything.

Since I had the great fortune of getting one of those coveted up-close parking spots, when I walked out, 7 cars were waiting. Flustered, I threw the girls in the car along with my groceries. I buckled Lily in and headed for the bread store.

The bread store is a short trip down the freeway on our way home. When I got the bread store, I looked back and Lily was sleeping. I opened Eloise's door to hand her something before I ran in (which is within 20 feet of me, don't worry) and I noticed that I DIDN'T STRAP ELOISE IN HER CARSEAT!!!!!

I have NEVER done this before. I was mortified! I said I was sorry about 50 times.

After getting our bread and heading home, Eloise was in the back saying, "I'm so sorry, mama". Good thing she doesn't really get it yet.

Phew, that was close.

Family Cleaning Night

About a month ago, on a Sunday, we were driving home from delivering meals. I was feeling really overwhelmed and not at all wanting to clean up the kitchen, let alone the house.

In my mind, I was secretly hoping someone had come to my house, cleaned my kitchen, scrubbed my floors and dusted. I was snapped back into reality the moment I walked into my smelly home (smelly from cooking, not from dirty diapers, in case you were wondering).

Then it came to me, Family Cleaning Night. I got all excited and declared the evening family cleaning night. Mommy would sweep and Daddy would vacuum. Eloise squealed in delight and ran to get her broom and other cleaning supplies. Dave just shook his head hoping and wishing I had not just said what he thought I said. I did indeed honey, YOU are vaccuming the house. He saw how excited the girls were and jumped in on the fun.

Now every Sunday night after dinner, we turn on whatever music Eloise wants to listen to, which is usually this Veggie Tales 70's night (it makes me want to run out of the house screaming Serenity Now every time I hear it - Thanks Shannan). Then we get to work. Eloise and I sweep and then scrub the floor with Method floor cleaner. She loves to squirt and wipe.

It takes about 30 minutes to get everything picked up and back in order. The best part is watching Lily chase the vacuum around and try to unplug it when Dave isn't looking.

Now this all sounds very Cleaver family-ish. I assure you, it, we, are not. Just another sneaky way that mama is incorporating the family into her duties. Oh, and teaching my girls a little bit about work ethic, I guess that's the important part.

Eastsider's

A good friend was in town last night and invited us over for dinner at her sister-in-law's house. We live on the east side and they live on the west side. Those of us who live on the east side will do just about anything to avoid driving anywhere near that side of town.

I'm really good with directions and looked them up on Google. So far, they have been consistently accurate. Except for last night.

The trip said it would take 40 minutes, so me, being always on time or early, planned for an hour. Good thing I did b/c we got lost.

As we are heading up this winding hill Eloise yells that she has to go pee-pee and poo-poo. Okay, what do I do now? Pull over, let her pee in her carseat if she can't make it, or risk waiting and I have no idea how long that will take.

Just then my friend calls. We had traveled too far up the hill. Eloise yells in panic again. I can try this signature move. No, I'm afriad. Or I can pull over into this neighborhood and have her pee in the grass at a vacant building lot. Perfect, let's try this.

So I get her out in, what I would call, a really affluent neighborhood, and I pull down her pants and the pressure is released. She is getting a kick out of the fact that she is able to pee in the grass. Thankfully she didn't poop b/c I would have felt like I had a dog and had to pick it up with a spare plastic grocery bag. We managed to get away with no pee on her clothes. Away we went to spend time with friends.

I'm sure all those people in those fancy houses were thinking, "Eastsider's".

things I know about road trips and other funny stories

We are back and glad to be here. What an amazingly wonderful and incredibly exhausting trip. I loved the time we had with friends and the restful moments with my parents.

Here are a few of my favorite tips for travel:

1. While driving, if your child sneezes and has snot running down her nose, try not to vomit when she starts playing with it and licking it off her hands.

2. When arriving to your destination, remember that your children will not sleep well the first night and it will take you anywhere from 1 - 2 hrs to put them to bed.

3. Never travel without your spouse or a friend. Parenting alone is hard work.

4. Utilize your car for as many naps as possible. It will guarantee peace for a tired mama.

My favorite story from the trip:

While visiting my friend Michelle and her 3 kids (see pic below - the newborn, baby Gwenyth is sleeping) we had some interesting potty experiences. Eloise walks up to me and says, "You wait here, I'll be right back" and heads off to the bathroom. Michelle is in process of remodeling and there are no bathroom doors at the moment, just a shower curtain. She's in there for a while so I sent Logan, 5, to check on her. About 3 minutes later, they both walk out.

Suprised, I asked, "Did you wipe?" "No" Logan replied, "I wiped her". Hmmmm. "Well", I said, "could you both go back and wash your hands?" Sure. And they both walked back into the bathroom and spent the next 10 minutes working as a team washing one another's hands. Oh, and 1/2 the bottle of handsoap was missing after this. I told Dave this story later that night. After laughing hysterically, he suddenly felt horrified that a 5 year old boy had touched his daughter's bum.

A few of my favorite photos:

Eloise, Lily, Aidan, & Bella

They belong to my beautiful friend Willow (where we stayed)

Michelle's new baby Gwenyth

Her other cute kids, Logan and Meg

The 5 year old potty helper

Lily enjoying the sunshine

Lily on the way home
(is my music really that bad?)

ahhh...glad to be home.
McMommy - I haven't forgotten about the meme, I promise!

ughhh

After that wonderful night of sleep, I experienced the worst night of sleep. Lily coughed from 11:45 p.m. to 3 a.m. And don't think I didn't give her every type of medicine possible to knock her out. I even gave her something I don't think I should have. She's okay today, don't worry, no lasting damage.

Well after coughfest, Eloise woke at 5:15 crying. Then Lily coughed again around5:30 and they were both up for the day at 6:30. So if we're doing our math right, that means I operated the day on 2 hours of sleep. And I even drove to my parents (2 1/2 hrs away).

We are headed out on a girls vacation to Bellingham b/c Dave is "supposedly" going to win all this money in Reno on his annual guys trip. I think his words were, "I want to take alot of money, so I don't have to gamble it all". Hmmmm.....don't think you are coming back with any, honey.

So we walked in the door to my parents and I handed off the girl's to my mom. They really don't want me when we're here anyway. I become 2nd in line to "nanny". No make that 3rd, there's Mimi, the cat.

Pray for our travels, safety, health, and mostly a relaxed and easy going mommy. (I tend to get a little crazy about schedule).

inhumanely exhausted

I read on this cute moms blog, that while raising her boys she is often "inhumanely exhausted". I love that term. Raising little ones is exhausting beyond the norm.

Last night I laid down at 7:30 after putting lily to bed. Dave and Eloise were watching TV and Dave suggested I lay down in bed. Okay, sure, I'll just take a small nap and then get up. Well I didn't get up until 6:30 a.m!!!! Of course, to the sound of Lily yelling "mama".

After pukefest, family in town and making several meals this weekend, and both girls being up every 2 hrs the night before, my body was done. As most who know me, know that I don't sit down. Well this time, I couldn't actually stop my body. I was nauseated from being so tired. I was inhumanely exhausted and now just slightly refreshed.

As a side note: When I was a new mom, I would have been bitter reading this. I actually thought I would never sleep for 8 hours again in my life. It almost brought me to tears. So those of you reading as new moms, I promise, you will sleep again. I've had two "not so good" (angela is yelling right now) sleepers, and I've made it through.

Close but not quite

So I'd been hearing snip-it's of "man is pregnant" stories. Frankly, I don't get an opportunity to watch the news. I'm too busy singing along to Little Einstein's and yelling out "Oh, Toodles" when Mickey needs a mystery-mouse-ca-tool. So the thought of searching out this, most likely false, story of a man being pregnant, was not high on my to-do list.

Tonight while Dave and I were watching TV the previews for the news brought it up again. I asked Dave what it was all about. Was it a hoax? No, apparently this is a man that used to be a women. OH, SO IT IS A HOAX! He has girl parts. That doesn't count.

After google-ing this story I got to the bottom. This man has been a woman for 20 some years. This is ridiculous. When a sports watching, sex-starved, how-do-i-get-out-of-changing diapers, father of 2 gets pregnant. THEN a man has gotten pregnant. But until then, women still hold the cards in this department. Don't get me wrong, I think it would be great for men to experience heartburn, constant trips to the bathroom, nausea, mood swings, back pain, swelling feet, stretch marks, and random food cravings. But it just isn't physically possible, so don't tease me with the idea that someone has come up with a way for it to happen. I'm embarrassed to be from Oregon.

NKOTB

Did anyone else see this? Visions of Sixteen magazine and my bedroom in 8th grade decorated in NKOTB posters are dancing in my head.

Are they seriously doing a reunion? Who is going to attend their concerts? Women in their 30's? Do they have new stuff or are they still singing Hangin' Tough?

What's next, a 90210 reunion?

I'm so eager to see how this is all going to play out.

dance moves

I'm starting to wonder if Eloise is modeling all of her body movements after 90's NBC hit sitcoms. First, she runs like Phoebe from Friends, and now she dances like Elaine from Seinfeld. Dave caught these fantastic moves yesterday.