November 30, 2007

Things I did today....

-Took Nathan to school in clean clothes, clean socks and even clean underwear.

-Got a 2 year old and 3 year old to play quietly, using kind words, for-get this-an HOUR AND A HALF!

-Did NOT drink a can if Diet Coke or soda of any kind.

-Showered. (Seriously, it is worth bragging about.)

-Edited some photos, constructed a newsletter, did a few dishes.

-Went on a date with my hubby! (Dinner AND a move, thankyouverymuch)

-Completed my final blog for NaBloPoMo.

Looking back on a list of such magnitude begs the question:
WHY do you people find my life interesting?! Maybe it is the wonderful train wreck that seems to pop up in incidents of panic? Or perhaps you enjoy it when I speak at length on my children's potty habits? I know! You love how normal you feel when I talk about the things that go on inside my mind.

Whatever the reason, I sure am glad you are here. I plan to stick around for awhile.
For now, I am going to sleep. Because tomorrow is December! Woo Hoo!

Life of Toys

An hour of playtime in my house as documented by the MySpace comments left on my friend Missy Shell's page...

9:22am
Why did I teach him how to talk?
As I lie here, trying to rest and his sister plays quietly-oh so quietly-in the background, all I hear is this:

"Mommy, does Darth Vader get mail? I am building a train for him so he can get mail. We should watch that movie about Darth Vader when he gets mail. It is coming to a theater in the spring. My friend from school saw it and said it is a really real movie. It really is. And Mommy, my friend also has a movie about Luke and Leia when they were babies and fighting Darth Vader--"

"Well, Nathan, when they were babies, Darth Vader wasn't Darth Vader yet."

"Oh. Well we need to get that movie anyway. And Mommy, what is this that Princess Leia is holding in her hand? And does Darth Vader want to kill R2D2? Can R2D2 drive like this? What about like this? I think he can drive like this and I want to see the movie about when R2D2 was a baby.........."

9:37am
Oh no! Now Percy and Annie and Clarabel have gone over to The Dark Side! James and Luke Skywalker are now battling them for thier souls!

I don't think my brain can handle the clashing of product lines. If I look up and see Friendship Bear battling a droid, I just might explode.

10:21am
Ohhhh, poor Darth Vader and Emporer Palpatine, now they are in charge of feeding Lucy's Baby Kake and tucking her in for bed. Who knew the Dark Sith Lords would make such excellent babysitters?! (Nathan is upstairs and Lucy has raided the Star Wars toys)

As Promised...

You know, I almost sketched a version of the picture of the kids with Mickey and Minnie to scan in and show you so I didn't ruin the surprise of the actual picture when it's sent in Christmas cards later next month.

But I am not that cruel.
Instead, I had Nathan draw one!











Ha. Just kidding.
Here you go...

The One Where We All Go Back

My feet are aching.
My back is sore.
My eyes are closing.
My gas tank is empty.

All of this means....we hit Disneyland again!

Today was not a solo mission. This time we took a whole gaggle of people including David, Nicholas, Alyssa and her beau Mark.

Because I am afraid this blog might be turning into "Zab Tales of Disneyland" AND because in between each sentance I type, I look up at the episode of "Friends" that I am watching and then fall asleep which then turns each sentance into a 2 minute task, I am skipping to the highlights only.

* Getting off the Jungle Cruise and the "cast member" helping Lucy off the boat said, "There you go, Princess!" She stopped walking, turned around and said, "Mommy! He called me PRINCESS!"

* Taking all 3 kids on "Pirates" and both boys telling me they weren't scared at all when we were done. (Know that I did make an inappropriate joke about bringing the Ziploc with grandmas ashes nice and loud for the amusement of the Disney people. I wondered if they'd stop the ride and question me. They didn't.)

* Cherry sours

* While waiting for Lucy and David to go on Dumbo, Alyssa went to grab some lunch so Mark and I took the boys on "Mister Toad's Wild Ride." As we were standing in line, I told Mark that I couldn't remember the last time I'd been on. In fact, my parents never took me on it when I was little. He told me that his parents didn't either! How weird was that? In fact, he wondered if he'd ever been on it! We marveled at our parents' oddities and laughed, ha! We got on the ride and I continued laughing inside. Ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha-uh oh. Mister Toad had been a bad boy. Nathan noticed the darkness of the scenes around him and was no longer steering. A scary judge (was he a badger or something?) loomed above us and shouted the words "GUILTY!" And it was then that I realized exactly WHY my parents hadn't taken me to Mister Toad's Wild Ride. Because the ride that's for kids SENT ME TO HELL!

Please excuse the words for which this acronym stands, but: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?!?
What is up with the story of Mister Toad?!
OK, moving on.

* Having a 4-3 Adult to kid ratio. It completely rocked.

* The final moment of the day: The boys were on the "toilet ride" (we tried calling it that all day to make going to the bathroom sound exciting but they didn't buy it once) and Lucy and I were waiting outside. We saw Pluto walking across the street and as we chased him down, we stumbled upon Mickey and Minnie and Goofy all posing for pictures. I called David and told him to bring the boys over and we walked over to get in line. The "cast member" standing at the back of the line said he'd sneak us in as the last person to see Mickey for now. (Calling Lucy "princess" again, much to her delight.) We thanked him and waited our turn. As we stood there, Minnie Mouse was going away. Lucy called out to her and waved. She was sad Minnie was going.

It was our turn to see Mickey, the boys were with us and everyone fell on Mickey showing him their new badges (lanyards) and telling him EVERYTHING they'd done that day. I reminded them that Mickey had to go so lets take our picture. As we lined everyone up, who comes over? Minnie Mouse! Lucy was extatic! She walked right over to us and I now have the most wonderful, magical picture of my 3 babies and Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

It's so silly, I started crying. I was standing there, taking pictures, crying at such a simple sight. But for me, it was the perfect end to a wonderful day. A moment that brought me such abundant joy, I honestly thanked God for it.

Pictues coming tomorrow.
Good night.

The Registry Standards

My Mom: What's going on with your baby registry? The Target one is really boring and the Babies R Us one only has breast cream.

Me: I know, I have NOT had the time to get down there and actually register for anything.

My Mom: Well, I am not buying you anything till you get more fun stuff on there. I am going to be a Grandma for the third time, I'm not wasting my time on boring stuff like binkys and bottles.

Day Is Done...

...and now I am officially reusing blog titles.
Tonight I don't care. (I bet I will care tomorrow when I re-read this so maybe only a few of you will know my dirty little reusing secret.)

This holiday weekend held:
4 Thanksgiving celebrations
1 cooked by me (although everything was instant this year-gimmie a break, I am pregnant)
3 Toddlers running our household
1 Church service
and
6 Photo Shoots

Whew!
It was all wonderful.
I am done.
(Maybe THAT should be the title of my blog!)


Now....on to Christmas!!

The Out of Towners

We have had house-guests this week.
I know, I know, because we have so much room in our house for more people-but they aren't people!



Meet Burt and Flapper...they are staying with us until Monday when they return to Nathan's school.

Where even a room full of 4 year olds will be a more quiet existence than the one they had in our home for the last 4 days.

$100 Dollar Words

When at the doctor's office the other day, I found myself without a book (what is wrong with me? I must be pregnant.) and also warned that the doctor was running late so I should make myself comfortable.

I pulled out my cell phone and texted anyone and everyone I could think of.
I think I sent a text to David telling him to remember to be home early because I had Worship Team Rehearsal that night. Yeah, that was all. And that took about 1 minute.

Then I read all the notices on the cabinet doors. Prescription Refill Policies, a free source for baby clothes and supplies for those in need, and some chart talking about baby development. That was done in maybe 5 minutes.

Onto the magazine rack: No magazines. What the heck? I considered picking up the pamphlet on tracking baby's movement but...well, I read that last time I was in the doc's office.

I looked up and saw the beautiful page of a calendar ripped out and taped on the ceiling as a focal point when it was "exam time." It really did beg the question if most women would like to see a luscious Colorado landscape with a mountain of ash trees and changing leaves, or if they'd rather see a luscious picture of Patrick Dempsey with no shirt on. I pick Number Two please! (2 more minutes down.)

Being the kind of person who reads EVERYTHING, my eyes turned to the medical equipment on the wall. Everything was made by Weylch-Allen and was up to date on it's inspections (whew!) and when I looked at the blood pressure machine, I saw it.

It was only one word. But it would then occupy the next 10 minutes of my wait time.
That's right, 10 minutes.

The consonants, the vowels, all working together to produce a word I could not break down by syllable for the life of me. And I am an expert word-sounder-outer!

I stared, I heard myself saying it out loud.

Sphygmomanometer

And it wasn't until I just looked the word up on Dictionary.com that I "got it."
Now, how do I work sphygmomanometer into everyday conversation??

Happy Giving of Thanks

Dearest Readers, I hope your day was a good one. Did you turkey today? Or will you tomorrow? Tofurkey? Turducken?

We had a Thanksgiving Brunch today at my mom's that was turkey (or turkey-like product) free but involved yummy quiche, fruit, deviled eggs and cinnamon pull apart. It was a lot of fun.

As I surfed around all the blogs I read regularly, I read many notes of thanksgiving, blessings and gratefulness. While I am not usually one to follow, the holiday begs for an entry like this one but I still need to put my own spin on things. So I offer you a list of the things I am thankful for that don't fall under what you might hear at the traditional Thanksgiving dinner table prayer.

I am thankful for...

...the 3 hour nap the kids took today. Because it meant David got to take a 3 hour nap. And I got 3 hours of work done.

...Sharon's sister Michele who gave me the 1 pair of maternity jeans I own and wear. Yes, 1 pair. Every day. I wash them a lot.

...my sister introducing me to soy green tea lattes from Starbucks. They make me terribly happy.

...my red scrunchy flats from Target that sass up my feet every once in awhile.

...garage door openers.

...pink kitchen sets waiting to be gifted to cute 2 year olds at Christmastime.

...my orange phone.

...always having 2 episodes of "Friends" stored on the DVR.

...the right hair products. (I lost my mousse and biiig bottle of Biosilk when we evacuated because of the fires last month and my mom SAYS she doesn't have them. Although she does seem to be achieving amazing volume and shine right now. Hmmm. I am now banned to using "B List" products which involves me squirting the bottom dredges of every old and rejected product into my hair hoping it will help hold my curl.)

...Matt Damon on the cover of People magazine. He sits in my lap, he rides in my car, he goes everywhere I go now. I love you Matt.

...shredded cheese. Cause who wants to do the shredding yourself?

...kids that went to bed late sleeping in a LOT the next morning. (This falls more under wishful thinking and hope for the future. Hope it with me, will you?)

Got any un-traditional thanks you want to share?

Freakin' Hilarious

When this comes on in my house, everything stops.
It totally makes me laugh.

Um, Excuse Me For a Minute

Why I am ALWAYS up for lunch at the BJ's Restaurant in Grossmont Center.



And why you may often find me using the restroom A LOT during that lunch.



Yum.

The Countdown is Over.

Look out Barney.














Have no idea what I am talking about?
Click here.
Or maybe here.
This should be your favorite show.

S'up?

Lucy: You talkin to me, punk?

Nathan: See this hand? I killed a kid with just my pinky once.

Lucy: I'll mess you up. This bruise on my cheek ain't nothin.

Nathan: Actually, you should believe her. Even I am a little afraid.

Lucy: I roll with a gang, lady. This tat shows it.

Nathan: We are family, and we all watch each other's backs.

Lucy: So hand over the leftover Halloween Candy if you want your pretty little face to stay that way.



Nathan: I be flashin some signs now.



Lucy: You heard me fool, we roll with Lightning McQueen

All the Pretty Little Ponies

Lucy and I got to attend Lucy's first all girl, no boys allowed birthday day party for her friend Natasha whose mom reads my blog but never comments. (Hi Summer!)

There were dresses, sweet voices breaking out into song, adorable princess dress up sessions and, of course, a whole lot of "Can we eat cake now?" But that last part was just my daughter. Every 5 minutes.

It was such a lovely lovely time with beautiful girls, mommies and some wonderful grammies thrown in as well.

Enjoy.....

Lindsay was the most serious about her cake. Even when the presents started, she still was determined to finish. her. cake.

Lucy basked in the girl-ness of it all. Poor thing has spent most of her life trying to dress up Nathan's Star Wars figures.

Sweet Lily.

Reagan enjoyed the cake and we enjoyed her jaunty chapeau.

Natasha shares a giggle with her sister before blowing out the candles.

Fun Day Friday!

The weekend before Halloween, I swiped an idea from a friend of a friend who's blog I read. Her son had painted his small pie-sized pumpkin and I loved the idea for my little monsters.

I had a ton of acrylic paint leftover from painting Nathan's nursery and hoped the paint hasn't turned into solid blocks in the last 4 years of non-use.

David was quite skeptical at the idea of our young children using acrylic paint INSIDE but I was confident my idea would work.

We filled 3 muffin tins with all kinds of colors of paint and then left two with water, gave each kid 1 brush and we were off!

We enjoyed watching each child's painting technique. Nathan went with faces, letters and names and then one he ran out of room, he just painted over what he'd already painted. Lucy took her time and made short marks but strategically placed and colorful. Nick would pick 1 color, say yellow for example, and paint his whole pumpkin with that 1 color. Then he would pick 1 more color and paint right over the first color. that went on and on till he was left with 1 big grey pumpkin. Somewhere in the painting process, he'd just paint with his very grey water. To each his own, right?

Here are a couple of pictures but it was hard to pick my favorites so you can see the full set here.

The concentration in the room was high.

The methodical artwork of The Goose.

My Pumpkin Painting Hitler Look Alike.
When he saw the paint on his lip, it took a long time for him to stop laughing.

Should you be at a party where I bring the cupcakes, worry not. These pans received a VERY thorough washing after all the painting was completed.

Deaaaaaaad Meeen Teeeeeelll Noooooo Taaaaaales

Michelle: You didn’t dump your grandmother’s ashes on Pirates of Caribbean when you were there last week, did you?

Me: No-ha!

Michelle: I could just imagine you…

Me: With a Ziploc bag with a hole in the corner trailing along the outside of the boat I’m riding in?

Michelle: I think I want to be buried in a flower pot next to the Teacups because I like the music.

Me: I love how Disneyland said that this isn't a problem that they deal with but you so know it is. Some guy waits for the very last run of the Matterhorn of the night, sits in the back and next thing you know, a fine dust is falling all over the park.

Michelle: Oh totally.

Me: Well, I didn’t do it this time. But when I heard the news story last night, I turned to David and said, “Indiana Jones.”

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, It's the Middle of November. Gimmie a Break

I know Thanksgiving is next week. I am fully aware that this specific post is 2 weeks late. But since this isn't an Early Christmas post, I am hoping the Purists will cut me a little slack.

Besides, I can't keep the cuteness to myself much longer!

Presenting......

Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master and his sister Princess Leia!


The hair is very important to get just right.




And if you trick or treated our house, Princess Leia was more than happy to bestow you with a bag of candy.




Did you know Jedi Master boots are made of duct tape wrapped around ankles?




Nathan was pleased to stay in character for the photo session.




He is a very serious Jedi.




A VERY serious Jedi. Seriously, don't mess with him.




Special Guest Escort this year was none other than our favorite Live-In college student, Alyssa! (Jenelle, you are our favorite NON-Live-In college student.)




Yuppa John and Suzanne hit a couple of houses with us (including the neighbors who had "juice" for both the kids AND the grown ups!) Thankfully, all the grandparents gave non-edible treats this year.




And Mommy demonstrated the fierceness of a Jedi Master to her young Padawan. Notice how, in the background, the neighbors hardly even flinch. They are used to my insanity by now.

The One Where I Sweat...A Lot.

I had my 6 month Baby Cooking doctor's appointment today. And I got to bring a guest. Two of them, actually. Both under the age of 5. (Have you guessed who I am talking about yet?) I decided that instead of dreading it, I would go in armed and ready. (But not until after calling a couple of friends and whining about taking my kids to the doctor's office with me-I am not superwoman.)

I hit Target's Dollar Spot and loaded up with a few Cars Movie items and some Hello Kitty stuff. I was totally ready. Bring it on.

Then I sat down to the laptop to work. Errr, to edit pictures. OK, fine, I was hopping from blog to blog on the NaBloPoMo Randomizer. It was then that Outlook popped the reminder up that not only did I have a doctor's appointment scheduled for today, I also had my glucose tolerance test. Drink the orange swill 1 hour before you get stuck with a needle. I had to do math: My appointment is at 9, I need blood drawn before the appointment, so save 15 minutes for that so I need to be there at 8:45(!) and needed to drink the swill at 7:45(!!) Orange glucose swill-the breakfast of champions.

The kids ate breakfast, were dressed and hair combed in time. Amazing. It is ALWAYS important to make sure you kids are EXTRA good looking when you have to take them to "grown up places." This will buy them a little extra leverage in case they act up a little bit. Comb the boy's hair just like Daddy's. Make sure the girl's curls are extra extra curly. And dressing them up kind of alike? Bonus points. We had fulfilled all of the necessary criteria and were off.

The kids were quiet in the lab. Nathan didn't try and dance moves while in the waiting room and Lucy didn't sneak any viles (full or otherwise) into her purse when they called us back. Nathan's eyes did get as wide as saucers when the needle went in my arm. I watched him very closely but no fainting. And Lucy was too busy charming the man in the chair next to me to care what was happening with Mommy. The nurses adored both kids and showered them with obnoxious Power Ranger and Bratz stickers. Onward and Upward! To the doctor's office to further challenge the limits of my children's obedience!

I don't know what made me forget about this but when I checked in at the desk, they handed me my receipt (my insurance makes me pay a copay for every visit-does that totally stink or what?!) and my sticker and said, "OK, you know what to do with THIS, right?"

Oh yeah. Pee in a cup.
Can't leave the kids in the waiting room alone.
Don't trust them enough to stand outside the door of the bathroom while I take care of business.
OK, everyone in!

"Mommy, what's the cup for?"
"I have to go potty in it, Nathan. Lucy! Don't touch ANYthing!"
"Why Mommy?"
"To be sure that Mommy is healthy and not sick. Lucy Joy! Do NOT touch those cups!"
"What do they do with the potties, Mommy?"
"They take them to a lab and-you know what? Everyone stand right over here in the corner. Hands in your pockets. OK, good."

I did my duty and got to see the giant eyes from the blood lab again:
"Mommy! That's your POTTIES!!!"
Incredible amounts of laughter ensue. As did the questions from both kids:
"Can I see it? Can I see your potties? What do you do with it? Who is going to come and get it? Why is there another cup of potties in that cabinet? Can I see the potties again? Can I close the cabinet door?"

"Hey guys! Did you see the special soap they have here on the wall for us? Everyone get some special soap!" (Hand sanitizer.)

The rest of our wait was very uneventful. It involved my son being quite charming with a young woman and her new baby saying the sweetest things that made me want to just kiss him all over. Our name was called and we went back to the exam room.

"Everyone follow the nurse she's the leader! OK, through the door! Everyone through the-" Oh no.
No.
No.
No.
No.
NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I look around me.
I see a gown and a drape on the exam table.
I see instruments, jars and other paraphernalia that if I went on to describe, I would lose any of the male readers I happen to have. Especially my dad.

I text David as the nurse left the room: "PELVIC EXAM!!!!!! PELVIC EXAM!!!!!!!!"

I got back: "oh no. i hope the kids are good for you."

Did you notice the difference in punctuation? In capitalization? I have a feeling my husband was having a good long laugh at my expense.

The doctor comes in, is peppered with all kinds of questions from both children. Including Lucy who wanted to see the "special machine" that we were using to hear the baby's heartbeat. I, myself had only 1 question on my mind:

"Um, er, doctor? Uh, I know this is kind of presumptuous but, uhhhhh, is there any, um, chance we can do the pelvic exam, uh, at another appointment? You know, one that I don't have my children with me?" Cue the flop sweat.

The doctor-not my regular, laid back guy but the tight ship running, keeps-talking-to-you-even-when-the-kids-are-also-talking-to-you doctor-tilted her head to one side and gave me an odd look. I wondered if I had spoken to her in Toddler Language instead of normal English. She opened her mouth and said these glorious words, "Oh no, the girls are just efficient and always set the room up with anything we need. We won't need to do an exam like that till you reach 32 weeks."

Cue more flop sweat. But this is the good kind, the kind of relief.
I found myself almost crossing that Line of Inappropriateness once again. What's that about? Can I blame it on hormones?

What Inspires Me to Levels of Great Inappropriateness

The question was posed to me today:

If you had one whole day to yourself, what would you do?


Oh. My. Gosh.
Well, after I stopped crying out of thankfulness and gratitude for whoever SOMEHOW made THAT possible...I would do the following.

I would take myself to breakfast at Mimi's (best muffins ever) where I would read the whole paper front to back, including the classifieds. Then I'd go to a book store and look at every book on the shelf to find the perfect one to read while I got my pedicure. I'd have to put the book down for my facial and massage that was to follow.

I'd lunch around 2 or 3pm, possibly with a girlfriend or two. After that, I might go to the mall and pick up a few impractical things from the MAC counter. Like some green shadow and purple mascara. And I some shoes might catch my eye while walking to the counter through Nordys. And some yummy soaps from William Sonoma. And Crate and Barrel. And since I was walking by C&B, I'd HAVE to stop in Naarjtie to see if they had any cute clothes for my kids which would make me wonder if any of the bedding we have is on sale at Pottery Barn Kids which is right across the way from Papyrus where I would definitely get a new pen. And then I'd go to Coach and drool at purses.

I am going to leave an hour or two open to choose what I want to do just spur of the moment, possibly Balboa Park or finish my book at the beach during sunset. I would then meet up with my sweetie for a late dinner at a nice place in the gaslamp. There would be good food and wine and laughter. We'd go to a movie afterward and then head home to relieve whatever crazy person had been watching my children all day long.

And I would hug that person. And kiss them.
I have a feeling it would cross a line and quickly become completely inappropriate.


what would YOU do with a whole day to yourself?

This Space Intentionally Left Blank

Tomorrow is Monday.
As I thought through the day in my head, it included taking Nathan to school and possibly hitting Wal-Mart with the Goose to see if there were any Cars Movie cars we don't have. The morning would probably end with Lucy and I playing dress up a bit and playing a game of cards. (The card game being where I take the whole deck, and hand her a card, one by one, and once she has all the cards in her hand, she wins!)

It was going to be a typical day.

Until I was talking to Emmy who reminded me: there is no school tomorrow.
If it wasn't for her, I would have been seen at Nathan's school at 8:30 in the morning wondering where everybody was.

I wonder how long I would have sat there waiting for other moms to show up?

In other news...

The "constant tooting" part of my pregnancy has hit it's stride...
...much to the delight of my entire family.

Not Everything is a Sign

I started my day, sitting quietly in my car with my Starbucks (and a donut-it had been an icky morning) and the peace was broken up by a bird crapping on my car.

Twice.

The end of my day started with an amazing dinner with my 2 cousins I haven't seen in years, my sister and Lucy.

And the end continued with a late late night with 3 of my girlfriends...it's still going on. I had to get up off the couch to blog. And I don't want this to ever end.

Thank you God for the nice ending to a "Crappy" Day.

Well....Poop.

I will let you all know that Nathan's hand/fingers are doing much better today. We are down to needing only 1 band aid for his "tall finger" (middle) which he will hold up all on its own for you to look at.
Just try not to laugh.

This morning, I woke up to the realization that for our adventure yesterday, I had used all 4 of the very last pieces of bread (including the heels) to make sandwiches. Therefore, I had no bread for Nathan's lunch at school today. This being the day I gain 1 more child, the extra hour of "two kid-ness" that lunch bunch gives me was a necessity. I decided to compromise my morals-that's right, I said MORALS-and purchase for Nathan a.......gulp.....Lunchable. Ugh. These things have something like 3 times the daily sodium required for a salt block licking cow. Their general nutritional value is almost non-existent. But, the hour was needed. I was desperate.

When we got to school, Nathan saw his friend Caleb in the parking lot. "Hey Caleb!" He called out, in his loudest of voices. "I don't have my lunch bucket today! Mommy bought me a lunch like Sally and Joey* bring. you know, the ones that are bad for your insides!"

Sigh.
And then, in the same breath, best announcer voice possible he continued: "Caleb, see my band aids? I didn't get an owie from falling down. I got it because my Mommy slammed my fingers in the car door in the middle of the night at Disneyland!"

Double Sigh.

Continuing on with the story of my day...

The little kids were eating lunch when the announcement was made by Nick that he had to go poop. He was released and sent on his way. When he called for me about 10 minutes later, in tears, I checked on him. And without going into too much detail, lets just say that almost every inch of toilet seat, stool used to reach said toilet seat and large sections of floor were covered in the poop. He was terrified and had clearly tried to clean up whatever it was had happened in there that I think might involve his adorably short legs and difficulty getting his pants in the proper pooping position. He got a baby wipe bath, Nemo chonies (yay!), and a big snuggle from his B-Anthony.

Only 2 hours passed when Lucy and I were sitting in our chairs and reading books when she all of a sudden stood up and said, "Mommy, I have stinkies in my Thinking Chair."
Huh?
I found myself again in a bathroom (this time the upstairs one) with a slightly embarrassed (and yet slightly delighted at the delay in her fast approaching naptime) child. She also got a baby wipe bath, Princess Pull Up and a snuggle from Mommy.

I was on the phone later with my friend Michelle (mother to 2 very pre-adolecent boys) as we laughed about this story when she said it: "It's when I hear stories like this from you that I am glad I never had the baby I thought I wanted 2-3 years ago."

I am so happy to provide such a service for her.



*=names changed...maybe their family has a severe sodium deficiency and Lunchables are needed to keep them alive?

Leaving the Place With No Magic to visit the Place With All the Magic...And Back Again

The kids and I conquered Disneyland today. I know it is a potentially crazy action when one is 6 months pregnant and waaaay behind in her work. Both house and actual paid.

But today, I needed it. My kids needed it. It has been one of those short tempered, kids can do no right in Mommy's eyes kind of weeks. I had one of these last minute ideas earlier this year and while it involved 1 extra kid and 1 less pregnant woman, the outcome was just as wonderful and amazing.

We hit a bunch of rides right away: knocked down Zurg on Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, rode the ponies on the carousel, remembered how looooong the line is when you want to ride the boats on the Storybook Land ride, looked over all Disneyland on Dumbo's back and remembered just how terrifying the Pinocchio ride is and that there is a reason there is never a line.

We stopped for a snack at the Hungry Bear restaurant (best fries ever), rode through Winnie the Pooh's ride and remembered to pick up Mommy's favorite candy. We rode the train to Tomorrowland, glanced at the line at the new Nemo ride, hit Buzz Lightyear again and ended our day with the Jungle Cruise.

On our way out, as we got on our tram, Nathan was explaining-in great detail-how we were leaving Disneyland and returning to our city. He told me that "Disneyland is just a magic land where your dreams come true. The city we live in is not very magic." I squeezed his hand and wondered why I was so blessed to have such a wonderful day with my babies.



And then I slammed Nathan's fingers in the car door.


Sorry, what's that? Oh yeah, you read that right.
I buckled Lucy in her seat, I closed the door called for Nathan and heard the most terrifying sound I have ever heard in my whole life. His fingers were caught in the hinged side of the door. I had to open the door to get them out. The amazing thing is, despite the screaming and terror I saw in my son's eyes, I was able to stay so clear minded. It reminded me (later upon reflection of the evening's events) of the scene in Seinfeld when Elaine had to drop off an annoying house guest at the airport. "I was going faster than I've ever gone before, and yet, it all seemed to be happening in slow motion. I was seeing three and four moves ahead...I knew I was challenging the very laws of physics."

I had an ice pack on my boy's hand right away-thankful that I'd brought it and that it was still cold. I was holding him, making sure he was breathing and comforting his sister inside the car who was very unsure of what happened, but was very sure it was not good.

That's when I started to lose it just a little. There was a LOT of swelling, even more hysterical 4 year old screaming in a way I had never heard and a surprising lack of people coming to help us considering the volume in which he was screaming. I had to go to my Rock when it comes to medical situations. I called Carol.

After the phone call, I was calmer. We were quite sure that fingers were not broken and we got in the car to come home when Nathan, once again, gave us the beautiful "wrap it up" statement for the evening: "Mommy, this was just a sad ending to a really good day. But our whole day wasn't sad."

Ahhhhh.

Stay tuned tomorrow for a couple of shots from our day today...including the fingers!

The One Where The Office Furniture Doesn't Read My Mind

The office chair that sits at our upstairs computer was uncomfortable. I reached underneath the chair and pulled levers. I found the one that adjusted the tilt of the seat and back a of the chair nd set it the way I thought I'd like.

I was leaning so far back that I could barely reach the keyboard.

I reached under the chair again and grabbed the wrong lever and lowered the chair so low that I could type this blog out with my chin should I decide to try.

(Hmmmm....edujp;ikghsdejmlhgfvdc...that didn't go so well.)

So now my chair is tilted funny, leaning dangerously backward and extremely low to the ground.

I give up.

Gulp.

I was in bed, all snuggled down. Found the perfect position for my ever growing belly to lie in. Letterman was on and Sleep Timer-ed. My water was in place. David was snoring peacefully beside me. All was right with the world.

But wait.

I hadn't blogged yet!
Yikes!

I ran over to the computer and turned it on with only minutes to spare. I made it in time. Phew. I don't want to miss out on another fantastic prize like I got last year for posting every day.

At one point, for your reading pleasure, I had most of a "Ten on Tuesday" post planned but all of that has left my head. In the course of the day today I had great disappointment with my children's behavior, received icky news from a friend about someone who had been terribly dishonest with both of us and I did NOT get to vacuum my downstairs like I'd hoped.

However, my whole day was not sadness. I did have a fun at Act One tonight-the ladies I am directing for the upcoming Christmas Dessert at our church are such a hoot. One of them pronounces "cookies" in the very cutest way ever possible. I got to drive all by myself for a total of 30 minutes. Ahhh.

And finally...the highlight of my day: My cell phone will read my text messages out loud. Did you hear me? It READS THEM. Out loud! It will read words like butt munch, fart knocker and even some of the 4 letter ones! It also takes "xxoo" and reads it out loud as "kisses and hugs" and if you send a text message to Nathan, it will pull him away from even the worst behavior possible and make him smile with candid delight. I have to give all props for this AMAZING discovery to Kristen who discovered it by accidentally pressing the space bar and realized someone was talking to her. She rocks. I am announcing it in a public forum.

We now interrupt this really boring blog for the following announcement:

Viggo, darling. I know the weird goatee is for a movie. I know that the red-almost maroon suit you are currently wearing on David Letterman is possibly to go for the whole "Sick Doc Holliday" look for the upcoming western. But you aren't even playing Doc Holliday and can't you maybe use fake hair for this look so that when you appear as VIGGO, I will get to see your sweet, gritty, is he or isn't he unshowered face. I don't want to see this anymore:



P.S. Viggo, please gain some weight. You look too skinny. I think I will have to go watch "The Game" again to get this picture of you out of my head. Jor, normally I would put him on our list but today he gets the boot.

We now return to our regularly scheduled blog.

To sum up the day...
Tomorrow is a new one. One that involves school so I will have a few hours of no fighting children. Ahhh. I can handle that.

Don't trust everyone-especially people you don't know that well. But trust your friends.

Vacuuming can happen tomorrow.

Texting was just somehow made even more fun by Kristen's discovery. Who has the weirdest word I can send to her?

Demonstrating My Feats of Extraordaniaribility

...which goes beyond simply making up words that are almost 100% unreadable.

While preparing lunch for Nate the Great this morning before we left for school, I made one quick swoop of the Pampered Chef Spreader (cue music from heaven-that thing is so amazing...I actually find myself sad when both of mine are dirty and I have to use a regular knife for peanut butter), anyway, one swoop and look what I created!

It is a peanut butter bird relief in my kid's sandwich!
I have actually paused my day to capture it in a low quality camera phone image just for you, my readers.
Who else could create something so amazing?!







I'll tell you:
No one.

Week of Joy

This week's Week of Joy (making a comeback after many months of missing) is quite simple:

10. The
9. House
8. of
7. Blues
6. San
5. Diego
4. 10AM
3. Gospel
2. Brunch
1. Today.

We skipped church this morning to go to the Gospel Brunch with family from out of town in place of a memorial service for my Grandmother who passed away 2 weeks ago. Grandma wasn't one for funerals or anything like that but it always feels more fitting to have some sort of "service" or "remembrance."

It was so amazing! They were having some CHURCH up in that place! I clapped and laughed and wished I knew the words to every song so I could sing along.

Our family was sitting at two tables and my mom, Tim, my aunt, cousin and my aunt's sister were at a table with the family of the band/singers. When they found out why we were there and that I was a singer (who could have told them that-MOM!?) they said I could go up and participate in the sing-along and sing in honor of my grandmother. Demonstrating excellent judgement, mom thanked them but said that I would kill her if she voluntereed me for that. She was absolutely right.

The Gospel Brunch fed me in a way I didn't know I was hungry. Not only in a musical sense-demonstrating quality musicianship and vocal skillz (that's right) but also I was fed spiritually. The ladies on that stage were not just singers who happen to sing gospel music. They were singing about Their God. About Their Jesus. They were sharing with that entire room about the God Who Saves. I was able to sit there and soak up the music about my Savior. I didn't have to sing or lead. I didnt have to make sure monitors were working or fetch water for someone who was about to preach. I was ministered TO instead of ministering. And while I missed my beloved (although very white in their worship music) church and everything God has given me to do there each week, it is good to take a week off on occasion and allow others to lead for a change.

And when they lead with a strong base, heavy down beat, tight harmonies and ad libs about how "Ain't Nobody Gonna Do Me Like Jesus," then there is all kinds of right going on there.

The Beach. The Good One. (Not the Bad One With Leo DiCaprio.)

I had a big photo shoot today down in La Jolla for a local playgroup. It was 15 families all lined up one after the other (with a 1 hour break for lunch.) You could call it “Blitz Photography.” It was fun. All the families were nice and all the kids were very cute. (Really, they were!)

In my few moments of down time, I observed a few things…

1. There was a seagull nearby the cave we were using who was walking funny and squawking a lot. She and I did have a stare-down at one point (I won) but most of the time, she was just walking around…almost looking lost or confused. I finally realized after watching her that she was trying to tell me (and the 20 other people around) that we were on HER beach and needed to clear out immediately.

Either that or she has rabies and was going completely crazy.

2. The birds aren’t the only weird things down at the beach. The people are too. Just trust me.

3. The distance between my big toe and my other toes seems larger than normal. Almost as if there should BE a toe in that space. When discussing it with David later, he wondered if I should have a sixth toe in there after all. But then we decided that not only would it look freaky, but the kids would make me scare their friends with my extra toe. Also, it might make wearing flip flops difficult.

All in all, the shoot went well and my odd thoughts kept themselves hidden away before I could scare any families with them. I look forward to going through my 700+ pictures (seriously, what is wrong with me?!) and picking the few favorites for my families.

But first, a nap.
Happy Saturday.

Friday Fun Day!

Fridays in the Zab house are Fun Days. We get our nephew Nicholas on Friday mornings. He and Lucy get some time to play without being bossed around by a certain 4 year old and then once we pick that certain 4 year old up from school, the non controlled chaos begins.

Adding a 3 year old to our mix increases the decibel levels of our home exponentially. It is deafening. I remember one time, when Nick used to live with us full time, I was on the phone with the doctor's office when the kids were running around with capes saving the world. The receptionist, after hearing me apologize for the noise level, asked if I ran a day care. I told her it was just my 3 kids. She was stunned into silence and simply said, "Wow."

Now, the noise is fun. Partially because it is purely the joy of 3 kids who love each other and partially because...well, I know it will end on Sunday when Nick goes home. Ha!

So now on Fridays, we try to think of something fun to do in the evening. Sometimes it is a movie night but most of the time it is a project of some kind. One of our more recent ones-and stand by easy favorites were decorating cookies.

I buy the cookie dough pre-made. I can't make cookies. I make cakes. I make sweet breads. I leave cookies to the experts like Sooz and Michelle. Add in small bowls of sprinkles and you have kids who are so happy to decorate cookies that they will, get this, SIT STILL and -there's more-NOT YELL and even-hold on to your hats-NOT RUN AROUND for possibly even a whole hour!

Tips for Mama's wanting to use this idea for their own Friday fun? Bathe kids AFTER the fun. Not before like I did. Also, buy a whole seperate package of cookies to make for you, hubby and any other adults that might like some cookies. Because after watching a 2, 3 and 4 year old push their sticky, licked, icky fingers inside those raw cookies, you will NOT be joining in the fun of eating them. (Ugh.)