more animals
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Civic Duty
We voted today. Have you voted yet?
We drove into Cleveland to queue up for early voting. It only took us about 30 minutes. I couldn't help but think about some of things that make this country great as I stood there in line. People of every color and economic status were there- ready to cast their vote. I know that we are not a perfect country but there were no gangs or guns or anyone trying to make you vote a certain way. We all stood there as equals, shuffling along, waiting for a chance to have our voices heard. Hey I know this is cheesy but you are reading the blog of a woman who will cry EVERY time that she hears the National Anthem.
ummm, Grandma Rose it's completely okay if you never mention that picture to Grandpa.......
First Fire
Last night it was chilly enough for us to start using the fireplace. Les just lit a small fire for us to sit by in the evening. Evelyn loved and she has been asking for another "inna house fire" all day. I must admit, it was nice.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Trick or Treat at Grandma's
Ok. Billy Bones hasn't brought any more death and destruction to helpless tiny animals lately so I can proceed with T-o-T at Grandma's house. It worked out good as her t-o-t happens in the afternoon so that took some of the spook factor out. Evelyn wanted to be dressed up in her costume immediatley upon wakening and I had to hold her off. We arrived at Gram's about 1 pm , had lunch and visited for awhile and then it was time to gear up. By this time, Les had Ev's Hylian shield and a sword made so she was COMPLETELY tricked out as Link. Brev is/was Spiderman and he kept his mask on for a total of 2 seconds (I saw a few Spidey's and none had the mask on).
The Bean loved t-o-t this year. It was nothing like last year, she was running about saying "trick or treat and thank you". She didn't get freaked out and scream at all. She was in seventh heaven really. It was so much fun watching her. Les was a monster type creation, I call it Tongue-o as he has a big, pink tongue hanging out. I went as Rosie the Riveter. It was sunny and warmish. The leaves were bright and colorful and the air was fresh and autumnal. It was perfect.
We have one more round of trick ot treat here at our house on Friday, that's in the evening so I can't wait to see how Bean will do.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Carnage: Warning Graphic Post
So the latest to-do of Billy Bones has temporarily eclipsed the Trick-or-Treat post that I was all geared up for. This all started on Saturday. Evelyn was asked to go down to the basement and bring us up something (yes she is four and not afraid to go anywhere in this house alone and/or in the dark). When she's down there though she starts yelling her head off and I hear all of this thumping and I nearly break my neck getting to her. We met in the living room where I found her in a high dudgeon. She was red in the face and puffing and yelling - I couldn't understand a word of it. So I holler back " Hey slow down I don't know what's wrong!" She yells " Well that crazy thing has a BIRD!" I go - intelligently I might add- " WHA.....?" and she yells " BILLY BONES HAS A BIRD!!!! HE HAS IT IN HIS MOUTH!!!! HE IS EATING A BASEMENT BIRD!!!"
This is all as she is hunched over and lunging after Billy Bones and I am standing there like a lump and trying to catch up. Then I see a dark clump of something in Billy's mouth and I head toward him and then he opens his mouth and a small, dark bird flies right out of his mouth and starts circling the living room frantically while I am still a bit shocked and wondering if all of my stuff is about to experience Feline Apocolypse ( the cat has huge honking feet with 23 toes it's not good to mix that formula with my breakables). I am struggling to understand because well, Billy Bones is an inside cat here at the Manse and um, we had no windows open and I just couldn't fathom that there was a bird in the basement (there was though and we still aren't sure how).Enter the Papadopolis. Les comes down, scoops Bill up and realizes that the bird is still in good shape, so we pick up Bill and carry him onto the front porch and he drops the bird and it flies off into the distance. We bring Billy back into the house and set him down. Then he proceeds to hurl himself against the screen door frantically trying to get his prey. After awhile of this he starts running from window to window. After that he proceeds down to the basement where he inspected the ducts, chewed the hot water tank insulation, stared at the walls,paced and meowed for just about 12 hours. I thought we were done.
Not that lucky.
This morning I am busy reading or something and I hear all of this scuffling and I say to Evelyn, who was ensconced on a shelf in the hall closet with the door pulled closed, "kiddo what are you doing" She says "oh that's not me it's Billy Bones Pip" I say "ummmm wha..." and she says, real casual like, " he has another basement bird"
!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I go after him. This time the bird is badly beaten and has a broken wing, when he drops it, it sort of scuttles around, squeaking and Ev and I hop madly out if it's way. Bird goes under the bed, cat goes under the bed, kid goes under the bed, Mom grabs kid. Bird goes into my closet (by scuttling under the closed door) , unbelievably cat goes into my closet the same way. Bird comes out, cat gets stuck. Bird gets away while cat is stuck and human looses track of bird trying to help cat. All of this time Evelyn is keeping a running commentary like CNN and I am hoping that this doesn't end up outside somehow because I am only wearing a t-shirt and underwear ( go ahead and laugh it was Stella' specialty to get me out of the house, under dressed in just that way so I know that it's always a potential when dealing with "cat issues"). Bird becomes utterly unaccounted for. Minutes pass. Furniture is moved. Cat is confused and bitter, child is constantly offering suggestions to Mom and words of sympathy to cat.
Mom takes a much needed (by this time) bathroom break.The Mom walks into the bathroom and scares the, now found, bird. Mom jumps and shrieks like a pansy. Cat comes running. Kid comes running. Mom does not get to pee. Bird meets an ugly end in the bathroom.
After awhile the now tired Mom who has inexplicably developed a facial twitch, has to clean the feathers and splatter off of and out of the bathroom. Then Vacuum the entire house getting all of the other feathers out. Mom is completely put out at the cat, as this was NOT EVEN a floor cleaning day and she never did get to pee and will probably get a bladder infection but, that's okay, the Doc can check out the facial twitch along with prescribing antibiotics. (plus she's still a bit embarrassed by the girlie shrieking)
Damn cat.
Damn bird.
PS The kid thinks that the bird got lost in the house and has no idea that her cat ate it. So she will have no long term suffering.
PPS The bird got revenge in the end as the cat is somewhat "gassy" after eating him and we are all suffering an olfactory onslaught.
Here is a picture of what my bathroom looked like when I let Billy out. I edited out the actual carnage.
This is all as she is hunched over and lunging after Billy Bones and I am standing there like a lump and trying to catch up. Then I see a dark clump of something in Billy's mouth and I head toward him and then he opens his mouth and a small, dark bird flies right out of his mouth and starts circling the living room frantically while I am still a bit shocked and wondering if all of my stuff is about to experience Feline Apocolypse ( the cat has huge honking feet with 23 toes it's not good to mix that formula with my breakables). I am struggling to understand because well, Billy Bones is an inside cat here at the Manse and um, we had no windows open and I just couldn't fathom that there was a bird in the basement (there was though and we still aren't sure how).Enter the Papadopolis. Les comes down, scoops Bill up and realizes that the bird is still in good shape, so we pick up Bill and carry him onto the front porch and he drops the bird and it flies off into the distance. We bring Billy back into the house and set him down. Then he proceeds to hurl himself against the screen door frantically trying to get his prey. After awhile of this he starts running from window to window. After that he proceeds down to the basement where he inspected the ducts, chewed the hot water tank insulation, stared at the walls,paced and meowed for just about 12 hours. I thought we were done.
Not that lucky.
This morning I am busy reading or something and I hear all of this scuffling and I say to Evelyn, who was ensconced on a shelf in the hall closet with the door pulled closed, "kiddo what are you doing" She says "oh that's not me it's Billy Bones Pip" I say "ummmm wha..." and she says, real casual like, " he has another basement bird"
!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I go after him. This time the bird is badly beaten and has a broken wing, when he drops it, it sort of scuttles around, squeaking and Ev and I hop madly out if it's way. Bird goes under the bed, cat goes under the bed, kid goes under the bed, Mom grabs kid. Bird goes into my closet (by scuttling under the closed door) , unbelievably cat goes into my closet the same way. Bird comes out, cat gets stuck. Bird gets away while cat is stuck and human looses track of bird trying to help cat. All of this time Evelyn is keeping a running commentary like CNN and I am hoping that this doesn't end up outside somehow because I am only wearing a t-shirt and underwear ( go ahead and laugh it was Stella' specialty to get me out of the house, under dressed in just that way so I know that it's always a potential when dealing with "cat issues"). Bird becomes utterly unaccounted for. Minutes pass. Furniture is moved. Cat is confused and bitter, child is constantly offering suggestions to Mom and words of sympathy to cat.
Mom takes a much needed (by this time) bathroom break.The Mom walks into the bathroom and scares the, now found, bird. Mom jumps and shrieks like a pansy. Cat comes running. Kid comes running. Mom does not get to pee. Bird meets an ugly end in the bathroom.
After awhile the now tired Mom who has inexplicably developed a facial twitch, has to clean the feathers and splatter off of and out of the bathroom. Then Vacuum the entire house getting all of the other feathers out. Mom is completely put out at the cat, as this was NOT EVEN a floor cleaning day and she never did get to pee and will probably get a bladder infection but, that's okay, the Doc can check out the facial twitch along with prescribing antibiotics. (plus she's still a bit embarrassed by the girlie shrieking)
Damn cat.
Damn bird.
PS The kid thinks that the bird got lost in the house and has no idea that her cat ate it. So she will have no long term suffering.
PPS The bird got revenge in the end as the cat is somewhat "gassy" after eating him and we are all suffering an olfactory onslaught.
Here is a picture of what my bathroom looked like when I let Billy out. I edited out the actual carnage.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Groove Is In The Heart
Evelyn has developed a new form of dance. We are not quite sure what to call it though. So enjoy the video and try not to snort as you laugh. I have no idea where she picked this stuff up, but I have a feeling that Step Up 2: The Streets MAY have had something to do with it, I dunno. She is grooving to Allison Kraus and Robert Plant, the first song on the Raising Sand album.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Yesterday Morning
We were up earlier than usual yesterday morning and as I moved about the kitchen making biscuits and cleaning up a bit, Evelyn laid there in the middle of the room. She was lit by the filtered morning light, she was well, beautiful. I looked down at her and knew that I was in one of those moments that I would cherish forever. One of those moments that would send torrents of tears down my face as I remember it on her wedding day. Just look at her. Those tiny feet, that little body wrapped in pink fleece, that face, those hands with only the tiniest bit of clinging baby fat left.
She had her "Bible" (which is also known as the Legend of Zelda Game Guide) and she was talking intently about Link's allies and enemies, his weapons and "outfits", fighting techniques and she had enough detail to impress the most geek-y of the geeks.
My God how I love this girl.
I wanted to pick her up and hold her and make her promise over and over to not grow another centimeter.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
A Little of This and A Little of That
A new look for The Bean. Hum. Evelyn has started to raid the hair bobbles and "do" her hair herself. The current trend is to find every one that we have that is the same color and wear them. All of them. At once. All day. This was a purple day and at bedtime I had to un-snap 21 of those boogers.
This is one of my new Halloween decorations. I just love it. I am very fond of Halloween (I believe that's come up before) but I am picky about the themes/decor. I strongly dislike the gory/bloody/ax murderer-y/cemetery type stuff. To prove a point, as much as I am nutso about Vampires- there is not one single vamp in this house. And that skeleton face in the letter e up there is the only one of those. I like Witches though- that's a go for launch and we have a few of those (but they are not grotesque, just green and stripey tights and cauldron-y). I try to strike a balance between Happy Harvest and Gore Fest.
This is The Bean offering Billy Bones a discourse on good behavior. Or as I like to call it, Bossy and Her Toadie. This is a common site around here. They lay facing each other and she talks to him in quiet high pitched tones and he thinks it's actually a form of Billy Worship- so he stays and spares her life for another day.(please note the wad of barrettes on Ms Bossy's head)
Again with the Mensa meeting. This particular day, Billy Bones was getting a quick over-view of "Cosmetics According to a 4 year old". There were glaring inconsistencies on the 4 year old's Philosophy of Glitter but I am positive that I was the only one in the room who even noticed.
Mutt and Jeff. The Bopsey Twins. The Dynamic Duo. Pete and Repeat. Chuckles and Little Chuckles. My Dad and Brevin. I sometime wonder if Brevin's sense of humor, which is remarkably similar to my Dad's, is a product of nature or nurture. Looking at this picture though, I'm inclined to lean the way of osmosis.
Also-----Jodi. I am so sorry that last night you made one of your two known movie quotes and I didn't even know what movie it was from. That was criminal on my part. I should have been up to speed. However if and when you whip out your Dirty Dancing quotes, I will be on that shit like white on rice. That's a promise.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Some old pictures
This is a picture of Evelyn while still in Jiangxi. This was the first time that I ever made her laugh.
This is one of my favorite pictures of Leslie and I. It was taken a few weeks before our referral when we were still in Alaska.
My chubbers. This is Evelyn just after we moved to NC. I had fattened her up a bit by then.
My sister may kill me for posting this picture (she hates all pictures of herself) but I just love that little lump of a baby. Who knew that he would grow into such a caveman?
My Alakan Man. Try not to love that face- I dare ya. This was taken at The Salty Dog on the Homer Spit.Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Pearl Necklaces Bought In Hong Kong Can Cause Heartache
Evelyn wanted to look through my jewelry today. This is something that I remember doing with my Mom and I always loved it so, so I will stop everything going on to sit with Evelyn in order to ohhh and ahh over shiny baubles. We worked our way through things, talking and chatting as we went. Then, oh then, we opened the drawer that holds the "special stuff". This is the drawer that holds the pearl necklace that I bought for Evelyn while in China. It is meant to be a gift when she becomes a Young Lady. I have always told her this, she knows this and will usually ask questions about when, when , when. She is allowed to try it on and touch it, it's just not offficially given to her yet. This hasn't been a problem before.
Today however, her little heart broke into a thousand pieces and she cried and cried and pouted and stood right by my jewelry box the whole time with tiny hand that still houses some residual baby fat. She stood there and longed for that necklace. It was quite sad and that was before she fully explained herself.
You see, I always say, when you are old enough that this necklace fits and you are a Young Lady that can take care of things this nice, THEN you can have your necklace. Obviously she translated this into something different. After awhile she said "Mama when I get big to wear that necklace, where will you be?" " I don't want that necklace if that means we are not together"-------apparently in her mind "being old enough" means some alternate life that does not include Mama. I told her that I would always be with her, no matter what and that I loved her more than anything and when I gave her the necklace it would just mean that she was a girl that was a little more grown up. Then I told her fifty more times that I would never leave her. Then I cried. Then she cried more. Then we hugged
.....and went shopping.
Today however, her little heart broke into a thousand pieces and she cried and cried and pouted and stood right by my jewelry box the whole time with tiny hand that still houses some residual baby fat. She stood there and longed for that necklace. It was quite sad and that was before she fully explained herself.
You see, I always say, when you are old enough that this necklace fits and you are a Young Lady that can take care of things this nice, THEN you can have your necklace. Obviously she translated this into something different. After awhile she said "Mama when I get big to wear that necklace, where will you be?" " I don't want that necklace if that means we are not together"-------apparently in her mind "being old enough" means some alternate life that does not include Mama. I told her that I would always be with her, no matter what and that I loved her more than anything and when I gave her the necklace it would just mean that she was a girl that was a little more grown up. Then I told her fifty more times that I would never leave her. Then I cried. Then she cried more. Then we hugged
.....and went shopping.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Bean Is Home
The Bean is home and I have resumed the role of "Question Answerer Extraordinaire".
The reunion yesterday had a few bumps, she was coming off of unlimited fruit snacks and non-compliance and I was jumping back into things after a weekend of quiet. We are all a-okay today though and most of the morning was spent snuggling together in my bed.
Um, yeah. I was upset when she left and that lasted for about 30 minutes until I realized that Leslie and I were engaged in a real, honest to God conversation and it wasn't being interrupted and it wasn't happening after 9 pm. That was nice. I knew that she was safe and happy and that my Mom and Dad would take good care of her, so after the initial shock of "oh my goodness my baby is not in the house", I was ok. I enjoyed it. I needed it. Leslie and I needed it. This was the first extended type of break that we have had since she was plopped into my arms on May 8, 2005.
Technicality Update: For the sake of posterity, Evelyn wasn't really plopped into my arms that day. I could not and would not wait for the long translation process of our guide telling the Nanny that we were the parents, I just sort of took her. That's right I grabbed her. I grabbed her and scuttled off to the farthest corner of the room until we could make a break for our hotel room. THAT'S how it really went down.
The reunion yesterday had a few bumps, she was coming off of unlimited fruit snacks and non-compliance and I was jumping back into things after a weekend of quiet. We are all a-okay today though and most of the morning was spent snuggling together in my bed.
Um, yeah. I was upset when she left and that lasted for about 30 minutes until I realized that Leslie and I were engaged in a real, honest to God conversation and it wasn't being interrupted and it wasn't happening after 9 pm. That was nice. I knew that she was safe and happy and that my Mom and Dad would take good care of her, so after the initial shock of "oh my goodness my baby is not in the house", I was ok. I enjoyed it. I needed it. Leslie and I needed it. This was the first extended type of break that we have had since she was plopped into my arms on May 8, 2005.
Technicality Update: For the sake of posterity, Evelyn wasn't really plopped into my arms that day. I could not and would not wait for the long translation process of our guide telling the Nanny that we were the parents, I just sort of took her. That's right I grabbed her. I grabbed her and scuttled off to the farthest corner of the room until we could make a break for our hotel room. THAT'S how it really went down.
Friday, October 17, 2008
All Is Quiet
And I am not sure how I feel about it yet.
My parents came and picked Evelyn up for a two night sleep-over. She was excited to go. They were excited to take her. I remain..... adrift.
Leslie and I have things planned for the weekend. We have a date tonight. I have an all grown up party to go to tomorrow with Jodi. Then on Sunday morning we will go get our Bean and bring her home.
I am not sure what to say here. It was hard to watch her drive off. It was fun watching her get ready, packing her own bag for her "overnights". I am so glad that my parents love her endlessly and want to spend time with her. I am glad that she loves THEM so and doesn't hesitate to climb in the car and head off. I really am....except.
It is so Gad Damned quiet here.
I haven't seen anyone jump on one foot in 20 minutes.
I have not had to "check anyone out" from the store.
I am writing this post without getting up 50 times to watch Bean do something or find her giggling under a blanket somewhere.
All is quiet.
And I am not well.
My parents came and picked Evelyn up for a two night sleep-over. She was excited to go. They were excited to take her. I remain..... adrift.
Leslie and I have things planned for the weekend. We have a date tonight. I have an all grown up party to go to tomorrow with Jodi. Then on Sunday morning we will go get our Bean and bring her home.
I am not sure what to say here. It was hard to watch her drive off. It was fun watching her get ready, packing her own bag for her "overnights". I am so glad that my parents love her endlessly and want to spend time with her. I am glad that she loves THEM so and doesn't hesitate to climb in the car and head off. I really am....except.
It is so Gad Damned quiet here.
I haven't seen anyone jump on one foot in 20 minutes.
I have not had to "check anyone out" from the store.
I am writing this post without getting up 50 times to watch Bean do something or find her giggling under a blanket somewhere.
All is quiet.
And I am not well.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Billy Bones Plus.....
....a roll of tin foil and a little unsupervised time = this mess. The cat chews tin foil folks, does anyone else see this as a problem?Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Bean Miscellany
* A new thing is to hide in a closet or under furniture and yell' Haves anybody seen Evelyn?!?!?!" and then we run around trying to find her and she giggles the whole time so it's never a real mystery where she is, then she pops out and yells" HERE she is!!!" and then we tickle her.
*I just had a friend ask if she still wanted to play "Restaraunt" and I had to admit that I was serious about my ban and we just don't play that anymore. No, we now play "STORE", this is where Ev grabs one of her gajillion bags or baskets and fills it up with anything and everything that she can find and then you have to check her out, with beeping or you have to start all over, and then she pays and you start all over again.... Last night she wanted to know if Papa could build a "moving table" for this game and THEN she wondered where we could get a bag holder with plastic bags. Someone help.
*She had such a fun time with all of her cousins this weekend. Little bits of the kids only playing keep coming out. She will tell astory, like say, about Aden getting shot and sliding down the wall and then she will alugh and laugh. (yes we have fake guns around here for the kids to play with we are old school like that)
*She has taken on saying "yepppur" just like her Grandma and she likes it when you tell her that she sounds like Grandma when she says it.
*At Goblins in the Garden, she took her bag and ran off with her big cousins. After the second stop, she was trick or treating solo- for the first time. As we were driving home she asked "are you proud of me for getting candy all beside myself?". We were.
*The tie-dyeing almost did her in. She was seriously put out that we were ruining perfectly good white shirts. There were tears and all. She eventually came around but she did fret the whole time the shirts were in the dye.
*She just counted from 1 to 28 the other day, with no help and no mistakes.
*Her favorite board game right now is Mancala, she just loves moving those beads around. I am thankful for a break from Hi Ho Cherry Oh and Candyland.
*This weekend at her Aunt Jenny's her favorite food was Jenny's black and orange pinwheel cookies- she must have eaten at least 12- with in an hour
*I just had a friend ask if she still wanted to play "Restaraunt" and I had to admit that I was serious about my ban and we just don't play that anymore. No, we now play "STORE", this is where Ev grabs one of her gajillion bags or baskets and fills it up with anything and everything that she can find and then you have to check her out, with beeping or you have to start all over, and then she pays and you start all over again.... Last night she wanted to know if Papa could build a "moving table" for this game and THEN she wondered where we could get a bag holder with plastic bags. Someone help.
*She had such a fun time with all of her cousins this weekend. Little bits of the kids only playing keep coming out. She will tell astory, like say, about Aden getting shot and sliding down the wall and then she will alugh and laugh. (yes we have fake guns around here for the kids to play with we are old school like that)
*She has taken on saying "yepppur" just like her Grandma and she likes it when you tell her that she sounds like Grandma when she says it.
*At Goblins in the Garden, she took her bag and ran off with her big cousins. After the second stop, she was trick or treating solo- for the first time. As we were driving home she asked "are you proud of me for getting candy all beside myself?". We were.
*The tie-dyeing almost did her in. She was seriously put out that we were ruining perfectly good white shirts. There were tears and all. She eventually came around but she did fret the whole time the shirts were in the dye.
*She just counted from 1 to 28 the other day, with no help and no mistakes.
*Her favorite board game right now is Mancala, she just loves moving those beads around. I am thankful for a break from Hi Ho Cherry Oh and Candyland.
*This weekend at her Aunt Jenny's her favorite food was Jenny's black and orange pinwheel cookies- she must have eaten at least 12- with in an hour
Monday, October 13, 2008
Weekend Of Halloween Fun
We had what was a fantastic weekend. Leslie's sister Rae came up our way and we came together at his sister Jenny's house for some eating and talking and playing and tie-dying and eating and trick or treating.
I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves because I could not possibly go into how great everything was. The food was fantastic and Rae made some Halloween themed snacks for the kids. Jenny took us to Holden Arboretum where she works, for Goblins in the Garden and some of the things that she helped create for the festivities there were better than what old Martha S. herself could have put out (really Jenny). I loved watching Scott and Aden doing their boy stuff while the girls played sisters and built Fairie Houses. I loved hearing Scott drilling Les on Godzilla facts and characters. I loved making tie-dyed pumpkin shirts for each kid. I loved the bbq ribs. I loved that Jeff had to bring along rabbit ears so as not to miss the Buckeyes game.
It was such a weekend that The Bean slept 15.5 hours last night, woke up this morning, ate two granola bars and fell back to sleep for another hour and 15 minutes!!! Though, Scott HAS had an undue influence on her, last night at her dinner she said "Papa do you know about Cheese Godzilla?"
...2 hours later... I have been trying and trying to get some pictures loaded up but, it's one of those days where blogger is messing up, Slide is messing up and my computer is having hiccups. I am going to try again tomorrow so I don't need to try and find a Xanax for my nerves before the day's end.........
I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves because I could not possibly go into how great everything was. The food was fantastic and Rae made some Halloween themed snacks for the kids. Jenny took us to Holden Arboretum where she works, for Goblins in the Garden and some of the things that she helped create for the festivities there were better than what old Martha S. herself could have put out (really Jenny). I loved watching Scott and Aden doing their boy stuff while the girls played sisters and built Fairie Houses. I loved hearing Scott drilling Les on Godzilla facts and characters. I loved making tie-dyed pumpkin shirts for each kid. I loved the bbq ribs. I loved that Jeff had to bring along rabbit ears so as not to miss the Buckeyes game.
It was such a weekend that The Bean slept 15.5 hours last night, woke up this morning, ate two granola bars and fell back to sleep for another hour and 15 minutes!!! Though, Scott HAS had an undue influence on her, last night at her dinner she said "Papa do you know about Cheese Godzilla?"
...2 hours later... I have been trying and trying to get some pictures loaded up but, it's one of those days where blogger is messing up, Slide is messing up and my computer is having hiccups. I am going to try again tomorrow so I don't need to try and find a Xanax for my nerves before the day's end.........
Your Signature Is Needed
Okay, I could never explain the situation like this Mama. So you can read her entry here....
http://miles2mia.blogspot.com/2008/10/important-stuff-here.html
The summary is that the Hague Convention, long referral times and new regulations from China are stacking up against adoptive families who have been waiting MONTHS and MONTHS to see the faces of the daughters of their dreams. This is too much.
If you could please take the time to sign this petition it would help. It only takes about 2 minutes and I know that every signature is needed.
Help us get these girls home.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/adoption-for-all.html
My thoughts are with every single one of these families, I can only imagine the frustration and heart wrenching terror this must instill. And dealing with this NOW after the tainted milk , the new regs, the renewals on the paperwork, the updated homestudies, the long , long wait. I am filled with anxiety for each of them.
http://miles2mia.blogspot.com/2008/10/important-stuff-here.html
The summary is that the Hague Convention, long referral times and new regulations from China are stacking up against adoptive families who have been waiting MONTHS and MONTHS to see the faces of the daughters of their dreams. This is too much.
If you could please take the time to sign this petition it would help. It only takes about 2 minutes and I know that every signature is needed.
Help us get these girls home.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/adoption-for-all.html
My thoughts are with every single one of these families, I can only imagine the frustration and heart wrenching terror this must instill. And dealing with this NOW after the tainted milk , the new regs, the renewals on the paperwork, the updated homestudies, the long , long wait. I am filled with anxiety for each of them.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Oh Yes Dan......
I have read the Twilight Series (well I am waiting for a copy of the fourth one) and I love it. It's written for teens so you don't have to read it and worry about all of the amoralistic, toothy vampire sex like when you read Anita Blake. This gives you the calorie free version of dark twisted love for the un-dead. Right up my alley. For a very short while I was like "Angel who? EEEEEDDDDWWAARRDDD!!!!" but have since recovered my Joss Whedon sensibilities and have relegated the Undead Hawtness that is Edward to number three on my list of corpses I could... well, you know.... For those interested, Angel is no. 1 and Spike is no 2 and number 4 right after Edward, is Michael from the Lost Boys (technically Michael was only ever a partial Vamp because he never partook of the blood but it was close). OH! And then there is Jean -Claude, no HE may be number three and then..... Maybe I have issues, I blame it all on my Mother.
Watch link please.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1GbukZnl1Y
I fear that the kid playing Edward in the movies may be over doing the tight faced, take me serious I'm Dead face a bit much but, we'll see. My Mom and I are going to be right in the audience of giggling teens and tweens when this puppy opens.
Also if you have no idea who Angel , Spike or Michael or Jean-Claude are, well let me know and I can provide a reading and watching list to get you up to speed. That is all.
Watch link please.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1GbukZnl1Y
I fear that the kid playing Edward in the movies may be over doing the tight faced, take me serious I'm Dead face a bit much but, we'll see. My Mom and I are going to be right in the audience of giggling teens and tweens when this puppy opens.
Also if you have no idea who Angel , Spike or Michael or Jean-Claude are, well let me know and I can provide a reading and watching list to get you up to speed. That is all.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Evelyn Gave Me Hell
Well, not hell but a rough day. It's just her being , you know, four and me being you know, 35. We happened to be out and about when she decide it was time to once again , test Mama's resolve. I brought her home and put her down for a nap and then fumed. And fumed.
As part of my decompression ritual, I got on-line to read the blogs of others (hey no laughing it works for me). So I was reading and reading and I came across the blog of a family that just picked up their daughter on Sept 17 in China. I watched a video of this tiny little girl. Now that I have my daughter from China and I know a bit about her, I can watch those videos with a different slant. I used to watch them and look at the mothers and how happy they were and how cute the baby's were and I couldn't get enough. Now I watch and I still see those things, but I also see the fear and absolute confusion of the baby's. I see how they are wondering about these people and worrying about what has just happened to where they used to live. I see the pain that they will be experiencing for a time.
So I have this daughter that started off that alone and afraid and now she can give me hell. That's pretty cool. I have this bright and vibrant , tiny girl that is no longer shell shocked. This diminutive figure that can put her hands on her hips and give me some 'tude. That's pretty cool too. I'll take it. It means that she is a "normal" four year old and we are just like any other family. It means that the love Leslie and I have for her has drowned out everything bad and she can toss some attitude our way and know that she is still loved and with us at bedtime. She knows that and THAT is what's cool.
That little one I watched today will be fine, Her parents are doing the right thing. When families come together through adoption, it's a miracle. One day that little girl will look at HER Mom and she will mouth off and that will mean that she is okay , that they are all okay, and that too is cool.
So I will take some bad mouthing and stubbornness because in the end it's what I always wanted.
As part of my decompression ritual, I got on-line to read the blogs of others (hey no laughing it works for me). So I was reading and reading and I came across the blog of a family that just picked up their daughter on Sept 17 in China. I watched a video of this tiny little girl. Now that I have my daughter from China and I know a bit about her, I can watch those videos with a different slant. I used to watch them and look at the mothers and how happy they were and how cute the baby's were and I couldn't get enough. Now I watch and I still see those things, but I also see the fear and absolute confusion of the baby's. I see how they are wondering about these people and worrying about what has just happened to where they used to live. I see the pain that they will be experiencing for a time.
So I have this daughter that started off that alone and afraid and now she can give me hell. That's pretty cool. I have this bright and vibrant , tiny girl that is no longer shell shocked. This diminutive figure that can put her hands on her hips and give me some 'tude. That's pretty cool too. I'll take it. It means that she is a "normal" four year old and we are just like any other family. It means that the love Leslie and I have for her has drowned out everything bad and she can toss some attitude our way and know that she is still loved and with us at bedtime. She knows that and THAT is what's cool.
That little one I watched today will be fine, Her parents are doing the right thing. When families come together through adoption, it's a miracle. One day that little girl will look at HER Mom and she will mouth off and that will mean that she is okay , that they are all okay, and that too is cool.
So I will take some bad mouthing and stubbornness because in the end it's what I always wanted.
Billy Bones Here....
Mom is busy today and I thought I would jump on the old innernets and tell you all about my day from cat hell yesterday. So mostly cats cant type but I do have 23 toes so, that helps.
Okay. Yesterday. It started off bad when The Mom Person forgot to give me my special meaty delishous food (even though I tried to remind her by winding about her feet and saing "food food food"). Then I was stepped on! Right in the kitchen! Secondly all of the humans were outside and I was made to stay inside with closed windows (prisoner much?) Okay, then to distract myself from my prison state and to keep track of how many circuits of the house I make, I went into the attic (thank The Dad Person for that ladder thing being left down) and I got this cool black dirt allover my feet and I walked around. It was really cool to see my footprints allover. I thought so anyway but then The Mom Person saw them and went around wiping them all away, I mean she even got the ones that I left on the walking board over the fireplace and off of the window ledges and off of the couch (there are a few on the basement floor that she didn't see- heh heh). THEN THEN - they picked me up and..... well, The Dad Person held me still while The Mom Person WIPED ALL OF THE BLACK STUFF OFF! I tried to tell them that I wanted it there and I had to put all of those prints back because I was running an experiment but, they kept cleaning so I tried to bite them- that was a bad idea, the humans don't understand what I call Teeth Talk.
Fine. Then they were dressing the Little Squeaking One and I needed into her drawer to check on her clothes and see if they had enough of my hair on them and then maybe take a nap, but you know what? That small one was squeaking at The Mom so fast that The Mom forgot about my Drawer Inventory and my tail got hurt in the closing if that drawer! Then as The Mom Person was making food on the hot top for the humans I tried to remind her again about MY food, but, well, she stepped on me again! What a day. Sometimes I worry about these humans.
I have to admit here that The Mom did make things up to me- eventually. I did get my good food, plus a snack, then she brought out my special furry blanket and I laid there and let her give me a massage so she wouldn't feel so guilty-- she's only human afterall. I'll probably stay with them but it was close for awhile.
Billy Bones
Okay. Yesterday. It started off bad when The Mom Person forgot to give me my special meaty delishous food (even though I tried to remind her by winding about her feet and saing "food food food"). Then I was stepped on! Right in the kitchen! Secondly all of the humans were outside and I was made to stay inside with closed windows (prisoner much?) Okay, then to distract myself from my prison state and to keep track of how many circuits of the house I make, I went into the attic (thank The Dad Person for that ladder thing being left down) and I got this cool black dirt allover my feet and I walked around. It was really cool to see my footprints allover. I thought so anyway but then The Mom Person saw them and went around wiping them all away, I mean she even got the ones that I left on the walking board over the fireplace and off of the window ledges and off of the couch (there are a few on the basement floor that she didn't see- heh heh). THEN THEN - they picked me up and..... well, The Dad Person held me still while The Mom Person WIPED ALL OF THE BLACK STUFF OFF! I tried to tell them that I wanted it there and I had to put all of those prints back because I was running an experiment but, they kept cleaning so I tried to bite them- that was a bad idea, the humans don't understand what I call Teeth Talk.
Fine. Then they were dressing the Little Squeaking One and I needed into her drawer to check on her clothes and see if they had enough of my hair on them and then maybe take a nap, but you know what? That small one was squeaking at The Mom so fast that The Mom forgot about my Drawer Inventory and my tail got hurt in the closing if that drawer! Then as The Mom Person was making food on the hot top for the humans I tried to remind her again about MY food, but, well, she stepped on me again! What a day. Sometimes I worry about these humans.
I have to admit here that The Mom did make things up to me- eventually. I did get my good food, plus a snack, then she brought out my special furry blanket and I laid there and let her give me a massage so she wouldn't feel so guilty-- she's only human afterall. I'll probably stay with them but it was close for awhile.
Billy Bones
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Preview
Today we had the official photo shoot for our Halloween cards. It was a challenge this year. Evelyn is in this phase where she keeps this strange expression on her face, I call it her Lil Face (that's after a scene in a David Lynch film), basically she scrunches up her nose and lips and looks like she just ate a lemon AND is smelling stinky garbage or something. In summary, not the cutest expression to feature on a card, so I had that to work around and also the inherent stubbornness that is Evelyn. I was more stubborn than she is, combine that with the power to with-hold candy for three days and I ended up with some decent pictures I think.
It's no secret that Ev wanted to be Link from the Zelda line of video games and with the help of my Aunt Tanya we were able to do that for her. It's an awesome costume and I can't wait for it to be seen for now though here is a picture of the "real" Link and what we had to work with.....
This is a picture of one of the illustrations in the Nintendo Game Guide that Ev carries everywhere. She loves this little elf, he is her first hero of rock and roll proportions. We have also been letting her play the game, you know work the controls and make decisions about what to do next- she's pretty good.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Boat Rides and Movies
I am a poor blogger type and a bad Aunt. I forgot to grab my camera today before we headed out for a day of fun with the kids. (When I say we, I mean my sister and I).
I had this day planned, it was pretty good on paper and turned out to be better in real life, but I was a bit worried when we had to walk out of the movie. See, I planned a little Halloween movie and then a boat ride with our favorite sexy Coastie- great, good plan. Except that the movie was , ummm, obnoxious and we left. Okay, this was Spookly the Square Pumpkin, seemed harmless. However the first 35 minutes was nothing but long commercials for one PBS show after another and then the movie started and it was weird and dumming down the kids at the speed of light. I requested our money back and the theater manager was kind and understanding but wanted me to switch theaters and watch that Chihuahua movie, I think when I used the word "malignant"- he got the hint and refunded our dough.
THEN we drove over to the station where Les is on duty and we had a boat ride. A nice family boat ride out in the sun and fresh air. The kids got to "drive" and they loved it. I knew Ev would like it as she is a coastie-ette and we have her on the boats when we can and she loves every minute of it. I wondered about Brev but he , too loved it and now thinks Unkel Ess is the coolest thing. I wish that I had remembered my camera because the expression on B's face was priceless, he took it very seriously and did not smile one time, but he loved it.
It was a good day.
I had this day planned, it was pretty good on paper and turned out to be better in real life, but I was a bit worried when we had to walk out of the movie. See, I planned a little Halloween movie and then a boat ride with our favorite sexy Coastie- great, good plan. Except that the movie was , ummm, obnoxious and we left. Okay, this was Spookly the Square Pumpkin, seemed harmless. However the first 35 minutes was nothing but long commercials for one PBS show after another and then the movie started and it was weird and dumming down the kids at the speed of light. I requested our money back and the theater manager was kind and understanding but wanted me to switch theaters and watch that Chihuahua movie, I think when I used the word "malignant"- he got the hint and refunded our dough.
THEN we drove over to the station where Les is on duty and we had a boat ride. A nice family boat ride out in the sun and fresh air. The kids got to "drive" and they loved it. I knew Ev would like it as she is a coastie-ette and we have her on the boats when we can and she loves every minute of it. I wondered about Brev but he , too loved it and now thinks Unkel Ess is the coolest thing. I wish that I had remembered my camera because the expression on B's face was priceless, he took it very seriously and did not smile one time, but he loved it.
It was a good day.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Camp Out
We got lucky and scored some B for the weekend!
B as in Brevin.
We picked him up last night and brought him home for the kind of camp out we Dillon girls go for. The kind with movies and popcorn and pumpkin candy and staying up until mid-night then falling asleep on the living room floor and waking up with carpet burns on your face because only about 20 minutes was actually spent on the sleeping bags....ah fun. They were up at 9 this morning so that's not too bad. Right now they are downstairs listening to The Flaming Lips and playing some complicated game involving all of my couch cushions, two flash lights a cat toy and jumping- lots of jumping, oh! and roaring. I love hearing them together and watching them and hearing their weird conversations.
Last night, coming home in the car, I heard Evelyn say "Brevin. Brevin! Where is that penny I gave you? Did you swallow it?" pause "well, DID you? , then Brevin goes "No Beam I don dink so" ( for those of you interested I never did find out what penny or if he did eat one it was just beyond me at the time, I shall have to confess to my sister I guess). THEN I heard her say " these are my stick on ear rings. Boys don't wear these but, well, my Papa wears them sometimes, yeah you could wear some I guess. Okay just put them right there. NO! on your forehead, your not a Papa yet, you have to wear them on your face", then Brev says "oday Beam" and when I got them out of the car he has three shiny hearts on is forehead. Nice.
I am off to fuel them up for some romping at the playground.
Update: We went to the park and had a great time but, I think we spent about 12 minutes too long because they each had nuclear meltdowns over very minor and separate issues (he wanted ice cream and she wanted to stay) and cried all of the way back to the car. I mean we had snot and wailing folks. It was the walk of shame.
Friday, October 3, 2008
My Cussin' Kid
Evelyn has learned a new and interesting word. "Bee-otch", yes the current colloquial mispronunciation of the word b-i-t-c-hum hum. I haven't been able to put a real stop to it because , well, frankly every time she says it, I laugh my butt off. I can't help it, it's so funny. Just think of that little voice yelling out bee-otch forcefully and gleefully. No. Really. It's funny. Eveln Leslie nearly blew out his Circle of Willis trying not to laugh at her and then he did not succeed and this was while driving and we nearly wrecked the truck because I was in no shape to grab the wheel. That particualr time she was just going:
E - "Mama?"
Me- "yes Evelyn"
E- " BEEE-OTCH!"
Me- "strangle gurgle snort"
E- "Papa?"
Les- "yeah baby?"
E- " BEEE-OTCH!!!!"
Les- "strangle gargel snort"
truck- veer bumpity bumpity.......
Then we both lost it and laughed out loud and then Ev laughed outloud and that has been it.
Now she says things like "Mama?- I'm hungry bee-otch!" and I laugh and feed her when I recover.
Clearly I am a bad mother.
E - "Mama?"
Me- "yes Evelyn"
E- " BEEE-OTCH!"
Me- "strangle gurgle snort"
E- "Papa?"
Les- "yeah baby?"
E- " BEEE-OTCH!!!!"
Les- "strangle gargel snort"
truck- veer bumpity bumpity.......
Then we both lost it and laughed out loud and then Ev laughed outloud and that has been it.
Now she says things like "Mama?- I'm hungry bee-otch!" and I laugh and feed her when I recover.
Clearly I am a bad mother.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
October 1= time for Halloween
Every year I have to hold myself back for the Halloween stuff. I didn't truly make it this year, I like to wait until at least Oct 1 before I drag it all out, this year we have already been munching on candy corn and pumpkins for about a week and a half, I already have some little ghosties strung up across a bookshelf and I have bat mobile hanging up that I made by lantern light during the outage, also there is an amigurumi owl on the mantle that I just finished making.
And last night Ev and I sat down for our first screening of Hocus Pocus, I was surprised that she liked it, I thought it would maybe be too "freaky out" but she got into it. Ev was telling Les some about it today though and called Billy Butcherson a vampire but, umm, he's a zombie. We have some sorting out of the undead to do I see, she is my daughter after all and we just don't confuse our zombies with our vampires around here, that's a major no no.
In the spirit of the holiday to come here is a list of some of my favorite Halloween movies and tv. These are in no particular order.
Poltergeist
Hocus Pocus
The Lost Boys
Silver Bullet
Any Halloween episode Of Buffy
The "Hush" episode of Buffy
Practical Magic
Any Harry Potter Flick
The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Corpse Bride
Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Monster House
Monster Squad
The Goonies
The Blade Movies
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Yeah, those should get me started.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/14640/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-halloween
http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=36870
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Corpse_Bride/70032593?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=921712368_0_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Silver_Bullet/60023007?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=480058525_0_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Lost_Boys_Special_Edition/70001895?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=737094639_1_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Poltergeist/864808?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1137132487_0_0
P.S. I put all of these links on here, mostly for my sister's amusement but, check 'em out if you want to.
And last night Ev and I sat down for our first screening of Hocus Pocus, I was surprised that she liked it, I thought it would maybe be too "freaky out" but she got into it. Ev was telling Les some about it today though and called Billy Butcherson a vampire but, umm, he's a zombie. We have some sorting out of the undead to do I see, she is my daughter after all and we just don't confuse our zombies with our vampires around here, that's a major no no.
In the spirit of the holiday to come here is a list of some of my favorite Halloween movies and tv. These are in no particular order.
Poltergeist
Hocus Pocus
The Lost Boys
Silver Bullet
Any Halloween episode Of Buffy
The "Hush" episode of Buffy
Practical Magic
Any Harry Potter Flick
The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Corpse Bride
Bram Stoker's Dracula
The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
Monster House
Monster Squad
The Goonies
The Blade Movies
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Yeah, those should get me started.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/14640/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-halloween
http://video.scifi.com/player/?id=36870
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Corpse_Bride/70032593?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=921712368_0_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Silver_Bullet/60023007?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=480058525_0_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Lost_Boys_Special_Edition/70001895?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=737094639_1_0
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Poltergeist/864808?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1137132487_0_0
P.S. I put all of these links on here, mostly for my sister's amusement but, check 'em out if you want to.
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