Flipping Frog

Today was a big day. Finally after lots of talk (from yours truly) The Bean was signed up for, and attended her first real gymnastics class! I was very proud of her, she met the teacher and the other kids and even though she was a bit nervous- she headed right across that gym and joined right in. She is in their second level class for 4 to 6 year olds and they are called the Flipping Frogs. She got to do some mat work, some balance beam work and then some very basic and beginning bar work. She has glowed all day. This is a real gym with real training, not like the gymnastics themed play group that we attended in Hatteras. I am very excited for her.

Tonight was a bust. Kind of? Not really.

We were all three jonesing for something to do that did not involve playing in the cold, playing in the basement play room, playing the Wii or playing Uno. Basically we needed to get the heck outta da howse. Because enough with the Uno already.
I said, hey why don't we go see a movie? OK. Except that the only movie we could fathom taking The Bean to, was The Tale of Despereaux. Great. I started an internet search and found out that it's not playing anymore? OH! Except that it WAS playing in ONE theater about a 30 minute ride away. We were so desperate that we went for it.
We got loaded into the truck and happily buzzed off. We arrived at the Theater and it looked all dark. Then we noticed that the entrance on the side we were on wasn't plowed. Hum.
Smart people would have figured things out. We are not those people.
We took another 10 minutes and drove around until we found yet another way in. This way was plowed- kind of. We got to the front and I realized that the entire parking lot for this joint was laying under about a foot and a half of snow. Then we realized that there was no one else around. Then we noticed that the "Open" sign was off.
HUH.
It was very hard to explain to the 4 year old in the back seat that the movie was off. She basically couldn't understand why we didn't plan better.
So we moved on to option number two. This was to drive back towards the house and go see Madagascar 2 at the dollar movie near by the house. Even though Bean and I have seen that one- we were ready to see it again.
We got back on the highway. We drove towards what we thought was the North. Turns out we got turned around.
THEN we had to explain to the 4 year old in the back seat that in addition to bad planning, her parents were likely to find directional anomalies in the time space continuum of Ohio freeway systems.
She was not impressed.
When we were able to get off on an exit to turn around, I looked right and saw a massive shopping sprawl. I laughed and said "hey we should go left and see what we can find". Les laughed, then obliged. Cuz that's how WE roll.
Then we had to explain to the 4 year old in the back seat that we were heading not towards
home but into unknown suburbia to find....?
Again with the un-impressed. Then she started with the skepticism.
We found a theater but alas! no Despereaux or anything vaguely kid worthy.
When all was said and done, we went into a Best Buy.
We went in and The Bean ended up with a movie (Monsters Inc.) a new Wii game (Kung Fu Panda) a new gun for the shooting games on the Wii and a manual to Mario Kart Wii. Then we ate at Chili's(fajitas).
The shopping and eating delay gave the freeway enough time to fix it's time-space thingy and we made it home safe.
Where we played Uno afterall.

Oh and we played in all that snow....

Happy Chinese New Year!!

We had our CNY dinner last night. Yesterday, Ohio was hit with a big snowstorm and all of the company that we had invited had to back out. That was ultimately okay with us, for two reasons 1) we didn't want anyone we know and love out on those treacherous roads and 2) it left more egg rolls for us.


Yeah we made egg rolls from scratch again this year and they were fabulous. I use a recipe I found in Everyday Food Magazine and they are quite tasty. After that I made us a big batch of steak and shrimp stir-fry. For dessert Ev and I had made sugar cookies (to substitute for Moon Cakes) and we also made tiny bits of pink fudge called Fairy Fudge. Needless to say, I ate so much that I was in pain. It was a fine dinner though.


The house is all decked out for CNY too. We re-used most of the stuff we made last year and just added some Ox stuff in. Leslie does all of the original drawings and I am the colorist. One thing I added this year was a small grouping of Lantern Riddles on a kitchen wall. I know that really we just have used markers and construction paper so it's not that we have especially "nice" decorations but we made them all together and we had fun while doing it, so to me that's far better than ordering stuff online and putting it up. Plus Bean gets to see us looking things up in books and trying our hand at Chinese calligraphy and reading up on the Zodiac.

So, the year of the Ox? That's my year!Hopefully it will be a good one.



The mantle wall- complete with small Buddha shrine( that's a picture that I took while we were in China getting The Bean) and Bean's calligraphy from last year.

One of Leslie's Oxen. The calligraphy down the right side is the numbers for the lunar year 4707

The Lantern Riddles

Scrum-diddly-umptious egg rolls. Made with Napa cabbage, carrots, ginger, garlic, pork and then they have a bit of a soy, brown sugar and rice vinegar sauce too.


My two favorite people, they were waiting for the oil to heat to fry the egg rolls and they were making each other laugh.

The Ox that Bean drew.

Happy Key Day Sis!!!

My sister picked up the keys to her new place today. Congrats Lissa!! I know that you are so excited and we are all excited for you. How you managed to con Dad into hauling a snow blower over there for your driveway that you technically won't need for another few days, only hours after gettting your keys - that'a a new record on father manipulation. Just kidding! I know that he was probably champing at the bit to get over there and help out in some way.

Hey, when are we helping you move in? let me know.

Videos of the Acrobats

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I feel tat I shoud mention that when the guy knocks down that ring- that was one of only two mistakes during the whole performance. It really was a great show. Melissa got us good tickets so we were up close, on the aisle to the right of the stage. I would go again and see this group in a minute.

Coupla Gals...

at home on a snowy Sunday. Waiting for their handsome Man to make it back home.
We are cleaning-playing-cleaning and hoping that Leslie will make it back home from his week in Virginia safe and sound and right on time. It has been a long, lonely week without him here.
Evelyn is dashing about the house with a homemade tiny umbrella and doing moves from the Acrobat show.
Billy Bones is wandering around chewing things and talking to us.
I am trying to keep Bean entertained while slowly cleaning this house. The house that has steadily declined into squalor while I laid about coughing this past week. I am back to normal enough to notice the mess and be annoyed by it- so I may live...
The Bean is pacing in the hallway excitedly awaiting "Toilet Cleaning" so I must away.(see? I wasn't kidding when I said she like to watch the toilets get cleaned.)

Golden Dragon Acrobats

Tonight we kicked off Chinese New Year in style. Jodi met me here at the house and she and I took off to collect most of the Smokewood Gang. Jodi, myself, Evelyn, Melissa and Brevin left ahead of my Mom to go and have dinner at the best Chinese Restaurant in Ohio. While at the table, one of our favorite waitresses brought a traditional red envelope over to the table for Bean and Brev. Mom met us at the end of our meal and we all headed off to watch the Chinese Acrobats.
The show was wonderful! The Bean sat in rapt attention for the whole thing. When it first started, she kept saying "mama they are so small! why are they so small?!?!?" I finally got what she meant and explained that they were all grown ups - just small because they were born in China- like her. Then she wanted to get right on stage and practice what they were doing! When it was time to applaud- she would clap with her entire being. At one point she started moving her hands and arms like the girls on stage- she was really into it. When the guy came out and did the whole handstands on about 50 chairs- Brevin called out " I Yike YOU!!!" So I think both kids were way into the show but Brev was seated behind me and I didn't get to see his face alot. During intermission- both kids went into the aisle and started trying to do some moves like the acrobats, there was alot of very serious faced movements and a little bit of leg lifting. At the end of the show, Bean practically refused to get up and leave because she wanted to see more.
I would say that was a great start to CNY!!!
Before we went to dinner and the show, Bean handed out some CNY gifts to her family. We had little Chinese take out boxes with good fortune chocolate coins and Chinese milk candy (had a picture of a cow on it for the Year of the Ox).
I realize now that I took about 3 stills of the show and alot of video footage- I should have taken more pictures but that show was so good I wasn't really paying attention.

I will post a couple of short videos tomorrow- it's off to bed right now though.

The Tag Fairy?

Evelyn came to me the other morning, sad and dejected. It was pitiful, she was carrying a white tag (the old fashioned kind on a small string that we use to tag Christmas Gifts) with some scribbles on it and she was sort of droop shouldered and defeated. I asked her what the matter was, she took a deep breath, sighed a sigh, and said the following...
"Mama the Tag Fairy just won't come. I put my wish on it and put it under my pillow for lots of nights now and she hasn't been here yet"
This was the first I was hearing about this! I was shocked. I had to think REAL fast on my feet. I said"well Evelyn it has been really cold and windy these past few nights, that's hard weather for a fairy to fly in" This news was revolutionary to Ev. Her face lost it's defeat, she perked right up and started talking about the weather and fairy flight and what sort of weather they could fly in.
While she was talking I sort of asked "hey what did you write for The Tag Fairy to bring you, "monies for me and some treats for Billy Bones" she replied. Internally I gave a sigh of relief because I could handle that even laid low by Bronchitis. I suggested that we give that old fairy one more night to show up- The Bean agreed.
Later that night I put Evelyn to bed. She assured me that the tag was in place and that she was excited to see if the weather clearing would mean that the Tag Fairy would come. I waited until Bean was asleep , then I used some white netting (tooling?) that I had and made two tiny parcels tied with pink silk ribbon, sprinkled them with glitter and put them under her pillow. In the morning I had one happy little girl on my hands.
It seems The Tag Fairy came through in the end. 6 quarters for Ev and a few treats for Billy Bones.
WHEW! My heart just about broke when I thought of Bean, faithfully putting that scribbled little tag under her pillow each night and waking up disappointed but never saying a word. I am so glad that she decided to talk with me about it. I am so glad that I had enough sense to figure out an excuse for that late fairy.
Of course my daughter would have a fairy that involved a tiny scrap of paper.......

Operation Bean Lift

Grandpa and Grandma showed up today to rescue Evelyn from the sick house. I was sorry to see her go but glad that she will be looked after and have other people around while I recover. I know that my Mom just had surgery last week, but I swear she looked better than I do about now. Ev will be there at Grandma's until I go and get her on Friday.
Friday is the day that we are taking Jodi along with The Smokewood Gang and ourselves to kick off Chinese New Year. We are having a Chinese dinner and then going to see a Chinese Acrobatic Show.
So I am off to drink like a bottle of cough syrup and maybe top that off with some whiskey and I am going to lay down and sleep until Friday.
Oh God. Thank you Mom and Dad. I thank you more for Ev's sake than mine but thank you thank you thank you. And Lissa too because she started this whole thing and I know that she has plans to keep Ev busy and happy.

By the way? President Obama? Great speech and he's already hard at work, trying to turn this country around. Good on him. I am proud to have him as our 44th.

House of Pain

Video proof of the nonsense that has been going on around here. Ev had finished her art work and was loading into the Cat Proof Vault (also known as the closet in the computer room) when Billy Bones struck again. Drama ensued but with a lightening quick recovery as you will see. I swear that I did not set this up, I was just smart enough to have the camera rolling because I saw the gleem in Bill's eyes.....

P.S. My house is obviously in need of at least a "picking up" if not a full blown cleaning so sorry about that. Also you can see the crappy walls in the hallway where we stripped wall paper but are waiting to paint.

Oh God! They have turned on each other!! Send Help.

I am still down with Bronchitis.
At this point I am wondering if I maybe have the most stubborn case ever known to man. I am still froggy and dishraggy and generally useless. It's cold outside. it's snowy outside. I can not even fathom getting outside- not even if I needed more cough syrup. For whatever reason that is our life- Leslie is not here. I am on my own. Having said that - Evelyn and Billy Bones are on their own too. I mean how much can I do for them? Feed them? yep. That's about it.
So precious little Evelyn is going about her day -keeping herself entertained mostly. She's really good at it and she is so good that it is breaking my heart. There has been a significant change though. Billy Bones is bored and not so good at keeping himself entertained and Ev is a bit tired of fussing after him. So they have turned on each other. They usually play nicely together (yes a human and a cat - I have talked a bit before about this weirdness but unless you are a huge animal person and happen to have kids and then an animal that is as smart as Billy - you may never quite get what I am talking about) , they usually are in accord, laughing and running and keeping each other happy. Today though? Today they have declared war. Billy Bones is following Ev around and he waits until she is interested in something and then he jumps in and takes it and runs off with it and hides it. Since he can jump and she can't this usually means that I am the one up and chasing after him while Evelyn shrieks encouragement and a litany of his wrongs. OR he will just jump on her and start chewing- this also requires me to intervene. Or he will hide and meow so then she gets concerned and when she goes looking for him- he bushwhacks her or sneaks back into her room and gets into whatever she is doing.


Right now she is doing an art project. She is gluing pom poms (these happen to be Billy's favorite toys in the universe) to paper. He keeps running in and stealing pom poms and/or her art work and running off with them and then madly chewing them. He has had to be locked out of her room. He is standing vigil outside her door. The smallest crack and he barges in and causes trouble. Of course Ev has a million reasons why she needs to crack the door and talk to me or him.


You see why I am loosing my grip and feeling sorry for all of us but mostly myself? They are trying to kill me. I have armed Evelyn with a squirt bottle full of water to defend herself. I need a whiskey tonic and a live in nursemaid/ animal trainer- any takers?



Assembly Line Pom Pom Art
Barabarian at the Gate

Sweetness

I have become aware that I talk alot in this blog about how funny The Bean is , or how smart she is. There is an aspect to her that I don't talk about very much- her sweetness. She truly is a sweet hearted little girl. This is amazing to me because I, myself, will not ever be mistaken for a sweet person- though my Mom just told me the other night that I was a very sweet little girl- but I am not a sweet adult. I am just not cut out that way.
Evelyn though. Evelyn is sweet. Sometimes you miss her sweetness because it does get shadowed by her practicality and her funniness. Sometimes I miss it because I am not a sweet person , so I can fail to recognize it when it happens though often times I lay in bed at night and think of something Evelyn did and the sweetness of it will make my heart stop and I will mentally kick myself for not seeing what was happening right in front of my eyes.
My Mom just had surgery and Ev and I went to be there at the hospital with my Mom and Dad. When we were able to go see Mom in the Recovery Room, the first thing that Ev did was take an inventory of all the medical stuff happening in the room. Then she established her Grandma's well fare. After business was done, she sat quietly at my Mom's side, gently rubbing her arm and asking if she was okay and telling her (my Mom) that she (Ev) had been worried about her. Later that evening at my Mom's house, unbeknownst to myself, Evelyn snuck into where my Mom was resting to check on her several times. Mom says that Evelyn just crept in quietly and rubbed her hand and whispered to ask if she was ok or needed anything.
I am sick with Bronchitis. Evelyn watches me during my coughing fits and then always checks to see of I'm okay and she tells me a hundred times a day that she is "so very sorry that you have donkitis Mama-you will be better soon enough"
She worried that her Aunt Melissa wouldn't have art work in her new house so she colored for 2 solid days, making pictures for Melissa to have in her new place.
She is forever making small toys and places for Billy Bones to sleep.
She will not ever eat anything without offering some to anyone around.
If she sees you reaching or struggling with something she will always RUN right over to help in any way that she can.
She can climb right up in your lap and with a few well placed phrases and touches-melt your heart like it was just placed in a glowing forge.
If I make her something , like say when I made her paper snowflakes for her bedroom, she will always make me something similar in return and put it in a place that makes it a surprise.
These are just a few examples of Ev and how she can be so sweet.

*sniff*

cough
hack
wheeze
cough
cough infinity......
That's where I am. I assume that my child is carrying on- being cute and funny. I am just not aware of it right about now.
cough hack
wheeze

Bronchitis?!?!?

Remember the post where I talked about a "cough thingy"? And I said that I wasn't that sick?
Remember the post where I said I was heading to my Mom's house to help her after surgery?
Well, I did head to my Mom's. I was able to help her for about 12 hours and then I was laid LOW. I had to go out and see a doctor.
I have bronchitis.
I just hope that I haven't infected my Mom. I knew I was at least carrying a cold virus, so I was very careful around her.

OK.
Bronchitis sucks.
If it wasn't bad enough that it feels like there is an Alien trying to claw it's way out of my chest- there is always the dead sexy scratchy, froggy, squelchy thing going on with my voice. Oh and the coughing and the coughing and the coughing........

Not Much To Blog About

Yep. The title says it all.
I have finally been struck down by the cold thingy that Ev had last week. I say Cold Thingy because really, it's jut a headache and alot of coughing. I am also ebbing low on energy but I am not so sure that's new and can be contributed to the c.t.
Two shows that I love? Battlestar Gallactica and Lost. I am now watching BG season 4 with Les and then I have just watched one episode of Lost Season 4 on my own. (Jodi, omg how did you manage to watch this whole season and not call me like every 10 minutes?!?!?!!) The shows are different. I mean you have the whole sci-fi thing happening in one and then a bunch of folks on an island with weird $#&* happening in the other- but they are both great and worth watching. Really.
See? I told you nothing was going on.
Oh yeah, in the past week Ev has used the following words in a completely correct manner:
Original
Similar
and Accecptable

Ev and I were supposed to head off to Grandma's today....My Mom is scheduled for some gallbladder removal tomorrow and we wanted to be there but we are waiting for a winter storm to abate so we can get there. I will probably head out in the morning if the weather cooperates.

Snow Days

Here in the Buckeye State we had ourselves some snow this past weekend. Now, this was not an extraordinary snow or anything. It was just white, fluffy accumulation that meant that Evelyn could break in her snow suit (which turned out to be WAY to warm for 25 degrees) and learn some snow playing skills.

As I have mentioned before she does have a new found love for the white stuff so it really took Leslie hardly any time at all to convince her to get outside. So, on Saturday, while I headed out to spend a day with Jodi, Les and Ev stayed at home and played in the snow. This was the day she tried to wear her new purple snowsuit but, it was just too hot. On Sunday, we all headed out to play. There were wonderful piles of snow and plenty of fresh snow to crunch. We were all having a great time and I was watching Ev thinking "man she is really playing hard". She continued to play hard, jumping and falling and running and climbing big snow piles.....and then she started coughing and swallowing.....then she groaned.... and then she threw up! yes, she played so hard and was so excited- she puked!!! Really?!!?

"Playing so hard they puke" , that's one of those things that no one tells you when you are a new Mom or are expecting a kidnic. Nope, no one tells you that. Other things they don't tell you? Exactly how much you will stain treat chocolate milk out of brand new shirts that have been worn for approximately 45 seconds, how many cookies you will buy just to hear "oh I luv luv luv these kinds of cookies Mama", that ANY scrape or bump requires a "first aid kit" and band aid-where was I? oh yes the puking....

so okay. Evelyn is the WORST puker in history! Just let me say that. She is diametrically opposed to the whole, leaning over so the recycled salsa and chips doesn't run right down your front and puddle on your boots. I thought it was instinct or something to lean forward when you are vomiting-apparently it's a learned skill? This means that instead of being able to gently coo at her and say things like "it's okay honey, mama's here- you'll be fine just get it out" I end up going " OhMyGod Gross, just lean over! ew. Just lean over!!!!! EV-AH-LIN!!!! LEAN OVER!!!!! AGGGHHHH! Nasty!!!! Just lean over- put it in the snow! In the snow! EW! no don't turn to me, lean over for heaven's sake. OH! You are the worst puker ever! Just lean over!!! OH my GAWD!!!! LEAN OVER!!!!!" guess what? I had to come in and do a bunch of laundry. Somehow I managed to whisper to Les to take a picture- I am nothing if not sympathetic.

I brought Ev in. Cleaned her up. Helped her brush her teeth, gave her a children's tums (which made the whole thing worthwhile to her) and had her sit quietly for about 20 minutes. Then I hauled her into the kitchen and sat her on the counter with a steaming mug of hot chocolate to further facilitate recovery.

That was our weekend of snow. Next weekend we are buying a sled!

Bullets

• From the "My Kid is Weird Files"- Evelyn loves Toilet Cleaning Day. She loves it. When she sees me dragging out the cleaning bucket she gets all glassy eyed and says "ooohhh my! is it time to clean the toilets?" and when I say "yep" she starts right in begging me and begging me if she can do it (no of course not) or to at least "stand close" and watch. Weird. Truly.
• From the "Billy Bones and Evelyn Files"- These two have been playing around the house all day together. It's so funny for me to watch because Bill really does act like a dog alot of the time. She will call him " Bill! Billbillbillbill! Come on!" and he will stop what ever he's doing (usually chewing something or licking water off of the shower curtain) and trot right on over to her and then they close her bedroom door and you can hear them in there talking to each other - listen- don't roll your eyes- it goes like this"Billy, let's go hunt the Green Goblin!" billy sez "pppprrrpppttt! urrrr! UH!" and she laughs and then you can hear them hunting the Green Goblin- I do not make this stuff up.
• Ev has her own cd player in her room. We started out in Hatteras, letting her have music to sleep to about 2 nights a week. No more than that because I have worked very hard on her ability to put herself to sleep and I don't want her to get dependant on any one thing for sleeping. Well, now she likes to put music on throughout her day. I love her musical choices and it cracks me up that a 4 year old has 'music moods'. If she is feeling wild , she will put in a rock selection. If she wants to sit and read or color, she puts in a lullaby cd.
• From the "I have More Guilt Than the Jewish and Catholic Religions Combined Files"- I have been just going about my mornings and letting Evelyn do her own thing. It is so wonderful. She is able to really spend an hour or two at a time entertaining herself. I just feel so bad- like I should be spending every single moment doing play-dough stuff with her, or playing her board games. It's just that I also know that kids and adults alike need to learn how to be on their own and I love that she has this ability. I just wonder if I am getting lazy as a mother. I also think that I should be pushing computer skills and her abc's and numbers harder, then when I do I think that I should back off and let her be a kid.

Congratulations Sistah!!!!!

After living with my parents for a few years....okay I will clarify here because my sis would want me to....My sister, with a new baby was trying to put herself through school -'nuff said-
anyway, after living back at home with my parents for a few years, Melissa was able to get her own place this week!
I am very proud of her. Not for what you would think though. I am not proud because she is "finally" getting back to her own place. I am proud of her because she looked at her life and saw what she needed to do -for Brevin's sake- and she did it. I am proud of her because she saw that she needed an education and a profession in life and she made sure that she got it. I am proud of her because well, she is who she is.
She is strong and vibrant. Smart and funny. I have watched her grow, from a broken hearted, pregnant girl into a strong, independent Mother.
Melissa, I know that even as generous and easy going as our parents are, that it was still very hard for you to move back home. I know that every day you struggled with feelings of , and I quote YOU here, "looserdom" but you stuck it out. You stayed there and waited until the time was right because you knew that for Brevin's sake, you should stay. You stayed and stayed when I knew that you were dying inside for you OWN home, your own place in the world. Now you have it. Now you can look around and say "I did this" and you know what? YOU did and that's why I am so proud of you and so happy for you that I could bust right now.
Congratulations Sister.
I love you.

Bean-isms

• "We are gonna eat some dinner and then fire up the old Zelda!"
• while playing Zelda- "alright let's blow this puppy up!"
• when Ella Fitzgerald was turned on-"OK Papa LET'S ROCK!"
• she tipped over my crochet basket and when I tried to help her clean it she said "Oh that's alright I made this mess, I can clean it up all beside myself"
• "Okay folks it was grocery day- now where are we going to eat? The Chinese place? Muldoons? I vote for Muldoon's. How does that sound?"
• in the middle of Sam's Club "MAAAAMAAAA why do we need this much toilet paper?!?!?"
• "a-course" for "of course" is very big with her right now. For example if she sees me sneaking a fudge stripe cookie she says "oh a-course I want one too."
• She offered me a treat from her kitchen today called "Cookie Anniverary". It looked like a harmless cup of water. I drank it. Then she said, with a cringe and a shrug, "Did that taste like play-dough to you?" Nice.

Talking About Money With Your Kids

I knew it would happen. That someday Ev would figure out the money thing and have some questions. In my mind we would have conversations about this, that were more like glancing blows than anything until she was like 16. In my mind at 16, she would ask for something or make a smart comment and I would say something along the lines of " Listen up kid when you have a job and are paying some of your own bills/expenses-THEN we can talk about how I spend my money-maybe".
Sigh.
It's not to be. I was forced to have this conversation with Evelyn already and it went like this:
E (after a Sam's club visit): Mama, I just don't know why you had to waste so much money at that place.
Me: Evelyn it really is not your business how and where I spend money. So, please do not think that you can talk to me about money, that is not your place.
E(worried now): It's just that was alot of toilet paper and we are almost out of bubble gum! I am just thinking about that.
Me: Listen up kid, I run the house so just stop worrying about things, I really do know what's going on and if you run out of bubble gum I am sure that you won't shrivel up and die-okay?
E (relentlessly forging ahead): Okay but how MANY DOLLARS was all of that stuff you bought?
Me: LISTEN WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR ABC'S AND CAN RECOGNIZE NUMBERS FROM 1-20?!?!?!? THEN, THEN MAYBE YOU CAN ASK ME ABOUT MONEY BUT NOT RIGHT NOW. GOT IT?

What the hell?!?!?!? I actually said that? Yes I did. And now you all have a glimpse into being Ev's Mama. The hits just keep on coming.....

THEN she says, with a sigh and a huff, "Well I am going to go up to my room and count my bubble gum, IF I have enough I will bring you a piece"....

I haven't been offered bubble gum in three days.

Sick Day

Last week Evelyn was down with a cold. That rarely happens so it is noteworthy. I mean this was her third certifiable cold and she is 4 and a half! One day, she was so puny that I just made her a pallet in the living room and catered to her all day, she even stayed in her Christmas pj's all day, even Billy Bones chilled out and stood gaurd over her. She was so pitiful, with a froggy little voice and she would say "mama how could I get so sick that it breaks my voice?" She is on the mend now as per the Dance Off to Ella Fitzgerald earlier tonight.

Why has it been a good 24 hours or so?

I mean, it's not like we have done anything special, but it has been wonderful. It all started about 8 pm last night, I set up Ev's beach tent in the living room, we (me and Ev 'cause Les was standing duty for 24 hours) crawled in with enough pizza and popcorn for an Antarctic Expedition and we watched Tinkerbell- the new Disney Fairies thing. After that, we carried her tent upstairs and set it up in her bedroom, complete with lanterns and lip gloss, zipped her in and she played and sang herself to sleep. By this time I was vegged out on the couch watching some good sci-fi and loving the relative quiet. I finally went up to bed and fell asleep reading a good mystery. This morning I had a sinfully delicious "lie in" while Ev ate her breakfast in her tent and watched some Curious George on her portable dvd player (oh God how I love that little thing some days). I had a good conversation with my Dad this afternoon while Ev played about. We waited for Leslie to get home, and when he did- we went grocery shopping. After grocery shopping, we went out to dinner at our local Irish Pub place- including a Kiss Me I'm Irish Chocolate Sundae. We three, came home then and unloaded the groceries. Leslie started madly arranging my canned goods while I had a rousing conversation with my sister on the phone. THEN Leslie and I both arranged my spice cupboard- yes we really do stuff like that and enjoy it, I've told you before.....The night was wrapped up with a little dancing to Ella Fitzgerald and we tucked Bean into her tent for another "night in the wild".
There you have it. Nothing particularly earth shattering. Nothing particularly interesting either. So why do I feel like I have had one of those special days?
I just know that it has something to do with my family and talking with and being surrounded by people that I don't have to "work hard" to be around.
I will say that for Evelyn, having the tent IN the house? That was almost as good as Christmas. She was absolutely delighted to have a camp out while watching a movie. Okay I loved it too, but only because she was so happy with it all.

The Mighty Masters Art Kit

The art easel that we got for Evie has been a big hit. She spends time every day drawing and painting- though the painting process does make me fear that my nerves nor my carpet will ever be the same. I have been enthralled with the little dudes that Ev has been making-I know that they are just basic scribbles and simple things but I love the personality that I can see in them, I love to see what she will decide to draw next. Her most prolific drawing has been on the dry erase board and not paper so I am taking pictures of them so I can have reminders for a long time. She has drawn a very interesting witch, a bear in a cave (she erased that one before we could get to it though), various bugs and furry creatures. My absolute favorite has been a Kangaroo!
A Bat

A Giant Bug and a small Kangaroo

Cat with cat toy

Kangaroo close-up

This was her Witch

Butterflies

A Fish

Quite possibly the world's greatest Snowman

Slightly Obsessed-or- My husband doesn't really mind

As many of you know (or should know) I am a HUGE Buffy/ Angel fan. OK really anything that Joss Whedon does BUT his best character EVER? that would be Angel - the Vampire with a soul. No he does not glitter. No he is not always good. Yes he has better hair than the glittery vamp. Yes he is my obsession. Now, I know that Angel does really exist- right? Maybe he could. I would still have no shot with him because 1)He would be a Vampire and 2) I would not be Buffy- so there it is. I have to settle for being slightly obsessed with David Boreanaz- you know the actor that brought Angel to life. Every once in awhile I have a "David Dream" and then spend the next few days on the internet, staring at pictures of the loverly, wonderfully broody, sexy beast that is D.B.
Leslie knows all of this. He takes it in stride. I mean first of all, have you ever heard my husband talk about Salma Hayek? NO? Well, it's close to my David Thing. We just laugh about it. Ask yourself why though, why does Les not mind? Here it is.....In MY mind, if David Boreanaz were to walk into the room, my hair would fluff up and I would immediately drop 50 pounds, my thighs would revert back to the 16 year old manifestations of themselves, the polar fleece that I was wearing would turn into some slinky black number and somehow, my legs would be shaved- then I would walk over to David and thrill him with my wit and charm and he would spend the rest of his days pining for ME. Leslie know the truth- I would stay exactly as I was, but I would sort of get all glassy eyed, twitch a bit and drool down my front. Leslie knows that MAYBE D.B. would give me a sort of pitying pat on the head as he tried to avoid the spit bubbles that were coming out of my mouth and walk on and live his life.
It's sad but true. I'll jut keep looking at David online and hope to God that we are never in the same room (particularly when I haven't shaved my legs and I'm wearing polar fleece).
ok ok the real reason that Les doesn't mind? Because he knows that mostly I am being silly and funny and I would never leave him for David - I may do some serious french kissing with him in a closet though- no I would NOT. I would maybe kind of want to though.
Here is a YouTube video made by someone more unbalanced than myself. Go see for yourself what a hottie the DB is. (oh it's like 9 minutes long or something I don't expect normal mortals to be able to stand that much DB at first- you must build immunity- lest your mind melt from the power of His Broodiness DB- so just get the general idea and then step outside for some fresh air)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_WrKlNAYog
At about the 8 minutes and 13 seconds mark, there is a picture of him in a bathtub? That picture sort of makes me a little twitchy. OK I am going to go shave my legs, in case I run into David Boreanaz at a Giant Eagle in suburban Cleveland while I am buying lettuce or toothpaste - that's possible.
Right?

Pictures

If anyone is interested and wants to take a look , you can click on the following link to see some pictures from our Christmas-es past- well since we got our hot hands on Evie anyway...http://moreofus.shutterfly.com/

Then this link is to a photo album with a smattering of pictures of Leslie and I- they are from before we were married to the present, go on go see what kids we were.....http://moreofus.shutterfly.com/throughtheyears

Fifteen years

Fifteen years ago, yesterday, two young kids stood in a church in Mansfield, Ohio and said their vows. Leslie and I were 20 and 21 when we got married and I can not believe how time has flown. I still haven't managed to ever find quite enough time to spend with him. I still look at him and my heart flutters.
We have lived in Ohio, New York, Alaska,and North Carolina. We have travelled in a car, with a new baby, from Alaska to Ohio. We have been to Hong Kong and mainland China. We were in New York for 9/11. We have been through many sick days and more healthy days. Leslie had seen me through broken thumbs, Chicken Pox, herniated cervical discs and too many days with high hormones. We have been separated once and come back together. We have suffered through Infertility and fought through to end up with Evelyn. We have fought like cats and dogs some days. Some days we have lain quietly and snuggled all day. We have laughed, oh how we have laughed. We have survived Nursing School and Boot Camp for the Coast Guard. We have managed our life with more than our fair share of long absences (Coast Guard) and had many happy reunions. I have had drunk phone calls from two countries and several states. We have watched precious family members die and we grieved--new babies being born and we have rejoiced. We nearly starved on Alaska Highway 1 and then nearly divorced when Les scarfed the last Slim Jim for himself.
The times the I remember most are the times that I have been somewhere with Les, off in a corner at a party, laying on our couch or jabbering at each other on the Subway in New York. Times where we were just talking and laughing about what, I can't even remember but I remember being with him.
We have had some very hard times together. We have had some wonderful times together. I wouldn't change a second of it. Not for a million dollars. Want to know why? Because all of those moments added up to me being right here, snug in my own home on a cold winter day, my daughter from China playing quietly at my side while my husband is downstairs rustling up some lunch for us all.
That, my friends is a great fifteen years.