Candy Cane

So since Peanut is candy cane crazy, I bought a box of them yesterday to put on the tree. Since two were broken, she ate, ahhh I don't know because I took one out of her hands.

This morning when I went into the front room, peanut was eating a candy cane. I, of course, asked, "what are you eating?" Peanut told me "A Candy Cane" and Mr. T chimes in, this is her second one this morning. ahhh who is in charge here? I took the candy cane from her and told her no more today. She was upset because instead of saving it, I threw it away.

THEN, this afternoon when I walked into the front room, she was eating a candy cane. Her time out stool was in front of the Christmas tree. She had moved it there to reach the candy canes because they were all up high. AUGH.

So I pulled them all off the tree and threw them away. Maybe we can have them next year.

We went to a party tonight and guess what was in the goody bag....

TREE FARM

thanks Christy for head's up. I did a little research and that was one of two that I had picked out to go to. For me, never having gone to a tree farm, I wanted the one with the most free stuff. I knew either Christy or Rainbowmomma would give me a good lead. thanks.

So we went. Next weekend is the big race so we needed to get the tree this weekend to make it worth our while. First, the weather was eh.... but everyone was really nice and the trees were beautiful and way less expensive then buying them from the blind people.

After much wrangling with kids and ornaments and having to go back to the store for another strand of lights, here is the finished product.

(and there is a reason we haven't painted the walls yet, so please don't think we did that treatment ourselves. I hate the wall treatment in there.)

Remember a couple of weekends ago we made some ornaments. Here are two of my favorites.

Christmas Tree Farm?

Doing a google search shows a lot of Tree Farms near us. Does anyone have a recommendation for a nice Christmas Tree Farm?

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was a little different from ones in the past. Usually we have a house full of people all day with even more for dinner. Mom and Dad live down here now, and there were no others staying with us, so the day was pretty, well... boring. I ended up doing the cooking here with only peanut to yell at every once in a while "GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN. DON'T TOUCH THAT. DON'T TAKE THINGS OFF THE COUNTER. THE STRUESAL DOES NOT NEED WATER IN IT." There is a lot of energy in that small package. Usually I can find something for her to help me with but today I just wanted to cook.

Mr. T was here but kept getting sucked into the office for some "computer work" or as most people say 'reading message boards'. Anyway, this was the first year that I actually saw the amount of dishes that go into cooking. Man, I can really make a giant mess. Usually my mom is right on hand to clean them before I am even done. "Mom what happened to that spoon". "Oh, I thought you were done. Here it is" YAY for moms.

We had a nice hike through one of the local parks this morning. We each wore a child. It was about 70 and sunny. I always like a little exercise before the feasting begins.

We came home and I started cooking. I really only made 2 sides, a turkey and ham. Well, I guess I made some rolls, bread and cranberry sauce too. But it really seemed to take a whole lot
of time. (I guess when I write it all out, it does sound like a lot.) Mom made some green beans and cauliflower. She also made two pretty wonderful pies. My belly hurts a little. I hope the wine makes it feel better

You can't really tell in this picture, but peanut wore her mermaid costume to dinner. I have been talking with her the last couple of evenings about what Thanksgiving means. I skipped the whole pilgrims part, but did talk about how today is the day we celebrate our family and friends and think about all the things that make us happy. We talked about the people we love and the things we like to do. When the time came at the table for her to tell us what she was thankful for her answer was the canned, "I don't know". That's okay though. It is hard to think when there are so many wonderful things on the table to eat.

I know someone is thankful for sweet potato casserole, squash pie, and stewed apples. I think he even ate some cauliflower. He at least kept putting a piece in his mouth.

It is 7:09 now and the kids have both been asleep for 30 minutes. That is what I am thankful for.

thanksgiving party

So peanut had her Thanksgiving feast today at her dayschool. Since I got off of work an hour early, i was able to attend.

First they had to wake up from their naps. This was a lot easier for some people than it was for others.

Miss D was walking around taking the mats out from under them but some of the kids still refused to get up.

Then it was finally time to eat. All of the kids were around the table but were not allowed to start until they said grace.

Then it was time for a FIRE DRILL

And while we were outside we ran into this handsome fellow

Does the crib look familiar to anyone? I was hoping he didn't tear down the pictures. He has torn the one off of his crib.

The other babies were laying down and crying while our young master was sitter there trying to keep his balance as he was rolled along the bumpy asphalt. Luckily there were only 3 babies in the class so Miss Vicki could get them all in the same crib.

After then it was time to eat again.

and nice Miss Leigh came to help out. Notice Nate is either still saying grace or trying to get the others to say it. Such a religious little boy! Where did he get that!

And no thanksgiving celebration is complete without a TORNADO DRILL. It is the south afterall. and well, you would think peanut would have this nailed by now considering her past.

After this peanut said "here momma. Take my plate to go. I want to go home."

I didn't blame her.

Thankful

I am thankful for healthy happy kids who every once in a while actually sleep.

Being a Southerner

Sunny and 65 today, not so bad for November.

Sometimes, the south just isn't that bad.

this picture was taken on my iphone. Thanks Sernin for helping me figure out pixup.

And all that other stuff - Part 3

So after my climbing trip in March of 1999, Mr. T. and I went on our first date. We went to Vinos and drank beer and talked. I think we ended up talking most of the evening. I thought he was bi. He thought I was bi. I liked how open and honest he was. He was very polite and very nice.

I do like a nice guy. I always have.

As I stated earlier, he was bored and injured, so he had a lot of time for me. I think at any other time in our lives, we wouldn't have meshed as well. We both would have been too busy with our lives. I didn't have very many friends yet, and Mr. T. wasn't riding bikes all the time. Mr. T. isn't outgoing, so he was probably happy for the some company that wasn't his roommates.

I tried to break up with him once. He was over an hour late coming to get me one evening. (He doesn't have a very good sense of time.) He told me that he was never going to be perfect, and that I was never going to find someone perfect. He told me that I needed to figure out if the good outweighed the bad. He also told me that I wasn't perfect, but that he was pretty happy where he was.

That struck me because I guess in a way I was searching for perfection. Aren't we all when we are young. When he told me I wasn't perfect, it was a bit of an epiphany too. I had never assumed I was perfect, but I guess in a way, I wasn't concerned about it. Mr. T. is a man of few words, but the few serious ones he does have are very poignant and well thought out.

With Mr. T. it was always different. I never really had a doubt that we would get married. It was really weird because I wouldn't say that we instantly got serious but we did connect. It wasn't in a way that says "oh wow. this person really gets me kind of way", but rather it was in a way that you connect with a really good friend that you can't get enough of. We are very different people with very different life experiences, but we come to the same conclusions even if they are from different angles. I don't alway understand him, but I can pretty much guess how he is going to respond to most things. We like similar things and unlike most couples, we vote together right down the ballot. We generally agree, which nice.

Someone has an iphone

I was trying to think what I wanted for my birthday (December 25th) that was all about me. Really, my biggest hobby is cooking, but for my birthday, i wanted something that was very self centered. Something for ME on MY birthday.

So I got an iphone.

I wanted something that had a PDA, phone, camera and ipod all in one. It just so happens that this also has a GPS which appeals to the total NERD in me. It also works out well that it syncs with my computer because all of the phone numbers on my old phone are lost because the screen quit working.

As soon as I get it all working, I will be very happy. Or I should say, I am very happy with it so far.

Grown Up

Peanut told me she was a grown up. Lately we have been talking about giving up the paci. I told her grown ups don't sleep with pacis.

She didn't sleep with one last night, AND she had a dry pull-up. Wouldn't it be nice if she night trained herself and gave up the paci all at once!

Things I never thought I would hear myself say

"We don't put our Popsicle on the floor next to the toilet"

to follow up....

After talking with a friend who is a health care provider and my mother in law who once practiced as a nurse, we decided to take Peanut to the Dentist today. She was perfectly fine. He said she loosened the ligament that held the teeth and that they would tighten up just fine.

*************************************************************
"Barrack Obama works there," peanut said as we passed the state capitol. Ugh... sometimes she is so smart it is scary. We need to watch our language and our sexual innuendos.

**************************************************************

I have been thinking a lot about my style lately. I have always been attacted to a tailored look with heals and makeup. I guess, in my mind, that is what looks like a modern successful woman. I have bought a few pieces that don't fit right or are too fancy to not wear makeup so I end up not wearing them. My style has ended up being kinda boring and hit or miss. I do have some nice clothes, but really it all breaks down because I have so many style restrictions. These are restrictions that are completely outside of finding something that looks nice and fits on my large frame. (and I realize that everyone has a hard time finding clothes that look right and fit, but I get to complain because I do have a weird frame).

So I realize now that I need to find clothes that work well with either my brown pair of Joseph Siebels or my black pair of Joseph Seibels (we won't go into how hard it is for me to find shoes with my narrow foot). This realization was really freeing for me. I know it sounds kind of dumb, but I guess in a way it is part of accepting who I am. I am granola. Yes, I am modern, and I do laugh at hippies. I also need to face the fact that I belong to two different food co-ops and use cloth diapers. I think that maybe in my rush to grow up and be accepted as a career women I forgot that.

I was going to write about me

But thought I might like to document the Santa pictures. I thought I scanned last years pictures. They were great. Peanut was crying. Santa was pissed and i was smiling. This year even baby p was smiling. Peanut was so excited to get to see Santa. I showed up at daycare to nurse baby P and she was coming unglued with excitement "MOMMA, SANTA IS IN THERE!!" I feel sorry for the teen heart throb of her generation. I just caught a glimpse of what he will be seeing.

When we got home, peanut took a dive into the concrete and got a BIG FAT LIP. tonight she fell again, which is when we discovered that her teeth were bleeding and were loose. So tomorrow we go to the dentist to be sure everything is okay.

on the good side, my friend D'wan brought over a bunch of clothes that her kids no longer need. I am so excited. Some of the peanut can wear right away. The others are getting taken over to Lisa B's house for Sophia to enjoy until Peanut can use them. I love hand me downs. I am getting some organized to hand off to my friend Cathy who is due with her first boy in the spring.

Today and STATS

I started off the day running late and getting a little chew at work. So I kinda figured the whole day would go like that. Luckily it turned around.

We went to the doctor for Baby P's 6 month check up. He is 20 pounds and 29.5 inches long. He is back on the growth chart for weight, something I figured would happen. He is in the 90th percentile. About this time peanut started falling in the weight department too. He is still off the charts for height. (and cuteness, sweetness and braininess). He handled his shots pretty well. Remember that at 6 months they get a lot of shots. In addition, he also got his flu shot and his meningitis vaccine shot. He was dragged all over the place this afternoon (obviously being with me isn't as relaxing as going to school). He got a little bit of a nap here and there totaling about 1.5 hours. It wasn't until we got home at about 430 that he really started to act like a sick baby. He wanted to be held. I finally got him to sleep around 6 or so. He didn't get any Tylenol until about 430 so i hope he wasn't too miserable before then.

We went to Michaels after I picked peanut up to get some equipment for our pine cone turkeys and the advent calendar I am making. Peanut was yelling at me that Miss Karen told her she needed a hair cut. She needed a NEW hair cut. A DIFFERENT hair cut. We finally found our way to that new Pig Tails and Crew Cuts. It was awesome. They gave peanut some animal crackers. She got to choose which vehicle she wanted to sit in for her hair cut (their chairs are really car like things that you see at KMart or Toys R Us). The staff was great and fast and CHEAP. With tip, it was 20 dollars. I really like the hair cut. It is stacked a little in the back, and they cut the bangs short like I like them.

And when we got home we made a pie while Mr. T. was wheeling and dealing to sell the Honda. After tomorrow, we will only have 4 cars. What luxury! Maybe people can park in our driveway when they come see us.

What a BIG Day!

Tomorrow Peanut and I both have appointments and hopefully that ends our appointment stuff until the end of Peanut needs her 3 year.

Guess What!!!

We are getting new windows.

After much deliberation at our house about color and type, we went with white vinyl. Original, we know. You wouldn't think people who have lived a year with faux wood paneling would be so picky, but we are. We is high Klass, ya'll.

The windows on top were all new as well as the one they are working on. We are getting closer to finishing this years work. We will take a little break after this and pay down some of the debt we have incurred.

Love Letter to a 6 month old

Dear Baby P,

My dear boy, I can't believe 6 months have come and gone. I also can't believe that you are fitting into 18 month clothes.

You are getting very good at sitting up. I am starting to trust that you will not fall when I walk away from you. You are able to correct yourself when you start to fall, but sometimes you over correct, and... well... you know. Sitting up is a very freeing position for me because it means you and your sister can take a bath together. It also means you can sit and watch the world in a more upright position.

You do enjoy watching the world. I can no longer sit in your classroom and nurse you at lunch. I have to take you into a completely different and dark room before you will eat. Even then, you nurse for a couple of minutes, pull off, and look around. You have the same deep curiosity that your sister has. It is exciting to watch you learn about your world. You are starting to get it when things are out of the ordinary. You stare for a minute. The other day your wrinkled your brow in deep concentration over something your father was doing. It made me giggle. You are also into everything. We are going to need to clean off the changing table because when you are sitting up, you reach forward and try to touch everything.

Along with your enjoyment of the world comes the opportunity to stay awake and enjoy it. You are really good about going to sleep at night, but during the day, you need quiet and dark. You sleep about 1 or 2 hours at daycare before coming home and crashing for a couple of hours. It is kinda nice because I get to play with your sister and make dinner, but I still wish you would save your sleeping hours for school, so we can play together.

Your nursing habits are starting to change as you become more mobile. You not only want to see what is going on but when you are nursing you are constantly hitting me or kicking me. I feel a lot like a punching bag. We won't even go into the biting, which hasn't stopped but is subsiding.

Overall, you are a smiling and happy baby. People remark on how well behaved you are. Today at church, Miss Quinn told me she loved to look after you and that we needed to stay for church more often. Her and Miss Sean went on and on about how well behaved you were. I found that funny, because you were ssssssssooooooo tired but still kept it together enough to charm them. When you got in the car you fell asleep almost instantly and slept for 3 hours.

I think you are a really beautiful person, and I can't wait to see what you become. Are you going to be really smart like your father? Will you be really outgoing like me? Will you have your father's temperament or will you be more like me? I have my guesses, but I think I will wait to see how the story is written before I make any final decision.

I love you deeply,
your mum.

Met the Maker

My cell phone just died on me. Anyone wanting to call me should use my house phone.

Say something nice

Peanut said two things today that made us laugh.

I don't remember what Mr. T. was saying but I said "oh Daddy you are so embarrassing."
Peanut took a cue. "Oh daddy, you are so im pair sing. You hurt my life."

It made us giggle because she was being so dramatic in fake dramatic kind of way. She had her hand over her forehead with her head cocked to one side.

smiling the whole time of course.

*********************

Today I was putting on my socks. I would say "I am putting on my socks" and reach my foot way out to kick her when I was doing it. She said to me.

"Oh momma. You are a joke."

I know, sweat pea. I know.

MmmmmmmmOOOOOOOMmmmmmmmmmmy

Peanut says Mommy a lot. It is driving me nuts. I feel like giant psycho telling her not to say my name so much.

I put her to bed this afternoon with no stories because she wouldn't quite saying mommy. Everything she says starts off with "MMMMMOOOOOOOOOmmie MMMMMMMOOOOOOOOOOOOOmie MMMMMMMMOOOOOOOOmie" She says my name three times before she says anything. The thing is, she gets a lot of attention, so i don't know why she does this. I think it is developing into a habit, and it is making me want to scratch my eyes out. I have a headache, and she is hitting the exact pitch that makes me crazy.

And just so you don't think I am crazy, I counted today and she said it 10 times in one minute. And I don't even think she was trying to say very much. Part of that minute she was looking out the window. Even in a conversation she says mommy three times before he next thought comes out. If that minute is a representation of my day, she says mommy 600 times an hour.

AUUGHHH.

PS. I felt really mean and bad so I went and read to her. She only said mommy about half a dozen times.

Things I never thought I would hear myself say

"Don't eat all the Broccoli. Save some for your dad."

You Look Good In Polos

I remember going over and seeing him in his cute little rugby shirt all laid out on the couch with his cast on. He had just made a mixed tape and gave it to me. I don't think he made it for me, but still it was really cute that he was making mixed tapes. The first song was from Bob Marley. He was totally my boyfriend again. I gave him a mixed tape of girl songs. He hated it and returned it, politely of course. I never returned his tape.

So somehow, it came to be, that we were all going to go out for dinner at Senior Tequilas. I really don't remember how it all went down, but I remember initially telling Mr. T. that I couldn't go. See, it was on a Wednesday and on Wednesday I either cleaned my house completely or did my laundry. Can you imagine how lame he must of felt when I told him I couldn't go because I was doing my laundry? I am such a dork because I really wanted to go but it didn't initially occur to me that I could do my laundry another day. Once it occurred to me, I called backed and asked if the invitation was still open.

It was.

Dinner was super fun. I wore my new prana pants that I had bought for my upcoming climbing trips. (yes, i am that much of a dork). We shared fajatas. Mr. T. offered to pay for them all, but I asked to pay for my half. He was impressed with that.

He didn't have much to do, so he wanted to hang out a lot. That worked out well because I really only had one friend. He would go with me to the laundry mat and help me fold my clothes. We even left my sheets there one time because we were too busy talking. And blushing.

He let me borrow his mountain bike. I didn't have any place to store it so I stored it up on its back wheel in my closet. It was hard to close the door so I kinda slammed it on the bike. I realize now how much that must have freaked him out. I was oblivious to how much it really cost.

Finally, at the end of March, the day before I was going to climb at Red Rocks, he asked to kissed me.

And I let him.

It was a good decision.

tomorrow - And then all that other stuff

The Mysterious Third Roommate

So, I wasn't going to do the November post every day in the month thing, but I decided that since I have posted every day this month except for one. I would.

I wanted to save this story for when February when it had been 10 years since I met my husband, but I decided to go ahead and get it out now.

I used to be an avid Rock Climber. I am too lazy to try to find any pictures of me doing it prior to Mr. T., but I spent maybe 4 days a week climbing. When I moved to Little Rock, one of my climbing friends told me to call this guy Scott because he had a climbing gym in his attic. I did and was pretty impressed. I would go over there every Tuesday and Thursday and climb with a large group of people.

One evening there were more people than the usual half dozen climbers. Scott was introducing me to people. I don't remember their names, but one guy with beautiful blue eyes ducked behind them on his way to the kitchen. Scott introduced him. He gave a small wave as he headed where ever he was going. My heart skipped a beat. (no lie) He looked much older than me so I didn't really give him much thought.

Up in the attic, he was with this girl. The girl looked at me and said "Hi, I am Bill's girlfriend and this is his room mate." BINGO! I had met Bill when I was in college. He worked organizing not for profits, and I was in the Sierra Club. Our organization had a strong interest in his organization because we hired the same lobbyist and worked together on forest issues. I had gone to the Citizen's First Congress and met Bill's other roommate Perry. I was friends with Perry's girlfriend. I had been to Bill's house a couple of times since I had moved to Little Rock and wondered why the mysterious third roommate had so many bikes. Evidently, this mysterious third room mate was back from visiting his friends and family in Australia, and Oh-My-God, he was so cute. I was really happy to hear that the girl he was with was Bill's girlfriend. What luck for me!

So we chatted and being the shy girl I was, I asked him if he wanted to go camping and climbing the following weekend. I went climbing every weekend, and it wasn't unheard of for climbers to just invite random people. (So I wasn't being too terribly forward, but if you weren't a climber, you may not know this so I MAY have looked like I was being very forward) But this guy, he was really cute and NEEDED to go with me.

He declined. He was going snowboarding in Canada with some friends. (I think this is where I fell in love with him and potentially had our first imaginary child). So we chatted some more and went our separate ways. I called my friend Holly and immediatly claimed that he was my boyfriend. See, my friend and I had this theory that anyone could be your boyfriend. It actually worked out better if they didn't know they were your boyfriend because when you guys broke up, they wouldn't be all teary and wanting more of the awesomeness that is the tallgirl. And you could have as many boyfriends as you wanted and no one would care because they didn't really know they were your boyfriend. I still use that theory to some extent now. For example, my most recent boyfriend is Keith Olbermann, but I digress. (Mr T. doesn't care. I swear.)

About 2 weeks later, I was at my friend Katie's house when her boyfriend Perry and the future Mr T showed up. He was on crutches. Evidently, he had broken his ankle snow boarding and had to come home early. We were all talking on Katie's porch having a nice time, but frankly, the thrill was gone. I can't remember why, but I remember thinking he was a bit of a pretty boy. He seemed a little into himself. He was also really annoyed when the dogs kept licking him. We broke up after that meeting, which didn't matter to him because he didn't know we were dating.

Continued Tomorrow - You look good in Polo's -

A letter of Sorts

Dear Baby P,

If I walk in the pouring down rain to come nurse you during my lunch time, please nurse. I sense that it isn't enough that you are biting ALOT but only on one side (concentrating the pain). I have a clogged duct on that side now because I won't let you nurse continually on it. I don't particularly trust you right now. To add insult to injury, you ripped my earring out and lost the back.

I may not be the 'yeller' in the household, but I am pretty passive aggressive. I fed you cold baby food today. You weren't too fond of it, but you were offered warm milk and refused it. Repeatedly.

You see buddy, we are in this together. I know it scares you when I scream 'No' at you. I know your father gets told not to comfort you (which he ignores). I want you to learn that you can't bite the proverbial 'hand' that feeds you.

My feet have finally warmed up. I think it helped to take my wet socks off that I wore all day. You woke up from your nap in a better mood. Even though I grind my teeth to think about you nursing, you cuddled right up to me and nursed like we weren't in a fight this afternoon.

Hopefully it will get all better.
with love,
your mum

We are worse than Kroger

Today was a Federal Holiday, and the kids had the day off from school. I invited Jen over for some Christmas Ornament decorating. (For those that don't know, we have family overseas so craft projects come early for us). It was pretty fun. There was minimal, "don't do that". "Stop". "Don't touch that". Mostly, it was directed at my kid so I can't really complain. Jen took a couple of really cute pictures, but the girls had their shirts off so they are locked. You will need to sign into Flickr to see them and be either my friend or family.

I think I am going to use the ornaments as little Christmas presents. People can keep them or throw them away, but I like the way they turned out. It made me really excited to decorate cookies with her.

I was also able to get out and do a little shopping. I found a suit that I liked, but think I might take it back because it was $200 AND it can't be broken apart to be worn as separates. I don't mind spending the money if it is something that will get a LOT of use. I did find some other things including a pair of work pants for $9.50 (thanks Sam for heads up on Georgios or whatever it is called).

Peanut is getting really stubborn. She tells me exactly how things need to be done. If I tell her she is wrong, she argues with me. I find this new behavior a little annoying. I don't particularly like being told what to do, and I really don't like to argue. I usually just say "oh, all right" and move on doing what I need to do. The stubbornness gets her into trouble. Today she had to go sit on her bed for wanting to use some particular paints that weren't open when she had some paints sitting in front of her. She just wouldn't let up. The other day I told her to get out of the kitchen because she was driving me batty. She stood her ground and looked at the floor. GRRR. I picked her up and moved her to the other side of the bar.

On the flip side she is being pretty funny lately. She said "Momma I want some candy". I said "Oh let me go get you some." She answered very quickly "OH MOMMA, you tricked ME." Tonight I tried to do the same thing when she demanded cake. Instead of say you tricked me she said "OH YOU is a NICE MOMMA." How could I not give her a little bit!

My house is a disaster and will be for a while

I heard somewhere that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have a nanny for every one of their kids. I wonder if that is enough. I was thinking about that today as I was cleaning up the mess that snuck up on me after I made dinner tonight. Peanut managed to make a mess while we were cleaning up. She drug sopping wet paint sponges across the floor leaving a trail of colored water on our hardwood floors. Of course it was something I didn't see her do because I was cooking, which meant I had to find the mess and figure out the extent of it.

I can't stay on top of the total disaster that is our house. I don't try to keep a perfect house, but I do want to be able to walk around. I look around and think "How are we ever going to finish remodeling this house?". It seems like every weekend is blur of this and that. I don't want to spend my whole weekend working on the house and doing errands. I want to play.

I think I am going to have to buck up and take the kids with me to Home Depot and the like. At this age, it is hard. Peanut still needs to be in the cart, but she doesn't know or think that. William needs to be carried, which limits mobility when picking things up. I think I am going to have to make a list and break things down into smaller parts. There are also some things that are hard to do in parts. Painting, for example, is hard because there is so much prep, clean up and down time.

The thing is, I am ready to start working on another project, but I know the kitchen needs to be finished first. I think if we had two weekends we could do it. But as we move into the Christmas season, those weekends are few and far between. Sigh... I really want to work on the playroom. It is so dark and green down there. I want new carpet and some fresh paint on the walls. Oh well. I guess it is just going to have to wait.

I guess I will start taking pictures of my ebay stuff.

Another one gone already

It took all I could to not name this post another one bites the dust.

Another week has come and gone. It always feels weird to sum up the weekend when you were really busy but can't think of thing that you did.

Mr. T. and I had a hot date Saturday morning. Mom came over so we could go ride our bikes. It is mountain biking season again, but neither one of us renewed our CARP cards to ride out at Camp Robinson. We ended up on our road bikes instead. It was a little cool, but when the wind was at our backs, we rode really fast.

This morning Megs and I ran 9.5 miles. We weren't going to run the extra little bit, but the gas station where I get my peanuts and refill my water was closed so we had a little detour. I am pretty tired tonight.

Peanut and I had some fights about her naps over the weekend. She wouldn't take a nap Saturday so I ended up taking away her pacifier. WOW, did that cause a commotion. Today she was much more pleasant but still refused to take a nap. I think we are letting her watch too much TV in the mornings, so she isn't getting any exercise. The TV is great for getting the house clean, but I guess we really need to watch how much she sees on the weekends. During the week she watches it in the mornings, but I think today she probably watched 3 or more hours. She was watching it when Megs and I left. When we got home, it was still on.

Peanut and I made some monkey bread on Saturday. She about flipped her lid when I suggested we have a tea party in her house downstairs. While we were trying to clean up from dinner, she kept asking asking asking to go downstairs. It was pretty exciting.

Baby P cut another tooth. That makes six. He cut it last night between the hours of 12 and 5. He was up every hour telling me he wasn't that happy. Poor Bear. I expected a very bad night of sleep. He seems like he is trying to cut another one, but I can't really see where.

He is also doing better at sitting up. He can sit up for closing in on a minute before falling over. Most of the times he falls forward and ends up just folded in half. He doesn't seem to mind it as long as he can keep chewing on stuff. He is getting more mobile on the floor and figuring out that he can roll from one place to another. He keeps pulling his knees up under him to scoot forward. It works to some extent, but mostly he just flops back over onto his back and gives us a wail (get me that toy. I can't do it. I NEED TO CHEW). Here is a picture I tried to take of the two of them sitting up together.

BONK. Ouch. That caused some tears. What a good mom!

I have about all of the kids Christmas shopping done. Most of it came from yard sales. It didn't really start out being something I meant to do, but it just happened that way. This weekend I scored a puppet theater that was way nicer than any I would have bought new. I am super excited about it. It just so happens that at Ikea I picked up a bunch of finger puppets.

The one thing that we were going to buy her is a bike. I have been trying to think about which bike I should buy this, this, or this. They are all good for different reasons. Today, Peanut was looking at a Target add and screamed, "I want this Science Lady Bike". Well, I guess that answers our question. The Disney Princess Bike it is. She is going to come unglued when she sees it. I can't wait.

This post makes fun of Democrats!!!

This is the last election thing I am going to post. This is just a little nod for the Republicans. Notice that most of the zombies are from Portland.


Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Election Night, A Photo Story

First we had our election night peas.

Well not so much us as him. We had homemade mac and cheese, sausages, soybeans, and salad. I wanted something that was all American.

But peas are so good that we (he) wanted to eat the bowl. We we (he) did.

But luckily there was a beautiful mermaid there to save the bowl.

But like all beautiful mermaid, this one got tired. Nothing is better for being tired than laying around with momma and reading some books in our Christmas pajamas that we have been obsessed with since June.

Being a good mermaid means we must be a good drinking partner to the other mermaids. So instead of going to bed, we waited and drank beer and "soda beer" on the couch.

But soon the little mermaid was tired, which worked out well because the candy fairy wanted to come down and take all the candy away. She did leave one nice present though, a Thomas movie.

And well, we all know how it went when the called Ohio.

And then there is how Arkansas went.

Black Like Me.

“I am black,” announced Peanut at the table. Our friends Bill and Liz are over having dinner with us.
“Black looks like this.” Liz says as she points to the lid on the salad dressing. “Do you look like this?”
Peanut pauses and looks around. “No, I am black like this”. She points to another lid that is a dark brown.

I love that little cracker.

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When I walked into Baby P’s room yesterday, I saw Miss Donna waiting in the rocking chair like I always do. She had the gospel music on and was sipping her coffee. Miss Donna is an older African-American lady. She strikes me as a traditional sort of person. She is married with grandchildren. She always looks nice with nice clothes and makeup. I asked about the election and her face beamed. She was very proud. She stayed up late to see Obama’s speech. She kept using the word historic.

I also spoke with Peanut’s teacher about it. She was telling me how she tried to stay up but fell asleep and missed Obama’s speech. She is about 4 months pregnant so staying awake is hard. She said her sister called and said “what you missed the most important day for…” and she cut herself off.

I will never understand what it is like to be African-American and see an African-American in the White House. I felt a little sad that Peanut’s teacher couldn’t spill the beans and tell me all about it.

I don’t think about Obama being African-American. I don’t really think much about him being half white. I do see him being like me in that he was a community organizer, an idealist. Although that may not be historic, it does make me proud.

Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken. I had my friend D'wan do them. She is the lady who did my pregnancy pictures. She got some good ones, but I wish the kids were going out of their mind so she could have gotten some more of them. Oh well. Maybe next year. We also have to remember that we might need her to stand on something when shooting my family of giants.

Growing Up

The day is warm, and I am watching my daughter ride her bike. When I picked her up from "school" she wanted to go to the bridge to ride her bike. She knows that Mr. T. and I ride there.
I can see the tow haulage on the river working well. It is pulling a set of barges through the lock. "Look, hon, this is what mommy does when she goes to work." "oh". She only slightly understands. She gets that I go to work, but it hard to explain that I sit in front of a computer and tell other people what to do. It is hard to explain to my two year old because a lot of days I don't really understand what I do.

She wants to run now. I can see her slender frame running with her hands down by her side. Her pony tails are all smashed to her head from wearing her helmet. She looks a lot like a little puppy dog with ears. She is all smiles as she runs up the slope. She puts her head down to look at her feet as she slows to a trot up the hill. I am pushing her bike, and my shoulders ache from carrying the baby. I think it is time to get rid of the bjorn. The sun is really bright. I hope it isn't hurting the babies eyes.

She wants back on her bike now. We fix the helmet. It is all kind of awkward because I can't bend over with the baby on my chest. I tell her not to ride on the center line but she doesn't listen. She keeps pedaling up the hill switching from right to left. I follow right behind pushing her gently but not letting her know.

Another Voting Post- Vote Alice Lightle-updated

I should have written this a long time ago. Way before most of my friends already voted.

See, my friend, Alice Lightle is running for district court judge. I met Alice when she decide to be a lobbyist for the Citizens First Congress and conversely the Arkansas Sierra Club. I know how much she was getting paid. It was maybe a quarter of what I was making at the time and she was working about 4 times the hours. She is from Little Rock and knew just about everyone at the legislature. She is intelligent and articulate and people just couldn't say no to her.

She turned down a job with the Attorney General's office to go for the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. Again, making nothing, but she cared so much about the direction of the organization that she was willing to not make anything to further their cause. For those that don't know, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, or the panel, helps grass routes organizations around the state organize. The Panel helps then get their voice heard through trainings and putting them in contact with the legislature. Issues groups at the panel are involved with include social justice, environmental justice, labor, education, and the environment.

(this paragraph was taken out because i screwed up in who she was running against)

Anyway, Please vote for my friend, Alice Lightle. She rocks.

A giggling Boy

A giggling boy

End of the Weekend

Another uneventful weekend. We (the kids and I) spent most of it decompressing from the week before. There was only one night that we didn't have something going on last week. Mr. T. worked on Saturday, so his decompression began after 1 that day. Friday we went to a nice party and Saturday our friends came over for dinner.

I did a short run on Saturday with hopes to do a long one today. I did. I ran 8.85 MILES on ACCIDENT. It felt really good to run. My tunes were really good. I had plenty of water. I even brought some cash, so I bought some peanuts on the way. I knew I had run more than my 7 miles I wanted to, but I had no idea it would be almost 9 miles. I feel so proud. I averaged about an 11 minute/mile pace, which is pretty good considering I went up Kavanaugh and through the deserted side of Allsopp park.

Today was the start of the end of daylight savings time. It was also the day that my kids decided not to nap. I don't know what got into peanut. It seems she can't leave me alone during the day, but come nap time, she can entertain herself for 2 hours no problem. What a nut case!

Baby P is cutting some teeth. Poor fella. You can hear him grinding his other teeth, and his finger is always in his mouth. He has been grumpy and wants to be held all the time. He is also taking really short naps, which seems to exacerbate his grumpiness. Poor Bear. I can see the tooth he is trying to cut. I can see all the ridges on the bottom of the tooth through his gums. His gum is all stretched and white. I have to put my finger on his gums to know if the tooth has cut because it looks so much like a tooth is there already. I hope it comes through tonight. He has been waking about 3 times a night to nurse and tell me he doesn't feel good. Poor Momma.

and Poor Bear.

I took some nudey shots of my little man. I love the body of both of my kids, but at the age he is now, it will never look like that again. They have there little baby bodies for such a short time before they sprout into little people. I was looking through some old shots of peanut and was glad I had a lot of her chubby frame.