seeing my shadow...

this dragged me out of hybernation; making me feel.

good.

so did the flowers on the kitchen table. surprising me with a card and a small gift of ituneage for my orange pod.

and then. your list. and i saw my shadow.

which means six more weeks. at least.

sharing.

Blogging? Ha! Who has time for blogging, when there is eating to be done.

I know - I'm a bit fixated right now. And part of this is cut off due to my blogger template. But I don't have time to change the template right now....I have to go make dinner.

Recipes you need:

Chocolate S'More Pie - Worth it. Really.

Gourmet Sweet Potato Classic - Like Candy. Not a marshmallow in sight.

Recipe that I need to try:

Pear Butterscotch Pie

passing it off.

Millie: Mom, I want that. With lots of clothes. To put on the prince and Sleeping Beauty.

Me: Well, why don't you tell Santa, and maybe he will bring it to you for Christmas.

Millie: Okay! Do you have his cell number?

celebrating those pioneers.

so in Utah, on the 24th, the state celebrates pioneers. i decided to bake me some coffee cake. with blueberries. and then return to bed. and stay in my pajamas all. day. long.

in honor of those pioneers who sacrificed so much. i took it easy.

oh. and learned that when a 2 year old wets on the cooler, make sure to open it and clean the inside too. because you don't want to open it a few hours later and question: is this gatorade? mountain dew?

and clin finally dragged us out. in air conditioning, with ipod. for our own pilgramage.

to eat ice cream.

the Scrooge of St. Patrick's.

3 years old. And I had to find something green for her to wear. I'm enabling peer pressure. And I'm being pressured by the fear of someone pinching my baby.

This drives me nuts.

taking...

For my 32nd birthday:

• Ellis gave me a crib full of wet wipes. Millie was complicit



• Millie put on her socks and shoes without throwing a tantrum



• Ellis and Millie rocked the naps



• Millie pooped in the toilet....once



• Clin brought me some Cheesecake....Factory



• And a strange cardigan like wrap that I will need to try on....
  
  
• And some Guitar......Hero
  
  

I should turn 32 more often.

resoluting.

If I was really into setting some goals for the new year, they would include:

• No sugar. At all.
• Run a marathon. (Anna - you would be my trainer, and Kelly you would be forced to do this with me.)
• Build the rest of our backyard fence. By myself.
• Get up every morn at 6:00 AM

All things I would love to do. But the practical me just could not allow the side effects of such drastic change to strain my relations with immediate family, Kelly, or Anna. I just couldn't do that to them.

So the real list? The one that just might get done?

• Survive the next 3 months
• Take a statistics course
• Touch up paint on walls and baseboards
• Re-caulk bathrooms. (anyone know how to do this? Do I have to remove the old caulk?)

And that's about it. Anything beyond is just asking for an unfinished product.

partying.

Happy New Year's Eve. Not usually an eve that I celebrate. I'm not one for partying. Not really my thing. So no real traditions.

When I was little my brothers and I would eat chips and homemade onion dip. And stay up all night watching Marx Brother movies. I still like chips, onion dip, and Marx brothers. But I don't like staying up all night. And I don't have any brothers around.

But tonight I have plans. I get to see what my husbands been doing with his evenings the past two plus months. And I'm looking forward to laughing. Eating. And laughing some more.

What are you doing?

Day 2: Christmas book to enjoy the rest of the month.


And I would like to give a shout out for this book. To all you Costco-ites, if you need an early gift idea this is a good one.

There are buttons and a working keyboard. When you push a button it plays a song and then it gives the reader the opportunity to try. A key lights up until it is pressed, guiding the person to play the song they just heard.

Millie played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and she felt good. So good that she wanted me to watch her play. Over and over again.

And for the older reader, each page has a musical staff with colored notes. To play the song you play the colored key that coordinates with the note.

Practical AND hours of entertainment.

shopping last Friday.

I don't get it. Are the deals really that great?

I check out the advertisements. But I have never opened one up and said: Yes! That is exactly what I'm looking for.

I usually see things and think, oh Clin might like that. Ellis would love this. But they are usually not on my list. And come on, do I really need to add more to those lists?

I have never seen one advertisement that has motivated me to get up at 4 AM and park myself in a line.

I've always wanted to go. Just to see what the fuss is about. But something would have to be practically free to pull me in.

I did mosey on over to Wal-Mart last Friday around 10:00. Because I was alone. Because I could. It wasn't crazy. A bit busy. But I wasn't pushing a cart. The only difference from a usual visit to the Mart? I couldn't stop searching. Searching for a deal. It's the day after Thanksgiving. The prices are supposed to be rock bottom. Where is my amazing find? And the more I searched, the less I found. I wasn't searching for a doorbuster, just something that said to me:

I am cheap. You must purchase me because you will never be able to find me at this price again.

Nothing. Everyone else was loading up on toys. But the prices didn't seem that different from every other day. And I felt bad. Like I was missing out. Like I needed to buy something NOW. So I left the store with some blocks - because they seemed to say:

I'm the last available doorbuster. Buy me now or you will miss your chance.

So I bought them. And stood in the 20 items or less line waiting for the woman in front of me who was trying to price match Connect 4 and Trouble to an ad she thought said $6.00 but couldn't remember the store. And she asked the cashier, multiple times, to check different ads for her. What???? Is that really the cashier's responsibility? To find us better deals?

I left with my lousy bag of blocks and a hollow feeling inside because I still didn't know if I truly found a good deal.

giving thanks...

for late mornings in bed

with white sheets

and best friends

documented by Millie

pouncing by Ellis

up close

vicariously thankful.

elmo

pig and duck pajamas

shoes
mac&cheese

shoes

teddy

blanket

goodnight moon

shoes

milk
goldfish

goldfish

goldfish

--Ellis

sending thanks.

Dear Judy, Greg, and Chandler:

This is the cow shirt. It is my favorite shirt. I want to say thank you. I like the color.

Millie

_____________________

P.S. Details from the Mom:

She wants to wear it every day. Everywhere.

And the funny addition? I couldn't get her to try it on for weeks. Why? She thought the sleeves would be too long.

But once she felt the warm, orange, comfy Texas goodness she did not want to take it off.

turning towards Christmas.

This is what Millie's getting for Christmas. It's in the top of the closet. Waiting. She pointed at it the other day and I acted like I didn't see the gesture. Or hear the words.

I'm finding it easy to find gift ideas for 3 year olds. They are so numerous that I keep tripping over them in my quest for Ellis. I have no clue as to what to get for the 18 monther. Any suggestions? Please?

recapping the weekend.

Halloween in pictures.

Millie as Belle and Ellis as a beast (or cat, depending upon your preference).

From scratch. And it was good. Food processors rock!

Then the real terror occurred.

If you are squeamish, skip the following.

Ellis had a cranky spell on Saturday.

Just as we were heading out of the house for an evening date, the following happened.

It started at the bed. Clin reacted quickly. Ran to the bathroom, aimed for the sink, but it was projectile. And it was every where. The more I cleaned, the more I found. In the strangest places.

We stayed in.

halloweening it.

This is the plan for the day.

Haunt the park.

Purchase me some bread bowls from Flour Girls & Dough Boys.

Cook up some soup a la squash.

Enforce naps.

Magically transform Millie into Belle and Ellis into a cat.

Hand out some candy. Eat some candy.

Watch It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown as we count candy.

Sleep off the sugar.

cutting hair.

For Independence Day, we did the following:

1. I cut Millie's hair.

It only took 90 minutes and by the time Mulan ended - I realized that the left side of the front was much longer than the right. Patience tried and no movie left to watch, I chalked it up to artistic vision.

I would post a picture but am currently reading about Evelyn Nesbit. (You don't know Evelyn Nesbit? Think Britney Spears circa 1900.) Evelyn's mother was very responsible for her demise. I don't want to give Millie an excuse to blame her demise on me.

2. Feed the Ducks.... and birds....and turtles

3. Colonial Days

We had nothing to do. Nothing. And thus ventured to Colonial Days. This is the second year and we have now gone every year of its existence. What does this mean? New family tradition! In 20 years we will be able to say, "We were there. We were there when it started."


Highlights from the colonial experience:

Lots and Lots of Princesses!

Mrs. Senior Utah performing a dance to Mambo #5.

That's right, nothing celebrates Independence day than a rousing dance to, "Everybody in the car, so come on let's ride to the liqueur-store around the corner. The boys say they want some gin and juice, but I really don't wanna beerbust like I had last week..."

To be fair - her song had been Disneyfied and did not mention liqueur.

We ended the day with snowcones and funnel cake. Not so boring after all.