Just to make a point.

Everytime it rains, the end of our street floods. We have called the town about it, the neighbors have called, and we continue to call.


We have been told that we are overreacting. What do YOU think?

The 10th circle

This weekend I had the pleasure of going to NYC for Gianna's b-day present, tickets to The Little Mermaid on Broadway.

The show was great, mermaidy-cuteness abounded. Since it was Gianna's day, she got to pick what she wanted to do, and what better place to go if you are are 6 year old in Manhattan than:


American Girl Place


I was never a "doll" girl. I never liked them, never played with them, not even barbies. Maybe it was the creepy voices that my mom gave them (you KNOW you did mom), or maybe it was because I watched a lot of Twilight Zone as a child, but I prefered arts and crafts.














I contend that even if you love dolls, this place is scary as hell. Look what it did to my little girl.



Yes, she's one of them now.


At least she picked the hippy doll from the 70's. She asked me to hold her doll while she went to the little (doll's) girls room. She didn't know there were DOLL HOLDERS in the potty. If that is not proof of the evil that lurks there, then I don't know how to convince you. ("Mummymummymummy--give me JULIE! There's a holder-she can WATCH ME!")



ick and ick.



For the record, this is the doll that I picked:




Ok, he's from Toys'R'Us, but isn't he CUTE! (and he doesn't want to watch me pee).

Do you know what today is?

I am so excited I can't see straight.

Oh, and Justin* (I assume you are reading this because it you are compelled to look at anything that has to do with batman) LOOK what i found....

You and me buddy. And soon after, you, me and the ambulance drivers to scrape me off the jetty.

*I love doing stuff with Justin. It makes me feel like this:

(yep, its a cougar)

seven, no wait...that's EIGHT.

Let me tell you--we mommies are nothing if not efficient. I still can't believe how much fun we packed into two days at the Cape House.




Craft time!



Lacrosse (really it is a discussion group on How to Smack your Sister with a Stick and Call it Sports)



remember this guy? Mike does. He'll be needing therapy for years to come.




Oh my gosh--even DINNER OUT...first time that has happened since there were only 3 little girls!


plenty of mermaid time....





I am always amazed at how the moms take it all in stride--grab the kids, all their gear, all their food, don't forgot binkies, do-dos, and stuffed piggies. Not to mention all the other stuff they need, we need and still make it home to pack lunch for camp the next day. I was listening to my friend's "list" for her husband for a day she would be working. Not only was everything itemized, but addresses were already listed (or in her case, programmed into the GPS), phone numbers included, and suggestions for lunch and snacks even provided. WOW...look at all the stuff you do! That is amazing! She said--um, duh--you do the same. The difference is you don't need a LIST. You just DO it.


true.


I really, really wanted to be Wonder woman when I was little. I guess I am now--just not exactly the way I thought I would be.

i scream, you scream, but Mike is always the loudest

After years and years of seeing ads for the Big Dipper ice cream event and then forgetting to go (I know, its hard to believe I would forget about all-you-can-eat-ice cream, but you try living with this zoo) we FINALLY went. It was all I dreamed of and more.

Hands down, the family favorite was Cake Batter ReMix by Coldstone Creamery. Its their sweet cream ice cream with chocolate cake batter, chocolate sprinkes--yeah, like I need that in my life.

As a bonus, Elm Park was having a sculpture in the park event. So to work off all that ice cream, we ran around and looked at the ART.

They all had cute names--this one was secret places.

ok, not all the names were cute--this one was pretty obvious.

Um, yeah, duh.

but this one was cool. It has a little sign that says "Listen".

how do you know its time to go home and have a nap?

that's how.

Lost in translation

Me: Hon, what are you doing?

Mike: Buggy Mama! HI BUGGY! (daddy longlegs-getting stomped)

Me: Yes, that's a nice buggy. Oh no--we don't hurt the buggy Mike!

Mike: Buggy, yes, hurt Buggy Mama! (stomp)

Me: NO! We are NICE to the buggy!

Mike: Why?

Me: Because they are living things and we don't hurt living things.

Gianna: well, except ticks and fleas--you HATE ticks...

Mike: HURT TICKs Mama! (stompstompstomp)

Me: NO! We are NICE to other living things.

Mike: Nice? Nice Buggy, Nice Feathers! NIIIICE Mama!

Me: wha...? yeah, we have to be nice to birds too...(?)

Gianna: He's saying FLOWERS, remember yesterday you told him not to hurt the flowers? He was stomping on them...(I swear she whispered "psycho" under her breath)

Me: Right! Yes! Nice to buggies, nice to flowers!

of course, at that exact moment a mosquito lands on Mike.

I killed it.

You're not going to want to mention this at CCD, sweetie

So, I found these toys exactly as you see them.

Hey Jasmine, who's your new friend? Yeah, seriously, she needs to lighten up.

Listen Mulan, not everyone has smokin' abs like I do. YOU of all people shouldn't judge, I mean weren't you like, a male impersonator?

I don't know why we have this Virgin Mary, and I don't know why she is exactly the same size as the Disney Princesses. I just know that I'm probably going to hell.

Mr. Cooper said it best...School's OUT..

Can the first year really be over? I suppose so, the girl is 6 now--she was actually happier than this picture shows (she hadn't had her coffee yet).

So many fun end of the year events--She had a pizza party at school, beach day, field day, the spring concert.

She was even picked to give the academic award from Elmwood to the High School Senior at awards night. When she saw all the seniors and their parents streaming into the school, her comment, " All these people came to watch me give this award, how nice of them!" Utterly serious.

She clearly is comfortable on stage. So is Mike. Disturbingly comfortable. You might think that the auditorium was empty (why else would we let him wheelbarrel himself around the stage). It wasn't. It was full.

I don't know if I am more melancholy now, or when she started Kindergarten.

(sigh)

matrimonial infarction

yeah, yeah, I know what you want...so without any further ado, here are the wedding pics! I didn't take as many as I should have--but here are the ones I have!

No mashing of cake, thank goodness. Did you notice that they are holding their pinkies out? Classy.


Amazing, no one asked my dad for special favors...BIG missed opportunity folks.

I actually think a couple of people asked Lisa for favor though. She told them there was no such thing as the mafia.



You can't even see the eye twitch in this photo of my mom. You know, the one that started the previous night around 5:30?

See them laughing...must have been during my toast. :)

Ready, set....shirley temple races!---first one to finish gets...another shirley temple. (Glad that Adrian had the bartender stock up on grenadine)


Wow..what a centerpiece (psst--if you look to the left, you can see that mike won the shirley temple race)

All those friends and family, all that great food, all that dancing...and its all over. Can we do it again? Please?

I don't have to tell you that it was a fairytale--absolutely every moment was magical...huge thanks to Nina and Justin and everyone else who helped make the day so special!

I am a g-rated girl in an r-rated world

We had a fabulous and educational time at my sister's bachelorette this weekend. I learned 5 things:

1. the length of time you wait for a drink is directly proportional to your age (no shocker there)

2. watching a mechanical bull for more than 15 minutes makes you really nauseous--even sober

3. depending on your demographic, support beams take on a whole new use (stripper pole?)

4. saying "i'm old enough to be your mother" doesn't always have the intended effect of dismissing the unwanted party (umm, ick.)

5. I have the most awesome friends ever.

THIS IS THE ONLY PICTURE I CAN LEGALLY POST FROM THE PARTY (but its a good one)

Grilled cheese and soybutter sandwiches at 1:30AM? while watching Noggin?

good times girls, good times...

worst. craft. ever.

I found this recipe online; and I thought it would be a cute Easter activity for the kids while I made the other parts of Easter dinner. Honestly, the 1/2 pound of melted chocolate was incentive too.

I know! they look so cute!! So deceiving...the corflakes wouldn't stick, the chocolate maybe was not melty enough--but that was probably because I burned the first batch--the microwave never melts chocolate right for me. anyway--the only upside was that Gia and me got to lick chocolate and coconut off our fingers, and the kitchen counter, and the cookie sheets--honestly it was everywhere.

Happy Easter!

Snowy day

What to do on a snowy day?

Its times like these I am thankful for a mom who taught preschool. I have a handful of tricks up my sleeve (0r rather, I call her and ask what to do).

We made playdough!

It was hours of salty fun. But something about the color Gia chose disturbed me. It wasn't quite Pepto-pink. It took my a while to figure out it was EXACTLY the color of the alien slime from the cheesy remake of the blob. See for yourself.

I'm keeping my eye on it.

Cheer-acolypse!

Oh my gosh...this weekend we had our first cheer competition. Being a good social butterfly, Gia has been involved in a number activities, dance class, softball, soccer. I really thought I was prepared for this--we've been going to practice every Thursday since November.

I wasn't.

Not. even. remotely.
I should have known when I saw the prep...

I learned it is possible to feel excitement, amazement, revulsion and boredom all at the same time. I was amazed by the stunts that these little kids were doing--I mean they really got Francesca up there!!

But the outfits and makeup...well, we know the girls loved it.

It's not unlike watching Iron Chef (the real one, from Japan) when they are doing a really weird food, you are familiar with all the pieces (those are chefs, a grill, food) but not how it goes together (sea urchin ice cream??) and ultimately, its too long to watch who wins so you change the channel.

This was one of two tables of trophies. There were WAY more teams than trophies. That's a lot of routines to watch. (and to be honest, we did not stay the whole day!)

This was skating right on the edge of being too much for me to handle; the girls however--barely impressed.

After her routeine, I tried to have a 'moment' with Gia to tell her how proud I was; she was amazing! I honestly was impressed

Umm, yeah. I got a Lollipop!! Can I have it?! can i? canIcanIcanIcanIplease?

I can't wait for the next one! (fortunately I won't have to--its in a couple of weeks!)