we are too young to subscribe to Yankee magazine...(bill)

Ahhh! New England! Yes, the winters are brutal. I agree, the spring is really just mud season. Summers are lovely (if you don't get Lyme disease). However, New England wins the playoff, national championship and World Series for best autumn hands down.

Where else can you get such beautiful sylvan scenes as this...doesn't that covered bridge scream "Sturbridge Village"?

or this...you can almost smell the apple cider and cut hay...

and this...a small girl swilling her third latte of the day.

Ok--I know what you are thinking (well, if you are ME you are thinking--give it BACK to mommy!)...but you are probably thinking all sorts of awful things about how that caffeine is going to stunt her growth, yada yada. Well, take a look at this...

Now how would she have the energy to catch and tackle him if not for the coffee? Hmm?

I'm sure you feel silly.

(btw-bill does have a subscription to Yankee magazine. and a membership to Old Sturbridge Village. Before you ask, I have checked his wallet for an AARP card.)

pretty please?

I might be too old to ask Santa for presents, but.......

please? The green one? (I will see if I can get a side car for Gia and Mike)

:)

pikachu? gesundhit.

For some reason, there is an obsession in our house with pokemon. Let me be the first to admit that I know that I am about a decade behind most of the world in this, but I also think it may be one of these eternal sort of questions: which came first, the chicken or the egg, if a tree falls in the woods, what the &!@>!? is the deal with pokemon?
Now, if you know me you know I am a fan of cartoons, comic books, graphic novels and most anime (not that weird sailor moon chick--but the other, PG-rated stuff), all that geeky stuff.

In fact, I encourage you to watch Howl's Moving Castle if you haven't seen it already (Nina, I'm looking at YOU). It's fantastic (same animator as Spirited Away, fairy-tale type story).

you would know who this is if you watched the movie....

Pokemon has LOTS of paraphernalia...

It seems like the kids that are the most interested in the cards have no idea how to figure out the "game" portion--in fact, I'm not actually sure there is a game, but otherwise aren't those points pointless?

The TV show is Unwatchable (and in our household, that is saying something -seriously, bill watches ECW--it takes A LOT to classify something as "bad TV" around here).

The stuffed animals, we have quite a few....
and while in New York this past weekend Gia picked out a new one for herself at the Nintendo store, and I picked out one for mike...

I really can't describe why I was drawn to that one (it is a flaming monkey in case you were wondering).

it's a mystery.

im on ur laptop...hacking ur blog...

Clinical notes:
The experiment is going well, I am fairly certain I have pushed the mothership to the brink of sanity. I estimate two or three weeks before complete and total breakdown. At which point, I steal her credit card and continue with my true quest, world domination (or a neverending supply of rice krispy treats-whichever).

Recap of my methods this week:

Minor stuff, I was just warming up.

Really needs no explanation (can you see the wet spot?)

Just when she starts using that name that Daddy tells her not to call me, it's time to switch tactics and quietly play on the floor for 45 minutes (just to really freak her out).

Perhaps the most cruel, no reality tv for two days (note: no one can prove that I broke the TV, but apparently the nice lady on the panasonic customer service line said that rapidly turning it on and off over and over again will burn the bulb out--uh, duh!)
By Saturday, she was reduced to brushing the girl's hair and calling her "mommy's sweet angel", and mumuring that she was always such a good baby.

Definitely time for phase two!