Mommy brag- Eva's 1st homework assignment

Allow me to introduce you to Eva's (and Mommy's) first homework assignment. It was really hard for me to "know my role" and stay within the confines of it, which was to write our family name on the top of the paper and trace the hands of our immediate family members elsewhere on the sheet, and allow Eva her creative license to decorate it. The instructions were to "Have fun making it special", "Use crayons, stickers, markers, glue, whatever your heart desires to make it pretty b/c we are hanging it on the wall in school". I gravitated (in my usual OCD way) to the ruler and the the pencil and the rainbow colored markers. Eva took a special liking to a dark blue sharpie. I could not pry it from her hands. After I painstakingly outlined our last name and all of the handprints she completely covered over her handprint and a good part of Daddy's hand in dark blue sharpie. I finally had to say "I think it's done! And boy is it lovely!!!". She agreed. Here it is:

Can I get a woot woot???!??!?!

I'm 85% done with my Christmas Shopping. Just saying.

Now I don't have to grumble and bah humbug everyone that says they finished on Black Friday. Better yet I don't have to leave my house on Black Friday and I can stay home and stuff my gullet full of left over stuffing.

So I ask again... can I get a woot woot?

Halloween and dress up

I don't have a nice pic of Eva in her dorothy dress from Halloween b/c she wouldn't cooperate but I do have a few cute ones from "princess dress up hour" a few days prior. Check her out. Doesn't she make a lovely snow white????




Lukey's pix are authentically Halloween!!! All Aboard!!!!!!!!!

Love/Hate Friday Five HALLOWEEN

Sorry it's been a whole week and you're stuck with another LHFF with nothing in between but it's been hella crazy around here.

Things I luuuuuuurve about halloween:

1. Kids in costumes
2. All different colored leaves
3. Sweatshirts
4. Reeses Peanut Butter Cups
5.

Things about Halloween that are crazy making for me:
1. Knocking on peoples doors with my hands/bag out looking for candy that I don't even want to eat
2. Uncontrollable urges to consume large amounts of candy
3. Guilty feelings after eating said large amounts of candy
4. Guilt about eating candy in front of my kids and the guilt from hiding it from them (ie eating in the coat closet)
5. The stupid "ghost" who leaves the chain letter/halloween package at my door who I must give to 3 other people in the neighborhood before the stroke of midnight on halloween! Who thinks of this stuff?!?!?!?!? The gag always ends when it gets to my house.

Love/ Hate Friday Five

Five things I lurve about Fall:

1. Soup
2. Boots
3. Sweaters
4. Thanksgiving is uhcoming
5. Apple pie and vanilla ice cream

Five things I hate about Fall:
1. Baseball season is coming to an end
2. It's dark in the morning when I go to work
3. It's dark in the evening when I get home from work
4. Pedicures take a backseat
5. I have almost no willpower when it comes to vanilla ice cream and apple pie.

Out of the mouth of babes

Eva says:

"Mommy when I put this on I feel like a butterfly!"

Trying so desperately to become someone who

loves running. It's hella hard. After all these years I still only midly like it. When is it going to click? What am I doing wrong? What's missing? Don't get me wrong, I love the feeling of accomplishment when it's done and the muscles in my legs and the cardio strength I know I have as a result of regular sesssion but I don't think I ever get that "runner's high" while I'm running. I'd like to be the person that enjoys doing it WHILE i'm doing it.

I'm running my first organized 5k tomorrow. Since I usually only run alone around the hood or on the treadmill at the gym this is all new to me. Maybe the competitive thing is that thing I'm missing. We'll see. I'll let ya know.

The Raving Mute is being spun off here

http://theravingmute.blogspot.com/

I just got it all set up and added his old ravings. There will be a new one early next week, for your reading pleasure!!! Feel free to drop by and show my Pops some love. He likes to know he's not his biggest (and only) fan.

Worth the wait

The kids finally love each other. They really do. Watch till the end!!! This was taken over the weekend at Sesame Place with Eva and Luke and their cousins. We had a fab time. The kids behaved (mostly), the weather was good (kind of), and the characthers were all really friendly (except Oscar). All in all, a good time was had!


and some pix to prove that we really did meet celebrity monsters:






























Thanks for looking!!!!!

How did I make it through all of these years

of child rearing without one "poop in the tub" incident? Answer- I'm that damn good.

Why did it finally have to happen tonight? Answer- I got cocky. :-)

Before and Afters

Of the mailbox.

Before the sex change operation (this is the picture you saw earlier in the week):



After the final (I hope) incident (did the offender really think we wouldn't notice????):

Shrivel

3 things a 2 and a half year old should never say. Especially not in a row.

-Daddy you shouldn't say f*cking
-Daddy you're not supposed to say c*cksucker
-Daddy you can't say f*cking c*cksucker

3rd time's a charm!!! and a lesson in Karma

I'll try and make a long story short here because this one goes back almost 2 years but it's finally come full circle.... actually half circle but it's all good.

1 year and a half ago someone rounded the corner my house is on and cut the curb a little too close and blasted my mailbox with his or her sideview mirror. Don't know who he was because he didnt stop, he left us to deal with it. He'll get his.

It's one of those plastic mailboxes with doors on both sides, for lazy folks who don't want to step out in the street to get the mail. Here she is last winter. You can see how she slightly hangs into the street. I suppose it looks like she's asking to be blown to smithereens. She seems to be taunting passersby.


Fast forward to last spring and my across the street, 2 doors down neighbor rounds the corner and little to tight and gives my mailbox another good wollop! Knocks her 35% off kilter, sends the front and back doors into my yard and leaves her with screws that holds the top on all jacked around and sticking out. She comes to my door and tells me she sorry and offers to write me a check and whines about how her husband is going to kill her for shattering the side view mirror. I got the feeling she wanted a check from me for her mirror. I told her keep her check and she's not getting one from me and to take the corner a little slower next time.

So for 6 months we've been nursing the thing. Rigging it up so the doors stay shut. Playing a game with the postman. We rig the doors, he puts the mail in, the doors fall off, he has to get out of his truck to pick the doors up and then he puts them in the actual mailbox with the mail. We get the mail and rig the doors back on, he opens the doors to put the mail in and they fall off, etc, etc.

Fast forward to last night and someone takes the curve too tight and gives my mailbox her final assault. She just can't take it anymore. She succumbs to the final blow and takes her final resting place in the flower bed behind her post. Marc decides to let her rest in peace for the night and figures he'll deal with it in the morning. We're not getting mail at night anyway so why not let her lay with her post one last time??? This morning we wake up and go out to assess the damage and behold a miracle!!!!!! Whoever the fine person is that blasted my mailboxe's jorts right off has a heart and he believes in karma. He came back in the middle of the night and put her back on her post better than she's ever been before. Her screws don't stick out anymore, the doors don't fall off AND they shut and stay shut, she's not hanging off to the left side and best of all because he put her back on the post backwards she doesn't stick out into the street!!!!! So fine, the flag and the #s are now on the wrong side but I'll take it for not having to borrow a post hole digger and schlep to Lowes for a new mailbox! Good Karma for that stranger? CHECK!

More from the Raving Mute

The world according to Nancy

"Justice! I hate justice. It's the law that I love" - The king in Gullivers Travel's by J Swift

I was duly elected, true it was just one city
Still now I speak for Congress, gee ain't that a pity
Yes it's me that they chose, when they took the vote call
That speaks for their judgement, that says it all
So now I make the laws, along with my friends
With hubris and arrongance, means justified by ends

I supported dissent, back in the day
But now we are in power, so free speach is passe
It's like totally bogus, its Unamerican you see
To voice your opinion, unless I agree
How dare they presume , that their voices be heard
They're just little people, it's utterly absurd

Now they're stirred up, town hall protest they make
I'm so not impressed, let them eat cake
They should just shut up, we dont need their advice
It's for them we are building, a workers paradise
A true Great Society, that's what we melding
Just me and my friends, like Harry the Gelding

So, should they continue to protest to long
We'll take off the gloves and unleash ACORN
Our rat squad is in place, they read every blog
Enemies of the state, we record in our log
Not since Tricky Dick, has it been done so well
Slander and intimidation, all opposition to quell

And as far as the media, should they question to hard
They've been put on notice, we'll play the race card
Except MSNBC, their views are just fine
They write better scripts, than our own party line
It makes me ecstatic, it's almost like heaven
Our very own infomercial, running twenty four seven
They cherry pick whats news, then slant it and spin
An unrelenting barrage, of sycophant din

As for that other network, I won't say their name
You know who I mean, they wont play our game
They give me disphasia, they make me say BAH!
Refuse to sit in our circle, and sing kum-bai yah
They point out our flaws, give voice to the prole
It has to be stopped, we need more control
Fairness doctrine it failed, so a new law we'll pass
To nationalize the media, make them all just like Tass
They'll come under one name, I've got it for sooth
We'll just call them all, The "Ministry of Truth"
Then we'll ram through each bill, the public can't spike it
We're your government in action, how do you like it?

Who cares about cost, trillions are fine
We'll just tax all new income, I've already got mine
And the national debt, why should anyone care?
Generations not born yet, It's for them to bear

So you thought we'd be better, than the last guys?
Both parties count on that, Hel-lo Que Surprise!
The difference is small, between who holds the whip
From the cup of great statesmen, you never shall sip
No matter our party, our gender or race
We all talk out our ass, and both sides of our face
But dont get discouraged, I'll tell you why
Keep hoping for change, it's on that we rely

Who knows, it could happen?
The day that pigs fly!

The Raving Mute

Exercise Tip of the month- Plank pose

Very similar to July's pose but equally awesome for the core!!!

Starting Position
Begin by lying on your stomach with palms on the floor next to your shoulders, feet and legs together, toes down.


Action
Lift your body up so that your arms are straight (palms below shoulders) and weight is balanced evenly between hands and toes, keeping body as straight as possible. Hold for 30 seconds and work up to 1-3 minutes.


Special Instructions
Don't let your hips drop or rise, and be sure not to shift weight to one arm. Remember to breathe.

If you want to give this a little twist hold the regular pose for 30 seconds and then do lift one leg off the floor for 30 seconds then return that leg and lift the other leg off the floor for 30 seconds.

Strengthens abs, arms, wrists and spine- What could be bad???

**From Sparkpeople.com**