HGTV-a-Tosis

May 6, 2014Leave a comment

Some day it will be a common diagnosis. Someday it will be recognized as a real disease. Someday there will be a support group where individuals declare that they too, fell prey to an episode about re-tiling a bathroom and they now have to bathe in the kitchen sink because they only have concrete board on their shower walls.

That illness? That problem? It’s called HGTV. It’s a dangerous drug that sucks unsuspecting and often crafty but mostly completely unskilled people in. It convinces them that they too can redecorate their living room in an hour and for $10. They CAN lay a new tile floor. They WILL repaint their house in a day and that full scale remodels happen in a weekend.

And I’m here today, standing among my peers to tell you that I too have HGTVaTosis. I drank the Kool Aid. I took the bait…and while my results were good, I’m afraid it’s a gateway drug. Because now that the living room is done, I want to paint the kitchen cabinets. And the sideboard. And make a headboard. And add on a room to our house. And and and…

Pictures to follow once we move back into our house. Because when the painting gets tough, the tough go to Disneyland.

That will make sense too, promise.

Ham it Up

April 28, 2014Leave a comment

This guy? Is a ham. Like ham sandwich hammy. I think he’s learning how cute he is and is thinking it will get him out of trouble – and he’s probably right.

Take for instance his impromptu photo shoot on Easter:

Ham

Hammier

Hammiest!

Cousins? Just a good excuse for some hamminess

Maybe he gets it from these knuckleheads…

Bag O Tricks

March 13, 2014March 12, 2014Leave a comment

I think every mom hid some attention getting, melt down averting, stomach rumble stopping tricks in her bag. I certainly do. Which means I carry a bag that would make a sherpa strain to lift and looks like this when you peak inside:

Peanut butter Ritz Bitz? Check.

Tissues? Check

Face and antibacterial wipes? Check.

Other forms of disinfection? Check.

Suckers? Check.

Diapers, wipes, rash cream? Check. Check. Check.

Dinosaurs? Check.

It should be noted that the only things in this bag that are mine are the wallet and sunglasses case.

February in a Nutshell

March 4, 2014Leave a comment

When we did get out in February, we had a great time. Here’s what we’ve been up to:

We saw the Pony Express ride into town. These gentlemen ride from Prescott to Scottsdale and deliver letters from a school there to a school here. It’s neat to see the tradition live on. And hilarious to see traffic stopped for 40 horses.

Getting out as far as she could without actually being in the street

Pop and Auggie getting very excited

And here they come!

Next was the Waste Management Open. I vowed long ago that I would not go back until I could be up in a sky box and away from the drunken masses. Thankfully for me, one of Peter’s clients got sick so I got to go on Sunday morning!

Auggie got a new tooth. And everyone knows about it because he looked like this for pretty much the entire month. He’s crying in this picture because I wouldn’t let him play with the straightener.

We waited patiently to see Peter in the Parada Del Sol. Sadly, the Scottsdale 20/30 Men were “excused” from the parade. I’ve heard various excuses and explaination. I buy none of them.

Baylor made me an amazing bracelet for Valentine’s Day. She put two B’s – one for her and one for me.

And the absolute most fun part of February – Baylor started t-ball! We have been having such a good time – can’t wait for some actual games. And thanks to the Diamondbacks for the awesome uniforms! The fact that every team in the league are the Diamondbacks is a touch confusing…but making them different colors helps!

Go Red Diamondbacks!

It’s a little tough to know who likes t-ball more – Peter or Bay. And God love him, he’s the only dad brave enough to coach the girls from the team and make them behave!

Aaaannnddd We’re Back!

March 3, 2014Leave a comment

It’s over! February is over! I’ve never been so excited to see a month end.

Why? Because it means we have Peter back both physically AND mentally. My lovely hubby has been studying for the Montana bar exam for the last several months. This past month has been the most brutal. The last time he studied for the Arizona bar, we had no kids and he did not have a job which made the process a slightly less painful. Like a filling with novacaine.

Studying with a full time all consuming job and two kids? Root canal. No painkiller.

I thought it was just me but while driving this weekend, B piped up from the back seat saying “Daddy – it’s so nice to be able to talk to you again!”. She was referencing the fact that for the last 6 weeks, we literally haven’t talked to Peter. He was working, studying, listening to lectures or trying to get a moment to relax so we didn’t talk to him. He was listening to lectures a lot so I got very used to looking to see if his ear buds were in, deciding if what I had to say was important enough to ask him to take them out…and then forgetting what I had to say all together. It was a long month.

To put it in perspective, I was emailing with a former college of PW’s and filling her in on what he was up to. She emailed me the next day saying that she woke up in a cold sweat after having a nightmare that she had to retake the bar exam.

But we did get out a little in February – recap coming tomorrow. For now, we’re just excited to be off of social probation!!

Just A Reminder

January 23, 2014Leave a comment

I had to chuckle when I opened a package from Amazon today. As if I didn’t remember I was on the slippery slope to 32…the contents of my order were a good reminder:

A second knee band because I’m now unable to run a 5k without pain in both knees…an elbow ice pack for the tennis elbow I’ve developed from lugging around a chunky 15 month old and sinus rinse. Holy. Moly. Add some Bengay and an AARP membership and I’ll meet you at Denny’s for the early bird discount.

Think It. Say It. Do It.

January 20, 2014Leave a comment

Think it. Say it. Do it. This is my plan for this year. These are the words I need to remember. To live by. To DO this year.

For years there has been something bubbling, churning and working in my brain and in my heart. I’m not 100% sure what it is. It’s a drive, a need, a passion but it’s fuzzy. There’s no definition. It’s like a magic eye picture and I can’t cross my eyes enough to get the full view. But it’s there and it’s stirring me into action. My problem is I don’t know what action to take, what to do or how to do it.

What I do know is that I’m on the right path. While the map doesn’t make sense, I somehow instinctively know I’m headed in the right direction. I know because in a conversation I had with a good friend a few weeks ago, the words that came out of my mouth made perfect sense despite the fact I hadn’t really thought them. The words came from somewhere other than my brain – somewhere that knows the answer but can’t clearly communicate it. My heart? My gut? I don’t know. All I know is that when I said this, the picture became a little clearer:

“I need to have more confidence in my writing. I have ideas all the time, but I don’t commit them to paper because I can’t quite make it all come together. And then I will read it somewhere written by someone else. Exactly what I was thinking about! They were able to put into a cleverly written prose what I didn’t. It’s not that I couldn’t, it’s that I didn’t. I need to let others be the judge and get out of my own head”.

So I’m in. I’m going to put one foot in front of the other no matter how many things are on my plate. No matter how tired I am. No matter who has what going on that is more important, pressing or time consuming. I’m going to start finding the answers I need to get to where I want to be. Where is that? I’m not totally sure. But I’m going to find out and I’m going to enjoy the ride getting there.

Seemed Like a Good Idea

January 15, 2014Leave a comment

A walk in shower seemed like such a good idea…until this guy.

“Oh heeeey! I didn’t know you were showering. That’s cool. I love water. Like really love water. In any form. Like the water on the glass. Or by the drain. Or on your leg. Do you want me to lick that off for you? Cause I’d be happy to. With or without your permission is fine with me. I also love soap so if you have any of that, I can take it off your hands for you. Just say the word. I’ll be right here”.

Amok Amok Amok

January 7, 2014Leave a comment

Monday afternoon I was busy in the kitchen throwing things in the slow cooker, making a week’s worth of smoothies for us and for Bay, whipping up Auggie purees and hard boiling eggs – pretty much anything that would keep us fed with something other than frozen pizza for the week. Baylor protested napping and Auggie woke up early from his so I ~~banished~~ asked them to play outside for awhile while I finished. For about an hour and a half, they wandered, played, whined, played some more and then finally got settled into a game they made up. Everyone played nicely and complaints turned to giggles and belly laughs.

The entire time I was having pangs of guilt for not being outside with them. It was like the devil on my shoulder was telling me that I was a horrible mom for not playing with my kids. I tried to convince myself too that we played by ourselves all the time as kids and we loved it! Peter has told me the stories of how he and his buddies would “hunt snakes” with the pool cleaning equipment in the desert for hours as kids. And he’s a fancy lawyer so it can’t be all bad, right?

That night I read this article on someone’s FaceBook page. It makes a great argument for letting your kids get bored. It talks about how bordem, unstructured playtime and the freedom to run amok teaches kids how to problem solve. How to make their own fun and how to be self motivated. It makes a great point that at some point in life, no one will be there to tell them what to do or how to do it. Playing alone now will start to give them the tools to think outside the box and learn to fix their own problems.

I used to spend hours in the yard, the trees and roaming our neighborhood. I had tree houses, forts, made mud pies, tied the dog to the wagon and made him pull us, dressed up the cat, and had Olympic events with our friends. I’m not sure if it made me a better person, but it did make me an excellent mud pie chef.

So as long as I’m making healthy, delicious meals, I won’t feel guilty. And I’ll feel just a little guilty when it’s for Real Housewives and Nutella on graham crackers.