Things That Shouldn’t Bug Me But Do

June 30, 20111 Comment

1. When it’s too hot to open the doors or windows. Which means every time I make a meal, the house smells like it for hours. And change hours to days when it involves turkey tacos or Brussels Sprouts with bacon.

2. The inability of some parents to master the parachute at The Little Gym. It is not complicated: grab handle, lift up, step forward and pull parachute behind you, sit down on handle. The result? A super cool tent like thing that is supported by the air trapped under the parachute. Call me a 2-year-old for thinking it’s neat, but it totally is. Which means I get mad like a 2-year-old when a mom can’t figure out how to follow 5 steps, thus letting out all the air and ruining it for everyone.

3. Caillou the cartoon. Not only is the kid annoying, but Baylor is obsessed with watching it. While the main character, Caillou, is pretty whiny, my main issue is with his parents. They are model parents with infinite amounts of patience. They never get upset, yell, scold or do any other normal parenting thing. They make everything fun, ignore bad behavior and are always dropping what they are doing to appease Caillou. I am waiting for the day that the kiddo says to me “Caillou’s mommy wouldn’t say ‘your behavior makes mommy want to drink'”.

Again, another topic for Baylor to discuss in therapy some day.

What’s in Baylor’s Bag? – 9th Edition

June 28, 2011Leave a comment

Sherri, this one is for you!

Wow, the kiddo was busy this week.

To start, Baylor’s bag of choice was a gift bag from her birthday. It lights up when you push the button and it took me 9 tries to get a picture where you can see the lights.

Contents:

1 sippy cup

1 soft picnic basket with food inside

goggles

her super silly glasses

her new Ariel shoes from Auntie Ali that she LOVES and wears any time she’s in the house

a bean bag

1 ball

Mouse

Sing-a-Ma-Jig

her Cubs hat

a rosary

play sized cooking utensils

play food pizza, bread, doughnut and hot dog

A Spot of Tea

June 27, 20111 Comment

For the readers who don’t know, my mom and I own and manage a water company in Southern Arizona. Why? It’s a long story…

As we close in on the end of the month, I am scrambling to finish up deposits and customer changes and prep my documents to go read meters. It’s not complicated, but it does require some form of concentration. I.E. it is very difficult to do when my “assistant” is shuffling papers off the printer, climbing up my chair and simultaneously trying to draw on my documents.

I have perfected the art of Baylor entertainment so that I can steal a few minutes to and check items off my to do list. She has her own keyboard which she pretends to type emails, narrating her messages as she creates them. She gets a pad of paper and a pen. A coloring book and also my deposit stamps to play with. However Saturday morning the usual things weren’t keeping her busy. Trying to keep my frustration level to a minimum, I suggested she go brush her doll’s teeth (endlessly fascinating to a 2 year old) and then make some “tea”. We love tea parties and have them often. Bay happily ran off leaving me a few more precious moments to complete my tasks.

A few minutes later, a headband clad kiddo (making tea requires Bene Hana style head wear) came running into the office with a cup of tea and a saucer for me. She then ran back to her room to get the tea-pot, filled up my cup with air, shouted “KISS!!”, gave me a peck and was off again.

It’s hard to remember sometimes what’s important. It’s easy to get caught up in the grind of work, the endless to do list, and the stress of getting it all done. But all we need is a little cup of tea to remind us why we work like we do and also why it’s good to shut off the computer and go make some tea.

Happy Anniversary

June 24, 2011Leave a comment

Six years ago today, PW and I said “I do”. Peter surprised me with my favorite flowers, Stargazer lilies to mark the occasion. Because Baylor’s birthday, my birthday, father’s day AND our anniversary fall in the same month, flowers are the only gift I want and that we can afford! My bouquet was one big bunch of lilies so a kitchen full of them is a scented and wonderful reminder of what an amazing day it was. Happy anniversary!

One of my favorites

My favorite part about this picture is the conversation that was happening went something like this:

“Are we DONE with pictures yet??”

“Almost. And if you don’t smile and look like you’re having a good time, it will take longer”

Yummy candy buffet

The Phis, showing off their best moves

This picture needs little description. But I think it’s important to point out how Chrissy on left has just had champagne dumped on her as Amy dove for the bouquet. Also Katya is making a run for the flowers as Melissa kicks it away from both of them. Those girls mean business.

Where’s the Tome – 1st edition

June 23, 2011Leave a comment

In case you missed last week’s post, I will be illustrating the travels of Baylor’s Gnome – or Tome as she calls him. Get excited. He goes to some funny places.

I think I might be having more fun than Baylor with this story line. The kiddo had Tome going for a dip in her pool…I may or may not have suggested he talk to Barbie. And is it me, or is he smiling??

A Ghetto Fabulous Summer

June 22, 2011Leave a comment

What do you do when you live in Arizona and you don’t have a pool to cool off in? You make a pool to cool off in. Because when the high is 114, there’s only so much pool-less-ness one can take.

Yes, this is our little backyard ghetto oasis. This is the only time of year that I would love the maintenance and cost of having a pool, but because the pool fairy hasn’t come yet, this is what we do to have some fun. And actually it is really fun. The hose going down the slide into the pool? Awesome. The mister under the shade of an umbrella? Surprisingly refreshing. “Tea” parties with Tome the Gnome and Barbie? Can’t beat it.

So while it may look a bit questionable, it is quite fun and refreshing. And some day when Baylor is in therapy describing how she had to play in a tiny pool where she had to roll around to get wet, at least she’ll have the money to pay for it since we didn’t blow her therapy money on a life-size pool.

Where’s the Tome?

June 15, 20116 Comments

For many years, Mame had a gnome that sat by her front door. It drove my mom nuts and one day she snuck into Mame’s house and left a book called “How to Survive a Garden Gnome Attack” with a note inside:

It became a great joke – my mom would always ask when she was getting rid of the gnome and Mame would always threaten to start a collection.

Every time we would visit Mame, Baylor insisted on being the one to notify her that we were there. First we would ring the door bell. Then Bay would knock and shout: “It Baylor!!”. Which comes out more like “Bay-yer!” and the “it” is not a typo. There’s no “s” when she says “it’s”.

After she finished alerting Mame, she would spend the few moments waiting for her to come to the door petting the gnome. Except she calls him “Tome” instead of Gnome. The pats on his little hat were followed by sweet whispers saying “Hi Tome. Good Tome”.

I brought the gnome home to our house this week and put him outside her play house. The kid doesn’t miss a thing and was thrilled that Mame’s gnome had come to live at her house.

The funny thing is a few days later, she started moving the gnome around. He’s been in the wagon, down the slide, in the wadding pool and sitting at the dinning room table. The concept cracks me up so expect to see more posts on where Tome is this week.

Tome’s new home

Tome on the move…

Birthday Par-Tay

June 14, 20112 Comments

Peter and I had a blast planning Baylor’s 2nd birthday party this year. It was so much more fun because she actually understood what a party was and that it was all for her. We had crazy straw cups, the new climber, a bouncer, a home-made game of “Pin the Stuff on Baylor”, design your own glasses, cookie cake and lots of friends. What more could a girl need?

Just waiting for her buddies….

Bubbles make everything fun!

Auntie Ali

No boys allowed!

Pin the Stuff on Baylor – will be more fun in a few years

Willow makes “design your own glasses” look goooood

Blow out the candles before the wind does!

Check out Stephanie’s blog www.manyhatsofamom.com for more great pics and her daughter Kelsey’s favorite parts!

Crap Pops

June 13, 20114 Comments

For Baylor’s birthday two weeks ago, I attempted to make cake pops to enjoy during the family party. Please note the word attempted.

I found a blog that documented how to make the little spheres of deliciousness and I also had a friend walk me through how she made them. How bad could it be?

I forgot I was supposed to be taking pictures so I started when I was mixing the Fun Chip cake with icing to make the cake balls:

And then I started fashioning the balls – I thought they looked a little big and I should have listened to myself:

Then I started coating them in pink candy coating. However, my cake mix was too warm and they kept falling off the sticks. I had to regroup and put the balls in the freezer for a bit so I could finish the job:

After I took this picture, I had a hard time deciding if my creations should be called Crap Pops or Cake Meatballs. I decided on Crap Pops. But after tasting one I realized they were most definitely delicious, you just couldn’t look too hard at them:

Good thing the kiddo didn’t care!

Peter pretended that they were pretty

But I did redeem myself for her big party on Saturday with a delicious M&M Cookie cake. Made from scratch and not too shabby!

Happy Birthday Sweet Baylor

June 2, 20112 Comments

It’s amazing how 2 years flies by. I know everyone says that, but it’s not a cliché for nothing.

Two years ago at around 11:46pm, our lives were changed forever. If we’d only known then how amazing, infuriating, magical, crazy and sweet the next two years would be! Happy birthday to our little lady Baylor and to many many more wonderful birthdays to come!