New Do

Adelaide has a new haircut. I think it's adorable and sassy--just like her.


Our wood floor is finally finished. Yeah!! (Adelaide was a little less enthused.)


And on a completely unrelated topic, these are "weeds". We're surrounded by them. It's tough, but somehow we manage.

2 Fish, 2 Missionaries

We had the elevators over for dinner tonight. If you are rusty on your three-year-old that translates to elders. Ethan is at that age where the missionaries are almost like super heroes. He wanted to make name tags for the table and was so proud when the elders noticed.

We spent Memorial Day fishing. It seemed like a great idea to take the kids. They were both excited. But in reality, sports requiring patience quickly lose their appeal. Randal spent his time untangling and casting lines only to have the kids reel them right back in. Ethan managed to catch two tiny fish. He was even brave enough to throw them back himself.Addie was more interested in the dandelions than manning her fishing rod. At one point I thought I had finally caught a big one until I realized it was Addie walking away with my line caught around her shoe.

The City

Friday was the day Janna, Cessily and I were able to cash in our Mother's Day lotto and visit NYC for a night on Broadway. And boy did we have fun. So much so I didn't end up taking a lot of pictures. To be honest, we didn't want to look too much like tourists. Though walking around with the map in front of our faces was a dead giveaway. Or maybe it was the I(heart)NY flip flops I had to buy to prevent blisters from forming on top of the ones incurred between Time's Square and Macy's.

Loved NYC. How could you not when there is an entire high-rise devoted to chocolate.
Loved that Cessily drove. I would've been hyperventilating the minute we entered the city.
Loved the show.

Love my husband.
I've sensed a misconception among some family and friends in the west that our move to NY was a move to this:

Nope. It's more like this:

Lovely, yes. But small. As a result, the three of us were looking for some much needed shopping. As much as I love Target, a girl needs a few more options! Saturday we made our way to Paramus, NJ gorging ourselves on stores normally not at our fingertips. I'm torn as to what I enjoyed more: a night in Time's Square and a Broadway show or...




Wait for it.




Wait for it.

Ta-dah!

(I'm aware the picture at the top is just about the worst ever of me. But what can I do when it's the only one chronicling our little adventure. Sigh.)

My Girl

I couldn't help but think of Adelaide as I read a quote from Audrey Hepburn. (It must be residual Mother's Day nostalgia.)

"I believe in pink...I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner...I believe in kissing. Kissing a lot...I believe happy girls are the prettiest girls... I believe that tomorrow is another day...

I believe in miracles."

Hot Mess

I must confess...

I wore open-toed shoes to church on Sunday. I painted my toes, in the car, as we drove. But only the ones that would be seen.

I still haven't fixed it.

For the first time in my life I bought two of the same skirt--one in my current size, and one in the size I'd like to be.

Even more pathetic, I made my mom buy the larger one for me...

in Logan...

the day after Mother's Day...

as there were none to be had in my region of the country.

(Thanks, Mom.)

The hair dresser cut my bangs crooked. I think, everyday, I should call and arrange to have them fixed. But I probably won't.


My mascara is lumpy. It will take me another three weeks before I manage to buy a new one. I cannot seem to remember to purchase something I only put on maybe twice a week.

I ate a fistful of Whoppers while I typed this post. I won't be fitting into the smaller skirt anytime soon.

But they were so good I'm headed back to the
kitchen for more!

So, Mom, your trip will not have been in vain.

48 Hours

Some events from the last two days:

Mother's Day. In keeping with the spirit of the day, my kids decided, without Randal's knowledge, to prepare me some lunch. They came in my room as I was getting ready for a little nap with a sandwich (ham, cheese and gobs and gobs of mustard) and a sippy cup of water. I thought the drinking implement was a nice touch. So sweet!

Randal and the husbands of two of my friends surprised us with tickets to a Broadway show in two weeks. Awesome!

Dinner was lovely. Randal makes a mean grilled kabob. And Ethan's fruit salad cannot be beat. It really is good. He'll be the first to tell you too. Delicious!

Even lovelier--it was our first Sunday dinner together at our new table. Not a Mother's Day gift per se. (I don't want you thinking tickets to Broadway isn't enough to satisfy me.) Just ironic.

And the loveliest--the view while we ate. The trees are finally emerging from their winter ugliness and I am reminded why we were crazy enough to buy a house with a glass enclosed dining area. Even though it's a dead ringer for the set of Growing Pains.
(If you're going to actually watch the youtube clip you won't have to wait long. The kitchen makes an appearance 12 seconds in. And there's little Leonardo too.)
As for today:

A recent, humongous beetle staring up at me from a bottle of purchased jam helped me decide it was finally time to get off my lazy bum and freeze my own jam. With strawberries in season this is exactly what I did today.

I made the rookie mistake thinking one would need a lot of berries to make jam. Oh, not so. What I thought would be just enough berries to make 12 easy jars of jam turned into an extra trip to the store for more pectin for the grand total of 21 jars. It may be too much for our little family of four, but at least I know just how many beetles are in this jam--NONE!
And now that I am a jam making diva I have a new best friend:
Not only does this hand-held blender puree up a scrumptious pot of butternut squash soup, it makes the job of turning strawberries into 21 jars of jam a cinch. A must have!

Hope you all had a very happy Mother's Day.

I love you, Mom! Thanks for making jam all my growing up years. I really do appreciate all you did to keep my sandwiches beetle-free.

PS--I'm totally okay with who won the Amazing Race. It did make me wish I was in Maui. And that I had won a million dollars.

"Won't my mommy be so proud of me"

Ethan is giving new meaning to the song.

He has a gigantic fear of bees stemming back to two summers ago when he was stung on the ear. We currently live in wasp heaven making the creepy little buggers a constant issue.

As the weather turned and the bees and wasps came out, Ethan refused to go outside. We talked to him about overcoming his fears. He tried but came running in the house screaming and crying. Sometimes he even refused to come in from the car if he had seen a bee as we pulled into the driveway.

Then he did something I found rather remarkable. On his own, he checked a book out from the school library on bees. He read it and discussed with Randal and I all these "friendly" facts about bees, as if he was convincing himself they were no longer a threat.

Armed with his new knowledge, he has taken on the role as Adelaide's protector from the bees. It seems as if he was trying to help himself by helping someone else. The two discuss bees like a pair of scientists. I've found them standing at the window looking for bees as Ethan imparts his wisdom on the subject.

Today, I was on the phone and didn't notice for nearly twenty minutes he hadn't come home after the bus had dropped him off. (I know, isn't that horrible?) I panicked and ran to the door. There he was standing a few feet from the front steps, mail in hand, waiting for a wasp on the door. No tears. Or screams. Just waiting for it to move on it's merry way.

I see him trying his best to coexist. And I am proud of him.

Fundraiser

There are times I'm really sorry I don't have my camera with me.

Saturday, the scouts hosted a rummage sale/pancake breakfast fundraiser. With Randal in YM we spent a good portion of the morning in the church parking lot.

To pass the time during the afternoon lull, three of the priests sorted through the "merchandise" and managed to find three equally tacky pairs of sunglasses. They sat themselves down on a ratty $8 couch, put on their sunglasses and tanned their faces using cookie sheets.

I wish I had a picture.

Other things I would have liked to photograph:
1. The mangy plush parrot Randal bought for Andy's boy for a nickel. Andy was thrilled.
2. In retaliation, the ugly women's shoes Andy tried to send home with Adelaide.

So I'm thinking I need a camera that fits nicely in my purse. Any suggestions?

(PS--We talked about honesty at church today. That was not my rear. I haven't seen light between my legs since I was nine.)

When You've Got It

My friend Jenna asked if I was going to post a picture of the perfect jeans I found at the outlet mall.

I thought I would oblige and take a picture of me wearing them...




What!?! It is me and it is my fabulous behind.

I can't believe you would question my integrity.