Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Miss Munchkin

 

   munchkin (1 of 1)munchkin2 (1 of 1)

munchkin3 (1 of 1)munchkin4 (1 of 1)

 

Aye.  This little girl.  She’s been driving me nuts lately.  Literally all day long she is asking for food.  “I’m hungwreeee!”  It makes.me.crazy. 

And not to mention she climbs on every thing. I’ve caught her multiple times using her dresser drawers as a makeshift ladder to climb to the top.  No amount of scolding stopped her, and the other night her weight finally tipped the large, five drawer piece of furniture until it landed on top of her.  She was supposed to be sleeping.  It scared the crap out of us and poor Diva.  Thankfully hubby was quick to the scene when he heard the thud and she, miraculously, was not hurt.

Sometimes, kids have to learn lessons for themselves.  I’m certain she won’t be climbing on that dresser in the near future (well and also, because we’ve blocked access to her opening those drawers.)

But.  She continues to climb the kitchen counters, the tables, chairs, ledges, walls and had even tried our back porch railing (but Papa rigged that in a heartbeat).  I’m surprised she has no broken bones yet.

Regardless of the climbing and what seems like her bottomless pit of a stomach, I still love her.  She keeps me on my toes.

 

Monday, December 13, 2010

Whose kid is this?

I was looking through past pictures of the little one.

Can you believe these pictures are of the same child? 

 

baby (1 of 1)

Friday, December 10, 2010

Early morning

The girls are usually up every morning between 6:30-7 am.  Thankfully I have a fabulous husband who, about 90% of the time, will get up with them and let me sleep.  I’m no good before 7:30 anyway.

They burst out of their room demanding to be fed.  They beg and cajole their Daddy into getting up and giving them some “cheer-cho’s.”

They’ve learned not to ask me.

So this particular morning Diva was in hyper fussy mode.  It’s hard for her to be hungry.  It affects her personality greatly.  So in the midst of her whining, Hubby tells her to, “Quit her fussing!”

Munchkin seized the opportunity to jump on Daddy’s team and started shouting (in her cute little toddler accent):

STOP FUSSING!  YOU’RE HURTING MY EARS!”

Poor Diva.  Apparently she has two mommies. 

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Big Red

 

Childhood is a time for magic, for believing in glorious fairy tales and exaggerated stories.  It’s a time to let imaginations run wild with limitless freedom.  And I love living vicariously through my little people, feeling their energy and excitement. 

                                                                                                Diva (1 of 1)

                                                                                                                 Finished her reindeer hat.

 

friends (1 of 1)                                                                                                                       Her cute little friends.

                                                      kids (1 of 1)

The kids listening to Santa’s stories about the North Pole. 

 

santa (1 of 1)

“I want a Barbie doll and a princess dress.”

(yeah, because we’re seriously lacking in those departments.)

Friday, December 3, 2010

Me and my cousins

“And you and your cousins.”

Actually it’s Diva and Munchkin’s cousins. 

                                                                                  tramp (1 of 1)

We enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous So Cal “winter” day yesterday.  The kids love the trampoline.

tramp1 (1 of 1)

Diva (1 of 1)

                                            lukie (1 of 1)  t-man (1 of 1)

Mr. Luke and his afro.  And Mr. Tucker concocting  some sort of leafy, organic stew.  He was really into it.

rubycube (1 of 1)

And little Ruby cube.  I call her a little tree frog.  She’s just adorable. 

maya (1 of 1)

Look!  It’s my messyalwayseatingsomethingadorablerascally little girl!

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Did I mention it was a beautiful day?  With beautiful colors!  Perpetual fall during the winter months.  Love it.

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Oh and after discussing the gobblers in my last post, I thought it was fitting I saw them strutting their stuff yesterday.  Most of these guys were just tiny little furry balls of cuteness a few months ago.  Now they’re hideous. Just like their parents.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

T-Day

 I love holidays.  I love being with family and joking and laughing and making fun of siblings.  It’s a good time. 

For the first time this year we brined our turkey.  Personally I’ll never go back to any other method of preparing a Thanksgiving poultry.  But I’m a salt fanatic, so soaking a 20 lb turkey in a couple gallons of salt water is right up my alley.

I wish something hilarious happened this year.  Something similar to the story of how a large, wild, male turkey invited himself into the home of my parents’ and scared the crap out of my mom, her having to shoo the animal out a window using a broom and then cursing the tiny headed bird as she cleaned up his trail of droppings.  So I suppose I should say she quite literally, scared the crap out of him.  And ironically all this happened the day before Thanksgiving a few years ago.  (To clarify, my parents live in the boonies; home to mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats, rabbits, snakes, tarantulas, the occasional deer and obviously a family of wild turkeys.)

But alas, Mr. freaked out Turkey is probably long gone, no longer awaiting his fate to be eaten by humans or coyotes. 

                          boys (1 of 1)   table (1 of 1)

But hey, here’s a picture of a couple of turkeys. hehe.  And of course we break out the Martinelli’s, cracking jokes that someone spiked them with alcohol to excuse any kind of raucous behavior.

tableflowers (1 of 1)       

                                munchkin (1 of 1)           DivaZ (1 of 1)

Kids played and enjoyed time with cousins.  Most especially, Diva, with her cousin, Bug.  She is in love.  No doubt about it.  And don’t get me started on the heartbreak that was hers when we had to keep her away from him his last day here due to her cough.  So, so sad.  But we can’t have that youngin’ getting sick, as he still is being supplemented with oxygen, a lingering consequence of his difficult first week coming into the world. 

Most of my family is gone now and we miss them so!  On to Christmas!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Can’t be left out…

First off, I feel like I haven’t blogged in forever.  I’d like to thank my nasty cold for my lack of motivation.  I spent my free time becoming best friends with my tissue box and trying to teach my body how to breathe through my nose again.  It was a rip roarin’ good time. 

Anyway.

I have this little girl. She adores her older sister.  If Diva is involved with something and looking like she’s having fun, Munchkin just can’t bear it.   She worms her way in the middle and steals the show.

Take note:

_MG_3177

Thanks to my friend Heather for capturing this priceless moment!  

Monday, November 15, 2010

Happy Monday

 

So it’s like 7:15 am and my eyes were still half open and my girls were getting dressed and I stumble to the computer and I check my Facebook (it’s like my morning coffee, and this morning it proved to be true!) And then I receive a couple messages:

You won!!…..

“Carly you totally won…..

But that’s all I saw of the message because I hadn’t clicked on it yet and I was sooo confused.

But only for a second.

What did I win?

THIS. 

KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixers

From HERE.

I want to kiss Kate and Sara but I could settle for a hug.  Too bad they live too far away.  (((((Virtual Hug!))))

Friday, November 12, 2010

We all scream

                       

ice cream1 (1 of 1)

ice cream (1 of 1)    

For ice cream!

The hubby and the kids have started a tradition.  Ice cream picnics.  In the house.  On their blankets.  On the ground. 

It’s really funny and cute.  They get so excited.

Can I tell you how awesome my hubby is?  I know, so cheesy.  But you know what?  I don’t care.

He worked in Diva’s classroom today on his day off.  He then helped me entertain seven rascally little boys (Diva’s sunbeam class-yes ALL boys but her Winking smile).  He played soccer and whiffle ball with them.  This guy needs a son.

He is such a good Dad.  A fantastic Dad really.  And although it seems impossible, he’s an even better husband. 

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

What?!

 

school picture

I know what you’re thinking.  Yes I like to have Diva studiously pose in front of our scholarly/child-appropriate bookcase. 

Just kidding.

But really, when I did become old enough to have school pictures hanging on my fridge?  That doesn’t seem right.

At her school I opened up Diva’s pictures and exclaimed to a few other parents, “She looks like she’s 20 years old!” Then five minutes later a perplexed Diva tugged on my shirt, looked up at me asked, “Mommy am I really 20 years old in that picture?”

Sigh.  I don’t know if I’m cut out for this whole growing up thing my kids are doing.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Don’t judge

decor (1 of 1)

decor2 (1 of 1)

Aren’t those persimmons beauts?  Planning on making some persimmon bread in a few days.

I may have been listening to Christmas music whilst cleaning.

I may  have busted out some Christmas décor.  (Just a few things…PROMISE!)

And I may have purchased some Cadbury Christmas chocolates and eaten almost two whole bags in the past two days. By myself. 

But like I said.  Don’t judge.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A sense of style

 I never, ever get Diva dressed.  She picks out out her own clothes every day.  And I only protest if it’s too scandalous, too hot or too cold. 

Diva style (1 of 1)

I mean, it matches.  RIIIGHT?

Monday, November 1, 2010

Mermaidia

Just so you know, my mermaid drawing skills are seriously lacking in comparison to the husband’s.  Would you believe me if I told you he actually does google searches for a good mermaid drawing reference? 

And just so you know, if Daddy is in the vicinity the girls NEVER ask me to draw mermaids. Should I be offended? 

Here is a sample of his work.

mermaid (1 of 1)

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Halloween Festivities

For some reason the older I become, the more I love Halloween.  I mean I loved it when I was younger but something about seeing my children dress up in cute little costumes and parade around town begging for candy melts my heart.

                       Divabelle (1 of 1)     mayawitch (1 of 1)

KC caught the pumpkin carving bug.  He even looked online for templates.  Obama was a no-go but scary pumpkin face made the cut. *ha! pun intended*dadcarve (1 of 1)

It was fun, even if some of us caught the frustration bug instead.

    Divacarving (1 of 1)    divacarving2 (1 of 1)

Those are uncle K’s hands.  Thanks man, for gutting my daughter’s pumpkin!

I also slaved away on these.  I mean Halloween is all about the sugar right?    Mmmm…. sugar.

       cinnamonrolls (1 of 1)   cinnamonrolls2 (1 of 1)

We won’t be trick-or-treating tomorrow due to H-ween falling on a Sunday but we have had our fair share of festive fun.

We went to our ward trunk-or-treat last night and uh…can I brag for sec?

chili

Edit: They had “good”, “better” and “best” hence the quotations. ha ha.

Thanks.  I feel much better.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

A scary story

 

*In honor of Halloween I wanted to tell the most terrifying experience of my life.*

I was nine years old and in the fourth grade.  My best friend at that time was Lisa.  She lived right down the street and we played together often; mostly Barbies, some house and some school. 

It was mid January.  I remember singing “I believe in Christ” in church that Sunday.  I was excited because the next day we had no school.  It was Martin Luther King Jr. day!  It was decided that I was going to spend the night at Lisa’s house that night.  My little sister, Kelli, tagged along.

We played together as we usually did.  We undressed and dressed the Barbies, made them act in ridiculous scenarios, paraded them around, living vicariously through them.  Didn’t all little girls wish they were older, with 12 inch waists and double D racks?  I sure did.  I also wished I had a plastic man with plastic hair and ambiguous body parts.  Those were the days.

It started getting late and we contemplated sleeping all together on Lisa’s double bed.  We decided against it and settled for sleeping in the loft next to her parents’ room.  A loft with a built-in floor to ceiling bookshelf.  A bookshelf where every space was utilized; encyclopedia sets, dictionaries, kids’ books, fiction, non-fiction, church related materials adorned the space.  I vividly remember gazing at the sheer volume of books thinking, “Wow I hope there is not an earthquake tonight.”  Growing up in California, one has those thoughts frequently.

We fell asleep quickly.  I awoke sometime in the middle of the night with a bloody nose.  Nothing too strange but there was an odd sense in the atmosphere.  I couldn’t put my finger on it (maybe because my fingers were preoccupied with tissue) but something was…off.  Oh well, I was only nine.  I wasn’t about the ponder the complexities of the universe.  So I went back to bed.

The next moment I’m about to share is so crystal clear in my memory.  It was a very surreal experience, one that will always be present in my imagination.

I opened my eyes and it was dark.  It was not morning yet but I was so violently woken.  I realized things were shaking.  Everything was moving.  I reached out my hand and grabbed onto the railing right above my head.  An earthquake.   I was terrified.  Scared out of my mind.  The shaking continued for what felt like hours.  In reality it was only for less than a minute.  Something was so different about this quake.  I had been in a couple before but this one was so fierce, so violent, so full of rage. 

My instincts were to get up and get out.  I tried.  For some reason I couldn’t move.  I felt as if I weighed 400 pounds.  Then I heard Lisa’s mom gasp, “Dennis, the children are covered in books!” 

Books?!  What the heck was she talking about?  Oh wait…books..BOOKS!  The bookshelf!  All that material was on top of us.  We were buried in literature.  I shoved and hurled books aside and pulled out my body.   We ran out of the house, unknowingly stepping over broken glass, decorations, dishes and picture frames. 

We made it outside into the chilly winter air.  Up and down the street every neighbor had the same idea: GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. 

There we sat, shivering from the cold and fear.  It was around 3:45 in the morning.  More than anything at the moment I wanted my mother. 

Lisa’s Dad had to run back inside to retrieve jackets and coats.  I was so enveloped in hysteria that I thought he would never make it back out alive.  Well he did.  I still wanted my mom.

Finally we got into the car and my sister and I were driven up the street to our house.  My family was in their car as well, huddling together for comfort and for warmth.

With sunrise came the understanding that this was a massive earthquake.  Neighbors and families tenderly walked through their homes and around destroyed priceless heirlooms, treasured gifts, loved art, precious china, recently jarred foods and countless other material items.  Some lost their entire homes, some lost loved ones. 

For the next few nights our neighborhood camped out in tents.  We had no running water, no electricity and grocery stores were out of commission. 

And then there were the aftershocks.  The aftershocks wore my on my nerves like nails on a chalkboard.  An endless chalkboard.  We watched as dust from the mountains floated up and then resettled.  As soon as one began you had to find something to hang to or hunker down to the ground, or find a doorway.  I hated those aftershocks. 

After a few days I found myself back at Lisa’s house.  My eyes widened as I looked around and I kept thinking, “We WALKED over all this stuff?!”  I had no recollection of any bleeding toes or heels.  It was so strange.

Then we went up to the loft and I was incredulous.  There was no.way. that all of those books were on top of us.  No WAY.  And as I thought back to that terrifying moment I realized that I never felt one book touch my body.  Not one.  Only the shaking had aroused me from my sleep.  Surely I would have felt dozens of books crashing on top of me.  But no, I didn’t.  Lisa and my sister came to the same realization. 

Then we made our way into Lisa’s room.  The room we considered sleeping in that night.  A room that now had two mirror closet doors practically draped across her bed; glass shattered all around. 

At that age I couldn’t comprehend the magnitude of such a disaster.

To this day the 1994 Northridge earthquake remains one of the most expensive natural disasters in world history.

The End.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Banned

 

                        timeout2 (1 of 1)timeout (1 of 1)

In time out 10-26-10

Just like any family, we have rules. 

1. No back-talk

2. No hitting

3. Listen to mommy and daddy

I would say those are our Big Three.  And when they don’t adhere to those rules, they get a time-out.

Well, in our house we have banned words or phrases.  They would fall under rule #1.  A few of them are:

shut-up

stupid

intentional potty talk (poo poo, pee pee, butt..etc)

But Munchkin has a hard time with pronunciations.  So her variation of shut-up is “shove-up.”

So we had to ban “shove-up” as well. 

Can I tell you how darn difficult it is to stifle my laughter and restrain myself from squeezing her?  It’s just so cute.  I can’t handle it.

But I have to.  Diva watches me.  She rules with iron fist.   And when she tattles, “Mommy she said SHOVE-UP!”  I just can’t help but laugh. 

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Good Day

On days like this, I love being a parent.  Okay well I love being a parent every day (no, not really) but today I really, really enjoyed it.  I love to watch my children’s happiness flourish and blossom right in front of my eyes.  Their energy and pure joy is intoxicating.  It’s contagious.  It makes my heart happy.

pumpkins3 (1 of 1)

We visited our local pumpkin patch today and while this is a yearly tradition it still surprises me how fresh and magical the experience is once we enter those gates.  Not because we spend a ton of money or shower them with treats.  It’s because we’re together.  Having fun.  Creating memories. 

divathirds (1 of 1)

They had a live band and a stage and Diva was in her element.  She danced and skipped and danced on that stage for over an hour. Like full on dancing.  Non stop.  For an hour.  A local high school dance team held a freeze dance contest and Diva and Munchkin drank it up.  It was adorable and precious and sweet and hilarious all at once.

           divahorsie (1 of 1)     shorty (1 of 1)

And of course, there were ponies involved.  More happiness.  More energy.  More love. 

munchkinhorsie (1 of 1)

 

siggy4

LW

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