The Fun House

Pickle's Ballet Recital

2010-06-29T19:28:00.005-05:00

This past fall, right after Pickle was potty trained, she expressed a huge interest in ballet but I thought she was too young to start. Just for fun, called a local ballet school and was surprised to hear that they start as young as three--so I signed her right up!

And she has LOVED it!! She goes every week and never misses a lesson, plus the neverending amount of cute ballet outfits and kept her very happy (and us in the Poor House).

A couple weeks ago, the session ended with a very over-the-top ballet recital that featured the whole school in very ornate costumes and dramatic music. It was right up Pickle's alley! Apparently she loves performing on stage!

Here are a few pics of her Big Night:

Here she is dressed and ready to go. I realized this looks very "Tiaras and Tantrums" but she had to wear makeup for the stage lights. As you can see, she loves makeup...

Here she is at home before her performance with Gooser:

And here's one of Gooser because he looks so handsome!

And here she is after her performance with her bouquet:

Finally, here is the actual performance! Pickle is the one that barges out out of the line and ends up third from the right. She's also the one that shouts out the line "Quiet!." It's pretty cute...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxMhTCotM8Q

P.S. I know I keep harping on how irritating Blogger has been lately--but I'm really hoping someone can help me with this! When I upload (download? I can never get that straight...) photos and try to arrange them in the post, I used to be able to click on the pic and then drag it down if I put the cursor on the "down arrow" of the little window. Now it won't do it so it's nearly impossible (and way too time-consuming) to get the pic where I want it. Any advice??

Oh, the Guilt!

2010-06-28T18:37:00.003-05:00

I can't tell you how guilty I feel for abandoning my blog. Let me say that part of it is the nature of what's happened to Blogger and how DIFFICULT it was for me to add pics which, as you know, is a big part of the blog.

When I was trying to do that last post for L.A., it took HOURS to get it done because of the new makeshift system for photos and I basically gave up out of anger. I don't know if it's better now and I'm almost afraid to try. I also doubt anyone is still reading...and I don't blame you!

It seems my comments are taken over over by weird Asian characters and that makes me sad, bt tonight I got a comment on a long ago post (about the weird caterpillar I found in my backyard) and I was going through old posts to respond, I was reminded of all the fun posts I used to write! It was like, wow--this used to be good! And then I felt guilty...

So I'm about to run out the door for my oil paintimg class but felt impelled to write something even though I know no one's reading. In fact, that might be a good thing, as I can be more stream of consciousness and just punch some stuff out which is maybe just what I need to get back into this...

I am also taking an "illustrated journaling class which is fun but requires a lot of writing which, frankly, I have been WAY out of practice with.

I'm not going to promise to keep up with things here--because it seems like when I do that, I never post again! So I'll just say that I do miss writing and I need to get back in the swing and there are a LOT of fun/cool things that have happened since that last post in L.A. that wish I had written about.

Must go to oil painting now! Miss you all!

I Love L.A.!

2010-03-29T23:16:00.004-06:00

We're in L.A.! It's so nice here...If I didn't live where I live, I would live here for sure.

We arrived yesterday but I didn't blog because A.) I was crazy tired a B.) I didn't have a cable to download my pics. But today ending up being so exciting that I'm not even going to bother with yesterdays pics--the plane blah blah blah, Pinkberry, gallery, dinner....actually it was really fun--so maybe I will show those pics later? But onto today...

Here are the kids ready to head out bright and early:

Our first stop was one of our old standbys: Nate and Al's Delicatessan. The kids like it for the Yoo Hoo!

Here's the Pickle:
Highlight of the day: As we were walking into the restaurant, who was walking in right behind us? None other than Larry King!! It was exciting to see him, but we didn't have a chance to say anything as he made a beeline for his table to join his entourage.

The kids were begging me to say hi to him but I told him that no--under no circumstances could they approach him at his table. That the ultimate in rudeness! I said maybe if he was leaving at the same time we were they could talk to him.

But it was time to go and we all headed out, but I got waylaid by a phone call and by the time I got to the front of the restaurant none of my kids were in sight. I saw Don and the two little ones outside and turned around to find Andy, Teddy, Patrick and Larry King laughing it up at his table!!

I walked up semi-mortified and Larry was asking the kids all kinds of questions--as nice as can be--and then suggested we go outside and take some pictures! Which we did! Here's the kids with"Uncle" Larry:A little closer up:
The expression on Pickle's face is hilarious! She's like who IS this guy??

Then I joined the party:

He was seriously the nicest guy! He wanted to know all the kids' names and ages and when on about what a beautiful family we had--VERY nice man!

So after all that excitement it was time to visit Grandma. Here are the kids outside her house:
Grandma with some of the kids:

I love this pic of Pickle and Grandma!

And here's a portrait of Pickle:

OK--I want to post more pics--(we had dinner at a fun place that had five kinds of ketchup that I want to show you) but what up with Blogger? It's a nightmare to get the pics in the order I want! They won't scroll! I'll try to figure it all tomorrow--so that's it for today!

Not A Great Way To Start The Day...

2010-03-15T17:45:00.003-06:00

This morning was the usual hectic frenzy that it always is--trying to get all the kids clothed, fed, organized and out the door at varying times depending on their schedules.

Teddy and Patrick had to go in super early for choir practice, Andy had to be in early for something or another, Gooser was going in a little later and Pickle was still sleeping because of the stupid time change.

As I was getting Gooser packed up and ready, Teddy called and said that Patrick fainted at choir practice.

I rushed Gooser out the door and into the car (luckily my cleaning lady was here with Pickle) and started driving to school like a maniac.

As I approached a corner where I could get a view of the school, I could see all kinds of emergency vehicles with flashing lights parked in front and I went into a full-blown panic.

When I turned the corner so I could pull up in front of the school, there was a solid lane of congested traffic going in the same direction I was going--so in my crazed state, I drove down the wrong side of the street honking non-stop. Nobody was going to get in my way!

Except someone did. Some stupid old man who clearly could tell I was in distress came through the intersection and down the same side of the street, blocking me. I was honking and screaming and gesturing for him to get out of my way and I think he quickly understood that this was NOT someone he wanted to mess with and backed up.

Good thing for him--because I swear I would have pulled him out of that car and backed it up myself.

As I approached the school, I saw no less than two ambulances, two fire trucks and two police cars. I was so panic-stricken that I could actually feel the years coming off my life. In fact, I think I had a flash of a picture in my mind of the Grim Reaper laughing and peeling pages off the calendar of my life.

I'm not even sure what I did next. I think I left the keys in the car, screamed for Gooser to get out and started running toward the school. Meanwhile, they were rerouting all the kids to an alternate entrance to make way for the emergency people.

Inside the school, paramedics were everywhere. I ran toward the nurses office (where someone told me Patrick was) and one of the paramedics stopped me at the door saying "Are you the mom?"

I think he thought I was going to be his next patient because he was like "Woah! You need to stop and take a deep breath."

When I got into the room I saw Patrick lying down, looking as pale as a sheet. They were doing some tests like blood sugar and blood pressure and trying to explain to me what happened.

I guess the choir director thought he was having a seizure, but the paramedics didn't think so because he didn't have the symptoms that typically follow a seizure. In the end, they chalked it up to a fainting spell due to the heat of the lights (they were practicing on the stage) and maybe standing for too long. As far as anyone could tell, he didn't hit his head--and if he did, he hadn't hit it too hard.

Since he checked out ok, they didn't think he needed to go to the ER and thought he would be better off going home and lying down--so that's what I did.

Later in the morning I took him to the pediatrician to have him checked again and he basically agreed with what the paramedics had said. But, of course, if it happens again (and please! I hope it doesn't!) more tests will have to be done.

He seems okay now--not dizzy and his normal self. But I have lost at LEAST five years off my life!

I'm Baaaaaaack!!

2010-03-12T22:00:00.004-06:00

Oh my poor little neglected blog. I'm sorry blog! And if by off chance someone is still reading this--I'm sorry to you too. I just fell off the face of the Earth...

I don't really know what happened...first it was the move and the start of school, then the holidays...then I think I just got lazy! Or more like out of the routine--and once I got out, I just stayed out.

First of all, thank you to anyone who has emailed or commented that they miss my blog--I appreciate it!! I feel sad that all the crazy things that happened (and there have been a lot) have not been documented on here. My hair was blue! But now it's back to pink...Pickle cut off half her hair! And it still looks awful (think Billie Jean King circa. 1974). There was an all-school lice outbreak! But due to my super lice-repelling skills, my kids didn't get it.

And a lot of things that weren't hair-related happened too!

I actually haven't been a total slacker--I got really into some artwork and sort of threw myself into that project and tried to use as much down time as possible on it. It involves photography which I have printed very large and on watercolor paper--then I paint, embroider, draw--whatever! on it.

Here are a few examples that I just submitted to a show (cross fingers for me please!):
"All the Single Ladies""Jaundice"

"Miracle-Gro"

"Manifest Destiny"

Hope you like them!

So here goes the blog again--but one thing I'm going to have to change is that I think I need to add a "captcha" (is that the right word?) to the comments. I know it's a pain, but unfortunately, my comments have been taken over by weird stuff written in Asian languages that I'm pretty sure are links to p-o-r-n-o sites. So sorry creepy Asian pervert types! You are no longer welcome here!

Sorry guys--I hope you're still out there!

Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-12T20:28:00.005-06:00

Remember my idea for our Christmas card last year? The four seasons? I liked it so much, I decided to do it again!

My friend Tricia did a great job on the beautiful designs you see around the photos. She has an Etsy Shop and I highly recommend using her!! She will make some amazing cards (anything--invitations, announcements, thank you notes) for you!

Anyway, this will be another accordion-style card--starting with...

Winter:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

And then I wanted a pic of our new house as we are also using this as a change of address card!
I'm SO happy with the way it turned out!!

Oh--and I already have a cool idea for next year's cards! Do you think it's too early to start working on that??

House Pics Part Two!

2009-12-02T22:23:00.008-06:00

Well I finally got some semi-decent pics of the upstairs of the house--so here goes!

First off--some detail of the stairway. Isn't it beautiful?
The landing at the top of the stairs (Remember my giant clown? He found a nice home up here!):
And another angle:
Pickle's room--it's very...PINK!
Another view...you can see her "princess throne" on the right.
Gooser's room:
This is the playroom/guest room. Still need to do some work in here like curtains, etc.
I had this sofa-bed recovered (it was a MESS before) and I'm very happy with the turquoise velvet!

Master bedroom--notice the fireplace so it's all romantic up in there! Still stuff to do in this room too--curtains and whatnot.
This is the back staircase:
And this is the room that made me want the house--the linen room!
My sheets and towels have never been so organized!
Here's a pic of a hall--exciting!
Now on to the third floor where Andy and Teddy are sharing a room. You can't really tell in this pic, but it's a pretty big room!
Patrick's room:
And check this out from the third floor bathroom--cute little clawfoot tub--it's pink!!
And I'm throwing in one more pic of the dining room because it looked pretty messy in that last batch of pics!

Thanks for checking them out!!

Top Chef Dinner!

2009-11-30T21:53:00.004-06:00

Ooooh--the dinner with Radhika was FUN and DELICIOUS!

We arrived at our friends' house and Radhika and her chef posse arrived shortly thereafter. Her posse was cute by the way--one chef guy is her boyfriend and I do'n't know what the other guy's story was, but he was cute and he carries a "chef purse" which contains chef tools that can be used as weapons in case of a mugging.

Anyway, the chef team got to cooking and we hung out with them for awhile in the kitchen, but then retired to the living room with our friends and another couple and some crazy drinks called Whirling Tigers.

This dinner was so cool because Rahdika brought everything--the dishes, silverware, glassware--everything! They set the table and we hung out until it was time to eat.

The first course was a fun Indian-style take on grilled cheese--the menu called it "Chef Rad's Surprise." It was layers of the Indian bread(nan), gouda cheese , olives and fresh basil. Just really, really good!

Plus it was very Top Chef-esque because once the food was put down, Rahdika would appear and give a little explanation just like on the show!

The next course (plus we had seconds) was a tomato-curry soup with sesame crisps. I could have eaten this until I exploded!

Next up--a scallop "sandwich" with sour dough bread and a perfectly seared scallop. According to Rahdika, it's better to undercook rather than overcook a scallop--just so you know!

The main course was filet crusted with mint and pepper and served over creamy bacon-truffle potatoes. OMG!! Plus there was a cool yogurt-cucumber sauce on the side.

Dessert was ginger-vanilla creme brulee with blackberries and ginger crisps. Probably the best creme brulee I've ever had (and I've had a lot...).

Plus there was wine that Radhika nicely paired with each course..It was a great time!

But the best part was after the dinner when Radhhika and her guys joined us at the table and we gossiped about Top Chef!!

In a nutshell:

--Tom Colicchio is nice and very honest and helpful when he's critiquing the food.

--Padma is very "confident" with herself and very striking in person. Apparently all eyes are always on her if she's in the room.

--Gail Simmons is very nice and helpful--Radhika seemed to like her a lot.

--Fabio from last season is a jerk even though he seemed nice on the show.

--Stefan is a nice guy even though he seemed like a jerk on the show.

--Apparently Marcel isn't half bad.

--When you're kicked off of Top Chef, you go stay in a penthouse and are paid until the show is over.

--Radihka is writing a cookbook.

--She is also planning on opening a restaurant in the next few years.

--She is very pretty in person and has a cool diamond nose piercing (which, by the way, Don thinks would look stupid on me.)

Now for some pics!

Me 'n Radhika:
Group shot (I don't know why we're posing in front of a giant tv?):
Getting the gossip from Radhika:
Rahdika and her posse (again with the tv!):
Fun, fun evening!! I can't wait until her cookbook/restaurant appear--her food is amazing!!

House Pics--Part One

2009-11-21T00:04:00.005-06:00

I can't tell you how many times I have almost posted pics of the new house on here. And every time I'm about to--I hesitate because, even though we've come a looooong way since we moved in, I still feel like things are not ready enough for pics...So many things still need to be done like window treatments and replacing gross light fixtures, hanging up pictures and getting new furniture. But then I decided I was being too picky and I should just show them already. So keep in mind that it's not DONE done--but you'll get the idea!

I'm only going to the first floor tonight. I need to retake a few of the upstairs that I'm still being neurotic about.

OK, so....Entry hall (facing front door):

Another view of entry hall. I don't think it reads in these pics, but the hall is painted a pewtery gray color.
Dining room--still very messy with stuff all piled up...Color on walls is called Yam and I'm happy with the way it turned out.
Living room. Remember the retro green velvet sofa? I got it! This room is painted a blue that I had the paint store mix up for me--I couldn't find it in an existing paint so we invented it!
The fireplace was a VERY exciting find. When we bought the house it had been plastered over (for probably over 50 years!) and we took a chance by tearing all the plaster and wood down--but it was worth it! It was somewhat damaged and the wood you see in this pic was missing, but we had a carpenter recreate it in a way we feel is true to what the original must have been.
Another view of the living room--you can see the giant frog and bee science charts!
Family room--this room was originally called the "music room" but it's working pretty well as a family room for now, though some day we will probably add a family room on. Sorry about the blankets and magazines on the floor!
Kitchen--very messy! Note the "Princess Potty" on the floor--Pickle is potty trained!!
Screened-in porch. I took this pic at night so it doesn't look that great. I need to take some better pics because this is a nice room!

And here's the backyard (unraked!):
I'll show you the upstairs soon--I'm still waiting for some stuff to be delivered like the rug for Pickle's room--then it will be ready for the unveiling!

Meanwhile--remember a long time ago I said we were going to a dinner party with one of last season's Top Chefs (Radhika) cooking? It's happening tomorrow night! So I should have an interesting evening to tell you about and hopefully get some fun pics--and maybe some good gossip on Padma and Tom Colicchio!!

Worst Halloween Evah!

2009-11-01T21:22:00.006-06:00

This pumpkin represents our Halloween this year: soggy, sad and slumped over.
First of all, it rained. And rained and rained and rained.

In the morning I was hopeful that we'd get the rain out of the way in time for trick-or-treating--but no, it actually got worse as the day went on to the point where the sidewalks started flooding.

Although Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, our trick or treating was slated for Friday as the school parade and parties are all part of the Halloween tradition. So the plan was that the kids go to school in the morning and then come home at lunch to get their costumes on--then back to school for the parade, etc.

So I practically swam to school to get the kids at lunch and began the frenzy of costumes and makeup application.

Patrick was going to be a zombie-type Ronald McDonald. (By the way I started earching for Ronlad costumes on eBay, etc. a few weeks ago and they were expensive--like $150! Then I scored one for $20 on Craigslist!)

So anyway, I had just applied Patrick's clown makeup and was trying to get his wig adjusted when he suddenly sluped over Teddy who was sitting in a kitchen chair. At first I thought he was goofing around and bothering Teddy or something--but I was screaming "Get up Patrick!" and Teddy was screaming "Get off me!" and I was like shaking him and stuff when I realized he had fainted!

I was so scared, but he came to and seemed okay, though a little dizzy... I called the doctor who thought it was a fluke due to the humid weather, costume, wig and whatnot--so I kept him home from school for the rest of the day so he could lie down.

I call this pic Clown Down.

So that kind of put a major damper on the day, but after resting for awhile, seemed well enough for trick or treating, so we ventured out into the muck.

Now for some pics:

Pickle, for months now, has been saying she wanted to be a "Pink Girl" for Halloween--but it sounds extra cute when she says it because it kind of sounds like she has a little English accent when she says "girl." The Pink Girl is a "Supergirl" costume she saw in a catalog and she was adamant about it--so that's what she was!

She was thrilled that she could wear some "pink girl makeup" too!
Gooser was a Transformer and Teddy was (a very realistic, I think!) Michael Jackson:
Here's Patrick perked up and Pickle:
All the kids outside--Andy was the Burger King:
Here I am hiding under two umbrellas!
This is what the sidewalks looked like:
Andy had to carry Pickle through all that water!
Action trick-or-treating shot!
I love this pic:
After the candy and the rain, we came home to have our little party, but it wasn't nearly as fun as usual, because my sister and her kids always come--but they couldn't this year because one of her kids was diagnosed with stupid Swine Flu.

But I managed to make some cupcakes:
And the grossly delicious Kitty Litter cake:

And I made some chili and decorated and stuff...

...but it just wasn't the same.

Let's hope next year is better!!

Weekend Getaway: The Good, The Bad and The Scary!!

2009-10-26T17:41:00.016-06:00

First off, I'm in a semi-rage because I wrote a looong post a couple of nights ago and uploaded a LOT of pictures--and the whole thing deleted--just like that! No back-up, nothin'. So I'm disgruntled, but I will regroup now and carrry on!

So what I was going on (and on) about was that the work on our new house is finally FINALLY done!! Well, mostly...we still have to do a little floor refinishing so we will have to evacuate in a couple of weeks for a few days--but after all that's gone on here, that doesn't seem too bad.

So now that the house is under control, we managed to go off for a little weekend getaway--well technically we were going out of town for a funeral because Don's aunt fell out a window (!?!) (although the details are sketchy and shrouded in mystery) but then there was confusion with the date of the funeral, so actually we missed it entirely. So in a nutshell--we went out of town for a non-funeral and to investigate the scene of the crime so to speak where the unfortunate window accident occured.

Are you confused yet? I am. Now you can see why I'm so mad my other post was deleted--I swear it made more sense the first time I wrote it!

So we drove to the farm town where Don's mom grew up (Trivia: Don's mom rode in a cart pulled by a pony to school every day.) (More trivia: The pony's name was Don! Is it weird he's named after a horse?).

Anyway, we went to this town which is very quaint and was extra-nice because of the fall folliage--also making for a great backdrop for photos of the kids!

Our first stop was the farm where Don's mom grew up (and also the scene of the window accident). There were so many beautiful spots for pics!

I made the kids lay down in the leaves for a photo op--though they were not too keen on doing it!
They look happy--but they were complaining.
Andy and Pickle were the only ones that enjoyed it!
Here are some of the kids in front of a shed:
The farm is surrounded by corn fields as far as the eye can see--so we ended up with lots of corn pics.
Pickle was really into the corn! It's grain corn and very beautiful:
All the kids posing with their corn:
Here's Pickle with some kind of grain. Hay? I'm not too good with the farm terms...
And Pickle checking out the well water (I love this pic):
And yet another one of Pickle hanging on a windmill:
The smokehouse:
This place was infested with lady bugs! I call this pic Potrait of suitcase and Lady Bugs:
Oops--another one of Pickle ringing the dinner bell:
After that, we headed down the road to the family cemetery. There were lots of cool picture opportunities there too.

Here's the cemetery with the cornfields in the background:
I liked the way the moss looked on this gravestone:
Poor Bony Bly! Struck down by one of those newfangled automobiles!
Gooser amongst the graves:
This Way Up:
Angel grave:
Miss Pickle:
After the cemetery, we did a little more sightseeing around town. Here are the kids posing by a river:
And by some beautiful trees:
I LOVE this pic of Pickle!!

Here are the kids with a cool statue:

And now for the scary part of the trip...

We went out for a nice dinner that evening and Pickle ate the usual kid fare--grilled cheese, etc.--but she had a bite of Teddy's raspberry cheesecake and things went rapidly downhill after that.

Right after eating it she said she felt like she was going to throw up--and as soon as we got to the hotel room, she did. All over everything...

But as I was changing her pajamas I noticed that she had a bumpy rash on her stomach and I realized she was having an allergic reaction.

Patrick has a peaunut allergy (nightmare!) so I always carry Benadryl in my purse and I gave her one right away. Then she had a bath and seemed to be fine, so I put her to bed.

About a half hour later, she started coughing. At first I thought Oh no--I hope she's not getting sick. Then, as the coughing continued, I started to worry that maybe she had aspirated the vomit when she got sick and it was messing up her lungs or something.

So I got her out of the crib and realized that not only was she coughing non-stop, she was wheezing and it sounded BAD.

She was kind of scratching at herself so I lifted up her pajama top and saw that she was COVERED in a horrible rash.

By now it was about 11:00 at night, but Don and I had no choice--we had to drive her to the nearest Emergency Room. Which was unfortunately not very close.

I decided to give her one more Benadryl before we left--and I'm so glad I did--because I think it made a huge difference in her breathing. Then we had to drive on these very dark and winding roads--not really knowing where we were going. And did I mention it was raining?

But we made it in one piece and they were able to fix her right up with some steroids and antihistimines.

This is what the backs of her legs looked like:

Basically, her entire body was bright red and covered with bumps. It was SO scary!

Poor Pickle!

But she's fine now--though I have to get to the bottom of what she's allergic to. I called the restaurant, thinking there must have been nuts in that cheesecake, but they say no...I'm having her allergy tested soon.

The next day we were all exausted from our night of terror, so we didn't hang around long--just for breakfast and a few more pics.

Here are some of Teddy looking like a little model!

Gooser and Patrick:

And, finally, the kids posing on some rocks:

OMG--can you believe how long this post is? Can you believe I had to write it TWICE?? Sorry if it's incoherent--it's late, but I'm determined to post it tonight.

Fishcapades

2009-10-13T21:37:00.004-05:00

You know when you have kids and the house is just too quiet? And not a good peaceful kind of quiet--a "what are they up to?" kind of quiet. I had one of those episodes today...

I was in the kitchen with Pickle and she was happily playing with her Little Pet Shop animals so I called my sister and, while I was talking, walked into the living room to try and clean up a little while I chatted.

A few minutes into the conversation I that that sudden "it's too quiet here" feeling. Normally, very little time can pass without Pickle asking for something to eat or drink or making general demands--I knew something was up!

What I discovered was a most disturbing sight--water everywhere and Pickle near the fish tank holding a bag of cotton balls.

Upon closer examination, I realized that she had decided to fill the tank with the cotton balls while removing stuff like plants and rocks which were strewn all over the floor.

As I removed more and more of the drenched cotton balls, I realized one of the fish was missing.

I looked all over the floor and couldn't find him anywhere. Then I spotted the poor thing in a nearby basket. I scooped him up in my hand but he was totally lifeless.

On the off chance a miracle could occur, I plunged him into the water and he took a fish gasp and came back to life!

I don't know how long he was out of the water--but apparently a fish can look totally dead and still be alive!

Anyway, Pickle got in BIG trouble and had to go on a time-out in her room which she was not the least bit happy about.

But, when the time-out was over and she calmed down, she uttered one of the better Pickle quotes: I told her to go apologize to the fish and she said "I sorry fish. I sorry I killed you."

I had to hide in the other room so she wouldn't see me laughing!

Sorry I killed you...

Apple Picking

2009-10-05T21:49:00.008-05:00

This past weekend we decided to flee from all the chaos and construction of the new house--so at about 4:00, I kicked out all of our workmen and we headed out of town. It was SO nice to have some time away from The Move--it's been so all-consuming and we needed a break.

The highlight of the weekend was apple picking. Just being out in the fresh air on a perfectly perfect fall day was great!

Here's Teddy climbing a grain silo:

And Teddy and Pickle on the wagon that took us around the orchard:
Miss Pickle bagging some apples. Look at all those apples on the ground! What a waste...
The Gooser looking dapper in a Batman shirt and blazer (notice he's lost his front teeth):

Here's Patrick with his bag o' apples:
Group shot! I think this one has potential for the Christmas card?
Andy, Patrick and Gooser riding on the wagon...
...pulled by these:

Portrait of Gooser in the orchard:
This place also had a nice pumpkin patch. Here's Pickle amongst the pumpkins:

Andy found a good one!

A sweet brother/sister moment. Awwwwww!

I loooove this Pickle pic!!
When we were finished with the fruit and gourd picking, we stopped by the country store for cider and doughnuts and all that jazz. They also had an outdoor barbeque going with grilled corn on the cob. It was SO good!
Children of the corn!

Quick house update--things still look like this around here:
You can see why it was so nice to get away for the weekend...

Please make it end! I can't take much more!!

Happy Birthday Pickle!!

2009-09-24T23:19:00.003-05:00

How can my little Pickle be 3??? It doesn't seem possible, but it's happening--and although I'm sad that the baby days are pretty much behind us, I am excited about all the mom/daughter adventures in our future!

We are going to have a birthday lunch at American Girl Place and I'm going to let her choose a doll as a present. She is VERY excited about this! Tonight we chose a dress and shoes for her to wear tomorrow and when I wasn't looking she took off her pajamas and was attempting to put the dress on.

She was so bent on doing it that I helped her get it on properly and she REFUSED to take it off. At one point, she was hiding behind a chair crying that she wanted to wear her dress to bed.

But I finally got her to sleep (in her pajamas!) and I have to admit I got a little teary when she gave me her last goodnight kiss as a two year old.

I've been terrible about taking pictures lately, but I'll be sure to document our birthday adventures.

Happy Birthday Pickle!!!!

Birthday Week!

2009-09-21T23:08:00.004-05:00

A little bacon-loving girl I know is having a birthday this week (Friday to be exact) and she's fully in birthday mode.Notice that she's wearing a princess birthday hat (with a bow) and carrying a princess birthday crown? She's ready to go!

Unfortunately, I don't have anything spectacular planned since we are still mired in the move and construction. See--look at the background which is my living room:

See how the floors are covered in paper and everything is covered in plastic? That giant thing looming behind Pickle is what I call the "plastic cage":

There's kind of a cool story behind why that's there, but I'm saving it for when the project is complete and I can do the proper unveiling.

But back to Pickle--my mom was planning on hosting a party for her this weekend somewhere away from all this mess, but we just found out that one of my sister's kids has the dreaded "coxsackie virus" (Kerri--if you're reading this-remember the Coxsackie Grandma!?) also known as hand, foot and mouth disease. Apparently it is highly contagious and the poor thing's mouth and throat are covered in blisters--so I think it's best to postpone the party until everyone is healthy and non-blistery.

So we'll have some kind of small family thing on her actual birthday and her bigger extravaganza in a couple of weeks. Which is just as well because she can't make up her mind on a party theme--she's gone from My Little Pony to princess to Strawberry Shortcake and back again.

In other news:

--Gooser was diagnosed Thursday with DOUBLE pneumonia (he is much better now but it was scary.)

--He threw up all over the Persian rug at the x-ray place.

--Then he threw up some more right after we gave him the much-needed antibiotics.

--I think my foot is broken.

--My wicker furniture for the new screened-in porch was delivered today.

--I now know that a "curbside" delivery means a bunch of giant boxes are taken off the truck and deposited on the sidewalk--fun!

--But it's really nice--pictures soon!

--Because my stupid dogs can escape from our new fancy fence, I had to ~~waste money on~~ purchase an "Invisible Fence" to restrain them.

--Today was Day One of "training."

--Apparently my dog, Cosmo, is immune to electrical "correction."

--He stood in the force field, oblivious.

--I use a lot of quotation marks.

--I just got into a fight with Don about what temperature to keep the thermostat on.

--I know you would all side with me in this argument!!

Check Out My Spine!

2009-09-14T21:29:00.003-05:00

Over the weekend we went to one of those salvage stores that are filled with stuff removed from old buildings and houses that are about to be torn down--we were searching for some period lighting to use in our new (old) house.

We didn't find anything that panned out, but when I saw this old model of a human spine, I knew I had to have it! It was salvaged from the basement of a hospital that was torn down.
I have it displayed in my new dining room (you can see the color we chose in the background: yam. Likey?). I like the way it looks with my funky old bejeweled lamp.

Here it is a little closer:

I love the red and yellow and green representing the nerves and cartilage and whatnot. It's totally a cool sculpture!

And a bonus pic--this is the dinner I made on Sunday night:

I was so happy to FINALLY have my kitchen back to myself (painters are done in there now) that I went whole-hog and made Julia Child's cheese souffle. I found an old PBS video and cooked along with her--it was fun! And very delicious--I highly recommend it.

Have you guys seen the Julia and Julie movie? It inspired my to try some of Julia's recipes. I got the fixins for the Beef Bourguignon so I'll be making that one next.

Way Overdue

2009-09-10T19:58:00.003-05:00

Man, this move is ruining my blog!

That's right, we've moved--and I'm living amongst piles and piles of boxes and lots of confusion. And there is extra confusion because the painters are still here (even though they started almost a MONTH ago!) so the piles of boxes are covered with plastic and tarps.

The house i s a complete disaster area, but I'm hopeful that when the painters are done with the kitchen, I can at least set up a base there and make things semi-normal for the kids.

Oh the kids--they STILL haven't started back to school! Which has made the moving ordeal seem so much more chaotic. The school decided to do a huge renovation over the summer that dragged on (and on) so they postponed the opening. But they will return on Monday and hopefully some kind of routine here (that will include blogging!) can be established.

I'll leave with a few blogworthy highlights (well, really lowlights) that I haven't had time to write about:

--The movers were here for over 15 hours!!! Translation: the move was waaaaay more expensive than we anticipated.

--There was a mix-up and we were phoneless/Internetless until a day ago.

--Something I learned: If a box of cocoa powder explodes in a box packed with paperwork and other miscellaneous kitchen items--it's nearly impossible to clean.

--Another thing I learned: I have way too many boxes of cocoa powder.

--We installed a new fence in the yard which the dogs promptly escaped from.

--In my frenzy to catch them, I slipped and fell flat on my back and twisted my ankle in the process.

--We painted the family room purple!

Thanks for being patient with my logy blogging practices. I promise I'll be better soon...

Swimming With Dolphins!

2009-08-27T22:22:00.012-05:00

The continuing saga of my vacation...

Get comfortable, because I took so many pictures of this day, I used up my entire memory card--that's a lot!

This was hands-down the most fun day of our trip. We set out out super early in the morning to take a ferry to Tortola which is one of the Britsh Virgin Islands so we had to bring our passports and stuff.

The ferry ride was a complete freak show--it was like one of those crazy amusement park water rides with all the bouncing and splashing--but it went on for like an hour! I was holding onto Pickle and Gooser for dear life, because one big wave could have sent them right over the side. It was...exciting?

Here's Teddy and Patrick at the beginning of the ride--by the time it was over we were all soaking wet!

I also want to mention that I had ONE prescription-strength motion sickness pill left over from years ago when my friend got married on a boat. If I hadn't taken that pill I never would have survived this ferry ride--or the rest of the day.

We arrived in Tortola and after the whole passport/customs thing walked outside to meet our trusty guide for the day: Captain Friendly.

Captain Friendly lived up to his name--he is one of the friendiest and nicest guys ever! Here's Don with The Captain:

He drove us over to the dophin swimming place on his kooky bus, telling lots of cool stories about the island along the way.

We got the the "Dolphin Adventure" and got suited up in our life jackets. Don, Pickle and Gooser don't know how to swim, so Don was the photographer and Gooser and Pickle got to sit nearby while we played with the dolphins.

First, though, we listened to a dolphin lecture so we knew what to expect. Do you know where dolphin's ears are located? I do!
Then it was dolphin time! And it was SO fun. Here's Teddy getting a ride from our dolphin friends:

Patrick doing something called a "foot push" where the dolphins swim up underneath and lift you up!
Here I am kissing a dolphin:
I can't even believe I'm showing pics of myself in a bathing suit--but while I'm at it, here I am getting a dolphin ride:

Teddy dancing with a dolphin:
This dolphin looks really into his dance with Andy!

Here we are dancing and prancing with the dolphins:
Wow--that was a great experience and now I can cross one thing off my "bucket list." I think the kids will always remember those dolphins.

Here are the kids post-dolphin swim:

And Gooser and Pickle with their stuffed dolpins from the gift shop:

When we were done, Captain Friendly was waiting for us on his bus with an icy cold bottle of Coke and fresh mangoes from his tree.

Here he is cutting up a mango (Pickle devoured them):

They were, by the way, the BEST mangoes I have ever had in my life. Here's Gooser and Patrick with their Captain Friendly treats:

Captain Friendly gave us an amazing tour of the island (again THANK GOD I took the motion sickness pill--I never would have made it!) driving up up the twisty roads of the mountains for some beautiful (though dizzying!) views):
We learned a lot of interesting new things--for instance, these are called breadfruits:
Captain Friendly said they taste like bread when they're baked and like potatoes when they're boiled (you can't eat them raw though.) I would love to try one someday!

We saw so many animals as we drove around:

Donkeys:
Lots and lots of goats:
And tons of chickens:
We stopped in the little town to look around for awhile. The streets were adorable--narrow and colorful:

I wouldn't want this job--would you?!
Then it was time for lunch. Captain Friendly drove us to this beautiful spot on the beach and we had some delicious food. This was my lunch--barbequed chicken, fried plantains and red beans and rice (also a pina colada--not pictured!).

Gooser moping--something about his stuffed dolphin...
There were also a lot of animals there which the kids were really into.
Me feeding a dog a tidbit:
There were cats too:Then we hit the beautiful white sand beach!
Pickle romping in the waves:
Gooser playing in the water:
And in the sand:

LOL!
For the last leg of our tour, Captain Friendly drove us to this crazy place called the Bomba Shack.
This place is infamous for their "Full Moon Parties." Apparently, every full moon they spike their tea with hallucinogenic mushrooms. It's not legal to sell the tea, so they give it away, but charge you for the glass. They must be pretty wild parties because the place was littered with discarded bikini tops and bottoms!
Would you drink the mushroom tea? I would be too chicken!

Anyway, we took the ferry back and just ordered a pizza that night--we were way too tired to go out for dinner. It was a GREAT day that we will always remember.

We miss you Captain Friendly!!

Please join the phabulous Candid Carrie phor some Phriday phun!

Swimming and Shopping

2009-08-26T21:56:00.007-05:00

Thank you so much for all the positive words welcoming me back after my "hiatus!" I'm trying to get back into a new routine with overseeing the new house and packing up the old house, but the kids haven't started back to school yet, so it makes for interesting (and long!) days.

So--onto the trip recap! On this this day we headed into the town called Charlotte Amalie which is pretty tortisty because it's a port for giant cruise ships, but we wanted to check it out anyway.

The roads there were so twisty and mountainous that I almost immediately felt sick in the taxi cab and had to ask the driver to pull over--embarrassing!! Luckily, he took pity on me and drove really carefully for the rest of the trip.

Here is the view from atop one of the nausea-inducing peaks--you can see a HUGE ship out there:

Another view from way up of something called the 99 Stairs--but really there are 103 stairs--go figure!

We did some shopping in a fun outdoor market but I'm not showing any pics because I'm in all of them and look gross. The kids all bought t-shirts and fun shell necklaces and I got Pickle a cute tie-dyed dress.

We stopped for lunch at a great place called Cuzzins with lots of delicious food like fried plantains, curried conch and something called fungi which is mashed-up okra and corn meal. Also--I had a mango margarita!

Some of the streets were really narrow.
Here's the gang posing bu the water--you can see that cruise ship again.
Once we got back we were all exhausted and rested in the room for awhile, by by late afternoon we were all ready for a swim. It was a really nice hour to go swimming because the days were SO almost unbearably hot. It also made for some nice light for pictures.

Here's Pickle in the baby pool:
Practicing her floating:
A cute pic of Pickle and Gooser in the pool:
Patrick:

Teddy:

And Andy:

I also managed to get a semi-decent group shot:

That evening we decided to stay at the hotel for dinner and had a fantastic meal right on the ocean. I don't know if you can see the water in the pic because it was getting pretty dark--Pickle actually fell asleep during the meal.
Towards the end of dinner some crazy-strong winds started blowing in and wolfed down the rest of the food and ran for cover--but it was all sort of exciting and fun!

More tomorrow!

Very Belated Update!

2009-08-25T23:17:00.003-05:00

I'm sorry I fell off the face of the Earth. The last time I posted was when we were on vacation and I got too overwhelmed with downloading and resizing pics and stuff so I bailed on the vacation updates.

Then, right after we returned home we finally FINALLY closed on our new house! Those of you that have been reading for awhile know what a crazy and looooong transaction this house purchase has been--so it's nothing short of a miracle that we finally got it done.

Like the whole deal from the beginning--the closing had its share of craziness. I'm totally wishing that we had a reality show deal to document all of it because we would have had some high ratings with the drama!

I'm going to have to catch up and write about it in installments, but first I'm going to finish the vacation updates--so starting tomorrow I'll pick up where I left off in St. Thomas.

Meanwhile, my life has been a whirlwind of getting the new house ready and packing up the old house. I hate how behind I am on my blog--but I'm determined to catch up!!

Sand Art and Love Shacks

2009-08-12T08:36:00.009-05:00

Every day I take pictures of iguanas. Today I saw a really beautiful one with a very red color. I got what would have been some great shots--but the lens was so fogged, they really didn't come out. This was the clearest--isn't he a great-looking lizard?
Pickle at breakfast:
After breakfast, we headed to the beach to do some "sand art."
It was really fun--you got to use seashells and sea glass and design some really pretty stuff.

Pickle did her foot print:

And here's Patrick working in his:
Isn't it cute? We're going to put it on our new screened-in porch.
After that we hit the pool for awhile:
Pickle enjoying a cocktail:
Then later, we went to what might now be my new favorite restaurant: Love Shack.
It's literally a shack in a parking lot:
First they gave us necklaces and leis and stuff:

Then the drink menu came out--the drinks at this place were incredible! Here's just one side of the drink menu:

Every drink is served in a crazy glass that you get to keep and adorned with all kinds of toys. here's Gooser with his shark glass:
And the boys with their parrot glasses:
Pickle contemplating hers:
This was my drink--the Taboo Lagoon. A prickly pear margarita and soooo good!
I also had the Funky Monkey. Wheeeeee!
We're going to need another suitcase to take home all those glasses!

Pu Pu platter! (Flaming!):
And do-it-yourself s'mores (also flaming):
I think we're going to have to go back there!!

Fish and Lizards

2009-08-11T08:01:00.004-05:00

This morning the kids were having some toast and English muffins on the balcony and, before long, there was a swarm of birds swooping in and around for some bread. The kids were laughing like crazy--but it was totally Hitchcock!
Then the three big boys and I headed off on a snorkeling expedition--and on the way passed "Iguana Beach" where a whole bunch of iguanas like to hang out and sun bathe. I took about a million pics--but I'll spare you and just show you one.
He's looking at me like get off my beach, lady.

The snorkeling trip was also a research project that was being done for a reef organization. Our mission was to identify as many fish as possible and our guide would fill out forms and submit them for the study. It was all very scientific!

Here are the boys on the boat...
with their fish identification guides...

...and me with my Guide to Reef Fishes.
Here are the boys hanging on the side of the boat:
Once the snorkel gear was handed out it was way too chaotic to take pics, so I didn't--but the snorkeling was SO cool! We saw dozens of different kinds of fish--many beautiful colors including prurples, blues and yellows with all kinds of stripes and spots. My favorite were these long fish with long, pointy, yellow noses that swam right under the surface of the water. We also saw a stingray which was super cool.

I don't know if I've mentioned how motion sick I get--it's bad! So I was nervous about the hour-long sail to the cove where we would be snorkeling--but I took some Bonine and got through it, though just barely. If anyone has any remedies--lay them on me!!

Here's another pic of the beautiful water:
While we were snorkeling, Don took the two little ones to swimmimg and to lunch andwhen we met them at the pool afterwwards--they had a surprise for us. While they were swimming in the baby pool, they found a baby iguana! I guess he was stranded on one of those pool noodles and they rescued him.

I want to name him Noodles, but the jury is still out on that. Does anyone know how to smuggle a baby iguana onto a plane?

After all that excitement we just relaxed until dinner time. Here are some attempts at group pics before dinner:
They had the prettiest pina coladas there!
Here's Pickle enjoying hers:
And I'll leave you with--more bananas:
and Mr. Puff:

First Full Day

2009-08-10T08:44:00.006-05:00

On our first full day of tropical fun we knew we were in for a good day when we woke up to this beatiful view:
The funny thing is that every time I step out on to the balcony to take pictures, the heat hits like a wall and my camera lens immediately steams up--so I'm lucky I got a decent one!

You can tell in this pic of Pickle dancing out there that the lens was all steamy.

Here's Gooser lounging in his jammies:
And Pickle relaxing:
Before we headed out for the day, Gooser and Pickle took a Teddy Graham break and watched Spongebob.
But Pickle was antsy to go--carrying around her pack of swim diapers and life jacket!

On the way to breakfast we spotted one of the zillions of beautiful iguanas that inhabit on this island.

We had a delicious buffet-style breakfast...

...which means all the bacon you can eat for Pickle!

Then it was time to hit the beach! Could Gooser look more like a toutist!? The towel guy thought his Batman hat was "fresh"!
Pickle couldn't into the water fast enough!
After some nice ocean swimmimg we hit the pool(s) for awhile--which includes a nice baby pool for the little ones:
And we had some drinks poolside:
I wish I could capture the color of the water here in a picture--but I'm not doing it justice. It alternates between turquoise and sapphire blue--just amazing!!
We were super lucky and saw the most beautiful rainbow--again not doing it justice, especially because the lens was steamed up again.
Later we stopped to have some drinks with friends and then off to another nice dinner. The boys with there virgin pina coladas again:
Poor Pickle couldn't make it until the food came and conked for the rest of the night:
I pretty much felt the same way!

Rambly and Tired

2009-08-08T21:59:00.005-05:00

I'm incoherent from exhaustion so this post might not make sense. We are here in paradise with a quick update of Day One--really just a partial day since most of it was spent traveling.

The plane was good and easy

unless you count the part where Teddy spilled his Starbucks Vivanno then dropped a blueberry muffin into and got in big trouble with the male flight attendant.
And he also put gum on Andy's pants on purpose--but other than that is was good...

Washing off the plane grit:

The view from our place!
On our way to dinner (look at Teddy's knees--he put my self tanner on them.)
Bananas!
Big boys at the dinner place. Very nice--right on the ocean.
The Gooser enjoyed things like conch fritters (do you pronounce it "conch" or "conk"?) and fried plantains.

Pickle is ready for some food.

Pickle drinking a virgin pina colada.
She says I likey!
That's all for today kiddies! Must go to sleep...

Vacation!

2009-08-07T21:56:00.001-05:00

We are heading out early tomorrow for a week-long beach vacation. It will be a well needed break from the real estate madness...

I plan on blogging the trip--so stay tuned!

The Real Estate Deal That Just Keeps Getting Weirder...

2009-08-05T11:10:00.003-05:00

If any of you have been following the over-the-top real estate transaction that we've been involved in--it's just gotten a ~~little~~ lot stranger!

Just to update you on some of the strangeness thus far...Mr. Howell (the current owner) had originally asked if he could leave "some" of his stuff in the basement after we close on the house until his daughters could arrange to get it. Although the realtors thought this was a little unorthodox, we agreed to it if it would get the deal done.

Then that agreement morphed into a letter that stated he would be using "three rooms of the basement for storage for an indefinite amount of time." Three rooms? Indefinitely? But we agreed to that too...

Then Mr. Howell got confused about the closing date--thought it was much later--and asked that he keep more of his stuff in the house (living room, dining room and bedroom) until the scheduled pick-up.

I was a little apprehensive about this, because the second we close on the house, we are going to start ripping down wallpaper, ripping out carpet, painting, etc. But I thought--well, I guess if throw some drops cloths over everything it will be alright?

So now, Don called Mr. Howell this morning just to check in with him, and he said that he's actually going to be LIVING THERE during this week-long period after the closing!!

I said to Don there's no way this can happen--I don't think the house will even be habitable. But he says he told Mr. Howell that and he doesn't care.

Can you believe this?

At this point, I'm convinced the guy will never move out! Maybe I'll just put a mattress in the basement for him and call it a day!

Pedicures!

2009-08-04T01:00:00.005-05:00

It seems that lately, with the ne'er do well renters, the impending move. mortgages, packing, sTrEsS...and on and on... I haven't felt like I've spend much quality time with the kids. They have all been busy with summer activities and there's been a lot of shuttling around and rushing everywhere. And I feel like when I am with them, I have a short fuse and am always barking something like "Don't mess up the house!" It's been kind of awful...

But this afternoon was one of those rare cut-outs of time where things were just peaceful and no one was stressed and I loved it!

You see, we are gearing up to head off on a tropical vacation--so not only am I packing boxes for the move, I'm packing suitcases for the trip (talk about confusing!).

So on a whim today, I called a local pedicure place to see if I could get an appointment for myself and Pickle. The lady kind of balked when I said she was only two, but I assured her that it would be fine.

I send the big boys off on their own adventure to Starbucks (which they totally love to do) and headed off to the nail place with Gooser and Pickle.

It was one of those situations that could have been disastrous--a bored six-year-old boy complaining and whining and a wiggly two-year old girl crying and smearing nail polish--but it was the total opposite!

Pickle was beyond thrilled to be getting a pedicure--and she made a beeline for a nice hot pink polish. I wanted to alternate pink and blue on mine--but she stood firm on all pink.

She sat in my lap while the lady did her nails--dipped her feet in the warm water, commented that the nail file was tickly and stayed perfectly still while the polish was applied. Then she stayed in my lap the whole time during my pedicure, saying things like "Your foot nails is pwetty Mommy."

Meanwhile, Gooser sat in the chair next to us, as happy as a clam, babbling about his loose tooth and the upcoming trip--telling the pedicure lady that the Tooth Fairy would be giving him $100 (yeah, right!) that he was going to spend on candy. I told him the tooth fairy wouldn't endorse spending his tooth money on candy--so he switched to toys.

Anyway, it was just a really nice hour and a half spent talking to and cuddling with the kids--while the pedicure lady went on and on about how great they were--big ego boost! With all the crazy stressed-out nightmares we've been having lately, it was so nice to have these relaxing moments with my charming little boy and cuddly little girl.

Plus--our feet are beach ready now!

An Example

2009-07-30T23:07:00.005-05:00

I might as well rename my blog "Jennifer's Boring Blog About Real Estate" as that's all I seem to talk about...

I know I have gone on and on about what a nightmare it is to keep our house even semi-clean and ready to show to prospective renters/buyers. After the botched rental, it seems even harder! I think I got out of cleaning mode and was so happy to be done with it that I went to the other extreme.

The house is a disaster!!

It doesn't help that we've been crazy-busy, not just dealing with our tenant fiasco, but with the millions of interesting things our kids are involved in.

Tonight, for instance, Andy was in a jazz concert that took place at a very prestigious venue with probably hundreds of people watching! It was a lot of fun and I think I'll dedicate a whole post to it soon (I took tons of pics that I have to go through first)--but just the dynamics of getting everyone ready for an event like this becomes all-consuming and, as a result, the house gets trashed. (I also had a nervous breakdown over Andy's pants-but I'll save that for the other post too.)

Anyway, just as an example of how quickly the house can spiral into a pig sty--here is a pic of my kitchen counter this evening:

I numbered the items as a handy reference.

1. Leftover tomato/chicken/cheese concoction for tostadas (from Noble Pig!). I had attempted to make a picnic dinner...but then it rained....but all that will be in the other post.

2. Champagne.

3. Klassy Kups for champagne.

4. Worms for turtle (at least I moved the crickets!)

5. Leftover water bottles.

6. Bag o' nipples.

7. Lots of bottles (Pickle still drinks out of a bottle, ok! Yes--I know she's 2 1/2 but the "Bottle Fairy" has been too busy cleaning the house!)

8. Bags from Cost Plus. I bought these glasses--aren't they cool!?

I don't know if you can tell in the pic--but they have fleur de lys on them.

9. Bag of art supplies.

10. Flower arrangement to prettify the house--but never made it off the kitchen counter.

11. A bunch of miscellaneous crap.

12. I think this is a loaf of French bread?

Tell me--based on this pic--would you rent my house! NEVERMIND! Don't answer that...

Adding Insult to Injury

2009-07-29T22:47:00.003-05:00

I need some opinions here.

I told you that the pink-haired people are trying to back out of the 2 year lease that they signed with us. Upon hearing this, we told our realtor that we had better get our house on the market immediately and try to find new renters--and we also told him to let the "renters" know that they could "buy" themselves out of the lease by paying four months rent or (and this is the option our lawyer advised) they could pay monthly until we (or they) find new tenants.

Also, just to update--when they were entering into the lease, we lowered the price to their requested amount, agreed to move out earlier than planned (even though that meant changing our closing and move-in date) and we started packing up our house--so now there are boxes, etc. everywhere which will all have to be dealt with before we start showing it again. Not to mention, the time we had the house off the market was probably the last week where potential renters for September 1st would be looking.

So today our realtor forwarded this email from the renters' broker to us (obviously I'll change the personal information in it) and--OMG! It's the most insulting thing ever! The realtor is basically saying that her clients are destined for sainthood and we are money-grubbing monsters.

Here--read it for yourselves (just for fun I'm going to highlight all the insults in blue!):

"Hi Peter,
Thanks for your email and thank you for helping to find a fair resolution on the lease of [house]. I always know that you are doing the best you can and I appreciate your professional efforts on this one.

I think it would be appropriate to share with your clients the situation my clients, the L------s are in. They too are feeling the effects of this market - the financial impact and the emotional impact.

The L-----s purchased their home 2 years ago for $1,325,000. Now we are on the market for $995,000 and have entered into a contract for a normal negotiated price off that list price. The L----'s have lost approximately $400,000 in this deteriorating real estate market. That being said, they have weathered this transaction/situation with grace and dignity - not blaming anyone - just accepting the situation as out of their control.

We entered into a contract for the sale of [their house] - twice. The first time within 10 days of listing the home. The buyers were from North Carolina and their plans changed and backed out of our sale for personal reasons. After 3 weeks of being under contract, we had to go back into the market. There was no financial reimbursement for time lost. We then entered into a contract with a family who was very well qualified financially - they had already closed on their home - and their mortgage contingency was more or less a formality. We were, as you know 4 weeks from closing and on Monday the buyer of our home lost his job. He is probably in his mid to late 50's and we know that can be tough. They notified us on Monday that they could not proceed with the purchase of [house].

Peter, I would like you to know the response of my clients....After an initial pause and "Oh Shit", they expressed their concern for the buyers - wondered how they were doing - felt compassion for a professional who still has a child in college and has now lost his job. There was no discussion has to how we could "screw them" for some piece of the earnest money or make the resolution of this transaction difficult. All this on top of the fact that now we have to go back into the market - yet again - in August of all times. It has been very difficult for my clients as well.

I share this with you because, on the other side, we were all quite shocked to get a different sort of response from your clients when we let them know that we needed to get out of the lease. I know we cannot expect everyone to be understanding, but we can hope that all involved understand the tough environment we are all operating in. It is sad that a man/husband/father lost his job; and it is unfortunate that we have had to "sell" [their house] twice because events outside of our control have transpired; and we feel very badly that after 6 days from signing a lease we are asking to be able to get out of the lease for unfortunate events outside of our control. We entered into it in good faith and we are asking your clients to release the L----s in good faith, under the circumstances. The L----s cannot afford to execute a lease and simultaneously make mortgage payments on [their house].

It seems to us fair that since your clients were only out 6 or 7 days of rental listing time that the L---s reimburse your clients for 1 week of rent (approximately $1075). Although we believe that is the fair option, we are willing to offer your client instead 1/2 month rent or $2125. This give them a bit extra for any inconvenience during those 6 days.

Thanks Peter for handling this on your end.
Linda"

So this woman attacked our character! So far this deal has been all about THEM--they want a lower price, an earlier date--and now--to be let out of the lease! I told my realtor that we would be more than happy to let them out of the lease--once we (or they) find us new renters.

Is this unreasonable?

And frankly, I would have been WAY more inclined to let them out if we hadn't received this personal attack! Now we're mad.

So please--I'm interested--what would you do??

Things Suck Again

2009-07-27T23:11:00.003-05:00

The pink-haired people backed out of the lease. Is that even allowed? I mean, you can't just walk out on a contract? But they did. So now, not only do we NOT have renters, we have lost valuable time to find new ones with our house off the market.

Not to mention the fact that we CHANGED OUR CLOSING DATE and MOVE IN DATE to accommodate their schedule.

Not to mention that we started packing over the weekend but had to hide all the (heavy) boxes in the garage today because we have to start SHOWING THE HOUSE AGAIN.

Could anything about this real estate deal just be easy?

Apparently not.

Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout?

2009-07-23T21:39:00.006-05:00

Now that the Sears Tower of Chicago has be renamed the "Willis Tower" (note how I have inserted the sarcastic quotation marks?)there has been no shortage of Diff'rnt Strokes jokes. I have been in on it too---I just can't help myself! You can't change a landmark's name overnight and expect everyone to just accept it. It will always be the Sears Tower to me...

Anyway, along with the new name, they have installed these crazy-time "Sky Ledge" things where you can walk out into a glass-encased little room and see the view (103 stories up) up, down and all around.

The kids were begging to go, so I decided to buy "fast passes" online which allow you to bypass what would certainly be loooong lines and go straight to the top. The passes were pricey, but I figured long lines plus 2 year olds don't exactly add up--so I thought it would be worth it.

As we approached the building, we saw a crazy-long line that went all the way down the sidewalk and around the corner. I gloated about my fast passes to the kids and said things like "Look at those poor fools" and "Suckas!!"

Then we had what I like to call a Curb Your Enthusiasm moment--I marched up to an official-looking woman in a blazer, all the while shooting looks of pity at the people in line and asked "Where do the people with the Front of the Line Passes go?"

She glared at me and pointed around the corner "To the back of the line!"

Can't you just imagine Larry David's reaction to that?

Apparently, the front of the line passes kicked in once you were actually in the building...Oh well!

But I think they did help speed up the process and before long we were whizzing up to the top.

We headed out on the The Ledge to take in the amazing view.
This was Pickle's reaction to the whole business:
You likey my Nike?
Pickle wasn't crazy about the view out the window either:
But perked up after an expensive purchase at the gift shop:
We also had to purchase two packages of Gummi bears, a tin of Barack Obama mints and a giant pen. Just send me to the Poorhouse now...

Over $200 later--at least we can say we saw the view.

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout Willis Tower? Sorry--I couldn't resist!!

Please join Candid Carrie for her Phriday Phestivities!!

Lucky Pink Hair

2009-07-22T20:29:00.005-05:00

You've probably noticed that I've gone underground again--as I seem to in times of stress! The selling/renting of our house (or lack thereof) was weighing heavily on me, and I can't seem to write when I'm in that kind of stress mode. Not to mention I have been cleaning Non. Stop. and I'm so sick of it...

So on Monday there was a very "important" showing of the house. People coming in from out of town that needed to be in our school district and had viewed homes online and narrowed it down to ours and one other. Then the "one other" was gone so ours was seemingly the only one in the running. Not to mention, our broker was also the realtor for these people--so it seemed like a shoe-in!

I spent part of Sunday preparing (we were away for the weekend but I'll get caught up with that in another post) and flower arranging. Monday my cleaning lady arrived along with a fleet of window washers and we were all in a frenzy of cleaning and beautifying the house.

There's not much more I could have done to make it look better--the windows sparkled, the floors gleamed, the freshly baked chocolate chip cookie aroma was in the air. I knew they would just love it!

They hated it.

I knew we were in for trouble when I returned home and the cleaning lady said the prospective tenants had been there for "maybe ten minutes." In the end it turns out that the mom in the family was "too tall" for the house. (???) How tall was she? What was that movie?--Monsters Vs. Aliens--was she like that?

After that I spiraled into a foul mood thinking we would be stuck paying for two houses for an unforeseeable amount of time. Then later that day, our realtor called for a last-minute showing--so I did a fast re-clean and hustled the kids out the door.

I had to wait in the car in front of the house with Andy who was waiting to be picked up by a friend. As we waited, we saw the people arriving for the showing. First a man, then our realtor, then a woman with BRIGHT PINK hair!!

As soon I saw the hair, I turned to Andy and said "this is it!" You see, we have a pink hair kind of house.

They LOVED it!! And immediately wanted the papers drawn up for a two year lease.

So now I have a monkey off my back and possibly a new pink-haired friend!!

What a relief!!! Now I can blog again!! (I use a lot of exclamation marks!!)

In other news--you may remember this:

I bought it today! I went to this crazy warehouse place where it was being stored and the guy that owns the place was SO cute and very interesting. It was embarrassing because I looked awful--I literally rolled out of bed and out to see the sofa.

Plus I broke the 11th commandment--"Thou shalt not wear socks with Crocs."

I know! I wasn't even thinking--I was wearing socks and the Crocs were by the door and...

Oh, it doesn't matter--let's just hope the sofa looks good in the new house.

My Day In Haiku

2009-07-15T22:24:00.004-05:00

The day started out
On such a promising note
Quickly went downhill

My two year old won't
Allow me to take shower
Crying all the time

Pool water is green
After thousands of dollars
No one knows what's wrong

Running an errand
Car begins to billow smoke
A tow truck is called

Waiting to be towed
With five irritable kids
In sweltering heat

Car is in the shop
Maybe the serpentine belt?
Maybe something worse

Dog is acting sick
But cannot take to vet now
As we have no wheels

Highlight of the day:
Don made peach margaritas
At least that's something!

edited this morning to add:

My coffee maker
Has appeared to stop working
Please just kill me now

Princess Pickle

2009-07-09T21:23:00.007-05:00

Today Pickle wore a full-blown princess get-up. Like the costumey kind you get at Target. I had bought it for her on her 2nd birthday--but she had never seemed all that into it and it was tucked away in the closet.

Lately, she has been stark-raving-princess, as in--she doesn't even want to wear pajamas because they're not princess enough!

This morning while she was still in her jammies, she insisted on upgrading them with a tulle skirt and some glitter shoes.

Then I remembered the princess costume and showed it to her while she was taking a bath. She could not have gotten out of the tub and into that dress fast enough!

Note: if you take a cute two year old girl dressed in a princess outfit to the grocery store--be prepared to stay for a long time! Every old lady shopping and every store employee will want to have a conversation with her! We were in that store forever!

And she was gifted a pink balloon to match her dress (as every single person we passed in the store pointed out).

When we got home I took her into the yard for a little photo shoot in her pretty dress and matching balloon:
I like this one--it reminds me of something out of a fairy tale!
I like her hair in this one!

Running:
Pointing at a donkey:
Sitting on a donkey:
Princess Pickle!
Please join Candid Carrie (the Queen of the Laundromat!) for some Friday Foto Fun!!

Decorating...

2009-07-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

When we move to the new house, none of our current living room furniture is going to work in the new living room, so I've been consumed lately with trying to come up with how it should look and what pieces to choose.

I'm trying to start with a rug, because I figure I can build all the colors of the room, etc. around that--but it has NOT been easy to find one! We know we want a Persian rug and it has to be large because it's a large room, so I've been doing a lot looking both online and in stores. Point blank (and I'm not kidding) every time I see a rug I like and that's the right size and inquire about the price--it's over $100,000 (sometimes WAY over--a couple rugs I asked about were $250,000!!)! If you put me in a room full of rugs, I will undoubtedly make a beeline for the highest priced one. So obviously this is getting difficult!

To make things more complicated, I have it in my head that I want the rug to have a lot of orange in it because I have this blue color in mind for the walls and I think the orange would be a great compliment to the blue. Of course--it might look totally awful! But it looks good in my head.

So the closest rug I have found so far that is even remotely in our price range is this one:
It's kind of wild, but I like that it's an antique and has that bombed-out orangey-red that I've been searching for, plus lots of nice blues, green, pink etc. So that rug is a maybe.

Then for the furniture, I have this idea of mixing old and new--so I found this funky vintage sofa in its original kooky green velvet:
Me likey!!

And then I need a new sofa that I want to upholster in a silvery velvet. So I found this one that I really like the look of, but I sat on it and it's not super comfortable--not uncomfortable or anything, just not really cushy. But it's so pretty!
And there was another sofa there that I don't like the look of quite as much, but it was really comfortable.
And finally--and this is sort of out there--I have this notion of a mirrored coffee table. I think it would be a nice change from the typical wood and I like the idea of the table reflecting all the colors of the room. I found this one that I really like:
Oh and here's the blue I have in mind:

So, I don't know, just throwing around some ideas! Any decorating whizzes out there? Let me know what you think.

Eye Love It!!

2009-07-06T23:34:00.004-05:00

I'm sure you're all well aware of my eyeball obsessions/collections by now...

I'm happy to announce the newest addition to my eyeball family:

Antique Eye Chart!

Isn't it supercool??

I think the root of my eyeball obsession comes from the fact that my eyes were so messed up as a baby. I had to wear teeny tiny glasses at age 3 months and have an eye surgery at age 3 years. All this resulted in lots and lots of trips to the eye doctor's office. All of it is burned into my memory--the waiting room, the awful blur-inducing eye drops, and the loooooong dark examining room with the lighted eye chart at the end.

Well now I've got my own! The kids have been having fun checking their eyesight--kind of handy!

I think it will look good in the new house--I need to put it at the end of a nice long hallway!

Pig Out on the 4th!

2009-07-04T23:27:00.006-05:00

Despite the kind of rainy/gloomy weather that descended upon us, we had a really fun 4th of July. We pretty much just stayed inside and ate all day!

I turned to my fabulous blogfriend Cathy from Noble Pig for some fun 4th recipes--and, as usual, she didn't disappoint.

But before I get to that, here are a couple pics of the kids decked out in their patriotic get-ups:

Pickle and Gooser on the stairs:
Group shot:
Close-up of Miss Pickle:
So first up, we made Cathy's contest-winning peach margaritas. I can't even begin to explain how good they were! Do yourselves a favor and make them. Like right now!
They were so good in fact that we made them twice--once earlier in the day and again later after the fireworks...

Then for a midday snack, I went with the Reuben dip from Noble Pig. Totally delicious! By the way, Cathy's pictures are a million times better than mine--I was so hungry it's a wonder I managed to take any pics--the quality is not so great...

Then it was onto chili dogs
and sliders...
I told you it was a pig-out! A NOBLE pig-out! Get it!? Recently, I've pretty much cut out red meat from our diets--except for special occasions--and I considered the 4th a special occasion so we really got our beef on!

Then onto dessert--again from Noble Pig--the brilliantly brilliant Pop Rocks cupcakes.

What kid wouldn't totally love these??
I will admit that I went "off recipe" and just used a yellow cake mix which turned out great--but I'm sure they'd be even better with the homemade version.
I think those raspberries and blueberries were the only healthy thing we ate all day...unless the peaches in the margaritas count too? Do you like my rabbit plates?

Also, Teddy and Patrick got a bee in their bonnet to make a red velvet cake (I have no idea where this came from) so they made one all by themselves and they did an amazing job!

Here's Teddy with his masterpiece:
And here's a nice pic he took of the inside:
After the feeding frenzy, it was time for Don to take the four boys to the fireworks show (the rain finally cleared up!) and for me to put Pickle to bed. Then I settled in to watch my absolute favorite movie--Rosemary's Baby. This has become my new tradition on the 4th of July!

Wow--I love that movie. I want to be a Minnie Castevet type (minus all the devil stuff!) when I'm old! I love her wacky style and her crazy get-ups.
So that's it! We're just finishing up the last of the margaritas...

I'll leave you with frosting-face Pickle!
Would it be creepy if I watched Rosemary's Baby again? Don says yes it would. Maybe I'll wait until tomorrow... Maybe I won't...

Random!

2009-07-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

A random sampling of Fun House photos from the past couple of weeks...

Gorilla eating corn on the cob.

Portrait of Hazel.
Football boys!
Football is dirty...
Rainbow Goldfish on the floor.

Kanye!!
Pickle attempting to blow bubbles.
Gooser can do it!
Look Mom--I caught one!
Ferret grave.
Pickle in one of her get-ups.
Super Gooser!
Gooser as alien with weird severed hand.
My bride and groom taxidermy mice finally arrived!!

P.S. Is anyone having trouble with Blogger pre-posting now working? Every day I try to schedule blog ahead of time. kt just sits there under "scheduled." weord...

Halloween in June?

2009-06-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Pickle and Gooser emerged from the the basement dressed like this:
Full Batman attire and a strange stripped-down butterfly! Both ready for action with trick-or-treating bags. Since we were about to go out, I found the rest of her butterfly costume and she's been wearing it non-stop ever since.

Then Gooser was experimenting with various other remnants of Halloween--and he ended up up with a combination Alien-Zombie-Freddy Kruger. I should have taken a pic of the whole get-up, but I took these artsy ones of him looking out the window:
Pickle felt left out and called out to me to take her pic through the window too!

And finally--isn't it sad about Billy Mays dying?? We met him in March when we were in L.A. and he was so nice. He took time out to talk with and take pics with the boys.

This sure hasn't been a good week for celebrities--they're dropping like flies! Poor Billy Mays...

Wishing You...

2009-06-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

...a double-fisted bacon kind of weekend!
And in honor of poor Michael Jackson, I give you one of my all-time favorite songs. He is pitch-perfect and it always blows me away. This is how I like to remember him best--before the baby-dangling and the elephant man bones and the monkeyshines and the freaky surgeries--as a sweet little boy with a beautiful voice. The part right around 2:06 gives me chills.

My Kids Are Weird...

2009-06-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, my kids started their own "business." They've been hard at work at their "office" in the basement thinking up money-making schemes--pet sitting, doing odd jobs around the house, etc.

Apparently the plan is for them to save up money so they can buy a fish tank for the new house. They saw these cool neon fish at the pet store and that's what they want--so they have called their business "NeoFund."

Part of their planning has been assigning job titles to each other--Andy and Teddy are the CEOs (the fish tank is to go in their room), Patrick is the salesman, Pickle is the Vice President (??) and poor Gooser's title is "Janitor."

To add insult to injury, not only is Gooser the janitor in their business scenario--they have given him a "uniform" that he is required to wear every day.

Note the name tag: "Hello I'm Gooser. JANITOR."

I don't know if you can tell in the pictures, but his uniform looks like the remains of what once was a George Washington costume from a school assignment. It's a velvet jacket and pants and a ruffly white blouse--a la Jerry Seinfeld's "puffy shirt."

He has diligently been wearing it every day with out complaining--and, strangely, it actually really looks good on him! He might start a new trend?

So--my kids are really weird--but you have to give them points for creativity!

Inevitable...

2009-06-22T05:06:00.000-05:00

Well, even though Pickle is a self-proclaimed princess and movie star, it was only a matter of time that the influence of four big brothers would kick in:Now she has added football player to her resume!
Here she is practicing some of her running maneuvers:
Note how she also is wearing her Crocs over her footsie pajamas. She has some kind of Croc obsession and also insists on wearing them to bed at night (??). I'm choosing my battles, so I have let that strange habit slide--though it can't be comfortable!

The upside of the football getup around the house is that she can crash into things (like the dining room table, which she did!) and just keep running unfazed!

Finally!

2009-06-19T05:06:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm happy to announce that we finally FINALLY have a signed contract with Mr. Howell!

As I told you the other day, this deal has been like a roller coaster and today was no different. We got word this morning that the selling broker would be meeting with Mr. Howell and hopefully getting the contract signed. I wasn't holding my breath as I've been disappointed so many times--but I drove past the house as I was picking the kids up from camp and saw that her car was there--so I was hopeful.

Then a friend and I met up with the kids for lunch after camp and my realtor showed up (don't know how he tracked me down!) at the restaurant waving the contract.

But after a quick look through it, we soon realized it hadn't actually been signed, only initialed.

So he had to run off and find the listing broker, then go back to the house and really get it signed!
I said to him that based on the way this whole deal has gone down, it's really no surprise!

But anyway, it is signed and we are very excited! We do, however, still need to deal with our current house (we dropped the contingency) and our current plan is to rent it for awhile and sell it later when (hopefully) the market has rebounded. So renting vibes are appreciated now!

Although we will very busy in the next couple of months preparing for the move and planning for some cosmetic things we will have to do to the new house--I feel a huge sense of relief!

So...cheers!!

Thrifting

2009-06-18T05:06:00.000-05:00

I LOVE thrift stores and I had the opportunity to do some fun thrifting the other day when Patrick was invited to a 70s-style disco party.

I had been to a funky thrift store a few weeks prior and noticed that they had these really 70s ruffled tuxedo shirts in pastel colors, and I thought they might work for Patrick's disco outfit. So I took the whole gang to check out the store--turns out, they all love thrift stores too! It helped (particularly in Pickle's case!) that the store also had an elaborate candy display. Pickle was happy in her stroller with a bag of Sugar Babies while the rest of us perused the goodies.

Andy found some shirts that were right up his alley--an authentic mailman's shirt!

And a Holsum bread delivery guy's shirt:
Here he is posing with bread for extra authenticity:
The ruffly shirts were amazing and the colors were all so great it was hard to choose--but we went with lavender. Patrick has really captured that bleary-eyed disco haze in this pic, don't you think?
And here I forced him to strike a disco pose:
Finally, here he is fully discoized and ready to party!

P.S. I had a nice long conversation on the phone today with my new best friend, Mr. Howell! He was inviting us to a lecture about the architect of his house over the weekend. Good sign? I hope so!!

Underground

2009-06-17T05:06:00.001-05:00

I just figured something out--when I'm stressed-out I can't write my blog! Just like when I'm stressed-out I can't eat...I guess I have to be in a good mood to do both!

As usual, I've been upset over this crazy real estate transaction.

Saturday was a low point--I "lost it" and literally cried all day. There was a new setback with the deal that was not only frustrating but extremely unfair and I started panicking that after putting our lives on hold for over a year to get this done, we were going to lose out to a ridiculous situation and I had no idea what we were going to do next. It was a miserable day and I ruined it for everyone.

Then Sunday was stressful all day long until very late in the day when things were really looking up and we were all excited.

Then Monday was awful and stressful when things took a bad turn around lunch time and things looked bleak, but then looked a little more hopeful toward the end of the day.

Now, as I write this on Tuesday night (and I just watched the season finale of Real Housewives of New Jersey--OMG!!!) we are in limbo again.

This real estate transaction has been like riding a roller coaster in a nightmare! I think we could have made a crazy reality show on the drama surrounding it! Or maybe a movie?

Dona and I decided that if our saga were to be a movie, this would be the cast:

Me--Angelina Jolie (it's my movie--I can do what I want!)
Don--George Clooney
Our realtor--Robin Williams
The listing broker--Bette Midler
"Mr. Howell" the seller--We would have to resurrect Jim Backus to do his role justice

Anyway--now you know that if I've gone "underground" it's because I'm worrying and not eating and too depressed to write. And there's been a lot to write about this week too! I'll try to elaborate when I feel better, but in short:

--One of our ferrets died (while she was staying with friends--part of the real estate/house showing ordeal).

--She succumbed to an illness with the menacing name "Green Slime Disease."

--We had a ferret funeral.

--We caught a raccoon.

--But not the one we wanted to catch.

--We discovered "Happy Hour" at my favorite sushi place.

--Pickle has done and said lots of cute new things.

--Example: This morning she said to me "Mommy, you're my best friend in the world and you are my superhero." CUTE!!

--I started a new drawing class.

Sorry I've been such a slacker. I need to get this deal done STAT!

Pretty in Peony

2009-06-11T05:06:00.000-05:00

Pickle wanted me to show you her pretty new dress. It arrived in the mail today and she couldn't wait to put it on. As soon as she was wearing it, she struck a pose and asked "Do you like my new look?" Then we went outside for a photo shoot.

Here are a few of her amongst the peonies:
And making a wish on a dandelion:
I love her expression in this one:
So let us know if you like her "new look"!! LOL!

Cafe de Olla

2009-06-10T05:06:00.000-05:00

Last week poor Andy had ONE day one summer vacation, before his awful and boring chemistry summer school started, so we went out to a nice lunch at THE best Mexican restaurant ever (hint: the chef is going to be on Top Chef Master that starts tonight!).

I have been loving this restaurant for years--and although the food is fantastic--the thing I look forward to the most is the Cafe de Olla. It's a Mexican-style coffee that is sweet with a touch of orange and a hint of cinnamon. It is fantastic! I had so many cups, I don't think I think I slept for a week!

Here's a pic, but my camera was being wonky...
See the orange peel in there? It's SO good!

Anyway, I found a recipe on the Internets--I have made it before, but not for awhile--but I will be making a big batch of it soon. I think the iced version would be so good in the summer!

Mexican Coffee

2 cups of water
The zest of 1 orange
1 whole cinnamon stick
1 cup pilloncillo* (or substitute 1 cup of dark brown sugar)
1 big pot of strong coffee

*Pilloncillo is a minimally processed Mexican raw sugar, sold dark brown in cones. It has a unique and very sweet taste, and is worth searching out. It can be easily found in most any Mexican grocery. Dark brown sugar is a reasonable substitute.

To prepare cafe de olla...
Before dinner, add the water, pilloncillo, orange zest and cinnamon to a saucepan and simmer until combined and reduced to about 1 third of its original volume. It's best to simmer slowly, as the syrupy liquid can easily boil over if left unattended even for a minute over higher heat (the aroma that will percolate through the kitchen is pleasant for a leisurely simmer down in any case). Reserve the syrup for later mixing.

After dinner, prepare a pot of coffee as normal. Pour the coffee into mugs and sweeten with the spiced syrup to taste. Serve hot, without cream or sugar.

That's it. Easy-peasy, and very tasty – and a nice change of pace from the everyday cup of Joe.
Any extra syrup can be stored for ages in the fridge. Remove the cinnamon stick (or the eventual taste of cinnamon can get very strong).

This can also be made well in advance, pre mixed with coffee and left to chill in the fridge for a Mexican iced coffee. Serve in tall glass well filled with ice.

Give it a try!

Here are a few more pics from the restaurant:

Pickle's favorite new face--"pig face":
Andy enjoying some crazy-delicious crunchy pork tacos: And one more of The Pickle--still with the pig face--but eating her Mexico City-style quesadillas:

A Day In The Life...

2009-06-09T05:06:00.001-05:00

If this day is any indication of how summer is going to be--I'll be half dead before it's over!

Let's break it down:

6:30 - 7:30 a.m.--Get out of bed and help Andy get ready for his first day of summer chemistry (he has to take it over the summer because his schedule next year is too full.)

--Get Gooser and Pickle dressed and ready.

--Wake up Patrick and Teddy for last day of school.

--Breakfast

7:30- 8:15--Head over with Andy to the high school to purchase chemistry book.

--Wait in line at bookstore behind Dude #1 with hair that is longer and pinker than mine, and his friend, Dude #2 with fingernails WAY longer than mine. Is this a new guy fashion thing?

8:15 - 9:10--Race home at the last minute to get Teddy, Patrick and Gooser to school.

--Get teacher gifts handed out.

--Come home, quickly check email.

9:15--Back to school to pick everybody up (the last day was an hour!?!)

9:30 - 10:00--Review report cards, make a couple of phone calls, have coffee.

10:00 - 11:00--Workout (hard).

11:00-11:45--Run around trying to get house ready for appraiser.

--Take Gooser to playdate

11:45--Appraiser shows up 15 minutes early. Call realtor and tell him to get here ASAP to help with appraiser.

11:45-12:15 Deal with appraiser and talk to realtor.

--Find out about football camp that starts tomorrow--kids want to attend. Confusion ensues about football equipment. Do we have the right gear??

12:15 - 1:10--Pick up Gooser from playdate.

--Take all the kids to grocery store.

1:20--Come home to get Andy who is just back from chemistry. Realize that McDonald's is the only place we'll have time to go for lunch.

1:30 - 1:45 Crazy-fast lunch at McDonald's.

--Salad and water.

1:50--Race back home to grab Gooser's bathing suit so we can make it in time for swimming lesson.

1:55--Run into neighbor who informs me that three kids in Teddy's class have SWINE FLU!

2:00--3:00--Gooser's swimming lesson.

--We wait in hot balcony area while Pickle climbs dangerous concrete bleachers.

--Stressed out and hot.

--Worried about Swine Flu.

3:00-4:00--Inventory football gear for tomorrow's camp. We need cleats!!

--Finally put away groceries.

--Clean lizard cage.

5:00 - 6:00--Patrick's cello lesson.

--Makeshift dinner of chicken wings and onion rolls.

--Eat standing up.

--Make brownies.

--Husband arrives home.

6:00 - 6:30--Husband and big boys go for a run.

--Put little ones to bed.

--Realtor calls with more on the crazy story of Mr. Howell and our out-of-control real estate deal.

--Feel depressed.

6:30 - 6:45--Men back from run.

--Try to relay realtor's story to husband.

--Call friend who I think has cleats--she does! And will bring them over later.

6:45 - 10:00 p.m.--Oil painting class. Very hot in room.

--Insane classmate very irritable and edgy tonight. I'm scared!

--Work on copying Van Gogh painting assignment.

--Mosquitos invading room and sticking to oil paint.

10:15--Get home and before I even put my purse down, am asked "Where are the rubber bands???" with much urgency.

--Find rubber bands.

--Have a brownie.

10:55--Finish writing blog.

--Am tired.

--Not finished with blog though.

--Must go feed rabbit.

--OK, now I'm finished.

--Am punchy.

--Now it's 11:07.

--Don't know why it took so long to write that part about the rabbit.

--Was just standing there staring into space.

--OK, now I'm really finished!

--But I'm wondering if I'll have time to take a shower tomorrow. No time for that today...

M.I.A.

2009-06-08T05:06:00.001-05:00

I'm so sorry I fell off the face of the Earth!! I have never gone so long between blogs--even through vacations and rampant stomach flu--and I don't even have a good excuse. I guess have been overwhelmed lately with our ridiculous real estate transaction that has been going on for ONE YEAR!!

It seemed this past week we were getting much closer to a deal. Don went off to have some strategic meetings with Mr. Howell and we had lots of meeting with our realtor--all of which left me mentally exhausted and unable to come up with a reasonable blog.

See, Mr. Howell--after ONE YEAR of negotiating with us--which included offers, counter-offers, contracts, lawyers, realtors, appraisers, contingencies, our house for sale, our house for rent, endless hours of cleaning, open houses, baking thousands of cookies for that home-style aroma, storage, and lots of crying and screaming--has decided (when we were this/close to a deal mind you) that he wants to look into selling his house to a charity so he can get some kind of tax deduction!?!

Does that make sense to anyone? Can you get a tax deduction if you sell, not donate, your property to a charity? It makes NO sense to me. But, in any case, we are on pins and needles waiting for him to make a decision. It is very stressful. Adding to the stress is the fact that our house is still on the market (even though we don't technically have a deal now) and I still have to constantly keep it clean--not easy with five kids and ten thousand animals--and will soon be even harder as today is the last day of school.

So...just a little stressed out here!

Actually, it feels good to vent--though I'm sure it doesn't make for a very interesting blog read...sorry!

I'll leave you with a pic of Undercover Pickle and the promise of being a better blogger!
Also, could everyone please cross their fingers that Mr. Howell takes our offer!?! Thanks!

Grillin' and Chillin'

2009-06-01T05:06:00.001-05:00

What a beautiful weekend! Sunny, but not too hot--perfect for our first grill-fest of the season.
Also perfect for lots of pic-taking. Luckily, Pickle was in a cooperative mood.

She looks all grown up carrying her purse in this one!

Close up:
Don wanted to see what that one would look like in black and white:

Here she is posing:
Pickle on the tire swing:
Gooser wanted to pose for some freaky pics...
And some non-freakies too:
Doll head!!
A lot of flowers in my yard are on the verge of blooming--I tried to capture some of those:

I love this one--just about to burst open!
Then we had a great cook-out. We made Bobby Flay's Honey-Chipotle chicken wings. They were amazing!
Don couldn't stop gorging on them and now he's doubled over from pain of over-eating.

We also made a delicious guacamole with grilled corn in it, fresh fruit, corn on the cob and bratwurst.

Gooser with corn:
Here's the gang outside:

Oh--and we made s'mores!
Chocolate-face Gooser:
Finger lickin'good!

Food As Art

2009-05-30T19:54:00.007-05:00

If any of you were checking out my Twitters on Friday night, you may have noticed that I was attempting to document the over-the-top 25 course meal Don and I were having. The tweets may have been semi-incomprehensible since I was trying to type on my iPhone under table so as not to be rude in a super fancy restaurant. Also, the food was so complicated, it was hard to keep up with all the details, so I'm going to go over our freaky meal again here.

Also, I WISH I could have taken some pics, but I was crossing the line enough as it was with all my Twittering...

We decided to also get the wine flight along with our meal because their pairings are always so nice and we find that it's a great way to not only enjoy the meal more--but to learn about some cool wines too.

So we started out with a champagne cocktail that had a bit of orange liqueur, chartreuse and also Aquavit that lended a very subtle licorice flavor which was going to play off the first dish or two.

The first thing out was two kind of roes--steelhead and Arctic char--which were served up with very creamy and foamy garnishes. It was fantastic!

Then we switched over to a delicious Reisling that was very citrusy and not as sweet as some of the Reislings I've had before. They paired this with a very cool dish of a bite of foie gras and daikon followed by a tiny bowl of soup flavored with daikon, shiso and yuzu. I have no idea what shiso and yuzo are, but the flavors were of strong citrus in a very pure and beautiful way--and perfect with that wine!

Oh--I forgot to mention that they placed a crazy centerpiece on the table--basically a black clay vessel that we were told to "explore, but NOT turn upside down." It was an organic shape and extremely cold to the touch!

We moved next to a Kerner accompanied by a platter that had a shot glass with a clear liquid inside--"distillation of Thai flavors. It was so interesting because it smelled so spicy, but the distillation process rendered away any heat and all that was left was the pure (and delicious!) Thai flavors. So we drank that down and followed it with pork belly and cucumber (along with a lot of other things I'm forgetting!) on a bed of lettuce.

The next course was a cute little palate cleanser--a white almond encased in a gelee in juniper with a tiny bit of salt, sugar and some other spices at the four corners. It was served on a guitar pick-looking thing! Very refreshing.

The next two were similar flavors, but done different ways and both served with Pinot Gris--

the first was one of my favorites of the evening--soft-shell crab in a batter of Chinese five spice and surrounding it--fresh peas with sesame and duck confit.

The second was very similar flaors, but served cold with creams and foams. It was fantastic!

Then came "Black truffle explosion" which was kind of a ravioli bite filled with--exactly as promised--and explosion of truffle inside. There was also some romaine and Parmesan involved.

The next course was incredible--inspired by the 1902 L'Escoffier cookbook. It was an onion tart with squab (or "pigeonneau" if you want to be all fancy-like) and it was served on a very ornate place with very ornate silverware and a delicious and a rich Margeaux served in etched depression glass. I would like to eat like that every night!

I think it was around this time that we noticed our centerpiece vessel was developing an icy frost on it.

A few of my old-time faves were uo next: a piece of bacon wrapped in butterscotch leather (also with apple and thyme) hanging on a trapeze, a tempuraed sweet potato with bourbon and brown sugar served on a smouldering cinnamon stick and then a mustard ice cream with little balls of passion fruit sorbet.

At this point we switched over to a sparkling rose and had the "hot potato/cold potato" which is an inventive little bowl of cold potato soup in which a hot potato, black truffle and butter are dropped in at the last second and eaten together.

A "yuba stick"--I don't know what yuba is, but it's crunchy and delicious--wrapped with a prawn, miso and "tograshi."

Then we moved on to a sake and were served an incredible white asparagus soup with these globules of honey floating in it--I can't give it a description to do it justice!!

Now another wine--an Aucerrois--very floral and delicious, served with the "seafood and flower" extravaganza. This was another creamy/foamy concoction that had scallop, shellfish and honeydew along with "pillows"of lilac--and they tasted just like lilac smells! There were also beautiful little edible flowers sprinkled throughout.

A tiny bite next--grape, lamb, ash and frisee--but served on an antenna that you were supposed to eat "hands-free".

I LOVED the next one--a take on "Americen barbeque." First, something was poured into our centerpiece--which must have had dry ice in it--because a beautiful fog emerged and settled all across our table, along with a smokey aroma. The dish was a tender cube of Wagyu beef with a cube of potato encrusted in salt & vinegar potato chips! It was served with a packet of "A-1 sauce" in powdered form that you sprinkled over the dish. So cool!

Then another palate cleanser--a little pillow filled with a fizzy lemon craziness--it exploded in the mouth!

Now we started moving into dessert mode--the first one was a shot glass with some kind of pomegranate liquid inside and. floating in that, was a "ball of yogurt." You drank the whole thing and the yogurt exploded in your mouth.

The next one may have been my favorite of the night--a clear tube filled with a gel-like hibiscus, then a creme fraiche, then a bubble gum tapioca. You sucked it all out the tube at once and it was incredible!!

There was also a "transparency" of raspberry with rose petals and yogurt which was a thin, crispy creation.

Then, to my surprise, we were served my very favorite dessert wine--Bigaro. I highly recommend it--it's a beautiful pink color, fizzy and has flavors that remind me of cotton candy!

Speaking of cotton candy--the next dish had it--but sweet onion cotton candy! That was resting on a bed of rhubarb done up all different ways and goat's milk cheesecake! Plus--the plate was placed on a pillow fillow with "lavender air" so as the plate compressed the pillow--the lavender aroma mingled with the flavors. It was all perfect together!

Another dessert was milk chocolate mousse, malt ice cream and all kinds of freaky blueberry stuff.

I think at this point I got a special birthday treat which was a big truffle with warm vanilla cream pored over it. I also forgot to mention that port that was served!

Finally, we ordered some espresso and were served the final course of the evening--a little chunk of frozen strawberry pound cake served on a vanilla bean in a mound of powdered almond. When we were done with the cake we were instructed to dip the bean into the powder and eat it that way.

And that was the end! The way I respond to this chef and his creations is the same way I respond to seeing an amazing painting or reading a fantastic book--he is an artist and his work is not only amazing to look at but sublime to eat. It was truly an adventure to have this meal!!

Little Miss Diva

2009-05-29T08:34:00.003-05:00

Pickle has always had diva-like tendencies--but it seems the older she gets, the more dramatic she gets. Just an example of some of her antics over a 24 hour period:

--She takes a bottle of water with her to bed at night and last night at about one in the morning I heard her over the baby monitor calling to Gooser who shares a room with her. "Gooser! I need more water in my bottle! GOOSER! I need more WATER in my BOTTLE!"

Luckily, he can sleep through anything, so she eventually gave up and went back to sleep.

--Yesterday for no apparent reason, she poured one of those drinkable yogurts all over the floor near the dog dishes. I got mad and asked her she did it and she shrugged and said "It was just a joke." (That's her new line.) I said "Well, it wasn't a very funny joke." and then she burst into tears and sank to floor sobbing with her face in her hands. "I sorry Mommy! I really really sorry!"

--Also yesterday, she threw off her Crocs in disgust "I can't like these shoes." she said (She says I "can't" like instead of I "don't "like.) Then again sank to the floor howling "I need my SPARkle shoes! I need SPARkle shoes!" Once I got something sparkly on her she ran off happy as a clam.

Of course, I think a lot of this diva-ish behavior is because all four big brothers spoil her rotten.
She has them completely wrapped around her cute little finger!
**I'm going out for a belated birthday dinner tonight at this totally over-the-top restaurant. There will be 25+ courses--all really wild and I thought it would be fun to Twitter it as they come out. So starting around 8:30 EST I'll start--follow me on Twitter (it's on my sidebar) if you want to check it out!

And please join CANDID CARRIE and check out what going on at her PHRIDAY FOTO PHIESTA!

Blogiversary!

2009-05-26T22:42:00.008-05:00

I can't believe it, but it's my one year "blogiversary" today! It's hard to imagine why I decided to start a blog in May--my busiest month of the year. I must have had so much "material" with all that was going on that I was inspired to start writing about it. Within my first two days of starting, I wrote ten posts!

So enough about that--right now I'm very behind in my blogging and I need to catch up with an update of our Memorial Day weekend. We went to our getaway house and had an amazing time.

The pool was open for the season and luckily the weather cooperated so we logged in a lot of swim time.

Here's Gooser enjoying the water--he doesn't actually know how to swim yet, but I'm going to sign him up for lessons this summer.

Pickle had fun playing with her brothers in the water.

Oh--here she is modeling her new bathing suit!

Here are the three big boys taking a break from their pool game to pose for a pic. The game involves paddling around in those too-small boats and hitting each other with those noodle things.We went to one of our favorite restaurants--the one that serves cotton candy for dessert!

I was getting all punchy with the cotton candy cones. Here I am as a unicorn:

And when I asked Don to take my pic with "devil horns" he said "I think you've had too many martinis!"

Gooser got in on the action too!Some excitement on the trip--we found a turtle!Don rescued him from the side of the road right before he was about to become road kill. He spent the night in our ball pit wading pool thing, but the next day we let him go.Random portrait of my Rolleiflex! So far I am NOT getting such great pics with it--must keep practicing!We went down to the beach to set off some fireworks and I attempted to get some group shots--but Pickle just wouldn't cooperate.

These were the "best" ones I got--and that's not saying much.

But I was able to get some decent non-group pics. Here's Pickle enjoying the beach:And dancing on the beach:Relaxing in the sand:"Downward-facing dog!"Andy and Gooser:Patrick:More Gooser:I got a decent sunset pic:And a sunset with trees:And I got a good shot of our pool too--the sky was so beautiful--it was hot pink!I also did a photo shoot in the backyard. One evening, the light was so pefect and I was begging the kids to let me get their pics in this amazing light. They were playing and didn't want to be bothered--but I got a couple.

Pickle glaring at me--but look at the light!

The light! The light!Gooser glowing in the light:Patrick engulfed in the light:And finally, we went to a low-end fun fair. I thought it would be a good place to get pics with my Rolleiflex--we'll see how those turn out--but here's one of the kids with a really makeshift rendition of Shaggy and Scooby. What happened to Shaggy's upper lip?Whew--that was a looooooong post! Here's to another year of blogging!

Blog Slump

2009-05-23T05:06:00.001-05:00

I have to admit--I'm in something of a blog slump. I'm coming up on my one year "Blogiversary" (I have to check the exact date--but it's late May) and this has never happened in my almost one-year of blogging! I think that it's just the general busy-ness of May that has me in so many directions I'm having a hard time focusing.

I haven't even been taking pictures. In fact, I went through my picture files tonight in hopes of finding something good to blog about, and there was just nothing new.

I went all the back to January and stumbled on these pics:

I have absolutely NO memory of taking these and NO clue why the kids are staring in terror at a giant casserole (meat loaf?--I'm not sure what it is). It's a mystery!!

Anyway, we're off on a mini-vacation for the Memorial Day weekend--which will hopefully include some swimming and sunning. I'll be back next week--let's hope with some good pics and fun stories.

Have a great long weekend!

Oh--one more thing--who's going to BlogHer?

Anoles and iPods

2009-05-21T09:11:00.004-05:00

I'm feeling very lame because I hardly took any pics of Teddy's birthday. I'm blaming it on the month of May. May is hands-down the busiest month out of my year--so many birthdays, anniversary, then add in all the end-of-the-year school stuff and throw a couple of holidays in. Not to mention the fact that out house is still on the market.

So anyway--I blanked on the pic-taking, but Teddy did have a nice birthday! His present requests this year were an iTouch and and anole (little lizards) and that's what he got.

I managed to get him a little cake (banana!) for an after school party:

Those little holes in the side are from Pickle poking and sampling the frosting.

And I got him TWO anoles--a male and a female. Maybe I'll be an anole grandma soon? (That would be a good band name!)

This is the male--since I'm sure you're all wondering, you can tell the difference between male and female anoles because males have longer snouts (you're welcome!). Teddy is beyond thrilled with his new reptile friends and they live in his room now.

He also got the iPod Touch (not pictured) and a new pair of Nikes (not pictured) and we went to a Japanese restaurant (not pictured).

So--kind of a lame recap, but he did have a self-proclaimed great birthday!
I'm the mom of TWO teenagers now. Ugh.

Weird Stuff

2009-05-20T05:06:00.001-05:00

I'm super tired and my brain isn't functioning properly and I don't think I can write anything that makes sense right now--so I will leave you with a couple of treasures that I've gotten recently:

This is my "face purse" and I got her on Etsy:

I think it might be hard to tell in this picture--but the face is totally 3-D--like the nose is protruding and the mouth is sort of open. OMG I love it! Pickle has a love/hate with it, as she loves purses, but is terrified of something she calls "The Face." So I think she kind of wishes it were her purse, but is also sort of glad it's mine.

Pickle and I went to an antique store today and found all kinds of goodies. This was a stand out:

I want to hang it along with my framed teeth--I think it will be a good match. Don is lukewarm on it--but I'm sure he'll come around and see how great it is--right!?!

Oh and oops--today is Teddy's birthday!! He's 13...how is that possible? I will update with his festivities and gifts (they're going to be good!) tomorrow.

Art Show

2009-05-19T08:31:00.003-05:00

I've been a blog-slacker. We had a very busy weekend--so busy, that I've been trying to catch up with all the stuff I should have done over the weekend but didn't have time for.

The art show that I had a piece in opened on Friday and we all went. I didn't win a prize or get a solo show--but I wasn't expecting to. This was an older painting that I entered last-minute but it gives me something to work towards! Maybe next year I'll have a spectacular piece that will win?!

I wish we had taken more pictures, but it was crowded and chaotic and we were trying to keep track of the kids. There was a really nice food spread and wine, etc. that I wish I had documented--but Don did take a few of me with my painting:

The other one next to me got a solo show!

I've been hard at work on getting some new paintings/drawings completed. I've got three that are getting close to completion, but it's a long process! As soon as I'm finished I'll show you some pics.

Oh--some exciting news! We had our school benefit over the weekend too (I told you it was busy) and one of the live auction items was a week in the Virgin Islands in a beachfront villa--we won it! It sounds SO beautiful and amazing and we'll probably be going sometime this summer. The kids are out of control excited.

Time to go get caught up on some blogs...

Happy Pickle!

2009-05-14T22:07:00.003-05:00

I have been taking a LOT of Pickle pics lately--she's turned into such a willing model and since most of the day it's just the two of us--we have lots of photo shoots.

Today I used my new Rolleiflex for the first time--I took a couple rolls of Pickle, then we headed downtown to hit the streets and try to get some interesting people pictures. Point blank--I totally chickened out. I saw so many cool people that would have made great subjects--a policeman with long crazy hair smoking a pipe, a punk rock couple in colorful clothes, a homeless man holding a Dunkin' Donuts cup--so many great possibilities, but I was too scared to ask them if it was ok to take their picture.

I think I need a standard line to approach people--I don't ever want to come off as creepy or anything--so if anyone has a great suggestion as to how I can approach a stranger and ask if I could take their pic, I'd really appreciate it!

So I've taken the film in to be developed and when it's done, I'll have to figure out a way to share it with you--maybe I can scan them?

Anyway, here are some other pics I have taken of Pickle this week!
Happy Friday and please join Candid Carrie for some Phriday Foto Phun!

My Dirty Little Secret

2009-05-14T05:06:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure why I'm telling/showing you this because it's SO embarrassing--but somehow I'm doing it anyway...

My bedding is out of a horror movie. No seriously--it's BAD.

Now, in my defense, it started out as beautiful bedding from the Pottery Barn and I loved it. But we've had it for years...and years and it's probably been washed about a million times. But I still loved it because all that washing made it super soft.

But recently and kind of suddenly it just started wearing out--like getting a little threadbare, so I started looking into buying new bedding. Point blank--shopping for bedding is NOT fun. I tried zillions of Internet searching, moved on to department stores, back to the Pottery Barn--nothing. Nothing I even remotely liked.

The search continued and the bedding deteriorated rapidly--to the point where it was literally in shreds. I didn't know what to do. On the rare occasion I saw something I actually liked, there was always a glitch--like they didn't have the right size, or it was discontinued, or dry clean only. Or--OR--hand wash and line dry only! Can you imagine? Where/how was I going to hand wash and line dry a king-sized duvet cover??

In a moment of desperation, I almost went through with that hand wash purchase--but then I had visions of an all-too-familiar scene: kid at my bedside in the middle of the night--"Mommy I feel like I'm going to throw up" and then blah all of the bed. Then I pictured myself hand washing the thing in the bathtub at 3 a.m. and I quickly dismissed that idea. I contemplated getting "interim" bedding until I found the perfect thing, but it's all so expensive!

Meanwhile, the whole top part of our duvet cover had ripped open with loopy strands that threatened to strangle us in the night. Don's pillowcase was in tatters and the sheet was even falling apart.

Proof:

The shredded sheet:

ohmygodi'msoembarrassed!

The remnants of Don's pillowcase:
The mangled duvet:

When I got up this morning, I couldn't take it anymore. I decided that nothing was going to stop me--I was not going to sleep on the bedding another night.

My first stop was Anthropologie--a store I love that seemed to have some cool funky bedding. Of course, nothing was easy there. The one duvet that I kind of liked was out of stock in my size and there were just no other options.

But then I noticed the way one of the display beds was done up--the duvet I liked (it was kind of plain) with a multi-colored quilt folded at the bottom of the bed and lots of funky multicolored pillows. I thought maybe if I got the quilt and pillow stuff there, I could go elsewhere for just a plain duvet.

So that's what I did! I bought the quilt and some pillow shams and headed off to Bed, Bath and Beyond with Pickle in search of some sheets and the duvet.

I think Dante made a mistake and left Bed, Bath and Beyond out as one of the circles of Hell in his Inferno--it's horrible in there!

The florescent lights and the commingling of the ten thousand candle scents and the extreme lack of employees! Not to mention that despite the fact that the word "Bed" is prominently showcased in their name--they have little to no bedding. Everything was either butt-ugly or so picked over there was nothing in my size (or both).

Somehow I chanced on a weird little clearance rack with a plain cream-colored duvet cover. Then I scrounged up a sheet and some pillowcases--and finally my bedding quest was over!

Way better, right?
Pickle thinks so!

Just Call Me Diane Arbus

2009-05-13T05:06:00.001-05:00

I had a great birthday yesterday! Thanks for all the birthday wishes--they helped make it a good day.

One of my friends stopped by in the morning with iced coffee and bagels so that was a fun way to start the day, then I had lunch with my sister and opened some gifts from her. Oh--Pickle still seems not quite herself, but not bad--so if she still seems under the weather tomorrow I'll take her to the doctor.

So later when Don got home he gave me his gifts. One of his presents was a beautiful coffee table book of Diane Arbus' photographs. She has always been one of my favorite photographers. As I was looking through the book I commented that someday I would love to have a camera like the one she used.

Don played dumb and he was all "What kind of camera did she use?" And I said "A Rolleiflex."

Then the next gift I opened WAS a Rolleiflex!!
It's so beautiful and I'm so excited to use it! Imagine the shots of Pickle I can get with this!!

It took us a few tries, but we managed to get a roll of film loaded, so tomorrow I'm going to play around with the settings and see what I come up with. I'm sure it will take some time to get used to it.

I'll definitely be taking lots of pictures of the kids with this--but I also want to hit the streets Diane Arbus-style and really try to get some interesting stuff. I can't wait!

This was a great birthday!!

Happy Birthday To Me!

2009-05-12T05:06:00.000-05:00

That's right--it's my birthday and I'm blatantly posting about it! I hope it's a good one--I have plans to have lunch with my sister which should be fun--but Pickle is showing signs of a cold and that always puts me in a worried mood. Hopefully it won't turn into anything.

I'm super excited about something though--over the weekend I entered one of my paintings in a local show. It's a juried show which means a panel of judges looks at all the work and choose who's right for the show.

I was doubtful when I got there to sign in because there was just a sea of paintings entered and I had no clue what kind of chance I had. Plus, I wasn't crazy about the piece I was submitting--it's alright but I have better--the problem is that it had to be framed and ready to hang and this was the only one that fit the bill.

So I dropped it off Saturday morning and got a call later that day telling me that it was accepted! I'm SO excited!

Also, turns out there were over 200 pieces submitted and they chose 45 to be in the show. That's not too shabby.

There will be an opening reception on Friday night and I'm looking forward to taking the kids to it. And the really extra-exciting thing is that they will be giving out awards and cash prizes plus offering some people solo shows!! I'm not holding my breath on that at all--but still!

This is the piece I entered--it's a watercolor called "Room Service":

I would say it looks better in person because it has zillions of layers and the colors kind of glow in a cool way.

So that's my big news (well that and my birthday!) Oh, and if you wondering how old I am--the answer is "old"!! That's all I'm sayin'.

I'll be sure to take lots of pics at the Friday opening!!

Mother's Day Extravaganza

2009-05-11T09:03:00.008-05:00

I hope you all had great Mother's Days! Mine was very nice--in fact, I told Don it was "Mother's Day weekend" which meant both Saturday and Sunday were all for me--he wasn't really buying that though.

When I came downstairs on Sunday, the kids had decorated the house with streamers and balloons.
And Don was busy in the kitchen making chocolate-covered strawberries. Here they are with some of my creepy doll heads.

Chocolate face!

He also made Bellinis!

And these really good breakfast sandwiches that had egg, prosciutto, salami, basil and mozzarella on sourdough bread:
There were some gifts:
And the big boys went out on their own to get me some gifts--cute!
Gooser picked me some flowers:

I asked Pickle what she wanted to wear on Mother's Day and she said "Ummmm--Princess!" So that's what she did!

Then later, we had our Mother's Day tradition--Indian food!

Here are our mango lassis:

Gooser enjoying his:

Big boys!

Mommy and Pickle (smelling the rose the restaurant gave me!):
It was a great day!!

Creepy Doll Pics

2009-05-10T05:06:00.001-05:00

First of all, Happy Mother's Day!! Hope you have great ones! I'm writing this the night before, but it looks like lots of secret surprises are in the works at the Fun House.

I got a big box of old and creepy doll parts in the mail today. I got them on eBay and plan to use them for some sculptures and stuff--but some of them are so cool I think I'm going to keep them for my collection. It was so much fun unwrapping them one by one--just like Christmas! But a Christmas where all I got was old dirty dolls...

Anyway, Pickle was fascinated with the whole thing and oohed and ahed over the dolls even though some of them were SUPER creepy. Ultimately, I did a little photo shoot with Pickle and some of the dolls. I love the way they turned out! Here are some of my faves:

I call this one "Poor Pitiful Pickle":
I LOVE this one!
I love this one too. Pickle has become quite the little model--she can do the "mad face" on demand!Can't wait to hear about all your Mother's Day festivities!

Aliens in the Night

2009-05-09T11:17:00.004-05:00

Last night, Andy went to a dance, and came home with a bunch of those glow-in-the-dark plastic necklace things. Don thought it would be fun if Andy put a couple of them in Gooser's room (he was already asleep) so if he woke up in the night he would see them glowing.

But Andy--prankster that he is--decided to put all the glowing rings all over Gooser's room and write a weird note (and picture) saying that the rings were from an alien.

I had forgotten about it, but woke up this morning to Gooser screaming "Mommy! Mommy! Help!"

When I went into his room he looked super scared and was borderline crying. He was holding the alien picture and said "I found this in my bed and I'm really freaking out."

I don't blame him:Luckily Andy came in (and I went back to bed) to handle the situation. I could hear Andy talking to him over the baby monitor and reading him the note from the alien:
In case the writing doesn't show up well, it says:

Hello young Gooser, I am from the planet Zagnog and I have come in peace. I have left many secret alien rings in your room. They contain special powers inside them. You are to retrieve these rings, and place them all in your backyard tonight to get a gift from us tomorrow. Enclosed is a picture of me. Good luck, Icknoz"

Once Gooser realized the alien "came in peace" he was excited about the whole business and has spent most of the morning playing with the rings and looking at the picture.
(That painting behind Gooser is what I've been spending a lot of my time on--the eyes are driving me crazy and I keep redoing them!)

Here's Pickle w/ the "alien rings":
It will be interesting to see what Andy comes up with tonight for phase two of the Alien Project!

More Freakiness

2009-05-07T05:06:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I showed you my freaky monkey and today I want to introduce you to my kreepy klown. Remember when I was buying all that crazy stuff on eBay? I was getting some props that I want to use in paintings. I had Pickle pose with the kreepy klown the other day in hopes of getting a good shot that could possibly become a painting.

I thought the clown might be too scary for her and she wouldn't even want to touch it--but she warmed right up to him!

She looks so happy to be holding it...
But at some point I think she started wondering about its creep factor:
In this pic I think she's kind of not liking it anymore:
And this last one is my favorite and the one I will attempt to use for a painting. I like the light and the faraway look in her eyes...
Is this thing creepy or what??
It looks like something that might come to life and rise up in the middle of the night and kill us all!

Maybe in conjunction with the freaky monkey...

To be on the safe side, I've locked them both in the laundry room!

Fun in the Sun

2009-05-06T05:06:00.000-05:00

We had a great weekend at the Fun House and spent a lot of time hangin' in the backyard. New sand in the sandbox, lots of sun and the dogs running wild. It was great!

Pickle was out of control!
Kicking balls:
Hugging freaky monkeys:
And picking dandelions:
Portrait of Gooser with dandelions:
And with dandelion:
Gooser with the freaky monkey:
There was lots of sliding:
And dog hugging:
Even Hazel got in on the freaky monkey action:
I like this pic of Pickle:
And this one too!
Oh and this one too...
I'll leave you with Portrait of Freaky Monkey and Dandelions:

My New Obsession...

2009-05-04T05:06:00.000-05:00

Is braiding Pickle's hair!
She just barely has enough to work with and I've been experimenting with different styles daily.
And the funniest part is when I take the braids out at the end of the day--the waves!!
I love it!!

Well, I Wanted Something To Blog About...

2009-05-01T05:06:00.002-05:00

And I got it!

Today Teddy stayed home from school because he still wasn't feeling great--though he was much better than the day before--and this afternoon I asked if he could watch Pickle for ten minutes while I took a shower.

Just so you know how desperately I needed a shower--I'm writing this on Thursday and I hadn't taken a shower since Monday. Sorry to gross you out--this is just the way my life has been lately!

Anyway, I had been working on a painting--an OIL painting--and left the paints out, but Pickle knows full well not to touch them. I guess Teddy left the kitchen briefly to go to the bathroom and she must have made a beeline for them.

When I came back into the room I saw this:

and this:
Although I was upset, it's hard to get mad at a face this cute:
Sorry Mommy.

I also couldn't help but notice the really nice shade of orangey-red she had mixed...

Of course, she went straight into the tub where she practiced her mad face:
And her happy face:

I'm happy to say that somehow she came clean! Though I don't hold out much hope for her dress.

I asked her later why she did it and she said she wanted to be "sparkly."

File This Under...

2009-04-30T05:06:00.000-05:00

...life with a two year old!
I should have taken the pic from a different angle because this doesn't do the damage justice. I had just placed one of those jumbo triple rolls of toilet paper in there and Pickle unrolled nearly the whole thing into the toilet. I had to weed out the sopping mess into a garbage bag.

I have been feeling bloguninspired lately. I think because

A). I'm still feeling logy (one of my all-time favorite words by the way!) from that awful flu.

B). I haven't gone anywhere or done anything exciting, mainly because I'm trying not to spend money and if I hole up inside I'm less likely to.

C.) When I'm home, I'm usually cleaning non-stop to keep the house presentable for these dumb showings that never amount to anything.

D.) Poor Teddy finally succumbed to our family flu so I'm in vomit mode again.

Other points of interest:

1.) I'm seriously wondering if this flu bug we've all had could be swine flu!

2.) Even though I'm trying not to spend money, I've gotten carried away on a couple of Ebay auctions for really weird things like doll heads and scary stuffed monkeys. And a clown doll.

3.) I'm really getting sick of cleaning the house and don't know how much longer I can continue this. We've extended our offer to Mr. Howell for 90 more days--please send me quick selling vibes!! I just want to get out of here!!

4.) I'm worried that because Teddy got the bug so late in the game he might reinfect all of us!

One more thing--I took this pic today of a robin building her nest:

Patrick's Shoes

2009-04-27T05:06:00.000-05:00

These are Patrick's shoes:
I know I should should throw them out...

But I'm keeping them in case I come across an ugly beat-up shoe contest because I know we would win!
Don't worry--we got him a new pair today--but he was actually walking around in these! I didn't realize just how far gone they were but I cringe when I think he was wearing these to school. And the really scary thing is if I hadn't noticed, he would have gone right on wearing them!!

Pickle Humor

2009-04-26T05:06:00.001-05:00

Pickle tells this joke approximately 200 times a day:

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Nana! (she means banana).

Nana who?

Poo Poo!! (followed by hysterical laughter).

Be sure to try that one out on your friends and family!

You're welcome.

Sick

2009-04-25T05:06:00.003-05:00

Ugh--this stomach flu is slowly killing me! It has steadily made its way through my entire family--except Teddy--somehow Teddy was spared?

It hit me hard yesterday in the form of an all over body ache--seriously ALL over. My scalp hurt--my eyes were killing me. Then I alternated between feeling freezing cold and sweaty hot--I kept turning the heat either way up or off. All this plus the general stomach bug stuff. It was a nightmare!

On top of this, I had three sick kids at home. I could barely lift Pickle up to change her diaper. Then Andy called from school to say that he had suddenly broken out in a weird rash that was spreading, so I had to go pick him up and take him to the doctor.

The doctor wasn't sure what it was, but I think it's some kind of post-viral thing.

Anyway, through all this, I just kept telling myself that if I could just make it through until Don got home I could go to bed. I was just barely hanging on...

About fifteen minutes before he was due home, Don called from his train and said there was some kind of trouble on the tracks and the train had stopped. He didn't think it would be too long though.

Then, about twenty minutes later he called back to say someone had been struck (and killed) by his train and that there were police cars and fire trucks everywhere. He had no clue how long it was going to take.

After awhile, I gave up and had to give the little ones dinner and get them to bed, plus pick Teddy up from a party. I was SO tired and sick that I just started sobbing.

The bottom line was that Don got home THREE hours late! Finally the train was allowed to move, but everyone had to get off at the next station and he had to take a cab home. I don't know what the deal was with the person that was hit--but I think it was a suicide. Very sad...

Now Don is sick, but everyone else is on the mend. I'm not perfect, but about a million times better than I felt yesterday.

Sorry for this whiny complaining blog!!

Vomit and Rabbits

2009-04-23T05:06:00.001-05:00

Last night, the stomach flu took two more victims--Gooser and Patrick. Now Teddy is the only flu-free kid. My sister's kids also started vomiting last night so I've determined that the gymnastics party was probably the source of the illness. I've renamed the foam pit--it's now called the vomit pit! I only hope I didn't infect every kid in Gooser's class with that party.

So today has been a lot of cleaning up messes and serving up Motrin and Pedialyte.

Pickle with Pedialyte pop.

I think the worst is over now (I hope!) and tomorrow I'll just have to reevaluate everyone and see if they are ready to go back to school. I think Gooser and Patrick will probably miss another day though--neither of them were able to eat a thing today.

In other news, I finished a sculpture I've been working on. Remember the little bunnies?
A little closer:

I'm thinking of calling it the Rabbit Whisperer, but I'm not sure.

Another bunny-related news item: Dr. Hoppy is definitely a male. I, um, saw something...

On that note--better go do more vomit laundry!

Taking the Night Off!

2009-04-22T05:06:00.001-05:00

The stomach flu has hit the Fun House. First Andy, now Pickle. Poor little Pickle--she doesn't understand and the throwing up is freaking her out. Also--who knew such a tiny body could spew so much? It never seemed to end. Luckily, by the evening, she was able to keep down some Pedialyte--so fingers crossed for a good night's sleep for her.

I have spent a good part of the day cleaning up vomit so I'm giving myself a break from my no t.v. watching and spending the evening with the Real Housewives of New York--though the housewives are semi-vomit-inducing. Could Simon be more of a creep?? He just bought his wife a burlap corset for seven thousand dollars.

I kind of feel like a slacker, but I'm not feeling so great myself...

Gooser Party

2009-04-21T05:06:00.001-05:00

We had Gooser's birthday party over the weekend--but I was too out of it to deal with the pictures, but have finally got around to it. Here we go...

It was a gymnastics party and the guy who ran the show was somewhat...difficult (he was dubbed the Gymnazi) but the kids managed to have a good time anyway! Don got yelled at a few times though...

First things first--here is the cake. Did you have any doubt it wasn't going to be Batman!?
Here's Gooser doing some warm-up stretching:
And Pickle sort of falling off the mat:
They did all sorts of things--obstacle courses, trampolines, swinging, jumping, climbing...Here's Gooser in the balance beam:
Pickle mainly did whatever she felt like doing! This was really fun--a giant pit filled with blocks of foam. The kids got to jump or swing into and play around. I think this was everyone's fave!

Then it was back to the party room for cake. Here's Gooser blowing out the candles:
Cake Face #1:
Cake Face #2:
Goodie bags!!
And, finally, back at home about to rip into the presents!
If you were guessing he got a lot of Batman stuff--you guessed right! And surprisingly--not a single duplicate!

No T.V.

2009-04-20T05:06:00.000-05:00

A no watching t.v. update: It's taking over my life!

Since I stopped watching t.v. it's amazing how much I've done--and the interesting thing is that the momentum of getting stuff done makes me want to do more and the result is that without t.v. I'm busier than ever!

It was so cute--today Gooser said to me "Wow Mommy, not watching tv. has really paid off for you." Then he said he wasn't going to watch t.v so he could get more artwork done. SO cute!

As I write this, it's super late at night and I've got these babies:
baking in the oven. They're part of a sculpture in progress that should be finished soon.

I also did this guy:
Keep in mind that is my first oil painting ever except for the still life that we started in class last week--so, not too bad for a first try! So far, he's only taught us to paint with one color, hence the monochromatic thing.

I started a pink one too, but Pickle put her own special touch on it:
Those are the pitfalls of trying to paint with a two year old around! I fixed it though.

I did take time over the weekend to catch the HBO version of Grey Gardens which I have been desperately waiting for. It was fun because I watched it with my two "Grey Gardens friends"--we're equally obsessed! My friend came to the door in full Little Edie regalia--it was HILARIOUS. I would share a pic but I think she would kill me.

Anyway, the movie was excellent, though I wonder how someone who wasn't familiar with the documentary would like it--I think they probably would. The acting was incredible--I would be surprised if Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange didn't get Emmys.

Better check on the bunnies in the oven--also the stomach flu seems to have arrived at my house tonight via Andy. Noooooooo! Let's hope it doesn't make the rounds!

Dr. Hoppy's Dinner?

2009-04-16T22:45:00.005-05:00

Just when I had absolutely NO ideas for a blog post tonight, Dr. Hoppy comes to the rescue!

I have told you before that this rabbit is not normal. He (She? Still don't know...) thinks he's a cat or a dog, or a weird combination of the two. The second he is let loose out of his cage he heads for the dog dishes and scrounges around for any kibble remnants. Then he makes the rounds to any semi-accessible plant--even if it means jumping on furniture to reach them. The other day he jumped from the sofa to a table and knocked down a lamp and a phone so he could reach a hyacinth.

Tonight we caught him in the act!

Up on the sofa and ready for action:

Don't try to stop me, lady, or I'll shoot you with my laser eyes.
Sweet, sweet azaleas--come to the doctor!
Making a fast getaway...

Now please stop over to Candid Carrie's Foto Phiesta and check out her puppy before he grows any bigger!

Birthday Goose

2009-04-16T05:06:00.001-05:00

First of all, thanks for all the birthday wishes for Gooser. He had a great day!

When he came downstairs this morning, Andy had decorated the kitchen with streamers and signs and had some birthday music playing.

Then later, Pickle and I took his birthday cupcakes over to school--Batman, of course.

Then he got to choose something from the "birthday box."
And Pickle got something too!
Here's Gooser eating his cupcake:

Pickle wouldn't sit down to eat hers because she wanted to play "Princess." Which meant wearing the plastic fancy high heels they keep in the dress up area.
When he got home his presents and Batman balloon were waiting!
He loved all of his presents which included multiple Batman toys.

Pickle appeared in the doorway looking like this:

Then later, we headed off to dinner at a fun Japanese restaurant where they cook at the table.

We encountered some geese in the parking lot and I told Gooser to try and pose with them:

Gooser and Geese

But then they started attacking! Did you know that geese hiss? I didn't, but I do now!

Killer Goose!!
Here are the big boys eating:
And Pickle having some soup. Japanese food is her second favorite food (bacon, of course, is first.)
And Pickle acting crazy in the booth:
Then on the way home we spotted a deer family! I pulled over to get some pics:
It was fun because we told Gooser that all those animals came out to celebrate his birthday.

And he did conclude that it was the best day ever!!

Happy Birthday Gooser!!

2009-04-15T05:06:00.000-05:00

My little Gooser is six today!! Six? That doesn't even seem possible.

I can remember the day he was born like it was yesterday--I was driving to my weekly doctor's appointment and I started feeling some mild twinges in the car. Barely noticeable really.

The nurse was weighing me, etc. she asked how I was feeling and I mentioned the twinges in an off-handed way--but she sort of freaked out--running out of the room and saying she was going to get a monitor to see if they were contractions.

Before she had a chance to do that, my doctor came in and checked me and said "You need to go straight to the labor floor."

I was like "Really??" and he said I was already five centimeters dilated.

A couple hours later, Gooser was born--no fuss, no confusion--just on my regular doctor's appointment. It was a fast, easy and fun delivery.

And that's pretty much how he's been ever since--easy and pleasant and never any trouble.Gooser might just be the sweetest child ever--he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He tells me over and over again every day that I am his best friend and how much he loves me. I'm telling you--sweet!!
So please join me in wishing him a Happy Birthday! He says it's going to be the "best day of his life."

This morning I'll be bringing cupcakes over to his school and tonight he'll open presents and we'll have dinner at his favorite Japanese restaurant. His party is on Saturday so I'll have a fun update this weekend.

Happy Birthday Gooser!!

For Maddie

2009-04-14T09:17:00.004-05:00

Pickle and I are wearing purple today to honor Maddie Spohr. Today is her memorial service so please stop by Heather's blog and give some words of support or maybe a donation.

Here is Pickle in her purple:

I'm wearing purple too--but no makeup yet--so I'll save you the scariness of my pic!

We will be thinking of Maddie and the Spohrs all day and hoping for a beautiful service for a beautiful little girl.

Da Bunny

2009-04-13T05:06:00.001-05:00

The night before Easter, Don and I hide hundreds of jelly beans and chocolate foil eggs all over the house. Then the kids come downstairs with their baskets ready and start hunting.

This was the first year Pickle understood what was going on and she was ready to go!

The eggs were all over the place--but not hidden under anything
they are all out in the open.
Here's Gooser on the hunt:
After that, the kids got to check out the baskets the bunny brought:
Then we got ready for brunch with my mom and sister. Here are the kids all dressed up:
There was time for a little dancing before we left:
Then it was off to the brunch!

The kids outside:
A little closer:
Here's Pickle with the kids' buffet.
Gooser with the traditional "Easter hot dog!!"

Three big boys:
Pickle got a bunny!
Freaky bunny time!!
Here I am with the bunny:
Pickle hit the Peeps pretty heavy and went all punchy for the rest of the day...
Hope you had a Happy Easter!!

Fun With Eggs

2009-04-12T05:06:00.003-05:00

I'll let you in on a little secret...I like eggs! So today was extra fun because it was all eggs, all the time.

We started the morning with a neighborhood egg hunt that one of my industrious neighbors put together. The kids LOVED it and it was nice for the grown-ups too as there was a table in the middle of the sidewalk with bagels, cream cheese, doughnuts and lots of coffee!

Here's Miss Pickle on the hunt:

She found one!
The Gooser:
Pickle and Gooser taking a break from egg-hunting:
The big boys!
OMG--isn't this sweet!? So glad I captured this!
Then I spent what seemed like hours boiling eggs in preparation for the dying festivities. We take Easter egg dying VERY seriously in this house! There's a lot of tension and competion (especially between me and Don!) to see who will come up with the best and most artistic egg.

You could cut the tension with a knife:
See all those eggs? Four dozen, baby!

Andy and Gooser hard at work:
Apparently, Pickle was trying to dye her face blue...
She sat in Andy's lap most of the time:
The finished product! (Well...some of them!)
As further proof of my egg-love, I have a collection of egg cups that I like to display our creations in.
I like this artsy pic:
Then we have the contest--we go through the eggs one by one and deem which ones are worthy to continue in the competition (Don is definitely the Simon Cowell in this scenario ).

These are the ones that made the cut:
And then there were four...
Pickle casting her vote:
And the winner is...Gooser's egg!

This pic doesn't do it justice--it was really a beautiful egg!

Can't...stop...taking...pictures...of...eggs...

Ok, I'll stop now. No....wait...
and...
I even used eggs as a model tonight for a charcoal drawing:
I think I have a problem...

I'd better go get some rest for our big meet-up with the bunny tomorrow!

Happy Easter!!

Squirrely

2009-04-11T09:46:00.004-05:00

Couldn't get my blog post up last night--the Internets went haywire...

Anyway, I wanted to show you another sculpture-in-progress. This one is going to be a squirrel head on a baby body.

Here is Squirrely so far:
Here's another view:
I still have to do some finishing touches like give him eyelids and sand, paint, etc., but I like him so far! And it looks really cool on the baby body. Stay tuned for the finished product...

And some bonus pics that I found on the camera--Don and the big boys have been working on this ginormous model airplane. It's almost done and ready to fly!

Here's Pickle with the plane:
And Teddy:
It's HUGE and it's taking over my house--but they've had so much fun building it and I'm sure they'll have even more fun flying it.

I Told You I Was Freaky...

2009-04-09T23:25:00.004-05:00

If you've been a-checkin' on my blog, you know that I've given up t.v.-watching for a month to devote myself to creative endeavors. I've been drawing, painting and sculpting.

Remember my squirrel feet?
They found a home today on a sculpture I'm working on. It's not finished yet--but I'll give you a glimpse of it thus far:
Basically it's a baby's head on a squirrel's body.

I know it's freaky but don't hate me because of!!

Happy Phreaky Phriday Phiesta!! Check out the phun at the phabulous Candid Carrie's!!

Maddie Spohr

2009-04-09T05:06:00.002-05:00

I'm sure by now many of you have heard about the horrible tragedy of Heather Spohr and her husband, Mike, losing their sweet little Maddie. This news jarred me this morning when I checked Twitter--I know I audibly gasped and spent the rest of the day walking around in a fog.

I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through--it is truly unthinkable. And no words are sufficient to express how devastated I feel for Heather, Mike and their family--but I want to say how sorry I am and what a joy is always was to see Maddie's smiling face on Heather's blog. What a beautiful baby!

If you would like to help, please click here for their March of Dimes page.

These Are My Little Friends...

2009-04-08T05:06:00.000-05:00

...that sit in my kitchen window
Aren't they cute? I gave the two on the left flat-tops because their hair was getting unruly. Sometimes we put Pickle's hair clips in them to dress them up.

T.V. update: I'm still doing well! I did take a tiny break tonight to watch Real Housewives of New York--but I had already been painting for several hours so I figured it was okay. Pickle and I hit the art supply store today so I am well-stocked and ready to go. I LOVE art supply stores--I could spend hours in them. So many possibilities...Hopefully I will have something finished to show you soon!

Lots of Random Stuff!

2009-04-07T05:06:00.001-05:00

I don't really have a cohesive post planned--just lots of weird little tidbits today!

1. My hair has been freshly re-pinked! I did it myself! Here's a pic Andy took of me and Pickle tonight:

2. The no t.v. thing has been going great! I think tonight was night four and I am getting so much more done. That painting I mentioned before (Beautiful Fungus) is coming along--though I'm not super thrilled with it. I'll see it through to the end though and if it doesn't work out it's no big deal. This is a weird element for a sculpture I'm working out:
Looks kind of creepy-cool, doesn't it?

3. I started my oil painting class tonight. I'm excited because I've really only worked in watercolor until now. Tonight we just did some charcoal drawings and it was really fun! I like the teacher--I think I'm going to learn a lot from him. One funny thing though--remember Psycho Lady? She's in this class too!! Hopefully I'll get some good blogging stories out of her--let's just hope she doesn't go "postal" on the class!

4. Since I started no no t.v./more art projects, it's been rubbing off on the kids. Teddy spent the night before last drawing with me and Gooser has been doing all kinds of artstuffs. He made this cool mask out of a box:

Each side has a different face on it--he's so creative!

5. My friend Dawn from Bee and Rose has a great blog and she is having an amazing giveaway right now to celebrate her 100th post. You must check it out! But stay away from the devil silhouettes--they're MINE!!

Pickle, Gooser, T.V. Update and a Weird Waiter!

2009-04-05T05:06:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pics I took today of Pickle and Gooser:

T.V. update: I am enjoying this! Once I got into the no t.v. mode it was actually pretty easy. I've done a whole bunch of drawing and tonight I started a new painting called "Beautiful Fungus." Hopefully I'll finish it soon so I can show it to you. I also plan on starting a sculpture tomorrow--we'll see how that goes!

One funny incident that happened today--we went out for a late lunch/early dinner with the kids and had the WEIRDEST waiter! He was downright creepy and I was trying to be extra nice because he seemed like the kind of guy that would just go off. Like he asked to take the order and I said "I'll have a turkey burger please." Then he just stood there staring at me.

So, as he was bringing the food, Teddy was sort of goofing off and hanging on Patrick's sleeve and I said "Teddy--stop it." And the waiter, who was standing behind me with a bowl of macaroni and cheese, shouts (and I mean shouts) "Just STOP IT!!" to Teddy.

We all sort of froze for a second and then the waiter started laughing nervously and said something like he was just kidding. I kind of laughed because, like I said, he seemed crazy and I was sort of scared of him. Teddy looked terrified. Then the waiter kept kind of harping on it and was like "I mean, I was just trying to help you out." It was SO bizarre!!! I think he temporarily lost it and blurted it out and then started back pedaling.

Then, to make matters worse, he served me a raw turkey burger and didn't even offer to take it off the bill. I think I'm permanently off turkey burgers...

So for the rest of the night, the kids and I have been joking around shouting Just STOP IT!!!! at each other and I told Teddy--You got served by that waiter!! What a freak!