Pedi-cure

At the nail salon yesterday, getting a much-needed pedicure.  Much needed as in scraggly toes, as well as good for the psyche.  After all, they take about an hour, and you get to read trashy magazines!  (I now know who Ke$ha is, I'm caught up on Sandra Bullock's life drama  and have a whole new list of  recommended songs I want to download to my iPod, thanks to People.  Oh, and Kate Bosworth is a lucky girl, dating delicious Eric Northman from True Blood!)  Plus when you leave, you have gorgeous tootsies that are as soft as clouds.  Nothing picks up a girls' spirits quicker than that!!

Clocks Don't Talk

Not only is this story funny, it's to my gain that it worked out the way it did.....

Father's Day Morning:  6:15am.  Woken up by the damn birds AGAIN, Will sails into our bedroom with his boundless energy.  "Hi Mommy!  It's morning time!!  Can I sit on your bed?  What do you want to do today?  Can I have chocolate milk for breakfast?"  And with that riccochet of toddler verbage, he was off and running into the living room. 

Ugh.  To have that kind of energy, I don't know if I'm jealous or just chagrined.  It being Father's Day, I vowed to take care of it and see if he'd go back to bed.  I woefully roused myself and threw on my robe, and left the sanctuary of my bedroom.

Me:  "Will, it's too early honey.  Let's get you back into bed."

Will: "NO Mommy!  It's morning time!  I want to have breakfast and watch TV!"  starts to cry.

Me:  "ok buddy, I'll make you a deal.  I'll get you a cereal bar and some milk, and turn on the TV.  See that clock there?  It's says six-two-five right now.  When it says seven-three-zero, you can come and get me."

He agrees easily, and I sleepily pour him the milk and open a cereal bar.  I head back to bed and hubby says "that went well." 

I awake to Sean's cries and glance at the clock.  It's now 8:45.  Huh.  Why didn't Will come and get me?  What the hell has he gotten himself into???"  I whip open my bedroom door and there he is, sitting in the living room.  He's brought a bin of toys onto the couch and is playing quietly. 

Me:  "Hey Buddy.  Whatcha doing?"

Will:  "My dinosaurs are having a breakfast campout!"

Me:  "Thanks for letting Mommy and Daddy sleep a little while longer.  How come you didn't get me when the clock said seven-three-zero?" 

And this is the best part....

"Mommy, it never said seven-three-zero.  'Cause CLOCKS DON'T TALK!"  :)

How's That for Honesty :)

Happy Father's Day!  Ours was a bit abbreviated, as Daddy left this afternoon for a business trip to Cleveland.  It's been super crazy around here and I was kind of wishing it was ME who was going to Cleveland!  Things seem to be under control though, for the time being.  Daddy told Will to be good and listen to Mommy, and to make Mommy laugh.  So later on I got this gem: 

"Will, how about we let Sean play with Sparkledoggie?"

"No thank you, Mommy.  He might throw up on him!"

Well....he's got me there!  :)

It's going to be a very long week, but it's going to be OK.  And after this week, a few days later we will be on our way to WISCONSIN!!  And no, no matter how many times Brian kidded me about meeting him in Wisconsin, there's just NO WAY I'd drive all the way there with two kids on my own!!!  We're going to have a fabulous time with our friends  :)  It's important to have something to look forward to, right?

Is There Any Room for You in There???

Today's bedtime is brought to you by Will and his friends.

His friends:  Brown Doggie, Ringing Brown Doggie (one rattles, one doesn't) Sparkledoggie, Tan Doggie, Sheepie, Sunshine, Doodle, Puppy I and Puppy II, Biscuit the Bunny, Bingo Baby-Dog, Handwashing Dog, Polar Bear and Fireman Sam. 

Oh, and I believe that there's a plastic hammer, DVD Case, pair of slippers and at least one water-filled sippy in there, too.

G'Night!

Why Yes, Babies Do Get Jealous

It's Saturday night.  The boys and I had just gotten back from seeing Daddy at the (rain-soaked) Relay for Life.  I really thought hard about turning around and heading home once I realized how wet it was at the event.  Will thought it was great, because Mama let him stomp in ALL the puddles!  At least I got some Cool Points out of it  :)  I changed mine and Will's clothes, Sean was under an umbrella so he was nice and dry.  (I'm glad that I don't have to wring out socks too often!) 

Now I needed a good idea for dinner.  I didn't want to order out and I certainly didn't want to do a whole lot of cooking.  So I came up with a good idea: grilled cheese sandwiches and parmesan-garlic french fries.  And an even better idea:  Let's eat them picnic-style in our living room!  Will was all for it, and even helped out by clearing some toys and grabbing some blankets from his bedroom to spread out.  I brought in the plates and some iced tea for me, he carried in a sippy cup for himself.   I brought Sean in to be part of the party, and heck, Joey joined us too.  But Sean wasn't happy until he was in Mama's lap.  Then, the strangest thing happened.  He was intensely staring at while he munched on his grilled cheese.  I finally made the connection:  he wanted his sandwich!  Oh, he was obsessed with getting his hands on that grilled cheese, he wanted it in the worst way!  He didn't get it of course, but wow, he stalked that thing!  :)

Movie Experience

Brian was telling me this the other day, and I thought it was hilarious.   Brian had "Cast Away" on HBO, when Will came wandering into the living room.  "Whatcha watching, Daddy?  Why is that guy talking to a ball?  Why does the ball have a name?  Is that his friend?  Who is that lady and why is she sad?  Why did he throw that guy down a cliff?  Why is he mad?  Do we have a raft?  I want to go on a raft.  It would be fun!  I want more fun.  What is that guy eating?  Is he at the beach?  Why is he by himself?  Does he have a family?  Did someone bring him mail?  I love ice skates at the beach. Can we eat crabs?  I'm bored.  Can we watch a kid show now?  Daddy, I want a kid show.  I want to watch TV.  DADDY!!!!  Hey, let me talk!"

Poor kid doesn't even breathe between sentences, and he surely doesn't wait for the answers to his questions.  Apparently, his questions during a movie come from his mom's side of the family.  Namely, his Mom.  :)

The Gang's All Here!

Alana and Jason's Wedding last night....fun, beautiful, fantastic!  Congrats to the two of you, and thanks for a wonderful time  :)

Lost Dogs

The other night Brian and I started watching the movie "Sideways."  It was not a hit in our home.  Supposedly it was a comedy/drama, and it won six Independent Spirit Awards.  Now, I have no idea what an Independent Spirit Award is, but there was nothing particularly funny about this movie.  We ended up shutting it off way before it was over.  By then it was too late to start anything else, so we began the usual tasks of getting ready to go to bed.  I'm finishing up knitting a row when Brian comes into the living room and informs me that there are two dogs in our backyard.  Stumped, I asked him if he was sure that they were dogs and not something else.  (His reply: "What kind of question is that????"  Well, we've had possums, raccoons, skunks and the occasional cat, so hey, it seemed logical)  I get up to see for myself and yes, there are two small dogs in my backyard.  I think that they were both Bichon Frise, one white and one gray.  They seemed friendly enough, but they weren't wearing collars or tags.  I couldn't figure out at first how they got back there, and more important, WHY they were back there!  The whole thing gave me a bit of a creepy vibe, but I think that comes from reading too many Charlaine Harris "Sookie Stackhouse" books.  You know, shifters and all?  Maybe 2 of the 5 people who read this blog will get that.  :)

Anyway, I'm standing in the backyard, trying to decide what to do.  Brian suggests opening the driveway gate and letting them out of the backyard and going to bed, but that just doesn't feel right.  Still, I open the back door.  And that's when I hear it:  a guy whistling for a dog.  I yell out, "Hey, are you missing two dogs?"  His reply "Oh yes! Do you have them?  Oh Thank God!"  Suddenly there's three guys running up my driveway and they're super-relieved to have their dogs back.  I think that they must've belonged to one of their moms or a girlfriend, because they were really grateful.  And just like that, they were gone as quickly as they appeared.  The whole situation was just strange!

Procrastination is a Way of Life Around Here....

Know how good it feels when you finally finish something you've been putting off?  It feels incredible! 

This project was two years in the making....not because I was actively working on it, but because I spent a lot of time ignoring it.  It's a wedding record for my brother and his wife.  I actually started stitching it when I found out that they were engaged.  I did the main body rather quickly....and then I learned how to knit.  It also doesn't help that I despise finishing work (regardless of the craft) and this sat in a sandwich bag for oh.....I don't even know how long!  It was supposed to be a wedding present last May.  Then I put it down to knit.  The wedding came and went.  I decided that it would make a lovely Christmas present, once I fixed a couple minor mistakes and initialed the piece.  Then around Christmas....I couldn't FIND the dang thing!!  Christmas came and went.  Then I had a baby and well, nothing got done!  I found the wedding record yesterday wedged between my two yarn organizers.  I've finally washed it and it's drying in a towel in the kitchen right now.  I figured it needed to be done NOW, so I didn't have a chance to lose it again.  It's not initialed....and I don't care!  And now it's finished just in time....for their first anniversary to have gone by.  I'm calling it a first anniversary gift anyway!!

Pictures to come, as soon as it is framed. 

Bingo Baby-Dog

We are happy to announce a new addition to our home.  NO, Crafty Mama is not pregnant.  And no, we're not crazy enough to get a second dog.  Will has a "baby," that he's named Bingo Baby Dog.

Are you surprised he's picked a dog to make a baby out of?  I'm not.  The Baby-Dog is a plush dog that my in-laws sent for Sean as a gift.  The dog sings "B-I-N-G-O and claps its paws as it's singing.  Will of course comandeered it right away, saying that he wants "to share it with Baby Sean."  (i.e. force Sean to give it up for him to play with)  Luckily, Sean doesn't seem to mind at this time but that is sure to change in the near future!

I was on the phone with my mother when Will came into the room the other day, and he's cradling Bingo Baby Dog and singing lullabies.  Since the dog's mouth opens to sing, Will has shoved a binky in it and is now pantomiming a crying baby.  It's the cutest thing, really.   Bingo Baby-Dog has his own "baba" and sleep in a crib fashioned out of an old diaper box.   I've even put it in a diaper (size one works nicely) and an old onesie that doesn't fit Sean anymore.  And of course, no mom worth her salt would let this photo opportunity go to waste!