Already There

Exhibit A

I really should be updating this blog, but instead I am checking all of your blogs to see if you've updated. I have a lot to catch up on, it being the holidays and all, but I'm out of energy today so I give you this by Jason:

A Lesson Learned (See Exhibit A): It snowed earlier this week and I had told the girls that we’d play in the snow as I shoveled the driveway. I’d found Millie’s snow pants but I couldn’t find some to fit Laney and, knowing that everything comes in two these days to satisfy them both, I decided that I needed a creative solution to the problem. Grabbing the plastic wrap I proceeded to wrap the pieces and fasten them to Laney’s legs and lower torso with tape. It was a success and I laughed my ass off at how much of a redneck I was. We had fun in the snow and Laney kept dry despite her spastic snow angels. Well, Jenny comes home and I’m telling her what I did and “how silly is that” and I’m doing something as she goes downstairs. Within minutes she brought up a bag with mittens and gloves and snow pants. Lesson: know when to get creative and when to use what’s already there.

B

You know how some kids get attached to their blankets and protest when you wash them because they like the, ummm, funky smell they tend to get after after they've been dragged around for a few days? Well, Laney is kind of the opposite of that. Yes, she's attached to her blanket (Ye-ow B) and yes, she protests when I wash it, but only because I can't wash it fast enough. She wants that fresh from the the dryer smell all the time. I guess I shouldn't complain about her cleanliness fetish, but it is kind of annoying. She has 2 yellow bs and 2 pink ones. Lately only the yellow ones will do (Ye-oww b, Ye-oww b) and I can't wash them often enough. So I've been tricking her... Sometimes I just put one in the dryer and then let her see me get it out and that is enough to appease her. Next I'll be telling you I rubbed it with a dryer sheet for a minute to make it smell fresher. Hmmm, not a bad idea!

This morning

Millie got in bed with me and said the following:

Mom, I can't wait for my new teeth to grow bigger so then I can call them my Champion Chompers.

(!)

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great weekend with family and friends. We divided our T-day between the Bullough/Fawcetts and the McDonoughs. I won a game of Apples to Apples because I'm amazing. Rematch at Christmas? Well sure! If you can stand the humiliation. Sarah, Brandon and Elliot were in town so we were able to spend a bit of time with them. Oh, and I ate my weight in pie, of course.

Grandpa Frank with a lap full of Zay and Millie

Laney and Elliot. It's hard to see, but I think E's hair is messed up from Laney putting clementine wedges on his head.

Elliot wasn' t sure he wanted to spend time at our house until he saw our vacuum.

b, and Elliot

Sarah and her Grandpa's cowboy boots. If we were, say, having an awesome shoe contest she would totally win.

Laney's Christmas List

For Christmas this year Laney would like scented candles, lots of 'em, and toothbrushes. Seriously, these are the only things she really cares about. A couple weeks ago her Great Grandma June gave her a vanilla scented candle because Laney was going to steal it if Grandma didn't fork it over. Laney brought it home and slept with it for about a week. We couldn't leave the house without it. Unfortunately, she dropped it in the parking lot of Toys R Us where it shattered into a gazillion tiny pieces. I bought her a new one in a little tin cup, which is much better than glass, I might add. It smells like apples and cinnamon.

A word of advice: If she offers to let you smell one of her candles, smell it and then tell her how good it smells. Don't crinkle up your nose in disdain, or tell her it smells nasty like my sister's brother-in-law did last night. She might not ever let you near her again if you talk smack about her candle.

Don't tell her I told you

Millie came home from school today with a worksheet about the letter p. She had to write a couple of p words and one she chose to write was poop. Awesome! Then later Jason and I went to our first parent/teacher conference where her teacher had nothing but nice things to say about her. (Poop was not mentioned.) On the way home we stopped and bought her a little diary with a lock and key to reward her for being such a good student. We told her she could write all her secret stuff in it so she immediately ran to her room, unlocked it and wrote a big secret. Later she told me the secret was poop and her name. But don't tell her I told you!

Obama!

The other day Millie's school held a mock presidential election. Millie couldn't wait to get in the car after school and tell me how she voted for A Rock Obana. High five Millie! We will be working on the correct pronunciation of his name and oh, are we happy!

Pumpkin Carving

Portland

Last weekend I visited Wendy and Dan in Portland where the weather was freakishly sunny and warm. Wendy is my best BEST friend since basically the day I was born. We have one of those friendships where we may not talk all that often, but when we're together we just pick up where we left off. Being friends with Wendy is kind of like breathing; I don't even have to think about it, it's that natural. Love you, Wendy! Oh, and also, Wendy and Dan are the perfect hosts. They live in the most perfect neighborhood and I had the most perfect time. Perfect perfect perfect!

The Pumpkin Patch

While Jason was camping with some of the man-folk in our family, Grams and Gramps Bullough took the girls and me to a pumpkin patch out north. It was a glorious honey-lit day filled with slides, bounce-arounds, kettle corn, a corn maze, a cow train, a wagon ride and of course pumpkin picking.

According to Millie

Regarding the spooooky cave that Grandpa Bullough made in his basement for the kids last weekend: "That was the best surpise ever!"

My sister had the presence of mind to bring her camera to the party so to see the kids in their Halloween costumes go here:

http://happyheberhicks.blogspot.com/

Thanks for documenting that one, sis.

Last Week At Gardner Village

Loose Toof

We're loosing our teeth over here. Or, at least Millie is. Tooth #1 was lost about 2 weeks ago. It hung on for dear life all sideways and jauntily askew for days and days. In an attempt to convince Millie to take matters into her own hands and pull the dang thing out her Uncle Shawn asked the following question: "What if you really loose the tooth?" As in it falls out and you can't find it. Will the Tooth Fairy still come?" Without a moments hesitation Millie replied: "When I have sweet dreams I smile in my sleep and the Tooth Fairy will see my gap." I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, but it's certainly a compelling argument. Later that night Jason helped that tooth wiggle right out of her mouth.

Tooth #2 was lost last week. Millie was VERY brave and pulled it out herself.

We're Here!

I've got photos and thoughts that deserve posting, but they will have to wait until this stupid stomach bug works it way through us. Fun stuff. Wanna come over?

Candle Huffer

So Laney has been driving me a little crazy lately. She has been nutty about wanting to smell all of the candles we have in the house and there are many, not like my-house-is-a-Pottery Barn-many, but many nonetheless. She wants to carry them around and take them with her when we run errands. I'm fine with her smelling them, but I don't want her carrying them around since they:

1. Are in glass containers
2. Are heavy
3. Can smash her toes if she drops them

I've been letting her smell them when we're in the house and I'm supervising her. As I watch her try to cram her entire face into the top of the candle, I am reminded of when I was pregnant with Millie and the smell of meat was enough to send me wretching into the bathroom. If Jason wanted to eat meat he had to cook it himself. Outside. While I stayed as far away from him as possible hunched over a candle huffing away at it like some desperate teenager with a paper bag full of glue. It was the only way to keep the smell of that damn meat from tainting my delicate nostrils. Those were the days.

Artist

Last night over dinner we were discussing Millie's excitement over it being her turn to have the class Sharing Time Bag. She decided the item she wanted to share with her class was her Bee Diary, a notebook with bees on the cover. She ran and got it and then proceeded to show us page after page of her drawings and writing. We had to guess what each drawing was.

She showed us one in particular that, to me, looked like a striped soap dispenser. To be generous I guessed it was a zebra (nope) and then a penguin (again no). Finally we convinced her she should tell us what it was because really, the guessing could go on forever. I mean, one of the previous drawings was a rain dance, so you see how obscure it could be. Somewhat exasperatedly she proclaimed, "It's a candy cane duck! It has mint and meat!"

We Have Fish!

A couple weeks ago J was in Alaska with his dad for a testosterone-injected fishing trip. We have lots of halibut and some salmon, so come over for a fish fry.

Soopa!

Right now Laney is waving around 2 rulers in front of her face and singing, "Soopa Duuuurrrrl! (Super girl, I think.) On Duuurrrl she crosses the rulers and nods her head yes once. Oh, and guys, she just saved a teddy bear.

Kindergarten

Millie's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. She's going to Canyon Rim Academy, a charter school. As you can see from the photos above, she must wear a uniform, which is fine with her except that no dresses are allowed and no pink. I guess in her mind the pink backpack helps make up for all the un-pink clothing.

Millie has been writing her name for a long time now, but her e's have always been kind of upside down. After one day of school her e's are perfect. Of course I tried to help her fix them and she's all like, "Mom, stay out of my business." I asked if her teacher helped her fix them and she says she figured it out herself. A pretty productive first day, if you ask me.

When You're Angry and You Know It

When Laney naps Millie has quiet time. Quiet time = working on an art project while watching a movie. One day last week her movie was over and she asked me for another one. I told her no because she'd had enough TV for one day and she should try to entertain herself in another way. The above picture is what she came up with.

I was folding clothes when all of a sudden I heard a crinkle, crinkle. I looked up and Millie was standing around the corner, just out of sight, waving her angry masterpiece at me. I had to hold back a laugh because, well, it was funny. The good thing is after a minute of waving the picture she started giggling and then we both got to laugh about it together.

Car Conversation

Picture this: Me, Millie & Laney driving along the 215 on our merry way to playgroup, when suddenly the grey BMW sedan in front of us starts weaving and then braking and accelerating erratically. The following conversation ensues:

Me: (to the BMW) What are you doing!!???

BMW: No answer.

Millie: Mom, who are you talking to?

Me: The bad driver in front of us!

Millie: Why?

Me: Because she's text messaging when she should be driving. She's driving like a moron!

BMW: (weave. weave. weave. brake)

Millie: Oh. That reminds me of something.

Me: What does it remind you of?

Millie: Well, Spongebob? He's a really bad driver! He has *bad* boating skills.

(really, she said that)

Laney: Spunbob.

Me: (still watching the dumb text messaging girl weaving about, but from a safer distance. Glad to have a new topic of conversation so I can avoid yelling profanities at said BMW)
What makes Spongebob a bad driver?

Laney: (sees a crane) and yells WA-GOON! (for some reason she associates cranes with Lagoon amusement park)

Millie: (doesn't skip a beat) Sometimes? He drives with his foot while he reads the newspaper and drinks coffee. And that's Not. Doing. The Law!

Me: Your right! That's not doing the law.

Laney: I wike Doobie. (Doobie is how Laney says Oobie, the bare-hand puppet on Noggin.)

Millie: (annoyed) Laney! We are not talking about Oobie right now! We are talking about Spongebob!

Laney: Spunbob. Oooo-tay.

Laney in a tutu with a cameo by Millie

Other Stuff

Fairy wings!

First Haircut

Friends!

More face painting

2!

Laney's 2nd birthday was last Friday. We celebrated with a family BBQ on Sunday. What, might you ask was her favorite gift? A toothbrush. A toothbrush that wasn't even meant for her. As the photos attest, we had a little trouble getting her to put it down long enough to open her real gifts.

You know what I love?

I love how in love with their bodies my girls are. As far as they are concerned their bodies are absolutely perfect (they are!) and there is nothing they cannot do. We've been playing in the sprinklers and you should see the jumping and squealing and booty shaking that happens when their little bodies get in the water. It's pure magic. I dread the day they become critical of themselves and until then I'm going to relish this flawless time.

Summer School

This week has been busy. Millie is in a summer preschool program M-F mornings. Right now she is learning about the solar system and has been brimming with facts. For example:

Millie: Mom, did you know that the sun has sunspots and it's really just a GREAT big star?

Me: (playing dumb) No! Really?

Millie: Yep. And mom, Pluto is no longer a planet, but we're going to learn it anyway.

Me: Poor Pluto, it must be hard not to be a planet any more.

Millie: Mom, Pluto doesn't have feelings. It's just a big rock.

While Millie is in school Laney and I are doing a music class and and a play class at Gymboree twice a week. This has become yet another avenue for Laney to express her not-at-all shy self. Her first music class she was shakin' it in the middle of the circle while all the other kids sat on their adults' laps. Then she went around from kid to kid and got right up in their grills to say "Heh-woe, hi!" while waving her hand about 1 inch away from their noses.

Our Weekend Was...

Fantastic! Really, really fantastic. But not in a we did ton and tons of amazing things kind of way. More in a we hung out together and did a couple things and hung out some more kind of way. What did we do, you ask? Well, Friday night we met up with the McDonough/Fisher clan for some birthday/Father's Day celebrating at Settebello. We had some mighty fine pizza and rather expensive but good gelato.

Saturday was the R&O summer swim party and it was great. Millie is getting more comfortable in the water and Laney is too comfortable. By too comfortable I mean she is constantly submerging herself and then sputtering and submerging herself again. It is her way and we just go with it. We took the girls down the big water slide and according to Millie mommy goes way faster than daddy. Mommy rocks! We ate some fried chicken and watermelon (Stop it! You know who you are and you know what I mean!) We watched the ice cream dudes make ice cream and we ate it too. It was good and liquid nitrogen is way cool! (No pun intended)

Sunday we went out for brunch. While Laney took a much needed nap Millie and J planted some flowers in the backyard. We puttered around and puttered some more.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. (I know it's already the middle of the week and late to be posting about the weekend, but at least I'm posting.)

Busy, Happy Us.

Here is a photo summary of what we've been up to in the weeks following Europe and The Rogue Beagle Event: 1st dance recital

Being fearless!

All that fearlessness deserves some orange soda.


Ridin' the Bee train at the game

Face painting!

Bubbles!

Watching the world go by.

















A little yard work