Down with Winter. Thermophiles Unite.

I probably just made that word up.

Therm = Heat
-Phile = One that loves or has a strong affinity for

But in all seriousness, I live in the wrong climate. Nevertheless, I'd rather not indoctrinate my kids with this hatred of winter, soI made them go outside and play in the snow. They, of course, had a marvelous time dancing



catching snowflakes

making footprints

and check out my super-fake smile:
This Sunday Blair blessed our little french woman. I wanted to take some amazingly adorable pictures of her in her pretty blessing dress (made by Grandma Maureen), but all I had on hand was my phone, which attempts to take photos, but really I don't classify them as photos more like blurry representations of what a photo would look like when painted by Monet... or something.

She's still pretty cute though huh.

Even when she's yawning at me. (or growling like a dinosaur... can't really tell)

Elliot and Astoria: Also cute.

I want it to be spring so badly, that a flower spontaneously erupted from my head.

The End.
I love you.

Is it nap time yet?

I would like nothing more than to fall asleep right this minute.

so so tired

ten (yawn) things for today:

1. A friend of mine decided to start a Give a Good Friend a Good Book campaign, which I whole-heartedly endorse. Therefore, if YOU (yes i mean YOU!) have an Amazon Wishlist, I'd be ever-so grateful if you'd leave me the link? And if you don't have one, commence creation imediately please.

2. I'm making a quilt. I know. It's pretty ridiculous. I thought i'd make one for each of the girls, starting with Elliot. You can probably expect Rousseau's to be done about the time she enters high school.
Here's what I have so far:

I blame the Internet and all those crafty blogs out there. Well if I can do it, let's face it, anyone can.

3. Angels and Airwaves is coming to SLC in May.... ANGELS AND AIRWAVES!!!!!!! It'll be the first real concert Blair and I will have been to since Ben Folds in 2008 (sorry John Allred, you are great but if we can bring our kids, and there are chairs at the venue I'm afraid I can't count it as a real concert). Anyone want to come with us? Incidentally, Blair is obsessed with their new album, LOVE. It is pretty amazing, not to mention it's FREE!!!

4. I am so ridiculously, disgustingly, and completely infatuated with Blair. How did I get so lucky?

5. Do you ever get so tired that your breathing feels all heavy, and your chest kind of starts to hurt? Yeah. Me too.

6. My friend Katie bought me a new notebook for my birthday in order to encourage me to get past the horrible writer's block i've had for the last year. After remaining blank -save for the grocery lists and Elliot drawings in the back- for the last 2 months, it now contains two full pages of actual writing. It's not a lot, but it's a start.

7. iTunes alphabetical adventure: Lullabye - Ben Folds

8. Blair is in his LAST month of student teaching! WOOOHOOOO!

9. Does anyone else have an abnormally difficult time trying to eat healthy?

10.

Painting courtesy of Casey O'Connell

Look at this painting. Isn't it amazing? She is my favorite. Someday I want one.

Winter is Totally Lame

I know i'm not alone in this, but I am NOT a fan of winter. I don't like it when it arrives in November, I don't even like snow on Christmas (yes, I know. Bah Humbug.) But around mid-February it goes from a mild annoyance to full-fledged hatred.

So in the spirit of trying to be a little less miserly, i'm attempting to make a list of things that I can pretty much tolerate, and occasionally even like about winter (Yay for lists!)

Things about winter that do not suck:

1. The deer that come down from the hills and graze in my neighborhood. LOVE them.
2. Sitting on the heater with a blanket and a book (yes Dad, I still do this)

3. Putting warm and colorful tights and boots on my kids

4. Fog (could I see myself living in England? Why yes, I think I could)

Fog over the Oregon City bridge

5. Stepping on that thin layer of ice that forms over the water next to the curb.

6. Hot beverages of all types

7. The way snow looks when it's on things like architecture or bare tree branches (but nothing else about snow)

There are other things that while they don't directly involve winter as a season, they do occur during winter months such as, My birthday, Rousseau's birthday, New Year's, and everything from the 2002 Olympics in SLC (that was seriously awesome, right Natali? Except maybe those heinous berets)


And if I were writing this list to appeal to my hottie-cakes husband, I would of course include basketball season on the list somewhere. But this is my list.

Be Nice

I am not a very neat person. So I really don't have seizures or anything when my kids have toy explosions in the living room, or decide that it's a good idea to eat popcorn in my bed.
I am, however, a reasonably nice and polite person. So it stands to reason that all my kids should be the model of affability right?
Not so much.
Astoria is... well, (how do I say this nicely?) A bully? A terribly violent and sadistic bully?
No day is complete without an episode involving Astoria grabbing Elliot by the hair, pulling her down to the ground, ripping the toy she was playing with out of her hands, then run away top speed. This is not a joke, nor an exaggeration.



Maybe it's a middle child thing? I don't know.

I know that at times I put some unrealistic expectations on her. I mean she is, after all, only two. But because of the fact that she is so ridiculously smart, I sometimes forget that she is not the same age as Elliot. For example, Astoria is obsessed with letters. OBSESSED. Her favorite song is the ABC song, she reads every letter she sees no matter where we are, and she can even read a couple words by sight (to, we, me, go, and jump). It's pretty amazing. But even though she has the literacy skills of a four-year old, her emotional level is still definitely TWO.

So we've tried time-outs, spankings, taking away privileges (like toys and treats). Nothing seems to be sinking in. All I can really hope for at this point is that is just a phase, and that someday her, uh... assertiveness will turn into positive adult traits, like confidence and determination. But as for now, i'm just trying to figure out ways to keep her from getting us kicked out of nursery (again) or the play room at the gym (again).

sigh...

Things I Love

Sometime in the near future I intend to be ambitious and do a list of 100 things I love like unto my friend Jael. But for now, this little Valentine's day list shall suffice.

1. Blair
2. celebrating Valentine's day by chaperoning an 8th grade dance with my sweetie
3. Elliot reading the word "Pet" at the store yesterday
4. Astoria trying to tell me a joke
5. Rousseau's adorable smiles
6. fresh blueberries
7. friends named Katie
8. friends with other names
9. Zumba
10. audio books
11. regular type books
12. Grandmaposa, Papa, Aunt Laura, and Hermes... but not October (just kidding Laura :D)
13. family prayers
14. my new purple phone. her name is Veronica

Aw...

How to be a Lady

Before you get all confused and assume this to be a tutorial (which it is not), let me clarify: I would really like to learn how to act like a lady, and less like a clueless 9th grader. (No offense to 9th graders of course...)

First:

I need a purse that will actually fit stuff inside. You know, stuff I really need, like Pez dispensers and a hundred extra pens. The one i have now is teeny, but i love it because it's Gola brand -if you do not realize the significance of this, then we are obviously not truly friends :) So i've been looking for a new Gola bag, but they are not really purses, more like gym bags. which would be great for fitting notebooks and diapers and such, but i don't want to look like i'm carrying a gym bag around all the time. So to all you ladies out there who have taste (which I do not. Obviously) Please advise me.This is the one i've been looking at.

Second:

I'm not normally a super-crafty person, but I am pretty proud of these Valentine's boxes. I had to hurry and take a picture of these before Astoria ripped off all the letters.

Three:
I bought what I thought were cute and fashionable dark faux-denim leggings. Blair corrected me. Stretch Pants. I'll probably take them back. I am stylistically retarded. I need a personal shopper or something.

In summation:
I am still a 14 year old girl who just wants to be cool. sigh...

The Calm Down Dance

I guess I need to do the calm down dance. While I'm at it, I should probably ask my family to join me. We could all use some calming down.



Ten Things for Today:

1. This morning Astoria got us kicked out of the gym. She beat up two other boys (both bigger than her) because she wanted to sit on the chair they were sitting on. Several apologies and a time-out followed. Sigh... what in the world am I going to do about this girl and all of her, uh, energy.
2. LOST. (really, that's all I can say. I have no words to convey the awesomeness)
   
3. This Friday is TAX RETURN DAY!!! I was thinking about buying a pair of roller skates, but will probably end up getting new tires for my car instead, because that's how I roll. (wah wah)
4. I've hit a snag in my healthy body goals. I really like going to the gym, but as it turns out I also really like eating ridiculous amounts of unhealthy food. Lame.
5. Want to hear something a little embarrassing? Several times during the LOST premier last night I, in my excitement, shouted "OMG!" What am I? 15? Ugh.
6. I need to ask this question to ensure that I am not actually crazy: When you read books, do you start narrating your life in your head for hours afterward? Audio books are even worse, because then I get to hear my life being narrated by someone else.
7. I was thinking about skipping on church this Sunday, then I thought about how much Elliot loves "Sum-Beens" and how sad she would be to miss it.
8. I am very in love with Sausage Potato and Cabbage soup.
9. iTunes alphabetical adventure. Get it Faster - Jimmy Eat World. On the list of bands I MUST see again before I die. (the last time was opening for Weezer in 2002)
10. My hottie-cakes of a husband is apparently the new "Hot Teacher" at PHS. Well, yeah, who couldn't see that one coming. :)

See? Isn't he dreamy?

Love and Rockets...
Maryposa