Enough... I give up!

I admit it's pretty.

It's even magical.

But... that's it.  Winter wins.  I give up.  I might just need to learn to hibernate.

Unfortunately, I'm told I cannot hibernate.  Some people have to get to work or something.  So... out come the shovels.  Thank goodness Nick decided to buy the snowblower.

I know it's hard to believe... but there was a minivan under there somewhere.

I will be surprised if the snow (on top of snow on top of snow) melts before April.

But... the roads are plowed and life continues.  We DO live in NJ after all. 

And... our neighbors believe in starting great traditions like snow beer (because who wouldn't want a Guinness while shoveling?)

We'll look back and say "I remember that year when we had snow up to HERE!"

"I remember we had a BIG snow at least once a week for at least 3 weeks!"

But the sun keeps shining.  The blue skies keep coming out after the snow.

The kids keep smiling.

Snow makes us busy.  And busy kids are happy.

Yeah... I've had enough of the snow.  But I suppose when I look back I'll think fondly of the girls with smiles on their faces and snow up past their tushies.

Wordless Wednesday - Snow, snow, and more snow

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

We came to some conclusions today...

Zoe is going to become a professional death metal singer.

Ana is going to become a beer connoisseur.


Not exactly the direction you would envision for your 5 and 2 year old daughters.



It seems Nick might be having more of an effect on them than I am.

Grace in Small Things - 106

1. A husband who "likes" to vacuum.

2. Blue skies.

3. Warm slippers.

4. Cuddling under snuggly blankets on the couch.

5. Ana's bottom lip when she's pouting.

Mmm... that looks good!

Zoe is watching the Food Network.  She occasionally asks to watch it.  She absolutely wants to watch certain people if we pass by the channel and see them.  Her favorite chefs seem to be Anne Burrell (Secrets of a Restaurant Chef)  and Sunny Anderson (Cooking for Real).  I don't know what it is about them... but if she sees them we have to watch.  Maybe it's their bright cheery sets and clothing?  Maybe it's their attitudes?  Maybe it's the fact that they like to eat the food they're cooking?  I don't really mind... because I like them too (for all of those reasons). 

Just now Zoe was watching the Food Network while I'm in the kitchen.  I suddenly hear her commenting on the food. 

Zoe -"Mmmm that looks good.  Oh... that looks good.  Mmm."

I finally said "Zoe?  What looks good?" 

Her answer?  "I don't know... but it sure looks yummy.  I would eat it."

She then came in the kitchen to tell me "I'm not sure what she's cooking now... but before she made an angel food cake.  I think I might like an angel food cake.  She said it was fluffy... like a cloud.  How do you cook a cloud?"

I'm afraid there might be a lot more baking and cooking going on in our kitchen in the future.

Delurking Day 2011

What in the world is delurking day, you ask?

Well... lurking.  That is when you're out there reading but not commenting. (I know you're out there.  I see you.)

So, delurking... that would be this very special day when you come out of hiding.  Take a minute to actually click and make a little comment.  Right here on my blog... not on twitter or facebook.  Right here.  Let me know you're out there reading.

(I swear... that little Disqus comment form thingy is really not that hard.  You type, click post as, and then pick how you want to sign in.  Even "guest" just asks for your name and e-mail.)

If you read and comment regularly... I love you!  Comment again!!!

If you read and think... eh... she doesn't really care if I comment.  What do I have to say?  Comment now!!!!  I do care! I love comments. 

Supposedly there are about, oh, 93 or so of you out there on google friend connect.  And... well... feedburner claims there are about 165 or 216 of you subscribing to a feed of some sort (depending on what day I look and how it decides to be on any given day).

So comment!!!!!  Please!

And if you can't think of a single thing to say... just "hello I'm here today!!! is fine.  (Actually, any comment is fabulous today!) Or take a second and share a link to one of your favorite blogs.  I'm going to spend some time today doing some delurking of my own... and it would be a great day to visit some new people.

I'll start with sharing... I personally want to thank Loralee at Loralee's Looney Tunes for her Delurking Day post.  Last year I totally missed out on Delurking Day.  Today... I'm getting in at the very beginning because she posted at the very beginning!  Such a silly thing to be thankful for... but one of the best things about blogging is the comments.  I love Loralee's blog.  She's hysterical. And she writes in such an honest way.  And... I actually was able to see her speak on a panel at BlogHer in NYC last summer and say hello to her in person.  Go visit Loralee and comment there too!

Happy Delurking Day!

Grace in Small Things - 105

1.  Travel coffee cups (I would not survive days where we're running late without them).

2. The school bus that brings Zoe to school and home each day (allowing Ana to nap without being interrupted daily).

3. Sleeping late.  (especially on a day when we don't have to rush... even if it means Ana will be late to her toddler school.)

4. Running into a classmate at the food store... and seeing the look on Zoe and and her friend's faces each and every time we passed in an aisle.  Complete look of giddiness.

5. Fancy Nancy Loves! Loves!! Loves!!! The combination of Fancy Nancy and stickers is almost too much for Zoe to handle.

Wordless Wednesday - snow snow snow

10 pm 1/11/11

10 am 1/12/11

Anniversary Flowers

Nick and my 9th anniversary is Thursday (January 13th).
Unfortunately Nick is celebrating our anniversary in Spain while I am celebrating here.
He will be working in Spain... while I may very well be on a 2nd day of no school trapped in the house with Zoe and Ana (although they haven't closed school yet and I'm wishing a praying they won't have to!)

I have promised him that I will try to make sure all 3 of us are still alive and present when he comes back on Saturday.

These arrived today though...

so while we might get another blizzard outside... it will smell a bit like sunshine and spring inside.

Happy Anniversary Nick!
I love you! and miss you! and wish you were here to celebrate with me!

Um... no... scratch that... I wish it would have worked out for us BOTH to be in Spain!

What does it mean when the highlight of your day was taking a 2 1/2 year old to their first dentist appointment???

It COULD mean that even if it was horrid... it was an improvement over the way the day started, which involved:
- sleeping late (yippee!!! unless you have a morning dental appointment at 9:40.)
- barely having enough time to get 2 girls to eat a cheesestick (which Ana spit in the garbage) and 4 strawberries a piece for breakfast.
- not even having enough time to drink 1 cup of coffee... forget about breakfast (although the coffee did make it into a travel cup and even INTO the car).
- realizing at 9:15 that I hadn't printed out the dental office paperwork to fill out ahead of time.
- Grandma getting to the house to watch Zoe at 9:25 because she also had a rough morning (and our appointment was at 9:40 remember).
- getting to the medical office parking lot at 9:37 to find it PACKED and cars circling.  10 minutes later I finally stalked a woman and followed her to her parking spot all the way at the opposite side of the lot at the next building over in the last row.
- realizing it was 26 degrees out and I had a 37 pound 2 1/2 year old to convince to walk across above parking lots.
- waiting for an elevator for over 5 minutes where Ana became more an more nervous as more an more people started to wait for an elevator (especially when the little old lady who reminded me of the witch in Hansel and Gretel leaned over to pat her on the head and say "what a cute little boy you have!"  Um... hello... earrings and a big hot pink coat.)
- getting Ana's name called quickly for our appointment (yippee)... but getting put in a room right next to a chair where a 3ish year old boy was screaming his terrified head off... which could very easily have freaked Ana totally out since she HATES when anyone else cries and screams or makes any really loud noises for that matter.
- realizing I forgot to bring the camera for Ana's 1st dentist appointment.  sniffle sob

BUT... to be to be totally honest... it means that Ana was AWESOME at the dentist. 

The dentist appointment was actually fun and full of laughs from Ana, the hygienist, the dentist and me.  That should not have been a surprise with Ana the comedian.  (Although she could have gone in totally the opposite direction and been Ana the shy, crying, screaming child.  Ya never know.)  I also should realize that I have wacky children who actually enjoy doctor appointments, and shots, and dental cleanings.

I think Ana totally surprised the hygienist.  The woman started asking her all of these friendly warm-up type questions... and I think she expected Ana to just be shy and nod or do whatever normal small children do at the dentist for the first time.  Except Ana had an answer for everything.  (And if you really have met Ana... I'm sure you can just imagine her answers and tone of voice).  I don't even know how to explain how funny she was, although she was totally serious while still being funny.

I think Ana may have been about ready to say "Ok lady... are we gonna do this dentist thing or what?" when the topic finally rolled around to teeth.  From there she was a pediatric dentist office dream.

She sat still.

She turned her head when told to.

She smiled into the mirror on demand.

She watched in the mirror as her teeth were brushed.

She had picked out raspberry toothpaste... and she seemed to enjoy it.  (Maybe I need to buy some raspberry toothpaste because she certainly doesn't let US brush her teeth this way.)

The dentist came in to take over.  Ana got visibly nervous at the transition from one person to another... and the chair leaning back didn't help too much.  The hygienist was great though... she immediately noticed that the nerves set in as the chair tilted... and she pointed out that the prep had gone really well sitting up more.  The dentist sat the chair back up a bit and Ana was right back to perfect little patient.

Ana's favorite part of the whole visit may have been the mint flavored fluoride gel she picked out.  They show the kids pictures to help them pick a flavor... and the mint has a picture of a candy cane.  The dentist had to laugh while she was trying to get the gel on all of her teeth because Ana kept trying to lick the brush like it was a lollipop.  (I really had to laugh when the dentist asked "she does like her food, doesn't she?")

Ana convinced the hygienist that she should get a pink toothbrush in addition to the purple one she already picked out.

Yeah... a 2 1/2 year old's first dental appointment was definitely the highlight of my day.

Thank goodness for the camera on my iPhone.  I am a total believer in the statement "the best camera is the one you have with you."  The big fancy DSLR would have been nice... but the bitty iPhone got my shots well enough.  Thank goodness Ana didn't run the battery down on the car ride over while playing kid apps!!!!!!!  (That totally would have been in line with the rest of the morning.)

School Portraits

If you've been reading my blog for a while... it should come as no surprise that I'm just getting around to showing you the school portraits that Zoe and Ana had taken in the fall. The photos are AWESOME. You would think I would have immediately posted them and said "Look at my gorgeous girls!!! They take great school portraits! Nothing like their mother!!!"

But, yeah... no.  I seem to have become a procrastinator who could win awards (if there were awards for such a thing).

Anyway, here are the portraits.  I'm sure they will probably look at them when they're teenagers and say "Ugh... how awful.  I can' believe how bad that picture is.  And you shared it on the internet!!!"  For now... I'm quite proud of my girls' portraits.

Zoe - Kindergarten (5 years old)

Ana - Toddlers (2 years old)

I'm in the bathroom about 10 times every hour...

sometimes I'm in there every 5 minutes over an hour or 2.

I've been spending a lot of time looking at this...

and these...

So today we went out and bought a really big bunch of these...

because at this point you just really can't have enough.

That's 21 pair of size 4t underpants people.  To add to the drawer that holds about 2 dozen pair of underpants that we've been using as bloomers/diaper covers whenever Ana wears dresses.

The underwear drawer is ready for Ana to be potty trained.

I don't know if I can say the same for her Mommy.

We may Just Dance ourselves to death.

We are currently renting Just Dance Kids.  The first time we played Zoe and I danced for an hour.  I thought I might die from over exertion... or pee my pants laughing.  I think we may need to just keep the game.  Or buy a new copy.  

I've had just as much fun watching the girls dance as I've had actually dancing too.  I've lost count of how many short videos I've taken.  I'll just share this one... for now.

1.  Ana knows how to shake her booty.

2.  Ana's current favorite Wiggle is Jeff.  And The Wiggles belong to Ana.

3.  Zoe can dance and chew gum at the same time.

4.  A tiara works with any outfit.

5.  Way too much crap is on our coffee table to allow for anything that's suppose to be there.  Like coffee.

6.  Zoe is quite good at Just Dance Kids.  She beats me at least 1/2 of the time.

7.  You will not be seeing any video of me playing Just Dance Kids.

Picture Winter - Intended for Everyday Use

Well... I signed up for another month of Big Picture Classes.  All it took was a teeny tiny "nudge nudge" from Tracey in my Best Shot Monday comments. 

So... what do I consider a staple in my everyday life?  What is something that is always there... always used... but totally overlooked?

I was not EVER... no NEVER... going to drive a mini van. Not me. No way. No how. Now... it is definitely put to use every single day.

Best Shot Monday!

On March 19th 2007 I posted my very first Best Shot Monday.  Best Shot Monday with Tracey was one of the main reasons I started my blog. I watched for so long as other people shared their photos... until I just couldn't take it anymore.  It is the "place" where I met the majority of my blogging friends.

Tracey announced today that she is "closing the chapter of Best Shot Mondays".  While I haven't participated in a while... Best Shot Monday was my starting point.  It's where my blog began.  So... I'm a little sad to see the end.  But... I understand Tracey's need to move on.  I can also say that this might nudge me into taking another of Tracey's Big Picture Classes (like the Picture the Holidays that just finished). 

So today... today is the last Best Shot Monday.

I thought it would be fitting to finish how I started... with Zoe bundled for a snow day.   I must say that it's fun to compare this photo to my first.  Some things are the same.  Some things different.  Time does go quickly, doesn't it?

So... thank you Tracey for helping to pull me into blogging.  Thank you for creating such a warm community.  And for creating something that encouraged me to take a better look at my photography.  Best of luck with the next big thing!

Happy New Year!

Yes... the girls were both actually awake and chipper at midnight.  We watched the ball drop on TV.  We yelled "HAPPY NEW YEAR" as loud as we could.  We gave hugs and smooches.  We headed straight to bed. 

Thank you so much for being a part of my 2010.

May your new year be filled with hugs and smooches and all of the happy you can handle!