When the Cat's Away . . .

Not two minutes after Annie left for preschool, Ellie was upstairs raiding her bedroom. And she came walking out of there mighty proud, sporting Annie's sunglasses and carrying around one of Annie's princess backpacks.


In unrelated Ellie news: she's getting more talkative. Ellie loves to vocalize, she sings and babbles and carries on strange one-sided-alien-sounding-language conversations all day long. But just in the last few days I've noticed a lot more mimicking on her part, as well as random new words. Today as we were walking Annie to preschool, Ellie saw one of Annie's friends and waved and excitedly said, "Kian!" As we were leaving she perfectly copied my, "See ya!" and waved enthusiastically at Kian's Mom as she walked away. It always amazes me at this stage how each and every day seems to bring new things they say and do; but I don't think anything is as mind boggling to me as just how much they understand, despite the lack of talking. Ellie seems to soak everything in, and her reactions and responses to things blow me away at their indication of just how much she's getting from the conversations around her! Add to that, Ellie is the most communicative baby I've ever seen (ten times what her sister was), and her ability to respond and get her own point across through various means of (mostly non-verbal) communication is a complete miracle to me. It sure does make life easier, having a kid who happily makes a complete spectacle of herself trying to just get you to understand her already, versus trying to communicate with her older sister at this age, who's attitude was basically, "If you can't read my mind, you obviously don't really love me, and there's no way on this earth I'm even gonna give you even a small hint as to what I'm asking for!!"
Also, Ellie has recently decided that anytime she is seperated from Mommy for more than 5 minutes, our reunion must be met with tight hugs and kisses, as she throws her arms around my neck, holds on for dear life, and happily exclaims, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma!" Melts my heart everytime. Especially since my kids have never been the most cuddly, snuggly kids ever, it's like the most rewarding thing ever to have my baby just want to throw her arms around me and squeeze as tight as she can.

The Rains Came Down

First off, about my last post . . . Annie totally came walking out of her room 2 minutes after I wrote it (after I'd picked out a book, but before I'd gone downstairs to get a Haagen Daaz), informing me she wasn't sleeping 'cause she had to pee, and it may have gotten on her pants a little. So much for the refreshing afternoon. I should've known it was too good to be true! :-) It was nice while it lasted. Such is the life of a Mom. :-)

Anyway, since she was awake and all, I put Annie to work, helping me pack up little 'to go' dinners and everything else we'd need for a late afternoon trip to the State Fair. As soon as Ellie woke up from her nap, I got the girls in the car, complete with their hopefully-not-too-messy-in-the-carseats meals and a bunch of umbrellas (as it had rained and hailed all afternoon at our house) and we headed out to meet Greg, my Mom and sisters and brother in law, and my little brother Cody and his not-supposed-to-call-her-his-girlfriend Taylor at the fair.

Annie and Ellie loved all the animals, both were thrilled to hear a cow loudly 'moooo' (and were excited to hear that it really does kinda sound like 'moooo'), and Annie informed us that none of the pigs she's ever met have ever said 'oink oink.' Turns out real pigs snort and snuff and make disgusting sounding noises, and not one has ever 'oinked' at my daughter, thus proving for what will surely not be the last time, that her parents are full of crap. Annie happily took lots of pictures of the animals (farm ones and her family members) and Ellie shoved her little hands as close to gross smelling animals as often as we let her. I'm pleased to inform you she does still have all ten of her fingers.

Then we did a little fair shopping. My Mom bought a salsa maker/food chopper thing (for like the third year in a row . . . they're apparently remarkable, albeit not that sturdy), and random toys for the girls (like oriental fans and little finger puppets). I stared at the Sham Wows longingly, but could never bring myself to spend the money. Annie is pretty convinced we need a sugar glider, or at least a pet pig. I kinda left wishing I'd bought some fudge or at least a funnel cake, and I think Greg's still wondering why he didn't get the batter dipped deep fried sausage. I was vaguely interested in the deep friend brownie, but just out of a morbid curiousity. Being cheap though, we didn't buy anything from vendors, didn't eat any 'fair food' and didn't even mention to Annie all the rides we weren't letting her see.

After browsing the booths indoors for awhile (with Star and I trying our darndest to avoid eye contact with any vendors, and walk as close to the middle of the aisle as possible), we came outside to find it was now raining. And raining. And raining. And it never let up. We all raced from one building to another, Ellie crying whenever we went inside as she had recently discovered the sheer joy of wielding an umbrella; and everytime we closed it upon entering a building and denied her the happiness of walking around smacking people with a wet umbrella we were met with a tantrum of 16 month old proportions.

I have to admit though, I really kinda enjoyed walking around outside in the rain. My kids were well dressed, and properly equipped with umbrellas, so I felt like I could just enjoy the rain beating down on my hair and face as we walked. It made me feel all young and vibrant or something equally cheesy.

It wasn't the typical outing to the fair, as we didn't stay as long or see as much due to the downpour, but I really had a lot of fun, and I know my kids enjoyed the animals and all the other sights and sounds (but not the smells, oh my goodness that pig area smelled so bad that it made me sick to my stomach.) Plus, the kids got to spend time with Grandma Karine, Aunt Star, Aunt Talina, Uncle David and Uncle Cody, and it was nice to spend some time outside, before and during the rain.

Here's Ellie snuggling with Daddy's head.

Ellie and Uncle David petting the sheep.

Ellie in complete awe of some cows or something. She really was totally fascinated by all the different animals.

Mommy and Ellie. I think we learned a lesson . . . even though Ellie looks adorable in her little denim jacket with matching jeans, I think we're sticking to her pink pullover fleece hoodie from now on, as I had no less than 10 people comment on what a cute little boy she was.

Ellie mad that Annie was getting to take pictures and she wasn't.

Aunt Talina, Annie and Grandma. Annie keeping her eyes on those shifty cows.

Annie, Ellie and Uncle David as Mountain Goats. It was a good look for them.

Ellie was pointing out and 'moooing' to the cows.

Annie, Mommy, Aunt Star and Ellie.

Annie through the bars of the goat pens. A little piece of me died everytime they stuck their hands, foreheads or mouths (ewww Ellie!) on these disgusting bars.

Shhhhh . . . Hear That?

Nothing? That's silence. Amazing, brilliant silence.

As in both of my children are currently in their respective rooms sleeping (or, at least, quietly pretending to sleep, which is darn near good enough for me!) At the same time. This has happened only a handful of times in their collective lives.

I think I'm going to go lay down and read a book. Possibly while eating a Haagen Daaz bar. All the while not even thinking about dishes. Sweet!

Ch-ch-changes

I'm warming to my new hair, but I'm fairly convinced it isn't my best look. The 'non-comments' have been proof of that. You know what I mean, like when you've been hanging out with your Mom for over 20 minutes when you finally just mention a few 'small' changes you made to your hair the night before and she responds with, "Yeah, I noticed that." When people just don't mention your dramatic style change, it's usually for a reason. :-) Or there's the comment-comments, not compliment-comments . . . like, "Wow, you changed your hair." Not, "You changed your hair, I like it!" Just, "Wow, that's different." My other clue is my sweet husband, who upon coming home from work and seeing it actually done for the first time, looked at it for a minute, than asked, "So what do you think of it?"

So, possibly not my best impromptu style makeover.

Oh well, there's always next time. :-)

Impulsiveness

So, I'm a bit of a control-freak.

I don't really think I am, until I suddenly am faced with a situation where I feel powerless, and then it hits. Definite control-freak. And, well, the world isn't set up to make us control-freaks happy all the time, what with uncertainty, surprise, the unexpected, ambiguity and inconclusiveness that seems to be in ready supply in life. And when I feel powerless, I'm usually spurred into something where I feel like I'm in control. Like shopping. But, the economy sucks, so I turn to my second best defense against powerlessness . . . I do something drastic with my hair. It's really a better option than shopping, as it's fairly cheap and easy to change, and it always grows back. Something not true of money, as nobody has found the fabled money tree yet.

So, I've been in the midst of a week where I've been forced to be patient. Not something I'm really that great at. And where I'm confronted with the reality that we really have very little control over a lot of things. And you just have to be OK with that. Something else I'm not that great at. So, last night, after yet another day of being no closer to an answer or conclusion or whatever, I turned to Greg and said, "I want to cut my hair." He was probably afraid I was gonna whip out scissors and go to town on it right there, but instead I picked up the phone and called a friend who's cut my hair in the past far better than pretty much anyone else I've ever found. No answer. Well, now I already had this idea in my head, and there's no turning back from that. So, I was prepared to spend the extra money, and risk a crappy cut, and drive to the nearest place that said it cut hair, and ask them to lop several inches off. Greg, being incredible and sweet like he's been all week, was all, "OK hon, I'll get the kids down for bed, you just go do what you have to . . . " and basically metaphorically handed me the checkbook and sanctioned my impulsiveness. So, I drove to the first salon I noticed and got my hair cut. I think she did a good job, although I mildly started internally freaking out when I realized just how much she'd cut off the back (realizing it would take extra work to get that short of layers to do what I want). But I felt good, my hair felt lighter. I felt lighter. Kinda liberated. As lame as that is. I even bought the expensive shampoo and conditioner (feeling kinda chastised for the poor condition of my overly dry hair) and left feeling better than I had all week.

I got home, my kids were asleep, my house was quiet and my husband suggested I go take a nice bubble bath or something. Bliss, right? Until I looked in the mirror in the bathroom, when I suddenly felt like I wasn't 'done'. I hadn't made enough changes I guess, hadn't exerted enough control over those things in which I actually have control, so I got out some 'medium rich brown' hair dye, and went to town.

And now my hair looks almost black.

Crap. I should've stopped while I was ahead.

Either way though, it felt good to just go do it. To make a decision and just go with it, no matter the nearly-black consequences. I was in control. The color will fade. And my hair'll grow back. And everything will turn out just fine.



Edited to add the picture, with the following disclaimer: my hair actually looks darker in person, the flash 'brightened' it up . . . and this doesn't show how short the back is . . . I do like the picture though, and I think I'd be really happy with it the cut it wasn't for the fact it actually takes longer to do, rather than less time, 'cause of all the short layers in back.

More Pictures of Last Month's Family Togetherness

Back in August we went to Thanksgiving Point, and I already posted lots of pictures from there. But being that I'm obviously a never-too-many-pictures kinda person, I'm happy to add some of my (many) favorites from the pictures my sister in law Andrea gave me on CD this week. (Getting pictures on CD/flash drive from other people's cameras of my own kids is like Christmas.)
Thanks Andrea!

Andrea also passed on a few pictures of the kids taken at Great Grandma Verla's house that same week.

Nathan and his new best friend, the Baseball shaped balloon.
This was great fun for both babies until it died a tragic, deflated death.

Connor and his Daddy.

Annie making a goofy face of some kind.

Ellie still confusing me as to what her actual eye color should be called . . .

I'm also throwing in a few more Yellowstone pictures from Andrea's camera too . . . just for fun. 'Cause heaven knows I haven't posted enough Yellowstone pictures. :-)

Another of Annie's Too Frequent Milestones: Her First Day of Dance

Annie's growing up way too quick.
But dang, it's fun to watch.

She started dance today, and she was so excited about it. Especially about there "being another girl named Annie there!" and "Songs about hippos and Christmas!"
She loves the outfits (we have three different leotards for her already, and the majority feature Disney Princesses . . . it's like she's gone to princess clothes heaven). She loves the ballet shoes (and she's anxiously awaiting her tap shoes, as her "marching didn't sound as good" since her shoes hadn't arrived in time for class today). She thought getting a sucker at the end of class was about as cool as it gets (she also has a similar affection for our bank though). She was so antsy to get there this morning that she bolted to the van and climbed in before I got any good pictures of her dressed and ready to go. Which meant we were well on schedule to arrive a few minutes before we could even get in the building, but it was just so much fun to get caught up in her excitement, that I didn't mind sitting out in the car listening to our Brite Music CD that has some "Watch Me Dance" song on it that we listened to a good 3 or 4 times in a row. The only problem was she kept asking me what the dance terms in the song meant . . . I should've made a list of them so we could've asked her teacher once she got to class! :-)
She informed me after class that she had a lot of fun, and that it wasn't more fun or less fun than preschool, but the same amount of fun. Which is a very, very good thing!

Annie + Cat Hair =

(Also could have been titled: Yet Another Reason I Believe Cats are Satan's Minions.)

Wordless Wednesday

Thanks a Lot Disney

Right before bed Annie asked me the loaded question, "So Mommy . . . why do some Princesses have Moms, but other Princesses don't have Moms? What happened to their Moms?"

I'm thinking about forwarding on all similar veined future questions to Michael Eisner.

(OK, so I know Michael Eisner isn't actually the head of Disney anymore, but I don't know nothin' 'bout this 'Robert Iger' character . . .)

They Grow Up So Quick

Just last year (exactly a year ago, in fact) my little girl's idea of 'dressing up' was throwing a purse on her head as a hat, and voilá, she was all accessorized and ready to enjoy a snack pack of Cheese Nips.

Now it's agonizing jewelry decisions, wardrobe options, and some serious time spent with Mommy's makeup. What a difference a year makes.




She's growing up so quick.