autumn? nope. crazy season.

I'm not sure this past weekend will fit into one blog post, but I'm going to give it a whirl!

Friday night, thanks to my mom being here to oversee what's here of the collective, Joe and I went to the Switchfoot concert. Despite the fact that they are my favorite band ever, this was only the second Switchfoot concert I'd ever been to. And it was fabulous! It was just Switchfoot, no openers. They played the new album ("Hello Hurricane") in its entirety then they played some older stuff. The concert was at Warehouse Live, which is a pretty good venue. I'm not sure I'd willingly attend a standing room only concert for just any band, but with this concert it actually worked. And here's a picture of Jon Foreman when he came out into the crowd and stood with the guy directly in front of us to sing a chorus of one song.


Saturday was Jared's birthday party. He had requested a Thomas (the Tank Engine) cake for his birthday party. And this is why it is useful to marry an engineer (among other reasons):


I also had train engine shapes for the kids to color and then I would assemble them with shoulder straps so they could be trains on the train tracks. Well, that didn't pan out. Instead, after Jared opened his presents, which were literally *all* trucks, with a few clothes thrown in for good measure, he took to driving his trucks around on the tracks. So it all worked out.


Sunday was Ashlee's 5th anniversary at our church. She got a golf cart for a gift. That didn't really have anything to do with us, nor did it add to the craziness of my weekend. I just thought I'd share.


Today, I implemented plan A of the "get Jadyn to stop chewing on her fingernails" attempt. This consisted of painting her fingernails (and her toenails, just for kicks). She chose red glitter polish - one of my personal favorites for the Christmas season. So I painted my toenails too. Her toes look cute, and so do mine! Hooray for having daughters!

I talked to Alaina today...she's doing well. I am really looking forward to seeing her pictures!

This is the conversation I had with Jared this evening. He decided that one of his little cars - a school bus - also had ice cream in it. So he offered me some.

Jared: "Here's your ice cream!"
me: "Thanks!"
pause
Jared: "Give me a money!"

A little later, he offered me some more ice cream.
me: "I don't have any money."
Jared: "Get some!"

hooray technology!

Check this out! Clearly she's tired, but my dad told me today that she's doing really well and having a lot of fun.


She told me that she hadn't written in her journal yet, but that she was going to do that tonight before she went to bed. She also has a black and white (her favorite colors) punjabi, and she has chosen punjabi material for Jadyn that will "look like a pretty princess dress."

So far, so good. /whew!

Thanks to my cousin Dev for posting pictures on Facebook! Isn't technology amazing? :)

boys are special, reason #111 and #112

So I'm driving home from the Galleria area at 6:00pm tonight. (Enough said, right? It gets better.) I was picking up my sister's and daughter's passports which had been freshly approved and stamped with visas to India. I had Jared and A.J. with me. (Told you it was better.)

Determined to suck it up and deal the best I could, we made it out of the visa office without a trip outside/to the bathroom/wherever for some, um, more stringent discipline. Anyway, we're in the car, sitting in traffic, and Jared is alternating between entertaining me and telling me which way I should be driving. At one point, he starts singing "Twinkle Twinkle," and asks me to sing along. So I do. Then he asks me to sing the Doxology (we've started singing that at bedtime also...long story), so we sang that together too. As soon as we finish, he says, "Okay, time to go to bed now! Going to sleep in the car!" He then closed his eyes and leaned against his headrest, feigning sleep.

Of course I had to play along. "Jared, are you sleeping?"

Without blinking, "Yes!"

A few seconds later, in his delightful yelling voice, "Wake up time!"

After about 30 minutes and 10 miles, I asked him about one of his classmates at Mother's Day Out. I had been tipped off about this particular classmate from my informant.

"Jared, was Aubrey in your class today?"

"No."

Knowing otherwise, I persisted. "Jared, was Aubrey in class today?"

Unintelligible mutterings, then, "Yeah."

Different tactic. "Jared, is Aubrey your friend?"

Without hesitation, "Aubrey's a girl."

Clearly, being a girl disqualifies one from friendship status in Jared's world.

Ask for pink state of Texas cookies...



get pink state of Texas cookies!

I would give you one, but they're for Azina's going-away party. She's moving to my house next weekend!

the dawn of understanding

You may have heard the tales of Jared's naptime and bedtime exploits.

So I have taken to locking the door to the bathroom and putting up the gate in his doorway so that he cannot get out or relocate the bathroom accessories to his bedroom.

This afternoon, I did as usual, first locking the door to the bathroom.

"Mommy, you lock the door?"

"Yep. So you can't get in and make a mess."

I put up the gate in his doorway.

"Mommy, now I'm stuck in here!"

"Yep."

Hysterics ensue.

old fashioned sing-along

(to the tune of "Frere Jacques," emphatically and at the top of your lungs)

R-E-D red
R-E-D red
That spells red
That spells red
Fire trucks are red
Stop signs are red too
R-E-D
That spells red

(take a breath, then continue, same tune)

I am special
I am special
Look at me
You will see
Someone very special
Someone very special
It is me
It is me

Go ahead, try to get that out of your head now.

Uh-huh. That's what I thought.

You're welcome.

firsts, part ii

And the winner of the first package? A tie! Jadyn's shoes and my anniversary present arrived at the same time on Tuesday. The curriculum arrived the next day.

I love this plate! And it was engraved by the artist.

But never fear! There are more exciting firsts to report!

Last night I made the first new recipe I've tried in my new kitchen - my mom's beef and noodles (homemade noodles!), except I made it with venison. The noodles were fabulous, and I'm told the venison was good, too.

(Curious what the last new recipe I tried in the old house was? Molten chocolate lava cakes. Definitely a high note to go out on!)

The most recent first? Today, right before naptime, was the first time the girls locked everyone out of the rooms. Their bedroom and the boys' bedroom connects via a bathroom, and they locked all the doors and pulled them shut behind them. Awesome. Consequently, I took apart a doorknob for the first time for a reason besides painting! Time to take those Lois Lane lock-picking classes...

firsts

Two weeks ago, we moved into our new house. It has, logically, led to a series of firsts that we have experienced recently. It's the kind of thing that OCD nerds like me keep track of.

This house has a gas stove, which is new to me. The first thing I cooked on it was omelets, successfully, I might add.

The first dinner we had for our Friday night Bible study was tortilla soup and sopapilla cheesecake, which makes sopapilla cheesecake the first thing I baked in my shiny new oven.

Last night, to celebrate Lisa's triumph over her last exam for her master's degree, we had the chocolate fountain for the first time in the new house.

I'm waiting to see what the first package to arrive at my house will be - Jadyn's new Crocs (her feet finally grew!), our new homeschool curriculum (which I am very excited about!), or our anniversary present (which I am also very excited about!).

As for the boxes...well, there are at least a few rooms where there are no boxes. That's all I can say...

how to tell if your kid is a nerd, tip #12

If your six-year-old has ever thrown a tantrum that sounded anything like this, "I wanna write a nonfiction book!" then your kid is a nerd.

movin' to the country/gonna eat a lot of...cookies

Ever wondered what 116 decorated sugar cookies look like?

Wonder no more!


And some close-up shots.


Do you want some cookies? All you have to do is volunteer on a Creekside Christian Fellowship children's ministry team!

In other news, go to my mom's blog and help her name her business! She's giving out a prize, which you get to pick too!

spew

The children and I went to Target yesterday afternoon. Now, in order to make this a bearable experience for everyone involved, I often employ an incentive (read: bribe) in the form of an icee as a reward for good behavior.

They kept their end of the bargain, so I kept mine. I paid for the icees and distributed the cups, and then we moved down the counter to icee dispensers. As we were paying, some kids came in and stood by the icee machines as they waited for their parents/guardians/responsible parties to buy their own icee cups.

It would have been one thing had these children merely been standing there waiting for their icee cups. No big deal. Not terrific manners, but not a big deal. However, these children - I think there were 3 or 4 of them between the ages of about 4 and 10 - apparently just couldn't wait another minute for the icee goodness and were using their fingers to swipe the drips off the end of the icee nozzles. Gross.

But even this wasn't good enough for them. They then proceeded to stick their nasty little fingers INSIDE the icee nozzles.

It was on the tip of my tongue to say something. I had no idea at that point if their responsible parties were around (I later figured out that they were behind me in line), but that wouldn't have stopped me. I was honestly too shocked and appalled at their behavior to actually form the words to tell them to stop.

So let this serve as fair warning. If I ever see anything like that again, rest assured that I won't suffer the same vocal paralysis. I will be making my objections known because seriously, that's just disgusting.

I turned on Pandora on my laptop.

Jadyn: Can we hear a fourth of July song?

Me: (a little bewildered) Like what?

Alaina: Like this. "Saturday, in the park, I think it was the fourth of July..."

guess what time it is?

Game time!

We're going to play a little game called "put a caption to this picture." I'll post pictures from our trip to Omaha, and you can think of an amusing caption for each one. It'll be great!











Aren't they cute?!?

where were you while we were getting high?

No time to blog...too much painting. And if I'm not painting, there are about a million other things I should be doing. What was I thinking?!?

My house smells like paint.

Don't believe any allegations that I have committed appliancecide. They are untrue. (But I will post a picture when my new dryer gets here!)

yesterday

We had church in our brand new building yesterday. I've never been part of a church that has built a new building. The church I grew up in bought their building, but I don't remember the first Sunday in that building. I'm sure it was great, but those kinds of things just don't impact children like they do adults.

The funny part is that our building isn't done. Apparently it's about 70% done. But there's something kinda cool about having church there, while it's still being finished. I guess it feels more like being part of the process.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting on the edge of Jadyn's bed to do Alaina's hair.

Me: Alaina, could you sit on the floor please?

Alaina: Yeah, I'm too big.

Me: You are tall.

Alaina: I get that a lot.


And now for the completely nerdy part of yesterday. Don't judge me because I'm very excited about this. My very first fanfic was uploaded to the Lois & Clark Fanfic Archive yesterday! I've only written two, and this is actually the second one I wrote, it just got uploaded before the first one. I just had to share because it's a big deal to me! Okay, I'm done now. :)

out of the box

Some of you may not believe it, but sometimes I just have to let the nerdiness out.

See, I hear the disbelieving sounds you're making. You can't believe that it's ever hidden away. Well, it is.

Joe and I went to see Star Trek on Sunday afternoon. It was fabulous! I really, really loved it.

If I can get away with it, I'm going to try and escape and go see it again. (Anyone out there up for a late night nerdfest with me?)

Here's a fun quiz to test your nerdiness. I missed one.

Have you seen Star Trek yet? If not, why not? If you have, what did you think?

Happy May Day!

I couldn't find a picture of a basket with popcorn and jelly beans, but that's what you'd be getting if you were anywhere in my vicinity on May Day.

But Happy May Day anyway!

Yes, I know it's probably some made-over pagan festival. Yes, I know that basically no one outside of the midwest has any idea what May Day is or has even heard of it.

But I have these great memories of one of my best friends and her sibs (who lived two houses from us if you went through the backyards but three if you went through the front yards) leaving styrofoam cups filled with jelly beans and popcorn on our doorstep, ringing the doorbell, and running away. Then we'd reciprocate. We always found each other, but we never made anybody kiss anybody else because "ew."

So Happy May Day to you, and if you should come to my house, I'm still not gonna kiss you. Jared probably would, though.

hmmm...

I'm not sure how this fits into the conspiracy, but I went to HEB tonight for lunchables for our play date at the water park tomorrow. And when I checked out, the dude asked me if I wanted some reusable bags...for free. So I said, "Sure." And now I have 3 reusable grocery bags. Which is cool, I'm all for reusing stuff, but I wasn't about to actually buy the bags myself.

I'll let you know when I work this into the conspiracy theory.

walks like a duck

I'm beginning to suspect an Earth Day conspiracy.

I haven't quite worked out the specifics, but something is going on.

Last night, sometime after midnight, the power blinked. Not unusual by itself, but the first in a series of troubles.

All morning, the cable has been erratic, as has the internet.

Then my brother called me, on my cell phone, and the connection was terrible - kept breaking up - which is unusual.

I think the environmentalist wackos found me.

They're welcome to come find me. They'll be getting my carbon footprint on the rear.

Disclaimer: I'm all about environmental stewardship. But there is nothing on this planet more important than people. Oh, and once/if the environmentalist wacko "scientists" start applying the scientific method in their experiments, magically most of our "problems" will disappear. Have you heard the ice is actually getting thicker in Antarctica? Global warming my big fat toe.

I will not be outstubborned.

Some miscellaneous thoughts that have not yet made it to my blog:

We went to the UH vs. UCF softball game today. It was a lot of fun! We lost that game, but we won the first game of the doubleheader, so we came out even. I think the kids had fun, but sometimes it's hard to tell. Joe almost caught a foul ball. He would've caught it had he not been holding the baby. As it was, he made sure it didn't hit any of our small children, which is what really matters. He and Alaina took it to the concession stand, where she traded it in for a blow pop. Good times.

Ravi was the color commentator for the radio broadcast of the Omaha Beef game last night. He was really good. I actually listened to 3 hours of an indoor football game on the radio and enjoyed it. The Beef won.

I discovered something depressing the week before last. When I was growing up in Omaha, I always said that when I had a house of my own, I wasn't going to live so far out that I'd have to drive by cornfields to get there. (The cornfields across from my parents' neighborhood don't count because they are owned by Boys Town.) When Joe was looking for our first apartment the summer before we got married, he kindly took a picture of the fields he drove by to get there. But that didn't really count because those fields aren't there anymore.

So a few weeks back, I decided that the equivalent of the cornfield rule around here was Buc-ee's. For the uninitiated, Buc-ee's is a gas station chain with a near-cult following. I don't know, I don't really understand it. I suspect the beaver mascot has brainwashed people or something. ("The moon and stars..." Sorry, better now.) Anyway, the new rule was that if you had to drive past a Buc-ee's to get to your house, you lived too far out. To my dismay, the week before last I discovered that there is a Buc-ee's on the other side of the freeway from my neighborhood.

Apparently my rules are a cosmic joke.

Last Tuesday, as I was changing Jared's third dirty diaper of the day, I asked, in what I thought to be a rhetorical fashion, "Jared, what did you eat?" To which he responded, without missing a beat, "Dirt. Eat dirt, Mama." (That wasn't a command, he just skipped the sentence subject of "I.")

In case you were curious, I won the stubborn contest. I knew when Jared napped until 7 the day was not going to end well...(it's 2am right now).

Eat something other than sopapilla cheesecake for breakfast?

The idea was briefly considered and quickly rejected.

After all, it's raining. I'm tired. It will go well with the coffee I made. The children ate all of the bagels. And Jared's antibiotics have already given him diarrhea after only one day.

See? You would have made the same decision.

how I spent my Easter vacation

When I was in Los Angeles (for Sibling Fest West Coast 2009!) over the weekend, I kept a running commentary of the things I wanted to blog about when I got home. So now I'm home.

Seen at IAH (on the way to L.A.):
-Dude wearing a hiking backpack and a "kill your TV" shirt flying to L.A.

It's like raiaiaiain on your wedding day! Sorry, better now.
And I had just been wishing for some fanfic to read on the plane...

Seen at the ballgame (Red Sox vs. Angels, Saturday afternoon):
-Apparently people in L.A. have a hard time with the concept of ticketed seating. People would sit, and when the people who actually had tickets for those seats would come, the seat switchers would just move over or down or what have you. And inevitably the people with those seats would come, and the seat switchers would migrate again. It was bizarre.

Seen at LAX (on the way back to Houston):
-zappos.com shoe advertisements in the bottom of the loose articles bins at security.

Capitalism at work!

-Baggage handler dude riding the conveyor into the cargo hold.

Kooky.

Not seen in L.A.:
-Postcards.

Sorry Jadyn. (That's what she requested when I asked the girls what they wanted me to bring them back from California. Of course, she doesn't remember that she asked for that, but I did try.)

By the way, consider this official notice. If you happen to sit in front of me and my baby in an airplane and decide it'd be a good idea to recline your seat, I'm not going to feel bad when the baby hits your seat. In fact, I might encourage it. I think if we all agreed that no one will recline their seats on an airplane, we'd all be happier. It's not like reclining those seats makes them any more comfortable anyway.

So back home now. And Joe was very sweet and went to the grocery store this morning at an unholy hour so that there would be breakfast for the children. And he brought me donuts.

I vote for an annual Sibling Fest, and I think we need to institute Childhood Movie Night as part of the schedule of events. Next year, Ferngully!

aluminum linoleum

Go outside. Seriously.

Okay, I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it is amazing here today. It's so amazing, in fact, that you might think you're in the midwest in May.

But you're not.

But that doesn't change the fact that it's beautiful today.

It's one of those days that, upon exiting the house, the first thing that enters your head is, "it is a beautiful day" . . . to the tune of a scale. But of course you can't stop there, so you proceed to sing "it is a beautiful day" on a scale for an entire octave. Thank you, Nancy.

Come on, choir peeps. I know you're with me. Bel Canto forever!

For the record, I am blogging from the backyard.

different...but the same

I just finished my lunch.

What was it?

A couple of spoonfuls of chunky peanut butter and a caffeine free pepsi.

Seriously.

What is blogworthy about that?

It's basically the same lunch I had for the entirety of my senior year in high school.

I seriously kept a jar of peanut butter in the top of my locker, and I would grab a plastic spoon (from the journalism room, I think) and sit at my locker and have peanut butter for lunch. I think I usually had a Dr. Pepper, too. Often my friend Michelle would join me for at least part of the time with her own jar of peanut butter. Why, you ask, did we eat peanut butter for lunch? I have no idea. It seemed like a perfect logical and reasonable thing to do at the time.

And you know what? It seems like a perfect logical and reasonable thing to do now. (I'm a semi-vegetarian. I'll take the protein wherever I can get it!)

It's fascinating to me how much my life has changed since high school but how much of me is still the same. It's even better rediscovering some of those things that I loved to do (or eat!) that are just as great now as they were then. Fanfic, for example. Joe laughs at me, but it doesn't really matter. Not just any fanfic, of course. Lois & Clark fanfic. I suspect that part of the reason that Joe laughs at me is because he was never really into the show. It's cool because it was/is a show that you either were totally into or you weren't at all. Yes, the show ended in 1997, and yes, there are still people (a lot of them!) writing stories based on the show/characters. And yes, there are still new ideas. Besides that, it's a great fandom - the people are nice.

By the way, I miss my friend Michelle. The last time I talked to her was at least 2, maybe 3 children ago. So if anyone knows her, tell her I miss her!

just a glimpse

Monday night, we were all at Alaina's softball practice. Typically, this means that Joe is on the field, practicing with Alaina, and I hang out at the playground with the other 3. Last Monday, we were doing just that, but I had to go to the grocery store for milk and minor details like dinner (for that night). So I explained this to Jadyn and asked her what she wanted for dinner.

Jadyn: Let's get supper ables.

Me: What do you want for dinner? (not understanding what she had said)

Jadyn: Let's get supper ables.

Me: What is that?

Jadyn: (matter-of-factly) It's like Lunch-ables, except for supper.

Well, duh.

Last night, Alaina, Jadyn, A.J., and I went to Target to get diapers. I was explaining to the girls that we only had to get a few things in Target - diapers, wipes, Alaina's mouthwash, and a game for Daddy.

Alaina: What game?

Me: Guitar Hero Metallica. (incidentally, it's as much for me as it is for Joe!)

Alaina: Is that the game with the commercial with the boys who come sliding out of the room?

Me: (astonished) Yes, that's exactly right.

If you haven't seen the commercial, it's hilarious. I've seen it once - it was on during the UNC-Oklahoma game. (This is a relevant fact if you've seen the commercial.) Alaina has also only seen it once.

In fact, how about I just put it here for you? Look at me being helpful.



Have I mentioned that I love Guitar Hero? I'm pretty sure it is the very first video game I've ever been any good at it.

I actually missed this...

It's been a whole 3 days or something since I last blogged.

And I actually missed it. So that's it. You're stuck with me now.

Before the craziness of the 30 Rock Tour, I posted this picture:


It's from January of this year, which makes A.J. about 3 months old. It's a classic Jared face.



Apparently, it's also a classic Alaina face! Jadyn was about 2 months old in this picture.

You know it's bad when complete strangers, i.e., checkers at Academy, comment on how your children look exactly like you.

We were at an Upward training conference this weekend, which is what prompted my blogging absence. If I'd really had it together, viz., if I hadn't had any children with me, I would have blogged from the conference. I always love going to an Upward training conference. They give out good free stuff. Plus it's great to be around people who are as excited about a thing as you are. A.J. made a lot of friends too. I think most of the staff of Upward knew his name by the end of the first night. He was a total flirt, and I don't think he cried the entire time. He was just drawing people to him, not unlike a certain uncle of his who shall remain nameless (Ravi).

This was one of those weekends that require a period of recovery, which has led to one of my all-time pet peeves - clean laundry on the floor. I just hate when that happens. Am I the only one? Or do you have a different housecleaning hot button?

birthday buddies

I'll bet you thought I was done talking about my birthday.

No such luck, sorry.

One of the great things about my birthday is that I get to share it with my birthday buddies. When I was growing up, my birthday buddy was my brother, Raj. He was born 5 years and 1 day after me.

Being an efficient mother, my mom tended to plan our birthday parties on the same day - just shuffle one group of kids out and bring on the next group. I still remember the year that Raj's birthday was on Easter and we both had Easter bunny ice cream cakes from Baskin Robbins for our birthday parties.

This picture has nothing to do with birthdays or parties, it's just amusing to me because it's a completely unremarkable moment in time. How often do we get pictures of those moments? Azina is on the left, and Raj is on the right. They're sitting at the Smurf table, which is a piece of furniture that was an important part of our childhood.



When I grew up, I found another birthday buddy. My friend Ashlee's birthday is today also!

This is what all of my kids think of Ashlee:


They're right on.

So, happy birthday birthday buddies! I love you both!

not bad for a first try

Important lessons learned from the first attempt at the butterfly cake:

- It only requires about half of a cake mix.
- "Lightly spray pan with cooking spray" means make sure you spray the dickens out of the sides and corners.

All in all, it was a successful first attempt.

Looks to me like all it needs is a Superman candle!

happy birthday to me!

The day you've all been waiting for!

Day #


It is a big box! The girls had very disparate guesses. Alaina guessed a brick. Jadyn guessed a "big dress for you." I had no idea.

So I opened it. It's my birthday, I'll do what I want!



I love it! I've wanted one for a long time - it's a stick blender/motorboat/immersion blender/whatever you want to call it. It is absolutely the best way to make refried beans. I'm very excited! And it's the very first Cuisinart I've ever had. This is a big day.

There's a good chance we'll be having refried beans for part of dinner for our next Friday night dinner.

Tami, Lisa, and Ashlee - thanks!! You are all such great friends, and you've made this a great birthday before it ever started!

Butterfly cake update: The cake has been made, but it has not been decorated yet. Stay tuned.

and tomorrow, the season finale

Which means that today should be a cliffhanger episode, right?

So I should leave you hanging with this picture, or have someone propose to someone but end before an answer is given, or turn someone into a Borg, or something equally as nefarious.

Or wait, this is just the episode before the season finale, so this is the setup for the cliffhanger. So I should be blowing up the Daily Planet.

Blame the weather. The humidity has returned. Or blame the oncoming depression because the 30 Rock Tour is almost over, which means I'm about to be 30. And I'm supposed to be depressed about that or something, right?

Any suggestions about where I should go to lunch or get takeout for dinner tomorrow?

But let's focus on the present (both definitions of the word).

It's Day #


and I have no idea what this is. It doesn't feel as weird as yesterday's, but it still feels weird.

I'll do the actual math tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I'd never make the bigs with my batting average.

One of the few things I wish I had done in high school but didn't (because I didn't know I liked it at the time) was play softball, or at least try out for the team.

Sorry, that has absolutely nothing to do with anything.

So what is the present?



Superman stickers and a Superman candle!

So now I have a Superman candle for the butterfly birthday cake that I'm going to make and decorate myself...I think I have an answer for the question, "If you were a food, what would you be?"

Psychoanalyze that one.

This has been the best birthday ever. Seriously.

If you were a food, what would you be?

back to life, back to reality

It was nice last week when the rest of the world was on spring break. It meant that we didn't have anywhere to go or anything to do, which made it kind of a spring break for us too.

And now it's Monday.

But it's also Day #



of the 30 Rock Tour!

This one was weird. It's not a box. It's kind of...squishy. That's the best I can come up with. The girls weren't much help either.

So I opened it.




Look at this! It is so cool! You pour cake batter in all of the little compartments and bake it. Then you pop out all the pieces and decorate it like a butterfly!

The girls were pretty excited too. They wanted me to make it right now, the instant I opened it. But I don't have any cake mix. So they wanted me to go buy cake mix and make it tomorrow.



"Can I be in the picture?"



"Jadyn, this is my picture!"

I finally told them that I'd make it on Wednesday, for my birthday.

That's what happens when you turn 30. You have to make your own birthday cake.

if this is coherent...

...it will be a miracle!


It's Day #


I know it's hard to see, but that says "27."

Blogging for 30 days in a row is not the easiest thing to do when one is accustomed to blogging once or twice a week...but I'm a champ, so no worries.

This is by far the biggest box so far.

My guess is...a box. It makes noise, but not much and nothing determinate.

So what is it?



An at&t commercial!

Okay, sorry. Aren't they pretty? I love them! I won't, however, be placing them on the mantle, in the event that an unnamed uncle (Raj) should come to my house and participate in a game (unadvisedly) of catch with the small children in the living room, endangering them (the candle holders, not the children). Not that anything like that has ever happened before.

Three days left...

not over yet

It's still Day #
around here for another hour or so yet.

Well, the streak has ended. The Official Committee can cool its jets because it's not like I'm giving any of my presents back anyway!

So what was in the cute little bag?



A cute little gift card!

I love Panera. It was a very happy day when I discovered that a Panera was being built here. (And in front of Target, no less!)

Maybe if I'm lucky, I'll get to go to Panera without my dear children. Or maybe I'll go to Panera for my birthday!

a good number

I'm weird about numbers. You've probably figured that out.

Today is Day #
I've always liked the number 25. It's my birthdate, of course, and it's the date of Christmas. It's the same date as my mom's birthday. It's an odd number, which is a strike against it, but it's a nice round number, and it's a square of another nice round number.

Don't worry. I'm done now.

Believe it or not, I guessed this one too!

Okay, I didn't guess it specifically, but I guessed the general category.

And this is my game and my birthday, so it counts.

Yes, I do a very good impression of a 4-year-old. I have good material from which to study.

So this present was soft, but way too big to be a shirt. I could also tell there was a rod of some sort the whole length of the present.

I guessed a wall hanging.

My friends know me even better than that!



It's a VeggieTales advent calendar! I love advent calendars!

I'm all about celebrating anything and everything possible. (You may have noticed.) But for me, part of that celebrating is the anticipation. I count down to everything. I always have. Usually it was counting down until a school vacation, or even the entire school year.

We've had an advent calendar for three years now, I think. It's a Christmas tree from Starbucks, and it has numbered boxes that hold candy, and when you turn the box around after that day has passed, a Christmas scene begins to emerge.

When I was growing up, we had an advent calendar similar to the VeggieTales one - a Christmas scene, and there was a little mouse that you moved from day to day.

When I get ambitious and have more time, I'm going to experiment with small wood crafts. I have a great idea for a three dimensional wooden Christmas tree on a pedestal. The pedestal will have numbered drawers containing an ornament to be placed on the tree each day. It's going to be very cool.

The three older kids were outside when I opened my present, so I took it outside to show them. The girls were swinging, and Jared was sitting on the porch swing with his bowl of frosted mini wheats (from breakfast, no milk) in his lap. I showed the girls, who oohed and aahed appropriately and then I heard this:

Jared: "Mama!" (in his particular form of 2-year-old insistence)

I showed him the advent calendar.

He looks at it for a second.

Jared: "Wow! Oh!"

In Jared's limited vocabulary, that is high praise, indeed.

bet you thought I forgot

We didn't even leave the house today, so I don't really have the excuse that we were busy...I think that by Thursday the week just starts to catch up with me. I'm tired.

But it's Day #


of the 30 Rock Tour!

And I'm going for a three-peat!

I'm currently getting trounced in the Friday Night group bracket challenge...but it's early. And there's enough disparity in all of our picks that the winner could potentially win big and the losers are going to lose big. (We have an official group on ESPN's website and everything. It's bonafide.)

But I'm kicking butt at the "guess the present" game!

This one is a candle. Specifically a jar candle.



Ta-da!

This candle seriously smells like coffee. I'm not sure how I feel about my house smelling like coffee without actual coffee existing,..seems like that could be a cruel joke! I'm kidding of course, this candle is fabulous!

One of the worst parts of being pregnant for me was that my sense of smell was way out of whack. The last time I went to the Yankee Candle store, I could only find a couple of scents that weren't disgusting to me. My sense of taste also gets messed up - it's called dysgeusia, and it's not uncommon in pregnant women. I still think it's a bad sign when you've had something that's been a symptom on House.

But no worries, I'm good now.

and then there was one...week

I've actually read that Agatha Christie - in eighth grade Reading Appreciation. (The title is And Then There Were None.) I've never really understood what the big deal is about her writing. Maybe you have to be British.

It's Day #


and I totally guessed this!

Jadyn's observation: "It's soft. And it's hard, too." Which was accurate, if somewhat contradictory.

But because I'm a pattern matcher, I guessed it, which gives me two in a row! So I'm 6 for 23, which, again, is little better than .250.

If you gave me long enough to figure out the patterns, I could probably predict anything. I'm a professional at life, after all.

(Sorry, that's not as ridiculous as it sounds. Or rather, it would be, except I'm joking.)

It's stationery and a magnet.



Look! I was right!

I forgot to take a picture of the magnet on the message board, but it's very cute there with the other butterflies!

And just having thank you notes on hand is half the battle, right? I love these because it can be difficult to find thank yous that don't look ridiculous. I'll admit it, I'm terrible about thank you notes. I always intend to write them, and then I get distracted. If you have the same problem, you can confess it here. That way we'll all know that we mean to write thank yous to each other and we can sympathize with how it doesn't get done, and no one will feel as if they are intentionally being slighted.

World peace is next on the list.

("I really do want world peace!" One of my favorite movies. Don't judge. It's hilarious.)

Completely unrelated, here's the conversation I had with Jadyn yesterday afternoon.

Jadyn: (gibberish) That's how you say it in French.

Me: You're just making stuff up.

Jadyn: Yep. That's what I do.

once again, here we are

Another palindrome day!

It's Day #


I totally got this one! So did Jadyn, for that matter. There are two things in this one, and it's a book.



Okay, so it was two books. I showed it to Alaina, whose response was "Another one?" There are some really cute desserts in this book...including May Day basket cupcakes. I'm a bigger fanatic about May Day than I am about Pi Day (I know, hard to believe), so watch out!

So we went to the rodeo last night, which makes my boots totally legit now. I actually had a lot of fun. It was a little bit like going to a foreign country, except I knew the language, or at least most of it.

The rodeo started at 6:45, and we arrived at 7:30. We had planned on arriving late, knowing that there were actual rodeo/animal-type events happening before the concert, and as we know basically nothing about such things, we weren't going to break our necks getting there right on time.

So we got there, got some food, and then found our seats. We sat down during the middle of the Saddle Bronc Riding, which was followed by Steer Wrestling, Barrel Racing, Bull Riding, Calf Scramble, and Mutton Bustin'. The whole thing was fascinating to me. Seriously. It's interesting to find yourself in the middle of something you don't understand at all. I mean, understanding it is not complicated, so you can watch for a while and basically pick up the gist of things. But it really is a whole different world. The only thing I had some trouble with was the Mutton Bustin'. For the uninitiated, that's when a series of 4-6 year olds throw on a helmet and hang on to a sheep for as long as they can. It's somewhat amusing and cute, but at the same time, I was a little disturbed. I'm sure it's completely different for a child who has grown up on a farm around animals, but the thought of one of my girls trying that was disturbing. (Hey, I've always freely admitted to being a suburbanite.)

And then there was the concert. The stage was on wheels. The thing just drove on out to the middle of the rodeo arena. It was pretty impressive. Yes, I went to a country music concert, and I had fun. Don't die of shock. Darius Rucker wore a baseball cap. It was hard to tell, but it looked like a Tiger Woods cap. That's the kind of country music star I can handle. And the dude playing the electric guitar looked more like he belonged in the Foo Fighters than on a rodeo stage.

So happy birthday to me! There are pictures, but they're currently on their way back to Kansas, so I'll post some as soon as I get them. Definitely a 30th birthday to remember!

those were the days...

On days like today, Day #


when I only have the baby to take care of, I wonder what I did in all that time before I had children, or even when I only had one child. I've tried and tried to remember, but I just can't. The kicker is that I felt like I was busy. Especially after my first was born, I thought I was doing well to get as much done as I did (which was practically nothing).

I've decided it's me. My capability has changed. (Obviously, or I'd be a complete nut with four kids. As it is, I'm only partially a nut.) I'm fairly certain I could do nearly anything at this point if I were just taking care of one, or even two, children. I don't even dare imagine what kind of trouble I could get myself into without any children...

It's probably the sleeping-in-until-after-10 that's talking. Don't mind me. (And don't hate me. I was still up several times overnight feeding the baby. And I still woke up in the recliner.)

Did you notice the shape of my present? Although my girls aren't here to guess, I feel fairly confident in surmising that Alaina would've guessed a candle. Heck, on shape alone I guessed a candle. But it wasn't heavy enough. And it didn't sound right. When I shook it, it sounded more like sand. Knowing there was little to no chance I got sand as a present, my best guess was colored sugar for cookie decorating, even though it would've been the biggest container of colored sugar I had ever seen in my life.

So, I opened it, resigned to the fact that I was about to get another one wrong.




But then I didn't care anymore about getting it wrong! Because I got chai. I love chai. I've been drinking it since long before it was trendy. You know, when you had to know how to make it yourself. :) Helps that my dad is Indian (dots not...never mind, you get it).

One of my favorite parts of this gift is the tin. Look at that elephant! It is so quintessentially Indian it just makes me happy. I know it sounds crazy, since I've only been there twice in my life, but I really do miss India and my family there. I don't even know that I could adequately explain the things that I love about it. You'd have to come with me and see for yourself.

I must admit that I wondered exactly how you take chai and use the words "Italian Hazelnut" as a description. So I had to try it.



It has an interesting flavor. It is definitely chai, but I can also taste the Italian Hazelnut flavor. I never would've guessed it possible with any success. I think it would be best frozen. Conveniently, there are directions on the label for that!

Oh, and in case you'd forgotten, tonight is rodeo night! I know you will be anxiously awaiting my commentary tomorrow!

listen carefully...

that sound you hear...is nothing. Three of my darling children have departed to spend the night at the grandparents' because tomorrow is rodeo day!

Happy early birthday to me!

Don't get me wrong. I love my children. But I am happy to let other people who love them spend time with them too.

Let's be honest. I'm pretty impressed if you've stuck with me through the 30 Rock Tour so far. 30 days is a long time. So to show my gratitude, I'll pull an old elementary school tradition: I will make cookies for my blog readers that I see during the week of my birthday. (Do you remember taking treats to school for your birthday? What kind of kooky tradition is that, anyway? Giving other people food on your own birthday?)

Today is Day #


Somehow, my friends pulled some crazy reverse psychology or something on me because I found myself a little sad at the thought that my birthday was getting closer since it meant the 30 Rock Tour would be over. Oy!

Unfortunately, I won't be amusing you with my fascinating observations or ridiculous guesses about today's present, since it's in a bag.

So I'll just have to open it!



Isn't it pretty?

I certainly do not suffer from a dearth of candles in my house, yet even so, somehow I never have enough votive holders.

So this is great!



You might think that since I don't have many votive holders, I wouldn't have votives. Not so.

Can't you just see the silence in my house from the pictures?

happy pi day!

Just one of the several reasons that March is the best month!

We had pizza (pie) and pie for dinner last night. I forgot to take pictures, sorry. But there's still some of all three pies left, if you want to come over.

It's Day #


and we're almost 2/3 of the way through the 30 Rock Tour. But don't think about that because that's just depressing.

Do you remember being 19? I do. It doesn't feel all the long ago, at least time-wise. Life-wise, it might as well have been a lifetime ago. I have 4 children now. And a house. And a stinking minivan.

Anyway, moving on.

Jared was up until after 11 last night. He just kept getting out of bed. I was a little annoyed because at that point, even A.J. was asleep. I understand not getting much sleep with a small baby, but it's not supposed to be because the 2 year old keeps you up. In the end, I sat in front of his room and held his door shut (by this point I had tried everything else), which caused him to scream so loudly it woke Joe up. Subsequently, he laid down the law and about 10 minutes later Jared was asleep.

What was the point of that interlude? I have no idea. I just wanted to complain. He was so sweet as a baby.

So, about my present. I think I'm getting better at this game. I could tell that it was definitely two things. The one felt kind of like a small book. And the other one felt squishy.



Clearly I'm not getting that much better at this game.

Luggage tags are one of those random things that I dig. I'm already trying to figure out which piece of luggage I'm going to put this one on...even though I don't have any trips planned until June. And even that is just a car trip. But it doesn't matter.

And butterfly stationery! This is very unique butterfly stationery - I like it a lot!

So back to your regularly scheduled Saturday...2 days until the rodeo!