Takin' the new Mixer around the block

I was hesitant to use the mixer, what with it being so NEW and PRETTY and AWESOME, but after the abundance of strawberries that were found in the fridge I decided something needed to be done. My initial thought was an angel food cake, but upon opening the yogurt this morning I found this recipe and thought it would be perfect. We chopped the strawberries in the mini cuisinart food processor Laurie found for me and put everything into the mixer. It was amazing. So much faster than if we had done all of it by hand. And the batter was so tasty. Will report tomorrow on the actual muffins. The mixer gets an A+!

Holy Breaking News Cow!

All other information has been trumped by the present I received from my in-laws via the ever so nice SPU guy. (No, that's not a special crime scene investigative unit, it's what Ava used to call the UPS guy and it stuck!)
A BEAUTIFUL STATE OF THE ART PROFESSIONAL SERIES KITCHEN AID MIXER !!!
(sorry about the all caps but I needed to be sure you heard me.)
Yes, that's right. My whole world as I know it has changed.
It's so awesome.
I'm going downstairs now to pet it.










More later...

Surprise Wedding Reception?!?!

I don't know where Andrew finds these things, but this warmed my cold cynical little heart...

Weekend Update Cubed

So here's what's going on 'round these parts:
*Ava's last day of school was Thursday. We went to a Chapel / Closing Ceremony. Most of the 200 kids received an award or three. The kindergarteners only received one award each-Ava's was for excellence in reading. DUH!!! Our girl is on chapter books, yo! I am so pleased to see how much she enjoys reading.
*PJ and his friend Dave traveled overnight last night to see the Supersuckers in Columbus, OH. They had a great time. He got home around lunchtime today, very tired.
* A routine visit was expected for Belly and Lionel yesterday afternoon at the veterinarian. There was nothing routine about it. They didn't have Lionel in their system, although I am super certain the super kitty has been there before. So there was some shuffling around to figure out what was going on there, but we got his rabies shot and all was well. Not so much with the Belly Dancer. I told the good Dr. that she'd been having potty trouble, and when she felt her belly it was declared that she had stones and lots of them. An x-ray was done and sure enough, upon seeing the x-ray I could tell why our poor pooch was having trouble! There were two huge stones and the beginning of her bladder, and the rest was filled with much smaller ones. The Dr. said she could get Belly in for surgery the next day (today) or it could wait till next week. I said I would discuss it with Belly's father and call right away. She said the reason the cause for the stones began with a bladder infection. Since the Belly couldn't tell us something was wrong, we didn't treat it, which led to stones forming. They will send the stones away to a lab to see if they can tell if this is something that will recur or not, and if we will need to put her on a special diet. So the kids and I were up bright and early this morning to take Belly in for her surgery. I tried to take a picture of her but she's like me and doesn't like to have her picture taken. She knew something was going on too because I couldn't get her out from under the bed. But eventually the leash was on and we were out the door. When we got home the boy fed Fred, who was so upset about Belly being gone he didn't eat his breakfast, even though he was locked in our room for over an hour. He's been hangdog all day. Laying in the sun and shade alternately, not even interested in shaking hands which he is usually all over. We just a while ago got a call from the vet who said Belly was doing wonderfully, but due to inflammation she isn't tinkling normally (why didn't I get a spellcheck on tinkling? I did on spellcheck!) yet and she wanted to keep her overnight. She was going in tomorrow a.m. (her day off even!) to check on Belly and we could take her home tomorrow. But the Dr. said she feels all went well and that Belly will do great.
* Tomorrow afternoon there are two gentlemen coming to town and staying with us two nights. I spent my day cleaning the house. PJ did the back yard yesterday before he left, and I did some weeding. Last weekend he filled in the "pond" (now called the raingarden but try breaking that "pond" habit!) and made a makeshift patio for the grill. The stone we put down last year wasn't cutting the mustard. I will post a picture. Soon. I promise. There's an event scheduled Sunday afternoon and we are hosting a reception for said gentlemen Sunday afternoon / evening. Here's the invite. We are hoping for good weather, and right now we are looking at a 30% chance of scattered thunderstorms. Please send your good weather juju. And for those thinking we are insane for offering to host them, please note that none of their previous hosts appear to have been axe-murdered.
*I almost forgot that Wednesday the plumber came and put in two new hose bibs- the weather resistant kind. I'll photo those too. Promise!
So please keep us all in your good thoughts, esp the Belly. And I'll have a lot to say after this weekend!!!

How Could I Love Mary Poppins More?

Here's how. Pause the juke and enjoy, friends.

Wait for it

Sorry kids, but the park is beckoning. Our little Ava misses it so much (Turtley!) so we are heading down in a few. PJ has a two o'clock tee time, so he is a happy camper. Pictures will wait. I am hoping you are outside enjoying a beautiful summer and not reading of my procrastination.

Back among the living!

So I posted on the 5th that I (as far as my primary care physician RediMed could tell) do not have the Swine Flu. Heaven help us if anyone (including Dr. RediMed) could figure out what in the heck I do have. I believe it began as a virus turned into a cold turned into some horrible allergies turned back into a cold and now I am (please,LORD!) just suffering allergies. Almost three whole weeks where I have not completely cleaned my house, done more than the necessary laundry, or done much else other than sleep. But life has gone on around my unwellness. The basement carpet went in, and immediately the couch and tv went downstairs. Then I had to rearrange the living room. PJ and the kids got my flowers planted in the pots out front for Mothers Day. Ava pracitices soccer Wednesday evenings and has games on Saturdays (except yesterday due to holiday weekend). The garden has been planted. James celebrated the last day of his schoolyear with the FunFest and Family Picnic where cookies and juiceboxes were enjoyed with our regularly scheduled picnic lunch. And it is beaauuutiful weather. I just downloaded almost 80 photos onto the computer with the promise of adding them to the blog probably later this evening. Right now am off to make a green bean salad from the Mexican Everyday cookbook (soo yummy and easy) to take to a friend's party this afternoon. And continue to hack up a lung or two and blow my nose. Of course. More soon! Love, Ang.

More Proof That Rahm and I Are Destined to be Together (in my imagination of course!)

Code name: Black HAWK?!?!? Me coming from the Q.C., birthplace of the Sauk warrior Black Hawk and site of the Black Hawk War? Come on. It is clearly predestination.

I Do Not Have the Swine Flu

I got something, though. It felt like I got hit by a truck. Which I did not. I would have remembered that. I did get flattened by The Sickness tho. Came home and passed out in bed and did not get out at all until PJ came home and told me to go to RediMed. (that is my primary care physician, after all.) I waited for 2.5 hours in the lobby of RediMed, then went back. They swabbed the insides of my nose to test for flu, and my throat to test for Strep. All came back negative. The good doctor didn't know what I have but he did know that he wanted to give me a good antibiotic to kill whatever was going on inside me. I had chills, 103 degree fever, sore throat, general uneasiness. PJ got my perscription and I took a pill and went to bed. I feel so much better this morning! Jennifer took the boy to the park with Henri so I could rest. Bless her heart! So now I am going to rest. I just wanted you to know that I do not have H1N1. The end.

Cautiously Optimistic

So the sweetest boy this side of the Mississippi sat quietly and still for his echo cardiogram. At the end he said to me, "Mommy, I want to be done." The tech was just finishing up so I told him we could be done in just another minute. PJ took the morning off to be there during the test. He asked some good questions. The machine was amazing-watching his little heart pumping. All together it took about an hour. The tech was amazing. She has two little ones at home, so she knew that we were worried. She said at the beginning that if she saw anything major she would call the pediatric cardiologist right away. At the end she said that the doctor would look at it, but if it helped till they called she didn't see anything glaringly obviously wrong. So we took the boy out for some chocolate milk and a muffin as a reward. He was really so good. Now we are waiting, but not worrying too much. Thank you for your kindness and thoughts. Its hard when it's your super special tiny baby chicken. But hopefully there will be nothing to worry about. Will keep you posted.

Wait, did you hear that?

The doctor did. A murmur on the boy's heart. And again three weeks later. Echo cardiogram tomorrow morning. I am sorry it's been quiet over here but I am very busy trying not to panic. Will update. And add soccer and my new love affair with Ann Arbor MI. Back to regularly scheduled programming of not worrying. Too much...

Red Winged Black Bird

We spotted one of these on the highway just over the Michigan state line Sunday morning.
photo courtesy of google images.

How the Boy and I Spent the Last Hour

What better way to while the afternoon away than by watching jets taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier, all set to a little Crue. So pause the jukebox, and enjoy.

Sunday, Lovely Sunday...

Yesterday was just about THE perfect weather. Sunny and mid 70's. The kids played outside all day (of course but for naps) and I attacked some of the vinca that is growing out of the wasteland. PJ golfed, and came home in the afternoon for help on the finishing touches. We decided (or should I say I decided) that depending on the weather, I wanted to participate in the river cleanup going on down here at the Maumee. So I talked PJ into it (the only thing I think he was motivated to do beyond church was some nothing) and we hopped onto the bikes and headed down to the river. The meeting place was not at all far from our house. The only downer was that it was downhill all the way, which meant I was pulling James uphill all the way home. But it sprinkled on and off, and we got to the meeting point where the organizers had everything set out so great. We were handed some seeds for spreading, a trash pincher picker upper and we had some garbage bags so we headed out. We found some interesting stuff, but the best thing we found was on the way back- two downy woodpeckers! We also saw some deer tracks and a log that had been chewed to a point by a beaver. Pretty awesome. We took the opportunity to talk to the kids about the earth, and how we should take care of it. That this was important work but we don't need to just do it once a year- we can come anytime and explore and pick up trash. The experience also affirmed my commitment to do local(ish) nature walks at least once a month. There are so many opportunities around here at local preserves and parks, and after todays exploration the kids are fired up. And an interesting side effect of the experience today is that there was so much trash I notice laying around now. Riding home on our bikes we could have stopped a few times each block to pick something up. Even on Forest Park Blvd! So now we are committed to keeping firm on the clean planet pledge and pick up what we see so we don't go back to not seeing it. Does that make sense? And now I am off to find some tiger balm for my legs- coming home uphill reminded me why I can't do a spin class!

The Weather Allowed the Easter Bunny to Hide Eggs Outside This Year!

Granted, it was in the mid-high 30's, but felt much nicer. And the kids made quick work of finding all their eggs. And in demanding candy. What has the "Easter Bunny" started?

Easter Baskets

The "Easter Bunny" left baskets for each of the kids with a few candies and a few treats. Mr. Easter Bunny was disappointed that Mrs. Easter Bunny went a teeny tiny bit overboard but was swayed by Mrs. Easter Bunny's argument that there isn't another holiday until Halloween, unless he wanted me to start celebrating all the minor ones. I love when he sees my side of things!
Anyhoo, there were color wonder marker kits, magnifying glasses for finding bugs and things outside (Ava is currently using hers to look for clues the Easter Bunny might have left behind!), stickers, matchbox cars, and a tiara, among misc. candies. The "Easter Bunny" also put some m and m's in those little plastic eggs and hid them with the decorated ones outside for all to find. It's currently a lovely day, one where I hear in my head what we proclaimed at church this a.m.- "Alleluia. He is risen. He is risen, indeed." Thank God. (literally!)

Individual Style

Our girl is rapidly developing an individual sense of style. I captured this one on the camera the other day. Today she is wearing a brown turtleneck with a white tunic tshirt over it, hot pink shorts and white tights. I am loving that she is her own girl!

Basement Status

We (and by "we" I do not mean me in any way shape or form) have made a lot of progress on the basement family room. (I have made some progress in the utility/laundry room, but cannot take credit for the other.) PJ got the drywall repairs done that he wanted to finish, and told me to pick out a paint color. I agonized over the paint book for a while, and chose a light tan color. It's pretty dark down there, so I didn't want too much "color", but as you know me, I also could not have white. So PJ got the paint and got right to work. He got a no VOC at Menards that he said covered really well, and as a bonus, with no VOC there's no horrible odor. When we get the kitchen ready to paint we'll get the same stuff in the blue I found.
Ava has a great memory, and had such a great time painting her room in South Bend that she wanted to do it all over again with the basement. And our boy, about the same age Ava was when the room was painted, also was all about the painting. So PJ got the kids each a roller and put them to work. And good for all of us, we found out that the kids are hard workers and good painters! (How long till they can intern for Aunt Kathy?)
Now PJ has a couple of touch up items, and we are almost ready for carpet. I've done the taxes so that return will pay for the finishing of the basement. Next up, indoors=kitchen paint, outdoors=New Fence!!!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Kids are Healthy

So today, in order to escape from the pediatricians practice that I feel is kind of assembly line-ish, we saw a different doctor recommended by a couple of friends. Ironically, this doctor is tentatively merging with the assembly line practice, but I am hopeful that he will keep his small practice style. I tried to get information from him, but he had little to give.
What is important though is that the kids are healthy. This was just their annual well check visit, and so after a few routine probes they were pronounced healthy. James has a little fluid behind his eardrum, usually as a result of a cold or allergy, and it usually takes care of itself. If not, James will tell us, and we can get it taken care of right away.
The only other information I have to give is that they are right in the middle of the scale, both kids, on height and weight both, right around the 50th percentile. Ava weighs 46 pounds and is 45 inches tall, and James weighs 32 pounds and is 38 inches tall.
Of course we are grateful for these healthy chickens, and grateful for a great new doctor as well!

My New Favorite Blog

After Jen's, of course; see for yourself. Imbibe in teh cutefest.
http://sisinmaru.blog17.fc2.com/

James Class Birthday Celebration

Monday, March 7th. The beginning of the school week. The evening before I was up late preparing cupcakes. They were from the box, but James requested orange icing, and as the only icing I had in the house (premixed anyway) was pink, I put a bit of effort into making the pink turn orange. My friend L had lent me her mini cupcake pan, so instead of one big cupcake, the kids would each get two small ones. Much closer to their size. And another pan of regular sized ones came out of the batch too. So we're clear on the set up- up late Sunday, making mini cupcakes and creating orange frosting from pink. Which is more difficult than it sounds. Come Monday, I have James' library books together in his bookbag, along with some other papers in his school bag, and his "Star Student of the Week" decorated posterboard showing some things about our magnificent star boy. We take Ava to school, and as I had spaced the whole plates/napkins/cups scenario, we stopped at the grocery on our way home to get our things and head back for his day at school. We get everything together, and head (almost unsuccessfully as now he wants to stay home) out the door. It takes us several minutes to make the long trek from the house to the garage (what, 30 feet?) and now I am getting stressed as our dear boy is refusing to move into the garage. I place the cupcakes on top of the car, throw the bag of dinnerware and my purse into the car, and go get him and place his sweet limp body into his carseat. (Going limp is his latest form of protest.) I get him buckled in, look at my watch and climb into the car. I get him to calm down, and we agree that we are going to school now and we are going to have a great time. I get out of the garage, turn out of the alley and on to Curdes. Waiting for traffic on Anthony, I finally get an opportunity to turn right. Mere seconds after I get onto Anthony, I hear a terrible sound. I am scared to pieces. I look into my rearview mirror terrified of what I might see there. Do you know what it is? Go back into the story if you don't. I didn't put the cupcakes into the car-the tupperwear is bouncing down the road and there is orange covering the pavement. I immediately burst into tears- maybe from relief I didn't kill anyone/thing, but maybe because all my toiling is now splattered onto Anthony Blvd. I whipped around the block to collect the tupperwear, and threw it into the back of the wagon. I calmed myself down before telling James that we would be having a DIFFERENT snack at school today- did he want donuts or cupcakes? He called cupcakes, so after dropping him off I ran over to Meijer to pick some up. There was no orange frosting, but there was ONE package of a dozen smaller cupcakes (green for St. Patrick's Day so fun!) on the shelf which I grabbed quickly, paid for, and headed back to school. James was none the wiser. We had a great day at school, I got to see what a good job he does, and what a good listener he is. It was a full, busy day that included the first time in the year they got to go outside and play at their playground. He had a blast, and the cupcakes were for me a memory. There wasn't even any orange frosting on Anthony Blvd by the time we picked up Ava and got home!

James Third Birthday

We celebrated twice for James, once at home, and once at school where he was the "Star Student of the Week". We had a lovely cake at home which we shared with our dear friends and newest neighbors. We had presents later, all of which were a hit. Mostly it was Matchbox stuff, but he was so into it, he didn't mind a little lack of variety. Some new clothes were obtained, including his new favorites, a dinosaur tshirt and some Hulk pajamas. And some new rain boots for splashing in spring puddles. Here's the one who is constantly reminding me he is a "Big Boy!", our little three year old.

Ava's Sixth (!!!) Birthday!

We celebrated the sixth anniversary of Miss Ava Pauline's birth on Tuesday evening with presents and cupcakes topped with lavender frosting. She could hardly wait to open all her presents! Her favorites came from Arizona, especially the Barbie and the Diamond Castle dvd which premiered last night when she had her friend Kara come and spend the night. We cannot believe how amazing a little person she is (really, we can, but...) and we could not be more proud of her. She immediately asked to wear her bathing suit and cover up, and although we told her no, she was very patient and opened the rest of her gifts. PJ even noted that this is the first year she is reading her own cards! We got her her first chapter book, about a girl her age. Its a series, and the main charachter I believe is in first grade. We will get that book from the library over the summer, but in the meantime I think Ava likes reading about this little girl. It was a very successful birthday with hula hoops and clothes and a singing Care Bear and entertainment and swimgear. And a good time was had by all.

Early Spring

We have decided that spring has sprung earlier this year than it did last. Never mind that we have snow in the forecast for this evening, and a roaring fire in the fireplace (at James' request, wha??) right now. As March is still happening, I would say that we have gotten a bunch of yard work done and a bunch of outside playtime done already this year, which is an improvement over 2008. One thing we have learned this year is that the boy spends most of his indoor time YEARNING to be outside. When it is cloudy and 50 and windy, he will get in my face, point out the window, and declare, "But MOM, it's NICE outside!" when I balk at going anywhere besides my comfy chair.
With the retention pond (soon to be rain garden) posing such a big temptation (I watch them out the kitchen window throwing dirt globs into the big hole) I don't like them out there by themselves, but they have been good kids and learned that if they don't stay away from the hole they are coming inside and mom means BUSINESS. Anyway, long story short, we have enjoyed quite a few lovely days playing outside. Fred loves this too, as the kids will occasionally find a stick for him to chew. We've been keeping an eye out for Mama Cardinal who built a nest in the tall bushy thing up against the back of the house (outside our room). We were afraid she would abandon it once we got out there but PJ said he peeked into the nest the other day and saw a red tail feather- she was in there with her eggs. Needless to say we are keeping an eye out for her, staying the heck away and making sure others do too, and watching for Daddy Cardinal who sometimes keeps watch from the pear tree nearby. Ahh, nature.

Super Big Responsible Girl

In an effort to teach Ava about responsibility, we got her a "Chore Chart". It's a magnetized board with different tasks, and for each day of the week that you complete the task you get a marker, and if you complete the task all week, there's kind of a "good job" type magnet that goes at the end. We don't use that one, but we do use the chart to help her learn about chores and allowance. For each day she completes all her chores, she gets a certain amount of money. We make sure the chores are things she either does anyway (gets dressed, brushes teeth) or things that we want to become habit (feed the kitty, make her bed). There are a few others, but nothing that makes her day difficult to complete. And for the first time EVER last week, she completed EVERY task EACH day out of the week for our first time ever complete chore chart! We were so proud of her, and made sure that she was proud of herself and recognized her accomplishment. I think later this year we may add another chore, once she is on track with a complete board more often. She is growing up much too fast!

Daily Awesomeness

Childrens tales with awesome music AND a Volkswagen? Doesn't get any better.
Will blog VERY soon, (I promise!) with photos and everything!


Slagsmålsklubben - Sponsored by destiny from Tomas Nilsson on Vimeo.

Angela is a Total Slacker

At least in the blogging dept. I do have a few things to catch up with-James' birthday, his school party and funny story re: orange frosting, and a bit of general cuteness. Things are plugging along here- weather has been unseasonably nice around here so we've been out more than usual, at least that's what I am going to use as my excuse for not blogging. In the meantime, here's something to put a smile on your puss. Pause the muzak, for this has it's own appropriate soundtrack.

St. Peter's Father Daughter Dance

There was a special occasion last Saturday, and Ava and Daddy dressed to impress. The annual Father Daughter Dance was looked forward to by our girl for what seemed like forever. We were happy to find a dress at Kohl's (especially happy as I had seemed to look everywhere else) and even some accessories. Daddy was instructed to wear his tuxedo, and when it was determined he didn't own one, a jacket and tie was agreed upon as acceptable attire. They had a good time, and they even danced a little bit. Hawaiian Punch was spilled upon the dress as well as chocolate, but thank goodness for OxyClean. I really heart OxyClean!

We Have A Winner!

After a lengthy conversation with a friend over coffee yesterday, and another lengthy phone conversation with another friend the day before, I found myself realizing what PJ had known and tried to tell me: The school that I really thought would be best for Ava was not. It was best for ChildX, one who is average, maybe a little above average academically, but socially and psychologically like all others. Ava, dear friends, is not like all others. The girl is a beautiful butterfly, and if I made that choice it would be like keeping her in a net. She could fly just a little, but not very much, and not to her fullest capabilities. Not to see her fullest potential. So we have decided. The arts school is a match. It is a magnet school, so really making this choice is only the first step. The next step is to turn in the application and pray she gets in. I know in my heart of hearts she will thrive there. It won't always be great, and there will be some issues along the way, but that is realistic. In any school there will be issues. We both feel that this school will help Ava to grow into the person she is feeling good about who she is, and she will learn more and learn better because of it. As I type this I feel so happy. Yesterday when I realized it I felt relief. But now, it's so much beyond that. It's excitement at feeling good about the road we are about to travel with our special special girl. One I hope she finds as enriching and wonderful as possible. One friend who has spent some time with Ava suggested we take her to check it out. She noted how intuitive Ava is, and that she would be able to see what was going on and get a feel for it, and let us know how she feels about it. As one of the options is to turn in the application at any school, I am going to call tomorrow morning and see what day we can come down to turn it in and she can look around.
The applications are due this coming Friday. If they receive more applications than spots available, the rest go into the lottery. A waiting list. Please hope we are in. I am not a patient woman.

The Trifecta of My Daily Happiness

Pet Shop Boys, Lady GaGa (who else could stand in for Dusty???), and Brandon Flowers...Not for everyone, but definitely for me! Enjoy...

School Choice

We toured both magnet schools we are looking at for Ava. Both were wonderful. The first one seems stronger academically, with arts accents. The second one seems stronger artistically (the kids learn through the arts, and there was a Dada installation the kids produced in the school gallery!) but not necessarily as focused on the academics. This, at least, is my impression. My inclination is to have her at the first school, and supplement with outside things like piano, or as a friend suggested maybe a stringed instrument as she would be part of a group. But I see her differences and see her doing well at the arts school too. A student we know who attends this school is incredibly smart and he is not being held back. I am not sure. PJ and I will have to talk about it, it's just a matter of making time. Time is short, too, as he will be leaving for a work trip to Indianapolis for a few days first thing Monday morning, and we will want to turn in the applications before we land right on the deadline of the 27th. Truly, I am just scared I will not make the right decision for Ava. I want to put her in an environment where she can not only succeed but excel. Either way she is likely to, it's just maybe in a different way. She is so special and smart. On the one hand, while I feel that at the first school she will be challenged and there are opportunities to learn in some non traditional ways that left me feeling so good after the tour, I know at the second school she will learn through art and music and dance as well as the traditional ways. Will that keep her attention more? She will still attend art and music and spanish at the first school, and have more outside playtime. But at the arts school she will dance and learn piano (in first grade!) and have opportunities for more classes that expand with each school year as they grow.
The other thing that doesn't help is that when I get it into my mind it should be one way, and I mention it to PJ, he seems to be thinking the other way. I suppose that is a good thing, making sure we are thinking this through clearly, and communicating it to each other, but sometimes I wish it would be both of us saying "OK, school choice #1 should be X, school choice #2 should be Y." But then again, life is not that easy, is it? However it ends up, I would feel grateful if she were accepted at either school. Both are unique and have a lot to offer. Wish us luck.

Big Bill Still Makes my Heart Flutter

“I find it amazing that the Republicans who doubled the debt of the country in eight years and produced no new jobs doing it, gave us an economic record that was totally bereft of any productive result are now criticizing him for spending money,” William Jefferson Clinton
photo courtesy google images

Nature (for reals! no pbs required!)

So PJ is in the kitchen whipping up what promises to be an amazing pizza (will review later) when I hear him somewhere between a growl and a whisper "Honey get over here!" I think he is speaking to Ava so I continue reading the story to James and I hear it again, more urgently; "Honey, grab James and get in here NOW!" So I sweep James up and head into the kitchen, where to our amazement the neighborhood red tail hawk is having dinner in our back yard. We grabbed the camera, hoping against hope to get a picture through the window, and lo and behold among the thirty or so he took PJ got a couple of good shots! So here is our nature. Please note the shovel in the background, this will maybe help with perspective on figuring his size.
EDITED: emailed these to a friend. She thinks it is a Northern Harrier. PJ and I are inclined to agree. She called herself a bird geek. I just call her Smarty.

Not Pictures of my Darling Children but Almost as Good

I can haz failblog?
Plz go chex it oot. Iz super funnee.

Happy Valentines Day from James and his Preschool Classmates

This morning the 2 year preschool playdate class held their annual Valentines Day party. I attended this illustrious event, and was grateful for the opportunity to do so. It was a crazy day full of playing and eating and crafting and singing and stories. There were so many precious little ones there. I was so happy to be able to spend the morning with James and even got a couple of cuddles. It's funny too how the kids respond to other moms there- at first I was the only one. One of the little girls wanted to sit in my lap, while some other kids looked at me with uncertainty. But when the cookies came out it was all good for everyone. The kids all had a great time, and it was a treat for me too to be able to see James in his Monday environment.

The Kids get some Outside Play Time (good bye below zero temps!)

Happy Birthday PJ from Didi and Papa!

Mama's got a new pair of shoes

This morning post gym (mayor not there this morning but deputy mayors car in the lot) we went over to Toenges to pick up some new shoes for Birdie and check on the Boy. Birdie was ready for some new shoes and picked out some super cute Saucony's with pink and yellow and silver. Very springy. (We are all ready around here, don't you know...) They were on sale, and as I had a 15% off coupon for a regularly priced item figured it wouldn't hurt to check out the Danskos. I'd been researching them online for a while, and almost bought a pair from Sierra Trading Post. Glad I didn't because when I tried the same shoes on they did not fit at all like I was expecting. Terribly disappointed, we tried a different shoe. Not expecting much I was super pleasantly surprised when not only did they fit like a glove but felt amazing. Mary Janes (hello, it's me we're talking about here) and super darling. I am in love. Unfortunately in my research I have found some other brands/shoes that are good for you and super cute too. I may have to get an income stream to support a new habit. Or at least treat myself a couple of times a year. Who knows? In the meantime, I am not taking these off until I have to. My feet are saying thank you thank you thank you! (photo courtesy onlineshoes.com)

The DVD can now go back to the library

Now that I've found Howard on YouTube, my life is a little more complete:

People are having a hard time hearing this

"This is America. We don't disparage wealth. We don't begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we certainly believe that success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset -- and rightfully so -- are executives being rewarded for failure, especially when those rewards are subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, many of whom are having a tough time themselves." President Barack Obama (I will never get tired of hearing/writing that!)
I challenge people to shut it and get a clue. Listen for a moment. Because if you do, you might see that we can agree.

Dammit

It's 29 and sunny. You know what that means:

"If Candlemas day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight.
But if Candlemas day bring clouds and rain,
Winter is gone and won't come again."