confession.

I am two years behind on my blog books and photo-a-day coffee table books. I’m overwhelmed with the thought of tackling them. I started 2008’s POTD book on Friday so maybe I’ll be able to sustain that effort and at least get that one cranked out this month. I LOVE the POTD pictures and I’m sad that I’m not doing it anymore. I just can’t handle keeping up with three blogs and something had to give. That was it. I’m trying to make much more of an effort to capture the little things here on this blog though. Trying to blog everyday. Trying to give myself a break when I don’t have a story to go with every image.

Trying.

Everyday, trying.

Because I know that one day all of these days will be yesterday. And I’ll miss this.

big sticks.

  You know, Roosevelt always said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

My children are students of history.

Although, Mr. President was referencing the benefits of peaceful negotiations that carried silent undertones of threat and might.

And these kids know nothing of peaceful negotiations.  They’re much more like terrorists in that regard.

So forget that whole “students of history” bit. 

Really they’re just  kids who like to threaten each other with sticks.

pinkies up!

My kiddos have always eaten off of real dishes. It was never really a conscious decision it was just something we did. As a child I can’t remember ever using a paper or plastic plate so I guess you just do what you know, right? So it’s glasses and dishes all the way around here.

Recently on one of my mom’s near-daily Goodwill runs (a subject for another time) she came across a COMPLETE  eight place setting set of white Williams Sonoma dishes – large plates, bowls, cups and saucers. One saucer still had the $22.00(!!!) pricetag stuck to the bottom.

Yep, they were new.

Sixty dollars later my mom had the set in her trunk and had my Christmas gift checked off her list. I think this set of dishes has to be one of my favorite gifts of all time. I imagine I’ll have them until I die. I love them so.

The cups make me think of the large mugs used on the set of Friends – wide, generous, sloshy. Sarah has been enamored with (by?) my tea-drinking lately so last week I decided four years old was old enough to partake in a little tea time with mom. So I gave her mug of boiling water a good two dunks of the tea bag (enough for a little color), a healthy dash of sugar and a shot of milk.

She was a fan.

She was very quite about the whole thing, really. She kept staring at the cup and sipping very slowly, really taking in the big girl thing she was doing.

 And then she would drink it like this…

Where did that pinky come from?! She certainly didn’t learn it from me! We all know I’m no lady!

Apparently my girl is a lady of the highest order.

Maybe she’ll teach me a thing or two.

ten on tuesday. or whatever.

1. So I realize it’s not Tuesday. I tried to pretend it was Tuesday by googling “time zones” and searching desparately for a place where it might still be Tuesday. Turns out, it’s not still Tuesday anywhere. In fact, it’s Thursday already in many places I’ve never heard of. And Hong Kong!

2. I had a doctor’s appointment earlier this week to look into some weird numbing, tingling stuff I’ve got going on in my hands and feet. The doctor was very kind but at one point looked me dead in the eye and asked, “do you know of anyone who might be trying to kill you?”  Um…no. Apparently heavy metal poisoning could be causing my symptoms. Don’t think that’s it. I’m sleeping with one eye open though. You know, just in case.;)

3. Ephraim is now speaking in sentences much of the time. On Sunday I urged him to eat the potatoes in his stew to which he responded, “I not gonna eat potatoes.” Not sure I’m liking this whole speaking in sentences thing.

4. Sarah has returned from Boston with yankess on her mind. She’s asked me many times if she’s a yankee, who is a yankee, what is a yankee, so on and so forth. Apparently someone was indoctrinating my child (cough, cough, SAMANTHA, cough, cough) while we were north of the Mason-Dixon line.

5. Sarah has also returned from Boston requesting to be called “Sissy”.  Actually, she’s told us that she doesn’t actually want us to call her Sissy, she just wants to refer to herself as Sissy, to Ephraim. As in, “come here buddy, let Sissy do it.” and “do you want to play in Sissy’s room?” Of course, this would have nothing to do with William calling Caroline “Sissy”, I’m sure.

6.Caroline and Sarah invented Princess Skyping this week. It involves video conferencing with your best friend, decked out in your best royal attire.

7. I’ve been battling a virus on my business blog, this blog, and website. I’m about to pull my hair out with it. I’ve deleted the thing three times now and it keeps coming back. Luckily I have a web genius for a close friend here in Huntsville and he’s been so kind to help me with the problem. I’m hoping we have it under control now. Consider this a friendly little PSA to update your anti-virus protection. =)

8. I like to talk to the kids on the way home about what they ate for lunch at school. I pack their lunches so of course I already know what they had for lunch but it’s a nice place to start a conversation. Especially with a two year old in the mix. Sarah reported on Monday that she ate her sandwich and she ate her goldfish but she didn’t eat her dried mango because she had “goldfish throat”. I’m thinking the goldfish didn’t pair well with the mango in her mind. I am saving “goldfish throat” for future conversation. I am sure it will a useful phrase at some point in my life.

9. Speaking of dried mango, it will be my undoing. I love it so. (Please don’t buy it from Amazon…that was for information purposes only. Go to Costco. Then send me some.)

10. Forgive me for failing to mention the results of my Haiti fundraising. Because I never posted the totals I decided to include all Twitter followers as of today. I started with 29, I have 122 now. I’ll round that to an even $100. Add that to the $600 raised through phone consultations and I’ll be sending $700 dollars to the American Red Cross for disaster relief today.

he’s at it again.

Being cute and weird and irresistibly snuggly, all at once.

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