Smellyann Strikes Again

She Sounds Like Me!

Daddy called out, "Hey, kids, remind me to make pancakes tomorrow for breakfast!"

Chloë called back, "Uh, how 'bout you just remember it?"

Fin.

Outed At The Bus Stop

I fell asleep in my Bunco clothes on the couch last night while watching a little late-night TV, and I woke up late to take Chloë to the bus stop this morning. So, I didn't change clothes.

In front of everyone, in a loud voice, Chloë says, "Mom? Why are you still wearing the same clothes you wore yesterday?!"

All I could do was giggle.

Fin.

Napping Is Da Bomb

Chloë has started a summer blog! If you'd like the link to her little story site, post to me in the comments!

Thursday, I was granted a reprieve from all the running about. Which is good, because I didn't get much sleep, and I felt awful again. I have decided lately there is a direct relationship between the hours of sleep I get and how good I feel. I managed to get the kids to their buses on time, and since Sophia was so tired from my keeping her up all night to try on the new dress, I decided to take a nap until she woke up. Well, it was almost time for Jack to come home before I heard a peep out of her. Quite a nice little snoozy for moi!

Yes, I ironed the dress, but Sophia jumped and rolled around and climbed and what-have-you in it so much that you couldn't tell anymore, by the time I was able to take the picture.

She was very excited to wear it again. I couldn't find the white buttons I had purchased for it, so I had to go through my stash for one. We decided together on a blue and pink butterfly that goes with the stripey colors. It fits through the loophole, so even though it was much bigger than the prescribed 3/8", it worked for me!

We had this little new-dress photo shoot after dropping Chloë off at her last Brownies meeting of the year. Just one more skating party in a couple of weeks and that's it 'til September!

Rob came home while I was upstairs showering to get ready for our date and putting away all his laundry, which he is unable to do... so I had him go pick up Chloë while I continued working.

She came bounding up the stairs afterward to tell me about the meeting, during which she apparently made a bird feeder. I have yet to see this thing!

By the way, Sophia has learned to roll her 'r's and has been trilling away for the past three days. In a super high pitch! We keep trying to get her to stop, even for a few moments, but she loves it too much. She even trills when she says, for instance, "Dad" or "butterfly," but her favorite thing to say is "iArriba!"

The Littles were having fun on the floor, playing with empty laundry baskets and coming up with names for the games they were playing. Jack would say, "Mom, this is called circus robot game!" or some such. Before long, I lay on my belly on the bed to watch them but instead became their jungle gym. They were climbing onto my back, rolling off, taking turns, and I heard Jack say to Sophia, "Go around the butt. The butt is BIG." LMAO!

While we were getting dressed, Stephanie arrived, and the kids bounded down the stairs to meet her. They love their Steph. She was there because we were going out to dinner. I broke rules and decided to take a couple of Outback Steakhouse shops because they were new and we've never done them before, and I wanted to give them another try. Last time was in Panama City, and I was either newly delivered of Chloë or newly pregnant with the twins, and very hormonal and emotional. I couldn't find anything on the menu that wasn't either beef or mushrooms - two things I will not eat - and I sobbed, and we left. It was most embarrassing.

They have entirely revamped the menu since then! There were lots of things for me to choose from. In the end, we had the spinach artichoke dip for an appetizer (yum), Rob had the tilapia, and I had the grilled shrimp and scallops. No dessert, but then we had to go to the bar for a round of drinks. Rob had a Colorado Bulldog, which I partly suspect he likes to order to stump the bartender as much as for the taste, and I had an 'Aussie Skyy' with vodka and peach stuff and all kinds of tasty good things. Rob didn't like it, but it was right up my alley.

The restaurant was right next to, along with a lot of other really great shops including a knitting one and a sewing one, a Super Kmart, so Rob ran in there to look for water wings while I worked on the report in the car. No luck there, so we drove to the opposite corner of the lot and found a Dollar Tree! Gotta give the DT some love; they had a stack of ads with my baby's picture in them! I grabbed a bunch, if anyone needs or wants one! We found water wings there, and the very same swimsuits our daughter modeled. We ended up buying four new pairs of 6M swim trunks for our, yes, 5yo son, because they were only a dollar and they would probably fit better than the 2Ts he's always having to yank up now.  Then I grabbed a bunch of little-kid socks, since we're always losing them in the laundry.

Back at home, the kids were already in bed. Yes! We had planned on ... *ahem* ... but we both ended up falling asleep on the couch like a coupla old fogies. Oh, well.

Which meant I hadn't set my alarm and totally overslept for the umpteenth time lately. <Insert aggravated face here.>  Actually it wasn't too late this time, but having to get the Littles up to drive her to school when they'd rather be sleeping is annoying. Plus it was Field Day for Chloë, and I didn't want her to miss out on the fun. We remembered her bathing suit and special shirt, but I totally forgot to send her with an ice-cold water bottle. Oh, well, I knew they'd have water sports.

I got Jack on the bus and then Sophia and I sat around, while I tried to figure out what to do with her today. I was going to take her to pick up my new glasses and then go to the fabric and knitting stores from last night, but in walked Daddy about 4+ hours early, and all my plans went by the wayside. Instead, I asked for permission to close my eyes for a minute, and I slept. For much longer than a minute. More like 240 of them!

When I woke up, Rob was napping next to me, Sophia was down for her nap, and the Bigs were quietly playing with (and eating the contents of) the big box of Laffy Taffy Chloë won at school. More about that on her blog!

The mailman brought these little items for CARE Package from a lady who had found out about us from another lady on Ravelry. If you're out there, Cindy, thank you so much!!

In the end, I didn't get my glasses or do anything else, and the audition I was supposed to take Chlo to was rescheduled for tomorrow night. We ordered a pizza for dinner - and cannolis - and sat around watching An Arctic Tale afterward. I tried crocheting on my new top for myself, but again I put it down and fell asleep. I am a sleepy girl this week!  And that pattern is very poorly written. I'm not a fan of novicely-written patterns...

Tomorrow really will be a busy day, so I'm going to go get ready for it.

Fin.

Brother From Another Mother

We all slept in really late today after our adventures last night. Really late. Like, no longer AM.

When I woke up, I was definitely sick. Right eye matted shut, sore throat, earache, headache... the whole bit. We were supposed to go to the Pungo Strawberry Festival today, but I didn't think I was going to be going anywhere at all. I felt bad. But, we've been here five years and keep wanting to go, but something has kept us from going. This, our last year, had to be it.

So I took a shower. A shower always makes you feel better, right? Well, it didn't, much, but I was game to go anyway. I did a little laundry, got dressed, and made my way downstairs where the rest of the family was eating breakfast. Rob showered, and off we went to the grocery store to get some sunscreen and dolladeros for the festival.

On the way there, Sophie asked where we were going. Rob told her, "We're going to the Strawberry Festival!" And she said, "Mmmmm... I LOOOOOOVE blueberry pie!" <insert laughing guy here>

We also decided that we weren't going to eat anything that didn't contain strawberries. Well, that proved to be tougher than we thought. The website specifies there are strawberries served 50 different ways? We found two: strawberry shortcake and daiquiris. Of course, we ate some shortcake right away, and, I gotta say, the Bisquick biscuits are hella better. I'm stickin' with those.

The festival was set up along a main drag, so the traffic was shut down going in and out of the area for fest goers. Well, it was over at 1900, and they let traffic get back in the very same minute! Right away! They didn't even give people a few minutes to clear out of there and walk the mile or so back to their cars. Kinda dangerous, if you ask moi. But you didn't.

A few highlights of our day, in pictures:

The children running around in the field of buttercups where we were parked. Of course, I received a bouquet or two.

 

The kids have never had their faces painted before, so that was one of the first things we let them do. I wonder if Jack was checking out this woman's, um, *ahem* decolletage... oh, and I know that's not his face. They all chose to do it on their arm instead. Whatever!

 

Chloë chose an angel,

 Sophie picked a hibiscus flower,

and Jack wanted a bunny. His was the only one that lasted past the second ride. The rest were all smudged off on shirts and faces. Oh well, easy come, easy go.

Finally, once we made it past the tons and tons of vendors, we found the area that was like a fair, with rides, games and fair food. Not that we were looking for that, or anything, in particular. Rather, it found us. Tickets were $1 apiece, but today there was a military armband special for $15, good for unlimited rides. Eureka! We bought five, in case they wanted rides that needed parental units. Good thing we did; they were needed. These trucks were the first ride we came upon, much to Jack's delight!

Next, we all took a spin in some Tilt-a-Whirl-ish apples. Whilst riding, Chloë looked at me and exclaimed, "Mom, this is the time of my life!"

After several more kiddie rides, we all went on the Ferris Wheel together. It was my mother's favorite ride. Not so, the kids'. They all snuggled closely to us and screeched every time we went up, up, up.

After some more rides, a bite to eat, and a potty break, we found the giant midway slide. The girls bravely decided to go on it, while Jack held back. Chloë has done it before and didn't like it, so I'm surprised she chose to go again. She didn't like it any better. Despite the look on Sophie's face here, she enjoyed it and ran right back up to go on it again!

Finally, after doing the rest of the child-friendly rides, we found these cars as the fair was closing down. Jack was in seventh heaven! The cars whipped around the corners pretty fast for a toddler ride, so I was a bit surprised to find each of them enjoying themselves immensely! They went on it at least twice and laughed the whole way.

We headed back to the car along the treacherous car-packed road after that, and I waited with the kids in a corner lot while Rob went to fetch the van. The kids were being cute, running around and racing each other, but I neglected to get a picture of that. We stopped at a drive-thru on the way home for some dinner to bring home, and the kids gobbled theirs up right away when we got home. Then they headed to bed, worn completely out for the second day in a row.

Rob and I just watched There Will Be Blood when they were down. Hmm. I don't know what to rate that movie! Daniel Day Lewis was definitely good in it, as was Paul Dano.  Have you seen it? Roob, I know what you thought of the ending, but I've decided I liked it! It was a hard flick for me to get into at first, but it grew on me. Good film.

Have a happy and safe Memorial Day tomorrow.

Fin.

Weekend O' Fun

Well! This is shaping up to be quite a weekend.

Friday did not go as I had planned at all. It started when Chloë and I were walking out the door to go to the bus stop. Usually, the door is locked, so I have to turn the switch to make it unlocked. Well, for some reason, it was unlocked, so as I was leaving, as usual, I turned the &*^*& switch and, yep, locked myself out of the house. Now, normally when Chlo lets the dog out in the morning, she forgets to lock the back door afterward. But nope, not yesterday morning! So I was completely SOL. And Jack and Sophia were locked inside the house, sleeping in their little beddie-byes.

Fortunately, this was the one day I happened to grab my cell phone on the way out the door.

I called Rob and told him the sitch. He's got a long drive to come home from work, but he was on his way to bail me out. I was glad to at least have that morning's paper still sitting in the driveway.

After a half-hour of reading that, I decided to call Rob and see if he was close to home. Oh, he was very close... but he had a flat tire. And no jack. Aughhhh!  So he had to wait and wait and wait for motorist assistance to come and bail him out, before he could come bail me out.

But, aha! Barbara the cleaning lady has a key to my house! It was early, but I figured she was a normal person, unlike myself, and probably up at that hour. She was. She was in the middle of cleaning her house. If I could wait, oh, an hour, she could come after that? Argh. No, I'll wait for Rob, thanks anyway.

Shortly after that, I heard a commotion coming from inside the house. So I started ringing the bell and knocking on the door, and almost instantly, Sophia unlocked it and let me in. What was she doing up so early and out of her room? Jack had gotten her up. She still had the sleepy face. But I was in!

So finally Rob came home (I'd called him to let him know I'd gotten in), because he wanted to get the jack out of the shed and put in his, you know, actual vehicle where it was, you know, actually needed.

And then he said he needed my *^%^*& van to drive back to work, because his spare tire was not going to be making it all the way there and back. Fudge! I had plans, and lots of them! So in return for fouling up my day even more, I talked him into running to Panera first to get us some lunch, which he did. And it was yummeh.

But then he left, with my van, leaving Sophie and me stranded for the day instead of being able to do all the running we had planned. Sigh. We trudged upstairs, where I spent the better part of three hours hauling out all the kids' spring/summer clothes and putting away winter clothes, sorting through them to see what would still fit and what would need to be handed down/tossed/donated.

I'd forgotten that Chloë still wore a lot of 3Ts last summer! So literally half of her summer wardrobe went directly from her closet into her sister's; Sophie is wearing 3Ts and some 4Ts now! Good thing I just bought a bunch of clothes from Gymboree; it should be here next week. Jack will still mostly be able to wear his 2T clothes, of course; the boy just doesn't grow much, and short shorts don't matter as much as short pants. Sophie lost a lot of her wardrobe, too, so I put it in a bag to bring to consignment.

I wanted to dig in on the laundry some more - I must talk about laundry constantly, because literally, it never freaking stops around here! - but it was time for Jack's bus. I made my way down just as she was pulling up to the driveway. I peeked out the peekhole to see her looking pissed because she thought I wasn't home - after all, the van wasn't there. So I threw open the door with a big smile to catch her nodding to her aide and mouthing "yeah, she's here." Have I mentioned this bus driver and I hate each other?

We couldn't go to the Farmer's Market because, of course, no car. So we hung out in the living room, playing with toys, reading, knitting, and what-have-you, until Daddy finally came home from work, a little early, having gone to the Exchange for some shoes and a tie for the cruise, and to the Naval hospital for Jack's shot record so he can register for kindergarten. Holy run-on, batman. I don't care. It's my blog and I'll babble if I want to.

So the kids all needed naps, and they went right down when Daddy returned from work.  We were going to watch movies and eat something while they slept, so Rob went to Moe's (Welcome to Moe's!) to pick up our usual order. Then Steph called to say she and Tim were around the corner and heading over. Cool. I decided to put on a bra, at the very least. I'd been sitting around in sweats with no underthangs.

They came right in while I was half-nekkid, putting on my brassiere, and I screeched at them to stay out! Hehe. There are always boob issues when Steph and I are around each other. There was another boob issue later, but she forbade me from posting about it!

They brought along their two puppies, one-year-old Wazowski and this new little cutie, Rosie May. She is the most beautiful puppy ever!!! (At least since Tiger Lily was a wee lass.) So soft and sweet and .... ahhh. I love puppies. Especially this one.

Rosie May falls asleep on Chloë's lap; she's in heaven

After a long while of shootin' the shit, we puppy-sat for them while they went out to get some dinner and leave us to ours. Chloë was awake by this point, so they took her along for dinner! This was a special treat for her, to go out with them, and she was very excited. The pups were good, although Miss Rosie had a couple of accidents during her visit. She's new, though, so she's excused. I sure don't miss the puppy stage with Lily, though. Man.

I showered and dressed fo' reals while they were gone, and by the time they returned, the Littles were awake, too. Steph wanted all 26 of our legs (7 people, 3 doggies) to get some exercise, so we took a walk around the smaller lake across the street from our house. I was really nervous about this, because of my back and the troubles walking I've had lately, but I do need to build up some stamina so I can enjoy our cruise to the fullest. We headed out.

Sophia sat right down at the beginning of our walk to watch the ducks!

Jack liked being up close to this guy and kept calling him a turkey, which made me laugh.

I got about halfway around the lake before I kept having to stop and sit to let my back stop it's painful spasming and seizing. It was annoying and embarrassing. I'm hoping the impact of this injury will diminish after the gastric bypass.

I'm awfully fond of this sight every spring, especially because I often think of my children as my little ducklings following along behind me, wherever I go. Duckies are the cutest babies!

Back home again, I let Stephanie cut my too-long bangs... and I won't be doing that again! LMAO! They look not so good. But they'll grow back; they always do.

Then I cut her hair, and there were many jokes made about the kinds of things girls do when they get together. We hung out some more before they headed home, and all of us were so glad to have such good 'couple' friends.

********

Are you liking the music being back on the site? No? You'll have to thank or blame Daisy for that, depending on your opinion!

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I stayed up until 0400 on my monthly online charity crochet-a-thon thingy, chatting with crochet friends and trying to win a prize. I won nothing. I've won nothing all year. Suckage. Rob had long since fallen asleep upstairs, but I didn't have the energy to join him and crashed on the couch until 10 AM when Tiger Lily started banging on the back door to go out. I was just getting up when Rob and the kids came downstairs, on their way out to get new tires for my van. Yeah, both our cars were desperate for them. So I was all set to lie back down - hey! free time without the kids means sleep! - but then I remembered the crochet-a-thon. I was determined to win a prize.

I sat on that computer for the next three hours and still didn't win. Dammit. I kept playing Webkinz tournaments to pass the time, and I've won about 40 between last night and today during the chat. Rob just rolls his eyes and laughs at me. Hey, it's fun. And I had to pass the time while the chat was slow somehow!

At 1300, I jumped in the shower to get ready for my eye exam appointment. [I didn't really need an exam, but I needed new glasses (I burned mine!), and so I picked up a mystery shop to get free ones. Yeah, I know, I said I was done with that, but it keeps pulling me right back in. And hey, you can't beat a free exam and glasses. Plus I have pink-eye and needed a prescription.]  The appointment was for 1440, but I had had enough of the computer. Still no sign of Rob and the kids. Another hour passed. Still no sign. Ten minutes before I had to be at the eye doctor, I called him, only to find out he was still at the flipping tire place! Five hours getting tires! With three small children! Ay ay ay.

The eye tech said I could be late, so we took off immediately when they finally came in, and I had my exam. The doctor was very nice, very thorough, very pleasant... I enjoyed him immensely. He's right up there with Dr. Michael Bidus in my little book of Medical Types To Love. He gave me a script for the strongest antibiotic eyedrops available, since the Rx drops I'm using from my last bout aren't helping and confirmed that my vision is still pretty crappish at 20/200.

He dilated my pupils, so I called Rob and the kids out of the van to come help me pick out frames while those drops were taking effect. We were at For Eyes (Rob's favorite name for an eyeglasses store), where they were having a sale: two complete pairs for $99! After much deliberation, we picked a regular pair and a pair for sunglasses. Blue ones. That's a switch. We'll see.

I headed back over and let the doc look in my eyeballs some more, and I whined a bunch about the brightness. He gave me the paper sunglasses to wear around looking snazzy, and we were off.

Well, I'd spent all that time looking at the Mi Hogar Mexican Restaurant right next door, and Rob is always, always, always down for some Mexican, so we headed there for lunch. The usual: Jack ate chips, the girls ate quesadillas, I ate a vegetarian combo... and Rob orders something different every time. He ordered something called the "big burrito" and they were not kidding. I have literally birthed a smaller baby than that thing! He ate half and called it a day.

On to the next fun thing: Motor World down by the beach! Rob and I had last been about three years ago and still had some valid ride tickets, so we brought those along and bought some ride bracelets for the kids.

Our first stop was the bumper boats. The Littles rode with Rob, and Chloë rode with me. Jack and Chlo were scared at first, but once they got in there, they had a lot of fun. I'm a big fan of bumper boats, but mine would hardly go! It was very frustrating. We basically  just sat around in the water and waited for people to run into us. Chloë giggled every time she got a little wet.

  Next, we headed to the kiddie race cars for the kids to have a go around the track. Did you watch the video? That was just the beginning of our amusement. We parents were doubled over laughing by the end of their ride, as the kids were just horrible at it! They crashed, went three feet, crashed, two feet, crashed... you get the idea. It was totally hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Next up was some 'real' driving in the family cars. I don't know what these things are all called, so you'll have to bear with me. Cars is cars. Unfortunately, in the cars, two kids couldn't ride with one parent, so we had to take turns. First, Daddy and Jack rode together while the ladies patiently waited with their mama.

The girls waiting their turns for a drive

Next up, Chloë and Mommy. Yes, I know, an actual picture of me. I can't believe I really look like this. I mean, I know I do, but I just can't believe it has gotten to this point. Sigh... It's the "before," Melanie. It's the "before."

Sophia makes a new friend while she waits

Our car lover, transfixed by the action in front of him

I tried to get a decent picture of Sophie's ride, oh, how I tried, but her little head just didn't come over the edge of the car! So I'm just including this picture (a) to show she got her turn and (b) to show I managed some depth of field with this picture!

My pretty little baby in her pretty little dress

The girls wanted to go on the jumpy thing after that, while Rob took Jack on one of the other kiddy rides and to get a drink and funnel cake. Older kids were flipping over and over in their harnesses, but Chloë was too scared to try that. After a while, she was too scared at all and got down early.

Sophia loved her turn on the jumpy, and she was winging all over the place, her hair flying in the breeze. She was fun to watch, giggling away as she flew in the air. The ride operator got a kick out of her, too, and he was holding her down so she'd fly higher and higher. This one's going to be a daredevil.

Next up, because the kiddie rides were finally opening as the evening came upon us, the girls rode the dinosaurs that Jacky had just finished. He didn't want to go again. He was all about the cars by that point.

My beautiful girls taking a ride in the elephants

Jack and Chloë went back for another drive in the hilarious kiddie cars after that. Chloë was actually starting to get the hang of steering! Jack, not so much, but he didn't care a bit. He was in seventh heaven behind the wheel of that car, his pedal to the metal. When it's time to get his license, he will be a force to be reckoned with.

We found some more kiddie rides that had not been open earlier, so they each got in one of these dealies and "drove" around and around the track. We kept hollering out to them, teasingly, "They're getting you! Go faster! Faster!" Jack took it most to heart, and would hunch over the wheel and start steering madly, a determined look on his face. It was hysterical.

Next, the "kiddie" himalayan. Holy, crap, this thing was fast. Jack had decided against it from the get-go, and he was smart to do that. Sophia started freaking out when it began, and I was flailing and yelling like crazy to get the ride op's attention and stop the thing. Rob finally got through to him, and we pulled our baby off. She was so shaken, poor thing.

Chloë insisted on staying on the ride, but she really started freaking when it started going backward. This thing really went way too fast for kids who are only supposed to be 36" tall. After the ride, I asked her if it was scary. "Yes." Was it fun? "Yes." Which was it, more scary or more fun? "It was half-and-half!" But was it worth it? "Yes!" Good enough.

Lastly, we found the Family Speedway to use up our remaining tickets. Here's my sweet Sophia buckled next to me.

I held my camera over my head and managed to snap this one of Rob and Jack in the car behind us. What about Chloë? Again, we couldn't ride two kids with one parent, so one of the ride operators agreed to drive her around so we could all go at once! This was the funnest ride, the five of us chasing each other around the track. Chlo was speeding, while Rob and I were stuck in pokey little putters.

I had just a few dollars in my wallet, so I decided the kids could play one easy game before we left. Each of them could pick up a floating ducky and see what prize they could pick from the letter on the bottom. Easy peasy. I don't know why Chloë chose the Incredible Hulk, as she has no idea who he is!

A beach ball for the very sleepy-by-this-point Sophia

Jack, of course, chose this airplane. It's his new favorite toy.

It was definitely time to go after that. They'd been out all day and had no naps or rest of any kind.

Sophia was practically asleep before we left the parking lot. But we had one more stop before home: Chloë and Jack had both been clamoring for a hot dog at the park, but we had coupons each of them had received from their respective schools for a free kids' meal at Jason's Deli for various achievements.

After getting their hot dog meals there, we headed home. Normally our little piggy, Sophie had no interest in food, so Rob brought her right up to bed. She was out again before he shut the door. So sweet. I love that I still have a baby in the house. I gave the kids their meals, and they went to down, devouring dog, pickle, chips and chocolate milk. Not bad for free!

Oh, and in the mail, I got a package from MIL: BoxTops and soup labels for the kids' schools, a fun book for each of the kids, a Wind in the WIllows DVD, and  - yay yay yay - my first pattern to try and sew! It's a dress I can make for both girls if I want. I can't wait to take Rob to the store to get my fabric and "notions"! Fun, fun!! Thanks, Mom!

Tomorrow will be another fun, busy day, but for now, I'm going to go see if I can talk Rob into watching a movie with me. I think it will be This Film is Not Yet Rated.

Fin.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Okay, it looks like Typepad has totally revamped its posting software, so who knows how this is going to turn out?

The middle panel of my stripey blanket - finished at last! Onto the third and last panel. Whew. It's the blanket that never ends. I'm really loving the color play in this panel. It's working for me!

So after I woke up early this morning, I decided to grab a shower to officially start my day. I rarely shower first thing in the morning anymore, even though it used to be my must-do to get the day jumping. And it worked. I was ready for the day. Note to self: do that more often.

Chloë and I went to the bus stop and were greeted by, as you read, the smokin' grandpa of two little girls with whom we wait. So annoying.

I came home and fiddled around online for a little while until Jack joined me, and we shared a nice breakfast together. He was smiling and in a good mood, which made me happy in turn. Then while he played downstairs, I went up and started in on the mounds of clean laundry that needed folding and put away. I only got through about two or three loads before it was time to get back downstairs and put him on the busl though. Still haven't made it back up to finish, but I plan to after this...

Once Jack was in school and Sophie had  had her breakfast, we jumped in the car and headed to the post office to get some one-cent stamps. On the way there, we had a redeux of this incident: my mirror fell off the side of the van again. Augh! Irritating. Oh well, at least the temporary voodoo Rob put on it lasted almost two months. A man stopped at the P.O. to try and  help me, but he had no luck either.  You never know how much you depend on that thing until you don't have it.

Afterward, on a whim, I decided to get my nails done. I wanted a (yes, fake) French manicure for the cruise. I know, I have fat little sausage fingers. And yes, I know, it's more than a month 'til we leave, but I wanted to have plenty of time to get used to them so I wasn't stuck preoccupied with my stupid nails and enjoying myself less than I should be, y'know? I didn't realize it was going to take more than an hour and a half! Sophia was so patient and sweet while she waited all that time, and she was rewarded with a little bonus manicure of her own:

So pretty, so cute! Both her sister and her brother were jealous of her little treat when they came home and saw her cherry-read nails, so we'll have to rectify that situation for them when we get a chance. Jack keeps asking for green nailpolish, which I don't have, but maybe we can find some!

While we were at the nail salon, Sophie practically threw her dress over her head and shouted for the entire room, "Hey, I need to fix my panties!!" and all the techs (and I) laughed. Silly girl. No modesty there.

After Chloë put her leotard on, we headed out to her ballet class just as the first fat raindrops were starting to plunk down around the van. I love fat raindrops like that. Little did I know... before we left our neighborhood, the thunder and lightning came and kept coming with no reprieve. The rain was pounding down around us, and it grew so dark the kids were in awe of how fast it became 'night time.' Chloëped we wouldn't be "stroked" by lightning. They were all scared, especially the littlest one. She kept screaming when branches would fly around us. It was bad out there, especially with no side mirror!

The rain didn't let up once we got there, so I did something I've never done before: I left Chloë there and drove the little ones home to get them out of the rain, hoping Rob would be far enough on his route home to pick Chlo up in time. I  never should have left. The rain was driving down now, and then once we hit the highway, we were hit with hundreds of humongous hailstones (how's that for alliteration?). Sophie was really scared then. I pulled up to the house and carried the babies in as fast as I could, sending them upstairs to get dry clothes. I never did reach Rob on time, so we ended up going right back out again 20 minutes later to get Big Sis. No nap for the Littles; oh well, they're sleeping great tonight.  The return trip was much better, and the rain even stopped by the time we came home again. But if you were on the Atlantic coast today, you know something must have upset ye gods above!

Man, it is a PITA to type with these nails on! I'm constantly backspacing...

OH!! I forgot my biggest news: We are not moving to Pensacola this fall. Repeat, NOT going to Pensacola. Sorry, Gail. :( Rob's request for that duty station wasn't granted. Someone else filled the bill. So now we have no idea where we'll be living come this time next year. There aren't a lot of favorable choices for shore duty. There's Jacksonville, FL, which means a lot of long hours for him. It's a possibility. And there's Maryland, which is... not south of here! I don't want to find us inching North even a little bit. There are some sea duty billets in Japan and Southern California, which means, der, he'll be away at sea and he's supposed to be coming off sea duty now. So he's going to wait two weeks and see what new billets come out then. We shall see.

Anyway, after ballet, we decided to go out to a different Mexican restaurant for dinner. I'd redeemed some Coke Rewards points for a free $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate earlier today, and I know the Bob is always up for some yummy Mexican food. As usual, Jack ate nothing but tortilla chips, Sophia and Chloë had quesadillas, and I had my vegetarian fare. Rob loved his. Mine was eh, okay, but I think I should've chosen a different entrée. For the record, I think potato enchiladas are nasty.

I took a short nap when we came home, while Chlo worked on her homework, the Littles played, and Rob worked on my mirror. I'm glad it wasn't longer, so I'll actually be able to sleep tonight. Maybe even with the CPAP on. I'm still trying with that damn thing.

All right, hasta mañana.

Fin.

The Itchy & Scratchy Show

Yesterday's episode is late because I fell asleep shortly after Rob left to go back to work at 9 PM. The kids went down for bed, Rob had to go stand overnight watch, and I had planned on an evening of movies and knitting. Well, no sooner did I sit down than I was dreaming, and I didn't wake up until some hair regrowth informercial started blaring from my TV at 0400. I'm covered in hives, my hands and knees are huge and swollen, my eyes are bleary... and here I am, looking so pretty just for you.

Friday was a day full of futile pursuits. I nearly - but not quite - ruined my perfect record for the week of getting the kids to school on time. I woke up late this morning, with just ten minutes before Chloë had to be on the bus. We raced into some clothes and shoes and shot down to the corner just in time. Then I went back to sleep on the couch, after being up until at least 4 AM the night before because... I'm like that.

But then, I woke up five minutes after Jack's bus normally stops at our house, and I ran to the front door just in time to see it returning in the opposite direction from which it came. Gah. Jack was ready to go, so I had him go wake up his sister, and we jumped in the van to head to his school. We were there fifteen minutes before his bus arrived and had to wait for his teacher to come out and get him, but he was on time! We made it. Whew.

So Soap and I headed home for breakfast, some piddling around, and a shower.  She had her usual 18 bananas for breakfast. Girl can eat some nanner.

We headed to the Navy base clinic so I could see about getting my shots for the trip to Europe. I have a long list I need to get, because I was never vaccinated against anything in childhood. I did get a tetanus shot in college after a particularly nasty sunburn, and I had to get the MMR for grad school, but that's all I've had. So we picked up my medical record and went to Immunizations.

After waiting an eternity, during which Sophia "read" every book in the waiting room about five times each (which consisted of her flipping through the book and saying, "Once upon a time, {mumble, mumble, mumble}, The End!"), we were taken to the back. I was given the third degree about why I wanted these shots, where was my shot record, why haven't I received them before, who told me I needed these, blah blah blah. Finally, I was told there was a special travel clinic at the Naval hospital in Portsmouth, and I needed to go there to get my shots. UGH! Why not just tell me that in the first place?

We managed to get home just three minutes before Jack's bus arrived, thank goodness. I had forgotten my cell phone and had no way to ask the neighbors to watch for them in case we were late. I timed myself to make sure we left with plenty of time to get home, but there was a big accident on the return. Anyway, we made it.

I buckled Jack in, and our next stop was to the bank to see about exchanging some money into Euros for the trip. I know it's a bit early, but I wanted to find out about doing that, and getting traveler's cheques, with plenty of time to keep an eye on the exchange rates. The man I entered with was particularly chivalrous about holding the doors open for me and the Littles, and then letting me go first in line, and he was amused about their antics during the long wait. Not so much, I. They, like most kids, have this instant attraction to the containment rope-thingies; fortunately, for once, they didn't knock any down.

Well, I didn't get any Euros. Turns out you can only get them at the airport nowadays, not at the bank. After waiting so long and stressing about the time in order to get back for Chloë (shoulda left her a note! She can read now, after all!), I completely forgot to ask about the cheques. Oh well, there's plenty of time.

Turns out Chloë's bus was late, and we beat her home by a few minutes as well. In fact, I turned the car around and drove to her bus stop to wait at least five minutes before they showed up. She was very surprised to find me there waiting like that, and the fifth graders were so sweet in helping her across the street safely. Our fifth graders are all Safety Patrol members, so I guess it's just second nature to them to help the small fry.

Off we went for our weekly trip down to the Farmer's Market. On the way there, I remembered a radio commercial I'd heard for birthday parties at the Hunt Club Farm, so I asked Chloë where she might want to have her 7th birthday party. It's her "golden" birthday, which we may or may not make a big deal of. Have you heard of this, this "golden" birthday business? I never did until a couple of years ago, and Rob never did until today. Apparently it's a big deal to turn the age of your birth date, and Chloë will be 7 on the 7th this year, so... this is it. I don't know exactly what one is supposed to do, so we shall see.

Well, after I asked her, her response was, "Hmm, why don't we go to China for my birthday?" Ahahaha! China! Yes, that's exactly what we'll do, we'll all hop a jet to China for a 7th birthday in lavish style. Yes, yes.

After informing her that this was not going to come to pass, she decided she might like Build-a-Bear instead. And then for her eighth, Gymboree. (Huh? Too old, dear.) And then for her ninth... "Wait a minute! We're not even going to be here for your ninth birthday, my love, and aren't we getting a wee bit ahead of ourselves?" I laughed.

Down at the Market, I parked across from Uncle Chuck the Fishmonger's shack, and there was no sign of the always-charming Uncle Chuck. Instead, there was Young Niece So-and-So. "Where's Uncle Chuck?" I asked. I guess he had the nerve to go on vacation! I looked at the menu of goodies for this week and picked out eight very nice-looking crabby patties, a pound of ocean scallops for moi, and a bag of littleneck clams for the Bob. Yum.

We packed our fishies into the van and then headed to our favorite produce stand. The kids kept calling out what they wanted. "Apples! Watermelon! Strawberries!" So we picked out each of those, along with more red new potatoes and some delicious-looking sugar snaps. "What are those?" Jack asked. "Beans," the man told him. "What's inside there? Peas?" Chloë wanted to know. Yes. Inside beans are peas. That's how it works! Everything looked so fresh and inviting, I couldn't wait to get home and cook up some grub.

Daddy was home when we arrived, a little early because of having to go back in just a few hours. Yay! After seven-plus years, it's still always a thrill to see his car in the driveway when I come home. He came out and helped unbuckle kids and carry in our packages, and smooched the wife. Everyone was in a great mood, and we were all salivating over the fresh food.

While the huge crab cakes cooked up in some EVOO, the children dove into their apples. Really crisp, sweet apples at that stand. So good. But when the crab cakes were finished a few minutes later, the girls quickly abandoned their fruit in favor of the jumbo lump goodness. Jack had no interest in the crab cakes, as usual, so he just danced around shout-singing, "Strawberry Shortcake! Strawberry Shortcake! I want Strawberry Shortcake! Strawberry Shortcake!" over and over and over.

We gave Chloë her own crabcake, and she ate about a quarter of it before passing it to the two of us. Not because she didn't love it - she did - but she is teeny-tiny and has an appetite to match!

With Sophia, we just fed her off our plates, and we should have given her the whole patty. She ate at least that much and loved every bit of it. Oh well, we'll figure our kids out eventually!

After we finished the crab cakes, I set to work hulling the strawberries. I bought three quarts instead of two this time, because it looks like they are already starting to turn, and I wanted to get in as much as I could before then. I'll have to buy them from the grocery soon. Rats. I could barely keep any cut-up strawberries in the bowl for the kids to eat; they ate almost the entire quart without blinking. I had to sneakily pop a few in my own mouth to get any, and I think Robert was lucky enough to score one, too!

The second and third quarts, I sliced up and sugared for the strawberry shortcake. The kids, especially Jack, were going gonzo thinking about that! We decided apples, strawberries and crab were enough for dinner, so we popped in the special movie I ordered for them from Netflix to give the strawberry syrup time to set up.

While Rob was setting up the movie, the kids were in a silly-goose mood! Jack finally attempted one of the sugar snaps, although he didn't end up actually eating it. The girls and we ate a bunch of them raw, though. They were so sweet and tasty!

You can see Sophia is starting to tower over her older bro!

Modeling her sunglasses from the Dollar Tree photo shoot (the ad comes out on Sunday - don't forget to pick one up and look for Sophie!) and remembering to pose with her hands on hips, Sopapilla looks exactly like what her shirt says - Cute.

What sibling rivalry??

Chloë's turn to be in the middle - but Sophia has to pull all those curls up out of the way and mars the picture!

We watched Bee Movie, the Jerry Seinfeld-created flick, together as a family. Eh, it was entertaining enough. The kids sat through it for the most part, especially Chlo. Sophia came over to me and admitted to being tired and wanting to go to bed at some point during the movie, and I asked Daddy to bring her upstairs, but then she started sobbing about her strawberry shortcake. Poor baby, torn between sleep and food. In the end, Daddy just cuddled her on the couch until it was time for yummies.

Sophia contemplates the enormous dessert I set in front of her. She doesn't even know where to begin! Normally I only give them half a shortcake, with half as much strawberries and cream, but they were so antsy about it tonight, I thought I'd let them go to town. And they sure did! But none of them finished, so back to halvesies it is.

Jack kept wanting more whipped cream on his, so Daddy got silly and decided to pour it directly into his mouth. We all thought this was pretty hilarious - especially the greedy boy!

Good times. Good times.

Right after that, the kids went to bed and Rob left for work. But now it's 0534 on Saturday morning, and he should be on his way home anytime now! I can't wait to see him walk in the door, looking all cute in uniform.

{Confidential to Stephanie-Canada: You're in my prayers, dear! I can't wait until you return...}

Until tonight, my dears.

Fin.

Before I Forget...

When Sophia woke up this morning, she came charging down the stairs demanding, "Where's my chocolate?!!!"

Toooooooo funny.

Fin.