Happy Easter

From our family to yours... Happy Easter!

TOTALLY one of those days

This morning was one of those perfectly stepford mornings.

Both kids were up, fed, dressed and ready (as well as in the car and buckled!) 15 minutes before we typically fly out of the house to get rhena to school only a few minutes late.

I was wearing my contacts! and a skirt! the sun was shining, and with LESS than 50% humidity.. we were ready for another day in the mid-80s.

Came home, hand-washed some dishes, and began making a pumpkin spice cake. Boy child was happy! music was playing! and yes... the sweet smells of pumpkin were beginning to make their way through the house.

I said something on twitter that I half expected to see a cartoon woodland animal show up and start singing to me. kinda like this:

I know.. Blame Rhena. all these damn Disney princess videos I'm having to watch are starting to creep into my everyday thinking. it's freaky.

So I KNEW all was too good to be true... the cakes? came out perfect. There was even a little extra batter to make 6 muffins/cupcakes.

Then... then I started the cream cheese maple frosting. And danny came and hugged me. (hear the birds? c'mon.. I know you do!)

screeeeeeeeeeeech!

yes. this is where my perfect morning came to a shit-assed stop.

literally.

Danny took a MAN-sized crap, and the smell not ONLY overpowered the once-delightful aroma of pumpkin spice in my kitchen.. but kinda crept up my nostrils and CHOKED ME. like JOLT TO THE BRAIN make you GAG CHOKING!!!!

fine.

we have perfection in cake form... this will not stop me.

change Danny's diaper, SCRUB hands in antibacterial.. and resume.

cream cheese. butter. maple syrup. powdered sugar... mmmm. mmmmmm. uh... HUH! ACK! what the??

GAAAAAH!

Danny crapped again.

seriously. I KNOW!

so anyways. take him upstairs... get him all cleaned up... come downstairs, SCRUB HANDS.. get back to my frosting.

hmm... frosting is just about filling up the kitchen aide (decided to do a double batch, cause mmm.... cream cheese frosting! with 100% pure maple syrup!).. but the frosting is... runny. hmph.

maybe add some more powdered sugar. taste. ok.. a BIT sweet.. but not bad. still runny... still runny. holy what the.. DANNY!

again my boy shits.

go upstairs AGAIN and get the boy cleaned up. At this point.. my nose feels permanently STAINED with poop smell. I'm verging on gagging, and crap smell has taken over both floors of the house. SCRUB hands again (getting slightly raw now) and get back to frosting.

I decide to let it sit in the fridge for a bit while I slice one of the cakes and chop pecans for garnish. sure enough, it firms up a bit... only to turn into a sloppy mess when I put some on the cake.

it was ugly, people. and at this point.. Danny, who apparently is now like 6 pounds lighter, decides he's HUNGRY and will not let go of my leg.

Where are my birds? where are my cartoony woodland creatures that will bring my prince and make my feet look cute? I'll tell you where they are....

thank you. thank you very much. Now.. for your information.. I'm going to go eat my perfect spice cake and wash it down with a shot of cream cheese frosting.

outside.

where it doesn't smell like poop.

Thank You Momma GT

ok... no secret I'm in a blogging funk lately.

Thanks to Momma Ginger Tree for tagging me. more thanks for it being easy. The rules are to choose the sixth photo from your sixth album and post it along with a description or the story behind it. There's no rule saying I have to tag anyone else.. so even better.

I went on to shutterfly, and my sixth album happens to be the birth of Rhena. The sixth picture is one of me laying in the hospital bed.. moments after another voracious puke session. I'm gonna spare you that picture, cause really? do we NEED to see me big and pasty? didn't think so.

So since I'm bucking the rules, I'll endow myself with bad luck and pick picture #13.

This is the very first moment I saw Rhena. September 17, 2004. She was eight days late, and after being in the hospital with contractions for about 18 hours... her heartbeat kept dropping. Despite the 12+hours of pitocen, my dilation hadn't progressed past 6cm . and did I mention we were told the baby's heartbeat was getting weaker?

We went with the C-section, and had an amazing nurse in the OR who took these pictures for us. I can't remember his name, but to have this picture? it's been a wonderful gift.

See her arm hanging down? she was reaching towards me. I didn't get to physically hold her until about an hour later.. but that moment she reached out was the instant she grabbed my heart.

She just turned four last month, and to this day... when she looks at me a certain way or reaches out helplessly yet purposely? I'm right back there in the operating room in Reno... unable to move yet soaring in space; just from her love alone.

Down for Maintenance

so I know.. CLEARLY something has been going on over here.

lately... I've been a little down. Not the huge depressing sad way I was when Rachel passed away.... but still... down.

I have lots to say and share, but meh... just haven't had it in me. no blogging, no baking, not e-mailing or sending letters... just... going through the motions kind of.

but I'm working on that.

I think we've just about settled into our new routines for the year. By the power of all things holy associated to time management... we only really have ONE major task each day. Rhena has school on monday, wednesday, and friday... *I* teach class on tuesdays, and then we have to get Rhena to dance school on thursday. So really.. not bad at all. not too overwhelming, but definitely that kick in the ass such that we have to get out of the house every day.

Danny has been behaving better... I think he's happy to have his one-on-one time with me back. Not that we johnson women tend to be CONTROLLING or anything.. but I think Rhena tends to push him around a little when she's here.



And he's SUCH a moo moo. love him, I really do. and HE loves his girlfriends. he's got a few regular ladies he sees here and there, and MAN he throws on the charm for them. He's also perfected a 'wounded' look these days... so make no mistake, he's got the flair for drama like his sister. I haven't caught him looking in the mirror while practicing crying and sad faces yet... but he sure does love an audience.

As for Rhena... well.. she turned four. That's just nuts. The things she says and asks me about are mind-boggling. We have one more appointment for her nose coming up... a while back in august we had one of her nostrils cauterized to stop the incessant bleeds she's been getting since birth. It wasn't a pretty process, but the results have been amazing for the one nostril that was done. So we've opted to get the other side done so she can (hopefully) be done with her nose bleeding 5 or more times a week.

I looked into the work I need to do to get Rhena into kindergarten next year (what open houses we needed to attend, what registration forms and/or applications we needed to fill out) but alas... next year will be the first year of North Carolina implementing a new cutoff date for minimum age of school entry. Currently she is within the cutoff by about 4 weeks to spare... next year she will MISS the new cutoff by 2 weeks. That has been a tough pill to swallow for me. I've exhausted myself trying to find some loophole or testing process that would allow her to progress to kindergarten next year with her peers that she has been attending school with... but no luck.

meh. All will be fine.... it was just one more thing on the pile.

The election has been weighing on me very heavily. but I'm not ready to go there right now. Let's just say I've seen a LOT of stuff I don't like, and sadly... not enough things have been done or said that I feel I can believe in. but whatever. I'm not going there now.

NOW.... I'm going to get off this thing and flip the laundry and rassle the group to go food shopping. and prepare my lesson. and finalize my pitch for someone to get them to donate to the cancer walk. oh, and you know.... do the parenting thing. apparently the kids need supervision during the day. WTF is up with THAT?

Take it easy, crew. I'll be around again.. eventually.

The Little Engine that Could

Dear Stepford Parents -

please stop. I'm not kidding. the parties are KILLING me. A couple of weeks ago, I took rhena to a birthday party at a house that made Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion look like a double-wide trailer. I shit you not... the POOL house alone was bigger than my backyard. Let's not mention the LOT that was sectioned off for the industrial PARK-sized play area, or the other lot they had for a volleyball court.

when my folks were here, we had yet another birthday to attend. This one was a Thomas theme, and for a little boy turning two on my street. Since it was at a house on my street, I knew I wouldn't have to feel TOO ghetto for gawking at everything I saw.

however.

They rented a little blue train. yeah.

so we all got on the train and it choo-chooed around the neighborhood. To say my kids were excited would be an understatement. To say that every child we passed on the street was JEALOUS would be an understatement. SO happy Danny still wears diapers, as he was squealing so much, I have no doubt he was pissing himself from excitement the whole time.

As for Rhena... the girl who had JUST had her nose cauterized and was STILL milking my guilt for having her go through the ordeal... well... she seemed to be able to rise above the pain for long enough to enjoy the train.

So while I am INDEED happy at how much my kids enjoyed attending these parties.. I'm STILL putting the plea out there for this kind of shit to stop. all I have are cookies, and the occasional cute invitation. kids are gonna be a tad disappointed when it comes to a Johnson party.

I jest. I love the parties, and I'm totally fine with what we do for our kids. I'm totally not gonna get into that whole 'keeping up with stepford' mentality. I mean.. if worse comes to worse... I MIGHT start putting REALLY LOUD toys and SUGARY CANDY in the favor bags.... but that's all.

party on!

No place like Home

so here in the south... it's hot as balls out.

no, really... I logged on to weather channel and I could SWEAR that the reported temp was 5 degrees higher than the expected high for the day, and that was before they factored in the humidity index.

I firmly believe that if I had one of those thermometers outside of my window that it would be giving me the middle finger, telling me to get back inside and don't come back out until at LEAST september. maybe october.

ok.. I lie. before 10am, and after 8pm, the temps cool down to low eighties.. MAYBE in the 70's if there's a cold front moving through. but even then.. the air is... as snoopy gingerly called it... MOIST. (that's for you, Katy!)

anyways.. I'm sure everyone else is having their share of dog days this summer. my point is that we have been spending a LOT of time indoors. the library, the book store, the food store... every errand has become a major attraction, just as long as it's inside and there's snacks involved.

we've been doing a LOT of dance parties. Rhena's passion for dancing and all-things ballerina has only gotten STRONGER over the summer. At any given time, you can usually find her in SOME fashion of leotard, tights, tutus, slippers or shoes.

Not one to squelch creativity.. I just roll with it.

Speaking of rolling.. I TOTALLY need to get cracking on rhena's birthday plans. it might be an age thing, cause Suser was talking about this yesterday... but holy good gravy.. Rhena has changed her mind AT LEAST a gagillion times about her party theme. Top runners have been princess, wizard of oz, a 'dark' party (hang on.. I'll get to that in a second) and most recently.. a pink poodle party.

The dark party was an interesting one. she came up to me one day and the conversation went like this:

Rhena: "momma... I want a dark party for my birfday. Say 'rhena? what's a dark party'"

Me: "rhena.. what's a dark party?

Rhena: it's a party in the dark, silly! momma.. say "Rhena.. how will we see the cake if it's a dark party?"

Me: Rhena.. how will we see the cake if it's dark?

Rhena: No, momma.. say dark PARTY. say 'how will we see the cake if it's a dark PARTY.'

Me: *sigh* Rhena. how will we see the cake if it's a dark PARTY?

Rhena: With Glowsticks, silly! really, momma.. you are just so silly! we can't see a cake in the dark, so we need glowsticks! lots and lots of glowsticks, ok? so I want a dark party for my birfday, ok?

did I mention it's been a long summer?

Anyway.. she has until today to figure out what exactly she wants as her party. as of breakfast, she was leaning towards the Pink Poodles ("but maybe a black spot doggie for the boys, momma")

we have a few errands to run... so who knows where the wind may blow her thoughts today. oh wait. there's no wind. just the stillness of hot, humid death outside. anyways. what I mean to say is who knows what might happen today. we could be talking dolphins before the day is through.

keep it cool, gang.

New York State of Mind

so yesterday the kids and I went to visit our friends in Brooklyn.

We weren't there LONG.... only a few hours. but it was a GOOD few hours. It's hard to put in to words the sense of happy and peace I get from seeing a friend that GETS ME and that I love so much. Even harder is when I only see that kind of friend once every other year or so (or longer).

Our children played well together. it was as if they were family.. just with less bickering.

Next week we continue the trip of never-ending-love and head up to see Susie and her boys. let the good times roll, I say!


to see more of the fun from yesterday... you can FINALLY check out my pictures on flickr. I know.. I'm slow. but I'm getting there.


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I see you!

boo!!

I took this picture of Danny last month, but only am just now going through my files and figuring out what needs to be uploaded and such. My inlaws probably think I'm the worst cause I haven't sent a shutterfly link in like 100 years.

oh well. in due time. Actually, today was productive. first.. the kids NAPPED. and since I wasn't you know.. driving a car for 10 hours or trying to clean or cook or wrap presents... I was able to plod around on my laptop during the silence. the sweet sweet BLISSFUL silence.

Anyways.. got a few more entries up over at Crumbles. I still have another I need to post; the one of my gourmet apples I did for the May bake sale a few weeks ago. but at least there's finally some new pics to look at.

Trying to figure out dates of when I can go see my friends. On the agenda is Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Brooklyn. you know.. in between the family stuff here in town. (by the way.. RACH... you're on my list!!! let's figure out something, yes??)

I was looking at my stats for this blog, too.. been a while since I was checking out who's been reading. granted, I went a while without posting much, so I suppose it didn't make much sense to see who was seeing.

I've been getting a few hits because of my facebook page. which is great.. I have been enjoying getting in touch with friends I went to college with. Having them look at my blog is MUCH easier than me re-typing all the stuff I've been up to. or rather, HAVEN'T been up to, what with taking care of the kids and all.

I AM a little (just a little.. not TOO much, but definitely enough to warrant a mention) irritated that I've sent notes-slash-friend requests to some people that either ignored me or (maybe?) denied me, but are looking at my blog. what's THAT about?? oh well. maybe I curse too much?

I guess I just don't get it. if you go out of your way to google me, troll through my blog, and even received a note of hello from me... just SAY HI!!!! I guess stepford is just a bit bigger than I thought.

anyways. it's 4pm. time to wake the kids up from their naps and get our second half of the day going.

happy hump day, gang.

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Memorable Day

First and foremost.. Happy Memorial Day. "Lest We Forget"





ok. that being said....





Yesterday, Boogie had her first recital. I was indeed VERY proud of her. not necessarily cause she was THAT GOOD or anything... but I just was. you see... after I gave her one last kiss and left her with the backstage crew, I joined Troy and my folks at our seats in the theater.





Looking around at the number of seats, the size of the stage, and the people that started filtering in, I couldn't help but swell with pride that our baby girl.. the very same one who used to CRY when someone looked at her.... was going to be up on that stage in front of all these people. She was flying solo.





ok, not necessarily solo, as she was with her class and there were about 100 other little girls dancing in the production that day.. but still. I got choked up, and indeed a tear might have snuck out.





The show itself was impressive. I mean.. it was still a dance recital, and while I never have been to one, it had a fair share of the things I expected. little girls out of step... geeky, awkward girls developing and not quite suited to their costumes.... and a share of girls that certainly looked like they did NOT want to be there.



but it also had girls that were doing things I can only just IMAGINE Rhena doing someday. And while I'm not sure if it's cause we're in a new season of "So you Think You can Dance" or what.. but I was truly impressed with the talent some of these girls had. Two dances are still in my head; a contemporary style for the flying monkeys and the hurricane where the girls were up on their toes for pretty much the whole routine. yes, I'm a complete novice.. but I was fantastically impressed by those two routines.





The storyline remained true to the Wizard of Oz... but the director certainly did a great job of mixing in pop songs to enhance the 'story'. George Thoroughgood's "Bad to the Bone" really made a wicked witch solo, as well as Michael Jackson's "Bad" for another witch scene. Dorothy had a solo to Flock of Seagull's "I Ran"... and of course there were many others throughout the show.





Again. I was impressed. As for Rhena.. I laughed my ass off. while she wasn't alone in being "That Kid".... she definitely stood out at points. especially when it was time for their exit. yes. my child made sure she took her time leaving the stage. the more people clapped, the slower she walked. it was like she was thinking "OH? really? yeah? for Me??? oh, well, ok.. go ahead.. yes.. thank you. oh? a little more? ok.. well.. I'll really be going now.. but more clapping? oh, ok... but I must be going? oh.. still? ok.. just this one last look... oh yes, well ok, thank you.. BYE!"





As for the dancing class itself... now that all is said and done... I'm glad we chose that studio. SURE, it's a little over the top with its rules and expectations... and the hall moms... bleh. again.. they're quite the characters... and I imagine that each year and each class will have a whole new predictable set of them. and I, in turn.. will continue to roll my eyes and scoff at them on the internet.



But the point of rhena taking dance classes is that she could learn about dance, and I truly feel that this studio respects the craft of dance and the work and dedication it takes to be GOOD at it. and while I'm good when it comes to shaking a booty... I couldn't possibly give her the dance education that the studio can and will, should she decide she wants to stick with it.



and listen. don't tell anyone... but after yesterday... I honestly wouldn't mind one bit if she wanted to stick with dance.





you know.. after she learns how to play hockey, of course.






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Of Straw and Berries

yesterday I took the kids to a pick-your-own farm. It's peak strawberry season here in NC, so like we've done for the past 3 years.. we went and got ourselves some.

In terms of straw... the farm STILL maintains their petting zoo. I still maintain my utter disgust for the smell of animals. I *AM* happy to report that Rhena did not like the animal smell, either. love those little moments where she shows that she truly DID come from me. my next mission is to get her to have an extreme distaste for camping. but I have a feeling just a few years in girl scout oughta do just fine for making THAT apparent. Danny might be taking after troy, though. he seemed to LIKE the animals.

I was a little nervous having both kids with me, but I have to say they did great. Rhena was eager to tell everyone she encountered that it was important not to pick the green ones. only the RED ones.

danny pleased himself by carrying a basket the whole time. I would pick, hand it to him, and he would take care of the rest. That moo-moo. he's gonna be a good boy.

eventually I'll get my act together and share the pictures I've been taking on these excursions... but I've been distracted with other stuff. like how many ways to serve strawberries.

anyways.. it's just about bedtime here at the apollo, so I'll leave this at that and catch you another time. perhaps tomorrow I'll be able to post from our newly extended and composite re-finished deck.

a girl can hope.

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I Heart Erin Cooks

seriously. I don't know WHAT kind of lottery I hit.. but Erin has restored my faith in all things good. and creamy. with a hint of honey.

people.. I got my ice cream yesterday. I think I squeaked a little when the doorbell rang late in the afternoon.

Rhena was ALSO pleased to see the package arrive. she literally held (dare I say HUGGED ??) it for no less than three minutes.

and I mean.. really.. when you open a package and the first thing you see is THIS.... how can you NOT be happy?

life is good. like four pints of good, good.

I tried to sample each one like IMMEDIATELY, but the bastids were ROCK HARD. so I did what any sensible woman would. I licked the top. Hey.. it worked in that old VW commercial.. I figured, why not?

earlier today I sampled the caramel ice cream with my espresso brownie. holy fatness, batman.. that was GOOOOOOD. ESPECIALLY when paired with the brownie. like.. a caramel macchiato with chocolate and a hug from giada GOOD. "perfect!"

in a bit, I'm going to wind down my day with just a little of the honey bee. it's just so simply delicious. really. a very rich vanilla with that sweet after-taste of honey. I almost wish I had a sore throat right now so I had an excuse to eat the whole pint. wait.. I DO NOT WISH THAT. (me and the health karma have NOT been friends lately. best not wish anything upon myself again)

But back to my post's title. LOVE Erin right now for including me in this circle of goodness. it's like one of those e-mails you get promising that you'll get money from microsoft, and so will the people you pass it on to, except you never do. but in this case you DO. you get the four pints. Really.. Erin... while I'm still wearing the same size pants... I honestly love you. and I'll totally make Chris a doggie cupcake when I can get people to eat/get rid of the ones I made this weekend. except you know, it might look a little more like dog FOOD by the time it gets to you. but really.. you. the bomb. BIG LOVE!!!

We're So ALIKE

in keeping with the "I have no shame" monday theme... I figured I'd share this picture.

I mean... nothing says "I need to marry this guy" like getting troy in a dress, false eyelashes AND letting pictures be taken.

yes. we are definitely meant for one another.

_____




(and yes.. apparently in addition to my past affliction for half shirts, I also had a thing for cleavage. in my defense, though.. it went well with the hat.)




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Bunch of ANIMALS, I tell ya!

so as promised.. here are a few pictures from the zoo.

I definitely feel like this was NOT one of my best ideas ever. I mean.. the zoo WAS enjoyable, and overall it was so nice to share the experience with my folks... it's just that the zoo is MUCH further away than I remembered. like REALLY far away. like over an hour away. which I SUPPOSE isn't too bad, but when sitting between 2 carseats (me), teething (danny), getting ready for a 9 hour car trip the next day (my folks) and being impatient in general (rhena)... perhaps taking on the zoo was a little more than I had bargained for.

no matter. we went, we had fun.

we saw animals, and even saw the creatures of wildlife. seriously.. there's nothing like going to a public place in the middle of red-neck NC to make you feel educated and slender.

Drawbacks include capturing the BACK of everyone I love in the majority of the pictures I took. I mean, sure.. I COULDA hopped the big wall to stand behind the lions, tigers and bears so I could get the FRONT of rhena's face... but.. uhhh. no.

loved the irony of Danny MOWING down on animal crackers the whole day.

Merry-go-Round was a must for Rhena.

we all did a lot of walking, and were a bit pleased to make it to this sign indicating it was all 'downhill' from there.

like I said.. it probably wasn't my BEST idea for an outing.. at least with the timing, but when I see pictures like this one below, I know that it was worth it.

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New Shirt, New Shoes, Now Serve-Us?

ok.. that was lame. I admit it. but hey.. it's not like we .. ok.. it's not like *I* get out often.

anyways.. thursday night Troy and I had a date. we totally capitalized on my folks being here with the free babysitting, and met up with another couple.

Ever the one to recognize a bargain, I went ahead and used whatever money we would have spent on babysitting, and spent it on myself. (listen.. I don't know how YOUR home economics works, but here at the Fever, I make it work to MY favor.)

on the list to be had was a new shirt.

Then.. I figured I'd need a new pair of shoes. I REALLY wanted these, but because I kinda lost both of my big toes' nails from the Avon walk last October (which, btw.. the second one finally fell off the other day, in case you were wondering) I decided it would probably be better to go with a close-toed shoe. cause really... missing toenails? gross. so yeah. went with these.

anyways... it was a nice night. and I know some of you may be gagging from the abundant use of pink, but I LIKE pink. and I figure worse case scenario, if I wake up next week from this premenstrual hormonal haze and realize that only women over 70 and hookers wear the EXACT SAME SHADE OF SHOE, SHIRT, and PURSE.... well... guess I'll be set for the future.

I also think that the pink helped soften the blow of seeing me EAT EVERYTHING that was put in front of me to the couple we were with (gotta love the first impression I must have made on the wife)... but I could be wrong. but that's probably a whole other blog post now, though, isn't it.

Happy weekend, people. zoo pics/recap tomorrow.

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rockin' around the clock

1, 2, 3 o'clock rock. 5, 6, 7 o'clock STOP!

people.. the poor sleeping has returned. between danny and rhena, I seem to be catching the hour hand on just about every number each night.

As I have mentioned before, Danny's got like 800 teeth coming in. so that in itself has had him not sleeping well. (and drooling and chewing on everything... and suddenly a food critic? the boy who eats anything off the floor is handing food back to me and saying "DAH!" I don't know what HE means by "DAH!", but I hear it as "please let's play the pass food back and forth game for the next half hour to forty minutes until I finally finish this delectible lunch/dinner you worked so hard to prepare especially for me, my sweet loving and oh-so-hip mother!")

around last week, I noticed that what's been coming OUT of the boy is strangely much softer than what's going IN him. and more yellow. and far smellier. (read.. he's had the mustard-yellow poops.) and while it's NOT quite the runs... it's about the consistency of toothpaste (now THERE'S a visual! AAACK!)

I figured it had something to do with all the excess drool from the tooth production... but saturday Rhenie woke up with the drip. as in nose drip. so perhaps mooser was fighting off something last week? a something that seems to be now winning out cause now Danny's nose has been leaking as well.

As for Rhena.. in addition to walking around like Sheldon was in last week's Big Bang Theory... (no really.. the resemblance is uncanny) she, too, is waking up in the middle of the night. and climbing into our bed where she proceeds to sneeze, roll over, sniffle, and ask for water intermittently every other half hour.

so anyways.. that's what's been shaking over here. getting ready for wicked on wednesday night, and troy and I have a date on thursday. so hooray for that!

tomorrow's my morning to work out. bleh! I wouldn't even call it working out at this point. more like "looking like an elephant on a treadmill". but that's alright. we all have to start somewhere, right? anyways.. gotta gear up a playlist to keep the legs moving tomorrow. last week I worked the black-eyed peas and beyonce. I think tomorrow I'll reach deep in the archives and pull out some classic techno. you know.. back in the days when I wore outfits like this and wasn't NEARLY as embarrassed as I am now just looking at it.

yes.

yes I DID.

but the point is that I DON'T any more, and my hair has fully recovered from all that over-processing. and those clothes and furniture are safely back in the garbage with the rest of the 90s.

Return to Neverland

Take me back to the Garden, child.. for once again life is too busy.

Remind me how to slow down, little one... and let someone else take the lead.

Teach me to be kind to strangers, sweet girl... for among the flowers we all are friends.

Let's sit down for just a moment, my boy... and take notice of the small things.

Allow me to look through your eyes, baby girl... so I can see only goodness.

Just one last picture, honey... so I can remember today forever.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Easter pictures continued. stomach still cringing from yesterday's intake. will do real post soon.

Happy Easter, gang.

Happy Easter 2008

more to come tomorrow.

you know.. when I'm done digesting.

Word to the Wise

When feeding your child... it's best to remember that what goes IN.....

must eventually come OUT.

sometimes it's even the same color.

ok. not going any further with that.

Divine Comedy

aaah. you know, with Rhena in my life, there never seems to be a shortage of things to talk about. or at the very least for me to share what SHE talks about.


so, I was helping miss boogey-pants get ready for school this morning. When I finished up with her hair, she stood up, spun around, and announced "Oh, I look DIVINE."



yeah. I'd definitely say she has a HIGH sense of self-love.


________________

today's inspiration? Margaret Brent, the first woman in the North American colonies to demand the right to vote. She and pioneers like her fought for women like me to have a voice. EVEN if it means bringing my children with me to the voting booth. hassle as it may be... there's never a wrong time to teach others (OR YOURSELF) that a voice matters.