Photo catch-up

These were all taken in the past few weeks. I honestly don't have the time to comment more than that.

Birthday Bash

Age defying products to keep me from looking my new decade.

A Kindle! Yayyyyy! Thanks, Dave!

So. I'm the big four oh. I teared up on Monday as I realized I was heading into my last hours in my 30's. But I'm okay with it now. I feel much wiser and more mature than I did last year, tee hee. Anyway, Dave finished work early so we could go see a movie . . . Star Trek. Loved it, by the way. Laughed at Bones McCoy and Scottie. I think Dave and I were the only ones in the theater (out of about 20) who got that it was supposed to be funny at times. Nobody else laughed. (Da**it Jim, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!) Oh, and I cried at the beginning. I'll blame it on leftover pregnancy hormones and being really fresh from the experience of giving birth.

Back to the birthday. Dave told me that some of our friends might come over after the movie. I mentioned that I hadn't planned dinner for the kids so we ought to pick up a pizza or something on the way home. Dave called home and told me then that Penny was over at the house fixing supper for the kids. I thought, "oh, that is nice of her." So we went to Wal-Mart for a while and bought "Enchanted April" on DVD. I've been waiting and waiting for that. Then we headed home and Dave mentioned that we were going to go in the front door. I had asked Dave earlier if I should be suspicious about Penny being over, etc. and he said yes, but asked me to please act surprised and that the real party would be on Saturday. He said kids would be here this night but not on Saturday. So I expected one or two families and kids.

As we approached the house I saw some cars parked in the cul-de-sac and thought "That looks like more cars than just a few families". As we approached the front door I could see chafing dishes in the kitchen. I thought, "Catering for a few friends . . .?" Then I opened the door and saw little Miranda Wright in the playroom and thought, "What the . . ." at which time the chorus of "SURPRISE" hit me along with silly string. The house was full of people! Aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. I was truly surprised.

One of the best things about the day was that Jill took a bottle while we were in the movie. Yayyyyy! And our friends, the Crawfords had their baby at 2 am. And, since the party was catered, very little clean up. And very few kids so the playroom stayed tidy. Maybe I should turn 40 again next year.

A wink and a smile.

I'm cute and I know it.

Flirting with my bud, Liam.

Summer Activities

Most photos courtesy of kids or self-timer.

Batteries for Trikes

Yesterday amid all the pestering to watch movies or play Nintendo (to which I reply "NO!") I asked William why he doesn't go out and ride his tricycle. He said, "It is broken". I asked the other kids, "Is it really broken? Does William know how to pedal?" William answered, "mom, I DO know how to pedal with my feet . . . but it only goes backwards. It needs new batteries."

Fashion Show

These are not in chronological order . . . I don't have time for that right now. She is growing so fast that some of these outfits are already too small, darnit. So . . . I will be posting more photos in the next few days as I get them onto my computer. Isn't she cute?

For Art Lovers

I just read a friend's blog and she posted some pictures from the Boston MFA. They have a contest every year where florists are challenged to make arrangements inspired by paintings, etc in the museum. So, if I figured how to paste the link here, follow it to flowers imitating art.

http://bostonmcquivey.blogspot.com/2009/04/art-in-bloom-at-mfa.html

Enjoy. These reminded me of being in Tucson when Elaine was little and my friend Stephanie was weaving kiwi. It didn't look exactly like a kiwi fruit, but it "imitated" kiwi by having all sorts of colors and textures that one would find in a kiwi fruit. I miss being around artistic folk.

Frog Spawn

Happy Memorial Day. I've spent the morning cleaning out frog spawn from our pool. Disgusting. Luckily, I did capture the female frog (huge) after the male finally popped off her back (yah, quite educational for the kids) and flung it into the desert. Dave "disposed" of 4 frogs the other night. He cleaned out all the spawn on Saturday morning, thinking that if he super-chlorinated the pool, the frogs would not come back. Sigh.

Also, Jeremy, in an effort to take care of the frogs himself (what a sweetheart), broke the net. So I called a neighbor who happened to have a net and a 2 year old who was thrilled to come over and learn about frogs. Of course, they came through the house so they could witness the chaos of my house with a newborn in it.

So why isn't Dave taking care of the problem today, you ask? Well, he and Elaine are living it up on the beach in San Carlos. It was originally scheduled as an educational field trip with one of Elaine's classes at school, but the school withdrew support a few weeks ago (I imagine due to swine flu and safety issues). But most everyone still went.

I'm sparing you photos of the spawn. Look it up online somewhere if you are interested. The basic description: thousands of tiny black pearls strung together all over the pool floor and steps. Did I say thousands? I'm sure it is millions. Look it up. I can't think about it anymore without heaving. Blech.