Party like it’s 1999 – and then clean the house

Ryan’s far, far away in Missouri right now and aaaall weekend long flying toy airplanes with his little friends. I’ve been to those things before. They’re not fun. So Lily, Miles, and I opted to stay here and have actual REAL fun.

Here’s my Ryan-free to-do list:

• Get house into cleanish, non-humiliating condition.
• Clear off DVR that’s currently 96% full of reality TV crappy crap. We’re talking The Bachelorette, Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, an entire season of Project Runway, AND twelve episodes of Supernanny. I’m sooo not proud.
• Write magazine article that’s due in nine days, as opposed to waiting 8.5 days to start it like I normally would.
• Hang Lily’s growth chart on the wall and place actual measurements on it from the last 3.5 years. How I wish I were joking.
• Party it up with my little people.

And party it up we have. There’s a pretty good chance I’m gonna fail at everything else on my list, but we’ve got the partying stuff down.

Today? Playtime Pizza.

Yep, that’s a bowling ball. A miniature one, yes, but a bowling ball nonetheless. Apparently, ROLLING the ball is a difficult concept.

Touchdown! Or something.

Playtime Pizza pizza.

No pizza for Miles. Poor guy.

And, yes, I’m aware that my daughter’s shirt is too small. Way too small. But she declared it to be her absolute FAVORITE this a.m., and I let her wear it one last time before it sorta just disappears.

Lily has decided that this is THE place to have her birthday party this year.

Though she also wants a Backyardigans-themed tea party. The kid is very specific.

Miles thought the mini carousel was the coolest thing ever. He rode it over and over and over again and never stopped giggling.

Yes, that’s a pacifier. And, no, he doesn’t actually take one. He just uses ‘em as chew toys.

Here’s a paci-free shot.

And, okay, another.

We earned enough tickets to get a ring pop, and Lily thought it was the best $5 ring pop ever.

And tonight we got Chinese takeout and watched Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-wrecked. Again.

Yesterday we enjoyed a fabulous play date at the home of our pals Heidi, two-year-old Nancy, and seven-month-old Karen.

This little boy (Colton) is a little over a month older than Miles, and he’s a total crawling pro and on the verge of walking, so I was all, “Miles, look at him! Look at him!” But Miles showed no interest whatsoever in Colton or his mobile ways.

None at all.

He saved all his energy for Karen.

He’s truly obsessed with the girl. And her hair. Poor thing.

Lily gets in on the baby action.

They keep multiplying.

Lily beelined for that swing as soon as we opened the door and then melted down oh-so-pathetic-like when I eventually requested insisted that she share it. NOT a proud mama moment.

Her compulsive flower plucking is contagious.

Later in the day, we made no-bake energy bites. Yummm!…though Lily says they’re sorta yucky, to which I say MORE FOR ME.

Those are measuring cups.

Read more...

Weekend recap on a Wednesday…

…’cause that’s how I roll these days. Not much to report, outside of the fact that Miles started dancing the Cha Cha Slide, solving algebraic equations, AND singing Old MacDonald in Portuguese. That, or he started clapping. Clap, clap, clap. It ain’t algebra or even crawling…that crawling stuff’s gonna happen soon, though…soon, I say!...but it gave my smile muscles a workout nonetheless. Tried to get it on video, and I did sorta get it, but he was way more interested in Kitty and trying to poop (can’t say I blame him there) and a host of other things to give me a proper video clap. Seven-month-olds.

But other than that, and for reasons that sooo don’t belong in Blog Land, our Memorial Day weekend was pretty uneventful and the first in Ryan’s and my decade of togetherness that we didn’t spend at the lake. It sorta maybe (okay, it did) put a slight damper on things, but we made the most of it, and at least we found a body of water of sorts to frolic in.

But before there was water play, there was geocaching.

In case you didn’t know, there are literally GAZILLIONS of little treasures hidden all around just waiting to be found by you and a trusty GPS device.

Lily thinks “treasure hunts” are the best because lots of the bigger caches will have toys and trinkets in ‘em. If you take something, you’re to leave something in its place.

We found some wild blackberry and raspberry bushes, and Lily was grabbing handfuls and shoving them in her mouth. It’s a good idea to encourage your child to eat strange berries, I always say.

The owner of this pirate-themed cache requested that you don one of the enclosed hats and snap a photo to post online. Mission accomplished.

The absolute BEST thing about caching (besides, ya know, the crappy trinkets)? The flowers.

And here’s our water play.

LOVE this picture.

No Memorial Day would be complete without Purple Penguin shaved ice.

Yesterday we met up with a few friends at a nearby playground.

And today, we did a little gyming (I’m officially in de-flab mode – I’ve still got ten pounds of baby chicken wing and French fry weight to lose), followed by story time at Barnes & Noble (it was a scratch ‘n sniff book)…

…followed by lunch and crazy fun at our favorite indoor playground…

…and a little love too…

…but mostly crazy fun…

…followed by Yogurt Mountain.

Reading Miles a bedtime book. Sort of.

Read more...

Lily took a swig of breast milk today or Our week in pictures

On Monday, we homebodied it. We did sticky mosaics, made banana bread, and had a brunch tea party.

Oh, and we made muffin tin eggs (with almond milk and vegan cheese – ugh – for the sake of Miles’s belly), which Lily actually proclaimed to be yummy, though she ate only one little bite. My fault for putting Cocoa Puffs in the sugar bowl. And for using almond milk and cheese wannabe crap.

On Tuesday, we headed for the Museum of Discovery.

It’s tough being little.

Got it!

At least one of my kids looks sober.

Placing my babe in a pit of rubber mulch? Not my smartest moment.

Then we walked next door to the farmer’s market + did a little picnicking.

A farmer’s market lady gave Lily a sunflower.

You’d think she’d given her a pony. She was THAT thrilled.

Wednesday? Story time at Barnes & Noble, followed by lunch/play at our favorite indoor playground.

That night, we headed to the gym, where Ryan swam with the kids while I hopped on an elliptical in a feeble attempt to de-flab. Post workout, the above is what I saw. My heart grew three sizes in that moment.

On Thursday, we went to the pottery place to pick up the thing (okay, it was a Father’s Day thing) Lily painted last week. Please act surprised, Ryan. And like it’s the coolest thing ever. She’s sooo proud of it.

Lily’d had so much fun painting her Father’s Day gift – and, okay, I was sorta jealous – that I asked her to paint me a late Mother’s Day plate. And then she stamped a handprint on it, and Miles stuck his foot on it, and it’s the most beautiful plate I’ve ever seen, and that’s BEFORE baking and stuff. We’ll pick the finished product up next week.

And then I’ll probably need a bowl or something.

And today was JumpZone day.

Slip-sliding with Hadley and Ashley.

Please note the pink Lily cup. This morning, after seeing Lily drink some water from it and then testing it out for himself, Miles decided it was his new favorite. Lily was kind enough to share, and so I loaded it up with me-milk before heading to JumpZone. A couple hours go by, and Lily sees it sitting on a bench, recalls having drunk H20 from it earlier that a.m., and takes a big swig from it. Her eyebrows furl, and she swallows hard.

“What IS that, Mommy?!”

I bust out laughing. “Remember?! I put Miles’s milk in it!”

Incidentally, she said it “tasted like yuck.”

FYI: Ryan hates it when I wear do-rags.

FYI #2: I’m about to chop my hair off-ish. Not TOO short, but I’ve had enough of the way-too-long, untamed craziness.

I still intend to wear do-rags.

Daddy surprised us by showing up!

Daddy and Miles share a moment…

…which Lily quickly moves in on.

Playing flying fairy.

This is also a really good shot of Ryan’s half-amputated toe. I’m sure he’d want me to point that out to you.

Read more...