The Mother of Geese

...to hang out with me in the lodge sipping hot chocolate... bummer. But she sure had a great time with her daddy! The night before she went she was having mucho anxiety about going. Her only exposure to skiing is sadly limited to America's Funniest Home Videos. Once I assured her she will not be crashing into any trees she was good to go.

You Would Win Best Documentary Feature You are very curious about and engaged with the world. Everyone is interesting to you. You have a variety of interests, and you delve into them quite deeply. People are impressed by the sheer quantity of stuff you know, and you're learning more every day. However, you're not just informed. You also are very informative. You share what you know in an engaging and interesting way. What Would You Win an Oscar For?

Tie-Dying my fingers (I mean T-shirts) Face painting Rainbow Foods The Cake The party favors

When you are having fun! thank you for filling my days with magic. how did this moment... ...turn into this one? Happy Birthday!

Whenever it snows Amelia will look at me and ask if I have "had it with Suzy Snowflake." I cannot fake my distaste for the flake. So when it snowed all day on Valentine's, I ditched my plans for the heart shaped meal and opted instead for an indoor BBQ complete with the picnic blanket and paper plates. (how kind of me to send Brad out for grill duty, no? and yes, those are leftover hamburger patties from Costco. Curses they last a while don't they) Since it was Valentine's I did want to do something special and nothing says I care about my heart like deep frying some taters, so we made homemade potato chips. They were amazing. Want some at your house? Here ya go. Step one: Use awesome cuisinart to slice potatoes then soak for an hour in ice water. Step 2: Get your vat of oil to a temperature of 350 degrees. (try not to calculate the btu's used.) Step 3: Fry then spinkle with parmesan cheese, kosher salt and pepper. It ain't a party til someone has a bowl o...

One is always willing to pose for a picture for the Valentine for Grandma Kitty. One is not. One snuggled up to me while we watched Nanny McPhee. One said I looked just like Nanny McPhee. (duly noted, little one, duly noted. One will say "i need a little alone time and excuse herself." One will say "sorry I be so ridiculous" One loves to go shopping with me and likes to have her own list. One sings Underwear! (to the tune of Jingle Bells) as loud as she can while shopping. One loves to eat healthy foods "because it's good for my body". One said her favorite food is sugar and suckers and will sell her soul for bubblegum. They are both growing up too fast.

I love Ira Glass. Brad thinks he has a terribly irritating voice, but I believe that Brad is just jealous. Once a week I try to make it a priority to get a little American Life for at least an hour. It is by far the best NPR has to offer (although I also enjoy wait, wait, don't tell me) and I can say that I have been entertained by all of them. The show makes me think, makes me appreciate people, and makes me want to do better. New to This American Life? Go to thislife.org and download the free episode. This week is about Bobby Dunbar. Riveting. The show is one hour and is performed in a few acts. This summer while traveling to California I downloaded a few episodes to my IPOD and sobbed through Nevada. Trust me. You will be hooked. I admit I haven't had a chance to do the television show version but its on my cue for Netflix. (oh, and I also love that Amelia has an imaginary friend named Samantha and the two of them are getting along marvelously today. Amelia just asked me for...

For day 3 I thought I would give a shout out to the gal who inspired me to start my blog three years ago. Melanie and her private blog challenge me to write the daily moments and really have joy in the journey. shamelessly stolen from her blog and written a few months ago Heather, Carrie, Me, Kelly A little story: Once upon a time there were four girls that moved into an apartment complex. They were all newly married-ish. They became friends. One had a baby, and the rest worked...but they joined the baby club without too much time passing. They all moved out of the apartment complex with their husbands and baby, or soon to be newborn baby. They all stayed nearby-ish, except one who moved far away. E-mails, blogs, phone-calls and Christmas cards kept them in touch. One day, five years after everyone had moved away, one friend who is really good at hosting parties invited the other friends over. Now, each of them has exactly three children. They all love being mommies. They all love serv...

It's no secret that I love good food. I am also borderline obsessed with all things Trader Joe's-so for Love Week: Day 2 I thought I would share some of my favorite products from ol' Joe's that I sadly can't get very often. When I am in the vicinity of a Joe I definately stock up. Notice how packed the car is, and yet, I insisted on 3 shopping carts of groceries on a trip this summer. Enchilada sauce: amazing and so easy Marinara Sauce: with the green label Pesto: perfect size Tomato soup: my girls now insist on the box of soup. They are no fools. Lemon curd: my crack cocaine Snackies: caramel popcorn with apricots, veggie sticks, all trail mixes minus the Himalaya one, orange cranberries Cuban Mojito Sauce: amazing on salmon Pasta: Lemon Pepper Pappardelle, Tortellini-not mushroom, and whole wheat angel hair Treats: Shortbread with jam, cheesecakes, Triple ginger cookies, dunkers, chocolate covered joes, dark chocolate covered soy beans. Enjoy!

I'm also joining D-Dawg for Love Week 2009. For Day 1: I would like to absolutely kiss Julie Aigner Clark for giving me the opportunity to take a shower during the day. I know that I have 34 minutes of no Max dah-ing me to death. It rules. And it's educational. And Amelia watches it too. I also really really love Charlie and Lola these days. I love how Amelia asks for pink milk and biscuits and when its time to go outside she says "Walkies!". I also love how when I went to the grocery store today she said "I will never ever never eat a tom-ah-to"(along the Amelia line, I love how she says "Mom! dog on the table!" or "Piglet on the table!" when Max climbs up to clear the table and finish off the leftovers.)

I went upstairs to put away the folded laundry leaving Amelia, Hazen, and Max coloring in coloring books on the floor. Max and Amelia are champion crayoners so I felt comfortable leaving them for a minute. When I came downstairs I happened to notice the writing on the wall if you will. Not knowing who to blame I immediately searched for evidence in their hands. Blue Crayon? check! Sweet innocent face? Check! Blue crayon for each hand? Check! I was getting ready to lay down the law when I noticed another perp. Goofy Grin? Check! Blue crayon? check! So I pretended to sneak up the stairs again to catch the hoodlum in the act. The horror! It was my perfect baby. There is no way he learned those things in my house of order, so I will continue to suspect and place blame on Amelia and Hazen.

Today Amelia broke a window out of one of the panels in the dutch door leading to the office. Brad and I were having an adult type conversation about taxes (no less) and we closed the door to the office so we would not be disturbed. We still had visuals on the monkeys but wanted to have a little peace and carry on a conversation together. The very act of closing the door ignited a screaming tantrum with Max and Amelia that we chose to ignore. Bad idea. She threw a shoe at the door and glass shattered everywhere. No one was hurt but I was "30 kinds of not pleased" with this move. Flashback to the cruise. I am sitting on the beach at Manzanillo and I say to Brad, "It probably makes me a bad mom but I don't want to go back. It's too hard. I know that the minute we step off the plane I will lose myself again and choke. I like putting me first for awhile. I like the quiet." With that, I decided to go for a swim in the ocean. I am training for another triathalon s...