NOT amused

Hanging out in the hallway with all the doors closed listening to the sweet, sweet January lullaby of tornado sirens.  I am not amused.

thems the breaks :: flu edition

Well.  It happened.  Our house was infected with the flu.  Well, half our house anyway.  (Thankfully, the dramatic half - me and Nate.)  We are hoping the Tamiflu (which costs millions of dollars and does seemingly nothing) helps to spare Karl and Nora. 

There's not a lot to say about grown up illness that is funny.  I definitely was at about 20% for about 5 days.  ALL I could think while I laid there moaning and shivering was PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't let the kids get it.  I would call Karl at work and he'd be all, "How are you feeling?" and I'd be all, "IT DOESN'T MATTER.  The kids can not get THIS."  

I quarantined myself to the bedroom and by the end of the week we thought for sure K and the kids had gotten a pass-go-collect-200-dollars pass.  I was even attempting to enjoy my time alone (fever or not!) in bed by watching the entirety of Season 1 of HBO's Girls in one day.  But the flu is a tricky beast.  Right when we started to get a teensy bit confident, Nate woke up with a slight (very slight) fever Friday morning and I knew that was it.

It was so much harder than my worst nightmare about it.   Having a sensitive kid and having a sick kid don't mesh.  I am not downplaying the illnesses of the non-sensitive kids (some kids just sleep when they're sick, right?) but after hearing MY HAIR IS TOO HEAVY 14 times, I honestly wasn't sure we were going to survive.   (He also mentioned (several thousands of times) I DON'T LIKE IT. I DON'T LIKE IT and, once, oddly, MY TOES HAVE SPARKLES AND THEY HUUUUUUUUUUURT.) 

At one point, he was sitting on my lap in the bathroom crying and I'm pretty sure my heart shattered (a little piece fell off for sure), when he asked me if he "had gotten old" and was he going to die.  I MEAN REALLY.   What do you say to that?  For the record, I told him he was still 'new' - his word for young - and he was going to be fine.  (Not long after that we called our amazing ER pediatrician friend Jon to help talk us off the ledge of actually taking him in.)  

I haven't been to work in upward of forever and we still can't go to school tomorrow!  I know it's all thems-the-breaks kid but JAYSUS MARY AND JOSEPH MAKE IT STOP.  

weekending with the weekend

We made some copies of action figures:

Took a car nap or two:

Karl and I snuck away all day Saturday to go to the horse races in Hot Springs to celebrate a friend's 40th.  We won ZERO dollars betting and spent much more eating the famous corned beef sandwiches and drinking delicious bloody mary's.  I attempted to go out afterwards with the group but couldn't make it.   Day drinks aren't all they're cracked up to be these days, eh? 

Nora Kate attempted her first bike ride. 

We texted silly pics to far away family. 

We drank a little coffee. 

We bought a birthday gift for a friend (had to try it out first, make sure the webage worked):

"We" insisted upon spending our Sunday evening in this fancy getup (over our clothes).  Perfect for family dinner on the floor! 

Now the kids are in bed and I'm settling in for MASTERPIECE THEATER!  (So on the Downton bandwagon.  After a day of NFL playoffs Lady Mary and Mr. Crawley are a welcome change of pace.)

I have a little Sunday night anxiety going on so I'll leave you now to snuggle under my covers and pretend I don't have to go to work tomorrow.   

survival mode and champagne chardonnay

In no particular order, for your entertainment...  (or, really, for my own recollection)

We bought a new, smaller (cheap!) table.  We started to assemble it and it was missing so. many. pieces.  Took it back and splurged on a new, smaller (expensive!) table and some new (non-fabric -hooray for easy clean up!) chairs.  We're continuing the Great Purge of 2013 (we even rented a storage unit and filled it) in anticipation of (maybe?) selling our house.  Really, we have no idea.  We continue to look but nothing seems to fit.

Arlo (yes, we still have the dogs) continues to escape out of our backyard once a week or so despite our best efforts at repairing the fence OVER AND OVER AND OVER (and putting additional fencing inside the fencing).   Our neighbors (miraculously) continue to bring him home (though he just sits in the carport when he gets out so I don't know why they bother).

I was out of work for the break and yesterday my boss welcomed me back from 'vacation.'  HA!  Seeing as someone in our house was ill (I STILL feel subpar) or without power for the duration of the holidays, I had to laugh at her usage of the word vacation.  (Dear God, when can I have a vacation!?!)

Nora just got two new teeth (the vampire ones!) which explains her recent night-wakings and crankiness.  Remember how I said she was SUCH AN easy baby?  I TAKE IT ALL BACK.  She's like a little teenager in a 15 month old body!  She's obsessed with shoes and coats and clothes (but still straight up refuses bows and headbands).  I need to dedicate a post to her - her antics are HIGHLY entertaining as of late.

Nate continues his football obsession, though, recently, he has also been obsessed with pretend cooking.  I give him flour, sprinkles and various other ingredients from the fridge.  It's SERIOUSLY messy and SERIOUSLY disgusting (think sandwich meat meets orange juice meets water meets christmas sprinkles meets shredded cheese meets chile seasoning) but HIGHLY entertaining to watch.  I make Karl dispose of these little projects as I fear my gag reflex could not handle cleaning out some of the pans (they always go in the fridge to 'cook' when they are mixed).  I like to think it's a BONUS for when he arrives home after a long day at work.

Karl and I tried to go on a one hour sushi date while our 16 year old (boy) neighbor watched the kids.  Nora was already asleep and we set him and Nate up with some video games.  45 minutes and three phone calls later, we threw in the towel. (Picture me wine-gulping at the table - HA).  We did have several follow up drinks upon return (once Nate cried himself to sleep and we cleaned Nora's soaking wet (& later vomit-covered) sheets!).  GOOD TIMES!

We caught someone (a kid - seriously) trying to break into Karl's truck at 6:15 on Sunday morning.  The driver's side door lock is jacked up and it looks unlocked - clearly tricked this kid who set off the alarm and furiously pedaled away on his bike when the alarm went off.  Little did he know we'd be awake at 6:15 in the AM - though I'm not sure what good it did as he was halfway down the street on his bike by the time Karl got out the door.  MORE GOOD TIMES! 

We did NOT go to Tulsa for New Years as planned (See all above bullet points - you get the idea of the atmosphere around our house lately!  SURVIVAL MODE PEOPLE.)  But I did make Karl go get some champagne (actually it was something extra FANCY called Chardonnay Champagne because real champagne makes my head hurt simply by looking at the bottle).  We made it to midnight and played our favorite NYE in the City Game - Gunshots or Fireworks!?!? 

I have so many things I want to do in 2013.  My friend Amanda and I are working on a new little project/venture (in my spare time, right!?) and I can't wait to share all the details with you guys! We're having a photo shoot this weekend so details will definitely be sooner rather than later!!  Eeek!

gratutious snow photos from down south

Destructive yet pretty:

Attempt #1:

One of our favorite neighbors,  Mr. Joe and Ms. Doris, provider of MANY vanilla wafers (for NK) and many bank suckers and candy (for Nate), had their grandson in town from Mexico.  He had never seen snow.  It was awesome.   There was a not-intense snowball fight which, despite his 17 year old cool, I believe, he enjoyed immensely.  I forced him to take this photo so I could print it for his grandparents (I know, such A MOM move).   BUT COME ON:

She can't help The Cute:

 Snowman #2.  Much better.

Late night snot removal (steam shower) resulted in my eldest falling asleep on, uh, clearly NOT MY CHEST (or even really in my arms) because HE TAKES UP MY WHOLE BODY.  That foot down there on the right?  His.  How is it almost the same size as mine?!

My mind has already forgotten that I didn't feel 100% at this time.  SNNNNOOOOOW!! 

you guys. seriously. christmas was horrible.

Officially...Worst. Christmas. Ever.

Not in like the grand scheme of life but in the grand scheme of Christmases I have experienced in my 30 plus years of Chritmases, this one... JAYSUS. 

Mostly, I slept through the 48 hours that made us Christmas Eve and Christmas day, shivering crazily beneath piles of various blankets until it was time for my next dose of medicine to make me sweat it all out, gulp down some purple Gatorade and start the process all over again.  (Mostly hovering in the 100-1 range but topping the charts at 102 sometime in the wee hours of Christmas morning - who even gets a fever that high as an adult?  Maybe people do?)

I really thought Christmas and I had a truce going on in 2012.  I was a good little holiday girl - sent out the cards on time, had a lovely little cookie (&wine) party, made the neighbors little gifts, PUT UP A TREE.  (And, to be clear, enjoyed it all.)  I EVEN thought for a minute I might be swayed to be on Team Christmas as an adult after all...until THESE SHENANIGANS.   

Look, I'm not trying to BE DRAMATIC (clearly I am; no one has ever been sick before) but I think I was awake (like out of bed) three times Christmas Eve and day.

I attempted church Christmas Eve. (Fail; was back in bed within the hour.)  I also attempted to watch Nate (and Nora of course) open Santa gifts Christmas morning.  I am not going to lie to you here (sorry kids!) - I don't really remember this.  I know Karl dressed me in heavy blankets and planted me on the couch and that Nate was really, really excited but that's all I got.  (In case you were curious,  he received an Aaron Rodgers Packers jersey.)  My last words croaked as Karl hustled the kids out the door at 8 a.m. Christmas morning to go to his moms.  "Take some pictures."  Here's what I got.

(Right.  You are seeing NO pictures there.)

His dad came over later.  I slept.  Here are the pictures from that:

(Right.  Same same.  Nate got a scooter! I think.) 

Around 5 p.m.  Snow and sleet and ice are all happening, mostly with the ice.  Please remember this is technically a Southern blog and the South = unequipped to handle significant ice or snowfall (fact).  Our power went out we all panicked (read: I roused myself to put on pajama pants and tennis shoes and a snow hat!) and headed over to Karl's mom's house for lights! food! warmth! more christmas! (or, more sleep if you were in my situation).    One hour later her power went out.  Our neighbor texted - our street/house had been restored.  (He also unplugged our failed Christmas crockpot dinner and fed our dogs - thank you neighbors!)  Unfortunately, K's mom lives down some pretty steep roads and it was solidly sleeting/icing (apparently you could hear the trees snapping all night long - I slept through all that nonsense) so Karl decided it would be safer to stay.

We did not realize we would not be able to get out.   We had no milk and one diaper (PREPARED!) and they received an estimated power restoration time frame of 7 to 10 days.  

Day after XMAS:

I'm alive.  These tree branches, not so much:

Street to the left  (Apparently there was a firetruck trapped sideways somewhere behind these trees): 

Street to the right:

While he may NOT remember to take any photos of YOUR BABIES AT CHRISTMAS, Karl is kind of stellar in a crisis situation (deliver your babies unassisted, get you home safely in a blizzard - BACK OFF in the case of the zombie apocalypse please and thank you.)  

He hoofed it up this hill alone and found a random stranger (now friend?) to drive him to our house (they also dropped several other new friends off at various places).  He got our truck, parked it at the top of the neighborhood and we all hoofed it out in our pajamas.  (Ok FINE I was the only one in pajamas; Karl was in appropriate snow pants and boots.)   First trip - me and the kids; second trip - inlaws and their dog, sister-in-law and her 7 year old. 

We all squeezed in to our teensy, cozy house, ate a meal and crashed - well, Nate and I crashed down the street at our neighbors house.  (Due to the number of people to beds ratio in the house.)   Today,  we got sister-in-law's car out and the inlaws scored a hotel room for a few nights, so it's just us snuggled up warm and feeling thankful to be with power. 

And, honestly, even though it kind of sucked (Let's face it - sleeping through Christmas when your kids enjoy it most?  That kind of blows.) - in retrospect, I can't complain.  My fever is gone, everyone is safe and my kids are warm.   There are still 1,000s of people without power in Central AR (with crews working day and night to restore since Christmas day) so, if you are in AR and know someone who is cold, invite them over or bring them some warm food.  (If you are cold and reading this, this is your invite: COME OVER.)

Oh, and don't worry, I DID leave my sick bed long enough to iphoto shoot the children in the snow.  Images to follow... it's not every day we get snow MUCH LESS A WHOLE FOOT OF IT!   Nora's first snow!  Snow people all around!

That turned out much more lovey dovey than I intended.  Guess there is still some Nyquil pumping through this blood after all! ;)

the evil cheerio :: he'll get ya

Scene:  
The Car, Land of Lost Cheerios.  (And various other snack foods used as bribery to GET IN THE CAR.)

The Characters: 
Nate, enormous bowl of (dry) Cheerios in lap, chowing down.
Nora Kate, whining steadily, holding out her hand for him to drop Cheerios in one by one.

Me: (dryly, every 5 seconds) "Nate, give your sister a Cheerio.  Nate, seriously, just give her ONE (damn) Cheerio.  Nate, come on, share.  NATE."  

Nate (who hasn't said a word through the pleading): "Mommy, that Cheerio said 'NO!' but I said yes.   (Solemnly hands over the O.)

"It was a talking Cheerio." (Well.  Clearly.)

This one apparently talks out his eye. 

other reasons not to move

My sweet neighbor, Amy, sent me no less than 10 videos of herself singing Christmas carols (the same carols that she and her friend Bonnie intend to perform for us this weekend - no surprise performances for me!).  She followed those up with audio files of the first three chapters of the current book I am making her read.

This can ONLY be rivaled by the time she texted me this: 

Seriously, if you don't have a hilarious pre-teen girl in your life to iMessage with, you need one.   I highly recommend. 

ALL THE THINGS

Oh hey.  IT'S ALMOST CHRISTMAS.

Here are some, uh, things.

I got all my Christmas cards in the mail.  Today.  Last year, I was spazzing out because Shutterfly sent (and I ordered) so late.  This year, I ordered early but lost motivation half way through addressing and stamping.  Now done.  On to, uh, shopping?  (I adore Christmas cards - maybe more than Christmas?  But you all know this.)  

I love my job; it's overwhelming at the moment.  My kids get out of school next Wednesday for the duration (until after the New Year) and I have no idea how I'm going to get the work done in the office hours I'm scheduled. 

We looked (and put an offer on) a house this weekend.  It had a unicorn sun catcher (You know you made one of these in the early 90s.  Don't lie.) in the upstairs window which I took as A SIGN we were destined to get it.  UNICORNS!!  Alas, it was only on the market 6 hours and someone wanted it waaay worse than we did.  (Offer price PLUS PLUS!) Mostly, we were/are glad (two PINK PINK tiled bathrooms y'all) but the location was seriously amazing.  We put the offer straight cash (and by that I mean no contingency offer b/c obviously our house is not on the market), not straight cash like we could pay for the whole house cash) so, again, probably for the best.  

Major selling point.

To make myself feel better, I painted some furniture yellow and boxed up a bunch of stuff in our house.  (Possibly in preparation for us to sell it?  We are unsure.  But decluttering is always good, right?) 

Unwaxed and in a weird light; I'll photograph once it hits the living room.

I also consumed several burgers with APPROPRIATE amounts of cheese.  IN THE NAME OF FAILED REAL ESTATE. 



And spent some time with my 15 month old.  HOW?!?

 
We have no Elf on a Shelf to share (sorry I'm on Team Don't Get It when it comes to the Elf -  why does it make mischief to help your kids behave?  I know people swear by it.).  We do have a (mostly decorated) tree up and we will be staying home for the holidays (after the 10 hour post-Thanksgiving drive that should have been less than 6 we are wary.)

I'm waiting to get HIT WITH HOLIDAY SPIRIT. 

HIT ME? 

we've moved on

PROTECT THE BALL. 

Nate has moved on from his video game obsession to something new: FOOTBALL.

Exhibit A:
Karl:  Nate, what is 7 + 3.
Nate (blank stare): _______
Karl: Nate, how many points do you have if you score a touchdown and a field goal?
Nate (proudly): TEN!!

Exhibit B:
Karl and Nate playing in the yard.  Karl is playing quarterback and Nate is rushing toward him.

Nate: I'm going to sack you.
Karl (throws the ball forward and away).
Nate: DADDY. INTENTIONAL GROUNDING.  

He's four.  

Exhibit C: 
The obsessive score-checking every morning via the ESPN app on one of our phones.  (Example of breakfast table conversation: 'MOMMY, did you know the Packers beat the Vikings yesterday?')


You guys.  Seriously.  He, like, understands how it works.  He knows half the NFL quarterbacks and recognizes all the logos.  When we play in the yard, he wants to do it by the rules...first down, second down, extra points, punts.  It's out of control.  Out. of. Control.  Karl and I don't even like football that much.  I've watched more NFL games in the last month than possibly my whole life.    Guess it's time to start setting up a family fantasy league? 

Favorite teams: the Packers, the Broncos and the Bucaneers
Teams he roots against: The Whirlin (also know as New Orleans) Saints and the Detroit Lions

No one?

No thoughts on Epic Vom 2012?

FINE.

We can all go back to pretending these two perfect creatures don't secrete one OUNCE of bodily fluid of any kind.  Or whine.  EVER.  

Headless parenting- where it's at.

Images by Cara Beth Buie.  (http://www.carabethstudio.com/)

a friday of epic VOM

Look, I realize I talk about throw up on this blog way too much.  I threw up often during my pregnancy with Nora Kate and was very vocal about it on the blog.  (I had METHODS.) 

Last Friday, I was in the car, cruising down the interstate with Lisa Loeb (what? it was on the radio!) blaring, signing along loudly (and POORLY) with my friend Elizabeth. 

This Friday, in the car, cruising down the highway, hear the UNMISTAKABLE sound of VOMIT coming from the backseat. 

(What a difference a week makes.)   

Somehow, in 4.5 years of parenting there is ONE PLACE that has remained vomit-less.  My car.  And Karl's as well.  I don't know HOW.   But it's true. 

Friday, the world decided to remedy that.  Not once, my friends, but TWO TIMES.  Once from the babe, once from the big kid. We must DO IT RIGHT in the Hills family. 

The AM occurrence, Victim 1: Nora Kate 
As is par for the course, Nora Kate threw up like a champ and was all smiles mere minutes later.   She never had another symptom and seemed to be just fine all weekend long. 

The PM occurrence:  Victim 2: Nate 
Nate, on the other hand, FREAKING OUT.  He was literally trying to use his hand to shove the vomit back in his mouth like that would stop it (If you are wondering, yes, that DID make it way worse from a velocity and overall coverage standpoint.)  It was HORRIFYING.  I made him take all his clothes off and ride home in his underwear.  (His vomit in response to a medication he was taking for a respiratory infection; he was non-vom sick the remainder of the weekend.) 

What?  Your Friday night doesn't include trying to get clean car seat covers back on?   Those things are tricky. 




And THAT, my friends, is me, keeping it real. 

Dallas. It's in Texas.

My friend Kristen moved to Dallas this past summer.  She and her husband bought their first house and she got her first nursing job in Plano (She went back to nursing school).  I miss her desperately.

This is her:

Wine tasting at World Market.  Want. A. World. Market.

This past weekend the stars aligned and NOT ONLY was I available but ALL THESE PRETTY LADIES were able to get together and head to Texas: 

Sadly, this was our one group photo.  Not the greatest.

 We greeted our two Texan friends with these There's No Place Like Home AR t-shirts.  


 Melissa greeted us with these (super classy) girls weekend koozies:



Like a good girl, I packed these guys:

We found the most ridiculous things to do:

So many confusing things were happening on this boat.

Who cares as long as it says TEXAS!!

On Saturday, we hit up good old IKEA where I pretended to perform an episode of IKEA Heights (Seriously hilarious - shot entirely in the Burbank California Ikea Store without the store knowing.  I don't know why things like this make me so happy.)  

One night out on the town was enough for us so we spent Saturday evening cuddled up in pj pants and sweatshirts on Kristen's back porch playing cards, screaming obscenities at each other and drinking beer.  My abs = sore from laughing.  

Also (and I realize this will be funny to none of you) I made an EPIC come back in our Phase 10 game.  (I was melodramatically throwing cards and threatening to forfeit towards the beginning of the game when the other girls were slaughtering me.)

Here is my totally sober victory picture:

There was SO MUCH yelling. 

It was a nice break from the norm and Karl took on the kiddos for the whole weekend solo (seriously no small feat). 

We made it home early on Sunday and I settled in to an evening of dishes and laundry.   Oddly, they felt like welcome chores after a weekend away.  Returning to norm.   

all eyez on me

On Thursday, a day I don’t normally work, I gave a presentation to some of our IMPORTANT clients.  (Capslock for them – that’s how special they are.)   The presentation was web-related so I wasn’t nervous about it until they dimmed all the lights in the conference room and BAM! – spotlight on my face.   It took me a second to squint out at everyone and begin.  I knew it was going well when my co-worker Meredith texted me “This rocks” mid-presentation.  (And, yes, I saw it.  This mama always has her phone during work hours.  JUST IN CASE.)  

Further, work is going great. I feel like I could be there full time plus and still have work to do at home.   When I’m there, I think “I could totally do that – work full time, have both the kids in school.”  Then I leave at 2:30 and have long, lovely park afternoons with the kids and think “NEVER.  I’m NEVER WORKING AGAIN!”  Aaaand repeat.  Three days a week.   Plus some hours outside of that – increasingly more lately; we are ramping up to our busy time of year. 

And, realistically, this presentation was outside of “normal” work hours for me so I had to find NK a sitter for Thursday in order to give this presentation.    That's not always going to work.  My boss covered the sitter fee (I know; I do realize how lucky I am) for this event but that is not always the case.  I have to say NO often (which is not in my nature when it comes to office life).   Still, I hold strong to my I’M ONLY PART TIME position and pray I’m giving enough attention all around. 

beer festival. cornbread festival. MOVE TO AR :: we have festivals!

This weekend was semi-calm in the storm of what's to come from now until the New Year.   I've been a bit shy about putting stuff out in the world lately.  Insecurity?  Exhaustion?  I think when I started blogging way back in the day, a lot of it was about just our daily life and routines (what we did that weekend, what we ate, taking all those drugs back in '05) and I think I lost a little of that in this weird MUST. WRITE. IMPRESSIVE. BLOG. POSTS. frenzy.  So, I'm trying to get back to my roots, drop the hesitation and just type some nitty gritty boring details (in a hopefully entertaining way). Click away if you must. 

Theme of this weekend:  Festivals! 

Karl went to a Craft Beer Festival (in Argenta Arts Distrtict) on Friday night with some friends.  As expected, he did not take any photos nor did he actually taste any of the beer. He DRANK the beer but proclaimed he could taste nothing b/c of his allergies/sinus drainage. (Someday in the future I will tell you ALL about how I don't believe in allergies.)  He DID, however, come home (mostly) sober and before 11.  Score.

What did I do?  I stayed home and met the kids ENDLESS requests for food and beverage.

Resting up for a pretzel stick from the floor:  



A little booty shaking at the dinner table.  Seriously, I promise to stop blogging about Nate's  bum-shaking.  He would be embarrassed if he knew I told y'all about it.  (Seriously though when do you have to ask your kids permission to blog about them?  Or do you take it all down when they start reading and caring?  I'm SO CONFUSED ABOUT THIS.) 



Saturday started off bright and early with OUR FINAL SOCCER GAME of the season.   Insert mixed emotions here.  Coaching was seriously fun.  I EVEN think I might do it again.  All my players and parents = fantastic.  Most of the teams we played = fantastic.  I have ZERO frame of reference but I just want it to keep being fun.... so maybe I'll coach until then? Or until Nate loses interest in soccer?

My favorite part of the season (other than OBLITERATING every single team we played?  Oh.  Wait.  Fun!  Fun!  Dammit.  Well, winning is fun, right?) was that Nate consistently called me "Coach Kat" on the field.  (As in "Coach Kat, can I go in and play?  Coach Kat, is it my turn to kick the ball?")  





After the game (and naps for everyone but Nate), we headed to the Arkansas Cornbread Festival.

We let Nate mainline a little snocone sugar:


And bounce house with his classmate Olive:
 
Thankfully, it was a gorgeous day and there was beer.  Since mostly we, uh, didn't see any cornbread.  Just the bounce house area.   (SUPER nice bounce houses at the Cornbread Festival. HA.  Much better than the ones at the Cheese Dip Festival from last weekend.) 



Sunday, Nora Kate learned how to use the snack trap thingey - THANK GOD. SHE DOESN"T HAVE TO EAT PRETZELS OFF THE FLOOR ANYMORE.  I'm sure several of you were concerned.  She barely eats food at all (though definitely a big fan of Saturday morning biscuits and gravy) so anything we can get her to try - any method - I am all for it. 



Additionally, we had the added bonus of "celebrating" Day Lights Savings (also known as THE LONGEST DAY EVER) time so my Sunday went something like this:

5:30 a.m.  Nate: Can we get up now?  When can we get up?  I think it's time to get up Mommy.
6:00 a.m. Nora: I think I'll join this party.  (She speaks in complete sentences now that's she's 1.)
8:45 a.m. Nora: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.  (Nap time.  AT NINE AM.  She's on the 1 post-lunch nap schedule so this is NOT best case scenario for the rest of the day.)
10:00 a.m. Nahcos for, uh, lunch?!  WHAT? We were hungry.

And then the day went on and on and on until a gloriously early bedtime (Karl included)!

I finally finished up Nora Kate's thank you notes from her birthday and made a list to start soccer thank you notes!  (Constantly writing thank you notes - you should too. Snail mail rules.)  


 And now?  Well, now I'm just lounging on the couch with my lap top blogging with you people.   GLORIOUS WEEKEND.  Off to close the tippy tappy machine and read a book with pages until i pass out.


Have a great week!