Things I Love Thursday

Playing Scrabble on my iPhone against the computer. I don't have to wait more than 3 seconds for it to be MY turn again. Awesome.Listening to Piper "read" a book to herself. Hilarious.Bed-head:Catching up with an "old" friend. Mr. Mater, I miss you!The prospect of having a "Girls' Night" tonight with my neighborhood bookclub. (This month's book does NOT make this list!)My new goldfish stamp:Big Brother's Jeff and Jordan. Yes, I watch the show. Yes, it's embarrassing to admit.This clip from my favorite comedy troupe "Man Stroke Woman."Our first family camping trip to Indian Henry Campground with 3 other families. It was only one night be we had a great time and the girls did great!Eating like...

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Babies! Babies!

Obviously, if you've been paying attention, you might have noticed how I have not been keeping up very well with my blog. *sigh* I have been busy... with some other stuff. In preparation for my "double baby shower California road-trip weekend," I made several crafty little items to gift to the mommies-to-be. For Leslie, who is having a baby girl these onesies: Baby Girl Barron is expected in a few weeks and the little peach has no name yet. In my futile attempt to convince her parents to name her "Apple" (this is Leslie's maiden name--sweet), I made this one special: Of course, she got some stationary too. Her sweet nursery is in purples, pinks, butterflies, and dragonflies. The...

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One of "Those" Days

Wow.

Geneva and I had an episode today.

It was public--in a place I visit often and will have to return.

She went ballistic.

I was mortified.

There was hitting...

It was on her part, though I was so close...

Kicking...

Screaming.

I managed to get her to the car (and Piper too).

I called Greg and broke down.

She didn't stop screaming the whole way home.

My adorable husband talked me down from the ledge.

I turned up the radio.

Piper in the house with a snack.

Geneva remained in the car for several more minutes.

I was letting her in on the plan and explaining what was going to happen if she hit, kicked, or pinched me again.

Once we understood each other I took her from the car and put her in bed.

She told me she hated me and started screaming for her lunch.

Two minutes later she fell silent.

Exhausted.

Sleeping.

Two and a half hours later, I had stopped asking myself how I had failed so completely and a fully-rested Geneva emerged from her bedroom.

We survived.

And yes, she is dealing well with her consequences... so far.

She also wrote this song to remind me, I think, that maybe I'm not such a failure at this after all.

If you're concerned you can't understand what she's singing about... stop. She's not singing most of it in English. I'm not sure what language it is.

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Things I Love Thursday

Looking forward to celebrating my cousin Jenn's first baby shower next weekend! A baby boy is on the way! Big girls on their way to a day of summer camp:This song from Green Day (CLICK HERE). The site may take a minute to fully download... be patient! It's worth the wait!Four lovely ladies in the tub. Believe me, after 20 shots and lots of shouting for them to look at the camera--this is the best one! I think it might be near impossible to get four little monkeys to look up at the same time.These amazing boots I drooled over in the new Anthropologie catalog. Yummy!Having a girl's night out with some friends last night. The view from Departure (The Nines Hotel rooftop bar) wasn't too shabby either!Sharing:Catching...

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TCC Member-Guest (Part IV)

We had an unbelievably enjoyable time vacationing with the Bills Family a couple weeks ago. The event that set the whole trip in motion was the Tualatin Country Club Mens' Member-Guest Golf Tournament. Greg invited Rusty to play and we built our vacation around the tournament.The guys teed off on Thursday morning and had an awful day of golf in hand with an amazing day on the course in the sunshine and booze. I ended up picking up the fellas on Thursday night at 9:30 pm (they had teed off at 7:30 am).Friday was a late start. They got to sleep in (thank goodness) and they left for the course at 10 am. Staci and I had a couple sitters to the house for the four Monkeygirls and we joined the guys...

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My Crop!

Who knew growing a little backyard garden could be so fun? Though I admit feeling slightly "put out" every once in awhile, after a very long day, to head out to the yard for 20 minutes of watering... Once I get started on my veggies and flowers, the watering really becomes "zen" for me. So, from our humble beginnings: We got started with some cucumber blossoms which quickly took on the appearance of little pickled gherkins (which always gets me thinking about my Grandpa). It only takes a couple days for the little 3 inch "nub" to become a full-fledged cucumber! This plant has gotten HUGE. When the lettuce bolted I pulled it all up to make more room for the cucumber vine. This was the...

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