That's Snot Funny!

Thanks to something my friend Janelle (ER Doc) and mother of soon-to-be FOUR children, I was able to avoid a trip to the emergency room this afternoon.

Piper got up from her nap complaining that her nose hurt.

Piper: Dare's sumping in dare!

Me: Would you like me to take a look?

P: Yes.

I saw something that looked like it was shiny, way up in her nose. I thought it might be a weird booger. She was complaining that it hurt and feeling on the outside of her nose, I could tell it was hard.

Hmm... ?

Me: Did you put something in your nose?

P: Yes.

Me: What is it?

P: A boo-i-full diamond.

Great. (sigh)

By covering her unobstructed nostril with my finger, I placed my mouth over her mouth and pushed air into her mouth. After a couple tries this wasn't working so I had to go for the more aggressive (and grosser) method.

Keeping my finger over her clear nostril, I placed my mouth over her nose and sucked.

Pop.

Into my mouth came this clear plastic bead.

Otherwise known as "a boo-i-ful diamond."

Ta-da!

Thanks Nelly! The sun is shining and we'd like to get outside to play with our friends instead of spending this boo-i-ful day in the ER.

By the way, Moms who might be reading this, the technique works well on raisins too!

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Cancun 2010

Oregon really represented in Cancun this year!

Apparently, they had this sculpture installed just for us.

The restaurant was Harry's Prime Steak House and Raw Bar.

Unbelievably delicious.

The conclusion of the meal is celebrated with a giant pile of cotton candy.

They also rescued my shoe which fell apart on the way to the ladies room. It was an amazing display of the service they provide. I was immediately and gracefully offered the arm of one of the servers standing nearby who escorted me to the restroom. On the way, he signaled two women attendants who joined me in the lounge area. One examined my ankle (which was fine) and the other raced off with my shoe. She returned in three minutes with this. It worked well enough to get us back to the resort after dinner.

Cancun is always a great time for catching up with the friends we don't get to see nearly enough. Luckily, Simone was able to escape for a quick weekend recently to visit me in Portland, and even better: we got to hang out a lot in Cancun this year. Unfortunately, (and fortunately too) I will be missing her on the trip next year as she now has a little bun in the oven. Cheers to the Wells Family!

Oregon All-Girls Team:

Lauren, me, Amy, Stephanie, Sarah

xxoo

O'Brien and Jones

Chillin' in the hotel bar.

For the first time EVER in Cancun, Greg and I enjoyed a date night...

Just the two of us!

Amazing.

We went to this crazy Thai restaurant that had private cabanas over the water.

This was our "table." We had to walk along the dock and climb a primitive-looking staircase over the water to get to our hut.

The food was good... but the date was terrific!

They restored the beaches in the last year. The difference is amazing. I have no idea how they did it... I'm just so happy they did. We even had some nice hot weather in which to appreciate it!

Ah... Cancun...

Such a great place for self-portraits!

My California peeps.

Rachelle, Gina, me, Christy

Pre-partying: Woot woot!

Super-duper fun to catch up with Mrs. Cainey on the trip. While Rachelle was able to swing by Portland on a recent trip to Oregon, it wasn't nearly a long enough visit to satisfy my needs!

I miss you Sweets!

There is nothing quite as lovely as a steak that is perfectly done.

Dessert for those that cannot decide:

"I'll take one of everything!"

See you next year Cancun!

xxoo

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Things I Love Lately

• Molly the barn owl--and her mate McGee, her three hatchlings and one remaining egg (I think)... I'm obsessed. Check out her story here and you can watch her, though I am warning you--it's addictive, here.
• Imagination Vacation. The girlies are on spring break from school this week. Thankfully--for all of us, my friend Gretchen let me know about a little spring break "camp" for 3-5 year olds at her daughter's dance/gymnastics academy. The girls got to sing, dance, craft, tumble, and play every day this week from 9-12 and I got to get a few things accomplished in their absence. Yay!
• Little girls at play. These are Piper's fellow neighborhood mommies playing in the sunshine with their babies. Abby, Campbell and Piper are so much fun to watch together--especially when their mommies are my sunshine-chardonnay-sipping-girlfriends!

• The Magic Tree House children's book series by Mary Pope Osborne. These are our first foray into chapter books. We usually read the girls a couple chapters at bedtime. They are both entertained by the stories and captured by the suspense of what's to come in the next chapter. I'm always really impressed by Geneva's reading comprehension (she does a great job filling me in on what I missed when Daddy has read the previous night's chapters) and Piper's patient listening despite the lack of pictures to entertain on every page. We are up to book 13!
• My girlfriend Charity's clothing line for girls. Her fabrics are adorable and the designs are so sweet! You can find her stuff here: Twirlicious & Company.
• Little ladies on their bikes.

• Pride and Prejudice. My book club is reading classic selections and current novels this year. We just finished Pride and Prejudice, which I hadn't read since high school. I remember liking it then. I loved it this time!
• Watching the girls enjoy the Northwest Children's Theater production of "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!" We love the Mo Williams book, though I was concerned about how they would turn this simple story into a full-length play. I needn't have worried. It was fantastic. Both girls--especially Piper, loved it. Piper even enlisted the three of us to go on stage when they called for two families to volunteer: "Choose me! Choose me!" she cried with her little arm forcibly waving in the air. Obviously, they couldn't deny her.
• The creepy and funny way my girls ask me to take their picture with mannequins when we're shopping. The ones without heads are especially intriguing.

• Happy Hours--spontaneous and otherwise. I recently had the great pleasure of celebrating my friend Michele's birthday with a handful of my girlfriends. We had indulgent spa pedicures followed by happy hour at McCormick & Schmick's.
• BBQ's with the neighbors. The food is always good but the company is always GREAT. You're probably tired of hearing me say it... but we have the best neighbors!
• Tastes of Spring. I guess when you live in a notoriously rainy place you really appreciate the sunshine. We have had lots of warm and sunny days lately... Of course, there's still plenty of rain to come, but this bit of spring has been fantastic!
• Dance parties:

• The new bedding I just found for our bedroom--it was even on sale (bonus!). I'll be sure to take lots of pictures when I'm finished with our mini-makeover. It's very cheerful and cozy. Love, love.
• Target skirts for $3. They're so stinking cute and Target is practically giving them away right now! The girls have one in every color!
• Life-sized "Operation."

• Discovering that I can shop for myself in the Boys' shoe department. Yep. Size 6--thank you very much!
• My girls singing Cyndi Lauper.
• "Spray Painting" at art class.

• Geneva's attempts at spelling. It's so fun the decipher her sentences. "I em yor frend." Precious.
• Snicker's eggs. This is actually a love/hate relationship. I have always been a fan of Snicker bars. These eggs are even better. The peanuts are saltier, the nougat is softer, the chocolate and caramel are at a higher ratio given the portion-size... They are too good.
• These shoes in the soft grey from Cole Haan. So pretty!
• Finger-painting and getting "wary" messy at art class.

• Family vacations. We had such a nice escape to Palm Desert to visit Grandma Lulu earlier this month. The weather was fantastic, the girls really bonded, and Greg and I had some time together as well. We are so proud of how well our girls travel!
• Rooms at The Nines Hotel downtown. Any special night away is appreciated, but when you get to spend it in a room as lovely as this one... it's extra nice.

• The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. This was another book club choice that I loved. It's a "dog story" that quickly becomes a "human story." I really enjoyed reading it--and I'm not even a "dog person."
• Making summer plans. The girls are getting so big and so active. I love thinking about all the fun things we get to do as a family this summer. Some of my family is coming to Portland this summer for a bit of a "reunion" and we are really looking forward to having everyone here. I'm also thinking about soccer, tennis, golf, swimming...
• These cards I've recently made. They are embossed, which is a stamping technique that raises the ink and transforms it into a textured, shiny finish. Super cool.

• Updating the blog after so much time away!

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