Queen for a day.

I was supposed to be photographing my beautiful friend Jill and her sweet daughter Ellie Blue having an outdoor tea party for two today, but the weather didn't cooperate. Boo! So, I am stuck inside cleaning my house instead. Boo and ick. I loathe cleaning. To make the day less painful, I am considering wearing a tiara. I shall call myself the Queen of Clean. And Sam shall be my jester. I would love to stick around and chat with you, but I must go. I have a dirty throne to clean. Happy Monday to you!

Friday fun with cousins

My nieces E.B. and Mare Bear were off school today and we (Sam and I) had the pleasure of spending the day with them. What a treat!!! And speaking of treats, it didn't take us long before we ended up enjoying some. After hitting the library in search of a hilarious kids' book called Pete's a Pizza, we ran next door to Dunkin' Donuts for some delicious hot chocolate and fresh munchkins. For the record, I will be picking these three children as members of my doughnut eating team if I ever need one. They inhaled fresh munchkins like only varsity players can. And to my sister - please know that we read books while we waited for our hot chocolate to cool a bit. It wasn't all fun and games!



I'm thinking we should totally start our own kids' book club. We can gather, eat good food (and by good I mean high in fat and sugar) and discuss fine children's literature...or maybe just compare hot chocolate mustaches and laugh a lot.

Thanks for spending the day with us, E.B. and Mary. We loved every minute of it!!!

Looking for new owner.

Wanted:

Good home for 3-year-old male.

House-trained {sometimes}.

My three-year-old Sam had words with a teacher at his school yesterday. Not just any teacher. And not just any words. According to my cousin, who picked our kids up after school, Sam was doing something he shouldn't (shocker, I know). I guess he was trying to touch something fragile. Mrs. B, the school director and also Sam's teacher next year, told Sam not to touch the object because it could break. Sam, with a devilish smirk, ignored the order and leaned toward the object anyway. Mrs. B said, "Sam, I have a feeling we're going to butt heads next year". Sam responded, "Oh no we won't because I'm going to kick you in the balls."

When my cousin relayed this story, she was laughing so hard, I almost couldn't understand her. She said it was that much funnier because it wasn't her kid. Lucky her! After I scraped my jaw off the floor, Sam and I had a 'come-to-jesus-talk'. I'm not sure how much of it sank in but it sure as heck felt good to hear myself say it. He was told to sit and reflect on his words...which looked a lot like a kid studying dust floating in the air...but that's beside the point. His punishment continued. Sam then spent hard time (about 45 seconds) creating a card to express his deep remorse. He was not allowed any screen time all day and I threatened to take his beloved blankie away if he ever talked that way to another human on the planet. If it happens again, I may just have to kick him in the...well...let's just see how this goes.

Bird post.

Bobby Robin is growing up so fast! Here he is tonight, taking his dinner nap. We tried hard to chirp like momma to get him to look up at us, but he wouldn't budge. He kept his little bird beak tucked in next to his egg brother and sister. They still haven't hatched, but big brother is helping to keep them warm whenever momma and daddy are off getting food. We were surprised at how ... um ... unphotogenic Bobby is at this stage. Perhaps once he has more feathers, he'll look a little more handsome?

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Stay tuned for more fascinating bird activity!

Baby day!

I got my baby fix today.

Those itty bitty baby toes make me giddy.

And I love to watch mommas with their new arrivals...so incredibly sweet.

And speaking of new arrivals, look at our baby robins! We went from 6 eggs down to 3 in a matter of days and we worried that this robin family was doomed. Nope, they're alive and well! Meet 'Bobby Robin' (thanks to Sam for picking the name.)

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Hope you get a fix of some sort today!

To pee or not to pee.

I can't believe this is what my life looks like these days. My journey through parenthood has taken a strange detour into uncharted waters. Toilet waters, that is. In an effort to get my 3-year-old to pee in socially appropriate places I have resorted to drawing a pathetic looking Squidward (a character from Spongebob for those of you in the dark) on toilet paper. I then challenge Sam to pee on poor Squidy. We've had a successful two days of this...so successful that the other two males in my house are even on board with this game. Hey, whatever it takes to get the job done. Wish us luck!

Herb appeal.

I have a growing collection of herbs on my kitchen counter and a full-blown herb addiction to go with it. For some reason, everytime I'm in the greenhouse I feel the urge to bring another one home. Right now, I have lavender (pictured above), two basil plants, and something called lemon balm (smells just like lemon scented Mr. Clean, another of my secret loves). We also have four broccoli plants and four cucumber plants that are needing attention. Yes, I realize these are not in the herb family, but the boys picked these out. And when my kids ask for veggies, trust me, I'm all over it. Getting back to the herbs, I have no big plans for the lavendar or lemon balm. At the moment, I just like to scratch and sniff them. While I research what to do with these little gems, does anyone know how to pronounce the word 'herb'? Is the 'h' silent like I've always thought or is it pronounced Herb, with a strong 'h' sound, the way Martha Stewart says it? I hate to argue with the queen of all things domestic, but seriously? Herb. It makes me think of my high school physics teacher.