Testing my iphone
I've set up to text to my blog from my phone. Here's hoping it works.

They. Are. With. Me. All. The. Time.

Ok, so my stay-at-home, or work-from-home mommy friends will have no sympathy, but these summer vacations aren't what I expected. Don't get me wrong, I love the extra time with the girls, but I can't pay bills, take out the trash, or wipe my own ass without them underfoot. "Mommy, whatcha doin'?" "Where are you?" "Come here." "I need you." God forbid I want to indulge in a little treat... a candy bar for breakfast, an extra cookie after lunch... I'm standing in the kitchen sneaking it like a kid, eating so fast I don't enjoy it. Not that I can buy a candy bar anymore, they are with me at EVERY store. "I want one, too!"
And what's more, I'll get no reprieve once the school year starts. Used to be, I'd wake before the family and be out the door to work before anyone woke. Foolish me used to miss the kids in the a.m.! And I'd have a little time, even just a half hour, when I got home from work before I'd go pick them up from school. Even a half hour makes a difference! I'd use the time to do dishes, or check email... whatever. When school starts this September, however, It'll be me getting them both up, dressed and driven to school. Boo will go to school at CCS with me, and TT at a preschool on the way. It'll be me that picks them both up on the way home. There goes my mornings and my 1/2 hour in the afternoons.
I used to have a little reprieve in the evenings, too, as Craig would handle bath time. Granted, it wasn't much, but it was a few minutes sans kids. With school starting earlier in the day, we've decided bedtime needs to be earlier as well. Meaning, if I want us all to sit down to the table together for dinner every night (and to me, that's imperative), then bath has to happen before dinner... before Craig gets home. Who does bath now? Me, of course.
This is what I have to look forward to once school starts: Wake up with TT at 6. Wake up Boo at 7. Two cups of warm milk (each) with a little TV in the morning while I get dressed. Breakfast. I dress TT while Boo dresses and feeds the animals... me nagging her all the way to do it faster. Out the door by 8. Drop off TT. Take Boo to class and teach a room of 25 6-7 year olds all day. Get Boo from class. Pick up TT. Home for a snack, and two cups of warm milk (each). Entertain the kids until bath. Bath. Pack lunches for the next day. Dinner. Bedtime. Girls are down by 8:30, I hope. Dishes, lesson planning, falling asleep on the couch at 10 while Craig watches TV, etc.
So, I know it's not as dreary as all that... but right now, at this juncture, it's how I see it. I don't see "me" time in there ANYWHERE!

On the Move!

Finally!!!! We've got our new house, we've moved in, we're in the midst of unpacking, and we have internet up and running!!!! :-D

No complaints about going from under 1000 sq ft to almost 2800, but it is an adjustment. Still working on getting the kids (and myself) out of the habit of yelling for one another (how COOL that the house is too big to hear anything!). Kids are sleeping pretty well in their new rooms... and wait until I post pics of Boo's Rock N Roll room, set with chalk board walls and everything. And TT will have a Little Mermaid room. Craig was unsure of the idea, until I told him my collection either goes in T's room, or in the office. He opted for the former. I'm so glad this happened over my summer break... don't know how anything would have gotten done otherwise. Already feeling overwhelmed with the boxes.

We've got a lease signed and tenants all set up to move into the old house. Weird to be a landlord. For the moment, all's right in the world. Am I jinxing myself?

Boo's Tap Recital

Can you tell which one is Boo? (second from left)They tapped to Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." One of these days, I'll get around to uploading the digital video file, until then, these pics tell a pretty good story.

Boo's 5th birthday!!!

I can't believe she's 5!!!!! We had a Rock and Roll party this year, and it was a blast. We started "backstage" in the house, and glammed up our rockstars. They could get tattoos, funky colored hair, crazy nailpolish, and of course, lots of bling (sunglasses, bracelets, necklaces, bandanas). Then we introduced them "on stage" outside. They posed for the paparazzi and took turns rocking out on the karaoke machine... Boo managed to hog the mic most of the time. She's not shy, let's leave it at that.

Picture Time for TT!

This is my NEW favorite picture of TT...

Here are some more yummy pics of T...

A running account of TT's words

Like all mothers, I think my child is the cutest and smartest and most talented child in creation... that being said, TT, at 15 months, is talking up a storm. Here are the words she uses consistently and correctly, in no particular order, as of January 30th. In parenthesis is her pronunciation of the word.

more (moe), up, sissy (seesee), mommy, dada, eat, tree (tee), pumpkin (bobby), open (o-pee), walk, no, yeah, please (peas), cereal(seawall), cracker(cacuh), Cheerio(teer-o), help, apple, banana (nana), Elmo, kitty, doggy, rat, book, read, {25 words} bear, froggie (foggy), hi, bye, water (wawee), mix (mehmeh), paci (pahkee), yummy (nummy), eye, nose, ear, shoe, hair, head, sock, pants, spoon, strawberry (stawbear), T.V., cheese, bowl, all done (ah duh), wash, fish (pish), thank you (tee too), {50 words} chicken (chee chin), duck, sit, down, where, bath (bat), step, phone (bone), keys, ball, baby, juice (deuce), yucky, uh oh, pillow (wee woh), blanket (bay bet), outside (ow sigh), bubble, buttons (butts), grandpa (ba ba), Angelica (jell kah), Nicholas (nih nih), jacket (da ket), milk (meh){75 words}, flower (bough burr), belly button(bell bow), noodle (new no), potato (taytoe), there, dip it (her name for ranch dressing), ouch, owie, clap (ap)

My lord! I feel like there's more! She is starting to put her words together to make little sentences, like "pahkee where?," "o-pee butts" and "moe seesee cacuh peas." Get out your secret decoder rings!

Anyone know what the 'experts' say they should be saying at this age?

My best Disneyland Day EVER!

I just got back from taking Boo to Disneyland again. This time, it was just me and her. And did we have a fantastic day! Our news is that she's finally tall enough to ride the "big rides."

We went on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Matterhorn and Star Tours. The weather was gorgeous, the crowds were few, and I got some quality time alone with my oldest child.