I was a busy mama yesterday! Got most of my morning chores done, including hanging laundry out on the line, which I hadn't done in awhile because I'm a slacker. Then the girls and I ran some errands - Hobby Lobby, the library, and Ashley's house to drop off fresh juice for the baby. After that we came home, had lunch, and then baked pumpkin bread to turn into breadsticks for the baby. I used this recipe and it really is delicious! After I bake the bread I just cut it into slices, then cut each slice into three strips, and lay them out on a cookie sheet and bake at 200 or so for about 4 hours. Turns them into hard, crunchy teething biscuits that Cora seems to love. Speaking of teething, I spent about two hours yesterday just holding her and rocking her and loving on her - her two top front teeth are coming in at the same time, and it hurts. She holds her hand to her mouth and just looks at me in a way that makes me feel utterly helpless.
I started sewing a dress for my fair project, but didn't get too far - I use a pattern, but altered it significantly to include a semi-yoke and made it two sizes bigger, hopefully to fit Chloe either this summer or next year. Then I packed up my little girls and set off to walk to Ashley's house and then down to farmer's market for the evening. It's a good walk - about two miles each way - but it felt good. It was so nice out. Farmer's Market was a blast with friends, Chloe had Tori to play with the whole time. She got her face painted like a cheetah, and then the balloon man made her a cheetah on a leash. That's kind of a breakthrough for Chloe - she's terrified of balloons. But she watched all the other kids getting cool balloons, and decided she'd try it. I was proud of her.
After we walked home I sat out on the front lawn and let the girls play while I relaxed in a chair and just enjoyed the evening. It was so peaceful.
My body hurts now- 4 miles on concrete is kind of rough! I hope I keep it up all summer - and I could also walk to the library, and walk to the shopping center nearby that I visit once a week or so. Farmer's Market is always on Thursdays, and that's normally a day Mark has Chloe in the evening. I'm hoping he'll let me have her a few more times, because she really had a great time last night. I know he'd never take her, and he definitely wouldn't get her together with her friend, so either I take her, or she doesn't get to go. I think Farmer's Market is far better than sitting in a dark apartment watching TV all night. :o\
Friday, June 13, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
She's lucky I love her.
She's lucky I love her so much. She trampled my garden. She just jumped right in, stepped on a little bit of everything I have planted, and jumped right out, all while I wasn't watching. If I didn't love her so much, I'd probably give her away. I love my garden, and I'm so, so frustrated with her!
I swear, if she sets one more paw in my garden, I'm staking her on a rope in the yard so she can't get anywhere near it again, until I can build a fence. Ugh! Corn, radishes, cucumbers, a bell pepper plant, green onions, beans, beets... She tromped all over them. There are still some living, but not nearly as many as what I started with.
And so, the dog and I are not speaking for awhile. She seems to understand - I keep glaring at her and turning my shoulder to her, and she keeps walking by me moping.
===
The girls let me spend an hour and a half gardening yesterday. I gave Cora two empty vitamin bottles with a few beads inside each, taped shut, and a toy bucket, and put her on a big blanket on the grass. She didn't fuss or whine or ask for any attention at all. And Chloe entertained herself by trying to suspend herself on the bar of the swingset with an old dog leash. It was quiet and peaceful. I mulched my peppers and tomatoes, weeded a huge area, put down diatomaceous earth in the whole garden. I was only bothered by one wasp, even though it was mid-afternoon. I never get any amount of peace and quiet, especially not more than an hour! It was wonderful. I want to do it again today, only I'm running out of weeds and things to do out there. I need a bigger garden. :::sigh::: I'm gonna plant some basil today, for spaghetti sauce and pesto this summer. And I need to get some kelp spray for my tomatoes. I so love my garden.
===
Cora learned some new tricks - she does 'pat-a-cake' now, and blows. It's so cute to see her do them. I'm trying to get her to do the sign for mama, but she just smiles, says "Dah!" and claps.
I swear, if she sets one more paw in my garden, I'm staking her on a rope in the yard so she can't get anywhere near it again, until I can build a fence. Ugh! Corn, radishes, cucumbers, a bell pepper plant, green onions, beans, beets... She tromped all over them. There are still some living, but not nearly as many as what I started with.
And so, the dog and I are not speaking for awhile. She seems to understand - I keep glaring at her and turning my shoulder to her, and she keeps walking by me moping.
===
The girls let me spend an hour and a half gardening yesterday. I gave Cora two empty vitamin bottles with a few beads inside each, taped shut, and a toy bucket, and put her on a big blanket on the grass. She didn't fuss or whine or ask for any attention at all. And Chloe entertained herself by trying to suspend herself on the bar of the swingset with an old dog leash. It was quiet and peaceful. I mulched my peppers and tomatoes, weeded a huge area, put down diatomaceous earth in the whole garden. I was only bothered by one wasp, even though it was mid-afternoon. I never get any amount of peace and quiet, especially not more than an hour! It was wonderful. I want to do it again today, only I'm running out of weeds and things to do out there. I need a bigger garden. :::sigh::: I'm gonna plant some basil today, for spaghetti sauce and pesto this summer. And I need to get some kelp spray for my tomatoes. I so love my garden.
===
Cora learned some new tricks - she does 'pat-a-cake' now, and blows. It's so cute to see her do them. I'm trying to get her to do the sign for mama, but she just smiles, says "Dah!" and claps.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
So yeah...
My premonition was correct - the day got worse before it got better.
I got all my laundry washed, first thing. The last load was in the washer. I mopped all the floors, which were pretty disgusting. My house was on it's way to spic n span by 9 am. It's a great feeling - the feeling of accomplishment. I sat and surveyed my mountains of fresh, clean folded laundry and shiny floors with pride.
Then Chloe woke up. Then Cora woke up. Chloe, Miss "I want my breakfast NOW", didn't want to wait for me to change Cora. She grabbed a chair from the living room (the floor was still a little wet in the kitchen) and somehow in the process of moving it from the living room to the kitchen, managed to dump my whole bucket of now-dirty mop water. It's amazing how far one bucket of water can reach into one home, really. Dirty mop water flowed into the dog food/cleaning supply closet. It seeped under the carpet in the living room. It gushed into the bathroom, pooling at the base of the bathtub and therefore causing water to start dripping into the basement. And it poured into the kitchen, where it made little rivers under my refrigerator and stove before puddling up right in front of the back door.
Our house isn't real level - it sort of tilts to the north. I never thought that would be much of a problem, but apparently when you have mop-bucket-spilling five year olds, it is.
I actually remained fairly calm. I told Chloe to go change her clothes, and I got the towels. I have 16 towels. Each and every one of them was nice and clean, mind you, since I'd just finished all the laundry. I managed to mop everything up. It involved, of course, moving the stove and refrigerator and then cleaning up under them (and practically pulling a muscle in my back while I did) and then I re-mopped everything since it was all grimy. I started a load of towels (there are still two more to go now.)
And then, I got breakfast.
Oy. I wanted to cry. I was kind of irritated with Chloe just because she didn't seem to even care that she'd just done that. She said something like "Sorry mom. I guess you'll have to clean that up now." And that was NOT what I wanted to hear. So I sort of snapped at her to go find something to do until I was done cleaning it up (which took the better part of half an hour.)
Ah well, I'm sure she's not permanently scarred.
===
So then, Ashley invited us over to swim with Tori this afternoon, and grill hot dogs. Sounded good, so we agreed. I told Chloe we'd be going. Then this afternoon, she called to let me know "a few other people" might be there too. A few other people included 5 adults and like 15 kids. I don't like other people's kids, have I mentioned that?
But whatever, Chloe already thought we were going, so we did. What she failed to mention was that each of the other friends was pregnant. REALLY pregnant. Like, the kind of pregnant that doesn't find it so humorous when a girl shows up wearing a tank top that says "epidurals are for sissies". Yeah, so that was fun.
It was good for me though, to see other people parent their kids. It always makes me feel like a better mother. I was all down on myself for being cranky after my dog poop/mop water morning, and I was a little short with Chloe a few times. Not anymore. I'm doing just fine as a mother. This one poor little kid, maybe 2 years old? grabbed a cup of soda that was sitting on the ground, and his mother grabbed it, said "God Damn it D, put that fuckin' thing down." Ohhhhh my goodness. I cuss sometimes, but NOTHING like that chick did. And then, if any of them had anything to say to any of their children, they just screamed it across the yard. Couldn't get up to go speak to the children, apparently. It was insanity. I've never heard the Lord's name used in vain so many times in one hour in my whole life. This mom grabbing this kid, screaming at that one, this kid crying, that one screaming.... Oy vey. We left as soon as it seemed polite to.
I might not be a terrific mother, but I'm not a bad one either.
I got all my laundry washed, first thing. The last load was in the washer. I mopped all the floors, which were pretty disgusting. My house was on it's way to spic n span by 9 am. It's a great feeling - the feeling of accomplishment. I sat and surveyed my mountains of fresh, clean folded laundry and shiny floors with pride.
Then Chloe woke up. Then Cora woke up. Chloe, Miss "I want my breakfast NOW", didn't want to wait for me to change Cora. She grabbed a chair from the living room (the floor was still a little wet in the kitchen) and somehow in the process of moving it from the living room to the kitchen, managed to dump my whole bucket of now-dirty mop water. It's amazing how far one bucket of water can reach into one home, really. Dirty mop water flowed into the dog food/cleaning supply closet. It seeped under the carpet in the living room. It gushed into the bathroom, pooling at the base of the bathtub and therefore causing water to start dripping into the basement. And it poured into the kitchen, where it made little rivers under my refrigerator and stove before puddling up right in front of the back door.
Our house isn't real level - it sort of tilts to the north. I never thought that would be much of a problem, but apparently when you have mop-bucket-spilling five year olds, it is.
I actually remained fairly calm. I told Chloe to go change her clothes, and I got the towels. I have 16 towels. Each and every one of them was nice and clean, mind you, since I'd just finished all the laundry. I managed to mop everything up. It involved, of course, moving the stove and refrigerator and then cleaning up under them (and practically pulling a muscle in my back while I did) and then I re-mopped everything since it was all grimy. I started a load of towels (there are still two more to go now.)
And then, I got breakfast.
Oy. I wanted to cry. I was kind of irritated with Chloe just because she didn't seem to even care that she'd just done that. She said something like "Sorry mom. I guess you'll have to clean that up now." And that was NOT what I wanted to hear. So I sort of snapped at her to go find something to do until I was done cleaning it up (which took the better part of half an hour.)
Ah well, I'm sure she's not permanently scarred.
===
So then, Ashley invited us over to swim with Tori this afternoon, and grill hot dogs. Sounded good, so we agreed. I told Chloe we'd be going. Then this afternoon, she called to let me know "a few other people" might be there too. A few other people included 5 adults and like 15 kids. I don't like other people's kids, have I mentioned that?
But whatever, Chloe already thought we were going, so we did. What she failed to mention was that each of the other friends was pregnant. REALLY pregnant. Like, the kind of pregnant that doesn't find it so humorous when a girl shows up wearing a tank top that says "epidurals are for sissies". Yeah, so that was fun.
It was good for me though, to see other people parent their kids. It always makes me feel like a better mother. I was all down on myself for being cranky after my dog poop/mop water morning, and I was a little short with Chloe a few times. Not anymore. I'm doing just fine as a mother. This one poor little kid, maybe 2 years old? grabbed a cup of soda that was sitting on the ground, and his mother grabbed it, said "God Damn it D, put that fuckin' thing down." Ohhhhh my goodness. I cuss sometimes, but NOTHING like that chick did. And then, if any of them had anything to say to any of their children, they just screamed it across the yard. Couldn't get up to go speak to the children, apparently. It was insanity. I've never heard the Lord's name used in vain so many times in one hour in my whole life. This mom grabbing this kid, screaming at that one, this kid crying, that one screaming.... Oy vey. We left as soon as it seemed polite to.
I might not be a terrific mother, but I'm not a bad one either.
A bit of misc. and some pictures
I woke up this morning at 4:30 when the dog was whimpering to go out. That's about the time I realized something in our house smelled awful, which is how I came to discover that the dog had pooped - twice - in the living room. The anti-inflammatory meds she's on for her tail give her diarrhea. Apparently, she couldn't hold it. Yuck. So I cleaned it up, grounded her to the kitchen, and went back to bed. If that's any indication of how the rest of my day is going to go, maybe I should've just stayed in bed!
==
So I'm knitting hiatus. I just decided I'm temporarily bored with it. I'm sure it won't last more than a week or two, but in the meantime, I'm a scrapbookin' fool. I found Chloe's baby album the other day and we were sitting there looking at it together, and I realized how happy I am that I scrapbook. Even those little things, from just 5 years ago, are so easy to forget. She saw the page with pictures of her belly after her surgery, and asked what the journaling said. I got about a paragraph into it before I started crying. Gosh, it's so easy to forget all that that little girl went through to be alive today.
Anyhow, it sparked my interest in scrapbooking again, and I'm still about 3 months behind on Cora plus a few other things, and I have a ton of pictures of Cora I never printed in case I get caught up and need something to do. :o)
===
It's time to start thinking about fair projects - the county fair is July 22-27, I think. The past two years I've entered just one item, a kid's sweater each time. But I looked through all the possible classes and I could enter a ton of different things. It's kind of fun, really. I might also do some cut flowers, and my mom wants to enter the pickled asparagus that we made. And I can sew a little girl's outfit, which would be fun. Most of what I'm entering will just be stuff I've done through the year. I would like to get a pair of socks knitted, since no one ever enters socks, but I don't know if I'll have the time - 6 weeks isn't very long. We'll see what happens.
===
A couple shots from our hike the other day - I love taking pictures like this. It doesn't look like something that was taken in the desert. I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but will probably look it up.
My beautiful girls:
Can you believe this little baby is almost 10 months old? My gosh, where has the time gone?! She's got such a funny little personality, I just love her.
See her vampire teeth? :o) Too funny.
==
So I'm knitting hiatus. I just decided I'm temporarily bored with it. I'm sure it won't last more than a week or two, but in the meantime, I'm a scrapbookin' fool. I found Chloe's baby album the other day and we were sitting there looking at it together, and I realized how happy I am that I scrapbook. Even those little things, from just 5 years ago, are so easy to forget. She saw the page with pictures of her belly after her surgery, and asked what the journaling said. I got about a paragraph into it before I started crying. Gosh, it's so easy to forget all that that little girl went through to be alive today.
Anyhow, it sparked my interest in scrapbooking again, and I'm still about 3 months behind on Cora plus a few other things, and I have a ton of pictures of Cora I never printed in case I get caught up and need something to do. :o)
===
It's time to start thinking about fair projects - the county fair is July 22-27, I think. The past two years I've entered just one item, a kid's sweater each time. But I looked through all the possible classes and I could enter a ton of different things. It's kind of fun, really. I might also do some cut flowers, and my mom wants to enter the pickled asparagus that we made. And I can sew a little girl's outfit, which would be fun. Most of what I'm entering will just be stuff I've done through the year. I would like to get a pair of socks knitted, since no one ever enters socks, but I don't know if I'll have the time - 6 weeks isn't very long. We'll see what happens.
===
A couple shots from our hike the other day - I love taking pictures like this. It doesn't look like something that was taken in the desert. I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but will probably look it up.
My beautiful girls:
Can you believe this little baby is almost 10 months old? My gosh, where has the time gone?! She's got such a funny little personality, I just love her.
See her vampire teeth? :o) Too funny.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Finally found one
We finally found a geocache! Well, actually, we found two. We went for a hike yesterday, and I wrote down the coordinates for a few caches. We looked for them on the way back to town, and found them. Hooray! The first was a log-only cache, but the second has some little kiddie trade items, so Chloe got to trade and take along a prize. It was cute. I'm not sure how far we hiked yesterday - a good 3 hours' worth of walking though, in all. My behind is sore from all the uphill climbing!
===
It's Sunday. Almost always, we go to my parents' house for breakfast, but today my mother has a life, and is not cooking for us. She's out riding her pony & cart with a bunch of other ladies from a riding club she joined, how cool is that? So we ended up sleeping til almost 8. Wow. I can't remember the last time I stayed in bed so late! Some people love to sleep in. I'm definitely not like that. I get all anxious if I sleep past 6 most of the time. But whatever, I feel good for having gotten so much sleep.
I think we're sticking around home today, we have lots to get done around the house. And at 6 we are going to the in-law's house. Blah. Thankfully though, we can't stay too long since Andrew has to be up early for work, and needs his sleep.
'Tis all for now...
===
It's Sunday. Almost always, we go to my parents' house for breakfast, but today my mother has a life, and is not cooking for us. She's out riding her pony & cart with a bunch of other ladies from a riding club she joined, how cool is that? So we ended up sleeping til almost 8. Wow. I can't remember the last time I stayed in bed so late! Some people love to sleep in. I'm definitely not like that. I get all anxious if I sleep past 6 most of the time. But whatever, I feel good for having gotten so much sleep.
I think we're sticking around home today, we have lots to get done around the house. And at 6 we are going to the in-law's house. Blah. Thankfully though, we can't stay too long since Andrew has to be up early for work, and needs his sleep.
'Tis all for now...
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Silly Mama
I decided it was time for me to have just a little bit alone time yesterday, so I left Andrew with the girls to go to the park and I went and did some shopping. I enjoyed it, but it was funny - I was completely ridden with anxiety. I don't do well when I leave them. By the time I was done, I was ready to come home and just be with my girls. And I was only gone about an hour and a half!
I went to Hobby Lobby to get a few scrapbooking doodads, and then I went to Kohl's to see if I could find any cute bottoms - all my jeans and shorts are sort of falling off of me. The exciting news - I tried on 6 pairs of shorts and pants. 4 of them were size 1 (the others were 3) and they all fit. I've never been a size 1 before. It pleases me. 18 months ago, right when I got pregnant with Cora, I was about a size 9 and weighed more than I ever had. I still have lots of toning to do, I'm all flabby now (ew) but hey, at least I'm skinnier! heh
===
In other news, we watched Good Luck Chuck last night with Dane Cook. If you haven't seen it, and aren't offended by a little bit of sexual humor, you should definitely watch it. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time! I had tears running down my face. Totally worth renting. :o)
I went to Hobby Lobby to get a few scrapbooking doodads, and then I went to Kohl's to see if I could find any cute bottoms - all my jeans and shorts are sort of falling off of me. The exciting news - I tried on 6 pairs of shorts and pants. 4 of them were size 1 (the others were 3) and they all fit. I've never been a size 1 before. It pleases me. 18 months ago, right when I got pregnant with Cora, I was about a size 9 and weighed more than I ever had. I still have lots of toning to do, I'm all flabby now (ew) but hey, at least I'm skinnier! heh
===
In other news, we watched Good Luck Chuck last night with Dane Cook. If you haven't seen it, and aren't offended by a little bit of sexual humor, you should definitely watch it. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time! I had tears running down my face. Totally worth renting. :o)
Friday, June 6, 2008
Dog hair removal system
I'd like to preface this post by stating that, in general, I am a reasonably good housekeeper. I'd rather not eat off my kitchen floor, but I probably wouldn't die of some horrible communicable disease if I did.
That stated, I'd like to tell you a little story.
Whenever we have company, be it friends,family, whoever, I always insist that they sit either on the rocking chair or the recliner... or even the floor. But I sincerely advise them not to sit on my couch, unless they really want to be covered in coarse black hairs. (This warning does not apply to my in-laws, however. I've never told them.) Ashley didn't believe me one time, so she took a closer look. I won't repeat what she said, but it started with "holy" and ended in "it." 'Nuff said.
The thing is, Isabel loves to sleep with us, but we don't like having a 97 pound dog laying on top of our legs while we sleep, so we kick her off our bed. Her second favorite spot is the couch. And she spends a LOT of time on that couch. With a 97 pound dog, you're bound to have a lot of dog hair falling off of her, and embedding itself into the fibers on the couch upholstery. It doesn't just lay there so you can vacuum it off. It's like the couch sucks it in half way, so you have to fight to get each hair out.
When we were at the vet the other day for Izzy's broken tail (which by the way, is not actually broken. She's just clumsy and hyper-extended her tail) I saw the little assistant girl lint-rollering the chairs in the waiting area. Hark! I'd never thought of that! I purchased a two-pack of lint rollers. I just spent half an hour lint rollering my couch. I used both rollers. All of the sheets of tape on each roller. It MIGHT be good enough to let someone sit on it without cringing. And in order to keep it that way, I'll probably have to lint roller my couch every other day. Milo, I'm sure, is thrilled at the thought of this, as anything that moves back and forth rather quickly must certainly be a toy, intended to be clawed to shreds by his gleeful little kitten claws. This, apparently, includes lint rollers and the hands that use them.
I was going to post a picture of the piles of lint roller tape, but I decided that might be kind of gross.
I think I'm going to teach Chloe how to use a lint roller...
That stated, I'd like to tell you a little story.
Whenever we have company, be it friends,family, whoever, I always insist that they sit either on the rocking chair or the recliner... or even the floor. But I sincerely advise them not to sit on my couch, unless they really want to be covered in coarse black hairs. (This warning does not apply to my in-laws, however. I've never told them.) Ashley didn't believe me one time, so she took a closer look. I won't repeat what she said, but it started with "holy" and ended in "it." 'Nuff said.
The thing is, Isabel loves to sleep with us, but we don't like having a 97 pound dog laying on top of our legs while we sleep, so we kick her off our bed. Her second favorite spot is the couch. And she spends a LOT of time on that couch. With a 97 pound dog, you're bound to have a lot of dog hair falling off of her, and embedding itself into the fibers on the couch upholstery. It doesn't just lay there so you can vacuum it off. It's like the couch sucks it in half way, so you have to fight to get each hair out.
When we were at the vet the other day for Izzy's broken tail (which by the way, is not actually broken. She's just clumsy and hyper-extended her tail) I saw the little assistant girl lint-rollering the chairs in the waiting area. Hark! I'd never thought of that! I purchased a two-pack of lint rollers. I just spent half an hour lint rollering my couch. I used both rollers. All of the sheets of tape on each roller. It MIGHT be good enough to let someone sit on it without cringing. And in order to keep it that way, I'll probably have to lint roller my couch every other day. Milo, I'm sure, is thrilled at the thought of this, as anything that moves back and forth rather quickly must certainly be a toy, intended to be clawed to shreds by his gleeful little kitten claws. This, apparently, includes lint rollers and the hands that use them.
I was going to post a picture of the piles of lint roller tape, but I decided that might be kind of gross.
I think I'm going to teach Chloe how to use a lint roller...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
a few random bits
We finished reading Phantom of the Opera with Chloe last night, so we ordered pizza and then watched the movie. I'm so proud of Chloe for sitting through that whole book! The movie was NOTHING like the book. It barely even followed the story line. Chloe told Andrew "Your movie is a changed kind of movie. It's not like my book." It was a little gory in parts too, but we just fast forwarded through those. She liked it well enough though. Pretty neat, a five year old into Phantom of the Opera. :o)
===
I think my dog broke her tail. She's a lab - her tail is usually up, kind of curled up over her back, but it's not any more. It sort of hangs there, all crooked. I'm taking her to the vet first thing this morning to have him check it out. I hope it's not permanently damaged. She was so pretty when she'd pose there for us with her tail all curved pretty.
===
Nothing else interesting going on here, really. It's all gray and rainy still. A good excuse to stay home and clean this house. It's rather awful right now. Other than that, maybe we'll all just snuggle up and watch movies or something. :o)
===
I think my dog broke her tail. She's a lab - her tail is usually up, kind of curled up over her back, but it's not any more. It sort of hangs there, all crooked. I'm taking her to the vet first thing this morning to have him check it out. I hope it's not permanently damaged. She was so pretty when she'd pose there for us with her tail all curved pretty.
===
Nothing else interesting going on here, really. It's all gray and rainy still. A good excuse to stay home and clean this house. It's rather awful right now. Other than that, maybe we'll all just snuggle up and watch movies or something. :o)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Renaming
I renamed my blog. Instead of "it doesn't suck to be me", I'm calling it "The Little Things." Life's about enjoying the little things that make you happy, instead of dwelling on bigger things that don't.
It Doesn't Suck To Be Me originated back when I was 16 years old, when I picked my first AOL screen name. I was happy one time, and just thought, "it doesn't suck to be me". And so it stuck. No one has ever used that name, to my knowledge, because whenever I create a new name for something, it's available. It still doesn't suck to be me, but I decided it was time for a change.
And speaking of little things... It's Wednesday afternoon, and Andrew's off work. We did our work around the house this morning. We didn't finish it all, but we never will. Now we're all sitting here in the living room - Andrew and Chloe are hunting ducks on the computer together, Cora's playing happily in her play pen, the dog is laying on the ground and the cat is getting ready to pounce on her, and until now, I was reading on the couch. It's cloudy out, and a little windy. I honestly can't picture a better way to spend a gray afternoon. I love my family, and I love little moments like this. :o)
It Doesn't Suck To Be Me originated back when I was 16 years old, when I picked my first AOL screen name. I was happy one time, and just thought, "it doesn't suck to be me". And so it stuck. No one has ever used that name, to my knowledge, because whenever I create a new name for something, it's available. It still doesn't suck to be me, but I decided it was time for a change.
And speaking of little things... It's Wednesday afternoon, and Andrew's off work. We did our work around the house this morning. We didn't finish it all, but we never will. Now we're all sitting here in the living room - Andrew and Chloe are hunting ducks on the computer together, Cora's playing happily in her play pen, the dog is laying on the ground and the cat is getting ready to pounce on her, and until now, I was reading on the couch. It's cloudy out, and a little windy. I honestly can't picture a better way to spend a gray afternoon. I love my family, and I love little moments like this. :o)
Big Dominguez
We were planning on camping later this week with some friends, but when we looked at the weather and saw the rain forecasted, we decided to go ahead and just go. We got everything packed and ready in two hours, which is record time for camping with two little girls in a remote place! All we really forgot was dish soap and tongs for cooking, but we did alright without those.
We had planned to stay for two nights, but I had a headache all day yesterday and after dinner I was so miserable I was ready to go to bed, and we decided to just pack up and head home. I feel like a sissy, but oh well. We still had fun. Next time though, I'm taking along a couple of Advil, just in case.
We camped at a place called Big Dominguez, on the Uncompaghre Plateau, about an hour from home. It was gorgeous - totally peaceful, no one around, creeks running right through our little campground. I think Isabel was the happiest dog in the whole world for two days, getting to run around free like that and all that water around. Both she and Chloe were perpetually filthy, which means, of course, that they had a blast.
Cora had fun too, as long as she wasn't stuck in baby jail. :o) We put her on a big blanket the first day and she was content to sit at the edge of it and play with sticks and dirt, only tasting the occasional rock. LOL
We just stuck around the campground the first day - we arrived just in time to set up camp and make dinner. Yesterday we went for a drive through the ponderosa forest up on top of the plateau, and saw tons of wildflowers, lots of gorgeous scenery, and even a few animals. This little guy was right on the side of the road as we were driving by.
Picking wild marigolds:
Hubby trying to start a fire like a real man ;o) He gave up. LOL
Shooting a BB gun at a target in the meadow next to our camp site
There was no way I was letting that dirty little girl crawl into our tent covered in that much dirt, so to the creek it was, for a refreshing (read: freezing) bath!
My very favorite thing to do when we're camping is cooking. Our dinner menus this time: Pork chops, cranberry sauce, potatoes and fresh green beans the first night, chicken alfredo with whole wheat pasta and corn on the cob the second night. I'm not sure why I love making yummy stuff so much when we're out there, but cooking over a campfire thrills me. I also made pancakes for breakfast for the first time, and it was a success!
:::sigh::: I love camping. :o)
We had planned to stay for two nights, but I had a headache all day yesterday and after dinner I was so miserable I was ready to go to bed, and we decided to just pack up and head home. I feel like a sissy, but oh well. We still had fun. Next time though, I'm taking along a couple of Advil, just in case.
We camped at a place called Big Dominguez, on the Uncompaghre Plateau, about an hour from home. It was gorgeous - totally peaceful, no one around, creeks running right through our little campground. I think Isabel was the happiest dog in the whole world for two days, getting to run around free like that and all that water around. Both she and Chloe were perpetually filthy, which means, of course, that they had a blast.
Cora had fun too, as long as she wasn't stuck in baby jail. :o) We put her on a big blanket the first day and she was content to sit at the edge of it and play with sticks and dirt, only tasting the occasional rock. LOL
We just stuck around the campground the first day - we arrived just in time to set up camp and make dinner. Yesterday we went for a drive through the ponderosa forest up on top of the plateau, and saw tons of wildflowers, lots of gorgeous scenery, and even a few animals. This little guy was right on the side of the road as we were driving by.
Picking wild marigolds:
Hubby trying to start a fire like a real man ;o) He gave up. LOL
Shooting a BB gun at a target in the meadow next to our camp site
There was no way I was letting that dirty little girl crawl into our tent covered in that much dirt, so to the creek it was, for a refreshing (read: freezing) bath!
My very favorite thing to do when we're camping is cooking. Our dinner menus this time: Pork chops, cranberry sauce, potatoes and fresh green beans the first night, chicken alfredo with whole wheat pasta and corn on the cob the second night. I'm not sure why I love making yummy stuff so much when we're out there, but cooking over a campfire thrills me. I also made pancakes for breakfast for the first time, and it was a success!
:::sigh::: I love camping. :o)
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