and this concludes my 3 months of daily posting

Just in case anyone has not been keeping track, I've been posting daily since November 1st. It started out easy-peasy but my life has either gotten more boring or busier, because it's been increasingly harder to come up with things to write about. And I feel like this blog has become sucky because of that. The last thing I would ever want to be associated with is a sucky blog so now that it's January 31st, I'm relieving myself of my daily-post obligation (you're welcome).

I couldn't leave you without a parting gift though, so I am blatantly stealing this from my new bloggie/Facebook friend-of-a-friend, Megan. It won't be quite as funny if you've never seen the original commercial, but since it's on TV every other minute all day long, I'm sure you have. Here goes:

there's the way to instill good sportsmanship!

Cayden had his 3rd futsal game of the season this morning. It was at 9:50 on my day to sleep in, so anyone who knows me well knows that I was not there. With one day a week to sleep in, I like to make the most of it.

When the crew returned home from the game, I heard that Cayden scored two goals (yippee!), didn't fall down on purpose (a huge feat), and that his team lost. From what I've been able to surmise so far, these futsal players mean serious business. No playing for fun, just playing to improve their skill set. And to win. Most importantly to win. Last week's team was ferocious. All the players were extremely good and had clearly spent more time practicing than our White Dragons (don't ask me who came up with that name).

At this week's game, Andrew noticed that it was the parents of the other teammates who were in it to win it. It didn't sound like there was any casual chatting, just focused sideline caoching, and plenty of scolding when the kids didn't play as they were "supposed" to. Apparently when some kid came thiiiiiiis close to scoring a goal, his dad disappointedly shook his head at him and taunted him with "fi-ive do-llars." As is, "you almost got fi-ive do-llars for scoring that goal, but now you're out of luck."

Seriously? Paying your kid to score a goal? How pathetic. And what a lesson to teach your child. If we ever play that team again, I'm going to talk to the White Dragons and make sure they allow as many goals from the opposing team as possible. Just to let those parents rethink their "pay-for-play" method of coaching.

vocab

Over the past 2 or so months, Josie's vocabulary has just exploded. This is just the best age for watching that progress. As an experiment, I thought I would try to write down every word she said today (it's a teacher planning day so I had two helpers carry around notebooks all morning), but it's only 1:00 now and it's way too time-consuming to do this all day. I think she's said almost all of her words anyway... the girl sure is a chatterbox! Here is a sampling from the past 6 hours:

Abby
all clean
all done
another
apple
baby
back
balloon
balls
bath
Bear
Becky ("Beck")
bed
belly button
better
bicycle
Big Bird
birdie
blanket ("blakent")
bowl
Bubby
Buddy
building
bunny
bye-bye
cars
Cay Cay
cereal
chair
chicken
chin
chocolate
choo-choo train
circle
cookie
cow
cup
Daddy
diaper
did it
dinosaur
dog
down
downstairs
Elmo
Everette
eyes
fan
feet
fishy
foot
fries
froggy
glasses ("sassies")
going
Grandma
green
guy
hair
hello
help
Henry ("Wowie")
horsey
hot
house
hug
Joe
Jojo
juice
Julia
jump
kick
kiss
kitty
knees
Mama
Mara
Maya
Michael
money
more
motorcycle
mouse
Mr. Noodle
naptime
neck
nice
night-night
nose
on
open ("opit")
orange
owie
pants
Papa
pig
pink
plate
please
potty
purple
puzzles
quiet
raining
red
ring
shoes
shower
Sissy
sit
sleeves
snow
Snuffy
soccer
socks
sorry
spoon
stairs
stars
street
stuck
taa-daa
teeth
Telly
thank you
that
these
this
toast
toothbrush
upstairs
walk
water
where go?
windy
woof woof
work
yay
Yaya
yes
Zeke

(Lots of words were repeated over and over again [Bear/stuck/help] but each word is just listed once.)

tag!

Woohoo! I was tagged by Christie to go to my fourth photo folder on my computer and post the fourth picture. Only problem is that my photo "organization" system is so overly-organized that it's bordering on completely unmanageable. I have two main folders and within each of them, two sub-categories that open up to multiple folders. So, I'll follow my own logic and open what I think of as the fourth folder.

The following photo is from September 2nd, which I'm guessing was a Tuesday, based on Avery's attire. She is practicing her pirouettes. (Needless to say, I'm thankful it was this picture rather than numerous others. Phew!)

In order to keep the fun going round and round, I tag Megan, Colleen, Sydney, and Stacy. No pressure though!

called out

The other day I was getting Josie a bowl of Triscuits for her afternoon snack. While I was standing at the cupboard unnoticed, I snuck a Pepperidge Farm Mint Brussel (heaven... seriously, if you have not tried one, you must make a point to). When I leaned over to hand her the bowl, Josie immediately glared up at me and blurted out "Chocolate. Cookie. Chocolate Cookie, Chocolate Cookie." I had been called out. She was frantic that she wanted a cookie too... none of this nonsense about Triscuits, which she usually loves.

I think Josie's favorite word might be chocolate. She's had a sweet tooth since day one, and loves anything of the chocolate variety. Additionally, one of her favorite stuffed animals (besides you-know-who) is Cayden's brown dog, Chocolate. Definitely a girl after my own heart.

wordless wednesday #11

it's raining snow

As Josie would say. Again. For about the 20th time this winter, which is waaay more than we're used to in these parts. I have no fun pictures of kids playing outside because all my models actually had to go to school today. We did get the "snow call" at 5:45am... and then three more subsequent calls, all to tell us that school was opening at the regular time and buses were on snow routes. So a big thank you to Portland Public Schools for waking the whole house up with such critically important news.

I suspect PPS is getting their payback now though, with herds of angry parents calling in, fretting about their poor babies, helplessly trapped at school in this blizzard. Seriously, folks get a little nuts when their kids are involved. This is all supposed to turn to rain later in the day, so no sense in all of us having to go get the kids early if you ask me (which no one technically has... yet).

Now, if it doesn't turn to rain and instead it keeps snowing, then that's going to get interesting. Until then, Josie and I will just keep the couch toasty warm and look at all the "snows" outside. It really is so pretty. Even if it is the 20th time this winter.

circles go with circles...

...and octagons go with octagons.

piano recital

Avery had her second piano recital this afternoon. Unlike her first recital 6 months ago, when she was a brand-new student, she was not at all nervous today. She really has come a long way with her self-confidence.

She allowed me to take some pictures of her while she was practicing, but ordered me to steer clear during her actual performance because apparently my camera is too loud {ahem}.

However, she did grant me the honor of video-taping her performance, specifically to post here. You'll notice that there was a "sticky key" on this particular piano (one that she's not used to playing) that needed an extra heavy push. Every time Avery played this note, she had to hit the key twice. As she said afterwards, "all those mistakes were not really my fault." And don't let the empty first row fool you; there actually was an audience!

i hate when that happens

Avery, in the car this evening, as we were talking about the school week ahead: "You know something that I hate? When I choke on my saliva."

weighing his options

Just in the door from his 2nd Blazer game of the season, Cayden was asked which game was better. He struggled to find an answer. "Well, at the first game, they beat the world champions (the Bostons, if you recall)... but at this game I got a free chalupa."

Come to think of it, that would be a tough call.

karaoke with elmo (and some heavy breathing)

{As an aside, I swear Josie does not spend all day, every day in her pajamas. It's common knowledge that the best photo/video times are from 7-8 in the morning, right?}

date night!

Okay, so technically it was Andrew's company President's Day holiday party, but there was music, food, wine, and no one under the age of 9 so that counts as a date night in my book! The invitation said "casual," which I thought was really lame so I disregarded and got semi-dressed up. As dressed up as I could manage in 38 degree weather. Brrr.

In all honesty, we go to this event each year because they give away raffle prizes (they must have caught on that attendance spiked when they implemented that plan) and we've won something every year but one. This year it was a $50 gift card to Target. Too bad I had just come back from there with some really cute pink toddler Converse in hand. Oh well, there's never a shortage of things to buy.

On a random side note, I don't think I've ever had an eclair before tonight... but they're really good.

pristine housekeeping standards

This morning Josie excitedly found a who-knows-how-old juice cup under the couch (amazing what can be found under there!). Once she realized it was empty, she immediately started begging for more, more, more. Since it was almost lunchtime, I told her I would get her more but she had to get me a new, clean cup and put the old one in the sink.

Apparently she doesn't know the word "sink" yet though, because she just shrugged and tossed it back under the couch. Wonder where she would have learned that move.

wordless wednesday #10

best day of the year (so far anyway)

Even Barbara and Jenna look excited
(if you ask me, they're closet Democrats along with their mother:)

I love the look of contentment on Michelle's face in this photo:

There aren't even words for this one:

I hate to end on such a mean note, but come on, it's just too easy:

obamania!

What a feeling of anticipation in the air. Honestly, once November 4th was little more than a delightful memory, I hadn't given much thought to the inauguration. I was satisfied to know that the country had made the best decision and went on with my life. But just yesterday I was struck by the undeniable buzz in the air. Everywhere I went, someone made a comment about what a monumental day was ahead. Even the guy selling us cookies at Paradise Bakery got a little teary-eyed when I asked how his day was going. Celebrating Dr. King's birthday and Obama's inauguration nearly brought him to tears.

As for this morning, I made sure to set the DVR for the next 5 hours because if I can watch the event over and over again (until someone deletes it), maybe I can convince myself that I was actually there when I'm old and senile. I heard lots of people suggest that parents should keep their kids home from school to witness this history about to be made. I wasn't about to go that far (a 3-day weekend is plenty for me) but today is the one day I have no objection whatsoever to TVs in the classroom.

Okay, things are ramping up in Washington so Josie and I must go and watch the coverage. Hopefully she doesn't mind that inauguration coverage is preempting her typical Sesame Street viewing at 9:00.

Happy Inauguration Day!

stackaholic

This morning Cayden crowned Josie "The Absolute Best Stacker Ever." It's hard to tell if the title is truly legitimate but she sure has been working hard at it (if I'm being honest, it's on the verge of obsessive). Just like she did with her puzzle pieces, she will stack just about anything. And she's pretty darned good at it, even when the cans are leaning precariously or when she starts her tower with the very smallest of all the pieces.

a good excuse for cool new shoes

Our plan was to keep our weekends as free as possible this winter and schedule no classes or sports. But... when Cayden heard many of his soccer teammates were forming a futsal team, he really wanted to take part. So long Saturdays, it was good while it lasted!

His coach (the mom of one of his classmates--gotta love that) said he could just wear regular tennis shoes or get some special "soccer flats." Did someone say new shoes? Needless to say, we headed out for some shoe shopping and came home with these beauties:

I love them so much, I'm thinking of taking up futsal myself. As long as the games aren't too early.

Oh, I almost forgot but Cayden's team won their first game yesterday! The other team didn't exactly show up but I'm sure they would have won anyway. The forfeit was just a technicality.

my favorite quote of the day

"I think the stimulus we need in this country is psychological as much as anything else."

-New York Governor David Patterson

auction burnout

• days left until the auction: 56
• procurement requests sent out so far: 420
• days it took to get those ready for mailing: 10
• procurement requests still to be sent out: 75
• stamps needed: 75 (not a coincidence)
• paper cuts from stuffing envelopes: 4
• items received so far: 18
• total value of those items: $2779
• fundraising goal: way more than that

My brain is so fried right now and I can't focus on anything that's not auction-related. [I was assured yesterday by our previous auction chair that this is a common problem so I'm not too concerned.] I was out way too late last night (at a PartyLite candle party of all things) drinking really yummy champagne, trying to ignore this massive undertaking and now I can't see straight. Once the last of these envelopes magically gets mailed out, I can focus on other, more interesting aspects of the event, which will be a huge relief. In this great age of the internet and email, I detest snail mail.

Zzzzz...

no fuss, no muss

Cayden has got to be one of the most literal, straight-forward people I've ever met (pretty much the opposite of his mother). He has no time for or interest in "the little things," skipping right to the meat of an issue. Recently he got a homework assignment as a continued introduction to math. He has, however, already managed to figure all the basics of math (multiplication, division, fractions to some degree) out on his own so this slow intro really isn't working for him.

This particular assignment was to figure out how many combinations you could have if you had a total of 15 stars and/or moons. The kids were supposed to use drawings, diagrams or numbers to find the solution. I could see where the teacher was going; she wanted the kids to draw 15 moons with 0 stars, 7 stars with 8 moons, etc. But Cayden was having none of that. He balked at the idea of using any sort of creativity and quickly jotted down the following:

15 + 0 = 15
14 + 1 = 15
13 + 2 = 15
12 + 3 = 15
11 + 4 = 15
10 + 5 = 15
9 + 6 = 15
8 + 7 = 15
7 + 8 = 15
6 + 9 = 15
5 + 10 = 15
4 + 11 = 15
3 + 12 = 15
2 + 13 = 15
1 + 14 = 15
0 + 15 = 15

"Cayden's Story Book," by Avery

Once upon a time in a kingdom so far away, two pencils were sleeping in a condo. One was named Juinor and the other was named Sara. They were two very happy pencils. They can talk and hop, they can eat and that's about all. They loved where they lived but they had to leave sooner or lader because the catsle was very dangerouse.

There were dragons, and knites, and kings. Juinor and Sara always have wanted to meet the kings. There were five. King Andrew, King Cayden, King Tom, King Joe, and King Neptune. The meanest one was King Joe and the nicest king was King Andrew. If anyone got hurt King Andrew would spring up and start runing and King Joe, well if somebody got hurt he would get the dragons and say, "Fire him!!!" and the dragons knew exactly what that meant... Kill Him/Her! It wasn't a pritty site.

The pencils loved living there but the condo was to small. It was this big:

You wouldn't think that pencils would be living in a condo smaller than your shoe but that's what the story says.

One day everyone was yelling... "Fight... Fight..." There was a long pause then......... "Fight," they yelled!

"Time for a fight," said Juinor. "Yep," said Sara.

"Fight," said Juinor. "Be quiet," said Sara.

"Ahhhhhh," Junior yellped. "There going to crush us."

King Tom stepped over them. "Few," said Sara.

"Let's move." Well the pencils had to move because of what happened so they did. They hopped over to Oregon. They new they were safe. Did I menchone there condo was a box so they took it with them. They found a shady spot in a park to live. "It's nice with no noise," said Sara. "The only problem is Franklin High School."

"Let's move to the dog park. No, I got it let's move in with Cayden Wagner. Yah." So they moved in with Cayden Wagner. He didn't mind having a box with talking pencils in it.

Juinor and Sara lived with Cayden Wagner until they grew up and then they went to Pencil High School. Uther wise known as Franklin High School.

They graguated from college and moved in with their pencil friends and lived happily ever after.

The End.

yikes

i'll show you mine if you show me yours

"Mine's somewhere under this awesome BarackObama.com onesie."

"A deal's a deal. I showed you mine, now where's yours?"

***
Thanks for coming over for the fun playdate Henry & Christie!

to haircut or not to haircut

I Do It Myself, by Josie

I'm a big kid now.

I don't need help anymore. Ever.

Certainly not getting animals in my bed for naptime.

I can do it myself. I will do it myself.

If you try to help me, I will yell at you.

wordless wednesday #9

terribly terrific twos starting up early

I have a feeling I've just embarked on a long journey with Josie.  Just in the past few days, she has started exhibiting a whole new level of wannabe independence and it's exhausting!  All of a sudden, if I ask her to do just about anything she refuses, often times making a dramatic scene about it.  

Yesterday at her gymnastics class, all the other toddlers were happily making their way through the circuit with their parents but Josie insisted on fighting every step of the way with me.  If I suggested she try out another piece of equipment or offered to hold her hand to help her with something, she would start yelling out "no, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO!" at the top of her lungs, occasionally falling to the floor.  Mind you, if she wanted to hold my hand, that was fine, as long as it was her idea and not my suggestion.  I finally just sat off to the side and watched her... which she thought was great.

Today when we were heading out the door to get Cayden at school she wanted to be carried down the front steps, which is very rare for her.  Unfortunately, I had my hands full with auction envelopes so I told her I needed her to walk.  So, naturally, she plopped herself down and had a little hissy fit.  I told her I could carry her after I put all the envelopes in the car so I headed down without her.  Wouldn't you know it, by the time I arrived back to get her, she was cheerfully making her way down to the bottom step!  Arg.

Looks like I'll be investing in a copy of The New Strong-Willed Child and do a little bit of homework.  All while keeping in mind that being strong-willed is a great trait for grown-ups to have.  If she makes it that far* she'll be in good shape.

(No pictures to accompany this post because our other computer--the one with all the photos, of course--has randomly stopped connecting to the internet today.  Hmmm.  That could really mess up my Wordless Wednesday plans.)

*Kidding.  Of course.

the end is in sight

Today was another step toward the end of the Bush Presidency (thank heavens). Bush held his 45th and final press conference, and offered a little insight into his mindset. I think most would argue that things have been looking up for him the past couple months. He's clearly had a new spring in his step as he gets closer to retirement and folks seem much more intent to give him even the slightest benefit of the doubt, just wanting to hurry up and move on to better times ahead.

But several of his statements today were a complete reality check. He refuses to admit any of the numerous catastrophes that he helped implement during his 8-year disastrous reign. Instead, he explains that he experienced some "disappointments" as President. He thinks of Abu Graib and the disgusting behavior exhibited there as a disappointment, along with "not having weapons of mass destruction" (in Iraq). Yeah, I guess you could call those disappointments. I could think of several other words, too.

Surprisingly, Bush refused to go even that far with regards to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He got visibly miffed while defending the government's response in New Orleans, standing firm that the 30,000 people who were helicoptered off of rooftops are proof that the response was quick enough and strong enough. Wonder how all the people who weren't fortunate enough to get a free helicopter ride feel about that statement?

So no more slight benefit of the doubt from me. President (for 7.5 more days) Bush refuses to accept reality and admit any of his mistakes, thus cementing his sad place in history. I guess expecting anything more at this point in time is just pointless.

not feeling the cheese

Josie got her first taste of Mr. Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon and she was not impressed. In the slightest. When we first arrived and found a wait (a wait!) to get inside, I had a sneaking suspicion the trip might go downhill from there. But, we'd made plans to meet a good, good friend of mine and her son there and it seemed like a good way to keep the kids entertained so we could chat.

After a few minutes in line, I could feel the tension around me build. A party of 6 got called in and 3 other dads just about blew a gasket. Apparently, they had each been waiting with their families for at least 30 minutes more than that party, so needless to say they were not happy. I was suddenly reminded about all the fights I've been hearing about at various CEC locations (search for "Chuck E. Cheese fights" on Google and you get hundreds of examples). It's no wonder... all these poor parents who don't want to be there in the first place, being forced to wait in line while their kids watch other kids play and eat pizza. Bad combination.

We finally did make it inside and wow-eee. It was packed and loud and crazy and insane and busy and packed. I've never seen so many kids in one place in my life. Josie was on edge the whole time we were there. She found 3 kiddy rides that she liked, and managed to get turns on each of them every few minutes (so many kids!). However, if she came in contact with any rides that moved, or any machines that suddenly started beeping, flashing or spitting out tickets, or heaven forbid THE MOUSE (Chuck), she completely freaked out. Good times.

We were packing up to go when the birthday song started (for FIFTEEN) kids and that was easily Josie's favorite part. She left clapping away and squealing "Yay!" so hopefully those will be the memories she holds onto. Because for some bizarre reason, Avery & Cayden love that place and all the craptastically craptastic toys they get with their hundreds of tickets, so I'm sure we'll be back eventually. But not anytime too soon.

totally gaga over a flash

When I first got my new camera back in August, I was in heaven. It took exactly the pictures that I had been dreaming of, with no questions asked. Admittedly, I didn't do all the research I could (should?) have, but who has time for all that??? I knew there were lots of accessories that I would want to get at some point, but I was quite satisfied with what came in the box. Then summer came to a screeching halt and it wasn't sunny anymore. It got dark at 4:30 and was rainy all day and lots of my pictures started looking something like this:


If I didn't use a flash (which I try to avoid at all costs), there just wasn't enough natural light to get a nice, crisp photo. So I had to start using the flash and I wasn't happy anymore. I hate flashes. I hate how they wash out all the pictures and make people look like big globs of light with huge shadows behind them, like this (although this example isn't half as bad as some others):


So finally last weekend I decided I'd had enough and got an external flash. Best money I've ever spent in my life (slight exaggeration). What a huge difference it makes. By bouncing the light off of the ceiling or a nearby wall, it spreads the light around the room to create the illusion of natural light, rather than such a focused stream of crazy fake light coming from the flash. Ahhhhh, much better now: