Thursday, April 14, 2011

Peaks and Valleys

The peaks being when I post a lot. Or even regularly. The valleys? Well, you can probably guess that is what we have been in around here lately. A posting valley. Sucked straight down to the bowels of it with lots of distractions, good intentions, unused vivid photos, and primarily a sheer lack of to-do-it-ness. Shame on me.

During these valleys, you lose. That is unless you think my blog seriously sucks on a regular basis...because to that point, you would actually win!

During these valleys, the dog, the toddler, the house, and the laundry win. The dog gets more attention during toddler nap time. The toddler gets more time with mommy out of or in the house. The house gets more quality pick me ups and less forget-me-nots. And the laundry not only gets done, but it also gets put away. Do you hear that people? Put away, as in not residing semi-permanently in a white plastic basket on the floor of our bedroom.

Such is life in a valley.

I can never stay away too long, though. It starts to eat at me. One can only do so much cleaning or laundry put-awaying before desiring a bit more clever outlet. So, today I am back to spend a little more nurturing time with one of my other babies...my blog.

To catch you up on all of the little things, here is what has been happening in our corner of the world:

  • outings.  do we ever NOT do outings?  nope.  it is just our MO.  so, where have we been?  birthday parties, Smith's playground, lunches, the Franklin Institute, mom and tot swim classes, Barnes and Noble, the grocery store...you name it, and we have probably put our mark on it somewhere at some point!
  • working on more words.  words that sometimes resemble real words.  words that sometimes are certainly and unmistakably real words. words that are sometimes just sounds used for a particularity with such consistency that you actually start realizing what they "are".  (ie "ass-is" for the word "outside") (ie "ah-hee" for "up please").  some words come out clear as day, and it is obvious that it happens this way because Finnley is so in love with the "object" that she NEEDS to get it all out right.  (ie, the words movie and cookie)
  • an accident waiting to happen.  that is our daughter.  if one could trip over it, she will trip.  if one could fall off of it, she will fall.  if one could manipulate an accident out of nothing at all, she will manipulate.  the end result being a couple of scrapes / bruises on her forehead and in between her eyebrows... and a few head-bumps/headaches. I am thinking of heading to the bubble store to make a large purchase...
  • thievery.  thievery of the absolute cutest fashion brought about by the sheer love of freshly baked cookies.  Finnley had half of a cookie for a snack yesterday.  she cried when I told her she couldn't have any more, as dinner was being served soon.  her solution?  sneak off to the kitchen and stretch her chicken legs and sinewy arms to their limit in order to reach up to the cooling rack perched on the counter and steal herself her very OWN cookie.  victory!  well, until mommy took back most of the cookie.  seriously...dinner time was coming soon!
  • imaginative play.  Finnley is getting creative and showing brilliant independent play skills.  she has started to "diaper" her dolly, Amanda.  she "uses" butt paste on her.  she uses wipes.  she asks for help to get the diaper situated properly.  she also makes up her own form of play, such as stealing garbage bags out of the cabinet and using them to "decorate" the dog.  she has also fashioned her own "jewelry" and "head bands" out of the dog's collar, harness, and leash.  she is a freaking genius, no?  
  • outdoor love.  Finnley is a girl obsessed, and I can't say that I blame her.  she is a sucker for a nice sunny day.  she would spend lunch time, nap time, and dinner time out there if we let her.  I'm glad to see it...kids should be outdoors!
  • indoor love.  well, there are rainy days and poor weather still, so we need to like our sheltered environment, too.  the reason that "we" do have that indoor love is because of the discovery of MOVIES!  one movie in particular, Tangled.  since the day it was purchased, Finn has requested to watch it at least 3 times a day EVERY day.  mommy went out and bought three new movies for the purposes of remaining sane.  Beauty and the Beast is "ok"...but nothing holds a candle to her Rapunzel.  sigh...
Now hopefully you are feeling a smidge less neglected and certainly more up to date.  Or, perhaps you really didn't care...and given that, you probably haven't even read this far.  Either is ok.  I, for one, at least feel a bit better having given some time to this place that has always been a dear friend to me.  

Enjoy a look back in pictures at the last couple of weeks:


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Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Downfall

This is the simple downfall of a perfectly good, freshly baked chocolate chip cookie. This is also the evolution of pure happiness through the downfall of said cookie. Snack time is sometimes the most entertaining time of the day. (and that is saying something given our days around here!)

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

And headed to St. John. For five days. With my husband. Without my daughter. Without my dog. Sigh. Yay, but sigh...but, Yay!

In our absence, this will be the scene you can be imagining taking place at our house. Or various similar scenes. Grandma and Grandpa will be on patrol! Wish them luck!

Wish us luck with the separation. Nothing a little cocktail and beach time can't help, right? Right!

Talk to you soon!

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Time keeps on slipping...

Wow. A week gone? Again? Sometimes I just can't keep up. My excuse this week? Well...my birthday, outings every day, St. Patrick's Day, and about the nicest weather that has ever graced this holy earth (or so it seems after another seemingly endless winter)! So, in a very tiny nutshell, here is how the week went:
  • Monday:  Kid Junction then out to lunch with friends 
  • Tuesday:  St. Patrick's Day party for the kiddos then dinner out with the hubby to celebrate "my day"
  • Wednesday:  Stroller Strides class, then trying on sunglasses at JC Penny, then errands
  • Thursday:  play date and lunch at a little friend's house
  • Friday:  free preview of a music class followed by playing and lunch at the park...then playing in the yard with daddy and Batman
The rest can be seen here in pictures.  Don't they tell a better story anyway?

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Friday, March 11, 2011

Discoveries, Indulgences, and Life

The title of this post could be describing any day around here, really. I like that. I like that a lot. Non-descript happiness in a bucket. Daily living at its simplest, yet finest. Just doing, being, seeing, living, and loving.

It is Friday. It is my husband's birthday. I like that, too. What isn't to like about a birthday? The celebration of the creation of a splendid life in the making. They should all be happy, shouldn't they?

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We have a budding photographer in our house. Finnley can search out the camera (if she is lucky), turn it on, and start snapping millions of pictures. A close up of the bushy hair on the dog's back. The computer armoire. Her own brilliant hand close up. Tile on the floor. A little pink fleece coat. Mommy. It brought great joy to her to see the pictures, her very own still image creations, pop up on the miniature screen.

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Sometimes pants can be a burden. Diapers, too. Fresh air against the skin...well, there is nothing quite like it. So says our tiny roommate. I am not sure who appreciated that moment the most...Finnley or me. Watching it unfold almost had to be better. Sweet silliness.

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Finnley discovered new tastes today. She indulged in a few drips of decaf caramel latte' foam and some salsa limon tortilla chips. She sucked every last drip of foam out of the bottom of that recycled paper cup and continued to soak in the flavor by licking her lips. The salsa chips? I thought for sure that it would be a fleeting experiment in spicy endeavors, but nope. That girl loved every last punchy bite. She also figured out how to partially chew a chip and then stick out her tongue to show her mommy how "cool" mushy bits on the palate can be. A girl after her own mommy's heart (minus the "see food" display).

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Moments when "happy" just can't be contained.
A good week in the life. A good week. Indeed.