What Happens When the Baby is Left with the Siblings

I like the look of resignation in the last photo.

Fashion in the Domestic Goddess House

I told Baby to go upstairs and get dressed for the day and this is what he came down in. Note the shoes.



This inspired me to post about Baby's fashion sense until I uploaded the other pictures on the card and saw these.

Doesn't his expression just say, "Why, Mother? Why?"

This is Grandma getting in on the action (or getting a snoot full too early in the morning).

"You will bring me more kibble. You will bring me more kibble. You will...oh, nevermind."

What happens when you leave the baby with his sister.

I couldn't tell if this was a clothing issue or interpretive dance.

As Princess Buttercup once said, "We're all about fashion in this family."

As the Juice Box Turns; A Raven La Diva Story

It was a dark and stormy....morning. Raven eyed her appliances warily as she kissed Bo Hunkmeister goodbye.
"Oh my darling!" she said, "Have fun on your trip. We'll miss you!"
"Be strong my kitten!" Bo replied.
The crumb crunchers darling children hugged their ruggedly handsome father while Raven thought to herself, 'Can I give these kids spaghetti every night while he's gone and still be a good mom?'
Bo stepped out the door and rode off into the horizon. Then it began. Princess Git Er Done snipped at Tater, Baby threw a toy, Tater called Git Er Done stupid, Baby pitched a fit, W. Bear bet Git Er Done $6.00, Git Er Done won the bet, W. Bear wouldn't pay.
Just when Raven could take no more, there was a knock at the door. It was Desiree, Raven's friend. What was that in her arms? A casserole for tomorrow's dinner and sushi grade tuna. Here Raven was, well on her way to a meltdown and her friend brings sushi! 'Oh, Desiree!' she thought, 'You're harshing my drama.'
Having recovered from her moment, Raven rolled and rolled tekkamaki like a 60's dope head (not that she knew anything about that personally). Then she, Desiree and the kids ate themselves silly. Lunch was taken care of, cheesecake was made, babies were cuddled and life was good. A little too good perhaps.
'How long can such happiness last?' thought Raven.
Will W.Bear's ill place bet grow into a gambling problem? Will the children be fed more than spaghetti? Will there be enough blog fodder for another post?
Tune in tomorrow....

Yowza

My friends rock. They also nag me about posting to my blog, but for the most part they rock. Case in point: they threw me a surprise party for my
~wait for it~

40th birthday

~large sigh~

Now I normally like to assume I'm the fount of all knowledge (at least that's what I tell the kiddos) but I was completely surprised by all this. Clueless, I'm tellin' ya. I went with the family to my friend's house for what I thought was just another Sunday afternoon cookout/potluck. However, going around to the back of their house, I see my Dad. I think to myself, "How sweet! They invite my parents up for my birthday!" Then I see the rest of the gang. Wow. Yowza. Holy Frijoles. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you guys rock. There were friends, there were testimonials (sardonic wit!), there was food, there was live music. And there was much merriment!

There were gifts too! Y'all must be reading the blog because I got something like $357.23 in Dunkin Donuts gift cards. (Knowing that you're reading the blog, why hasn't someone gotten me that outdoor bathroom yet?)

Bo Hunkmeister had friends of ours perform "Be Thou My Vision", a very beautiful hymn that was in our wedding. Remind me to scold Bo for making me cry in public. And let me say that I gave the Millers their first piano lessons before they became rich and famous. You guys have done me proud ~sniff, sniff~

As usual with our group potlucks, there was lots of food - burgers, chicken, ribs, sushi, stuffed mushrooms, ice cream cupcakes and a donut cake with lots of sprikels spincles sprinkels jimmies!

I'm not sure what else to say because I'm operating on small amounts of sleep in addition to copious amounts of iced coffee which leads to lots of potty breaks that interrupt my train of thought - not that the trains are very long these days. So I will leave it at this.

Thanks guys - you rock!

Today is a good day!

Not only did I have a Chinese lunch for free*, but this was my fortune:






*courtesy of mystery shopping!

Get the Kleenex ready...

My 11 year old wrote this for me for Mother's Day:

My Mother's Hands

My Mother's hands are the hands that,
Held my Father's hands on their wedding day,
Held me to her bosom the day I came out,
Taught me to walk, corrected me when I did wrong, and
comforted me when I was sad.

The hands that taught me to read,
taught me to have fun, taught me to speak my mind.
The hands that taught me to love, care, share, think and use my imagination.
The hands that taught me about the Armor of God and how to wear it.

Her hands are the hands that love me and
the hands that care for me when I am sick.
Those hands are the hands that teach me about the love and salvation of Jesus.
The hands that clasp together in prayer, praying that I would grow up to be a godly woman, full of faith, and doing the will of Jesus.

Her hands work the ground; providing food for the family.

Her hands are hands that are always open to Jesus.
Hands that are always protecting, loving, caring, correcting,
teaching, sharing, giving, and comforting.


Happy Mother's Day Mom!

~sigh~

Happy Mother's Day!

I love Mother's Day because it's that day when it's all about me! Am I letting the inner diva out a bit much? In what's become an annual tradition, I've compiled a list of gift ideas. Shall we get started?

1. An outdoor bathroom. That's right, a shower, sink and toilet outside of my house. Why? Because I'm tired of little boys who play in the mud and then tramp through my house because they need to go potty. An outdoor bathroom would allow them to piddle outside without the neighbors getting upset and at the end of the day, I can shower them off before they come indoors. Go ahead, tell me I'm a genius.

2. A vegetable cloaking device. Like the Klingons had on Star Trek. With a cloaking device, my carb-boy will actually eat something other than white starchy things.

3. $500.00 in Dunkin' Donuts gift cards. Lattes, iced coffee, coolattas– I love them all. I could have a DD product every day. However, the husband insists on using his paycheck for things like paying the mortgage or the electric bill rather than funding my Dunkin' habit.

4. A GPS device to implant in my children's shoes. It never fails that one shoe is downstairs and the other shoe is nowhere near the first shoe. Yet I don't see my kids walking around with one shoe only to take off said shoe ten minutes and twenty feet away from the first shoe so they wander around with the original shoe asking where the other shoe is. You following me?

5. Recipe organizer. Between the document box, the twenty or so recipe books and three year's worth of Cook's Illustrated, I am over whelmed. But I can't throw any of them away because I want to try them. No really, I will make that lobster soufflé some day. Really. Help me.

6. Titanium game boxes. I do not know who at Hasbro/Mattel/etc. thinks that putting children's games in thin cardboard boxes is a good idea. Within days of receiving a game, the corners are split and taped back together at least three times. In ones month's time, the box is basically a place-mat. I know titanium is a bit more expensive but I think I'll end up ahead with the money I'd save on tape.

Now my dear Bo Hunkmeister suggested for the gift list a device that locks a child in the bathroom until their hands have been tested for the presence of soap and water. I would have listed said device here until it occurred to me that children like Baby would probably like being locked in the bathroom for a few hours. We'll have to work out the bugs on that gift idea for next year.

Until then - all you Moms have a wonderful day!!