Saturday, October 18, 2008

A little bit of lots of stuff

First things first. The other day John was watching G while I took a nap. He was letting her play in the kitchen, which we both do just about every day, while he was (I think) playing his new guitar in the other room (did I mention he got a new guitar...he is very enamored of it. It's a really nice guitar that he managed, somehow, to convince me that we could afford....) When he checked on G, this is what he found.


Yes, those are all my recipe cards. I think G is going to be a great cook someday, due to the amount of time she spends ingesting...I mean investigating all my recipes.

Next up, G and I had a fun shopping trip today. Tomorrow is Sophia's and Alana's birthday party. They are one year and 4 days apart, 5 and 4 already!! Unbelievable. Anyway, G and I were on a mission for fun birthday presents. We decided to create a fun dress up wardrobe addition for each girl. Dress-up was my absolute FAVORITE thing to play as a little girl, so I am a big proponent of it. We went to Christmas Tree Shop, which I love. Thank God its almost Halloween...they had tons of fun stuff, all at GREAT prices! Here is one of the gift sets I made.



The other is similar but slightly different. Fun? I think so! Yes, those are fairy wings, and a purple fedora. Throw in some groucho glasses and you have a fashion statement!!

By the way, this was G's 2nd outing riding around in the shopping cart like a big kid! No camera both times...bad mama! Last week John and I took her grocery shopping and she was so much happier riding through the store, looking around at everything, talking to everyone we saw...

Speaking of pretend play, G ASTOUNDED me today. I mean it, I was actually near tears, I was so shocked and proud of her. I was chopping up some vegetables and accidentally dropped a piece of green pepper on the floor near where G was playing (in the kitchen again!) She immediately picked it up, and I assumed she was going to eat it. Nope. She crawled right over to her Baby, picked her up and shoved the pepper in her mouth!!! The BABY'S MOUTH. She's 10 months old! I couldn't believe it. She has been making great leaps in her play the last week or so. I work with kids with developmental disabilities, and so do most of my coworkers who see G everyday at work. So we are all always noticing things she is doing and saying things like "Oh, look at her pincer grasp, how developmentally appropriate!" We're OT dorks, I know. Anyway, so, I notice things that some other parents might not. So, she started putting things "In" and "On" last week...big milestone, I was so proud. She was playing with the (now empty) recipe box the other day, trying to put the top back on the box, then trying to put the box back on the shelf where it goes. All very impressive stuff to me. But PRETEND PLAY!?!? I wasn't expecting that, at all! I actually went into the dining room, where another jam session was happening with John and Ken, and stopped them to tell them the news. What a little smartie she is!

And then there was the cooking. I made beef stew and chocolate chip cookies today, both from scratch. I mean, I used chocolate chips from a bag, but I'm not Sweetfern, I'm not going to molest the cow and the cocoa beans myself (just kidding, Kristina, I love you, you're awesome! But homemade cheese??..) Anyway, my dinner was heavenly. I had applesauce on the agenda, too, but I still don't have all those apples peeled, and what I do have peeled is frozen, and I was getting a major headache because by 4pm all I had eaten was a pumpkin muffin at 8am, and I was trying to eat an apple, but my precocious 10 month old STOLE it from me (she's cute=she's spoiled, I gave it to her when she batted those lashes and smiled) and then she needed a bottle and then a diaper change.....so applesauce-never happened. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. I do have to admit to some serious multitasking, though. At one point I was perched on a kitchen stool with Giuliana on my lap, giving her a bottle with one hand while pan-searing beef tips for stew with the other hand. Just call me Martha.

And finally, this is what my much younger (HE thinks) husband is doing right now, while I, the much older and usually much sleepier, wife am still up and away...


He who lets his guard down finds himself posted on the internet!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Apple Hunting

Captured for the first time on film...AMAZING photos of a wild, human, herbivore on the hunt for a precious meal. Never before have we seen such incredible footage of the human baby stalking her prey and devouring it in a lustful gorge! Warning! These unbelievable photos are not for the faint of heart. Women:they may cause your ovaries to scream at you! Men:they may cause your spouses ovaries to scream at you! Proceed with caution.

The Daddy and the Baby human hunt for easy prey.

The Mommy human helps trap some prey to aid her Baby in the hunt.

She sees one.


Amazing footage of this first time hunter stalking her prey.


Oh, she's captured it!

I can't watch! Oh, the humanity!

The Baby eats with delight.





Oh, no! She's spotted us!


The proud Mommy human is pleased with her offspring.


The whole human/canine tribe celebrates a successful hunt!

Capturing Autumn

We spent Saturday afternoon at my parent's house in Conklin. As some of you know, they have a beautiful, large yard, an apple orchard, and a gorgeous view of the hills. It was spectacularly autumn on Saturday. Besides picking about 40lbs of apples, I enjoyed my digital camara and the landscape! Enjoy :)














Saturday, October 11, 2008

She's a soprano!

NO, this is not a reference to her Italianness (she's only 1/4 Italian, as I like to remind John. hehe, although, I doubt she could have a more Italian name...) No, I mean, she is an actual soprano. Like her Mama. As some of you know, I am a trained vocalist (fancy, huh?) My favorite thing was always hitting the high, soring notes in the upper reaches of the stratosphere....waaaay above the treble clef score! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! However, I always had to work at it...damn pitch problems. This girl,



however, can hit those notes and reach some I could never have imagined. My little Sarah Brightman. I swear she is trying for that last impossible run of notes at the end of "Phantom of the Opera." She has recently added screeeeeeeeeeeeeching and shreeeeeeeeeeeking to her chorus book of sounds and babbles. High, loud, piercing....attention getting, which is the point, I think. Followed by the most adorable giggles when you react. Charming.

Friday, October 3, 2008

And another thing...

Contrary to conventional GOP wisdom, she sets feminism back about 40 years. She is all fluff. Zero substance. Anytime she is even remotely cornered with a direct question that would ultimately prove her superficiality, she lapses back into coquettishness. With a bat of her eyelashes and a sly smile...all you see is perky, cute cheerleader! What kind of role model is THAT for young girls? Never mind her actual position on women's issues which are somewhere back in the stone age. She's no paragon of woman's lib, she is a girl toy that Johnny boy thinks makes him look good. She's like that working girl Barbie someone bought me in the 80's, in her pink mini-skirt power suit by day that reverses to a sequin party dress by night. Go to work, honey, but don't forget to show a little leg, flip your hair, and oh, bring extra makeup for after-hours...you'll need it if you want to get a head! So to speak. Fake feminism is worse, and more damaging, that outright misogyny, in my opinion.

Yep. That woman bugs me. Big time. I sincerely hope she just goes away soon. In say, 32 days...

A wink and a smile

All I've got to say it that woman is so irritating! I swear if she winked at me one more time, it would have been a rerun of the Family Guy episode where Stewie hops on a plane and flies out to Los Angeles just to punch Will Ferrell in the face for not being funny. I was tempted to check out Travelocity flights to ST. Louis just to smack her. Grrrrrrrr. This is no way to start a weekend. She sucks!

Here's the new tee-shirt I ordered today in honor of my ever-expanding support of Obama-Biden for the sake of my daughter's future.