Riddle of the Day....

Question: How many nooks and crannies are in a Britax car seat?

Answer: More than I thought. Wait till your three-year-old gets carsick in that seat, and you spend the next day and a half trying to track down just where that smell could be coming from.

Good News: She had just handed my iPhone off to big sister before getting sick.

More good News: I think I found the source on the second scrubbing. Seat is now covered in Fabreeze and is drying in front of the fire..... again.

Even more good news: When you are taking steroids on Spring Break, you have an unbelievable amount of energy to get things done. Things that might otherwise be irritatingly inconvenient. Also, while on steroids, your sense of smell comes back.

Take away for next time: Don't let the three-year-old play on the phone while the vehicle is moving.

Stair Ride

Libby (at bedtime): Mom, how big is the stair ride?

Me: The stair ride?

Libby: Yeah.

Me: What stair ride?

Libby: The one you're going to take tomorrow.

Me: Um...... Oh, do you mean steroid?

Libby: Yeah.

Me: Oh, babe. Those are the yucky pills I was telling you about. They're just pills. The ones we'll pick up at the pharmacy in the morning.

Libby: Oh.

At this point I saw how everything once magical in childhood dies over time. I mean, she thought my cough was going to get better because tomorrow I'd be taking a stair ride. And she only asked because she wanted to know how big it would be. This magical stair ride that would heal my cough. We giggled about it, and I think I saw a flicker of embarrassment on her face which is exactly how the magic dies and we become sensible, logical adults, right? Boring sensible adults who take steroids. Together, we imagined that if there were such a thing, surely there would be a rainbow to slide down on the other side. I'm sure my cough would be gone then.

If you want to know where this all came from, read on. If you just want to soak up the magic of childhood innocence, stop reading here.

On second thought, it's not worth telling. It's vacation. I'm coughing. There's wheezing. I'm taking steroids, which is all very sensible. The end. Boring, huh? I like my girl's version so much better.

Sushi

It's still raining and I still haven't had a Mai Tai. But I did have a Mai Tai roll for dinner and that's almost the same thing.

It's raining. We've been Inside. All day.

Libby: Peyton, don't step on my BOOK!

Peyton: (with extreme calm and clarity) Well you shouldn't have left it on the floor.

Libby: Peyton, that was really MEAN!

Peyton: Well you shouldn't have left it on the floor.

Libby: MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

and then she did this....

....and then this.

On a related note, facebook is no place for me this week, because a lot of people I know are in Southern California or Hawaii and I've seen photo evidence that it's not raining in either location right now. Also, no one has offered me a single Mai Tai, Piña Colada or Lava Flow today. Not one.

Spoiled

Can you spot the most spoiled child in the house?

Snow Day(s)!

We're on day two of our snow days, though these pictures are all from yesterday. The sun's out now, and it looks like it's all starting to melt. Ironically, my school district announced on Tuesday the date of our last day of school. They announced that it will be earlier than last year since we hadn't used any snow days and had a milder-than-usual winter. Winter may have been mild, but spring looks like it might be a doozy!

By the time we built our snowgirl it was raining and things were a little sloppy out. Still, she's beautiful. Don't you think?

Aiming High

Peyton: Mommy, do you know what I'm gonna be when I grow up?

Me: What?

Peyton: a skyscraper.

Give or Take Forty....

Peyton (climbing onto my lap): Hi.

Me: Hey, whatcha doin?

Peyton: Just playing nicely with Libby. When I was pretending to be sleeping, Libby was tickling my feet.

Me: Is Libby the mom?

Peyton: Yes.

Me: And are you the baby?

Peyton: No, I'm the big kid.

Me: Oh. How old are you?

Peyton: Like......sixty.

Libby (yelling from the back bedroom): Peyton, sixty is how old you are when you die!

Me: Well, not exactly.

The Boneses and Marcel

Let me say upfront, I know Boneses doesn't look right, but it is. I Googled it. And everyone knows you can believe everything you Google.

This was a "whole family weekend", according to Libby. She loves it when the four of us are all home together. Yesterday, we went to lunch and then saw The Lorax, complete with popcorn and Pepsi, which is our girls favorite part of any movie. You can't tell from this picture, but the mall was packed when we got out of the theater, which made me wonder, "What are they all doing here?" The people watching is entertaining and the girls love the play area, but there are just too many people for me. Also, summer cannot get here fast enough. I guess I don't mind a crowd, just outside where we're not all breathing all over each other. I think my return to the classroom has turned me into a germ-a-phobe.

We left the mall and headed for Bebo and Uncle Boneses' (Dave and Becky's) house. Bebo is doing great. She came over on Friday night and I got some great pictures of her with the girls, and her not-so-bald-anymore head, but she hasn't authorized those pictures to go public yet, so you'll just have to trust me. She's got hair! Woot Woot!

If you haven't seen Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, or Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Part 2 you have to watch them both. We love them, and Bebo got the book for our girls. They spent some time reading and snuggling....

....while I spent some time snuggling with Buddy Bones, the handsome yellow lab.

Girly

Today she rode in a tutu and Mary Janes....

I caught her on the back deck this afternoon standing on her adirondack chair and bowing for her (I'm assuming) audience and waving to her fans. The applause in her head must be really loud. Tomorrow....autographs.

A Good Man

The other night Shane and I had this exchange:

Me: You know, sometimes you're kind of an a--, and you're getting worse.

Shane: Well, you're not always such a peach yourself.

Me: Oh yeah? Give me an example where that's true.

Shane: Um, how about right now.

Touché.

I can (sometimes) give credit where it's due, however, and this guy was our hero last weekend. On Saturday, the girls were pretending to wrap gifts with a box and a container they'd retrieved from the recycle bin. They asked for tissue paper and tape and got busy making their "gifts". On Sunday morning, when Daddy left to go fishing, Libby insisted he take hers with him because now instead of a present, it was a "fish box". Peyton loved this idea and was eager for him to take hers too. Not only did he take them, but he made sure to let the girls know they were an important part of his trip. Good man, that one....

Bait Container

Look for the tail coming out of the top of the box....

Fish Box