Mama, am I having a cupcake, no or yes?
Owen and I are coloring and he’s drawing ants (what they’re studying this week in school).
I’m going to draw a purple ant because the green needs to take a nap.
Me: Owen, what did you sit in today? Your pants are a mess!
Tom (from the other room): Is it poop?
Me: No, it’s not poop.
Owen: Well that’s a relief!
Mom! Katie’s an apple!
He pulled it out at breakfast! It was super wiggly and I had told him last night to just move it back and forth and it might come out. I didn’t really think he’d do it! He was SO excited. And Tom was home this morning so he got to see it, too!
“I was just moving it around and POP it came out!”
>>> October 2014 pictures are online at Shutterfly!
The dangers of taking Katie shopping with me. 🙂
I rearranged the furniture and to get the things where I wanted, I had to put the nightstand a little too close to her bed. 🙂
She was also VERY excited about her new Doc McStuffins wall decals! (This is edited a smidge since it was post-bath and Owen was walking around naked.)
I love when they make me smile.
Short story: I had lunch with a new mommy-group friend and then went out to dinner with the fam.
Long story: The original plan was for me and said friend (and our two toddlers) to drive/metro in to DC’s Union Station to see a free 30-minute Joshua Bell violin concert. (Joshua Bell is playing in the Metro again. This time, maybe you won’t pass it up.)
The stunt was seven years ago, but no one will let him forget it.
Hey, did you hear about the famous violinist who played in the Metro and no one paid attention?
Yes, Joshua Bell must say. That was me.
Technically, 27 people did stop the day The Washington Post asked the Grammy-winning violinist to don a baseball cap and pose as a street performer playing for change in the Metro. It was a social experiment for a magazine article: If a world-famous musician and his $3 million fiddle brought some of history’s most beautiful music to a rush-hour crowd, would people stop and listen? “In a banal setting at an inconvenient time, would beauty transcend?,” the story wondered. The answer: 1,070 people passed Bell without paying him any attention.
Now, after being asked about it nearly every day since, Bell is bringing his violin back to the Metro. This time, on his own terms.
I had heard about the 2007 stunt and thought how cool that would have been to be there, so this time, I figured since we lived THISCLOSE and it would be a cool thing to do—and it would be on my birthday—I wanted to go. HAD to go, in fact. But I also get SUPER anxious doing new things like that so I was sure I wouldn’t actually do it. But then this friend said “I’d love to go! We’ll do it together!” And so we planned. And commiserated about having to take the kids. And planned some more. She would pick us up after her doctor’s appointment, we would drive to the closest metro station that didn’t require an extra transfer (a 20-minute drive), take the metro in (about 40 minutes), watch the concert, then reverse the process home. It was going to be tight, but we were confident. (Well, I was filled with anxiety but was mostly confident!)
So the morning of, things were on schedule and I felt like I was going to throw up from anxiety. And then the doctor’s appointment went awry…he had never run late before but of course ran late today. So we didn’t go. At once I breathed a huge a breath of relief…and also felt a bit of sadness because I really did want to see the concert. But it was all good as we went out for lunch and had a great visit…which I am so thrilled about because before today, we had literally only met once and talked for maybe 30 minutes total at a playgroup at the park. She lives close (maybe two miles at most) and we really get along and are very similar in a lot of ways. So it was a good day, even considering we missed the concert. 🙂
These are our girls at lunch (her daughter is five months older than Katie):
If you ask Katie if she’s a stink bug or a loosey goose or anything like that, she says “No, I’m Katie Bug.” It’s ADORABLE.
I wouldn’t let her go outside with Maggie.
Owen was home for a teacher work day and Katie was napping…so we built this Lego city. Complete with a pool (with mermaids and a diving board), a fenced tree, pathways, and random buildings. 🙂
Boo to how much it costs, of course, but we decided it was worth it since it’s the main thoroughfare and constantly touched by the kids (flat paint just wasn’t going to last as it was already marked up after three months) and we didn’t have the equipment to reach the second story.
And a mere four hours later…
And Tom painted a bunch Saturday so almost the entire first floor is painted and it’s finally looking like a home instead of an institution! It also really makes all the molding stand out and look better, too. (Pics will be posted once things are put back together.) I probably wouldn’t have picked gray again, but we had about four gallons left from repainting at the Birdie house so to save money we decided to use it here, too.
Now we just have the bathrooms to do (one will be a dusty lilac and one will be a leftover green from Birdie).
It was a nice cool morning so we decided to take the kids exploring at the park down the street (literally less than a mile away, right down from the entrance to our subdivision). I had intended to just check out the playground and the lake, but we thought “Why not just walk along the .4 mile path?” Well, we didn’t see signs for that path, so ended up on the 1.4 mile path. But it was really nice—through the woods on a well-worn path, up and down hills, over the stream, etc. Of course it was a little too rough for Katie so she spent most of the walk on Tom’s shoulders (so he definitely got a workout) and we were all sweating by the end. But Owen did really well and he loved it and wants to go again! It really was fun and I can’t wait to go back, too!
Excited about the surprise trip!
Heading down the path!
Checking out the pond!
Owen learned what dismount meant!
Walking across the rocks to cross the creek!
Of course Owen picked up some sticks guns to help protect us.
I was walking down the hall and heard a loud meow from above.
Owen and I were sitting at the patio table and it was tipping because our back yard really slants.
Owen: This is not the house we want to have.
Owen: We need to go to that restaurant with Boomerang [a TV channel]. [It’s a local sports bar we’ve had dinner at a few times.]
Me: Why?
Owen: Because it’s Taco Tuesday and they have tacos today!
He’s right. We made note of the “Taco Tuesday” specials sign last week when we were there. And he remembered!
Owen said something and we weren’t sure who he was talking to.
Tom: What, buddy?
Owen: I wasn’t talking to you. I was talking to her [points at me].
Tom got a big frown on his face.
Me: Owen, you made daddy sad.
Owen: Never mind! I was talking to daddy!
Owen: How do you spell to?
Me: What kind of to do you mean? The number two? Or like ‘Do you want to go to the store’?
Owen: Just the word to.
Me: Different words can sound the same but mean something different. Like ‘I want two cookies’ and ‘Wave goodbye to grandma’. Use it in a sentence.
Owen: Mom, how do you spell to?
Me: 😐 🙂
Owen: Mama! Look at your daughter!
———————————————–
Me: Katie, you have to pick all this up.
Katie: No, I’m busy.
Me: Katie, come here, we need to get you dressed.
Katie: No thank you.
Taking her upstairs for her nap.
Me: Katie, can I hold your hand?
Katie: No.
Me: Can I touch your head?
Katie: No. You can touch my back.
The living room is torn up since Tom was painting, so things were on the floor. Katie spotted the mirror right away so I put it on the floor so she wouldn’t drop it on herself (it’s HEAVY). She spent a good amount of time looking at herself.
Then she noticed the petoskey stone print: “Mama! Those are big rocks!” 🙂
Then since she seemed to be having lots of fun, Owen had to get involved.
We had been in the basement (I was keeping the kids busy while daddy painted upstairs) but we snuck up to get them changed before kickoff! (Of course, I hadn’t thought of it early enough to make sure I had Owen’s jersey. It has apparently disappeared and was nowhere to be found. I was then going to put him in Tom’s jersey but I couldn’t find that one, either! So the Rose Bowl tee had to suffice!)
I told them it was a surprise, so once downstairs, Katie went right up to Tom and said “Surprise daddy!” 🙂
It was apple week in Kindergarten! They tasted different apples, did apple activities, and even made applesauce in class!
And a Johnny Appleseed puppet!
I went upstairs to get Katie up from her nap because it was almost time to go get Owen. I asked Tom (who was home early but in the bedroom reading) if he had heard her and he said no. So I went to her room and quietly opened the door and peered into the bed—where there was nothing. SHE WAS GONE. I think my heart momentarily stopped as I thought WHERE THE HELL COULD SHE BE? HAD TOM BEEN FOOLING ME AND HE REALLY HAD GOTTEN HER UP? My eyes quickly scanned the room and I wondered if she wasn’t hiding in the closet…? Then I saw this…
…and then saw this and heard a tiny giggle.
That little shit! She heard me coming and hid under her B. 🙂 Of course then we had to go run and see daddy, where she proceeded to hop up into bed and be cute. 🙂
Both kids were up before 7 but both had actually slept in so I considered it a win. Don’t you love Katie’s outfit? She slept in it because she LOVES that tutu.
I am guessing this was around 1979-80ish…?
I turned my back for 10 seconds while her and Owen were at the table coloring…and she had managed to not only get the top off the marker (which she hadn’t been able to do before) but also try to eat the marker. This is Tom showing her in the mirror.
Realizing she did a naughty thing:
