Merry Christmas!

What's funny about this photo is that Anabella has never met a stranger, and Scarlett never cries. Guess Santa smelled funny or something.

Merry Christmas!!

A post for your imagination

Here is a list of interesting things I have seen over the past few weeks, but was unable to get a photo of...due to driving a car, lack of quick reflexes, or whatever. It always haunts me when a good blog photo gets away, so just close your eyes and use your imagination...

- A little squirrel (a teenager, not a full-grown squirrel) holding a giant donut in his cute little paws and eating away.

- A dirty, scraggly homeless man, pushing a grocery cart down the street in his Michael Vick football jersey.

- A Whitney Houston look alike (but probably in her 60's) dressed in 80's workout gear (think leg warmers), alternately walking like a chicken, dancing, and then stretching by the side of a busy road.

And one from my friend Kim...

- A guy riding a motorcycle with a Barbie doll pasted to the seat behind him, as if she was his girlfriend.

Who won the battle?

My two year old has been sick since Friday with a cough and runny nose. She came down with a fever last night, so we needed to give her some Tylenol. The funny thing about this age is that you can no longer just squirt the liquid stuff down their throat or hide it in their milk. You have to try and reason with them about why they should suck on the yucky grape quick dissolve tablet. Luckily, I was nursing the baby, so my husband took on the task. To say it was comical would be an understatement.

ATTEMPT #1
Dan: Anabella you have to take this.

Anabella: NO WAY.

Dan: It will make you feel better. Please.

Anabella: NO WAY.

Repeat five or six times.

ATTEMPT #2
Dan tries to force it into her mouth. Anabella tightens lips.

ATTEMPT #3
Dan tries to break tablet and force into her mouth. He manages to pry it in between her lips. But then Anabella spits it out on the carpet. (Me: THANKS!) And now she is pissed. And crying.

ATTEMPT #4
Dan gets new tablet.

Dan: I am going to put this on the counter and you need to eat it when you are ready.

5 minutes later and the tablet is still untouched....

ATTEMPT #5
Dan: Anabella if you take this medicine, you can have a vitamin. (They are gummy bears and she loves them.)

Anabella: NO.

Dan holds vitamin and Anabella tries to grab it.

Dan: Eat this first, then you get the vitamin.

Repeat three more times.

Anabella finally puts tablet in her mouth and grabs vitamin.

Dan: Well, I guess Daddy won that one.

Dan smiles and leaves room.

Anabella spits out remaining tablet on floor and eats vitamin.

Hallelujah Thursday

I had a big "WTF? Wednesday" planned yesterday, but then I went to HEB for milk and discovered this...




"It's just wine," you say.

"NO!" I exclaim. "It's freedom!"

Freedom to purchase wine in the neighborhood I live in. That's right folks. Up until LAST NIGHT, I could not purchase wine unless I drove out of this county.

Don't ask me how I managed to move into a dry county in the first place, but I did redeem myself by dragging my butt to the polls in November to vote "yes" to wine sales and "yes" to being able to purchase a cocktail while dining out. And yes, I was up to my neck in children, and my husband was out of town, but a woman has to get her priorities straight.

So, WTF Wednesday was preempted by a bottle of Chianti.

What's for lunch?

Nothing healthy apparently. Yes, this is a "snack size" package of marshmellows. I admit to throwing in a package of goldfish, Cheese Nips, even Teddy Grahams or maybe some little cookie crisps into Anabella's lunch, but I find this ridiculous. To me this says that we have officially given up. I didn't check, but I am fairly certain there is no nutritional value in marshmellows, especially the ones they used red dye on to make them "strawberry."

So, I am going to pass on the fancy packaging. I'll just put some sugar packets and a sippy cup full of chocolate syrup into her lunch box tomorrow.

The week in review...as seen by my iPhone

After discovering that Voles might not be as bad as Omar makes them out to be (Look! This one even has musical talent.)...

And getting my ass kicked by my two year old while her daddy was out of town the week of Thanksgiving (Yes, this is the extreme I had to go to to keep her in her room one night. She outwitted me by discovering our handles go "up" too!)...

I decided to just spent lots of quality time with my "foxy" baby this past week. (Isn't she cute...and the sweet little outfit is courtesy of "Aunt" Laura. Thanks, LC!)

I also made a few trips to our new HEB...the current Mecca of my universe. And I totally adore them for having "child" parking. Finally, a perk! (Besides the whole joy of parenting thing, of course.)

Then, I snuck out of the house one night (with a bottle of wine) to meet my friend Tracie for pedicures. I am so brain dead that I wore closed-toe shoes...which means I was forced to wear these lovely wood-grain foam flop things out in public. And not just "out in public" like to my car...we went to a restaurant afterwards and I wore these inside. How daring and carefree is that?

Next, a WTF taken on the sly at the bank on Friday. Can you see the dashboard? It's held together with duct tape. I am no mechanic, but I am pretty sure that if you have to use duct tape to keep your dashboard/steering wheel attached to your car, you might want to consider buying a new one.

And finally, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend Kara who turned the big 3-0 on Friday. We celebrated in true "dirty thirties" fashion. (You should see the photos from the END of the evening!)