On The Cat Walk

Kill me now. My Zenni glasses have arrived.

Caitlin has agreed to model, in her favorite order:

Ah yes, the green striped with the silver accents.

Next up, diamond studded black with red interior...

Ooooh, and here Caitlin models the classic Jackie-O sunglasses...

No surprise that the next pair are a classic professional black and blue...

Mmm. The judges' favorite! A cat-eye to die for!

Classic in the front, diamond flowers on the side...

You would never suspect the swirl of red circles on the side...

Boring? Or sexy librarian (except that my 7 yr old is wearing them...)...

"You love me, you really really love me"...

My inner animal... neeeigh... er, I mean rooooaaaaar?....

Partay, like there is no bling for tomorrow!

Now if only they looked as good on me as they do on her... But still fun!!!

***

Later that night...

Me: What glasses should I wear tomorrow?
Caitlin: You should wear your favorite.
Me: These are my favorite.
Caitlin: You should wear your second favorite.
... LOL

Window Shopping

Migraine mostly gone today. We were supposed to have the girlie cousins over but plans fell through. Day escaped from me when I took a nap, migraine meds have a major sleep side effect.

Long list of "didn't dos" for this weekend. Hopefully I will get them done next weekend.

My girlies are so good and rarely get into mischief when left to their own devises. A broken Belleek bowl has been the only casualty of fun in the last few years... it was a big bowl and Caitlin thought it would be strong enough to hold up one side of the blanket fort.

So I wasn't nervous when I walked into a quiet living room (quiet used to mean they were up to no good.)

Almost stepped on Caitlin's American Doll shopping list. Thank goodness she doesn't have a credit card.

I especially enjoy that she has cut off all the "model doll" heads, making it clear that it is the outfit she wants. Gotta love my girlies.

(BTW, I have saved the pieces of my Belleek bowl if anyone has a crafty suggestion on how I can repurpose them...)

Wii are family

photo by hubby

I've had a horrible migraine today. Both my handsome boys took care of me; hubby took the girlies out and Spartacus stayed in bed with me.

The girlies have so much fun playing with each other. Honey always helps Caitlin over the hard spots so they can stay together in the game. It's so sweet.

But Spartacus prefers to have the girlies outside to play. I'm not sure he likes the Wii too much. Plus, his girl "spot" keeps taking his bed...

Spot the Dog

Oh, Mother, Mother.

Come and look.

Look, Mother, look.

See Spot.

See Spot eat.

See Spot sleep.

Snore Spot, snore.

Just so ya' know. I do have a really nice sofa set for my family to sit on... I don't know why they all gravitate towards Spartacus' bed...

Dorchadas Mug Shot

I'm doing a social experiment on my own child...

My 11 year old, soon to turn 12, is already exhibiting symptoms of adolescence. I've taken a mug shot of this "Hyde" so that I can recognize her instantly when she takes over my smart, kind, beautiful, warm, funny, affectionate girlie.

We've decided to call her... Dorchadas, Gaelic for "in the dark"...

The experiment... will showing this photo to Dorchadas bring back my angel Siobain?

Current drama? Yes, you are going to be taking all Pre-AP classes next year. Sorry, go complain to someone who doesn't know how smart and hard working you are.

Kathleen, Come on down!

It's time to play THE PRICE IS RIGHT!

Bob: Caitlin, can you show our contestant what they are bidding on...

Rod: It's a brand new DISHWASHER!

Crowd screams, contestants oooh and aaaah. They look back at their friends for guesstimates.

Bob: Let's hear more about this product before bidding begins.

Rod: Bob, this state of the art dishwasher will be delivered to your home after 4 tries! The first attempt will be delayed because of the biggest ice storm ever; the second attempt will be delayed because they'll come when you're not home; the third delivery attempt the dishwasher will be severely damaged; but on the 4th attempt we will be able to leave the dishwasher in your kitchen.

Unfortunately, the whacked out people who owned your house before you will have messed up your pipes so badly that our professional installers will NOT be able to install this BRAND NEW DISHWASHER and it will have to sit useless in the middle of your kitchen until you can get a plumber in to fix your sh!t.

Bob: Um, thank you Rod... Kathleen, what would you like to start the bidding at?

Rubber Soul Library Patrol

Decided to take the camera with me to our local library branch. We are so lucky that it is right behind our house. 5 minute walk or 3 minute bike ride or 10 minute car ride ('cause it's still like herding cats to get our family into a car)...

My camera clickety clicks were a little distracting to the librarians. And I'm sure they are all a little afraid of our bunch now, since hubby was all "lets do the photo cover to Rubber Soul!!!" I'm just glad he didn't ask another patron to step in with the camera, or worse, as the missing Beatle.

"Girls, look down at the camera and DO NOT SMILE!"... these were his directions. Not knowing what the cover looked like I assumed he knew what he was talking about. But clearly only the daughter playing John Lennon should have look directly into the camera and everyone else slightly off...

We used to go to the library every Saturday. I don't know why we stopped. I guess life just got a little crazy. We need to get back on schedule. I remember how much I LOVED the library as a kid. Hundreds of stories to pick from. Air conditioning on a hot summer day. Comfy chairs.

My Honey Reader

(she is totally OVER me following her around the library with a camera)

My Cookie Reader

(no, comics don't "count" for reading hours)

Bonus - Kate n' Me

So, I had today off and decided to spend some time with my girlie Kate since my girlies were in school.

We had a really good time. Kate ate, slept, turned over (!), giggled, spit up, urinated on me, and took a bath... not in that order.

My goal is to become Kate's favorite, after Mommy and Daddy. I know, it's horrible, but that is my goal. So far, I think I'm dong a pretty good job of winning her over.

It is hard to tell because she is such a happy child. Fortunately she is only 12 minutes, door to door, from my office and I will be able to go and visit at lunch 2 or 3 times a week.

Here Kate, right after her bath, is finding me highly amusing, I think the 3 - 6 month might be my comic audience.

Now, I will have to work on Mia and Eleanor... Well, just Mia because the very fact that I have given birth to Caitlin kinda wins Eleanor.

Bedtime Stories

My hubby is a fantastic daddy... okay, except for having no clue about how to appropriately dress the girlies/allowing girlies out of the house in seasonally inappropriate outfits.

One of the things he EXCELS at is bedtime stories.

Every night hubby reads to my girlies. He does voices and characters and brings the books to life. I truly think this is one of the reasons that my girlies love to read... and it definitely is where they get their drama bug... er, because they couldn't possibly have received that from me.

A standard visual in our home...

And, I'd like to note that Honey is a super star and allows Caitlin to sleep with her every night... especially since the "bloody mary" incident.

Freebee 1

I call a freebee day. It's 10:41 and the only thing I could take a picture of right now is my sleeping family... which would be adorable, but not the point of 365.

I am going to allow myself 12 freebee days this year. Hopefully that will raise the level of my photos beyond "oh, sh*t I need to take a picture..."

Here is a photo, taken by a professional, of my beautiful sister and her beautiful girlie.

(Freebee days are different from guest photographer days because it is not a photo representing "today".)

Scraptastic

Having a great time with the big girlies at a scrap'n retreat, an activity where everything I really need to know I learned in Kindergarten... so it's very relaxing and fun.

12 hours of cutting, pasting, and coloring...

We also observe some of Robert Fulghum's learned lessons:

• Share everything.
• Play fair.
• Don't hit people.
• Put things back where you found them.
• Clean up your own mess.
• Don't take things that aren't yours.
• Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
• Wash your hands before you eat.
• Flush.
• Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Really makes for a better retreat... especially the "don't hit people"...

Sexy Body

So, my hubby is obsessed with a sexy body. He fondles this body A LOT.

Fender Stratocaster

American Standard

left handed

3 tone sunburst

maple neck

rosewood fretboard

alder body

22 frets

classic Fender spaghetti logo

"the action is like butter"

And now Caitlin is obsessed with a sexy body too since she now has this "hand-me-down"... The ROCK STAR

photos by hubby

Blame it on the Moon

Everyone has been on edge and anxious this week. It has been emotionally exauhsting. Let's blame it on the full moon.

Other bizarre things blamed on a full moon:

-- the homicide rate -- traffic accidents -- domestic violence --

-- births of babies -- suicide -- major disasters --

-- casino payout rates -- assassinations -- kidnappings --

-- aggression by professional hockey players --

-- violence in prisons -- psychiatric admissions --

-- agitated behavior by nursing home residents -- assaults --

-- gunshot wounds -- stabbings -- emergency room admissions --

-- behavioral outbursts of psychologically challenged rural adults --

-- lycanthropy -- vampirism -- alcoholism -- sleep walking --

Can I blame my three new pimples on the full moon too?

Good Read

After two nights with Aunt Kitty (that's me) my little Kate is an avid reader.

Look at her toes!

So, this is a $1500 borrowed camera and I can't even get it to focus on her face. Oh, the aches of being pedestrian.

She is so smart. Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton is one of my favorite books EVER!

Hello Kitty; Hello Kate

Lots of highs and lows today. Let's just review the highs!

We celebrated Beth D'Bomb's 40th birthday Hello Kitty style with Triple Chocolate cupcakes, covered in chocolate ganache, covered in chocolate buttercream, covered in pink pearl sprinkles.... mmm, a bit much.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the party because I forgot my camera (loooooser.) But I did take a picture of the cupcakes before leaving the house today.

THEN I ended the day brilliantly with my littlest girlie Kate. I had her all to myself tonight. We had a great time and hardly cried at all. Although we did learn, when Mommy Siobainy got home, that babies aren't supposed to get that hot... apparently cuddling to me is the equivalent of cuddling to a furnace... Oh yeah, I'm HOT! (But I'm also a looooooser because I forgot my camera and didn't get any pictures of Kate to show off on the blog.)

Rudolph the Rose Nose

My valentine showered me with rose petals.

Girlie number 2 snorted them up her nose.

Zoo Squirrel

Today was GLORIOUS! We decided to head out to the Fort Worth Zoo to enjoy the weather.

So, it's $5 for parking and $12 for adults and $9 for girlies... which I'm okay with because the FWZ is really nice... except that every time we go the first thing the girlies always see is some random squirrel and they get really excited! Like, WOW it's a squirrel in the ZOO!

So after getting over the squirrel we visited all sorts of animals. They were all alive with (fake) spring fever. There were baby giraffes and baby orangoutangs and we even pet a snake.

We had to stop for dippin' dops because we were having SO MUCH FUN! My camera (okay, me) malfunctioned but I still think this picture of Caitlin is really cool.

I think I took 700 pictures. This elephant was my favorite of the day. He was bathing himself in dirt, you can see the dirt he's about to throw on his back. It was so amazing to watch his trunk work the pile of dirt and then launch it.

It was a great day. And ended on a very high note/squeal.

"HEY, THERE'S ANOTHER SQUIRREL!!!"

Damn Squirrels!

The Tissue Issue

The girlies were on their own today. Hubby and I were at war for title of "allergy sickest"... I contend that going through a whole roll of tissue gives me the title. (I'm out of boxed tissue and am now using rolled...)

He believes me to be 99% drama and 1% sick.

I say let snot be the judge.

Frosted Flakes

My handsome boy was acting strange and sick this morning. I was tempted to call in late and take him to the doctor but I had a shoot... so I spent some extra time with him to see if I could figure out what was wrong.

He perked up a little and I called hubby to get home as early as possible. This is my handsome boy we are talking about and I have turned into one of those "treats her dog like one of her children" people... So much so that my girlies were 20 minutes late to school.

None of this has anything to do with today's photo except that since we were already terribly late I wasn't in a hurry and had time to notice the frost on my car... and to the bemusement of my girlies I took out my camera and click clickety clicked.

I can't wait to get a new camera. I'll have a borrowed "real" one this weekend and am hoping *hint to hubby* to get one for my birthday.

Pedestrian

¹pe·des·tri·an

adj \pə-ˈdes-trē-ən\

1

: commonplace, unimaginative

2

a : going or performed on footb : of, relating to, or designed for walking

Example: I had to deal with a pedestrian person today.

(You can guess which definition applies.)

Bonus- Tea Time

So my goal is 1 photo a day for 365 days. Some days it is really hard to follow up... and some days I am just smacked in the camera with endearing moments.

Today was a double whammy, so here is the second post for Wednesday, February 9th... Caitlin set up a tea party for all her snow-day friends.

Clockwise from pink chair: Samantha (American Doll), Caitlin (my doll), Katie (Hello Kitty), Chocolate (Build-a-Bear), and Kitty (brown Hello Kitty).

I stated in the beginning of this project that I had let other things in life overwhelm me and had stopped taking photos of my girlies for about 2 years. I am so glad that Caitlin did not outgrow the "tea party" phase before I could capture it.

This IS my bed?

Another no-school day. The girlies of the house (including me) never got dressed. I did get about 3.5 hours of work done in my PJs.

Hubby hollers that he has started a fire... here's what I walk in to (pretty much, Caitlin was moving towards her spot as I came into the room.)

Michael is reading something to the girls from Aunt Maria. But what I see in this photo is a huge "thought bubble" over Spartacus' head saying "This IS my bed, right?"...

Spartacus has an extra large dog bed and it is currently placed 3 feet from the fire... which is meant for my handsome boy... but attracts hubby... who both attract girlies...

Spartacus never minds sharing.

Reading from the computer is soon replaced by rehearsing for Honey's first play... all on Spartacus' luxurious bed...

Glassaholic

I LOVE eyeglasses! Some women like shoes. Some like bags. I like eyeglasses.

In my old prescription I had 19 pair of glasses... but now my prescription has changed! What is a girl to do?

Yesterday I picked up these nondescript glasses:

This was just a quick webcam pic I emailed to show Gorgeous and my sistas my new glasses (which kind of explains the fish kisses?)... and I decided to use it as the picture of the day.

The secret to getting 19 pairs of glasses? Zenni Optical, home of the $6.95 glasses. Love it!

Look out for these glasses to be added to my "wardrobe" soon (I hope, hubby may make me ease into it):

I l-o-v-e the cat eye ones... hope they are cute cute cute. The big white and tortoise ones will be sunglasses... Did I mention that for 4.95 extra you can choose a tinted shade? LOVE IT!

Hmmm this crop of selects leaves me without pink, orange, and yellow options... plus last time I had way more patterns... I'll let you know what I settle on.

If I were a TV...

... I would get this much focused attention.

But I'm not. I was sitting next to/below the television, taking this picture, and they did not even register my existence.

Girls, girls, GIRLS!.. huh? what? yes! ... for some reason they always go with "yes" to whatever comment they imagine I have made. (I'm going to start using that to my benefit.)

This is why they have limited television... and wii... and computer... all zombie inducing products.

Are you wondering what does NOT induce such focused attention? Why, that would be Mommy...

I've got an idea for a hat that looks like a television, I can stick my head into it and the girlies will pay rapt attention because they think it is a TV instead of just boring ol' Mommy talking.

Cricket

Too pretty out to stay inside, even for a self proclaimed hermit like me. So I took the girlies to the park. A little windy but bright and "warm"... normally I would consider today a bit chilly but after this week...

Hubby stayed home to take a nap so that he can enjoy the Superbowl... meh.

I stopped the girlies to pose for this picture. Shows their personalities really well, Honey is upstanding and Caitlin is a little crazy :)

Then they went back to playing. Relay games and some others that they made up as they went. But there was one that is apparently standard at both their schools... I think I have a vague memory of it from my childhood. My girlies call it Cricket. It's not THE cricket that is the second most popular game in the world... but a game made up by school children.

Two people play at a time, one on either end of the bars. At go each player must launch themselves over the right bar and run to the other end. The game continues until one player has caught up to the other and tags them.

I joined in a round. But we were laughing so hard (at me) that it got harder and harder for either of us to get over the bar.

Caitlin did take a picture of me playing the game... but as the owner of this blog I will save you all from that image.

Sunshine and Sweat

All us girlies were excited to leave the house (hubby has gone to work everyday... the airport does not close.) But hubby was happy to take the girlies to the movies so that I could run errands.

They left about 30 minutes before I did. When I tried to start the car it didn't cooperate. Michael had started it yesterday and it worked... I guess it needs a jump.

As I was trying to start the car I could hear SCRAAAPE, SCRAPE, SCRAAAAPE... but could not figure out where it was coming from. After a little investigation, because it was broad daylight and there was no possibility of it being the killer from the urban legend The Hook, I discovered it was one of our neighbors shoveling ice from his drive.

Hmmm, I wonder if we have a shovel?

Turns out we do. So I looked at the 2-3 inches of ice on our walkway and hi-ho-hi-ho off to shovel I go.

It was really satisfying when I could get a big chunk free. I hope no one was watching because I had a bit of fun with the shovel. You can throw the ice over your shoulder, under your leg, with a right twist swing, or even with a little shuffle.

Thanks to Texas weather, the only bit of white left on my front yard is the bit I just tossed there. Here's on of the big satisfying chunks (not the one in the foreground but the one in the middle):

And here is a red-faced picture of me with my hi-ho gems in the back. They are kinda sparkly.

Franken Baker

4th day in the snow... enough said.

I made cupcakes for the girlies last night, so they were much happier with me today. "Can I have a cupcake?" YES! "Can I have another cupcake?" YES!

I'm giving permission like a cupcake enabler! Although there were some... issues... making these HotPink Love cupcakes last night...

The "franken" part of the cupcakes are explained after the jump.

But wait, there's MORE franken bake'n going on in the Medina kitchen. The cold weather has put hubby in the mood for pumpkin pie. He found some canned pumpkin in the pantry... which is supposed to be for pumpkin cake... but I wanted to make him happy.

I've never made pumpkin pie before. I've purchased it many times... but never made it. My plan was to play it safe and just follow Libby's directions on the pumpkin can.

Except I didn't have ground ginger or ground cloves... so here's my franken baker modified ingredients.

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger (franken removed)

1/4 tsp ground cloves (franken removed)

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (franken added)

1 tsp coco (franken added)

2 eggs

1 can pumpkin

1 can evaporated milk

pie crust (franken wrong - should be deep dish but I only had shallow)

Coconut (franken added)

I got really confused about the pie crust. defrost? don't defrost? bake first?... I ended up defrosting and baking with the filling.

As I've said, I've never made pumpkin pie before and the mixture was much... soupier than I thought it would be. But I poured as much in as I could and then sprinkled coconut around the rim of the pie.

Cooked on 425 for 15min and then on 350 for 35min (franken guessed on cooking time because I didn't use a deep dish crust as called for.)

I must say, it's rather tasty.

So, when I was looking around for substitute flavors for the 2 ingredients I didn't have I thought seriously about peanut butter. Hubby said NO, even frankenstein wouldn't put PB in his pumpkin pie.

But then I found a TON of peanut butter pumpkin pie recipes online while the pie was baking... so maybe franken baker has good instincts?

People who dress their dogs...

I'm not one of them. 1st, I'm cheap and those doggie cloths are expensive. 2nd, I'm cheap and those doggie cloths are expensive. And 3rd, I don't have a toy dog I have a real one.

But it is so cold outside I wish I had purchased him a coat. In fact, I am going to get him a coat... but not right now because I'm sure that they have been marked up because of the ice age that Texas is experiencing right now... and did I mention I'm cheap?

So, my girlies are 7 and 11... yet somehow I still have a 2T Lands End coat in my closet. (Note to self, clean out the closet.)

It's not a great fit, but it works. I also found a random coat hat... with no matching coat for him to wear.

Hubby said when he took him on a walk he received snickers from other dogs and chuckles from the neighbors.

Which is probably why he wouldn't look at me when he got home:

But he wasn't shivering and that's all I care about.

* * * *

On to my girlies. Apparently being stuck in the house with Mommy for 3 solid days is too long... and school was cancelled again for tomorrow. My only child still willing to cuddle with me is the one with 4 legs.

I may have pushed it too far with him today too. My dog has a blog and is not afraid to use it.

* * * *

The last few days have starred Spartacus, I'll try to move on to another subject tomorrow but he is the only being stuck in the house that isn't purposely bombing pictures.