pickles came to town

When I walked through the door on Thursday night, E broke out a red backpack and announced that Pickles had arrived. Pickles is the pet stuffed monkey of Mrs. S (her K teacher), who has been spending one night with each student. The students then write about what they did with him in a notebook and return it the next day. No pressure though. Thank GOD this didn't happen in the last few weeks when things were super crazy.

Since they were going through the classroom alphabetically by last name, and Slacker is at the end of the alphabet (oh how I miss my middle-of-the-alphabet maiden name!), the book was almost full. And, just like Valentines, these parents went all out. Luckily, we held our own. I forgot to take pictures of the journal, but here's what Pickles did on his visit Chez Slacker.

The funniest thing was how A was constantly trying to insert herself into this whole process. She watched over me like a hawk as I transcribed what E wanted me to write, occasionally telling me "I don't see my name in dere. You write my name in dat book!" Also, when I told E that I would take a picture of her going to sleep with Pickles, A asked me, "How you gonna take a picture of ME going to sleep with Pickles?"

Alas, just like a flash, he was gone.

iLove it

For an Anniversary/Mother's Day gift, I got an iPhone. I had long wanted one, but was unsure if I would use it. My old phone was your basic free phone (albeit in a cheery pink color), and I coudn't seem to remember to charge it. Nonetheless, I finally took the plunge and it's been true love ever since.

I like not having to log into my computer to check my e-mail. I got the armband so I can use it when I run (although it is kind of bulky) and ordered the Nike+ sensor so I can track my running mileage (you know, since I'm a big time runner after finishing my race). But thus far, my favorite app has been Hipstamatic.

I'd seen a bunch of other bloggers mention how cool it is, so it was the first app I bought. I haven't had much time to play with it...but so far, I think it's awesome. In fact, one of the pictures I took the other day is my current favorite picture ever.

I think the lighting on this looks pretty cool. And I love that, at first glance at least, it looks like the girls are running through a forest or something. When, in reality, they are running from giant, gaping hole in our side yard to the front of the house to go play on the building supplies. Maybe it's the sleep deprivation talking...I don't know.

So, what about you, fellow iPhone users? What's your favorite app? What do I need to get up on my phone, and pronto?

a land down under

As if we didn't have enough going on with work and the end of the school year fast approaching...we decided that this would be the perfect time to finally finish the basement. We've been talking about this since we moved in almost five years ago...and now it's finally happening.

Like, super duper fast.

I came home from work yesterday expecting to see a pile of lumber in my driveway. But there was also a bulldozer (backhoe? I have girls, I don't know the difference) in my yard. And a big hole by my house where the egress window will be installed.

 

The girls were fascinated by this. And the bulldozer/backhoe trailer. And the lumber pile.

 

But the fun ante was totally upped today when the inside stuff begins. By tonight we should have the aforementioned window installed, and the basement rooms framed out. The girls were delighted to watch the hubbub this morning.

 

So, I'll keep you posted as things progress. Hopefully, by the beginning of July, we'll have pictures of the finished project!

light at the end of the tunnel

Unless you are my husband, children, or parents...there's a good chance you might believe that I've fallen off the face of the planet. And, even the aforementioned people haven't seen me so much. The last few weeks at work have sucked. Big time. The good news is that they actually sucked less than last year. I mean, I was still working until 1AM, but I was able to tuck the girls in and do the late shift from the comfort of my own home instead of the office. Except for the night morning I got home at 3AM. That really sucked.

Anyway, the stars aligned this weekend and I had no work that *had* to be done. I mean, I could have done a 1,001 things...but nothing was pressing. I was even able to kick back, put my feet up, and relax with the fam.

And, when I got in this morning, I got some *great* news that brings us one step closer to finishing up this project. Yay! I'll just overlook that I've got two more coming up on this one's heels for now.

So,hopefully, you'll see me around a bit more from here on out.

(barely) alive and kicking

I'm still here. Just totally swamped with work. And, by swamped I mean that I've already worked 40 hours this week. We've got a big deadline on May 18th...but then two other related projects will start up. Not really much rest for the very, very, very weary.

That's not to say that it's been all work and no play. Au contraire. Last weekend, the fam headed down to Charlottesville to go to Foxfield, which are steeplechase races that are a total drunkfest UVA institution.** (Trivia fact: John and I met/exchanged numbers at Foxfield. Twelve-freaking-years ago.) The weather forecast was very gloomy, but as our friend Pete always say, "God smiles on Foxfield." And, sure enough, it not only didn't rain, but was occasionally sunny and warmer than expected.

This weekend, we head up to Philly for the big race. Training for this race in the midst of my crazy work schedule has been difficult at best...but I'm still looking forward to running it. Actually, I look forward to casually mentioning that I ran 10 miles just to sound badass...but same difference, right?

Finally (WARNING: SHAMELESS BRAG!), I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the Slacker household is home to a 2-time Computation Queen. I wasn't able to make it to the ceremony this time (see also: Work Sucks), but John represented and took this incredibly blurry picture for me. It was almost like I was there...you know, if I were drunk or had vertigo.

So, that's what's been going on in our neck of the woods.


**EDITED TO ADD: Lest you think John and I got hammered this weekend, Foxfield *used to be* a total drunkfest. Wrangling the kiddos and just generally being adults have made it much, much less of the par-tay it used to be. But it was fun to see our friends!**

time flies when you are having fun

This morning, as E was dancing around our kitchen and singing along to Lady Gaga's Bad Romance (don't you judge me!), it hit me.

Every ounce of baby, toddler, preschooler and little girl is gone. My oldest daugther is a big girl now.

 

But as I tell her every night before she goes to sleep, even when she's grown up and has kids of her own...she'll always be my baby.

it's been a while...get used to it

So, I've been meaning to post pictures from Easter since...well, Easter. But I'm swamped at work. It's not as bad as last year (thankfully!), but I'm super busy nonetheless.

Anyway, Easter was fun. The fam took off Good Friday to hang out together. We went hiking. We played tennis. We grilled out. Then Grandmom and Granddad came to visit. Good times were had all weekend.

Easter was a success, despite needing an eleventh hour trip to Target to get basket stuff. (I swear, one of these years I will purchase stuff in advance.) On the bright side, I have successfully established a tissue-paper-in-the-basket policy...which is far less aggrivating than the Easter grass. So, I think that puts me slightly ahead of the game.

We tried to recreate our Christmas miracle of a great family picture. We failed. This was the best we got.

Thanks again to Grandmom for the girls' Easter dresses. I realize that the time for matching dresses is coming to an end...but damn they look cute dressed alike. And when the girls busted out the dresses again for our trip to the Dentist...*everyone* commented on how cute they were.

Alrighty...gotta get back to work!

the prude and the polygamist

After our anniversary dinner last night, the fam all sat on the deck and enjoying our wine (me and John) and dessert (E and A). We started talking about marriage.

Marriage According to E

E, how old do you have to be to get married?
25, maybe.
And, what happens when you get married?
You kiss a boy...EW!
So, what you are saying is that you won't kiss a boy until you are 25?
YES!
Uh...can we get that in writing?

Marriage According to A

I'm gonna marry one-hundred boys!
100, A. Wow, that sounds like a lot.
Yeah! And one-hundred girls, too!

two years until italy*

Eight years ago, I married the love of my life. It was freezing that day (unlike the temps near the 90s we are expecting today)....but I didn't care. I forced my bridesmaids to trapse around Arlington in pink halter bridesmaid dresses so I could get gorgeous shots of the Washington monuments in my wedding photos.

I was *so* happy that day. And, the last eight years have been wonderful, indeed.

I was 27 when we got married. It seemed so old back then...but now? I look back at pictures and we look so young. Though one day, I'll look back at pictures from now and think the same thing.

Happy Anniversary, John! I love you!




* For our 5 year anniversary we went to Ireland. We're headed to Italy for our 10 year anniversary. I cannot wait!

picture this!

E has taken an interest in photography. She has one of those V-Tech cameras that she loves...but after World War 3 broke out between E and A over sharing the camera, I gave E my old point-and-shoot to use. Since then, she's been taking tons of pictures. So much so, I've found myself having to delete some every few minutes because the memory card was full. I finally broke down and uploaded all her pictures to my computer so we could clear the memory card. Which will buy me about 10 minutes when she starts taking pictures again.

I thought I'd share with you some of E's work. As you can see, she focuses primarily on three subjects.

Still Life with Toys

 

Family Portraits

 

Self Portaits

 

I'll also be posting some tips for parents when their kids are Photography Prodigies. Basically, it will be how to pose for your kids to avoid having The.Worst.Pictures.EVAH taken of you. I'll be writing it as soon as the shock of learning that I have a triple double chin and the world's largest stomach pooch wears off.

future plumber

One of the things that absolutely cracks me up about A is that her...um...crack is *constantly* on display. Now, I know that most kids have this issue (big bellies, teeny heinies), but A's seems to be more pervasive of a problem than most kids. And, a long standing issue at that.

When we went to the Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia was afforded the opportunity to check it out! And, so can you!

 

This weekend, as I was rummaging through the 4T bin of clothes to find A a short-sleeved shirt that would cover her oh-so-cute Buddha belly, I also grabbed a pair of 4T pants. I figured maybe she just needed bigger pants to fix the problem. But, as we were skating on Sunday, Liz passed by and said,

"I love how A's pants don't seem to reach all the way up!"

So, not so successful.

Hopefully, the problem will remedy itself before she gets to thong-wearing age.

girls weekend

This weekend was a girls weekend 'round the Slacker house. John headed up to Providence to catch the first round of the NCAA tourney. He did this last year, too, and just like last year, the weather was gorgeous. This softened the blow big-time for me because, according to the basketball gurus, Tennessee was supposed to go to San Jose for the first round...so I was a bit bitter I wouldn't be repeating my March trip to Cali.

Anyway, the girls and I (and apparently 1/2 of the DC metropolitan area) headed to Clemyjontri Park on Saturday. The girls had a ton of fun running around (even though the Merry-go-round was closed). We also packed a picnic to eat there...which we ended up eating in the back of the car since I didn't feel like lugging our picnic to and from the overflow parking.

On Sunday, we headed into Arlington for a birthday party for my friend Liz's son Jake. An ice skating birthday party. Trying to navigate around the rink with 2 (well, 3 including me) non-skaters was a bit challenging. But the girls picked it up pretty well. E even tried to jump a few times...apparently she watched a bit too much Olympics. A had fun, too, but reached her limit. She turned to me at one point and said,

"I just wanna go to Miss Liz's and eat PIZZA!"

But even she skated without holding onto the wall!

All in all...it was a good time had by all the Slacker ladies!

change of season

This winter has been rough on the Slackers. In addition to all that snow we've gotten...we've been struggling with E and her feelings on SAC. Almost every day we would struggle with how she didn't want to go, and why couldn't she be a car rider or bus rider like [insert name of classmates]?

We pointed out how much fun she had when she was there. We tried to be more accomodating. I've rearranged my schedule so that she can be a car rider (and not go to SAC) on Fridays. Nonna has been picking her up one day a week (well, when she's not visiting Baby AJ). John's been trying to finagle his schedule, too.

The frustrating thing has been that E hasn't necessarily appreciated these changes. When I told her she could be a car rider on Fridays, it wasn't met with "Why can't I do it everyday?" And we're still met with resistance Mondays through Thursdays before and after school...and on the weekends...and at bedtimes. I would oscillate from being heartbroken (My Poor Baby Girl!) to annoyed (It's not like we're sending her to Boot Camp!) to flat out exasperated (#@)$#@(*$)*#@$).

But, the weather is turning around these parts. Each day has been warmer and sunnier than the last. When it's this pretty out...it's hard to be in a bad mood. Yesterday, when I picked her up from SAC, she was playing outside. I was met with laughter and giggles...not bitching and moaning whining. And, this morning was relaxed and carefree, I dropped her off at school as happy as a clam.

I'm not foolish enough to think that our problems are over....but I am hopeful that the beginning of Spring will be a new season for us all.

please touch mueseum

Last Friday, the Slackers headed up to Philly to visit our friends who live there. John had some work to do, and the girls and I played hooky to hang out for the day.

On Saturday, E, A, Maura and Maggie and Autumn and I headed into Philly to the Please Touch museum. The girls had a blast going through all of the exhibits, including the restored Merry-go-Round. And (shocker!) I actually remembered to bring my camera...so we have photographic evidence of the fun!

 

All in all, we had tons of fun!

the cutest one-year-old in the whole wide world!

A year ago...she looked like this:

And, now?

Happy birthday, Baby AJ! We all love you and miss you!

joke of the day

A: Knock knock.
John and me: Who's there?
A: Banilla ice cream.
John and me: Vanilla ice cream who?
A: Tootie [insert hysterical fit of laughter]

cutting class

We had a fun weekend that included a birthday party for the girls and John and I going to his company's (incredibly delayed) Holiday Party. John's Uncle Paul and Aunt Kathleen graciously offered to watch the girlies while we went to the shin-dig (it was an overnighter)...and fun was had by everyone!

When we got back late Sunday morning, it was fun to find how it had gone, and t hear the funny (and different perspective) that they had on the girls. Uncle Paul declared that E is already huge backseat driver. And Aunt Kathleen had this funny little story about A.

On Sunday morning, the foursome was headed to church. E and A were not happy about this...but, being the ever gracious hostesses, begrudgingly went. After mass began, A turned to Aunt Kathleen and said the dreaded seven words,

"I have to go to the potty."

Aunt Kathleen whisked her away to the bathroom. However, the minute they walked into the bathroom door, A turned around and said,

"I really *don't* have to go potty."

Imagine the excuses she will come up with in a few years when at 3 she's faking having to pee to get out church?

could have been worse

A has a new teacher who is always there when I pick her up in the afternoons. I don't know if this teacher just loooooooves A or does this for everyone...but she always tells me a Fun Fact about A. One day, she told me that they were playing Memory and A kicked everyone's ass. And, yesterday was no different.

"A was totally cracking me up today," she told me.
"Oh, really?"
"Yes, she made a microphone out of legos and was singing for the entire class!"
"Oh! That sounds like my girl."
"Yes, she was singing...uh...what's that song from the radio?"

This was where I started to get nervous. We've been listening to XM a lot lately, and sometimes my girls really like inappropriate songs. I started praying to myself please don't say Ke$ha's TikTok.

"TAYLOR SWIFT! That's right! I was really impressed at how she knew all the words."

Crisis averted...for now.

will run for cheesesteaks

So I had a wild and crazy Saturday evening. If by wild and crazy, you mean registering myself for a 10-mile race in 10 weeks. Which I totally do. Come May 2nd...you wanna know what I'll be doing?

Broad Street is Philly's version of the Cherry Blossom.

"But, Slacker Mama," you say, "don't you kind of hate running?"

Why, yes. Yes, I do. But I was tricked talked into running it by one of my best friends...so I really couldn't say no. Bonus! She hates running as much as I do!

I'm going to try start posting updates on training on my other blog. You know, the one I update even less than this one. We'll see how this all turns out.

Best case scenerio: I learn to love running.
Worst case scenario: I get a cool T-shirt.

candy detective

We were hanging out last night, when I noticed something strange.
"Hey, A. Why is your finger green?"
"I was eating candy."
John explained that E had received even *more* candy yesterday...and that the girls had snuck off and eaten when they got home.
"You were eating Fun Dip, weren't you? And since it was E's candy, you used your finger to eat it!"
"How did you know, mama?"

 

Sometimes, a mother learns from experience.