don't trust her with state secrets

On Sunday (Christmas Eve Eve), John and I had to run to the mall to pick up some things we needed for the funeral. When we got home, John took E upstairs and I settled in on the couch to veg for a few seconds. Suddenly, E comes bounding into the room.

"Mommy, I've got a secret! You've got Crocs!"
"Huh?" I asked.
"It's a suprise. Daddy bought you Crocs for Christmas! And I helped hide them. It's a secret, Mommy! You're getting Crocs! Right, Daddy?"

quick little update

I've really not had a chance to post for a while...we've been very busy here with both Christmas and everything surrounding Maud's passing. The funeral was on Monday. It was very nice. John and his brothers spoke. A and E were (relatively) well-behaved during it all.

Christmas was great. E was definitely psyched to see that Santa had been there. "He ate the cookies, and the reindeer ate the carrots!" she said as she checked the plate by the fireplace. "And look! He made a fire for us!"

She also really loved the dress-up clothes that Santa brought, prompting a new rule of "no dress up clothes outside the house". I don't mind going places with her dressed in her crazy fashion sense, but I refuse to be seen in public with a 3-year-old saloon beer wench.

A also liked Christmas. Her little piano has gotten lots of use, and she was very psyched about the Curious George DVD and the Diego coloring book in her stocking (though we've had to "read" her the coloring book a few times). But she had the most fun in a big box with a ton of tissue paper in it. Hours of fun for her!

We'll be heading back home on Saturday, so hopefully I can post some pictures or videos soon.

car trip + portable dvd player = trouble

What do you get when you combine a 6-hour car trip, a portable DVD player playing Dora the entire time and a 15-month-old?

A serious addiction, apparently.

We made it to Ashland in relatively one piece. A got car sick with about 45 minutes to go in the trip. Ritz Bits cheese crackers and the WV Turnpike do not mix well, apparently. But, they were pretty entertained with the DVD player. No big deal, right? Well, A now loves loves loves Dora and Diego. The last two days we have had to physically restrain A from the presents under the tree with Dora wrapping paper. And when we were in the Kroger, she started screaming bloody murder for the Diego yogurt. Apparently, she's going to be more of an addict than E. That's what you get for starting them young.

Oh, and E is becoming her mother's daughter. When I was a little girl (okay, even last year) my dad would tell me nightly that we could open a present early...and I would fall for it every time. Since we've gotten to Ashland, E has asked me approximately eleventy thousand times if we can open presents now. In a few years, I'll have hours of fun tormenting her in the same way.

In sad news, John's grandmother passed away yesterday. She was 94 years old. John's parents, his brother Dave and John were all there. The funeral is tomorrow.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

when all else fails...

Pack everything you own. I've...um...gained a few pounds of late, which has limited my already limited wardrobe. So packing for this trip has been a little more stressful than usual. I've just laid out most of what I'm going to pack on my bed. It's litterally anything I've bought in the last 5 months, as well as anything that recently has fit me, sort of fit me or I wish would fit me. I've also thrown in my workout clothes, for good measure. Because, really, being on vacation over Christmas is the perfect time to start an exercise routine!

conference call fun, part two

It's haiku time!

My house is filthy
Cleaning ladies did not come
No clean house for me

Update!
Cleaning ladies came!
Yay! Better late than never!
My house will sparkle again!

conference call fun

Thus far, while on my morning conference call, I've:

• Put away my dishes


• Addressed two more Christmas Cards


• Elfed the Slackers


• Refilled my coffee mug


• Cleaned off my desk


• Wrote this post

If they ask me a question, I'm so screwed.

you. must. comment.

I was all set to write a woe-is-me post about how I'm overworked, underappreciated, overweight and undermedicated. But then, I dropped the girls off at daycare. And, A's teachers had a little present for her. And John and I have not gotten the girls' teachers anything yet. So I need to. Today.

According to my elementary school teacher sister, gift cards are always appreciated rather than random crap. So, I'm thinking Target gift cards. Unless you think Panera or Starbucks will be better. (What if they don't like overpriced sandwiches or coffee, though?) But how much? Remember I have to buy four teacher gifts. Is $15 too cheap? $20? $10?

So, comment. Now. Tell me your vote on Gift Card store AND denomination.

Miss Anya, Idalia, Elizabeth and Robin thank you in advance.

are quirks genetic?

The reason I ask is that two of E's quirks are now starting to show up in A.

First of all, both girls love love love the shower. If they see you are in the shower, they are either stripping down and climbing in before you know it (in the case of E) or trying to climb in fully clothed (in the case of A). And now getting them out has become a struggle. This morning, they both joined me. I got out, dried off, put my robe on and went to get A. The little booger stood in the far corner of the stall so I couldn't reach her without getting totally soaked again. When I opened the shower door to get E out, she tried to get *back* in. Two little water monkeys we have.

Secondly, A is starting to display E's...uh..."colorful" fashion sense. We were downstairs getting our shoes on and I ran into the laundry room to get a pair of socks for A from the laundry basket. A followed me in, and came out with a pair of E's crazy socks -- pink and yellow and green and white with polka dots and stripes and wavy lines. When I tried to put the white socks on her, she shook her head vigorously and handed me the crazy pair.

They can be so different from one another...it's kind of cracking me up how they can also be so alike.

houdini in shopping cart

Last night, John had a business dinner so it was just me and the girls. We didn't get a chance to go grocery shopping this weekend, so I needed to run to the store and pick up a few things to get us through the week. So, I picked the girls up from school, and off we went to Panera for a little dinner.

Panera was the same old, same old. E kept trying to steal A's yogurt. A kept trying to steal E's PB&J sandwich. E had to potty which meant that I uttered at least a thousand different variations of the phrase "No touching anything!" Then we headed on over to Giant.

Giant has tried to renovate to keep up with the new Harris Teeter and the impending Wegmans...but it still sucks in my book. For example, the car carts were tiny and the three that I saw all had broken seatbelts. Undeterred, I shoved the girls in the car and off we went.

There were the requesite "Mommy, A's taking up the whole car" complaints from E, a few howler monkey screeches from A, but it was fairly uneventful. Until we got to the dairy section, where E and I had to go through every option of yogurt available to her. Diego or Yo baby? Diego. Cup or tube? Cup. Peach or Strawberry? Strawberry. Satisfied with her choice, I started walking toward the milk. Until I heard A yelling...and walking toward me.

She apparently had slipped out of the cart and was checking out the refrigerated foods, completely unbenknowst to me. Granted, she was only 3 feet away from me, but MAN did my heart skip a beat...and did I feel like a bad mommy. So for the rest of the trip, I held her tight and navigated the 10 foot cart with one hand.

Good times, I tell you.

e's great idea, part 2

Today, E came downstairs wearing her brand new sock monkey PJs, courtesy of Nonna and Pop-pop.

"I have a great idea," she said.
"What's your great idea, E?" I asked.
"How about if we wore our pajamas all day long and slept really late. Maybe when I get bigger I can sleep in your bed with you and daddy, too."
"That sounds like a great idea, E."
"Can I wear my pajamas and bathrobe to school today?"

Unfortunately for E, her uniform shirt, jeans and running shoes had to do.

e's great idea

E came downstairs this morning, came over to me on the couch, snuggled up close to me and said,

"Mommy, I have a great idea!"
"What, E?" I asked.
"How about for breakfast we either have cookies or chocolate?"

Unfortunately for E, Honey Bunches of Oats had to do.

Oh, my dad has "Elfed" himself, my mom and the girls. Check it out!

click!

E's had her digital camera for less than 24 hours...and she has taken over 125 pictures. Granted, there are a lot of shots of the floor, the couch, the ceiling. But there are also tons of shots of our noses, chins, hands, necks and feet.

The funniest thing? E busting while John was potty and yelling "I wanna take your picture!"

I'll try and download some of her pictures today. Ansel Adams she is not.

are we in the north pole, mama?

So today was our big Breakfast with Santa. Luckily, we avoided a huge "E is terrified of Santa" crisis by getting that out of the way on Friday night instead. The local fire department drives a decorated fire truck with Santa around the neighborhoods in December, and last night they came to ours. John and I raced the girls outside when we heard the sirens.

"Where are we going?" E asked me as we went outside.
"To see Santa, E! He's coming here on a fire truck!" I told her.
"NO MOMMY! I'M SCARED! I WANT TO GO INSIDE!"

Luckily she put on a brave face while hanging out with the other neighborhood kids. And then he came. He stayed a far distance away (on the top of the truck), but threw out candy, so E instantly loved him again. Though, John said that she told him that she didn't want to eat breakfast with him, but he could stop by her house and leave her presents.

This morning, though, she sang a different tune. She happily put on her Santa dress and we piled in the car for breakfast. We headed to the next community over, and when we stopped, E asked me, "Are we in the North Pole, mama?"

The breakfast was great, and the girls ate a ton. The Santa was very nice, and you could take your own pictures. And, since there wasn't a line to see him, all my babes got a turn with Santa, letting the big guy know what they wanted under the tree this Christmas.

Two Girls and a Claus

"I'd like a baby in a box with milk in a bottle..."

"I'd like to get off your lap, scary guy with the beard."

"I'd like Gator Bowl tickets and a case of Coors Light..."

Afterward, John's Aunt Kathleen came to exchange gifts. The girls got tons of cool stuff, including some puzzles, musical instruments and E got a kid-proof digital camera. Aunt Kathleen brought her fancy Digital SLR camera, and got a decent family shot of us in front of our dinky little tree.

not so slacker after all...

Oh yeah...we're on top of it this year. After a morning trip to Target, I am D-O-N-E with Christmas shopping for the girls. All presents AND stocking stuffers have been bought. I even found baby dolls for the girls that were less-creepy than I had anticipated.

Almost all of the other Christmas presents that we need to buy are bought. Just two more to buy (and we know what we are getting them!), and then we just have to wrap, which shouldn't take too long.

My MOMS cookie exchange cookies have been baked and are cooling. I ended up doing Nutella Kiss Cookies rolled in red and green sugar. They are a little flat, but still pretty tasty.

The Christmas cards have been addressed, stuffed, sealed, stamped and SENT. Expect the cuteness that is Hurricane E and Sweet Baby A arriving in your mailbox shortly!

And...tomorrow we are having breakfast with Santa! So, John and I won't burn in the firey pits of hell by denying our children the opportunity to see Santa...and we won't have to go to the mall to do it! And, there's breakfast, to boot!

oh what fun!

Things E did to entertain herself this morning while John and I got ready:

• Watched Curious George

Things A did to entertain herself this morning while John and I got ready:

• Watched Curious George


• Turned TV off


• Turned TV on


• Carried pair of socks around room


• Attempted to put socks on


• Opened bathroom cabinets


• Turned TV off


• Dumped out bag of hangers (going to be recycled)


• Carried empty recycled hanger bag around room


• Turned TV off


• Picked stuff out of trash can in closet


• Yelled in protest when mommy takes away trash and puts trash can out of reach


• Turned TV off


• Turned TV on

it's date night!

Nonna and Pop-pop are picking the girls up from school today. John and I are meeting at the mall near where I work to (hopefully) finish up Christmas shopping and then we're headed out to dinner for a little mid-week date night.

So, if you get crappy gifts from us, you'll know that we got hungry. Thanks in advance for your understanding!

it's just nuts!

Friday night is our MOMS Club Cookie Exchange. I'm excited because I actually get to go to an event...although by the looks of the evite response list, I don't really know many of the other moms who are coming. But, for wine and cookies, I'll meet some new people!

Anyway, the big debate is whether or not the cookies we exchange can have nuts in them. We are a nut-free group for regular gatherings, which I totally get, especially since E's friend Madelyn has a nut (and egg) allergy that requires epi-pens. But, do you know how hard it is to think of good Christmas cookies that don't have nuts in them?!?!?

Luckily, the moms in attendence have thrown caution to the wind and we are going to allow nuts in the cookies. We're ANIMALS, I tell you!

sit right down

So A is getting bigger and bigger these days. This weekend, she reached two milestones concerning where she sits. On Friday night, John was playing around with her, and sat her in E's cushy booster seat right before dinner. When we tried to sit her in her high chair for dinner, she pitched a fit. So we broke out our other booster seat and set a place for her at the table. She was happy as a clam, and has been sitting there ever since. It's so cute...when you tell her to "Go get in your seat" before a meal, she stands patiently by her booster.

The second milestone is that we flipped her carseat forward. She started to do the "straighten her body out so you couldn't put her in the car seat" thing last week. So on Saturday, we turned her around. Now she's happy. This will also be nice over Christmas so they can both watch the portable DVDs when we travel.

Seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home. She's such a big girl now!

good thing it was warm out today

When I picked A and E up from school, they were wearing their Orange Birginia jackets. They could be described as windbreakers, actually...but certainly not coats.

"Daddy let us wear these to school today. He's a good daddy."

i shouldn't have asked

Last night, E and I were talking, and (of course) our conversation turned to Santa. I asked her what she thought Santa was going to bring her. Usually, her answer is "I don't know" and I use that opportunity to "suggest" fun items that Santa might bring her (that may or may not already be stashed in the trunk of John's car). But, tonight, instead of "I don't know" she said,

"A baby in a box with a bottle of milk and a bottle of orange juice."

When we went to the toy store on Saturday to pick up presents for Madelyn and Ellie, E was fascinated with the baby doll section. Apparently, it was more than a passing fascination, and she might actually want a baby doll for Christmas. The only problem? Those plastic baby dolls freak me out. I mean, they are really, really creepy to me.

Oh the sacrifices that motherhood forces you to make...

another "to do" checked off...

So I ordered the family Christmas card today. I think it will turn out pretty cute. I do have one picture of the girls together, but because the aren't smiling in it, I have indivdual smiling shots as well. If they suck, nothing we can do about it now anyway. Of course, we have already received Steel Magnolia's card, which is GORGEOUS. John, ever so supportive husband that he is, took one look and said, "Their card kicks our card's ass!" Nice.

Anyway, here's a look at what the Slacker card might have been. It's a design that didn't win out in the end. But it was cute, so I thought I'd share.

And, in case you are wondering, our actual card won't actually say from the Slackers...

busy little bees

This weekend was jam-packed full of activity! We spent Saturday morning decorating the house and the tree for Christmas. After A's nap in the afternoon, we headed into Fairfax to get birthday presents for A and E's friends, Madelyn and Ellie. Since the stores were jam-packed, we headed to Coastal Flats for an early dinner and then back home.

On Sunday, we got up and did a little divide and conquer. John and E headed to The Teets for our weekly grocery trip. I took A to AC Moore, where we got a lot of Christmas shopping done. They have a pretty extensive Melissa and Doug section, so I got A's big present (a little piano), a puzzle for each girl, stacking blocks for A and lacing beads for E. I also got them some stocking stuffers, too. So, we've got to get a few more things, but we are almost done with our shopping. Woo hoo!

We met back up at home, and then headed out again for Madelyn and Ellie's birthday party. It was at Toddlin' Time, which was a local version of Gymboree/Little Gym. The girls had a blast, running around, crawling through tunnels, going down the slides and playing with the parachute. After pizza and cake, we headed home. All was well until E threw up all over herself as we turned into our development. All of the running around and junk food did not agree with her little tummy. She had partied 'til she puked. We got her cleaned up and both girls went down for a nap for over two hours. Then it was a little more playtime, dinner, baths, and time for bed!

All in all, a busy weekend...but fun nonetheless!

an interesting twist on traffic

On the way home from shopping and dinner tonight, we got stuck in traffic. I know, you could have knocked us over with a feather. Anyway, it ended up being more congested than your run-of-the-mill traffic. E started to get impatient.

"Are we home yet?" she asked.
"No, E. We're trying to get there, but there's traffic," I replied.
"Why? Why is there traffic, mama?"
"Because someone had an accident and so now we're driving slowly," I told her.
"Well, let's hurry up and find out which girl had the accident. 'Cause I have to go potty too!"

the slackers are fakers!

So the Slacker family got up this morning, made some waffles and then headed on over to Lowe's to buy some Christmas decorations. We got lights for outside of the house and then, we passed by the artificial tree display. After some consternation, we caved and ended up getting one.

Now, I'm usually a live tree snob. However, this year, the fake tree seemed like the better idea. A is a climber and we're pretty sure that she would topple a tree. E is also capable of knocking the tree over. Also, we're travelling over Christmas and I have a fear that the Christmas tree will burn our house down ever since, well, the Christmas tree burned my house down when I was five. And, since we have had wind and rain and snow over the last week, the real trees were looking pretty rough.

So, a fake tree it was. And man, does it look fake. And sparse. Charlie Brown Christmas Tree sparse. But once we put on our garland and ornaments and a bow on top (since top branch buckled under the weight of the star tree topper we usually use), E proclaimed, "That's the most bee-you-tiful tree I've ever seen, Mommy!" And I've already had to rehang the beaded garland three times, thanks to A!

So, though I probably won't take a picture of the tree for you to see out of fear of ridicule, the girls are delighted with their tree. Which means I am, too.

necessity is the mother of invention

The girls each have their own PB Kids Everywhere Chairs (thanks Nonna and Pop-pop!) and they use them all the time.

A and E hanging out in their chairs

Lately, E has started building forts with them, too. Last weekend, she ended up climbing on top of chair forts despite my warnings. Therefore, both chairs got taken away for the rest of the day.This did not discourage E from sitting in a chair with A. Here are the solutions she came up with.

"Take our chairs, Mommy! You can't stop us!"

"Come here, A! Check out our new chairs!"

"Oh yeah, this one is much better!"

use your words!

It's all a bit blurry to me, but I'm pretty sure that A talks about the same amount that E did at the same age. However, E communicated to us her wants and needs through baby sign language. She signed More, Eat, Milk and then a couple of random ones, but it was more than enough to get her point across. But, A? A...not so much.

Don't get me wrong, A knows these what these signs mean. If you ask her to sign them, she will. However, if she wants milk or food or to get out of her high chair or for me to pick her up...pretty much anything...she forgoes the signing in favor of her new form of communication: screeching like a howler monkey. It's loud. It's worse than fingernails on a chalkboard. And tonight, it was constantly happening from the time she got home until the time she went to bed.

Dear lord, if you can't get her to start using her words sooner, can you at least give John and I a MUTE button for her? Or at least ear plugs?

who wore it best?

US Weekly and People and all those type magazines always have a little section where they show two starlets who (gasp!) are wearing the same dress. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it's a different event so it's really not that scandalous, but it's fun to see how each person looks different in the outfit and makes it their own.

Since A was born 25 months after E, she inherited a wealth of hand-me-downs. And since Grandmom and Nonna and Kiki and Aunt Noreen (and even yours truly) have impeccible taste when it comes to kids clothing, she's really a pretty lucky kid. But it always cracks me up to have pictures of both kids in the same outfit.

Every time I go to the storage bins, I think to myself "This is my favorite batch of clothing." The velour jumpsuits in 3 to 6 months...the Dandelion Dreams Gymboree collection in 6-12 months...the adorable sundresses and sunsuits in 12-18 months...I love them all. But one of my favorites is the winter coat and hat that A is currently wearing. Both girls just looked absolutely adorable in it.

So here are pictures of the girls, looking equally cute, in their winter gear. Interesting note, both pictures were taking on the first snowfall of the year (though in A's case it was 6 o'clock at night hence the indoor locale) exactly two years apart. Doing the math for you, E is 15 months and A is 14 months!

Hurricane E - December 5, 2005
Sweet Baby A - December 5, 2007

Updated to Add: Now my girls are up against Violet Affleck in the hat department. Bring it on!

how cute are these clothes????

Man, I'm loving Baby Gap's newest line of clothes for girls! The flowers! The stripes! The pink and green and navy! I seriously want to buy it all! Luckily, it seems rather spring-y (lots of short sleeved tops) so hopefully I can snag some stuff on sale in a few weeks. But I am getting the girls the flowered dress for a Christmas present! I figure they can wear it with a turtleneck and tights in the winter and then with a short-sleeved shirt or sleevess in the spring. Shhh...don't tell them!

making up for lost time

So, A's appetite over the previous two weeks had been rather supressed. I think it was a combination of being sick and teething (darn those molars!). But last week, Miss Aniya and Miss Idalia were both saying how she was eating very little.

Well, this week, the appetite's back with a vengence. Miss Idalia said that she ate her lunch at 11:15 this morning, had her snack early AND at the regular time, and when I went to pick her up was standing by the refrigerator pointing and sqwaking (her "sign" for eat). When she got home, she chugged a sippy of milk, split a banana and an apple with E, and then had a pretty good dinner of tacos and rice. She was opening her mouth so wide for the rice that I got to see that her top left molar was pretty much completely in. Yay! Two down, two to go.

For lunch tomorrow, I packed her a turkey and cream cheese roll-up, a yogurt, a fruit cup, 1 1/2 clementines, goldfish and a cheesestick. Which is more than I eat at lunch. I'll let you know how much she gets through tomorrow.

it's beginning to sound a lot like christmas

Since E has been asking pretty much every day when we are going to decorate for Christmas, I thought I'd surprise her yesterday by putting up a few things for when she got home from school. (Oh, the joys of working from home...) So, I replaced a couple of our hanging pictures with a Let it Snow sign, a jingle bell wreath, and a little Santa Claus; broke out the Christmas books; and put our mini tabletop tree on the kitchen island.

While E was very very very excited for these things, she loved the singing bears the most. The singing bears are two teddy bears dressed up in winter clothes. When you squeeze the girl bear's paw, they start singing "Winter Wonderland" and bobbing along to the music. This was given to us by a family friend who obviously hates me for Christmas when E was born. We listened to the high-pitched strains of "Winter Wonderland" approximately eleventy thousand times last night before bed.

Not to be outdone, A has her own favorite Christmas decoration. This would be the sleigh bells that I hung on the pantry doorknob. Shaking the bells kept her occupied for at least 5 minutes so I was able to get some of dinner prepared in relative peace.

And, after dinner, we had Slacker family craft. The girls colored pieces of paper that we cut into strips and made a paper chain to decorate the tree on the kitchen island. After the girls went to bed, I "repurposed" an art project that E had brought home from school to make a little star topper for the tree. It looks really cute!

E's Christmas enthusiasm is definitely rubbing off on me. This weekend, we're tackling decorating the outside of the house and perhaps even getting a Christmas tree. And on the way to work, I even put on the radio station that plays all Christmas music all the time. I used to be a bit bah-humbug about this holiday...but I must say that seeing the magic of the holiday through E's eyes has really changed my tune...literally.

hope e doesn't get any ideas

This is a picture of Heidi Klum and her three-year-old daughter, Leni. Cute kid...cute hair. And how did she get that haircut? Well...according to USA Today:

Klum recently treated Leni to a makeover after hair-combing became a struggle. Leni presented the hairstylist with a DVD of Dora the Explorer to show how she wanted her short new 'do to look.

new habits die hard

Totally forgot that each girl started new habits this weekend...neither of them are particularly desirable.

Sweet Baby A has become a bit of a biter. She bit E twice this weekend. In her defense, E was taking her toy away or blocking access to her toys when this happened, but still. She's starting to fight back against her big sis and I can see some catfights on the horizon Chez Slacker. E told me that Christopher should tell Santa that A shouldn't get any presents because she was biting...how do I explain my way out of that one!??!?

Speaking of E...not once, but twice on Saturday she stripped down nekkid and told me, "I think I'll spend the rest of the day naked, Mommy." I'll take her constantly changing of clothes over being a nudist any day...especially since it gets a bit nippy in our house in the winter months.

girls girls girls!

This weekend, John headed off to Hotlanta to meet up with his dad and brother for the SEC Championship. So, it was me and the girls for the weekend! We had lots of fun. On Friday, I picked them up from school, we came home and played for a bit, had some dinner (angel hair with butter, parmasean, and peas!) and ice cream, and then headed off to bed. Seriously. I pretty much climbed into bed after I put the girls down and watched What Not to Wear and the new Stacy London talk show (which is terrible) before hitting the hay myself.

On Saturday, we got up, watched some 'toons and then headed off to Target. I managed to pry E away from the hideous assortment of Dora bedding with promises of a new Dora toothbrush and Dora toothpaste. We also picked up cute Ts and leggings from their holiday collection (they say Snuggle Bunny on it...so apt for Sweet Baby A). We then headed home, had some lunch and sent A off to nap. While A was napping, E and I baked some cookies. (Okay, they were the premade dough, but we did top them with sprinkles by ourselves!)

Since our afternoon outing to ride bikes and trikes was cut short because of the cold, I relented to E's wishes to go out for dinner...and she picked McDonald's. Now, usually I would steer her towards another choice, but I figured that the Playplace would be good for her so off we went. E had a blast...she made a friend within 2 minutes of getting there and spent most of the time frolicking with her and running back to the table to scarf down a nugget, fry or apple slice. A was content to have me feed her burger (she would hand it to me and open her mouth rather than try to eat it herself) and LOVED it when E would wave to her from the play structure. She would squeal and wave frantically. The girls came home full, happy and exhausted.

Sunday was pretty low key. John came home pretty early and we had a family lunch, E and I ran some errands while A napped, and I did heaps and heaps of laundry. In the evening, we broke out the Elf on the Shelf, courtesy of Grandmom. I had never heard of this thing, but apparently it's the "it" thing this year...most of my mom friends up here have one. I heard such cute stories of what the kids named their elf (E's friend, Madelyn, named hers Foofa) and was expecting E to come up with something good or at least amusing (like Dora or Diego). She named her elf...Christopher. But, she did straighten up a few times when we reminded her that Christopher was going to visit Santa so it's all good.

All in all, it was a good weekend. No Christmas shopping or decorating...but oh well. There's always next week!

it's a wonder i wasn't impeached

As of today, I am no longer the Membership VP of my local MOMS Chapter. I actually resigned in early November, but between Thanksgiving and the illnesses that have been bouncing around the Slacker house, I just got around to passing over the membership box. Although I'm kind of sad to let it go (the Board meetings were fun and I liked meeting the new members), it had certainly fallen to the bottom of the priority list...and I was, quite frankly, sucking at it before I resigned. I think the mom who took it over will do a good job.

I'll do a big weekend recap of my weekend tomorrow morning...I'm off to put away my laundry. Every week I think to myself that I should shoot for a load a day, and that way it won't be so overwhelming. But, you know what? Doing a load of laundry every night after getting up, going to work, sitting in traffic, picking the girls up from school, getting dinner on the table and cleaned up, making lunches, and getting the girls to bed doesn't really sound like a walk in the park either.

My dryer sounds like we are drying a couple of dumbells in there along with the towels. Since our washer and dryer were from the previous owners, they were crappy (we replaced everything in the kitchen except the dishwasher when we moved in) so I have pipedreams of getting new, fancy versions at some point. I was perusing the Sears Wish Book and they had a dryer that cleaned 23 towels at a time. Now I don't think I own 23 towels...but I just realized that maybe I could dump the colors in one load, whites in another and sheets and towels in a third and be done with it?!?!?!?

I so know what I'm asking Santa for this year!