cows 'n corn

I chaperoned E and A on a field trip to a local farm, Cows 'n Corn, this morning. We took a hayride, did the corn maze, learned about milking cows, made butter and ate ice cream. Some of E's best buds were there. It was tons of fun, despite the entire group being underdressed for the suprisingly blustery conditions.

After a "picnic" lunch with Paige and her mom in their Suburban, we headed back. I dropped the girls off and am working the rest of the afternoon. It was one of those days where I'm thankful that my job offers the flexibility to do this sort of thing.

happy birthday, kiki!

You say it's your birthday!
Well, it's my birthday, too!
Can't wait for next weekend ...
To celebrate with you!

Kiki, Kiki, Kiki! Can you believe that we are another year older? That one minute we are watching cartoons and playing with Barbies ... and the next minute....well, I was just watching cartoons and playing with Barbies...but I was doing that with my kids because we are adults and we are old!

Both you and I had the same fear when lying down on the ultrasound table for our first pregnancy ultrasounds ... dear god, I hope it's not twins! It comes from a totally selfish response of how much work it must be to raise not one, but two, babies at once. Because, you and I both know that really, we are two of the luckiest people in the world that we got to grow up together.

How many people can say that they spent virtually every day of their lives with their best friend? Every single day we played together, talked together, lived together. People were always amazed that we didn't fight...but why would we? We were (and still are) the perfect compliment to each other. My loud personality spoke up for both me and you, the shy, quiet one. Your kind heart made sure that any feelings I hurt were soothed.

We were lucky that we got to navigate the big, bad worlds of elementary school, middle school, high school, and even college together. Our conversations now can lapse into a secret code of inside jokes and obscure references spanning 34 years that only you and I can understand. And we know each other so well that we can laugh until we cry about something while our husbands, friends, and parents look on wondering what the hell is so funny.

The only thing I hate about our relationship is that you are too far away from me. I miss you every. single. day. I love that we can now talk face-to-face on webcams...but even then it's too short of a conversation and too long between calls. That's why I'm counting the days until you come to visit...so we can hang out in our PJs and talk.

So, have a happy birthday, Kiki! I love you and miss you and can't wait to see you!

sweet as candy

As a mom, you have so many hopes and dreams for your kids. You want them to be smart and funny and athletic and to never have a bad hair day or a zit on the day of school pictures. But, above all the things I want for my children...I truly just want them to be kind.

This weekend at the Birthday Extravaganza Party, I had the opportunity to meet two of E's classmates' mothers. Yes, there was the usual chit-chat of the funny things that the girls do -- like fight wearing the uniform every Monday through Thursday. But, both women totally unprompted said something to the effect of "E is just so kind and helpful with all the other kids in the class." It made me so proud to know that others saw in E what I did...and that it's not just a mother's bias that saw it.

Then, the magician/face painter/Belle impersonator handed out little treat bags to all of the kids. E came running over to me with a wide smile.

"Mama, look!" she said. "Belle gave me *two* lollipops! One for me and one for A!"

And yesterday, when I picked E up from school, she was toting a goody bag from Kaeli's school party. (Yes, I'm serious. Goody bags at school. I'll have to check her wine consumption but it's becoming a little apparent that Kaeli's mom and I could not be friends.) Anyway, on the drive home, I told E that she couldn't open the goody bag until after dinner, and then she could pick whatever she wanted for dessert. As E studied the contents through the clear cellophane she shouted,

"Mama! There's some candy that I want to eat and a Ring Pop! A can have the Ring Pop for dessert while I have the candy!"

Oh, how happy I was that my little girl would hand over the contents of a gift given only to her to her sister. I had a little smile on for the rest of the night.

Sure, she might have tried to take the Ring Pop from A once the candy was finished and A was still happily sucking on it...she's nice but not a saint. But even then she took a few licks and gave it back. She's nice enough to even share her germs with her sister!

weekend of festivities

This weekend was a busy one in the Slacker house. John headed down to Knoxville for the UT vs. Alabama game. On Saturday, E had a birthday party for a friend at school. Luckily, my parents were available to watch A while I took her...so I avoided the awkwardness of having to call a mom I never met and invite my other daughter as well. Our neighborhood Halloween party, Boofest, was supposed to be on Saturday but got moved to Sunday because of the weather.

The Birthday Party on Saturday was good. Let me tell you...the parents did not go to the Slacker School of Bithday Parties. There was more food on the coffee table in the living room than we had at our entire party...and then the dining room table was covered in food from PF Chang's (where the dad works)...and then they ordered pizza for the kids and had a never ending crockpot full of mac-n-cheese. Not only that, the birthday cake was a 3-tier Princess castle with ice cream cone towers. And, for entertainment, they had an entertainer come. She was dressed as Belle and did magic tricks and painted faces. E about died and went to heaven.

Our little neighborhood party on Sunday was fun. We got a test run of the girls in their costumes. Well, E already got a head start because she has been wearing it since my parents brought it over on Saturday. A kept her ears on for a few minutes at a time ... which I considered a success. E and I had fun during A's naptime making a Jack'o'latern Cake. And they had fun moonbouncing, pumpkin painting, and generally running around.




It's a big week here in the Slacker household. In addition to Halloween on Friday, we've got a field trip with school on Thursday and my birthday on Wednesday! Now if I could only recover from this cold that is *still* hanging around, things would be peachy!

common thread

Today, the girls went to school in outfits that they handpicked and are very typical of their usual "style" (as much as preschoolers have their own style). E, devastated to learn that Friday was not a something-else day because of class pictures, wore a short sleeved uniform shirt with a long sleeved striped shirt underneath, a denim skirt and her new sparkly-farkly tights. A, aka Sporty Slacker, chose what she calls her "Go-Hoos-Go sweatsuit."

Two girls. Two personalities. Two different outfits.

That is until they discovered the brand new polka dot shirts that I happened to find while making a quick jaunt through the mall today. Suddenly, they weren't so different anymore.

Are you wondering what's on A's face? Well, it's covered in peanut butter from her after-school snack and she has a candy corn sticker on her nose.

alive and (barely) kicking

I've got a bit of a cold this week...so I've been walking around in a fog and trying to make it through in one piece. Every time I think I'm about to turn the corner, I almost instanaeously start to feel worse again. It looks like the kiddos will be hit by this as well, if the whineyness levels tonight were any indication. Add to that a rainy forecast that threatens our planned outing to the neighborhood Halloween festival...I tell ya this might turn out to be the type of weekend in which I'm begging for Monday to arrive!

shameless plug

Back in the spring, I won a free I See Me book from Mommyvents. I decided to get the My Very Own Name book for A since as the youngest, she was lacking bit in the things-specifically-for-her department.

Well, as soon as arrived, the book was a *big* hit...not just with A but with E, too. You see, on the inscription we had inscribed "To A...Love, Mommy, Daddy and E" and E loved seeing her name, too. So much so, that my parents actually used Feener's free shipping code (FSD13665) to order My Very Own Fairy Tale as a present for E's birthday.

To be honest with you, though I like them both, I would recommend the My Very Own Name book over My Very Own Fairy Tale. I like the story a bit better...it more specifically spells out her name (both A and E can now spell A's name!)...and I like the illustrations better. However, I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either.

This would totally make a great signature baby gift...you know, if you are on top of things enough to get baby gifts out in a timely manner. I imagine that my mom and I will fight over who will purchase this for Cousin Slacker. And, you can use the free shipping code (FSD13665) and save a litte moolah!

out with the old ... in with the old

While Saturday was a day spent playing and bonding (John took E to the UVA/UNC game ... A and I had fun and relaxed around the house), Sunday was a frenzy of chores in the Slacker house. We grocery shopped, mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, changed the sheets, and tried to extricate ourselves from a never-ending pile of laundry. And, in deference to the arrival of fall weather (finally!), I switched out the girls summer clothes for fall clothes in their dressers and closets.

There wasn't much to do with E. Since most of her clothes were purchased in the last month or so, it was a matter of finding the holdovers from last year and dumping the bags of new clothes in her drawers. Well, that and hiding her summer dresses from view in an attempt to avoid any "but I wanna wear the sleeveless sundress" arguments like we had on Friday.

For A, this meant going to the spare room for the gigantic bin of E's 2T hand-me-downs. The walk down the hallway was a trip down memory lane for me. The clothes that now sit in A's dressers were the ones that E wore when A was an infant. And, shockingly, it made me a little emotional. Things like this shirt and the matching jeans:

This was one of E's favorites, since the shirt has a fairy on it and the jeans has sparkly things on them. The one complaint we had with them is that it has not one but two buttons at the fly, which thought would be a bitch when potty training E. We didn't have to cross that bridge with E, but we certainly are with A.

I think the thing is, the moment when A was born, E suddenly became the big girl. Sure, she was (and will always be) my baby...but when contrasted to a newborn, an active 2-year-old who walked and talked and could play by herself, she was a *big girl*. Now that A is wearing these clothes, I'm forced to admit that she is really a big girl now, too.

Suddenly, I was struck by how fast time really is flying by. How one minute I'm worried about the sleeping schedule of an infant and balancing life with a baby and a toddler...and now I'm worried about the sleeping schedule of a teething toddler and balancing life with two kids and a job. It's all whizzing by before my eyes and there's nothing I can do to make it slow down.

So I stopped worrying about whether or not everything was perfectly folded in their drawers (especially since they would only stay perfectly folded for 5-minutes)...threw the girls in the stroller, set off for the playground, and enjoyed the rest of a beautiful fall day.

f is for...

Fall...
Fun...
Football...
and (of course) Feet-y Pajamas



(Please disregard John's shoes...he had gone out to the mailbox to get the paper.)

party politics

Don't worry...I'm not talking elections and politics. I'm talking birthday parties!

E got invited to a birthday party from one of her classmates. She's *very* psyched about it. It's a party! With a Princess invitations! And Paige will be there!

So...here's the thing. The invitation is addressed to "Princess E and her royal Parents." But it's on a weekend that John will be in Tennessee...so splitting parental duties is not really an option. So, would it be rude for me to ask if A can come? On the one hand, I realize that I would technically be inviting someone to a party that I'm not throwing...but on the other hand, if A can't come, then E really can't go.

What say you, wise old mommies of the internet?

the dark horse

I'm pretty swamped today, but I would like you to discuss the following amongst yourselves while I work hard for the money.

Was I a hottie in high school or what?!?!?


Gotta love those on Facebook armed with scanners and really old pictures.

musical chairs

Hands down, without a doubt, I'm A's favorite person in the whole wide world. While it's nice to hold the #1 spot, there are some times when it gets a little old. Like at bedtime, when John tries to do something crazy like take the girls up to get ready for bed. Usually there's a lot of screaming and crying...and the pathetic pleas of "Moooooommmmmmmyyyyyyyyyy!" yelled from the balcony overlooking the family room.

Last night, John gave the girls baths as I put away some laundry. A came running into her room as I finshed putting her stuff away, so I helped her get in her PJs. Since E can dress herself, John came in and plopped down on A's glider to chat before I started the stories and singing portion of the routine. Almost immediately, A started yelling

"Gep up! Daddy! Gep up!"
"What's the matter, A?" John and I asked, slightly confused.
"My mommy sit dere! Gep up!"

Apparently, John sitting in the chair right before the bedtime routine was a little too close for comfort for A. Heaven forbid that John actually read the bedtime stories...because that would be tragic.

Sigh. A mother's work is never done.

that's what friends are for

Yesterday was a continuation of the whirlwind that was our weekend. John had to work, but I didn't and E and A's school was closed for Columbus Day. So, we got up in the morning, got dressed, ate breakfast and headed into Arlington for the first of two scheduled play dates. This one was with one of my oldest friends, Liz, and her two sons, Jake and Sean, who are 6 months younger than E and A, respectively.

The play date was great...Jake and Sean are a little shy but the girls had great fun playing with all of the fake power tools, cars and Lincoln Logs at their house. I have to giggle about the gender non-neutrality at my house...so we'll be buying a few cars and trucks in the near future. We had some lunch (chicken nuggets and tater tots for the kiddos, Lost Dog Cafe for the mamas) and then headed home.

After A went down for her nap, my parents stopped in. They were on their way home from a nature walk at a nearby vineyard. Then E and I played a little Cariboo and made some pizza dough for dinner.

After A woke up, play date #2 began with Marathon Mom and her crew coming over. While the kiddos whooped it up, we chatted and caught up. It was so funny to see her holding Baby Meredith and think that when we first met at New Mom's Group, E and William were about Meredith's age. Who would have thought that 4 years later we would still be getting together for play dates.

Jenn and her clan stuck around for pizzas, which the kids successfully helped make by sprinkling the cheese on. After dinner Jenn headed out with SPC's Chicken Tetrazzini (finally!). I threw my kids in the tub, into bed and then pretty much collapsed in a heap of exhaustion myself.

When I was telling John about our day, he looked at me like I was crazy for scheduling so much on my day off. The fact of the matter is, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Life is just crazy these days with balancing work and family ... and it's embarrassing how little I get to see my friends when it all comes down to it. So, yeah, I might be tired because of the insanity of it all...but the conversations, the catching up, the chance for my kids to become friends with my friends' kids? That is worth a little exhaustion.

I just hope I don't have to wait for the next three-day-weekend to see Liz and Jenn again.

go, slackers, go!

This was one of those weekends that we were on the go from start to finish. On Saturday, we got up, got dressed and got in the car to head to Charlottesville for the UVA v. ECU game. We got to see a few friends before the game at the tailgates (and I heard "E looks *just* like you" at least a million three times).

The girls were great. They played with the Little People and puzzles that I brought them with minimal fighting or whining. At halftime, John took them to get ice cream, and after A finished hers, she laid her head on my chest and fell asleep. Seriously. Girlfriend was up from 2 to 5 AM on Thurday night/Friday morning at our house, but she slept through all of the yelling and screaming and music. After the game we headed home, grabbed some dinner and watched a bit more football before calling it a night.

A little popcorn, a few toys and ice cream at half-time? We're loving these season tickets!

Today we headed out to Cox Farms, which is a local pumpkin patch that has all these cool slides and farm animals and all sorts of stuff. It opened at 10. We got there at 10:15 and it was already packed and there was a traffic jam to get in. But we had tons of fun running around in the gorgeous weather. We did a lot of sliding, watched a cow milking, I painted the girls faces and we generally ran ourselves silly. We were going to eat lunch there, but the lines were so ridiculous that we left and went to this BBQ place nearby that we love. Let me tell you, BBQ travels well...but when it's fresh and hot and you are starving it is DIVINE!

At the gate and rarin' to go...I don't have to tell you that E picked her hair accessory out this morning, do I?
In front of the VA State Fair's Biggest Pumpkin Winner

Slip slidin' away


My face-painting handiwork...don't laugh...we had to fight E tooth and nail to take it off tonight


Attempts at good shots of the fam

The rest of the day was spent napping, watching the Skins lose, grocery shopping (for me and E) and playing outside (for John and A). We had a great steak dinner, kettle corn from Cox Farms for dessert and then it was time for baths and bed.

Luckily, the fun doesn't end tonight! The girls don't have school tomorrow, so I'll be hanging out with them. We're headed to Arlington to see a friend and then meeting up with Marathon Mom and her clan (where I will finally get to deliver a "Welcome, Meredith!" meal...even though Meredith is now over a month old. Luckily she's well-versed in my slacker ways...so, better late than never.

i knew they'd come around

With faces like these...you can't *not* want to be photographed.

Thanks, Grandmom, for the bows. They were (obviously) a big hit.

no love for the paparazzi

Some mornings, my girls are just so cute and adorable and loving and funny that it takes every inch of my being to drop them off at school and kiss them goodbye.

Yesterday and today were not those type of days.

Dear lord, have these two have been cranky crank-meisters this week. Yeah, yeah, yeah...they were sick, they're tired, they're out of sorts. But, knowing why they are cranky doesn't help when you are actually trying to deal with them.

The unfortunate thing in all of this is that they have looked *absolutely adorable* the last two mornings. So freaking cute that I went to grab the camera so that I could show you all. Alas...that was not meant to be. It's hard to take pictures when your subjects are hiding their faces and yelling "No!"

So take my word for it.

Slacker Kids = Cute as buttons.
Slacker Kids' Attitudes = On the verge of being sold to the gypsies

Sigh. I guess there's always tomorrow.

we survived the plague of 2008

Sung to the tune of the Dora the Explorer theme song.

We did it! We did it! We did it...yeah! Lo hicimos!
E and A are back at school!
We did it! We did it! We did it...yeah!
John's at work and I am, too!
We did it! We did it! We did it...yeah!
I did a million loads of laundry along the way,
I've got a million more to do...but that's okay!
We did it! Lo hicimos!

That's right...the Slackers are fully recovered from the stomach bug that gripped our house over the weekend, with me narrowly escaping even getting sick. No one had much of an appetite last night, but after a full nights sleep (14 hours in the case of a sleepy-head E who fell asleep on the couch last night) we were all up and at 'em this morning.

I wish I could say the girls were rarin' to get to school...but after spending the last 48 hours playing with Nonna and watching TV, they were less than psyched. But nothing that a bribe of chocolate chip cookies for the ride to school couldn't overcome.

I did have to laugh at the sign hanging on A's classroom this morning.

We have one confirmed case of Pink Eye in this classroom.

Hopefully, she'll miss this one since she wasn't in school. But if we get pink eye, too? Fire up the DVDs...it's gonna be a looooong week!

the ecstacy...and the agony

So the fun girls weekend we had planned did not go according to plan. Shortly after her arrival to my house on Friday, Autumn was stricken with a stomach bug that left her pretty much incapacitated. Jenn and I ended up going to out to dinner without her and hoped that when we returned she would be feeling better.

Upon our arrival back at Chez Slacker, we found that not only was Autumn still not feeling well...Maggie was also afflicted with The Bug. Then, when we woke up on Saturday, Maura had also fallen prey. While the Party of FiveSoon-to-be Six got ready to pack up and head home, Jenn and I reluctantly headed to the spa...we couldn't cancel our treatments, but we did cancel the room for the night.

Our day was fun, but not nearly as fun as it would have been if Autumn had joined us. We had facial treatments at 9...then lounged...then headed out for some lunch and shopping...then returned back for a massage in the late afternoon. I dropped Jenn off and then returned home.

On Sunday, we slept in (relatively speaking...as A has been getting up in the 6 o'clock hour) and then ate a nice little breakfast together. We then headed out to pick up a few things from The Teets in anticipation of my parents coming over for the Skins game and then headed to a playground where we ran around like banshees and had tons of fun.

After a Web-cam call with Kiki, A asked to be put down for a nap. We thought it was odd, but figured she was tired from the frolicking at the park. Not so. About an hour later, she was up...and covered in puke. She ended up puking once or twice more, but was in relatively good spirits. About 5 or so, it was John's turn to join the puke party. And, during a commercial break of Desperate Housewives, I went in to check on E to find her just waking up after puking on herself.

Luckily, it's a quick bug, and everyone seems to be feeling okay now. No one has puked today (knocking on wood) and everyone is in better spirits. Once again, I have to thank Nonna for watching the kiddos today. And the entire Nick Jr. team for keeping them occupied throughout the day.

Also on the agenda? Figuring out when the next girls spa weekend will be. Since Autumn couldn't make it, it clearly didn't count and we get a do-over...right?

rules of conversation

The Party of FiveSoon-to-be Six is heading down today for a weekend of fun. I'm not sure who's more excited...me for getting a spa getaway with Autumn, John for getting a football-watching-buddy in Sean, or E and A for getting to stay-up-way-too-late and play-all-weekend buddies with Maura, Maggie and Bridget. Oh wait...I *do* know...E and A are about to pee themselves with excitement. (Well, A's probably just peeing herself 'cause she's not ready to potty train, but I digress...)

E has been announcing the impending arrival to all the teachers at school this whole week...but today she decided to tell her friends at school. Apparently, her friends at school are socially inept, as this is how the conversation went

."Guess what Grace? Guess what Kenzie?" E said to her pals.
[Silence]
"Uh, guys! You're supposed to say,'What?' When I say 'Guess what?' you say 'What?'"
[Silence]
"My friends, Maura and Maggie, are coming to visit. We're having a slumber party and watching the new Ariel movie."

So there you have it...when you are out and about this weekend, you know know how to make a little small talk, courtesy of my little social butterfly.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

like cheers...with milk instead of beer

At about 4AM, A was up and yelling for me. It was either her teeth or the cough she has or the fact that her feet were little icicles...but I brought her into our bed. She tossed and turned for over an hour before going to sleep. While John and I tried to ignore her...neither of us slept until she finally settled. So, when E bounded into our room at 7AM, A was ready to play...John and I not-so-much.

At some point the girls decided to get dressed and I was woken briefly to a pair of My Little Pony panties shoved in my left eye and A saying, "Panties, mama?" Too tired to argue, I told her she could wear them since it was really the school's problem and they had asked to try again. So, after asking her 100 times before we got in the car if she had to go potty (mind you, it's a 2 minute drive to school) and grabbing 4 pairs of extra pants, we went to school.

So...you know how on the show "Cheers", every time Norm would walk in everyone would yell "Norm!" and then Norm would say something really funny back?

Well, when, we walked into A's room at school and all her friends were sitting around eating breakfast. They all turned around and yelled "A!" And, A went sprinting over to the table yelling "I wear panties!" in return.

I wonder which kid is the Cliff Claven of the group?

nothing doing

The past few days round the Slacker house have been relatively uneventful. Just a lot of the same old, same old -- work for me and John, school for A and E, meeting up for dinner and little playtime before we head off to bed...only to wake up and do it all over again.

I notice that on a lot of blogs...people mention something going on, only to never mention it again. I'm sure I'm guilty of this as well...so I thought I'd give a little update on past topics here on the blog:

• How's A's potty training going?
  After much hoopla about A needing big girl panties, it turns out that they did not really put them on her and kept her in pullups. Why? Well, as a class, the kiddos were uber-successful at pee-peeing on the potty, but not so good at pooping. So they kept them in pullups until after they pooped twice that day. Now, I'm not potty training expert, but isn't the point of potty training teaching them to poop on the toilet? Anyway, she's been uber-gung ho about the pee-peeing (even going by herself and telling them afterward at school), so they've re-requested panties. Since she hasn't ever asked to go potty at home, I'm not holding my breath.
  
• Did E and Paige ever get to have an out-of-school playdate?
  Not yet. The last few weeks we have had pretty full weekends, so a meeting at the park really didn't fit in. But, after talking to my friend who had a successful drop-off playdate, I have determined that this is the way to go. So, I plan on calling Paige's mom next week to see if I can pick her up on Friday afternoon so they can play for a bit. However, E and Paige ask me every. single. day. if Paige can spend the night at our house. I'm running out of reasons why not at this point.
  
• How's John doing, now that his teams have won a collective 2 games between them?
  It's not pretty. However, this has not stopped him from adding a 3rd UT game to his roster. What can I say...he's a glutton for punishment.
  
• Have you decided on a name that Cousin Slacker will call you?
  Not yet. The Italian term, Chi chi, has been bandied about. People seemed to like Kay Kay, too. Any other suggestions out there?
  
• Have all of A's teeth come in yet?
  Negative, ghostrider. Though one molar seems to be through, we've still got three more to go. She's been getting up early this week, which makes me think there's some teeth movement going on. Luckily, she isn't drooling nearly as much now...because man that was just *nasty*.
  

So, there you have it. That's what the Slackers have been up to of late. I hope to have a more exciting post tomorrow...I'm going to force my kids to do something funny tonight if it kills me!