in your face

Baby AJ and her parents are in town this week. We're headed to a wedding this weekend for a college friend, and Nonna and Pop-pop will be watching all three granddaughters. I think they are a bit nervous about it.

However, after dinner last night, I think they realize that they've got it made. My girls fed Baby AJ, handed her sippy cups, and provided riveting status updates, such as "She said QUACK!" And, it looks like all three girls will be occupying the same 3 feet of space the entire weekend.

 

I sure hope AJ doesn't mind the complete invasion of personal space.

lots of celebrating going on

There was tons of celebration going on Chez Slacker this weekend. A kicked off the festivities on Thursday by presenting John with the Father's Day card she made at school. She wrote all of the words on the card by herself. She drew a picture of her and John on orange paper since orange is his favorite color.

Friday was the last day of kindergarten for E. I mean, it seems like just yesterday we were sending her off to the big, bad elementary school...and now it's over!

She had an awards ceremony at 9:40AM. Which meant that I didn't have enough time to drop A off at school before it. So I had a buddy with me.

The award that E got was Computation Queen of the Year. Oh yes...she apparently is some sort of math whiz. Here she is with the rest of the Computation Royalty. She's circled in red and waving to her loyal subjects, obviously embarassed to be in front of such a crowd.

Then the girls twisted my arm and convinced me to spring E early from school. So they both came home with me. At 11AM.

John came home and took the girls to lunch. And got E an end-of-the-year present, a new pool. Can you say Redneck Pool Party?

Saturday was relatively low-key. We had to hit Lowes AND Home Depot for stuff for the basement. We then hit the pool. After that, we hung out in the cul-de-sac for the evening.

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day by having a day long picnic in the cul-de-sac. We set up the water slide. For lunch we steamed a bushel of crabs. Not before we raced them.

E and A didn't seem to mind knowing that the crabs they were eating were once alive. They had named their racer crabs Ariel and Princess, respectively. At bedtime, A noted, "We ate a lot of Awiels and Pwincesses today, Mama."

And if a bushel of crabs wasn't enough, we then proceeded to grill out for dinner. Ribs and steaks and hot dogs. Plus sides. (If you are looking for a delish potato salad...Ina's version the potato salad that my mom makes** can't be beat!)

All in all, it was a great weekend.

**EDITED TO ADD: The recipe I used on Sunday was my mom's. I'm sure she came up with it all by herself. And asked Ina Garten to post it for her on the Food Network web site on her behalf. I'm sorry for any confusion that this might have caused.

meeting in the middle

On Saturday, we headed up to Baltimore to meet up with friends of ours who live in New Jersey and were in town for the Os/Mets series. Since they were hankering for some crabs, we meet for lunch at Obrycki's Crab House for a dozen or two...and a beer or two. Well, the beer was just for John, Jason and me...the kids and Stef, who's 8 months pregnant, abstained. And none of the kiddos had crabs, but man did they *love* the mallets that came to the table!

The kids were relatively well behaved...but started to get antsy toward the end. And since we had already confiscated the aformentioned mallets we let them have at it with some of the paper reserved for covering the tables.

After lunch, we walked down to Fells Point to catch the second half of the US v. England World Cup game. John assured us that it was only a 3 block walk. Not so much. More like 15 block walk. In 90 degree heat. With kids that weren't really keen on walking 15 blocks in 90 degree heat.

Nevertheless, we made it, and got a couple of tables with our own personal TVs that had the game one. The kiddos were psyched and chanted "USA! USA!" over and over and over again. And over again.

The older kids really did watch intently...they apparently like to watch sports together.

A was the first to fade. She tried to chant some more...

But she this is how she really felt.

After the game ended, we got some gelato, and then headed back the 15 blocks in the blazing heat carrying with non-walking kiddos back to the car. It was a quick visit, but tons of fun! We should really do it more often. Except for the 15 block walk in the heat, of course.

career day

It's Career Week at E's school. It's apparently much like Spirit Week, except they lamely tie the days to careers. Yesterday, she wore slippers because it was "Dream Big!" Day. I kid you not.

Today was dress up like your future career. As E and I drove to pick up A from school, we discussed the endless possiblilities.

Me: Grandmom bought you that cute jacket and skirt that looks like a suit. You could wear that! Businesswomen, lawyers, and Presidents of the United States wear suits!
E: No.
Me: You have that fire hat in your room. Do you want to go as a fireman?
E: Firegirl, mommy! And, no.
Me: Why not wear jeans and a cardigan and some ballet flats and you could go as me! You know, someone who works with computers!
E: Ugh! Never!

So, in the end, she put on her leotard, a tutu, and had me try and finagle her hair into a bun. Yep...she wants to be a ballerina when she grows up.

I guess since it's been a year since she's actually taken a dance class, I should really look into signing her up. Ugh.

And, it was not Career Day at A's school. Which worked out well for her. Because she really only wants to be a dancer, not a princess.

She just thought the tiara added a nice touch.

take me out to the ball game

This weekend, the Reds were in town to play the Nats. John's parents came into town to join in on the fun. On Friday, John and his dad went to the game solo. Then, on Saturday, we all headed in after a quick stop to see our precious nephew.

John and I sat a few innings with our friend, David while the kiddos stayed with Grandmom and Granddad. It was nice to enjoy the game without entertaining the kiddos.

The girls were troopers and we made it almost to the bitter end. Of course, they did not go hungry, having cotton candy, popcorn AND gelato during the game.


I had to giggle because A apparently thinks the polka dot dress is what you wear to baseball games. It's what she wore when we went back in 2008. Vive la hand-me-downs!

a good day, indeed

Fridays are always a fan favorite around these parts.

For A, it's Pizza Day at school. She loves pizza.

For E, it's car rider day. I drop her off and pick up her up in the car rider line...avoiding SAC. She loves doing that.

For me, it's Green Friday today at work. I can work from home (and not work a full day, even) provided I make up the hours over the pay period. I think I'm good.

The only thing that could make this day better? Donuts.

 

Lucky for us, it's National Donut Day. We all got a free donut with the purchase of a beverage. A and I got chocolate glazed. E got a powdered. Mmmmmmm.

don't believe the hype

A few weeks ago, the girls mentioned wanting Silly Banz. If you are unfamiliar with these things, they are the NEXT.BIG.THING. Basically, they are jelly bracelets that are shaped like things. But, according to Facebook status updates and Twitter tweets, they were very, very hard to come by. As such, whenever wanting to get Silly Banz came up with the girls, I always changed the subject because, well, I'm lazy. I didn't want to drive all over looking for these things.

But, on Saturday, John and the girls' quick trip to the grocery store somehow turned into (I kid you not) dropping stuff off at Salvation Army, an hour at Chuck E. Cheese, and lunch at BW3s. Note the lack of actual grocery shopping. I went to join them for lunch, and on the way, stopped by the Hallmark in the shopping center, which was rumored to have the Silly Banz.

I walked in, spent 5 minutes trying to figure out which Silly Banz I should get the girls, considered buying them Zhu Zhu pets, paid and left. And arrived at BW3s a hero. Either our Hallmark is the most kick-ass store ever, or our neck of the world is immune to the hype around the rest of the country.

 

 

I got them both the Princess Banz. If there's anything I learned from parenting two closely spaced girls is to just get them the same thing to avoid any sort of strife.

They were thrilled. Not thrilled to hear that they couldn't wear them to the pool or to school. But thrilled. And me? I'm still loving my iPhone. And, Hipstamatic.

 

 

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.