"With The Cleaver I Hack Them In Two. I Pull Out What's Inside, And I Serve It Up Fried..."

"...Cuz I love little fishies, don't you?"

can I interest you in a beverage? Some "Juithe", maybe? She's already a hostess!

I am glad that Reese has learned from Dad's example to always wear oven mitts when working near the wood burning stove.
My children have mastered the art of procrastination. They know I will put off the "time to clean up and get into jammies" call, when they are playing so sweetly together. Even with the dirty faces and shirts (from the dinners they didn't finish), who could resist "chicken and ice cream" from these little cuties?

"And I'll Be Co-o-o-o-o-o-ming Back For More, More, Ooooooh Ah ah ah ah!"

Dear Quiznos,

I have (a very good) reason to believe that you are putting some kind of addictive substance in your Sonoma Turkey Flatbread Sammies. Could you please just give me the recipe for that chipotle mayo so I can slather it atop everything I eat for a week, and get my fill? Those little sammies just get better every time I have them. I used to be totally satisfied with just one Sonoma Turkey Sammy.... Then I wanted two sammies.
Now I MUST have two, and would be even happier if you threw in an alpine chicken sammy for kicks. That be three sammies, Quiznos.

No longer am I excited that they are "only $2". You lured me in, got me hooked, and the figure has jumped to $6. Just give me the chipotle mayo and I'll be fine.

...and I don't WANT it in a smaller size. I want it supersized. Here is where you could learn a few things from Mr. McDonald. I want that mayo hung from a bag on a metal pole next to me and pumped into my system intravenously.

Ok just thinking about it is giving me the shakes...and it's only been 5 hours.
I'll be starting a support group soon. Our first meeting will be held at Quiznos.

PS-you really should do something about those yucky circular things you sell by the register. They are pretending to be cookies. You won't fool me there. Not with an Atlanta Bread Company selling warm chocolate chip toffee crunch cookies less than 3 miles away.

Sincerely, Meg

PS-this one is for 3 gold stars.
10 gold stars if you give me the exact recipe...from Quiznos...or if you show up at my house with a sammy.
...because I'm not above bribery.

"Oooh I Love to Hate You, I Love to Hate You, I. Love. To. Hate. You-oooou!"

This morning I tried to do my hair, but when I looked in the mirror I saw this instead:

Sorry Vinnie, I do not welcome back your style. Time for a haircut.

Any suggestions?

"You Are An Obsession, You're My Obsession..."

Everyone should have a quiet place to go sort their mind when life starts spinning out of control. The Montessori method calls it a Peace Corner. It should be calm, relaxing, full of things you love, and encourage thought and creativity.

I guess mine is my bedroom, where I have the treadmill, my blanket, a lamp, a book, a journal, scriptures, and a notepad for list making.

Reese's is the nook behind the big chair, where she spends a lot of time singing and playing and thinking we aren't listening to her boss her Barbies around, and takes "kitty" and a blanket to lie down and "not rest" when she "isn't tired".

Aaron's is the right side of the red sofa, with a blanket, a bowl of cereal, and a good football game.

Quincy's... is on a stool in front of Reese's underwear drawer. She is quiet, relaxed, surrounded by things she loves, and gets very creative with her "hats".

Q in stripey Elmo.

Q in Ariel.


Q in flowery training underwear, with Tinkerbell in hand.

I know I've already posted one pic similar to these, but I just have SO MANY more pictures JUST like this one from only the past week. My favorite is when she wears it over her face like a Mexican wrestler and cracks herself up as she bumps into things.


So I shouldn't worry, right? SO WHAT if my kid wears underwear on her head, like all the time. Some kids don't want to wear anything at all, and insist on running around the house naked. This is better than that, isn't it? Or at least it's the same, I think. When I taught preschool, I had a little girl wear a Snow White Dress over her clothes for MONTHS (what is it about snow white? Reese went through a very similar phase). I guess there is nothing wrong with it, if it makes her happy, right? Eventually, she'll outgrow it.

Or will she? Maybe I should be worried.

so...what items are in your peace corner?

"And I Know I Was Wrong When I Said it Was True That it Couldn't Be Me and Be Her In Between Without YOU"

Ever have a day where there doesn't seem to be enough of you to go around?
Yeah, those are my legs...and those growths at my ankles are my darling little helpers.

I wonder if the fact that I have sidekicks mean I get to have some sort of superpower. You know, like how Batman has Robin? Doesn't the superhero transformation usually involve some sort of blurry three day illness/metamorphosis stage... like when Peter Parker becomes Spiderman? Perhaps after spending 3 days in my bat cave, I have emerged as a superhero...or even better (yet somehow less likely) SuperMom.

Hmmm... what kind of powers did I develop during my foggy slumber?
Can I make laundry disappear?

I'm sure the Mommy Tug-of-War will dissolve soon...like when the Halloween candy and juice boxes they've been surviving on disappear, and the vegetables return.

But, I'm glad they missed me.

"Gosh Oh Gee, How Happy I'd Be If I Could Only Whistle"

(I'm having trouble downloading pictures from my camera, but I have MANY...hopefully I'll figure it out soon)

Isn't it funny how particular we can be about holiday traditions? We are such funny creatures...don't want to do anything that might change the feel, or take away some of the magic.

For example, I want the tree up until the day after Thanksgiving, and I want it DOWN the day after Christmas...for sure by New Years. I hate leftover Christmas decorations. So...there's the predicament...can't start too early, CAN'T drag it past the 25th. We finally have a pretty good system going to ease Christmas in, without suffocating the Day of Thanks and Giving.

Before our first Christmas, my mom bought us An Old English Christmas from a holiday boutique. She knew we would love it and we do. So much, that it has sort of become the only "pre-holiday holiday music" we will listen to before Thanksgiving. This is the 8th November it will make me very very happy. I highly recommend it to anyone...but especially anyone who loves an acoustic guitar and a viola.
I LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it. It makes me happy all November, year after year.

But, I require more than 25 days a year to perfect my "chestnuts roasting".

Then, like magic,
last week... HE came.
He's finally here.

The music echoed down the hall, through the cracked bedroom door, and onto my bed, where I lay wallowing in the sick bay.
He is magic.
Enough magic to bring a very sick meg out of the bat cave, to join her man in dancing with 2 little ballerinas in jammies in the living room

...and teach them all the choreography (perfected since 6th grade, thank you very much) to "Buon Natale".
He's magic.
Nat, baby....you've haven't been around for awhile. I'm so glad you found us,
and now that you're here...

Christmas is here.

..and it's here to stay.
...even though it's only Nov 10th.

"Let's Go Back a Million Years to the Very First Indian Prince..."

After an 8 month break from contacts, Aaron has decided to put the frames on the shelf and go back to to disposable lenses. Now that Summer is officially over, we can all go from hearing him ask us the question,

"Hey, does my face look red?"

to,

"Hey, do my eyes look red?"

I'm hoping he'll grow tired of my new favorite response :

"He Kiss a Maid and Start To Blush,
and We All Been Blushing Since....
Hunna Munna Gunda, Hunna Munna Gunda
Now you got it right from the Head man
The real true story of the red man
No matter what's been written or said
Now you know why the red man's red!"

I'd appreciate if you all would play along and save me from having every light in the bedroom turned on at 5am, while asks me these two ridiculous questions, as he gets ready for work every morning.