my first band photoshoot

and i was nervous as all heck!
check out www.ellemariephotography.blogspot.com
we had a blast!

warning: you'll want to gouge your eyes out after this one.

today i'd like to provide you with three gabrielli-isms. the first two are versions of titter and little's spanish...quite endearing, of course. the third one, i have to warn you: if you are the type of person who gets a song stuck in your head or a site stuck behind your eyes, this post is not for you. i have tried and tried and tried to come up with another way to share this story with you that isn't as embarrassing, but it just would not translate the right way. so without further ado (or tequila), i share with you my gabrielli-isms for the day:
1
my girls love to speak spanish (or as elli says, "panish"). today, all elli would sing was, "who are we saving? la tee nessa! who are we saving? la tee nessa! who are we saving? la tee nessa" (thank you, dora). i asked titter who little was singing about and she said, "oh, that's from 'dora saves the snow princess'. la tee nessa is snow princess in spanish." now i get it: instead of "who are we saving? la princesa!" it's "la tee nessa". clearly.

2
the girls have a Christmas pageant coming up and titter's class is singing (among many others) "feliz navidad". aye de mi:
fleece navidah
fleece navidah
fleece navidah
oh se doh ana and a reesy pah

um, what's a reesy pah?

3 - last chance, turn around.
ok, so i'm fresh out of the shower in my (this is the part you will want to gouge your eyes out) bra and panties (which actually match today), trying to get ready for the day while i have little glued to my thigh. i'm dragging her around the bathroom putting on all my pretty girlie stuff on while talking to my mom on the phone (i'm quite the multi-tasker). she's nuzzling my skin and rubbing her face back and forth. "mmm, yous smell good" and all of a sudden: ARGH!!! she bites me on the butt! she then says, "ooh mama, yous good enough to eat!" titter starts laughing, little starts laughing and my mom starts laughing hysterically. nice. thanks, guys.

i should get a tattoo on my butt that says "usda prime cut"

the daisy girls in the sunflower patch

i have to give props to my girl bri for mentioning this patch. we missed the full-bloom flowers, but still had a great time...despite the bees.

raspberry fields forever

in corrales, there is a great raspberry farm.
tons of huge and juicy raspberries.
you can pick to your heart's content (or until there are more raspberries in your tummy than there are in your pints)
raspberry jam.
red chile raspberry jam.
and honeylicious honey.
this was an excursion the entire family went on...unfortunately, a rarity. we had a BLAST!

boo-foh

i actually had my blog planned for today (shocker). as i was editing photos, i realized that all was too quite on the western front. little had found my brand new lipstick. brand new. worn once. killer color. now smashed. if you know anything about me, you know about my love affair with lipstick. it started in eighth grade: one-a ponsa time, there was a beautiful little girl named leslie marie (ok, beautiful is stretching it. she had glasses which took up the majority of her face, braces attempting to straighten out the fangs poking out from every direction, and a sweet, sweet haircut) and she had a "boyfriend"named paul bruns (this name has not been changed to protect the guilty, sorry pablo). he said she had the smallest lips he had ever seen and from that point on, he called her "chicken lips". as soon as her mom gave the approval for lippy, she never left the house without lipstick. ever. when she lived in the sorority, before going down to breakfast, she would don her drumbeat red #264 by l'oreal and glide down the stairs in her robe and slippers feeling completely put together with her lippy.

ahhh, sweet lippy. the joys you bring me.

and just as chris tucker says in rush hour, "don't you EVER touch a black man's radio, boy!" you NEVER touch my lippy. EVER.

unless you're my little.

then i'll feign horror, grab my camera, and blog about it.


our quick conversation:
me: whaarghatahhhhh are you DOing?!?!?!?!
little: me see me boo-foh like you, mama
me: ohit'sokanythingyoudoisfinewithmebecauseyouaresoamazinglythoughtfulandcorrectandiloveyousomuch
little: i no me wear lissticks now?
me: no, hunny, not til you're older (or until paul bruns' son calls you chicken lips, then we'll reassess)
little: oh. when i getta be da mama, i can wear lissticks?
me: yes, honey.
little: when i getta be da mama, i drink sooooda?
me: yes, honey.
little: oh. when i getta be da mama, i open da stove?
me: yes, honey.
little: oh. when i getta be da mama, i eat pee-non?
me: oh, yes, honey.
little: oh. when i getta be da mama, i eat gum?
me: yup.
little: oh. when i getta be da mama, i go cazy, too?
me: (giggle) yup, totally totally crazy.

sleeping beauties

oh to be able to sleep with such abandon.
not a care in the world (dreamland or otherwise).
after looking at these pictures, i realize why i am so "zazausted" every day.

as you can tell from the wardrobe changes, these were all taken on different nights. what beauties!

dr. yaya? paging dr. yaya

this is a sour and sweet story (i'm sure you're wise enough to figure out which parts are which):

a few weeks ago, my 85-year old grandmother (maggie) passed out, hit her head, sprained her wrist, twisted her (flipping off) finger and ultimately had to get seven staples in her head. the daisies and i went to visit her and they were entranced with the fact that she had staples in her head. titter went into maggie's room, came out and announced, "boy mommy, maggie's a MESS!" and little automatically mimics and says, "yep, maggie a MESS!" we brought her some coloring books and crayons and visited for a while (that is, as long as we could without having maggie pass out again due to the um, spirited, earsplitting, and alto-esque exchanges between the two daisies).

now we're home and little is quite quiet (eerily so). i find her in her room with her favorite baby (jackson), some tape and a sharpie (not a good combination).
me: what are you doing, little?
little: oh hi mama. jackson hurt he-self. i no have staples so i use tape.

ladies and gentlemen, i proudly introduce a pain-free medical breakthrough technique discovered by dr. yaya:

nb: the sharpie marks are jackson's owies. you know what the tape is for.
yes, we have hidden all the staplers.

recipe for disaster

well, not really.
yes, ok it was.
but it was a good disaster. a friend brought over a huge ol' bag of dixon apples and i got a hankerin' to make me some appley pies. the daisies and i made FOUR! and i have NEVER made a pie (thank you, Paula Deen for a superb recipe!).

don't laugh. it was my first.

end of summer

the end of summer always gives me a bittersweet feeling. i love popsicles, the daisies in their suits running and screaming like little maniacs, swimming lessons, blistering days at the ranch, and oh so much more.
on the other hand, i LOVE the fall, pumpkins, changing leaves, crisp days at the zoo and biopark, fires, warm pjs and cold pillows. oh, and the daisies still running and screaming like maniacs!

i don't even say smile, this is her automatic response the the camera.

this was an unplanned pose...checking out their names: how cute are they?!?

you're like butta...literally

along the way, you have been subjected to gabri-isms. well, elli is totally coming into her own and her little personality is so funny! i am now honored to bring you the first (of many i'm sure) elli-ism:

on our way to mcdonald's (shocking):
me: ok, let's stop at mickey d's for a quick bite before we go to xyz.
gabri: mickey d's?!?! mommy, you're silly that's mcDONald's
elli: titter, mick d's is donod's in PANish
gabri: oh! that makes sense, thanks.

*****

i was setting up the ingredients for rice crispie treats the other day. when i went looking for the butter, i couldn't find it, so i got another stick out. now i feel comfortable in saying that b.c. (before children) anyone knows that starting and completing a recipe is not normally a huge deal that takes all day. however, a.c. (you got it, after children), there is no such thing as going directly from point a to point b without taking a detour to f, g, e, t, z, back to a, throwing in a 3, then eventually finding your way back to a, starting all over again...which ultimately brings you back to f, g, e, t...you get the picture. ok, so i get back to the butter part, swear to myself that i am losing it because i really think i got it out already (mind you this is now TWO sticks i've gotten out). the third stick is now out and my darling little one comes around the kitchen and says, "oh tank you mama," and tries to grab it while she has two sticks of butter in her hands...munching away.
what are you DOING?
oh, i jus eat da butta. ees good. make me stronga.

(please note the teeth marks)

great photoshoot today!

check out ElleMarie Photography

email and let me know when i can shoot YOU!!

spanish lessons

titter has a spiral notebook in which she does her homework. today, she forgot it and this is the conversation that took place between little and titter:
little: titter! titter! you notebook!
titter: little, it's my homework. notebook is how you say it in spanish.

and later, getting little ready for a nap, here is the conversation that took place between the two of us:
me: baby, please close your eyes and we'll go mimi together
little: mine eyes closed mama
me: no. they. are. not. please close them.
little: (smiles and says) they closed in spanish.
i had to leave before i wet my pants from laughing so hard!

it is so wrong that i am not correcting their "spanish"?

baby brudda's on his way!

little: i cook baby brudda in ma pansa
(translation: i have baby brother in my tummy)
me: you do?
little: yup. he's name jackson
me: really?
little: i teach him be quiet. titter get mad if too loud. i teach him run fast be strong too.
me: (suppressing a giggle) is that what you have to do when you get too loud for titter?
little: yoooooou bet! (and a smile)

baby brudder in my pansa

i love these nalgas!

they be some fu-unky people at the fair

none of course who read this blog, or who are related (we think/hope).
i won't describe anything/one because you have all seen them and to even attempt a description wouldn't do justice. i just have one word to say: dude!?!?!

on another note, grandma, granddaddy, auntie rebekah, the daisies and i spent an entire day and had the greatest face paintin', apple pickin', funnel cakin', turkey leg gobblin, princess hair wearin', pony lookin', giganzo bubble blowin' and deep...fried...OREO...devourin' great time!

a chick after my own heart: loving the spotlight!

these next two were taken at the end. not like you needed to be clued in.

top of the world!

we went to the sandia crest to scope out the digs for the 2nd annual american cancer society's climb to conquer cancer. while we were up there, we went to the top and gabri exclaimed: mommy! i can see the whooooole world!

my very beautiful, amazingly talented and passionate friend Torio. if there was a volunteer of the universe award, she would totally win it. l.o.v.e. her!

it's 8:00 am, 63 degrees...do you know where your children are?

in the pool, of course.

g: mommy, can we go swimming?
me: are you kidding? it just finished raining and it's freezing outside!
g: ok
(30 seconds later)
g: mommy, can we go swimming?
me: are you kidding? it's freezing outside. i bet it's not even 70 degrees.
g: i don't know what that means...can't you just call that mother and tell her to change the weather to make it warmer?
me: what mother?
g: that mother lady who changes the weather.
me: mother nature?
g: YES! that's the one! call her. please.
(calling time and temp and it's 63 degrees, 8:12am)
me: hita, it's freezing outside and mother nature is busy moving the rain somewhere else
g: ok
(30 seconds later, she comes out in her swimsuit and one for her sister, along with a swim diaper. sister thought of everything)
me: fine. you two are going to freeze to pieces. go outside and swim and i'll see you in 5 minutes.
g&e: yea mommy! you're the best! this is the best day of our lives!!!!!!!!!

should i? i shouldn't. shouldn't i?

i did!

"titter. need. see. me. now."
(translation: my sister needs to see me now.)

"baby. no. see. me. titter"
(translation: i can't see my sister)

an hour and a half! an hour and a half they were out there!

gabri with her blue veins painting her body and elli with purple lips finally decide to come in. a while later, it's nap time for little. i put on a show for gabri and tell her i'll be out in a bit. then the following takes place:

mommy, can i swim while you're putting little away?

no hita. you can't go swimming alone, only when i'm with you.

but God is always with me. can't i just go swimming with God?




tears sprang to my eyes.