Wednesday, February 27, 2008

i never thought i would say something this ____ (fill in the blank)


wow.

i never.
ever.
ever.
thought i would think this, let alone actually say it.
let me show you some pictures, then i'll tell the brief story.



yaya in her hamper.
why?
because she can.
(or because her sister can make her get in it.)



devising a plan of action.
(or advising her on how to cover up the blood and bruises)




pay no attention to what is growing on the carpet.
instead, would you look at that face? this child is always smiling!
no matter what her sister does to her.
and believe me, if she cried constantly for the rest of her life, it would not make up for what she goes through on a daily basis.


ok. so i'm working on the computer at the kitchen table. gabri coaxes yaya into the hamper with a bowl of kix (kid tested, mother approved)...much like the hunter traps the fox i would think. as soon as yaya is in the hamper, this crazy laughter comes from deep within the belly of my sweet, ahem, three year old. all of a sudden, she is running around the house (on hardwood floors) dragging her sister in the hamper. all the while not exactly in the upright position. after quite a few minutes of this, someone who has possessed my body and who sounds an awful lot like me says, "gabri can you please drag your sister on the carpet instead of the hard floor?" and she kindly responds, "good idea mommy."

what the blank kind of mother is that?

a super cool one if you ask me!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

he sees you when you're peeing

we have mastered zen and the art of potty training. while we still have the quiet (or not so quiet, depending on your definition) look of a deer in the headlights when the movement comes on too quickly, we have yet to have an accident (day or night) in a very very very very long time (knock on wood, please God, let me not wake up to pee pee sheets).
we still don't like to go potty by ourselves (especially in the middle of the night when there are creepy crawlies hanging out in the toilet and mommy finally falls asleep despite the fact there is a foot in her mouth and a knee in her kidney and all the sheets are removed from her frozen body). so we're in the bathroom. waiting. waiting. waiting (because it's common knowledge that the colder it is, the longer it takes for the potty to come). as dawn starts to break and the birds begin to sing and the coffee begins to brew...ok, i'm totally getting carried away here...the following conversation takes place:

gabri: is santa still watching us even though it's not christmas?
me: (thinking this is a great time to instill the fear, i mean stress the importance of being kind and gentle throughout the year, not just at christmas time) oh of course he is, he never stops watching us.
gabri: (fear stricken) he is?!?!? but i need privacy in the bathroom!!!
me: (trying not to laugh) oh, he gives us time to go potty in private.
gabri: how about poo-poo?
me: we poop in private, too.
gabri: ok, how about Jesus? since He is everywhere, can He see me in the bathroom?
me: no, He gives us privacy too.
gabri: oh, ok.

there is not a day that goes by where i am not blown away by her view of life!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Jesus and Chuck E. Cheese's - one in the same?

as you will remember a while back, gabri is learning the sounds letters make and the sounds words start with. a few weeks ago, we went to chuck e. cheese's for a birthday party (my kind of party where the kiddos get jacked up on coke, cake, ice cream, and "pizza" made from totally organic and fda approved processed artificial partially hydrogenated animal by-products; come crashing down off the high and go through withdrawal not too different from that of opiates; sleep for 3 hours after the party is over, and wake up in a sweat-stained tizzy wanting more and then screaming hysterically that it's not fair and it is the worst day of their life. oh, and the no mommy clean-up part is good, too. but i digress...).
a few days after the withdrawal process was complete, gabri reaches an epiphany:
gabri: mommy! jesus knows chuck e. cheese's!
me: wh-, huh?
gabri: yeah, listen! ja-ja-jesus...chuck e. jesus!

~

another example of preschool at work? daddy was talking about having to keep a "diary" for work to help him with his end of month reports. in the background, yaya is teaching gabri her version of mandarin (if you've ever heard her talk, you know exactly what i'm referring to), so they are in their own little world (or so we think). daddy keeps talking about his diary and gabri then asks, "mommy, is diary like diarrhea?"

tell me you wouldn't have died laughing!

Monday, February 4, 2008

forty years

my parents recently celebrated their 40th anniversary (yep, 40 years. together. wow.). we had a surprise party for them a few weeks ago and one of the guests at the party said, "sh!t...i've been married twice and i don't have 40 years between the two of them!" while preparing for the party, i was looking through some old photos for a slide show. here are some of the gems i found ( i tried to load them in order, but they didn't...bear with me while i try to figure this blog-thing out):




nice dress, mom...and check out the crocheted pillow
(and who dresses your kids?!?!?)




us: surprise!!!
daddy: surprise what?!?!
mom: uh, our anniversary, dear
daddy: but it's not for a few weeks
mom: right. that's the surprise




love after 40 years.
(i get teary when i see this photo)




i am so cute in this picture!




and this one, too. i swear yaya makes this same face. this is my mammaw and pappaw (my dad's parents...cool hair, bertie!)




first and last time you'll ever see me in a bikini




Sunday, February 3, 2008

what...is ...on your...head...?

these photos speak for themselves. note: these are taken on separate days, separate months even. anything goes. leave no unmentionables where the daisies can find them!













orale!
(burque slang for 'what's up?')





my other homegirl




tights are a fantastic way to keep one's noggin toasty in the winter

gabri: i wonder why my piggy toes are turning blue?




yaya's automatic response to the camera




un poco de todo (a little bit of everything)

4 generations of feet (great grandmother, grandmother, the daisies, and i'm taking the picture. i thought about taking off my shoe, but it might have lost something!)




striking a pose with the tri-tops (note the popped hip!)




enjoying a crisp fall day in the park




at the ranch, making a birthday cake for daddy
(happy forty -gulp- three!)




the only photo we have from thanksgiving...not good! i'll have to photoshop some smiling people together to show what a great time we had (even if we don't know them).

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Punks in the Punkin Patch

gabri's school had a pumpkin patch in the back with hay that was begging to be jumped in. we left quite a mess but left before they told us to clean up (or maybe they didn't ask us to clean up because we bought $75 worth of pumpkins...did you say "seventy-five DOLLARS"? yes, don't tell daddy.).



how could i say "no" to this face and have it come crashing down, shattering into a thousand gazillion pieces...is $75 really too high a price to pay?

don't answer that. i'm a sucker for a smile




hay!

what?





proof (this was just the 1st trip of many. finally, the pumpkin-watcher lady lent us her wagon.)




gabri: ready? on the count of three.
yaya: ok titter...wait, what's a three?




not really enjoying the piercing points of the hay, but as always, an unfaltering smile on her face.





ps-this was in october (duh)...don't let the feb date fool you :)