Yeah- Forget it

Nevermind all that mess about the oldie-but-goodie camera. It really does suck. After trying desperately to catch shots of Kyle's face, and Ella being herself and trekking to the Walgreens to pay $6 to have the film put on CD - well, they suck. 

This one is arguably the best, and really it's only cute because Kyle is so damn cute.

There are a couple shots worth keeping, and maybe I just am a crummy photographer, but I guess I'll stick to my pocket-cam. 

I did catch these at our church festival this past weekend: 

On the horse she was SO excited to ride 

With the face paint we waited 20 minutes for, and immediately had to wipe off because

"Mommy I don't like this paint on my face"

I Prefer the Term "Vintage"

I was telling someone the other day that when I am finally done being 22 (sometime in the next couple of decades), I'd prefer the term "vintage" to old.  I do like old things though. Maybe not as much old things, as basic things. 

Y'all know we just moved, and I STILL cannot figure out how to work the timer on my stove. It beeps this one tiny little beep that you have to be standing in the kitchen to hear, and that's it! Well, my old (cheaper) stove had that nice repetitive fog-horn timer, and there was no missing out on your cookies or casserole or shrinky-dinks being done. Not that we ever did shrinky dinks, I would love to find some... but that's beside the point. So, my counter looks like this: 

Anything look a little off? Could it be the $1.00 wind up timer I use in place of the exquisitely engineered Whirlpool Gold oven controls? Hey, the thing rings loud enough for me to hear, and It never cuts my oven off before the food in it is done cooking. I love it. 

My other favorite as of late, is the ancient camera I stole out of my dad's coat closet. It is an old Minolta 35mm camera, and it takes such wonderful pictures! 

I don't even mind the trek to Walgreens to have the photos burned to a CD, or the fact that I need another stroller to push this monstrosity around it. Because, let's face it, I am WAAAY too cheap to purchase a comparable digital SLR. I am recently re-discovering the joy of taking pics of my kids because, well, to be honest, I have time!  

Hopefully I'll have some decent pics of the kids to show you at some point here. My digital Canon is great in that it fits in your pocket, but the pics it takes are not really blow-up and frame quality, and that's what I love. I am not much of a scrap-booker. Although that might be fun, too... 

The New Colossus

I don't know why this is on my mind- on my heart- today. Totally random. I guess that's the old post partum crazy kicking into gear. I think the FREE Mocha I got at the neighborhood McCafe did me in for the day. 

Take a gander, and let it sink into your soul...

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, 

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame 

Is the imprisoned lighting, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

"Keep ancient lands, you storied pomp!" cries she

With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, 

your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, 

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these homeless tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Serenades and Spaghetti

A lucky little girl got a new guitar last week! Well, actually it is pronounced "Cut-tar" in case you didn't know. She plays me songs all the time, and I totally busted her doing the cutest thing yesterday! 

I was unloading groceries, and okay, I admit it, I leave the baby in his car seat while I unload groceries. Yes, he cries a little, but I hate taking him out of the seat as soon as I walk in because I am all grocery store grimy and have to wash hands, and then if I set him in his little rocker chair he wants entertainment and then I still have groceries melting in the car.. it's just redonkulous. 

Anyways, as I was saying, I was pack-muling the small fortune's worth of groceries it took us 3 hours to fight evacuees for, and of course the baby started crying. I got a little more pep in my step and tried to go faster, and then, all of a sudden, I realized: "That's not crying! It's singing... and strumming!" 

So I grabbed my phone and snuck around to the other side of the kitchen, so I could snap a picture. 

The song went: 

And there is baby Kyle 

and he was happy

and he was walking like a grownup

but I gave him a spanking because he can't walk in the street without mommy

I love baby Kyle

I swear, I did not make that up or embellish it. All the while she was vigorously strumming on her Cut-tar. 

Quality music. 

And, on a less entertaining note, I thought I'd share our delicacy of the evening. My favorite "leftover" trick, Spaghetti eggs and cheese, all cooked up with a generous dash of Maggi.

You should definitely try it, it's AWESOME

Back to School!!

Ella went back to school last week! She had her first ever homework assignment. How fun! 

It was to make a collage all about herself and what she likes to do. So I let her dig around in the craft drawers and get out whatever was small enough to fit on construction paper. In spite of free-flowing tears, I was able to limit it to ONE pot of glitter, and only the small fuzzy balls. 

So off she went. I helped her write, obviously, although she did write a few things herself, and she glued the rest. She is actually scary good with scissors, too. 

Summertime!

Summer was fun this year. We put in some serious hours at the pool and splashpad. Here's little Kyle enjoying the cabana...

Ella is soooo close to finally being able to swim. We just have to get her over that final hump of knowing she can. The last two times we've gone I refuse to tie the noodle on her and just let go at random times, trying the "old fashioned way" as I like to say. Allegedly it's how I learned to swim. We'll see. So far she just screams, dunks under, swats around and sort of keeps her face near the surface. It's so cute the way her little eyebrows turn pink when she's sort of terrified. 

I think she's ready for the cold weather, though...