MORE Vehicular Issues. Or just issues in general

Seriously. I tempted fate by posting that pic of the shopping cart stuck on my car.

On Saturday I started off having a great day. Ella was at her Mimi's for a sleep over, and I never realized until she wasn't here how fabulous sleeping in is. I'm used to her dragging in screaming screeching and yelling at me to get her some milk and turn on her cartoon!! ech, I digress.

So I left big Josh and litte Josh and headed to town. I did some errands and shopping, yet another lady asked me when my baby is due (um, 6 months ago) I got to visit my dad and run by the grocery. I got home in time to get ready and go to a baby shower and Josh realized I had not brought home the meat and beans he requested for his man-gathering. Well, I bought the stuff! Call HEB, Josh has to go back and pick it up as I was getting ready to go. ugh.

So it's time to go, Josh's buddies were very gracious and did the obligatory "you look nice" thing, and I almost forgot the pregnant thing. I suddenly remembered that a guy had flagged me down in town and told me I had a breaklight out. Silly me, I thought he was going to rob me, but then I remembered I was in MY car. Any-who.

I decided to take Josh's truck, to minimize the probability of getting a ticket since that seemed on par for the day. No ticket, but I was called out of the party when one of the neighbors backed into the truck! Seriously! Luckily it wasn't bad, but it did kill off any semblance of a festive mood I had, thanks to the yummy bellinis.

So, I returned home, plopped on the sofa, had a Bud Light, chips and watched a bit of football. Who was playing? No clue.

I think as much as I need it from time to time, spending the day withOUT the kids hanging off me throws me a bit off kilter...

As I type this Josh is likely at the repair shop dealing with his truck. Oops.

Lolli-Salad

Seriously. She eats some nasty stuff. But nobody tell her that- I think it's better just to let her eat whatever she wants and figure out what she thinks is gross. Or great. Whatever. I promised Josh a long time ago I'd even serve her ham. Blech. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

So anyhow. We went out to dinner the other day, obviously it was after Halloween, and she was doing her part to work through her candy stash after her kids' meal.



I guess orange tootsie-pop isn't flavorful enough on its own. But really, of all the condiments Wings 'n More provides, and she chooses the potato salad. Uch.

Vehicular Issues

One good, one bad.

I went to Target this morning and as I walked out in the lot to go to my car, I saw this!



Bummer! As if my car isn't already the glaring banged up tin can that most of my inner circle tries like hell to avoid riding in. Now it's being randomly accosted by inanimate objects in half empty parking lots, too. Poor car. Oh, well. It serves me and the kids well!

I was also very pleasantly surprised today! I went to fill up since I'd been rolling around all morning with the fuel light on. I stopped at the Kroger, and filled up for: drumroll please....



Awesome, huh? I've been waiting for prices at the pump to drop and I was so excited! My whole tank of gas was barely more than $30 !!

Cheesecloth Ghost

Well there was ZERO room for discussion regarding Ella's Halloween costume this year. No, not a princess or fairy or ballerina. A ghost. No- correction- a "scary ghost, that scares people."

I make no secret of the fact that I mildly despise Halloween. I don't think its a holiday, and generally view it as an inconvenience with little reward, I mean really- who needs a bucket of candy and plastic spider rings? But Ella was super excited this year, and our neighborhood did have a kickin' party, so we worked on making her the perfect ghost costume.

Last week at the grocery I was looking for a melon baller, and it hit me - cheesecloth! So easy, and cheap! So two packs of cheesecloth we cut, and carefully draped it over her, and even made a long "hood" with carefully placed eye and mouth holes as per the ghost herself.

She wore it intermittently thru the night, and I think it was perfect because it was easy to get on and off, and she wore her cute Halloween outfit underneath... anyhow, I think I am going way too into detail here, so heres a couple pics

Urgent Update

I know everyone is enraptured and awaiting an update... Well, at long last, the kite has been retrieved. (see This Post) With the help of daddy, a ladder, a broom stick and a rake, the kite was recovered. Although, it looks like it spent a week down in our garbage disposal, and Ella was devastated to learn it will never fly again.

So- I guess we'll be headed to the Dollar store to find a replacement sometime soon.

RIP Pooh...

How To

A detailed guide to the ultimate Jack-o-Lantern.

First, three year old will design the aesthetic, determining the mood, feeling, aura, and general artistic vision to be executed. 

Then, proper materials and resources must be gathered.

Never mind the pumpkin patch, we needed a place you could get a pumpkin, milk and candy. 

And, since we are pretty "kuntry," we used a serving spoon, a drywall knife and a dog's shedding blade. Yeah, I had to look up what the loop is called. Josh is the dog groomer 'round these parts.

Then, we got to work. Ella drew the face on with a Sharpie, I cut a little, Josh cut a little, Ella refused to touch anything, my mom stood by watching, bemused. Finally, after Josh gave up and went to the backyard to do something in the backyard, I convinced Ella to get her hands dirty and hep me clean it out. After 3.2 seconds she went in to wash up and I finished cleaning it and cutting the face out alone.

It took me a while to convince her to be photographed with it, then she decided she was hot and needed to help daddy fix the sprinkler system, so she threw on her 'kini. I mean, it was 85 degrees out.

Only in the south, huh? 

Why Mommy should definitely have her turn last

It was a nice afternoon, and early this evening a bit of a front blew through. Ella noticed the wind and ran to get her Winnie the Pooh kite for it's maiden voyage. 

We spent about 5 minute getting into the dang pack (why do they pack kids' toys like that? I need a screwdriver, needlenosed pliers and some loppers to get any frickin toy open...) and then 5 seconds "assembling" the thing, and off to the front yard we went. The front because we have

 these three barely living 15 foot trees in the back. WAY too much of a hazard.  

Well, luckily Ella and daddy tried first, and got it to fly for several 45 second periods of time before it slammed nose-first into the street again and again. Ella didn't believe that you have to move away from the kite instead of walking closer to it while flying. I sat on the tailgate and chatted up the guys cutting down the neighbors dead tree in the back, trying to talk him down on getting a stump ground out of our yard, but I digress. 

So after several nose-dives, one jaunt all-the-way down the cul de sac, and several screams from Ella, I demanded a turn. I shouldn't say much of anything regarding anyone else's kite-flying expertise or lack there-of (ahem), because about 12 seconds after I grabbed the string and took over, this happened:

Man, was Ella ever mad. She decided we needed Clifford (the Big Red Dog) to come over and get it down for us. We're still waiting on a call back. Or a BIG gust of wind. Whichever works.