Wordy Wednesday

My husband just left the house with that other woman again.

See? All ready for their spring break lunch and movie date.

Alex is sporting her favorite tinkerbell necklace and pink Coach* bag full of bangle bracelets and chapstick. Date essentials.

*bag is from Korea, draw your own conclusions

Derek has such a sweet little heart. He was so thrilled for his sister's opportunity to spend some time alone with Daddy out on the town.
He just had a hard time expressing that sentiment as they were pulling away.

Yes, he's been in his pj's all day. Even when I took him to the gym with me.

Do you ever get to the gym and realize that you're just not feeling it that day? Then drop out of kickboxing class and sneak the kids out the back stairwell so that the rest of the sweating class doesn't see you leave?

Yeah, me neither.
Just curious.

Anyway, Derek didn't get the privilege of attending the movie because he didn't nap yesterday and we've come to the realization that if we want the boy to live to see age 3, we should let him nap.
He gets incredibly clumsy when he's overtired.

Yesterday we went to Boise and the kids got to play at an indoor play place there. It's very nice, with a climbing gym, slides, craft area, dress-up clothes, rock wall, toys, etc.

Oh and comfy couches, free wi-fi, and a coffee bar for the parents.

Derek was in choo-choo heaven.

As was this friendly dinosaur playmate.

 

Alex and Derek both loved playing in the fake snow, which I was told was made up of the material inside of disposable diapers. You know, the stuff that pulls the "liquid" into the diaper. Those crystally-thingies.

Of course, I was told that by a couple of 8-year-olds so who knows if it's really true. But the stuff did feel kind of neat to squish in your hands.

Then my germophobe self took over and I had to go and sanitize.

Derek was looking at these pictures with me. When he saw this one he said, "I few opp dat table momma."

Yes. Yes you did son.
Josh and I both happened to be watching our (overtired) son play there when we saw him reach behind himself for the craft cart that he obviously felt was within reaching distance.
It was not.
He lost his balance.

I'm still not certain how he managed it, but he landed directly on the top of his head, and then used his face to cushion the rest of his fall.
Onto tile flooring.

I was certain that he was very hurt, and in my rush to grab him I slipped on some discarded costume and fell as well.
We were quite the combo, that boy and I.

Turns out he barely cried and just wanted me to put him down to see the choo-choos.
Meanwhile, I'm wishing he would have cried a bit more so I could have justified the rush I was in to pick him up and thereby making my tumble seem more reasonable.

Speaking of adults falling, remind me sometime to share with you the incident entitled:
PtB and Salt Vs. Chick-Fil-A
 
It's a hoot.

Also a hoot:
PtB and the "walk" to the baby pool

Honestly, I'm not sure how I've managed not to tell you about these incidents yet. I will correct that soon.

Oh, but before we went to play we enjoyed lunch together. Josh was getting a bit jealous of all the sushi that I'd been eating lately so we headed back to my favorite lunch spot.

Alex tried a bite of sushi but was not a big fan. The kids stuck with rice.

Here's the boy using chopsticks.

Or maybe not.

This last photo will serve as your French Lesson of the Day:
Le garcon mange du riz. 

You now have about the same handle on the French language as I do.




Also, here's another pop quiz for you:
Can any of you tell me why husband and I cannot say the number 19 in French without laughing?
The number is written: dix-neuf

hint: It will help if you were in jr high or high school in the 1990's.

Go here and click on the blue arrow to hear it pronounced.

That is all, you may now return to your daily activities.

Just the Facts Friday: Monday Edition

Fact 1:
Josh's week of leave has turned into more of a Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday of leave. I find this happens when we don't actually get away from the local area.
Today was something about needing another flight this month...blahblahblah...currency something...blahblahblah...be gone all day...blah.
Friday he is flying in a fini-flight for a friend.
Don't know what a fini-flight is? Well I will be sure to take photographs and enlighten you on Friday.

It is my goal that you leave this blog more educated.

Or confused.

Or possibly repulsed.

But definitely one of those three.

Fact 2:
We are pretty sure that we are going to be placed in the language class that begins at the end of September! There were pros and cons to each class, but I think there were more pros with the September one, so that is good news.
One positive is that we have that much longer to try to sell the house.

Didn't know that we were selling our house?
I can see how you might be confused.
I was too.
You know, since no one is calling about it or coming to see it.

But don't mind me. I'll just keep on cleaning it in case someone does decide that they would like to look around. Piece of cake. I'm a regular June Cleaver.

Fact 3:
I wore one of my new bras to church yesterday.
I am happy with my purchase. I felt quite...perky.
However, one of the ushers was looking at my chest in a rather un-usherly manner.
In keeping with the Biblical line of correction I offered immediate reproof and requested that he consult God for forgiveness of this terrible transgression.

He refused.

Something about having bought the rights to that on our wedding day.
Whatevs.

Fact 4:
That same usher pointed out that I haven't had very many pictures of our kids on this here blog recently.
I am aware of that fact, but the truth is that we just haven't had very many photo-worthy events going on recently.
And so for those of you grandparent-types who are in withdrawal from your dose of Vitamins A and D, I present the following video snippets.

That must have been one heck of a booger:



Derek's new boots and my not-so-clean house:



Hey, Hey We're the Monkeys (singing the Mickey Mouse Hot Dog Song) (( Kind of )):

MemememememememeMEEEEEEEEEE

Nope, I'm not warming up my singing voice, I'm wallowing in narcissism.

As I type, I have recently walked in the door from my surprise one hour massage that Josh scheduled for me, that he happened to schedule to coincide with a birthday party that he has taken the kids to all by himself. Now I get to relax from my relaxation all alone.

(I would have joined them at the party, but I'm a total grease-ball from my rubdown. And I like to be home alone.)

So. The massage = fabulous. I recommend the new gal over at Reflections for all you locals. As a matter of fact, I have a referral card good for 50% off a massage with her if any of you want to claim it from me.

This has been a public service announcement. We will now continue with our regular programming.

This morning I was woken up by my three favorite people singing me happy birthday and carrying in a piece of cake.
You would have to know how deep my sweet tooth runs to appreciate the fact that cake is good to me no matter what time it is.
And maybe it's even better when you've just slept in until 9 o'clock.

Then we had a relaxing Saturday until I realized that I really needed to get out the door to get to my massage and oops, I had forgotten to wrap the present for the birthday party and lay out clothes for the kids to wear.
So hopefully Daddy managed those things okay.

And now we shall discuss: Yesterday.
Yesterday was my me-day in Boise. And it was divine.

I shopped, I ate, I browsed, I read, I meandered.
I did not, however, stay out until the kids were in bed.

Creepy little boogers. I started to miss them and think that I probably needed some hugs before bedtime so I came home in time to see them.
I'm a sucker.

Look, I brought my little camera along with me so I could share my me-day with you!
Aren't you super excited??!!

Well pretend then. It is my birthday after all. Geesh.

Here I am leaving the house.

Note to self: Reintroduce eyebrows to tweezers. It has been too long.

And here I am in the dressing room at Ross. Or maybe Marshall's. Or possibly TJ Maxx. I get them all confused.

Take home lesson from this dressing room experience: It might not be the bras. I might just really really need a boob job.

Then after a while I ate some lunch. I chose the Macaroni Grill because I hadn't eaten there in years and I happened to pass by it as I realized that I was very hungry.

The food was delish, if not a bit overpriced. 

I got the shrimp something-or-other and...yum. It was good.

I also got the mango tea. 

 

Also yum. I asked for a cup to go. Did you know that you can do that? Me either, until my friend told me all about it.
This is what you do:
"Excuse me garcon, might I have some of that lovely mango tea in a to-go cup please?"

Amazing.

Short story long: After I had received my (dining-in) drink (not to be confused with my to-go drink) and placed my order, I needed to use the facilities. And so I did.
And then when I returned to where I thought my table had been, I see nothing. No mango tea. No bread that the waiter was supposed to be bringing.

Alas, I am confused. Am I in the wrong spot?
No. I am not.
It turns out that the busboy had thought that whoever was seated there was finished eating and so he had cleared everything away.

It's a danger of dining alone, I suppose.
You can't use the restroom or everyone will think you've left.

Don't worry, we got it all sorted out.
I'm sure you were very concerned for me.

Then my tea and I headed for the mall.

I realize that this is not my most attractive angle, but I wanted to get a picture with the Easter Bunny.
Yes, other people thought I was weird.

They are right. Um, hello?

Good news! I found bras at Victoria's Secret.
They have a new Sexy T-Shirt Push Up line that I hadn't seen before. And since I spend most of my life in t-shirts, I thought it would be an appropriate choice.
Does this mean that my t-shirts will become sexy?

Hmmmm. I'll ponder that one.
But I was happy because after about 2 years (literally) of complaining about my bras, I can shut up about it already. And I had a gift card that PTB had given me for Christmas.
Thanks PTB!

Did you guys know that Pat the Bunny has embraced her nickname? She even signed my birthday card with it. I love being a trend-setter. (I must be where he gets it from.)

So my day was good, my weekend's been good. In the words of the MC Hammer attempt at a come-back: It's all good.

Spring Break

I have a few thoughts on Spring Break.

1) Rainy days with temperatures in the 50's don't feel very springy to me. Yet, that's what's on the forecast for this coming week.

So then I thought I would check the temperature in Bagotville (heehee), Quebec just for kicks.

May I have your attention please.
The weather forecast for tomorrow, March 26th in Bagotville (heehee) is:

High of 16
Low of 1

That would be degrees of Fahrenheit people.
Excuse me while I pee my pants.
I have to get it out of my system now, because if I wait to pee my pants until I am in Quebec, it might freeze to my legs.

Okay, I have composed myself.
A perusal of the 10 day forecast there shows that tomorrow is an anomaly. The last day of the 10-day outlook shows a high of 52 and a low of 33.
That's a bit more palatable.

2) Josh has taken time off of work starting tomorrow, because we thought that we might take a trip or do something fun. Then we put our house on the market for sale by owner and realized that maybe we can't just take off. So instead we will hang out and...well I don't know what we'll do but surely we'll think of something. In no way will it involve refereeing between our children because our angels get along beautifully with nary a "Mine!" to be heard. Didn't you know?

3) If it really were a spring "break" then Alex would still have school. Because she is not the one who needs the break. She goes to school and does crafts and has snacks and gets excited about being the letter helper.
 But I guess Alex times 20 would explain why Ms Jennifer and Ms McCall might need a spring break.

I think that is all of the thoughts I have on spring break.

Oh, except to say that I've seen too many commercials for Girls Gone Wild to ever even consider letting my children go to Cancun for spring break.
Ever.
In their lives.
Like, even when they're in college.
Or I will withhold every last cent from their college savings plans*.
And I mean that.

*Derek might not have any money in his anyway, as I deduct the cost of each fresh diaper that her turns around and poops in within 2 minutes of getting it on. He does that often.


Moving onto brighter topics:
Tomorrow.

Tomorrow is My Day.

In honor of the anniversary of my escape from the cramped womb of my mother some 20 (plus 11) years ago that will be marked sometime this weekend, I will be delighting in a day all to myself.

A day to celebrate me. For me, and by me.

Me.Me.Me.

The world  local area is my oyster folks.
I haven't quite nailed down what I plan to do, but I do know that it will involve me.
And no one else.
And that it shall not end until 7:30pm at the very earliest, when I might decided to come home and enjoy the company of my husband after and only after the children have been put to bed.

Oh the possibilities.

I think I will buy myself some new bras. Because I need them. And the girls deserve them. I mean, they put in 26 months of hard labor during their productive years and I need to reward them with the lift and support they deserve.

Also, many hours in the bookstore. Yes, definitely.
Maybe I'll purchase a new book to enjoy while I dine alone on whatever it is that sounds good to me.

This day is sounding so good, it's almost worth getting older.
Thanks for spoiling me Josh :)

Love,
The Older Woman

One of those days

Today has been one of those days.

It technically started last night when I finished bathing Derek and realized that there was not a single diaper in our house.
I understand that those kind of things don't happen to most people, because most people realize that they're getting low on diapers and pick up a new package before they are completely out.

I am not most people.

In my defense, the kids have been my "diaper helpers" as of late, and have been running to the closet to get me one as I need it. They didn't keep me up to date on our dwindling supply.
The stinkers.

No problem. I asked Josh to grab the diaper bag from the car.
Surely I keep a well stocked diaper bag in our exceedingly clean* minivan, right?

*In this post the words exceedingly clean can be substituted with disgustingly dirty at the reader's discretion. But if you want to leave it as is, I'm totally cool with that.

Back to the diaper bag.

There was one diaper in it.
One single, lonely diaper.

Can I just tell you, if my husband were a stay-at-home dad this would never happen. It's just not in his character to procrastinate and he rarely ever forgets things.
Instead of appreciating this about him, I find it a touch...annoying.
Because he just doesn't understand why this kind of stuff happens to me every once in a while more often than I care to admit.

So I'm enduring a mini-lecture about what I plan to do about the fact that I'm putting our very last diaper on the boy. I quickly concoct a plan that includes me dropping Alex off on time for preschool (a rare occurrence) and squeezing in a trip to The Wal-Marts before my Bible study starts.
He can just stay in the diaper he slept in all night and I'll change him at the church.
No problem.
Good thinking, Erin.

See? My forgetful procrastination only serves to keep my problem solving skills sharp.
Right?

Josh: Well what if he wakes up in poop?
Erin: He never poops in the morning.
Josh: gives wife exasperated look and leaves the room

And so a new day dawned. Josh was out the door this morning before 6, and I snuggled back under the covers to await my 7:30 alarm clock I fondly refer to as Alexandra.
But instead, I roll over and see the clock glaring at me with a big 'ol red 8:06.

Well crap.
Normally that would be very much appreciated, but as I mentioned before I was trying to get Alex to school on time today.
And I needed to shower.
And I needed to finish my last day of Bible study homework that I didn't get done.

So I busted into a high gear and finished up my homework while Alex ate breakfast. Derek still wasn't up so I grabbed a quick shower and resigned myself to a day in which I look like I left the house with wet hair because, well, I was going to leave the house with wet hair.
I went to get Derek up and...

...what's that smell?
No. Way.
I don't believe it.
He hasn't pooped in the morning in forever.
He's totally on his dad's side. He's just trying to prove that my forgetful, procrastinating ways are wrong.

Well newsflash boys, I ALREADY KNOW IT.

I just haven't remembered to get around to fixing it yet, okay?

Luckily for me, a few stray pull-ups from Alex's potty training days were found and used. Alex was only 2 minutes late to preschool. Instead of hitting the store, I just went straight to Bible study with the extra pull-up in the bag. 
Then I finished the study, and grabbed diapers from The Walmarts before picking Alex up from school.

And then. 
And THEN.
I took both of the kids grocery shopping. 
Because I am a glutton for punishment.
And we were out of food.

But first I swung through the McD's drive-thru for burgers that the kids could eat on the way to the store so that I wouldn't have to listen to how hungry they are for the next hour.

Instead I have a 10 minute conversation discussing how I understand that they are hungry and I'm sorry that the hamburgers are hot, but they are just going to have to wait a few minutes because the speed limit is 65mph and I don't believe that it is safe for me to drive that fast while turning around and blowing on their hamburgers.

We make it to the grocery store, the kids manage to choke down their hot burgers, and we make it back out of the grocery store.
No small feat.

Then on the way home, they are-- surprise! Hungry!
And since the clock is ticking well past nap-time, I decide it is better to have them eat in the car and be ready to sleep* when we get home.

*also interchangeable with not sleep

So they each have a banana.
At some point Alex comes to the realization that Derek has a large, fresh booger stuck to his cheek and she proceeds to freak him out about that fact.
Me: Just leave it alone Derek, mommy will get a tissue when we get home.
Alex: Ew it's really big Derek.
Derek: *poking himself in the face looking for said booger*
*insert long discussion in which Alex vacillates between telling her brother where the booger is located and telling him not to touch it because that would be gross.
Me: NO MORE TALKING ABOUT THE BOOGER. I WILL TAKE CARE OF IT AT HOME.
*crickets chirping*

2 minutes later.
Alex: Mommy? Mommy I have to tell you something really gross.
Me: Yes, Alex. What do you have to tell me?
Alex: Derek found his booger and now it's on his pants.

Sigh.

We get home, I unload the car, I put kids to bed, I begin to unload the groceries.
I spend a good few minutes trying to arrange a shelf in the freezer to hold the many bags of frozen potato products necessary to the good will of our household around the exceptionally large box of lean-pockets that comprise my husband's lunch on most work days.
Then I realize that I could have saved myself a good deal of that effort if I had first realized that the aforementioned large box of Lean Pockets did not, in actuality, contain any Lean Pockets. Or anything else for that matter.

Am I angry about that?
Nope.
I'm happy.
Because at least I can say that he does dumb stuff too.
I forget diapers, he puts totally empty boxes back in the freezer.

Thank you for validating me honey.

And thank you all for the free therapy session. If indeed you are still reading this.

*crickets chirping some more*

Goodbye.

Title (it's what I fall back on when I don't have one)

Derek and I went out on the town today.
He had an appointment with the GI doctor in Boise, so we used that as a good excuse to eat out and do a little shopping.

He even ate sushi with me.
Well, technically, I ate sushi and he ate rice. But he was a good lunch date nonetheless.

He is quite the pleasant little shopping buddy! All he requires is the occasional dum-dum, baggie of Lucky Charms, and a visit with the big fish at Cabela's. He even charms* the other shoppers with his loud rendition of Old McDonald Had a Farm from his perch in the cart.

*term used loosely

Derek's been followed by the GI doctor since he was 4 months old because of all of his food allergy issues. He's had minor surgeries and plenty of labwork, but thankfully he is a much healthier little guy these days. He didn't gain quite as much weight as we'd like to see this visit, but he's still growing and the doctor doesn't see anything to be concerned about.
She did tell me to encourage his love affair with breakfast meats, but to use the real thing instead of the turkey bacon I've been giving him. Man, I wish my doctor would tell me to increase my fat intake. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have any problem with that.

He did have bloodwork drawn today to see where his food allergy levels are now. (He's allergic to milk, eggs, & peanuts.) We should have results in a week or two. I try not to get my hopes up, because I don't think he's outgrown anything yet, but we do hope and pray that one day he might.

I told him he was going to have a little ouchie and that bottom lip came out so far I thought he might fall forward.

"I don't wants no ouchies momma."

I think it's harder now that he understands what's coming. But believe me when I say he does a much better job with pokes than his sister does. Remember her 4 year old shots?

He was such a tough guy, he barely cried at all. And he got a new ball from the lab techs that he is in love with. All the way out to the car he kept saying "Momma, I was your big boy! And I got a bouncy ball!"
What he didn't say was, "Mommy, I'm going to continuously drop this ball from my car seat while we drive around town, and you're going to have to look for it under the van seats every time we stop!"

He fell asleep in the car on the way home and I was able to move him to his crib where he's still napping. I can count on one hand the number of times I've successfully transferred him from car seat to crib without him waking, so that was a treat for me.

Our day has been good, and now I'm off to work on some of my Bible study which I may or may not be 4 days behind on.
I couldn't rightly say.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Love you guys!

If you want to participate in the guessing game, go here first.

Do you know what I love about you guys?
You're always willing to give me the benefit of the doubt.
Always holding onto hope that I'm not really as immature as a 10 year old boy.

And even those of you who knew better-- you had the decency to just guess that we took a trip to the zoo.

You could have said, "Erin, I believe you just showed us a picture of a lion's junk."
or simply said, "I will never read your blog again."

and so I say, I love you guys!

Yes, we went to the zoo.

Here is the lion...

...and here is the infamous picture from which I cropped lion's junk.

Because as it turns out, I really am as immature as a 10 year old boy. And as you've seen before, have an odd habit of showing you pictures of cat's nether-regions.

But honestly, that lion had it coming.
He totally tried to kill my daughter.
If there wasn't a glass wall in the way, he would have swiped her face right off.

Here he comes walking by the wall.

Now he's giving her an evil glare that says, "You look like a tasty morsel."

And the swipe.

Or maybe he was giving her a high five.
If so, Mr. Lion, I apologize for exploiting you.

So springy weather has come to Idaho, and I couldn't be happier about it. In light of our upcoming assignment to Quebec, I have resolved to not complain even once about any hot weather I might experience this summer. I invite it, I will relish it, I will soak up as much as I can get.

Don't worry, I'll keep Harmless Larry covered up lest all this sun I speak of turns him into Harmful Larry. To be honest I'm not even sure that's a remote possibility, but I like to drop names, and Harmless Larry was feeling neglected.

And back to the zoo.
Have you noticed that I have a tendency to get off-topic?

I decided that the zoo wont be on the top of our list for things to do this summer. Because I'll be darned if I don't have to force my kids to give a cursory glance toward the animals on their way to the highlight of the zoo for them: the slides and fake animals.

Really? Because children, parks are free. Zoos are not.
Next time I'm saving the cash.









So there you have it, an exciting adventure to the zoo in which I took inappropriate pictures and my children barely glanced at the animals.

But lest you think it was not worthwhile, I will leave you with these stunning family photographs of the Schore family with bat ears.
You're welcome.

Be careful what you are saying about me. These bat ears hear a lot.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow I will fill you in on our weekend.

But for now let's play a game!

Based on this picture, any guesses what we did on Saturday?

News of the Boring

I, the boring, have no news.
But I will not let that stop me from sharing the mundane details of my life with you.

1) Yesterday when I picked this girl up from preschool...

... she and Lily were back to being friends. And not at the expense of Sophia. So all is right with the playground world.

Oh, and I did change the girls' names. I didn't want fake-Lily's mom to read it and feel badly.

Not that fake-Lily's mom reads my blog.

I mean, I don't know why she wouldn't read it. It's obviously awesome.

Like when I shared with you all about my history of gastrointestinal distress when I dine at my favorite restaurant in the world.
Or when I confessed to my totally inappropriate parenting moment in which I unkindly and bluntly informed my 4 year old how she made her entrance into this world.
Or maybe when I got all intimate with you and shared that my period was going to interefere with our homecoming sex when Josh was coming back from his deployment. 

Now that I think of it, maybe the question isn't why fake-Lily's mom doesn't read my blog, but why exactly anyone does read it? 
Hmmm. Food for thought.


2) This boy...

...has decided all of a sudden to cry when I leave him anywhere. Even places that he loves, like the gym.
Let's hope it's a short phase. He does stop crying soon after I leave, I just thought we were through with that phase.

I mean, since he's driving on his own now I thought he'd matured a bit.

And he's even shown a recent interest in getting a job as a babysitter.
Practice makes perfect.

Note: He needs to work on slowing down with the stroller. Holly Dolly took a flying leap forward when he hit a bump.

Not unlike a similar experience I once had when pushing Alex through the airport as a baby.

But she turned out okay.

I think.

3) What was I numbering anyway? Oh yes, boring news.
Nothing doing on the house-selling front.
Send us good vibes.
Or a buyer.
I'll take either.
But would prefer a buyer.

4) We've been having some spring-ish weather. Yea!

5) Do you ever know that your 2 year old is getting into the toothpaste, but he's playing so nicely and quietly that you just let him?
I think I should go now.

Preschool Angst

Did you even think it was possible? I certainly didn't. But if the drama coming from my 4 year old is any indicator of what high school will be like, I think I might just need to freeze time now.

When I picked Alex up from preschool today she was standing on the playground looking forlorn. I had just watched her try to get the attention of a little girl who ignored her and grabbed the arm of another friend and ran away.

My heart broke a little.

When she saw me the tears came slipping down her face and she told me "Lily said she isn't my friend anymore because I was swinging with Sophia and Lily didn't want me to swing with Sophia because Sophia said that Lily is not her friend."
Whew.

So I said to Alex what any good mother would: "Did you know that you just used a run-on sentence?"

Kidding.
Her whole life is a run-on sentence so I certainly didn't pick that moment to discuss it.
But really, there were just too many things to be addressed about the scenario for that moment, so I picked her up and told her I loved her, and asked if she wanted a piece of candy in the car.

I think I missed my calling to be a therapist, don't you?

Look at that sweet face.

I'll be your friend Alex!
But first we need to have a talk today about how to be a good friend, and lessons we can learn from hurt feelings.

Don't you hate seeing your kids get hurt?


Or lost in a coat?

Or making a mess with a ring pop?

Or refusing to play soccer?

Or sticking their butt out at the sprinkler?

Yeah. Me too.

Trend Setter

The collared shirt says "I'm a little preppy today."

The layered look says "But not too preppy."

The diaper says "Pants-less is the latest fad."

(You know it's true, even American Idol is on board with Pants on the Ground)

But when you add the socks and house slippers. Well, that just has trend-setter written all over it.

Either that or Derek's into dressing himself these days.

Monday Morning Quiz, Afternoon edition

True or False:

* I just bought meat from a door to door salesman


True. It's a first for me. In exchange, I made him take some flyers and promise to sell my house for me. If he's successful, it will be the best deal on a steak I've ever gotten.

And if not, well, I still like a good steak.

*This weekend we took both kids to the movies for the first time ever.



True. We saw Alvin & the Chipmunks, the Squeakquel. I learned three things:
1) Squeakquel is my new favorite word.
2) Any animated animal can be made to look sexy, including an overweight female chipmunk.
3) Once you hear the chipettes singing Beyonce's Single Ladies, it can never be purged from your memory.



* We found out that we will be starting language school in July, not September.



False. We found out nothing. It is still totally up in the air. But it would be nice to know!



* I included that last question in hopes that we might find out tonight which course we're going to.



True. The last time I wrote a post complaining that we didn't have our assignment yet, Josh came home that night knowing our assignment. Maybe it will work again??



* I weigh 130 lbs.



False. But I would like to.


* Pat the Bunny has done nothing that I can laugh at in the past few weeks.



False. I may not be there to see it in person, but I have no doubt that she is doing crazy things and I'm missing out on it. Since I have no new information, let's revisit some old stuff.



*This picture-of-a-picture of Josh was taken on his 16th birthday while at a fancy breakfast to celebrate getting his driver's license.

False. This was taken at a Bed & Breakfast in Tennessee, on our honeymoon. I bet when he went to check in the owners probably thought he snuck out of high school to elope.
Then they saw me and thought that I was one of those teachers who seduced her student.
Sigh. It's rough being married to a late bloomer.


*I have a scanner but am too lazy to try to figure it out and so I take pictures of pictures.



True. 



* This quiz is over.



True.


Happy Monday. 

Picture Time

All that schtuff I've been busy with lately hasn't left much time for picture taking. Yesterday the little man and I had some time to kill while Sissy was at a birthday party, so we set out to find some new places to take pictures.

Enter, the Laundromat.

Love that little guy.
Don't worry, I washed him on the delicate cycle.

Excessive much?

Once when we lived in Texas (did you know we lived in Texas? We did. For about 5 years.) I was shopping at the mall.

Aside: I used to complain about the size of that mall. Then at our next assignment the mall was even smaller. Now here in Mountain Home, the mall is non-existent. I don't complain about mall sizes anymore.

Anywho, I was browsing in the kid's section at JC Penney's and saw that their Carter's sleepsacks were on a super-clearance for under $3.00. We only had Alex at the time, but we used sleepsacks with her and quite liked them. So I bought a couple for her, and then I grabbed a few extras to use as baby gifts.

Well, my friends back there in Texas were gettin' it on like you wouldn't believe, because babies were just coming out of the woodwork. In no time at all, my little stash of sleepsacks was gone and I found myself wishing I had bought more that day in Penney's.

Fast forward to today.
(Picture a mental map of the US with a dotted line from Texas to North Carolina to Idaho.)

I was in the Wal-Marts. It's more fun if you say it that way, you know. So I was in the Wal-Marts wondering why I ever complained about the mall in Texas, and passed by a rack of Carters' baby prams.
You know, the warm one-piece-snow-suit-type-thing with the little hole in it for the car seat strap.
Everyone say it with me now, it's a P-R-A-M.

Don't say you never learned anything on my blog.

Ladies and germs, these were soft. And thick. And nice. And 90% off.
Yes, I said 90.
As in nine-zero. Ninety.
Original price: $20.
Erin price: $2.

Aren't they cute?

Now you may not know this if you live under a rock, or never read my blog, but we're going to be living in Quebec. Northern Quebec. 
It is very cold there. 
But from my understanding, people there still have sex. 
(This is my husband's understanding as well, or else he would not be accepting this assignment.)
And sex means babies. 
And babies + cold=P-R-A-M

And so began the internal struggle. I had to weigh the lesson learned in Texas and my general love of a good deal against the fact that we are trying to sell our house & I just cleaned out closets, I don't know a single soul in Bagotville (hee hee, and what if Canadians are anti-pram anyway?), and the fact that we will be moving 3 times in the next year.
(Bring back the map, add dotted line from Idaho to California to Alberta to Quebec.) 

If you could do that, allow me to applaud your geography skills.
(To my sister Corie: It's okay, you're still my favorite and only sister.)

Are you still with me?
Good, I thought I might have lost you with all of my parentheses.

So what's your guess? Did I stop at a rational couple of prams?



Nay.

Nay I did not.

I am Erin. I do not let rational thinking defeat me.
 Get ready for a trip prams. You're about to get your passports stamped.