A day in the life...

This year's Father's Day tshirt

Addison's dance class picture

Dance picture

After Addison's dance recital

Naked evacuation

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought of this - at least women. You have that moment when you're all alone in a quiet doctor's office with muffled voices in the distance. You're sitting completely naked except for those paper gowns they give you. Looking around the room and reading all the posters in the office on cholesterol, the liver, or mapping out where you are on the dreaded BMI poster that every room seems to have. Then you spot the escape route map. If you're like me, you consider how awful it would be for the alarm to go off at this very moment and there be an evacuation - with you in just your paper gown. Surely you'll be the only one without any clothes on. Then I hear it. A sudden, blaring, unpleasant, concerning alarm. BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP! I wonder if I'm supposed to evacuate or if I should wait for someone to come get me.  BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP! Certainly someone remembers that I'm in here. BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP! I can still hear voices outside the door - so I assume they've got it under control. I'll leave if I start to smell something funny or hear people yelling.  BRAAAP, BRAAAP, BRAAAP! Have I lost your mind? Is anyone evacuating? Am I the only one who hears it? Will the alarm get shut off? Should I leave your room? Naked? Finally after an eon the alarm goes off. WHEW! The doctor or nurse comes in. No explanation. Hmm. Now everytime I'm left alone in a doctor's office, I will think about this...and how close I was to having to expose myself to the world (or at least passers-by in Huber Heights). It could happen to you.

Wacky Wednesday @ school!!

We had picked this outfit the night before and just when I thought we were done, Addison wanted to throw the sweater into the mix. I think we accomplished most wacky outfit ever - and certainly for a Wednesday. It was Dr. Seuss week at school and sadly, many of the kids did not participate. I think parents forgot, but give me a themed school day and I will walk to the ends of the earth to find what we need.

Ice skating @ Riverscape

Despite the sour look on her face, she did have fun. We paid for an hour lesson, and waited on the sidelines not wanting to interfere, but the instructor was too busy to pick her up every time she fell. She was so desperate she'd reach up to anyone passing by to help her. Greg decided to help her and got on the ice. She did extremely well for first time lessons. I think next year she may get the knack. There were other kids older than her who were doing that cartoony legs up in the air falling hard on their butts...but she has a proper fall, so I'm certain she'll get it.

This, by the way, is the look of frustration we get when she can't do something the first time. We are working on patience and perserverance.

The elevator ride

Addison and I were in the elevator at her school when we had to wait for an entire PreK class to board. Like proper elevator passengers, we scoot to the back - which is also where all the 4 & 5 year olds want to be. I was literally swimming in children. So, there's a boy standing next to me looking at my sweater. He says, "what are those?" pointing to the beads on my sweater.  "Beads", I say. He says, "Seeds?".  "No, wooden beads." I correct.  "Oh." There is a lot of 4 & 5 year old chatter going on and I'm about 3 feet taller than him, so it's hard to have a conversation.  He continues. "What's your name?" he asks.  I struggle a little with this and little kids, because I'm not sure it's setting a proper tone with a strange child to call adults by their first names. You have to establish some authority or something, don't you?  Anyway, I cave and say, "Christie". He looks at me a little crooked. "Steve?" I try to hold back my eye rolling. He's just asking an innocent question, but I'm finding this whole conversation very unnecessary. "No, Christie" I say, hoping this is the end.  "Christeve?" he asks more confounded. Another boy, overhearing our discussion jumps in and says "Her name is Christeve".   "No, Chris-teeee".  "Oh" he says.  Then the elevator door opens on the second floor and the kids pour out. My daughter and I are left alone to float up to one more floor. I'm left confused and maybe a little dumber.

Happy Valentine's Day from me to you

Scratch art

I've probably been working on this for 10 years or so. :)  It started out as something and got forgotten or the inspiration fizzled. Greg found it not long ago and had it on display in our computer room. I kept looking at it thinking it wasn't finished...because it wasn't really, so I took it down and I think the results are a little more pleasing to me. I think I'll try another and maybe this time I can stick with the project to completion. It's really hard to go at something 10 years later.

Zentangle days Feb 4 to 6

Zentangle day 31

Zentangle days Jan 28 to 30

Zentangle days 25 to 27

Zentangle days Jan 22 to 24

Zentangle days 19 to 21

 As you can see, I started coloring in the middles of Casella, but changed my mind. I think I like it better shaded instead. It makes it look more like an optical illusion and 3-dimensional that way. I'm sure you could add some kind of pattern inside too, but that pattern does take some time to get through...and I didn't have the imagination after I was done. Jelly Roll started all in a row, then I started researching how other people used it and lo and behold it can float around! Why don't I think of these things? Finally, there's Undine. This one has lots of possibilities and I really have to use my noggin to make it not like everyone elses. I split it to remind myself later that I can be creative with it. For the most part, I did it how I saw other people use it, but added a little flair on the one I did on the bottom trying to make it a little more dimensional. That made me happy. I had a burst of something creative which pleases me.

Days 16 to 18

 I started off hating 2-N-5. I didn't get it. I started off small and realized that it needed to be a big pattern. I almost scribbled out the top because I was so dissatisfied with it, but I didn't. Looking at it a few days later and from a distance, I don't hate it as much. It even kind of works that it starts off small at the top and ended up bigger at the bottom. I was able to restrain myself from making it perfect and worked with what I had, and it all ended up okay! Lesson learned.  Then there was Flez. I think I picked it to make up for the previous one. It is lovely! All of these tangles I think are block fillers, but quite different from one another. Boucle' was another that ended up being kind of a cross between perfect and not. It required a bit of brain power as did Flez to make sure my swoops were going the right direction. I did have a moment where I started a like going the wrong way, but I challenge you to find it. I might be brave enough to try 2-N-5 again now that I understand it can't be the perfect and precise design I try to acheive. That's okay. I think I learned that it makes a good compliment to those designs that are.

Addison turns 5

She's growing up fast. She helped prepare for her party by making little place cards for everyone (that was totally her idea). I helped her spell names, but she wrote them all down and carefully organized where everyone would sit for cake. She even decorated them with some new stickers she had gotten. She picked out from the balloons I had gotten her party favors. She selected specific colors for everyone so when they left, they took a balloon with them. Her dinner request was Jay's Seafood, to which people reacted with an impressed "Oh!" when we told them where she wanted to go. Granted, she ordered the chicken fingers and fries, but in all fairness she devoured Greg's clam chowder. Considering she hardly had a nap that day I think she did okay. They brought her a surprise cake and the waiter sang to her while she hid behind me with her coat on ready to go. Despite all that, she was surprised and even asked him how he knew. Apparently he had super-hearing.

To all of you who joined us (mom, dad, Joan) - even though she tossed her gifts aside as she greedily grabbed for the next gift, the next day she joyfully played with everything. She spent some quality time with Greg putting the Lego sets together and playing with the horse and LeapPad by herself. In my opinion, she had a pretty decent 5th birthday - and so did I. 

On a side note: whoever told her that when she turned 5 she wouldn't have to take naps anymore - we need to have a word. I would very much like you to come pick her up at 1pm and bring her back at 8pm for bed so you can experience her full scale naplessness. Some kids need naps no matter what age. Even 40-some year old grown men still need naps. I think we try to make it a normal thing to need a nap. Some quiet, alone, distractionless down time. Even if she doesn't think she's tired, she has to have at least an hour resting in bed. I find that it helps me to slow down occasionally and just lay with her lying side by side. Without a nap, she doesn't know what to do with herself which ends up with everyone being grumpy and mad.

Addison's 5th birthday cake!

Princesses. Of course! This cake turned out great though, thanks to Ele. She wanted a strawberry cake and I think it was pretty good considering strawberry is not one of MY favorite cake flavors, but it wasn't my birthday was it? I'll definitely be getting more cakes there!