Giddy-Up!!

This weeks challenge at Donna's place is to post pictures of the Wild West. You have to close your eyes and say to yourself "I believe, I believe, I believe", before you look at our pictures of the girls on their "horse". Sophia and Alyssa climb on on their horse and yell, "giddy up" and merrily gallop away in their imaginations. Farm girl, not all of us have a vision of beautiful horses upon awakening, so we just have to make do with what we have. So there you have it one city girls interpretation of a horse. It's very practical actually, it's portable, it can stay inside or make the trek outside, no clean up, no feeding, just plain fun. Sophia has even brought along her 45 pistol that is how much they believe. Oh, and the cowboy hats are surely a give-away. Just don't tell the girls they are actually sitting on Mommy's favourite, height enhancer, step ladder.

Housekeeping

I need some answers and I'm hoping you guys can help me out. I spent quite a bit of my precious blogging time yesterday responding to some of the comments posted on my blog. Some of these responses may even have been a little witty and entertaining, but no one will ever know because ALL of them have been returned to me as undeliverable. Is everyone that is reading my blog aware that you have to go to your settings and accept e-mail responses? Just wondering. I know there are some privacy issues around this, but I just wish I knew which bloggers I can't respond to so I won't waste my time responding directly but instead I will respond on my blog. I find this a tad frustrating. Of course I have my e-mail option on since I relish every morsel posted and I have come to rely on a daily fix of comments from my blogger friends. So what I am actually trying to say is, "turn on you e-mail option" , but of course it is totally up to you. Just a suggestion.

All done with the houskeeping blues. We have had a super busy weekend here. I wish I could say it was all good. But as I have said before we have issues here. Issues that make having a great weekend with a crowd of people impossible. Oy, oy,oy, my aching head, and NO I did not drink excessively just excessive "clingy and whiny" x2 hangover. Here's some pictures of the weekend. It certainly doesn't look all that bad does it? Do not be fooled, pictures can be very deceiving.

They enjoyed the watermelon eating contest.Sophia finds a "Mumble" at the birthday party.

This little girl (Mia) LOVES the twins and just wants to hug, touch, and take care of them.

Poor Mia, Sophia and Alyssa have no interest in a budding friendship.

And again, no pictures of Mommy. Why is it that whenever anyone wants to take a picture it is always after the lipstick is worn off, hair is dishevelled, and clothes are wrinkled? Why? Why? I need my picture taken right after I get ready and even then the picture still needs airbrushing.

Clothing Renovations

More wizardry with the sewing machine. This time I took a really cute pair of pj's that were a gift from MIL and the girls wore only once. maybe twice. They did not have the non-slip stuff on the bottom, so they were awkward to begin with. Note to mommies-in-waiting: do not buy any sleepers without the non-slip stuff on the bottom of the feet. Unless you are a carpet gal. Also try to avoid the snap closures, and get sleepers with the looooong zippers (good quality of course, if not that zipper will drive you to distraction), much, much easier to get your little one dressed quickly, and easily. Also, my arthritic neighbour-but-the-girls-call- grandma hands have a lot of trouble doing up the snaps. Nothing is safe from the Singer, or my scissors. these ladybug sleepers were calling to me.
BEFORE

One snip with the scissors, one quick hemming and voila they were transformed into cute little tops....no more worrisome slipping, and they were spared from entering the dark basement in a box labelled, "outgrown" for just a wee bit longer.

AFTERAnd of course this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of the Chicklets sporting their new tops.

Alyssa pointing out the items she would like on the grocery list.Sophia takes her grocery shopping very seriously.

Just when you thought I had forgotten, thought you were safe, I make my move. Seems I need to tag a few victims, I believe the number is 4 ,to reveal the inside of their homes, remember mine? If you have already been tagged there is a reason you're being tagged again.

Hit List:

1. Monkey King (she has a hidden creative side)

2. CrazyLady (play the game baby)

3. Never Too Many (except tags seems like) ditto Crazy's comment

4. Bubble Queen (I'm sure there's a princess in there somewhere)

Have fun tidying, I know I did. Smooch to all.

3 Inches is Never Big Enough

10 inches is the perfect size for me, (just ask Hubby). 3 inches would never satisfy the places I need to go, the climaxes I need to reach, or the multiple tasks I so crave to obtain daily. From the tip of my ginormous toe to the back of my heel, clearly 10 inches and as stable as a horse shelter. What did you think I was talking about? Are you blushing? Clearly you had other things in mind, but I am referring to my feet, get your heads outta that place! I am still not finished with the foot binding. See, when I googled Bound Feet after my Secret Agent suggested it, got me thinking again. I just love this kinda History, that divulges what women's roles were and their lives and how much they had to struggle in our patriarchal society. The atrocities they had to suffer and the struggle they went through to become "people". Our history curriculum very elusively alludes to women in the past, but I have always snuck in a unit on Women's Roles in HERstory. Too bad for Mr. Government and the powers that be that don't think this type of unit deserves a place in the classroom. (You will all be happy to know that I am returning to work to teach KINDERGARTEN, by choice, please help me).

The beautiful foot you see is Sophia's at a whooping 4 1/2 inches long. Her feet would have been considered "clown" feet by the Chinese during the popular foot binding era.
Seems 3 inches was the ideal size for a women's feet to be, or they would be deemed "clown" feet. They were supposed to resemble the Lotus flower. I don't see any flower-like resemblances in those feet.

Sophia is so proud of her "nastics", (gymnastics) stamp that she got the other day. I swear these little munchkins just count down the minutes so they can run over to get their "samps", (stamps) at the end of class. And for this I pay how much?

A few pictures taken at the park yesterday with the family.

Twin Fix

Twin updates for today's post since I know most of you really only want to see pictures of the Chicklets, and not read my ramblings about nothing. Right now, as I probably mentioned in an earlier post, they are fixated with Kleenex, toilet paper, napkins, paper towels and paper. They love those really tiny post it papers. They doodle on them and then post them all over the house. Kleenex and toilet paper get the origami treatment, which starts off with large item creations like kites, ice cream cones, airplanes etc. but eventually they get reduced to tiny balls and shreddings of food of some sort. Today Alyssa was stuffing the tiny bits down her top. Aside from it being a messy activity, I really don't mind (I hear trees screaming in the forest). In most rooms of my house there is evidence of it.







Below (right) is a picture of Doctor Sophia using a piece of toilet paper as a band aid and fixing Alyssa's pretend "boo-boo". If you look carefully you can see a tiny piece of Kleenex in Alyssa's hand.










Alyssa is holding a travel bottle of cream in one hand and you guessed it a tiny piece of toilet paper in the other.

Shoving toilet paper down the toilet is a common thing in toddler hood, my girls fortunately, have only done this once. They just LOVE having the stuff , playing with it and ripping it, They add it to their play dishes and make food etc. Does anyone else have a toddler that likes to do this? I really hope this phase passes quickly.

Pedicure Anyone?

And I thought I was in desperate need of a pedicure. This poor women, endured this painful torture to her feet for what? Because the society at the time deemed it beautiful to have small, no, minuscule, or more like "stumps" for feet, so women did this to themselves and each other, all in the elusive chase for beauty. Today, our society hasn't changed really all that much, just different ideals are set for different times in different cultures. One that comes to mind is the quest to attain the "anorexic" look. Models/movies stars are super thin and these are the women our daughters will role model after. I know I need to protect my daughters from societies standards but I am unsure how to be successful in that.

This picture was supposed to be a spin off into a light-hearted post about my first much needed pedicure of the season, but the message in those feet is really too hard to ignore. Her feet are no bigger than a package of cigarettes! How much balance can she get with feet that size?

I did go out today and get my first pedicure on my size 8 beautiful feet.....pure bliss for 45 minutes.

Wordless Wednesday

Genius, I tell ya, pure genius. I've seen signs of it, (geniusness) but this, this is indisputable proof! I can't even get my grade 8's to crack open a dictionary. I think I hear the Mensa club calling.......Check out Angel Mama for more Wordless entries.

For Sale

For Sale: One pair, size 8, gently used, silver studded, black leather, stiletto boots. Whips and accessories not included. Boots have become obsolete in this bloggers world. Price is negotiable. Any takers?

It's All About Daddy

Was it Mother's Day on Sunday or Father's Day? Over here it felt like Mother's Day. Let me explain. For his BIG day I had booked a tee off time at a local better-than-average golf course, for DH and moi. I had arranged babysitting for the entire day, and made plans for the family to come bye later for a barbecue. Well, we didn't end up golfing, I had to cancel the tee off time because my wonderful, adoring husband wanted to put the hardwood floors in our bedroom. Awwwww, how sweet so instead of golfing and enjoying the fine weekend weather we had, DH and I were sweating profusely laying hardwood floors in our bedroom. Now that's special, maybe he didn't want to golf with me, I was a little worried that I would embarrass him on the greens, all for naught. I am linking this to Donna's FFF....why don't you come and play too?

So today's post is all about the tall, dark, and handsome Italian stallion in our life. He is by far our favourite guy and we love him unconditionally.

Here he is in Downtown Disney enjoying the Legos and Pooh with the girls.

At the CNE, (Canadian National Exhibition), which happens to be the oldest and biggest fair in North America, and we can't wait to go again this year!







Celebrating S + A's 2nd Birthday.


Lastly, the wedding day kiss. This was taken nearly 11 years ago, where does the time go? It feels like yesterday. We have had more than our share of rough spots especially during the dark, dark days of infertility and the angst of waiting for S + A, but we made it and are stronger now than ever. Happy Father's Day Lover!

Some Of The Inside......

Some people just don't listen to good advice, especially this person. But what do you expect from someone who used to sport the "big" hair look and auctioned herself off??? So I was tagged to show off the inside of my house, and since my eyes were burning looking at all of the "glam" shots floating around here, and here ,I figured I may as well do my homework. Besides, it was alot easier to snap pictures of the house, then to dig through the archives to find my glam shots. Um, what was I thinking? I don't have ANY glam shots............
Couldn't use our homestudy photos, since we've moved twice since then. This is it though, it was far too tough to move with 2 - 16 month olds (last summer), and definitely do not want to repeat that experience for a very loooooong time.

Our house is work in progress, so I have selected a few of the rooms to share with you that are done and won't be remodelled within the next 2 years. (This is what I tell the DH to keep him supporting the reno plans!) The rooms that are going to be remodelled, I figured what's the point? They are going to be changed anyway, so when we do finish them, I will share the before/after shots. I know, I know, far too much excitement, I warned you'll I am an obnoxious do-it-yourselfer.

The first picture is the beaudoir, and I should be lying in that bed right now instead of sitting here blogging.

The above 2 pictures are the living room. My girly room, lotsa flowers in there, floral couch, dried flowers, pictures of flowers, and even some sensual artwork, of people though, not flowers, don't know if that's possible, but I'm sure she could take sensual pictures of ANYTHING. So feminine, I love reading in this room.

The dining room, which is attached to the living room. Good for feasting in for hours at a time and just a-rollin' into the living room.The main floor powder room with the infamous black toilet. The girls favourite room for getting their origamy supplies. They carry the toilet paper (still on the roll and rollin') from this room to the family room, where they make miniscule things, like little balls. Oh, and look a picture of S + A ,( they are all over the house), on the bathroom wall.The last room I want to share with you is our downstairs kitchen. Apparently it is the Italian thing to have 2 kitchens. This is my first home with 2 kitchens and I love it! Mind you it took alot of organizing, to avoid the, "oops it's upstairs, oh no, it's downstairs" saga. So basically had to buy 2 of everything. The best thing about this kitchen is that it is fully equipped with ALL appliances. Halleluia! No carrying dirty dishes upstairs to the dishwasher. Bye the way this kitchen is NEVER this tidy. Had to stuff alot of things in drawers so I could take this picture.

So that's it for now, 10 pictures of some of my rooms. I will be back with more to share after renovations. I hope this satisfies the nosey Nellies, and the Peepin' Toms, somehow I doubt it though, after perusing the half-nuddies floating in cyperspace. (Sigh), gotta fake some glam shots somehow!!!!