Look! She's Walking! With Dangerous Items In Her Hands!

Sister Susie walks "full-time" now.

Unless she happens to be walking in a place with gross-me-out floors. THEN she returns to crawling.

Let's Go To Church, Kids

Poised:

Goof:

Mood:

SOMEONE Doesn't Like Her Froo-Froos

Ya try to put a pink barrette in the girl, and what does she do?

She cries about it.

Probably doesn't like the color.

Or the shape.

Or the fact that Her Mother is within three feet of her and Is Not Picking Her Up.

But instead is taking pictures of this Proud Display of one-and-a-half-year-old-ness.

It's all prep for the teen years.

I know that now.

It's Beginning To Feel A Lot Like...Springtime

Well, if you can get past the gray hairs that are so prominently displayed on my head, you might notice that I am outside! In January! With only a fleece-type coat!

Surely this cannot be winter.

But let's back up a bit.

Around 11:00 a.m. today, I noticed a glow coming through the windows.

"WHATEVER COULD IT BE?!?!?!?" I asked myself.

"WHAT IS THAT BRIGHT ORB IN THE SKY??" I questioned.

Oh! It's the sun! Breaking through all the grayness!

So then my heart filled with glee (which as my kids will tell you--happens about once a year, when the house is spotless and the bills are paid and everyone is healthy and Mars lines up with Jupiter, JUST HOW I LIKE IT), and I went around the house sing-songing, "We must take a walk! We must take a walk to the park!"

So while the kids were dilly-dallying through their lunch, I headed to the computer to read through the hordes of blog comments that come my way each day.

If you think I'm a bit sarcastic, you're half right.

I'm a LOT sarcastic.

But where was I.

Oh, upstairs.

Soon I hear the Zig walking up the stairs saying, "Ma, I couldn't make it to the potty in time."

And it wasn't any "number one" I was seeing stained all over the lightly-colored-carpeted stairs as he step-step-stepped his way to help. Yep, it was the Good Stuff.

Good enough for Sister Susie to make her way up the stairs behind the Zig, touching the brown spots and tasting as she went.

I don't make this stuff up, I promise.

So eighteen gazillion hours later, AFTER THE SUN HAD GONE BEHIND THE CLOUDS, and I had given Zig his second bath of the day and cleaned the carpets and consoled the Campers and sanitized Sister's mouth, (OF WHICH NONE OF THIS I AM BITTER ABOUT), we headed outside.

Because We Were Going To Enjoy This Weather Whether We Wanted To Or Not.

Fine moods we were in, the lot of us.

Oh, but the rambling, it has got to stop! Okay, Ma, back to business.

So here's the Campers. Climbing like a little six-year-old skinny grade-school monkey.

And Ziggy, swinging to his little heart's content.

But we can't all be happy at the same time, goodness sake, I'd die of shock.

"GET ME OUT OF THIS STROLLER, YOU NINNY OF A MOTHER!!!"

At least that's what it looked like she was saying.

And this is our life, in the Winter Wonderland.

That looks a whole lot like spring.

I've Got Me My Own Batman Shirt, That I Do

Sakes alive, I have a new Clothing Addiction.

And it really isn't a Batman shirt, or the pumpkin shirt, or the Spiderman pajamas, or (the latest) the Thomas and Friends short-sleeved-and-all-the-plastic-image-is-peeling-off kind of shirt.

And if I happen to mention that the Zig has worn his Thomas shirt since Tuesday, all during the day AND EVEN at night, that might ruin my reputation as a Crystal Clean Type Of Mother.

Oh wait.

Never had that reputation to begin with.

So back to my addiction.

Or maybe we'll just talk about some clothes.

So my dear friend, who shall remain nameless, but has known me since I was eighteen (!!!), AND looked like this:


...yet even though she saw the Aqua-Net bangs she STILL chose to be my friend (!!!), well, she sent me this glorious, wonderful, fleecy-warm-but-not-too-bulky sweatshirt-jacket type item.

I love it!

And don't I look cool!?! Or hot?!? Or whatever??

And on the tag, it says it is "waterproof." Guess that might come in handy here in our city, eh?

But in response to my hip-hip-hooraying over the fleece, Pa just asked me how I was expected to wash something that was "waterproof."

Oh good grief.

Okay, so *he* may be funny, but *I* look gooooooood.

Be prepared to see this fleece a lot.

Thanks, my friend.

It Seems They Have A Friend

Here are the boys, waiting anxiously by the window for their friend to arrive.

Campers, in his wildly fluctuating moods, was altering from "When's he gonna get here? When's he gonna get here? Why isn't he here? Should we call his mom?" to "I don't want him to come. I don't like him anyway. He's too little. He's no fun. I don't want to play. I want to play by myself."

That's my boy, and his love-hate relationship with socialization.

Regardless, they have a new friend.

And that's a good thing.

Say "Water!"

Susie likes to make the sign for "water."

Here is what it is supposed to look like--three fingers shaped into "W" with the index finger tapped onto the mouth:

But our girl, she does one better than that.

She just picks her nose.

Same difference.

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, this picture came to us in the mail, delivered by the FedEx man himself. A pain-free delivery, for sure.

By genetic design, she still has the tiny feet, the pudgy hands, and the big bright eyes.

By some mystery, this princess from China has become a daughter of mine.

And by the grace of God, she calls me "Ma."

Cuckoo For Cookies, The Event

So we had this little "Cuckoo for Cookies" open house as a way to get to know our neighbors. I had been baking cookies for a few weeks, stashing them bit by bit in the freezer. "Out of sight, out of mind" I guess. When I pulled the loot out, egad! Look at all those cookies!!!

I never have learned how to relax.

There's a manic overachiever in every crowd, and I just have to be her.

But there were so many favorites that I couldn't leave a one out. And the kids kept egging me on to make more. "Ma, can we have monster cookies? You know, like the ones we used to get at Chief?"

And the challenge was on.

And because I know, just know that you want to be informed of each and every type of cookie you see in this picture, I'll list them out for you.

Starting with the red plate and moving counterclockwise: No-bake oatmeal chocolate, peanut butter cup, toffee cranberry crisps, soft chocolate cookies, monster cookies, chex party mix, oatmeal raisin, buckeyes, chocolate chip, veggie bites (for me!), sugar cookies, butter pecan, lemon shortbread, gluten-free brownies, sugar-free fudge mint, sugar-free fudge shortbread, and mixed nuts. Served with coffee, milk, and hot tea on the side.

That's for you detail-wanting, food-loving, party-hosting kind of folk.

And here is the Campers (with Optimus Prime looking out as well), waiting, and waiting, and still waiting for the first visitors to come. It was about 45 minutes into the party before our first guests arrived. Pa and I (when we weren't drifting off to sleep) were having all sorts of guffaw-inducing "pretend conversations" (Hey! I never said we were normal!) and I personally laughed myself silly asking the boys how they were enjoying the "party."

Oh, they think their poor Ma is a few sticks of butter short of a batch of cookies, that's for sure.

I'm telling you, for a family of introverts, we were really digging the party before all the guests came.

But then! They came! A-pounding at the door!

We were convinced, and even had this confirmed, that many of them were all looking out their windows waiting for the First People To Enter Our House so that they knew it was Safe To Do The Same Thing.

We ARE scary people, after all.

But then we had such a nice visit with the people on our street. I even stayed out of the closet and (the shock of it all) talked to the folks.

Whatever has become of me, the girl who used to hide behind her own Ma and squeak out nary a "hello" to those speaking right at me.

Anyway.

I just took a tally, and we had 14 people in our house, all at the same time. All scrunched up in our living room and eating not nearly enough cookies.

And speaking of those cookies, I'll include a closeup shot from the Pa.

And if that shot doesn't make you want to head to your pantry and overindulge, maybe these will.

Good party,
Good treats,
Good heavens,
Don't eat.

Just helping you keep your resolutions, that's all.

Cuckoo For Cookies, The Dontcha Wish You Were Here Shots

That Pa, he is 50 kinds of talented, that I know for sure.

[The links I have to the recipes are the actual recipes I use.]

[In case the drool you are getting on your keyboard is enough to send you to the kitchen to make your own batch.]

Monster cookies with soft chocolate cookies in the background.

Toffee cranberry crisps in front; peanut butter cup cookies behind.

A little homemade chex party mix to balance out the sweets.

Buckeyes, as a tribute to the state from which we left.

Enjoy. The pictures and the recipes. And if there's a cookie you saw on the other post that you'd like to have the recipe to, just e-mail me and I'll send it to you.