Popcorn?

Keira ran up to me after Josh said, "Go tell your Mom what you want!"

"I want some popcorn!" (k)

"You want some popcorn?" (me)

"Um...No..." (k)

She looks very confused.

"You don't want popcorn?" (me)

"Um...No...Cereal." (k)

"Do you want cereal or popcorn?" (me)

from across the room, "Didn't you want corn pops?" (josh)

"Oh! Corn Pops! I want Corn Pops!!" (k)

Here we are recapping:



Like the hat? She got it for Christmas. She wears it more often inside the house than outside...

Conversations from the Couch

Josh-"So, what are we going to do tonight?"
Mari-"Well, I was thinking about attacking that pile of laundry (the one that has been growing for about 2 weeks now)."
Josh-"You really should because I'm not very good at it."
Mari-"Oh. I am. I rock at putting away clothes. In fact, I'm thinking of writing a book."



dryer pile
Originally uploaded by mari_ickes.


folded pile
Originally uploaded by mari_ickes.

There is another pile in the bedroom, but I couldn't bear to take the photo. A girl has to have standards, you know.

I Killed the Crab

I bought the kids one of those toys that grow bigger in water-a crab for Night and a cat for Keira.

They were cheap, and they'd be fun bath toys, right? Wrong. I didn't read the directions, of course, until after I had them home and had told the kids that they could play with them that night while they took a bath. As the kids are jumping around in the tub, I find out that they aren't like the little pellet like things I Santa bought at Christmas time that grow within minutes of hitting the water. They take UP TO 24 HOURS to grow.

Oops. 24 hours is a long time for a 4 year old, and an eternity for a 2 year old, right?

No problem! I'll just let them take a bath, and then leave the cat and crab in the tub with a little bit of water so that they can grow. Then the next day, the kids will be able to see how big their toys grew, and we'll just keep the "pets" in the tub.

Great idea until Mom decides to take a HOT bubble bath. I'm not sure which did it--the extreme temperature (I like me a nice steam bath with my wine) or the aromatic bubbles, but the crab disintegrated! Gone.

Oops.

On the upside, I found a cure for crabs...

Coffee

I absolutely love my husband more than words can express.

Yesterday, I walked in the door after work, and he was cleaning out the coffee filter to make coffee. I sat down to check e-mail, and before I knew it, he was placing a nice, BIG, hot mug of coffee in my hand.

I didn't ask for it; he didn't offer it.

He's the best for me.

Discount City

All of Nashville is on Clearance Sale this week, ya'll!! Listen to Read the deals that I have found this week! You can say it-I'm an amazing shopper...

Thursday, we went to Old Navy in Cool Springs. I found a beautiful sweater, a fabulous scarf, some slippers (2) and socks (a quarter each!!) for the kids. I paid with a $20 bill AND GOT BACK SOME CHANGE.

Yesterday was the day I hit the big jackpot, though.

Target in Brentwood had a million women's clothes on clearance- 75% off. I found an ADORABLE hoodie for $4.98. I also got Josh a mini guitar thingy for his ipod. How cute is that?! Three bucks.

Goody's here in Franklin was amazing. The whole freakin' store was on clearance!! I think the sales there are still going until Monday. I might go back-it was that good. I bought a very COMFORTABLE velour sweatsuit for 8 dollars. (I had to get something to wear for my spa treatment. The invite said something comfortable. I couldn't let Malia down!) I also got a cute pink sweater with a scarf attached. My husband will kill me when I tell you this: He said that the sweater was neat and wondered why guys didn't have cool clothes like that. I offered to let him borrow it, but apparently pink isn't his color. Maybe when I go back tomorrow, I can find a more boyly blue or green for him.

Have any of ya'll noticed that K-mart leaves their stuff on clearance FOREVER? They still have some Christmas stuff on 75% off clearance. I got some Martha Stewart Christmas ornaments that I had my eye on back when they were $9.99. Fabulous.

I love getting stuff for cheap. I feel so self-righteous-like I screwed over BIG BROTHER or something.

I am also chomping at the bit to let you know that today I found lemon juice at Kroger, normally $1.85, on sale for $0.50. FIFTY CENTS! But to blog about that would be absurd. Nobody cares about lemon-juice.

Hypothetically Speaking

Let's say you went to the gym in the morning before work, and as you are getting dressed, you realize you left your clean panties at home...

What do you do? You don't have time to go home before work, so that is out. You can either put on your nasty, sweaty panties that you have been wearing since the day before (through the 45 minutes of cardio sweat as well), or you can go without.

Both choices have their disadvantages, but neither is a great alternative to those nice clean panties sitting at home in your panty drawer; yet, you have no access to those beauties. Dirty panties are gross and stinky, but they'd dry...eventually. Panty-less isn't too comfortable or hygienic.

So, what do you do??



I chose commando, hypothetically speaking...

Speaking of Found...

This morning, around 2, Keira yells from her crib:
"I NEED MY PACIFIER!!"
Only it sounds like:
"BLAH BLAH BLAH!!!"
It was two o'clock in the morning, and she is only two...

So, only partly awaken from slumber, I stumble into her room, and say, "What do you need, honey?"

"It fell down there!" she said, pointing behind her crib by the back wall.

"Okay. I'll get it." I still didn't know what I was looking for-Her "pink" was lying on the bed beside her (Hello Kitty wearing pink dress); her "purple" was beside that (Hello Kitty wearing...); her pacifier was in her hand; her blanket was on top of her. Those are the sleeping essentials. I couldn't figure out what she wanted, but I knew it was under the bed.

So, I started to pull out the buckets of toys that are stored under her bed, saying soothing things like, "I'm almost there," or "I'll get it for you in just a second, Sweetie." while silently mumbling swear words completely not appropriate to say aloud...

Then Keira starts laughing. "You can't found it, Mom." "Ha ha ha ha ha!"

"What, honey? I'm getting it!"

"You can't found it, Mom! Ha ha! It was down there but I found it; I found it, Mom! You can't found it!"

It WAS her pacifier she was looking for. She had found it, and thought it was a funny joke that I was still looking for it.


Real funny. Real funny at two o'clock in the morning.

I Found It!

Have you ever lost something that was super-important to you? It drives you crazy that you can't find it? You even resort to pleading to the gods that you would do anything just to have it back?

I lost my ipod.

I hated everything. I hated that we had no money; our rent was due; our gas bill was due; we needed to buy gas for the car; we needed to buy a tire for the car; work was slow (hey, people-go out to eat--I need some money); I didn't want to work-out; I was tired; I was just plain sad.

Then, I found my ipod.

What was I thinking? Suddenly life is wonderful. All of my previous problems seemed to melt away. I can now see that my problems were temporary, (assuming some of ya'll will come in and eat sometime soon!!) and as long as I have Jack back in my life; nothing can go wrong.

Watch him here. He will make you happy too.

The Cat Saga Continues...

As previously mentioned, we have two beautiful cats that we can no longer have in our house. About 2 weeks ago, after trying (unsuccessfully) to give them away, we decided that they could be outside cats. They are spayed/neutered and still have their claws. We have a nice garage set up for them, and a wonderful yard in which to play. Our neighbor Mary has cats too-what fun for them! They are young and healthy-they'd love being outside, getting to play and whatnot, right?

A few nights ago, Nashville had an unusual cold spell and got down to--I don't know--really cold. Wanda and Orson sat outside our door and cried, so we let the inside for the evening, 2 nights in a row. They had to go out during the day, but they were with us at night.

Wanda was SOOOOOOOOO cuddly when she was inside. Before, she would only cuddle a little bit, but as if trying to win us over, she bombarded us with lovin' during her brief stay in the house.

Well, it has been two nights, and the weather has warmed quite a bit (it is supposed to be in the 70's tomorrow). We are no longer worried about our little babies being too cold, but our little babies want to come in the house anyway. So much in fact, that Wanda has become a stalker. She climbs up the screened door, just to where we can see her, and she cries! If we leave the room, she finds another window that is near us, and she climbs into it and cries. Loudly.

Last night, Wanda sat outside my bedroom window. When I left the room to get some water, she followed me to the nearest window. Then back into the bedroom. Around 3:00 this morning, I had had enough of the meow-ing. I got a water bottle and squirted water at her through the window, thinking it would teach her not to sit in the window, or at the very least get her to shut the hell up. She didn't move. She just looked at me with those sad eyes as if asking me why I was being so cruel.

I guess I'm either going to have to let the cats in and deal with their hair (and Josh's allergy, which is getting worse), or give up sleep. Good-bye sleep. I already gave most of it up for the kids; I might as well quit cold turkey!

Juno

I love love LOVE Juno. I cannot remember the last time I left a movie feeling so... fulfilled. It is humorous and witty, sad, cute, heartfelt, and whatever fun adjectives you can think of.

I seriously am in love with the characters and actors in this film. I usually leave movies "liking" them, but I would have paid for another ticket and turned right around and watched this movie again. That is a compliment. I usually wait for DVD release--on clearance at Blockbuster before I watch a movie; or at the very least-I go to a matinee; but I came right home and purchased the FABULOUS soundtrack on itunes (paying full price is practically unheard of in my house), and would definitely go to see the movie again at the theater.

Go see it. It is wonderful. (think Gilmore Girls)