Nostalgia

My sister, Heather, and I have decided to be grown ups...

 

We have agreed to sell our Barbie collection. Which pleases our mother, as she has been storing it for the past eighteen or so years.

 

I have to tell you how much fun it was to spend the entire afternoon sorting and arranging all of the Barbie furniture (which was always my favorite part) one last time so that I could take photos for the online classified ads.

 

Are you interested in some Barbie accessories? Maybe a classic dream house with a working elevator?

Check them out here, here, here, here, here, and here.

And, yes. I did just shamelessly advertise my own classified ads on my blog. And I'm OK with that.  

Oliver's Hero...

...is Andre.

Always has been.

He talks about him in Maryland almost everday.

And Andre loves Oliver. A whole lot.

So you can imagine how happy they are to be together again.

Since we arrived, Oliver has followed Andre around like a little shadow, mimicking his every move.

 

It's pretty much the sweetest thing there ever was.

Official Report:

The morning started with a question posed by Jesse at the breakfast table:

"Ollie, are you going to see Grandma today?"

To which Oliver bellowed,

"NO! I NOT FLY ON A AIRPLANE!"

Which confirmed my suspicions...I was in for a long day.

However, I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised!

Jesse left us at the security gate where the line was short. We walked through the Southwest terminal and found a great big window lined with rocking chairs. We snagged one and watched a plane take off...

My little friend Oliver J. was fascinated, as I knew he would be. His no flying resolve seemed to be waning, and the deal was sealed when the pilots waved goodbye to Oliver from the cockpit as they pulled away.

"I want to fly on a plane, Mommy"

And we did.

The first few hours were great, the last two were a little rough, and at the end of hour five, we were both ecstatic to finally be landing.  But we made it! And that's what matters.

Salt Lake City greeted us with snow flurries, and loving family members. They even held a sign! (Which I should have snapped a picture of, but I was so sick of juggling my carry ons and rummaging to find things).

We are so happy to be home!

The Mountains are Calling...

photo credit
 

The laundry is done and the dishes are clean. I feel good about that.

Tomorrow I will feed my boys a hearty breakfast of waffles, vacuum the floors, hop on an airplane, wrestle a two year old read some engaging literature, and in five short hours all will be right with the world.

Well, all except for the part where I leave Jesse in Maryland to fend for himself...but at least I am leaving him with clean clothes and a well stocked freezer full of homemade meals. I am a domestic goddess, after all.

I can't wait to see some mountains again!

Oh yeah...and my mom.

Must not forget:

puppets, fabric for Bryan's gift (grandma can I use your sewing machine?), string cheese, Ollie's fancy shmancy new octopus lunch box,  cell phone, mail that bill.

Oliver J. Will Not Be Flying...

Last Saturday, Oliver saw an airplane...

"Look mom! And airplane! ZOOM!" he said.

I took that as the perfect opportunity to let him know that in exactly seven days he would get to fly on an airplane.

I thought for sure he would be ecstatic about this news.

No such luck.

His reply:

"Nope. Sorry. I don't want to fly on a plane. I don't want to fly on a bird. I don't want to fly on a space shuttle."

As soon as we got home I called my parents to tell them we wouldn't be coming because Oliver refused to fly. When he heard me repeat the unacceptable flight options, he added a couple more items to the list:

"Mom," he said, "I don't want to fly on a helicopter and I don't want to fly on a Noah gay."

Well, tomorrow we are boarding our flight no matter what my short friend Oliver says.

...This could get ugly.