The other day, we were headed out the door when I realized that Oliver needed a diaper change

He was so relieved when I was finished changing him that he jumped up, ran out the door, and tore down the  sidewalk without any pants!

 Pretty soon, he realized the error of his ways and began to regret his pants-less jaunt.

It was all rather comical, and in the end, we made it to the Safeway wearing all of the appropriate articles of clothing.

He's Full of Great Ideas

"Hey Mommy!" he said.

"I have an idea!"

"I'll play with my cars!"

"Do you think that's a great idea, Mama?"

Dearest Ollie, I think all of your ideas are great! Keep them coming!

Siesta

I had the privilege of walking in on an impromptu Ollie-nap today...

Would you care to see my new rack?

POT rack!

Get your mind out of the gutter!

Jesse devised this plan after I started browsing pot racks online.

He used a wire shelving  unit thingy that I bought to hold towels in our first apartment four years ago, but have thoroughly hated since because it never proved useful ever again.

When Jesse told me his idea, I protested. It sounded really, really lame. And hideous.

So he did it anyway.

And I learned a very valuable lesson...one that seems to surprise me over and over and over and over again.

Shut up and listen to my husband once in a while!

It is tremendously useful! And while it doesn't look just the way I wanted a pot rack to look, it is far from hideous. And it only cost $8 (for the s hooks, which are actually shower curtain hangers, because they were cheaper than s hooks and more appropriately sized). Not to mention that it made a completely wasted space useful again. It also functions as a drum set for Oliver J. 

Cheap, re purposed, and really really useful? I'm good with that.

I'm a little less good with the drumming, but it's all about picking my battles.

A little bit of love from Oliver J.

For all of the Grandmas and Grandpas (and great grandparents) in his life...

If you are not a Grandma or Grandpa in Oliver's life, not to worry! For you viewing pleasure, I give you...

 A bug...dressed as a fox...headed to Ellicott City.

Don't worry, there is also a nose on the hood.

Did you know that in Maryland, the pronunciation for Ellicott actually sounds like Ellicut?

And in case you were wondering if Marylanders pronounce any of their other cities funny, they do.

For instance Bowie sounds like buoy.

However, there's a whole song full of Utah's crazy city names...so I guess Maryland isn't doing too bad.

Speaking of Utah, did you know that a more recent episode of Dr. Who was filmed in southern Utah...Jesse laughed a lot when he saw a San Juan County school bus.

I can't believe that I just told the whole internet that we watch Dr. Who. But I'll do you one better...we LOVE Dr. Who. So there!

Yikes, that got really rambly really fast...

{Dear Mom}

 a comprehensive update on each of us infused with various photos of Oliver...

Oliver's favorite song is "This is Halloween" from the Nightmare Before Christmas.  He knows every word.

If you think you are being the coolest mom ever, and rearrange the electronic devices in the house so that he can listen to the previously mentioned song while he goes to sleep, because he is bored with all of the other music options you have provided, you're wrong. He will look at you with a little frown and say "I don't want to be scared of the dark! I don't want to listen to Halloween!"

Jesse has become somewhat superstitious...When he does really well on a test, he singles out a couple of things that happened before the test and recreates them before every test. It's a little bit funny, but mostly sad because it shows just how stressed out his poor little brain is. He's a no-nonsense, very logical, black and white kind of guy. He's never been superstitious about anything before. A couple of his pretest habits include not leaving the house before I have wished  him luck, and moving the clock back to where it was before I rearranged the dining room, so that he can sit in the same place at the dining table every time he studies and still see the time.

Ollie has memorized the opening of Blue's Clues. He knows all the little jingles, and always does the Blue's Clues hand actions when he talks to you about the show. He's obsessed.

The other day I realized that I am SO SICK of hearing/reading the acronym "DIY," the word "Ombre," and the phrase "Chevron Stripes." I need to spend less time on pinterest.

This is Jesse's favorite collection of youtube videos on the web...seriously, he found them last August and we are still laughing.

A few weeks ago, Oliver was being silly at bedtime and was waving his feet in the air. I laughed along and then said, "Put your feet down, silly goose." He thought it was so funny that it is now a required part of our regular bedtime routine, even more important than hugs, kisses, or I love yous.

I have sort of a reputation at the post office... I send a lot of mail...and I try to be creative about it. Steve (my favorite postman) laughed at my Valentine's packaging, and another post lady always asks me if I'm that one girl who sends those birthday cards.

Jesse learned to do stitches and casts in lab recently and we are 2 1/2 months away from clinical rotations. I'm finally starting to feel like this PA school thing is really happening, and not just a bad dream.

A recent conversation between Oliver and Jesse:

Oliver, "You're a GRUMP dad!!!"
Jesse, "Oliver, please don't talk to me like that."
Oliver, "You're a grump, please?"

I've started entering all kinds of giveaways. Because you know, it doesn't hurt to enter. And every once in a while, I actually win!

Jesse won't stop singing this song. It's pretty much the most annoying song ever, and if you watch it, you'll see why.

Oliver has started pretending to be dinosaurs, and kittens, and monsters, and etc. While he is pretending to be those things, he informs you of how he wishes to be referred to. For example, if he is pretending to be a dinosaur, he will only respond to "Mr. Dinosaur." If he is pretending to be a cat, he will only respond to "Mr. very cute Cat." If he is pretending to be a monster, he will only respond to "Mr. very VERY scary Monster."

The Adventures of Jesse James and The Peanut Butter Bandit

This morning while I was in bed willing myself to wake up (I found super high thread count sheets on mega sale two Christmases ago, and now every morning is a battle), Jesse was getting ready for a field trip (sort of), and Oliver was roaming through the house looking for trouble.

Jesse had prepared himself a nice, triple stack PB&J for lunch. That sounds like a lot, right? It is.  He left it sitting on top of his backpack where he would be sure to remember it, and ran back upstairs to grab a couple of things he had forgotten.

He kissed me goodbye, waited for me to say the obligatory morning-of-a-test phrase "Good luck on your test!" (He's become a little supersticious...), and headed towards the door.

The next thing I heard was Jesse saying, "Where's my lunch?!?!"

Then I heard him laugh. A lot.

Which was enough to get me out of bed...I never want to miss out on the fun.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, Oliver met me, smacking his lips and saying, "I'm eating peanut butter and jewwy for breakfast, mom! I WOVE peanut butter and jewwy!"

Ollie vs the Flatware Drawer

We let Oliver help around the house when he wants to. 

Let him think work is a game, maybe even a little bit fun? 

I'm sure he'll find out the hard truth about chores one day, but we'll let him live in innocence for just a while longer...

But not too much longer. After all, I'm not in the business of having babies just for the sweet, cuddly meatloaf you get in the beginning! 

I have bigger dreams! I want the by-product of babies.

No, not mountains of human excrement, don't be silly!

You know what I'm talking about.

Indentured servants!!!

That's the real miracle of motherhood!

*cue maniacal laughter*

Now that you know my truest intentions, I'll bow out gracefully, and leave you with this photo of Oliver: indentured servant in training:

How I spent my Christmas Money: Official Report

Dearest Grandma and Grandpa,

I sort of went IKEA crazy while my dad was here.

He happened to rent a car big enough to pick up all the things I managed to find logical enough reasons to buy.

He took me to Ikea...twice! We stopped at the Baltimore Ikea one day where we managed to find the EXACT shelving unit I was looking for in the "As Is" section for fifty dollars instead of eighty.

That, my friends, was very lucky!

While we were there, I decided that I wanted to use my Christmas Cash to purchase Ikea's Raskog kitchen cart in blue...because it is useful, and whimsical, and the perfect size and shape for my laundry...er...nook under the stairs.

photo credit

Except....horror of horrors, it was out of stock!

Dad said, "That's ok. We can go to the other Ikea tomorrow." Because he's the best dad in the whole world.

The next day we stopped in College Park on our way home from DC! I got my beloved cart, and we headed for home. Since then, I feel happy every time I open the door to do laundry! And that's a big deal.


Allow me to illustrate:

Before

After

(Please excuse the photo bomb from my Tim Burton Giraffe magnet.)

 See what I mean? Now I can organize cleaning and laundry supplies in one place. Things don't fall off of or through the shelf like they used to, and I can wheel this baby out easily anytime I feel like I want to.

So thank you for my new laundry cart!

Love, 

Your darling granddaughter Della

PS: If you are wondering how the other Christmas money in our home has been spent, I can only say that Jesse and Oliver are hoarding theirs.

I'm always the first to breakdown and spend.

A Birthday Message From My Nieces and Nephews:

Dear Aunt Della,
We think that you are swella,
You definitely don't smella!

We are sure that you are "bella"!
So we wrote this card to tella...
You Happy Birthday Della!

Also worth mentioning:

As I was putting Oliver to bed, he crawled into my lap (he likes to "be wike a baby") and sang the Happy Birthday song to me...FIVE TIMES...in his sweet little Oliver J. voice.

(well, actually, one of them was to Andre, because that is who Oliver sings the Happy Birthday song to every other time that it may randomly pop into his head...but I'm over it. Andre is just that cool. I can accept that, even on my birthday).

I'm so thankful for the little people in my life, and even a bunch of the big ones!

I really am the luckiest!

A Collection of Heathers: Original Art by Oliver

Today Oliver announced that he wanted to color Heather. This quickly turned into a collection of waxy scribbles of his aunt Heather on the back of Jesse's unused note cards. Each one different than the one before.

Ollie's descriptions of his pictures are as follows:

Heather with a nose:

Heather with blueberry eyes and legs:

Heather with legs, feet, and eyes:

 

Heather with owies on her legs and feet:

And last, but certainly not least, Heather with hair:

What did Oliver say when he was all done? 

"Mama, I LOVE Heather so MUCH"

We are ABSOLUTELY turning these into postcards and using them for our mail correspondence with Miss Heather! Hopefully they will make her day...well, five of her days!

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.  

2012 Christmas Ornament

So,

I know that it isn't even Thanksgiving,

but I just bought our 2012 Christmas Tree Ornaments,

and I'm really REALLY excited about them.

I wanted:

...something whimsical and fun, but not tacky.

...something representative of our current life experience, but not overly commercialized or touristy...because we are not just tourists...we live here.

...something that I loved, not something that I settled for (which is what I feel I've done in the past couple of years...which is why I have not bragged about them...to anyone).

...something completely affordable from a handmade/small business.

And now, without further ado, our 2012 Christmas Tree Ornament:



From RachaelAPeden's Shop

They will look a whole lot like this, except they will be personalized...because the shop owner is cool like that and does it for free!

I'm in love.

First World Problems...

I found a hole in the seat of my favorite 'laxin pants today...

I can't describe what a mournful situation this is.

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far...

Did you know that every morning, like clock work, for absolutely as long as I can remember

(except during most of junior high and high school when I was just so dumb too cool), 

I'd wake up and head for my parents' bed.

"Can I tickle your back?" I'd ask...those were the magic words.

I'm not ashamed to admit that even to this day, when I wake up at home, that's the first place I go.

Lately, my friend Oliver has adopted my old pattern.

He doesn't know about the back tickling requirement yet, but we're getting there.

I'm not sure if my parents loved it as much as I did when I was young...

In fact, I'm now keenly aware of how much space a little body can take up, even in a bed ten times their size...

and just how quickly one's pillow can be completely commandeered...

and that sort of monkey business gets really old.

Really fast.

But, there's something very flattering in knowing that the first thing your little wants to do in the morning is share their bunny blanket (or jungle blanket, or circle blanket, or all of the above) with YOU...

and play with YOUR hair...

and kiss YOUR cheek...

and snuggle with YOU...

I don't think I'd give that up for anything.

I like to think my parents felt the same way. If not, they were pretty great at pretending.

Still are, actually.

"Let's Pretend I Worked Out Today"

Today I wore my "Let's Pretend I Worked Out Today" outfit.

Maybe you have one too...

Basically, it consists of athletic pants and a sweatshirt/t-shirt.

When you wear it in public, you're just hoping that people will think you worked out in the morning and were too busy to change,

rather than what actually happened...

Which was that you decided to wear 'laxin clothes all day and not get dressed.

And never,

no,

not even once,

did you consider actually working out.

Oh, you would never do that?

Ok, I guess it's just me.

The Story of Jesse's Life: Geek Speak

The other night, Jesse received a gaming invitation from one of his brothers in the form of a text...

"Abandon thine wives, children, roommates, and the pursuit of women. For tomorrow I laboreth not, and verily I desireth to gather together five of the children of Moses. Verily our enemies shall be crushed under our heals in the Gears of War."

 

We've been laughing about it for days.

336

Dearest darlings of Snowy River apartment 336,

Remember that time in 2007 when we all pitched in some moolah and bought some house supplies...
specifically Costco brand plastic wrap?

And remember how, at the end of spring semester 2008, we divided up the leftovers of said house supplies and I took home said plastic wrap?

Well, I thought you might be interested to know that, just last week, I FINALLY used the last of it...

Ladies, that roll of plastic wrap officially lasted for

3 states, 

 

4 cities,

 

5 YEARS,

 

6 moves, 

 

and 7 apartments!

That's some serious value.

Also, you should know that I miss you.

That's all.

Top 10...

Reasons why Thursday rocked...

1. Chinese Potluck Brunch with friends. YUM! Next month's potluck brunch theme: Harvest.

2. Kristen informed me that she has officially booked tickets to visit me out here in the forest.

3. Won this prize from a giveaway at rikrak studio

photo credit

 

That's two clutch patterns and a small clutch from LBG Studio (cannot wait to try making the foldover clutch!), a necklace from Yanessa B., and a stocking of my choice from rikrak.

 

Seriously can't believe my luck.

 



4. Fake it Frugal brownies! I LOVE them! Especially with dark chocolate chips baked in... Mmm! It's currently my favorite treat.

 

5. Found this gem on the Ipod...

 

 

6. Which reminded me of this picture of Oliver from earlier this summer. Can't believe I didn't show you until now...

 

What can I say? We like naps.

 

7. Singing in the car with Ollie all afternoon while we drove to and fro, picking up my friend Oliver's girlfriend Tina and dropping her off at BWI and then picking Jesse up from school

 

8. The Magic of Ordinary Days with newly found kindred spirits Lindsey and Cami, officially on my top ten list of favorite people in all of Maryland. (Bree, you were right! They are my kind of people!)

 

9. Strawberry Peach smoothies for dinner.

 

10. Supernatural with Jesse until 1:00 am.

 

 

 

 









Going Postal

My favorite postman from the Severn post office is Steve.

He is friendly.

He remembers people.

He always makes sure I'm paying the lowest price possible.

He doesn't even roll his eyes when Oliver escapes my clutches and starts a self guided perusal of the customer area of the post office, forcing me to weave through a crowd of postal patrons with a precarious stack of parcels perched on one arm while trying to regain parental power.

We've been reading a lot of Dr. Seuss lately, can you tell?

Well, the other day, we were at the post office and I asked for some stamps...I just wanted to be the cool mom with the Nemo stamps, OK...

Steve said, "We don't have the "Mail a Smile" stamps right now but we have last year's "Send a Hello" stamps if you want." (Which I suppose are still OK because they have "Wightning A Queen" but I digress...)

This had happened the last time I asked for the Nemo stamps, so I declined. I'd just try again another time.

And then it happened.

I think I meant it to be a little bit funny.

I wasn't thinking clearly though.

It just popped out.

Honest!

I said,

 

"I guess I could just send some emails this time."

As soon as I said it, I had visions of Steve going postal...

I mean, you just don't talk to a post person about email.

But he didn't.

He didn't even grimace. He took it in stride. He even joked back a little...

However, I've felt a little bit guilty about it ever since.

And remember how I told you that Steve remembers people?

Now I'll forever be filed away in his brain as that girl that talks about email in a post office.

...I wonder if Steve likes cookies?