Not Your Mama's Mu'umu'u

I have come to realize lately just why my mother wore mu'umu'us when I was growing up. No, I haven't taken to sporting big floral house dresses (mine have no flowers, thank you very much). But I have been wearing long flowing maxi dresses made from very lightweight fabrics. And which have no waistband.

When it's over 100 degrees, as it is today, I have no desire to be wearing anything that doesn't let the cool breezes flow (breezes from my central a/c and fans, mind you -- there is nothing cool about our weather outside today).

I think my mom was on to something all those years ago. Sorry I made fun of you all the time Mom. :) No doubt I'll get it from my daughters too, since I'm totally following in your footsteps.

Long live the maxi dress!!

Private Eyes

I've decided to go private with this bad boy.

I would love to continue boring all six of our readers with mundane details of our lives, so if you want to have access, please either email me or leave a comment here and I'll send you an invite.

Scooter Thievery

I am sometimes a wicked mommy.

Our kids ride their scooters to school and lock them up together, wound tightly with a skinny cable lock. Several of our friends and neighbors have had scooters stolen from the bike cage in the last few months, and because of the others' losses, I'm kind of a Nazi about my kids bringing their lock to school. If they lose it, they walk to school. (We're on our third lock of the year)

Today, they left the lock sitting on the floor of the front room. I noticed it about an hour after they left and, on my way to other errands, I stopped by the school to see if I could lock up their scooters. No luck. Bike cage was, of course, locked. But smart Emma had tied her bright pink sweatshirt around the two unlocked scooters (as if to say, "Hey, I have no lock on me!! Take me first!!).

The last thing I want is to have their scooters stolen, and I wasn't doing anything else anyway, so just before school got out I rode my bike over to the school. Bike cage was open. Their scooters were still there. So I go into the bike cage and take their scooters. I wasn't hiding, really. But I did want to see their reactions when they came out to find their scooters (and Emma's sweatshirt) gone.

It was priceless. I wish I'd had my video camera. They walked confidently to the spot where they'd left them. Then looked at each other. Then started circling the bike cage. Then Fisher spotted me. Caught. Emma was in tears and so mad at me.

I hope the lesson is learned. But even if it's not, I still got a total kick out of watching them look for those scooters.

Wicked mommy indeed. Mwaaa haaaaa haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Breaking Free!

I busted out today. From my ill-child-imposed house arrest. Emma has been sick since Friday with a high fever, cough, the trots (sorry, tmi?). Poor thing. She has missed school all week, which, in turn, means I have been at home with her pretty much 24/7.

So today I left her at home for a much-needed 30-minute outing. Don't worry. She had a stack of movies, a water bottle and the phone nearby. I escaped 1/4 mile away to the kids' school where Fisher received the Character Counts award for his class this quarter! I'm so proud of this little guy... we weren't sure, when he started preschool, how he would do in structured, quiet settings. He was such an energetic and loud toddler. Turns out structure is just what he needed to thrive (and apparently something I lack in providing at home!) because he has done so well, and always receives glowing reports from his teachers.

It seems Fish wasn't sure what to think of all those people looking at him when he went up to receive his award. He kind of looks like he's getting his mugshot taken. Congrats Fisher. We love you tons!

I have a cute bum...

I'm doing dishes yesterday afternoon and and my cute little Tess climbs up on one of the barstools at the kitchen counter, smiles and declares "I have a cute bum."

True enough. It makes me giggle. But not nearly as much as the whopper that comes out next: "And my finger was in it for a looooong time!"

After wiping my tears from laughing so hard we went promptly to the bathroom to wash those hands.

Belated Blog Birthday Wishes

Do birthday wishes on a blog count if they're an entire day (plus) late? Yesterday was Jarad's thirtysomething-th birthday (he doesn't remember so, since I'm older than he is, it's best we just round up anyway).



I could say I was just so busy all day, what with the baking, shopping and party planning I was doing, that I just didn't get around to posting a happy birthday note to him. But that would be a lie. I did make a cake. And I did buy him a gift or two (I also found the cutest scarf at AE that I actually refrained from buying for myself! Don't worry, I went back for it today). But in reality I was just being lazy and didn't really feel like posting.


So happy birthday to the love of my life. I figure we're together forever, so what's a day late on a birthday wish anyway? You know I love you tons.

This is what happens every time Jarad sits down. Kids climbing all over him. What a great dad!

Now We Are Six

Fisher and his birthday cake. He dreamt up this gluttonous chocolate-candy-cake himself, and left it up to me to create it.

Today is (well, was... he's been in bed for 2 hours) Fisher's sixth birthday. Happy Birthday Fishface!

So to honor the day, here are six things we love about Fisher.

1. He has a zest for life. Seriously. The kid is so enthusiastic about pretty much everything!

2. His sensitive side... Fisher really does have a tender heart.

3. His prayers. I've never heard such sincere and thoughtful prayers from a kid his age! And this from the child who used to say the bare minimum prayer and then yell "Short Cut!" as soon as the Amens were said.

4. He is a great big brother. Most of the time. Case completely idolizes Fisher and for the most part Fisher puts up with Case following him around. He embraces his role as a big brother and I really think he enjoys showing Case the ropes and taking care of him. I love being a fly on the wall and watching bonding moments between these two guys.

5. He's a smart cookie. He's very inquisitive and loves to explore new things. He announced at dinner tonight "I'm thinking about being a scientist when I grow up."

6. I love listening to him speak. For those of you who know Fisher, you know what I'm talking about. He has to annunciate every sound and syllable, and is very precise in his word choice. This can be very infuriating to him (and to the listener!) when he's trying to get a thought out quickly.

I would post his life in pictures, but I'm not hooked up right now to the drive that has all the old pictures, and I'm too lazy to go to the other room, so I'll include some pictures from the past couple of months that I haven't gotten around to posting.

Fisher played baseball again this winter, with dad as coach. It was a great season, and his "zest for life" added to the fun!


Fisher must get his fashion sense from his dad's side of the family :). This was his idea of dressing up for his class Valentine's Day party. Niiiiice. He promptly changed after I took the picture!



Excatly one month ago Fisher lost his first tooth! He'd been working on it for a while and it finally popped out at school. The nurse had this cute little tooth treasure chest for him to carry his tooth home safely.

Last-minute Crazy Hair Day 'dos.