Flashback

We're coming up quickly on a special day for a certain someone who now declares that every Lightning McQueen toy on the shelf is "for mine birthday!"

Here's two years ago... first hairut. We had to do something with that combover!

Did every parent remember when their kid first discovered Biter Biscuits? UGH!

Maybe it's just because Itty Bit had taken a feels-so-good-to-hold-a-sleeping-baby nap in my arms, but this picture of him after he just woke up quickly became a favorite. I love that Mr. Daddy captured a bit of a Baby Gerber expression from our little sleepyhead.

The little toddler is so much fun, but these pictures don't do much for preventing baby fever!

(and speaking of birthdays... Geez Louise, I was blissfully unaware there was some sort of Supermom status that included photo invitations, a full array of artful appetizers, a fabulously decorated theme cake, dressing the kid in custom birthday gear, and providing the ultimate in goody bags. Am I a bad mom for simply taking a few kids to the local Bounce House, letting them jump to their sheetcake-fueled hearts' content, and ditching the million little details? :)

True Story Tuesday

Hey y’all, ready for this week’s True Story Tuesday?

It’s a chance to give us the whole story of what exactly happened on that Not Me Monday. Or to share what seems too amazing/outrageous/miraculous to have happened in real life.

I know there’s a zillion great stories already written buried in your old posts… so it would be easy-peasy to just link up and share your stuff! So please join along! Grab the button and share a link to your post about anything amazing, outrageous, hilarious, embarrassing, or miraculous, (and mostly-true) that has happened to you!

PECKING PHOBIA

Remember I said I had a slight thing about angry birds?

Maybe it’s because a good number of those feathered creatures apparently do not like me.

You know those people who always tell you that animals can sense when you’re afraid? (yeah, our neighbor told me that when I was 5-years old when his big german shepherd was acting like he wanted to take my head off… gee thanks Mister, now I’m not any less afraid!)

Well, I could swear it’s true about birds too.

Now why would I be afraid of them?

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Maybe because an aunt used to have exotic birds… one of which would rip out the other birds’ talons and leave a bloody mess.

Want to hold the bird?
Uhh, no thanks.

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Or that little incident where the same aunt’s daughter closed me in with an angry mama chicken after she’d handed me a peeping chick. Did you know that feathers are actually sharp enough to cut?

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Or maybe because I’d gotten in the middle of one (or twenty) too many Duck Wars where the mamas would attack anything nearby. Trust me, duck pecks hurt worse than chicken pecks. You know those self-defense classes where they teach the "Grab-Twist-and-Pull" method? Well, I think they got it from ducks.

(you're right, these are mallards, but the girls are even meaner)

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Or how about this one… our giant tom turkey fell in love with my sister and would charge at anyone near her with astonishing speed. That long gobbledy neck, beady eyes, open beak… *shudder*



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Or possibly from the time the same turkey tried to fly up on my sister’s back… when she stood up, he slid down and raked her back bloody. Yeah, that’s something you don’t forget.

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Oh wait… I think I’ve got it.


SCENE:

I was about seven years old, so let’s just pretend that was only 20 years ago. On location at the marvelous San Diego Zoo. More specifically, next to the insane monkey exhibit. I’m pretty sure they were certifiably bonkers…loud enough to scare the living daylights out of a deaf kid. Something like a “HOOO-Whuh-Whuh-Whuh”… only non-stop and seemingly amplified across the entire square.

I was totally absorbed… watching them intently. Completely intimidated by their volume and manic swinging and jumping from every corner of the exhibit.

My hotdog stood at the ready, perched in my hand, heading for a first bite.

(You know how when you’re distracted with something, a tiny little thing can startle the heck out of you?)

Suddenly a giant white thing was in my face, my thumb hurt like the dickens, and a totally unfamiliar object struck my cheek.

Would you believe a giant seagull had swooped down and taken my entire hotdog right out of the bun?

Before I’d even had a bite.


To add insult to injury, he’d bitten my thumb and smacked me in the face. And the rascal made a clean getaway.

My family was shocked. I turned on the tears… at first out of sheer fright, but I quickly regrouped and aimed for replacing the hotdog with an Icee :)

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Big angry birds are bad.

Any questions?

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Sooo… I know you can outdo this! Join along and share your outrageous/miraculous/amazing story! Don’t worry… I think Mr. Daddy will be back next week!

Not Me Monday!

Monday already?!

Hopefully we’ll have good news from MckMama soon.

Please click on Stellan’s pic in the sidebar for the latest updates. Still praying for a miracle for his heart and a quick trip home.

Come join for some free therapy!

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Hey, ready for a puke-free episode? So… this week we’re onto POOP! I mean, cuz apparently puke isn’t gross enough. Even though I managed to make a bunch of redneck hunters gag with last week’s story…

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So what do you want to know about POOP? Howsabout the lovely transitioning from throw up to blow out? Sure, that didn’t happen around here. And of course it didn’t happen all the way up the kid’s back to his neck.

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Oh, you didn’t get enough of the POOP? (yeah, my mom is gonna be mortified to see how many times I didn’t type that in ALL CAPS). Any of you ever have to deal with a diaper full of little marbles? You know… perfectly round and threatening to roll out? What on earth would you do if they did?

Nevermind… didn’t happen anyway.

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And since our sick kiddo is such a fountain of hygienic functions… I did not catch him pulling a tulip out of a vase and realize that he was DRINKING the vase water. That’s not, like, baaaaad for you or anything, riiiiiight?

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So… go check out what everyone else didn’t do this week!



Hey y’all – come back tomorrow for this week’s True Story Tuesday – where we link to stories that actually happened… ya know, in real life. Join in – we’d love to hear the unedited version of a Not Me episode!

Thawing out

You know it's springtime in the Northwest when you can take your camera outside and the lens doesn't automatically fog up.

So... that's exactly what I did. We hauled out the zoom lens to use for the first time (pardon the blur, no tripod along).

I'm loving that our lilacs are getting ready to bloom!
And the clematis along the porch is already hard at work.

This riotous display greets me every time I leave the house.

And on the way to the end of the road, I nearly stepped on something:

Oh mama, that wasn't real smart, huh?
(that gravel is our DRIVEWAY)

And this might have belonged on the last random post, but I have a thing about angry birds. Chalk it up to a bad childhood experience where a cousin took me into a barn, handed me a baby chick, then ran off. I was chased around the maze of chicken coops by a very ticked-off mama hen who pecked and clawed my skinny white legs to shreds. Do not mess with mama birds.

Except that I broke my own rule trying to get a closer shot.

I should have backed off when Mama Bird looked at me. That already chilled me to my veins.

Surely should have retreated when she fluffed her feathers at me.

And by golly I should have been out of there by the time she started flapping her wings!

You know, killdeer are supposed to run off and do that whole "follow me, I have a broken wing" spiel, right? Nice and calmly leading you away from their nest?

Oh no... that little beast looked at me then CHARGED me! (seriously, doesn't she look slightly ticked off?)

Those little buggers are quick! I started backing up, pulling back the zoom, but she was too quick!

By the time she was this close:

I was full out screaming as I stumbled backwards half-crawling... terrifying Itty Bit and completely amusing my non-empathetic husband.

When my heart had quit pounding, I thought things would go much smoother with my next intended subject... cuz goshdarnit if they aren't one of my favorite things about spring.

See, we live across from a sheep farm. Where, you know, all sheep live happily until the natural end of their lives (hey, it's my delusion). Nice sweet little springtime scene?

Then that one little guy recruited his buddies for some King of the Hill:

They were racing around, generally annoying the big sheep who just wanted to graze. So I was thinking they were a little "punk lamb gang"... until I saw this impressive bit of Baryshnikov at the Pasture Theatre... WOW!

And of course you know it's springtime when the kiddos get all this crazy energy and spend the afternoon running in circles.

(and I'm ignoring the fact that he's wearing his Popeye shirt and has powdered sugar on his chin... cuz that would mean he'd had a donut...)

Hope y'all are having a marvelous spring!

SOOC

This week Melody posted a great photo of toes in the sand, with this perfect quote:

If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass,

you live more richly those moments.

~~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

I think Itty Bit was taking that to heart on our first warm spring day.

(please pardon the Lightning McQueen boots in every photo, they only come off for baths)

Join Straight Out Of the Camera Saturday - and see some terrific shots

Thank you, thank you very much!

Y'all know I get a little behind on stuff sometimes, right? I really don't mean to and please don't be offended that it took me so long to get to these (remember those last two Not Me Mondays? *sigh*)

We've been honored with a few sweet awards recently - THANK YOU friends!

Shanda from A Teachable Heart is a new bloggy friend who often manages to make me laugh and think, usually all in the same post. Beyond the terrific sense of humor is a woman who is a natural teacher. One who is gifted in sharing how the timeless word of God applies to our own lives because God still loves us personally.

I always leave her site feeling refreshed (and sometimes tuckered out from all the laughter). I am so glad we found eachother!

She was sweet enough to give us two awards here, and I think she had a great idea to combine the rules.



We also received a I'm a Fan Award from Tim at Fort Thompson. I love the story of how he and his wife met. And look at their lives now... medical miracles and two beautiful children later! Congrats on their cute new puppy!

So... we list seven random facts, and pass the awards on to seven other deserving bloggers.
I'm not sure how much random stuff y'all can take about us... like the award says, we might be a bit too honest around here sometimes, LOL.

1) WIGGLING: Mr. Daddy can wiggle his ears, I can wiggle my nose, and Itty Bit wiggles his little tush very charmingly to the Veggie Tales themesong.

2) CONFESSION: I was only slightly skeered when we walked 60 seconds past our backyard and saw a herd of elk. I ain't getting any closer to them... I prefer my four-legged beasts without horns thankyouverymuch.

3) SOME LIKE IT HOT: I love salsa. Mr. Daddy makes the best fresh salsa on the planet. We caught Itty Bit eating some with a SPOON last week. wow

4) FORD: Seriously, should we haul our horsie with anything less? ;)

5) HEAVY DUTY: Our toddler knows more about heavy equipment than I do. At 18-months old he'd yell from the backseat: excavator! backhoe! bulldozer! dumptruck!

6) SLEEPY TIME: I'm a night owl, Mr. Daddy's an early riser, and somehow Itty Bit is both. Possibly that afternoon nap (for both of them) has something to do with it?

7) SILLINESS: This is not truly random... but I do love this man's sense of humor.

Alrighty... and to pass these along to some very deserving bloggy buddies:

AmyB from Our Daily Blessing...Life has shared some amazing things about her love for her family and I love that she finds things to laugh about, no matter how difficult the day may be. Go read... you'll be inspired to find gratefulness in those moments too.

I stumbled upon wife.mom.nurse without realizing she was a real-life-friend to one of my bloggy ones. Which in turn led me to her husband's blog, Switch2PlanB. While we might have amazing and crazy stuff happen to us... they have amazing and crazy HEROIC stuff happen to them. She's a labor and delivery nurse, he's a fireman. Both with incredible stories and a gift for telling them.

And wife.mom.nurse's real-life friend? Well that would be no other than sweet Elaine from Matters of the Heart (yes, the same one who had that supercool LoveFest!) I can call her sweet Elaine, because over and over again, the emails and comments left about her always mentioned how genuinely sweet she is. She didn't realize, but her giveaway gifts turned into a timely care package for me. Stop by and take a gander at the incredible wedding photos she just posted. Wow. just WOW.

Y'all might remember a little kiddo I was "stalking". You know... that adorable Aidan from Adventures of Aidanpod? The one I bumped into in-real-life and barely managed to not freak out his very nice but confused mom...? Yeah, that one. Said mom is a terrific photog and it is so much fun watching this kiddo grow up and remembering all those milestones as she chronicles them with loving humor. (and would you believe I landed an invitation to his first birthday? SCORE!)

Lisa from Oh Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy has three cute little munchkins who give her plenty of writing material for her blog. She is a riot... sharing the same kind of goofy parenting stuff that happens to me, but is ten times funnier when she tells it. And you gotta love a girl who wrangles all kinds of giveaways :)

Oooh, last but not least. This one meets the Honest Scrap definition with her last confession post. (Yeah, she's gonna hate me for linking it, but the chick linked to my muddy face picture in her earlier post!!!). The lovely Dana from Chaos to Grace - who has this award already I think - definitely took the cake with her Hi-Larious True Story last week, and her "Housewives" post today! Trust me, if you read nothing else today... go check out her True Story. I don't care who you are, that's funny right there.

You know if I could give these to every one of my followers and blogs on my reading list, I would... (go ahead, steal it - we're kinda bad at rules around here).

Again, many thanks to Shanda and Tim for passing these along. Hope y'all find some new favorite bloggers here!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

This is what you get when you ask your two guys to smile.

And Itty Bit suddenly realizes that the polar bear exhibit is next door.

And his wiggly feet make contact with Mr. Daddy's sweet spot.

The picture says it all, doesn't it?

(what a guy, eh? he didn't even stop trying to smile for the camera while in pain)

True Story Tuesday by Mr. Daddy

It's True Story Tuesday - so go dig up or write up your amazing, funny, outrageous, or miraculous story for this week! Super easy to link up to an old or new post - just grab the button from the sidebar and add your link!

(This week brought to you by Misterrrrrrrr Dadddddddy! Totally thrilled that my shameless begging for you guys to convince him to write every other week worked! You guys rock!)

Hard to get around

It's hard to get around in a six foot town, when you're ten foot tall everything is so small...

The opening line in a Big and Rich song - I love the analogy, when you are different, sometimes things just aren't that easy...

Now it's not that I am overly tall, I was six foot, but have been steadily shrinking with age...

But do you have any idea what it is like to qualify for a senior discount, and have a beautiful bride that is just over a 3 spot, and a son that is half a year younger than your grandson???

I thought not!!!

WWWWeellllll Here's a story that will blow your skirt up...

As you might know Itty Bit was born with a multicystic displastic kidney, and some plumbing that is not quite right.
Although you would never know it to look at him, and if you are ever blessed with the opportunity to be around him, you will see that he is a typical 2-year old in the terrible years..

With his health issues we have to take him to Children's Hospital every six months for checkups and to make sure everything is progressing like it should under the circumstances.

On this particular trip, Rach's dad volunteered to go. Her mom usually goes to interpret, because I am so slow at it, the poor Doc forgets what it was he was talking about before I can catch up...
Well on this trip, she couldn't make it so Papa went...

The first indication that things weren't going to go well was when the doc walked into the room, with Papa, myself, and Rach who was nursing Itty Bit at the time.... Looks us all over and says IS THIS THE MOM???

HELLO!!!! How many years of Med School do you think I was thinking this guy had under his belt??? (my first thought was, "No she is a nursemaid we picked up to keep the little guy happy, and Papa and I always go out for the afternoon to Children's Hospital with the little guy, for a good time) : here's your sign!!!

He then looked at her dad and said, "Are you the dad?"

Papa glanced at Rach and of course he said yes...

He then looked at me with a deer in the headlight kinda look,

(I couldn't resist)

I'm the Dad too!!! *snicker*


All that education was completely useless to that poor guy right then, I'm here to tell you...

I was all for letting the poor guy mentally cogitate on it for a hour or so, (cause that's just the way I am.)

But Rach had mercy on him and explained, that Papa was her dad, and I belonged to Itty Bit..

It gets even funnier When Rach's mom is with us and they think that she and I are the Rach's parents...

But that's a blog for another day....

Not Me Monday

It’s Not Me Monday again!

Hopefully we’ll have good news from MckMama soon.

Please click on Stellan’s pic in the sidebar for the latest updates. Still praying for a miracle for his heart.

Come join for some free therapy!

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Mr. Daddy is not thoroughly alarmed that I am attempting to tone and limber up by continuing ballet exercises and stretches at home. More accurately, he’s not thoroughly alarmed that Itty Bit is actually quite good at mimicking his mama.

Never overheard in our household, “My boy ain’t never gonna be a ballerina”.
(insert Tim Allen growling)

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After a feverish day and night, Itty Bit did not wake up at an obscenely early hour and say “Daddy, make a mess”. Of course both of us would have figured out what he meant by that, instead of discovering that the poor kid had puked in the night, then just went back to sleep. That would be (gag) disgusting.

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Itty Bit did not end up getting EIGHT baths in two days. And it wouldn’t have been because the poor little guy couldn’t keep anything down or in. Course that didn’t mean umpteen loads of laundry either.

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Not like this whole post was gonna be about yucky stuff, but I think I have finally been ultimately grossed out.

I thought I was somewhat accustomed to the usual icky things moms have to deal with.

But tonight took the cake.

Mr. Daddy did not decide to tickle our poor sick kiddo directly behind where I was seated on the couch.

Itty Bit did not then start to cough.
And cough.
Then gag.

(You know what’s coming, don’t you).

And I did not suddenly feel a gush of wet warmth from my head down to my underwear.

Yes, that’s right folks.
my underwear.

The kiddo did not end up projectile vomiting in an impressive display that included my hair, shirt, shorts, and of course – that lovely gap that allowed it to in fact reach every last article of clothing I was wearing.

I did not immediately rebuke my incredible sense of smell (so much for the advantages of one sense increasing when another is gone), and head for the shower. Itty Bit did not totally pitch a fit about taking a shower too. After passing the wet kiddo off to Mr. Daddy for pajamas, he did not then pitch a fit about being removed from the shower.

Man… has it not been one of those weeks?!?!

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So… go check out what everyone else didn’t do this week!

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Hey y’all – come back tomorrow for this week’s True Story Tuesday – where we link to stories that actually happened… ya know, in real life. Join in – we’d love to hear the unedited version of a Not Me episode! And yeah... I'm still working on convincing Mr. Daddy to write this week's!

I Heart Faces

This week's I Heart Faces theme (self-portrait) is a real challenge. But since I've noticed some of you other camera-shy moms getting on the other side of the lens, you've shamed me into it :)

Sorry they're both of me... I couldn't find any self-portraits of Mr. Daddy - cuz he's worse than our toddler about running from the business end of a camera.

So, if y'all remember - I got in between two horsies throwing a fit at feeding time. Yeah, lucky me, it was mudddddddy.

And for the kid entry, here's one of my very favorites with Itty Bit. He was being his usual cute self and in spite of being severely challenged with short-arms... I managed to catch this shot.

I hope this kiddo never forgets how very much he's loved!

Go check out some amazing self-portraits!

How to eat a donut

This demonstration brought to you courtesy of Itty Bit:

First, lick some powdered sugar off

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Then revel in your first pure sugar high

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And shoot your aunt an adorable faceful of sweetness

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Uh, scratch that. She looks like she wants some.

Step away from the donut.

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Quick, eat it all before Mommy changes her mind! All hands to chow stations!

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Thoughtfully plan your next attack for maximum consumption

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Consider utilizing preferred weapons for extracting lemon filling

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Whatever it takes to secure the target and transport to final destination

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You there.

What'd I say about stepping away from the donut?

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Not sure about that yellow stuff...

I'll try the other side.

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Oh.Good.Lord

What is that yellow stuff?

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Moooooooommmm

What'd you put in this?

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Heck, I'm Popeye.

It'll be my spinach.

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You're gonna pay for this sugar high Mommy ;)

One guess if the kiddo got his afternoon nap?