Have You Guys Met My Baby Sister?

Sometimes I see a picture like this and I am absolutely convinced we could not have come from the same genetic material.
I hate to tell you this in such a public forum, Kala, but I suspect you are adopted. It has to be you because you are the only woman in our family that knows how to wear a circle scarf and I'm pretty sure that kind of skill is inherited. 

No One Steal My Library Perfume Idea

I was one of those kids that read books constantly. I would get in trouble in class for secretly trying to read during lessons. In the car, whether it was a trip a mile up the road or an all day drive, I was reading. During outings to the mall I would beg to stop in a bookstore. I remember once pleading with my dad as a small child to buy me a Clifford the Big Red Dog Pop-Up book. 

"What do you need that for?" He said.

"Ummm... I want to read it...."

My dad never shared the same passion for reading, but my mother? She put anything and everything in my hands. I left Sweet Valley High and The Babysitter's Club behind in second grade. I spent the later part of elementary school absorbed in the works of Anne Rice. 

Recently I introduced the kids to the beauty of the used bookstore. Rows and stacks of affordable books. It is truly my happy place. I have begrudgingly made the switch to e-readers -- the power of an infinite number of books at my instantaneous disposal was too great -- but no scent will ever be more calming to me than that of a room full of old (or even new) books. Do they make perfume that smells like libraries? I'd totally buy that. 

I expected Anders to fall in love with that place. I thought he'd leave with arms so full of books I'd trail after him through the parking lots picking them up. He wasn't the least bit interested, but Danica...she fell in  love that day.

The One Where I Let Anders Ride in the Trunk of Our Car

Yesterday was Anders’ first day at school following a long weekend. Sometimes that first day back after an extended period at home can be difficult for him, but not this time. I had to remind him to slow down as he ran full force ahead of me to his classroom. (Side note: I actually used the phrase “use your walking feet” which, when did I become that person?) When I finally caught up to him he was already in the middle of telling a story to his teacher about his weekend. I walked in just in time to hear him say “And mom let me ride around in the trunk of our car all weekend. I asked her if it was okay and she said it was fine because our car was so full!”

Read the rest on Babble....

Anders' 5th Birthday in Photos

I wrote Anders a letter. Read it here.

I Expected This To Come Much Later

That's Green Lantern AKA Ryan Reynolds she's chewing on. That's right. Two years old and already a man eater. 

Danica's Right Wing Agenda

Dani loves preschool. Walking her into the building is like escorting a celebrity. Every teacher, student, and parent we pass somehow knows her name and stops to greet her.

 

She'll give them a courtesy wave or shout nonsense up at them if the mood strikes her, but the only person she's really interested in is her teacher, Ms. Ronni.

 

Danica often tells me stories about Ms. Ronni which is cute except for one little thing. She pronounces it "Mitt Romney."

 

"Mitt Romney read stories! Mitt Romney sing with me! Mitt Romney my favorite!"

 

If she starts watching Fox News we're switching preschools.

The Not-So-Dynamic Duo

We've been on vacation, all four of us together for ten days with nothing to do but lay around scratching ourselves and fighting over the rights to the television or the last piece of pie.

It's time that I desperately needed to recharge and make sense of this pesky identity crisis I've found myself in the middle of.

I'm almost ready to pull the trigger on something big and I'm pretty nervous. In other news...

This Batman thing is both unending and contagious.