Adventures of a Bobosaurus Wrangler

Summer Days

2011-09-19T12:23:00.001-04:00

Birthday Balloons

2011-09-19T12:20:00.000-04:00

Evening House

2011-09-10T13:06:00.014-04:00

Click to Enlarge

Our house in the evening light, with the sunset going down in front and the moon rising behind, with the view over the hills just cut off to the right. It's such a beautiful place, we're so very lucky we found it.

Autumn is Coming

2011-09-09T16:33:00.000-04:00

Summer Running

2011-09-02T11:29:00.026-04:00

Click to open larger picture

I love this color picture so much, I made a new category of photos on the upper right side called 'Favorite Images', so I can bundle all my favorite solo images for everyone to see easily. This was taken September 2nd but the weather was still so summery and warm. The yard at the new house is perfect for summer days and running outside, Matt and Arin were kicking around a bouncy ball and splattering a giant mushroom. You can see the sky is starting to turn red and orange from the sunset and we're just about to go inside for a tasty dinner that Matt just finished cooking on the grill. It all makes for just such a timeless moment that I will cherish.

Biker Dude, Spiderman Style

2011-08-18T09:57:00.001-04:00

Taken by Grampy after he set up one of Arin's birthday presents for him... Arin loves all the gear even if its still too big for him! He's incredibly good on the bike, he apparently had lots of practice at daycare. Note he just happens to be wearing his 'scary skull shirt' this day too... makes him look so much bigger than just barely 4!

Bath Time

2011-07-27T12:21:00.001-04:00

Click for full-size!

Taking a nice bath in his very own bathtub at the new house... eventually he'll have the whole bathroom to himself when we finally get the master bedroom settled in. For now he has to share though, but the tub is so nice and clean now it doesn't matter, and there's tons of space to play with his bath time Thomas trains!

Little Peek

2011-07-11T23:13:00.002-04:00

Pouring out the Bath

2011-07-11T23:12:00.000-04:00

New Lens

2011-07-11T21:52:00.002-04:00

I finally went out and bought a new lens for my very old DSLR camera. It's magical. It's ALL about the lens, I cannot believe I waited so long to get this thing. So in love! Canon's 50mm f/1.4. Perfection.

Here's a little closer:

BW of the Week

2011-07-08T12:50:00.004-04:00

I took this picture right after I got my new portrait lens, and I just love how amazing everything looks with it! We were at Momo's house since it was a Saturday for Arin to take a bath, so here he is in the tub, bubbles and all, enjoying the end of a summer day while I snap away!

BW of the Week

2011-04-01T20:50:00.017-04:00

I had this idea to go back over time and do a BW every week for Bobo. I don't know if its a project I'll ever get around to... maybe when my classes finally end in May! But here is one for the last week in March! Matt, Arin and I were at Smokey Bones and he was such a good boy and ate his ENTIRE huge grilled cheese sandwich. He's never hungry for dinner so we were super impressed. We go out to restaurants a lot though, and he's usually very good, but just lacks an appetite like he had tonight! We'll definitely be going back soon. Click it, it gets cropped off a bit.

Good News for Groundhog Day!

2011-02-03T11:37:00.000-05:00

Finally we have some good news in the midst of all these winter blizzards... Punxsutawney Phil told the world that he did not see his shadow and we will have an early spring! Now that is a Groundhog Day worth celebrating!

To watch the video of the whole ceremony, click here: http://www.pacast.com/display_media_production_id.asp?production_id=8626 Phil doesn't make his appearance until 2/3 of the way through, but it's worth it because he's so cute! I love that the town keeps the traditional procession to Gobbler's Knob alive and even dress the part. They have a great website explaining all things Groundhog Day at http://www.groundhog.org/

Here is part of "Groundhog Day: 1886 to 1992" written by Bill Anderson that explains the origins:

The groundhog tradition stems from similar beliefs associated with Candlemas Day and the days of early Christians in Europe, and for centuries the custom was to have the clergy bless candles and distribute them to the people. Even then, it marked a milestone in the winter and the weather that day was important.

According to an old English song:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come, Winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Go Winter, and come not again.

According to an old Scotch couplet:

If Candlemas Day is bright and clear,
There'll be twa winters in the year.

Another variation of the Scottish rhyme:

         If Candlemas day be dry and fair,
          The half o' winter to come and mair,
          If Candlemas day be wet and foul,
       The half of winter's gone at Yule.

The Roman legions, during the conquest of the northern country, supposedly brought this tradition to the Teutons, or Germans, who picked it up and concluded that if the sun made an appearance on Candlemas Day, an animal, the hedgehog, would cast a shadow, thus predicting six more weeks of bad weather, which they interpolated as the length of the "Second Winter."

Pennsylvania's earliest settlers were Germans and they found groundhogs to in profusion in many parts of the state. They determined that the groundhog, resembling the European hedgehog, was a most intelligent and sensible animal and therefore decided that if the sun did appear on February 2nd, so wise an animal as the groundhog would see its shadow and hurry back into its underground home for another six weeks of winter.

The Germans recited:

For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day,
So far will the snow swirl until the May.

Le Snowpants

2011-02-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Apparently in some parts snowpants are known as snow-bibs. This is apparently because some have the top part that zips up like a vest under your coat? We always just called them all snowpants... anyway, this year I had one heck of a time finding any kids snowpants anywhere! I waited until Christmas time and then it was too late. Everyone seemed to be sold out or only stocking $100+ designer snow wear ...crazy! Finally I managed to track down some camping outlet online that still had some in stock...and they were a good price too. They turned out to be really nice, and Bobo loves finally being able to run around in all the snow we're getting.

Snowy Bobo

2011-02-01T23:54:00.000-05:00

They say this year will be a record-breaker for snow in New England. Personally I'm pretty much done with it, but Bobo absolutely loves it. He is such a snow baby! Lucky for him we're supposed to get another foot tomorrow (after 6 inches today!). That groundhog better give us some good news tomorrow!

Kitchen Envy

2010-12-29T00:22:00.000-05:00

Probably the biggest present Bobo got this year was a giant and awesome play kitchen that inspires real kitchen envy from me. It's so nice and pretty and I very much want a mommy version! He didn't open it on Christmas day, so he had a while in between presents to sort of extend Christmas out a bit. Plus, this thing required a lot of set-up. You can see that from the two separate boxes! Which Bobo loved playing in, of course... Finally with Grampy's help it got set up, and is now sitting in our living room taking up about half of it.

Get Ready For Sledding!

2010-12-08T16:45:00.000-05:00

No snow here yet but this video sure puts me in the mood to go sledding! And also makes me want to curl up by a fire, brrrrr!

Santa's Lap

2010-12-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Friday was our library's annual Christmas Tree Lighting, and of course Santa was there to do the honors and then ask all the little munchkins what they wanted. Bobo was sitting on him so nicely with his hands folded so sweet, and ventured to ask for Thomas trains and a Mickey Mouse toy. He was so well-behaved and looked adorable, so cute that a lady from the newspaper had to write down his name because she was sure the picture she took of him 'was a keeper'. I'll be checking tomorrow to see if he's in there of course!

Believe in Santa

2010-12-03T13:08:00.000-05:00

The New York Sun, September 21, 1897

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of THE SUN:

"Dear Editor: I am 8 years old.
"Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
"Papa says 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
"Please tell me the truth; Is there a Santa Claus?
"Virginia O'Hanlon.
"115 West Ninety-Fifth Street."

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no VirginiaS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest man that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

http://www.newseum.org/yesvirginia/

Poem for a Sick Day

2010-12-01T14:11:00.000-05:00

When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.

And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;

And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.

I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Yesterday Bobo and I had a sick day. I was going to go into work and deal with it even though I had lost my voice for a few days, but then Monday evening when I picked up Bobo from daycare he had a raging fever which lasted all night, so home we stayed. We slept most of the day, but managed to watch "Feel Better Little Bear" for a while in between pancakes and drinking fluids. In one of the episodes Father Bear recites this poem and Little Bear acts it out, I wanted to share it.

Boots the Puppy

2010-11-12T14:40:00.000-05:00

Okay here is something recent I found in my gmail! Pics from my BlackBerry... these were taken late October when they wisely had a carnival in our town. It was *freezing* and pretty much no one went! But we did, and we had a (mostly, tantrums aside) good time. We pigged out on fried dough, Bobo got a big old fair hotdog that he ate in 3 seconds flat, watched Bobo and Julie get stuck on the giant slide and then them close it down due to condensation, had Bobo go on the train ride all by himself, played whack-a-mole so he could win a huge ($10) stuffed chinese dragon, and met up with Julie's friend Will and his puppy Boots!

After we defected to the -regular- playground cause I had no money left for more tickets and froze our bottoms off, we headed home for some hot spiced cider. Boots had to stay on the porch, but it was so chilly out there we finally set up the baby gate so she could come in the kitchen and play! And that's what I have pics of!

Cheesy Face

2010-11-12T14:18:00.001-05:00

Since I'm apparently incapable of sitting down to update... here are some pics from JULY that my dad emailed me! These are huge if you click on them. Saved the best for last, love it!

I promise I will get around to putting up summer and fall, before Christmas I hope! I have to order Snapfish prints anyway, I'd love to do some scrapbooking over the holidays... maybe after Nanowrimo (as if I'll finish that anyway!). Love!

Walking the Forest

2010-10-10T12:18:00.002-04:00

Arin getting a ride through the wonderland of woodland trails behind my mom's house. After her yard ends there are wide trails that four wheelers make occasional use of, which eventually lead to the pipeline and a large river. We used to explore the area all the time growing up, and it was fun to take Bobo out there for a walk and I hope to do it more often. The only trouble is we have terrible ticks, but for enchanted moments like this it is worth it.

Two Confessions

2010-09-29T23:54:00.001-04:00

I have a confession....

I am super obsessed with this little adorable creature! I honestly think he is the handsomest boy in the whole wide world and I'm so lucky I get to spend every day with him (even if he might also be the naughtiest)!

I have another confession....

Sometimes, I give in when he reasons with me, 'but you can paint my nails too, mommy!' and holds out his little teeny fingers. Look, it's brownish grey, that's a manly color right?? Plus, rock stars wear nail polish. He's going to be a doctor, so he might as well get this wild streak out now. ;)

New Us!

2010-09-29T23:43:00.001-04:00

New facebook picture, might as well post it here too! I have to say that no matter what, I really just love Bobo's hair when it is shaggy and in his face. He looks SO adorable with longer hair, I can't help it!

First Apple Pickings

2010-09-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

Night Monkey

2010-08-28T11:37:00.000-04:00

I never have enough fruit around the house. This kid loves bananas, they never last more than two days!

Tired Little Farmboy

2010-08-28T10:11:00.001-04:00

Congrats Dad!

2010-08-28T09:57:00.000-04:00

My dad won the Keene Photoshop PhotoWalk contest this year! Congratulations, and everyone take a look at the winning photo. It turns out that the person who won the entire PhotoWalk contest (worldwide) also had a reflection/windows picture, pretty neat huh?

Warp Drive

Washer Boy

2010-08-28T09:52:00.000-04:00

Arin has always been obsessed with the kitchen sink, he absolutely loves to 'wash' dishes. I feel like this picture could have been from last year, instead of the beginning of this summer. It looks like he hasn't changed one bit, even though I know he's gotten bigger. I can pretend though!

Sunship Setting

2010-08-22T22:41:00.000-04:00

This was the gorgeous sunset we had when coming home from Long Island during our weekend adventure in July. The boat rides were really fun (and exhausting) because Bobo was having a blast. We distracted him for a while by taking silly pictures. I love how these came out because you can see the deep red glow from the sunset. Such a perfect evening!

I'm on a Boat!

2010-08-22T22:31:00.002-04:00

Bobo had a great time on the ferry boat down to Long Island in July. It was really hot the whole weekend, except when we were on the boat. I was freezing since I forgot a sweater, but luckily I remembered to bring a hoodie for Bobo, one that Julie bought him in England. I love all his teeth (anyone seen that commercial?).

Then and Now... Sunsets

2010-08-22T20:49:00.000-04:00

Here's a picture of my dad with the second cutest little muchkin ever... yup it's me! I think I was two here. And below, twentysomething years later is me with the cutest munchkin ever... my Bobo, who is almost three here! I could adjust the colors to look the same, but you get the idea. Full circle.

Mugshots

2010-08-21T22:51:00.001-04:00

These are passport photos. They were REJECTED because they were no where near the correct size necessary to obtain a legal United States of America Passport. But, I still liked them so I took a picture before going back to get ones of an appropriate and acceptable format. So, long story short - soon (hopefully) we will have our passports in hand and Bobo will be introduced to the wonderful world of international travel!

Now where to first...

Waiting at the Fair

2010-08-18T19:36:00.002-04:00

Yesterday there was a Circus in town. I wanted to take Bobo to see the acrobats, but my idea was vetoed. There were no 'animal' acts listed, so I agreed that Bobo might not make it through it, or worse, might try to jump into the ring like he kept asking! The "midway" was open before the show though, so we went there, lured by the pony ride.

Sadly, the pony ride did not translate into reality. We bought the ticket, stood in line and then as soon as it was Bobo's turn to get in the saddle... no way. There was a giant slide next to the ponies, and that's all he wanted anything to do with. Oh well, at least we got to LOOK at the ponies. Here he is with his 'golden ticket' to go on the object of his desire... the slide.

Ferry Boat to Long Island

2010-08-02T01:10:00.000-04:00

Just got home from Long Island after a long but exciting weekend. Bobo got to hang out with his great-grandparents, Zsa Zsa and Gramps, at Paradise Point as well as visit the family homestead, Howell Holme where Grampy and Kathy were staying. We soaked up some sun and waves on the beach at Founder's Landing where we also got to go for a great Lobster Fest for Saturday dinner. The round trip ferry boat rides were a great hit, and so was playing with Rocky, the one-eyed kitty. We rounded off the weekend with lots of delicious food, shopping at the Tanger Outlets, and plenty of playing and didn't get home tonight until a few hours into Bobo's beauty sleep. Hope everyone else had a fantastic weekend as well!

Beach Faces

2010-07-28T21:07:00.000-04:00

So happy to be at the beach!


That's more like it, what a sweetie

Fake smile! Look at his scar/fake dimple :(

Bobo LOVES being at the beach!

Cutie Face

2010-07-28T20:50:00.000-04:00

My sister saw me editing this picture and told me I make the same face! I don't think I do, I've never seen me make this face.... have you??

In other news, we're trying to get him to be more 'British' by saying this like 'knickers', 'brillo' and 'well-chuffed!' Dual citizenship is right around the bend! :)

Summer Chocolate Face

2010-07-06T12:07:00.009-04:00

I love this, perfect summer memory! Nothing like a breakfast of a rich chocolate muffin while the warm air beckons for a day of playing outside. Fresh flowers from the garden help too. I'm starting a new 'starred' label for my favorite single pictures. This way I can eventually organize them into sections that are easily clickable and findable, and all my favorites will be right there!

Early Spring Hike

2010-06-27T16:03:00.000-04:00

Here are some from a few months ago... look at that snow on the ground! Taking the first thaw opportunity to hike around through the path in the woods and 'sunbathe' in the yard.

Morning Glory

2010-06-18T20:24:00.001-04:00

I took this the spring before my little Bobo was born, back when I still let me DSLR see the light of day. Used the Orton technique post-process. Too busy to be mucking about taking close up portraits of pretty flowers now, but I guess what that is what retirement is for! :)

Puzzle Master

2010-06-18T19:56:00.001-04:00

Bobo has been really into puzzles lately. He has a rack of about seven of them and he loves taking them apart and putting them back together. Of course he can do them all super fast, even this one which is the 'hardest' so far. And of course he's now torn of half of the picture part of this puzzle but he still knows where all the pieces go!

Marshmallow Evening

2010-06-18T19:52:00.001-04:00

My little cutie sitting in his chair munching on marshmallows as a bedtime treat. He *loves* them.

Bun in the Oven

2010-06-18T19:45:00.000-04:00

Or Pumpkin Muffin in the Oven... as it were.

I don't know where he gets these ideas from! I don't think he's even ever heard the expression 'bun in the oven'... guess he just thought it would be a good way to eat breakfast, through his tummy!

Sleeping Angel

2010-06-18T19:38:00.000-04:00

1994, Long Island

2010-06-18T19:26:00.000-04:00

My dad emailed me this picture he found down at my grandparents house... its us in 1994! How crazy much does Bobo look like my little brother did?

Silly-Bub

2010-05-16T00:29:00.002-04:00

Silhouette, Six Months

2010-05-15T23:49:00.001-04:00

I've been seeing a lot of silhouette art lately and I have been meaning to make some of Arin for-eh-vah. I want some to frame, maybe some of those cool multiple ones would be fun too. I don't know, I'm playing around with ideas. Here is a quick one I did of my six-month old little Bobosaurus, it would be cute for a little card or part of a progression set, I dunno. By the way, I absolutely cannot stand the cuteness of looking through all the pics from when he was this little...

Love Glows

2010-05-06T19:32:00.000-04:00

Jumping on the JumpSport

2010-05-02T14:40:00.000-04:00

Bobo got an early birthday present a few days ago... his BIG birthday present: a huge 14' JumpSport trampoline!

So far we love it, and I mean everyone! It is so much fun and we can't get enough! The only problem is mosquitos love it too, even during the day, so we have to get our mosquito eradicator machine up and running. But, if you keep moving they can't get you right?? Plus that makes it such great exercise.

I bought the huge safety net to go along with it, but it's still sitting in my driveway in pieces waiting to be put up... I get really nervous each time we have gone on because Bobo wants to jump near the edge of course, or run around in circles, and I'm terrified he will fall off. So that's getting put up as soon as I can recruit some help.

I haven't even been on a trampoline in years... and really its even more fun than I remembered. I'm really glad I went for the JumpSport, because they come with a warranty and last years and years, plus they have great customer service. I bought it on Monday afternoon and it was delivered Thursday morning! Plus I had a question and they sent me an email response and then called in case I had any follow ups!

Now I just want to put some landscaping fabric covered with mulch down for under the trampoline area... which is going to be behind the beach (which I'm also redoing this year). We didn't get a swing set, but I think Bobo is pretty happy with this instead.

Teeny Weeny Bobosaurus

2010-04-25T13:41:00.001-04:00

I Heart Cinnamon Buns

2010-04-19T22:31:00.000-04:00

So, if you read any of my posts about the weekend at Pioneer Woman's ranch, you know that her Amazing Cinnamon Rolls were a huge feature of the weekend and were totally even more amazing in person than they look in her pictures. SO. FLIPPING. DELICIOUS. We made them a few times and didn't follow the directions so they didn't turn out as good as they were there... but dang they were still delicious. And the dough... makes AMAZING Buttered Rosemary Rolls, which are also in her cookbook and you should make immediately as well.

Here are some pictures of our Valentine's Day Ladies Night in which we made... a few dozen cinnamon rolls. Yum.

Waiting for cinnamon rolls to finish baking is a real drag, especially when you've been waiting for hours for the dough to rise...

Oh so worth it!

Now this is Serious butter. As-Serious-as-Tweed butter (anyone a LTR/LTT fan? If not please don't ask).

Right, so if you didn't get it above already, the link to her recipe is here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/cinammon_rolls_/ It's 100% worth the two extra pant sizes, I promise you. Or give them to your loved ones and spare your waistline, they will love you extra much for it.

Annoying

2010-04-19T21:30:00.001-04:00

I keep getting a bunch of spam comments and it's really annoying me. I promise my readership is not large enough to warrant your ads for male enhancement and pharmacuticals. Not to mention they DO NOT SPEAK CHINESE so why are you putting Chinese spam on my posts?? Hello brain-dead.

So I did the obnoxious thing and put a word verification requirement on comments... if you're a blogger it doesn't affect you so sign up for one if you haven't already! If that doesn't work I'm going to block anonymous posting, it's just too annoying to have to go a few times a week to old entries and delete this nonsense!

Adorable Singer, Tiffany Alvord

2010-04-18T11:50:00.001-04:00

Someone's blog had a link to this girl's videos and I love them! She is 17 and so adorable and she sings all the songs I love singing along to on the radio. She has a ton of videos, I've only listened to a few... go check her out!

Upward and Onward

2010-04-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

Silly Boy

2010-04-17T09:47:00.001-04:00

Little Cuties

2010-04-09T23:20:00.001-04:00

Ganked from Grampy

2010-03-28T21:56:00.000-04:00

Grampy obviously didn't lose HIS camera because he just posted all of these on his photo blog. I stoled them, just 4 u! We've got Bobo running wild at the Egg Hunt, climbing a super big ladder at the playground, throwing rocks into Maple Creek on our hike, and apparently trying to stab Grampy with a fork at Parkers.

Slacking

2010-03-28T21:34:00.000-04:00

I've been so busy lately I haven't had time to do anything. Finally I sit down to edit some of the million photos I have saved up and... I can't find my camera! It's gone! All my recent pics are still on there, so I hope it turns up soon.

Today I took a lot, first there was the town-wide Easter Egg Hunt, which Bobo managed to get a grand total of three eggs out of. I think this was better than last year, which he only got one or two. This year we even practiced too so he would know exactly what to do and to run fast!! But, once he got there all he wanted to do was grab one egg and run around shaking it... actually just run around basically. So the egg hunters came and went, and we stayed to run through the fields, and then went to the big kid playground where he demonstrated his AMAZING climbing skills... I see bouldering in his future. Momo stopped by for a minute but she missed the egg hunt, not that it was much to see except for crazy overbearing parents trying to get their startled toddlers to grab eggs out from under other startled toddlers.

It was freezing out at the town fields thanks to the wind, so after our super long walk back we decided to go to Parkers (my dad was with us). It was really fun! We had an hour and 15 wait so we went to the little shack that sells cider, coffee and donuts and mmm the cider was so good but the donuts are amazing! They were hot and fresh, and Bobo got a maple frosted cake donut (I ate half) and Dad got a raised one. Next time we're going to go just to get these donuts they are that good! After our snack we spent over an hour hiking through the woods behind the restaurant, where all their maple trees are. There is a big stream running through now though, from all the flooding, so we couldn't cross to where the actual sap trees are, but we had fun following the stream and trying to find a way across. Breakfast, when we finally got it, was very yummy as always, and on the ride home Bobo fell asleep!

So of course I took a ton of pictures of today, and I have a bunch from Noni's birthday and just random other ones. Now that spring and summer are coming we have a lot of events on the way, and I'll try to keep up a bit more with the pictures! Not to mention I still have so many Pioneer Woman ones to put up, oh my! Here's one from who knows when:

All The Pretty Horses

2010-03-14T13:34:00.000-04:00

Feeding Some Cows

2010-02-25T19:35:00.003-05:00

Saturday morning found us awake bright and early so that we could scoff down some leftover rolls before heading out with MM and their eldest daughter to feed the wild mustangs. It was a cloudy day with occasionally sprinkles, but thank goodness the rain held off until we were safely back at the Lodge. These gorgeous views were from our bedroom door, which overlooks the wrap-around deck, by the way.

We separated into two trucks with Ashely, Dani, my Mom and I as MM's passengers and everyone else with their 12 year old daughter in the brand new F-150. Yeah, up here we can't even get near a steering wheel until we're 17! She's awesome sauce, though. Riding in the feed truck with MM was seriously fantastic though, he took the time to answer all our (often ridiculous) ranch related questions.

Here's my mama!

Once we got to the cow pasture, we were able to get out. I was goaded into petting a cow, but sadly they ran away from their delicious breakfast once they saw me coming. Apparently you have to be *sneaky* to pet/tip/probe cows.

Check out Charlie on the back of the F-150... more on this later.

I'm so in love with this place, because you can see so far in any direction. I am partial to mountains, which we also don't have around where we live, but they had enough hills here to satisfy my need for high spaces. How can you not love all that flat though??

The cows were just about as happy as I was, but more for the protein pellets than the gorgeous views.

Moo!

How adorable is Ashley? I just want to put her in my bag and take her home forever. Plus, she cooks and ice fishes and cures deer meat and milks cows and pretty much is a cowboy's dream girl. And my dream girl!

We weren't outside for very long, because it is cold on that prairie! Not the bitter stinging New England cold, mind you, but still quite chilly and we were happy to get back in that truck and watch through the windows while pestering MM with asinine questions like... what do you do with horses when they keel over?? (They dig a big hole and drag the deceased into it).

Notice Charlie milling around. He was in his element... he was even giving the cows the evil eye and keeping their pacific bovineness in check.

Charlie doesn't bark... he just exudes this attitude that says, "Rawr." Take heed, guys.

And then it was off to see some wild, wild horses.

First Night at the Lodge, Continued...

2010-02-25T01:49:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned before, after dinner everyone pitched in a hand to help clean up. Except me, of course, because I was busy being annoying and taking pictures of it. Charlie also snuck his way back inside, skunk-smelling and all. We'd already eaten, so who cares, right!

Did I already mention how in love I am with this kitchen? I'd followed the whole Lodge re-do, but I literally gasped out loud when I walked in to its magnificence. Ahh-may-zing.

Gratuitous Charlie pictures warning! He was definitely the celebrity of the weekend. And it may not look like it with those teeny little legs, but this dog can jump! Here he is mid-air after trying to get up on someone putting away bacon-wrapped meatloaf.

Even though he was stinky, people just couldn't keep their hands off him. It's a hard life for Charlie, with beautiful women falling over each other to nuzzle him or rub his belly.

The Lodge also has industrial KFC-sized sinks in the pantry, perfect for spray washing dishes or having weird bubble bath situations like the food chain workers do. We stuck to washing dishes, even after a horrified Ree tried to chase out her guests/food service workers. It's just such a joy do do anything in this place!

I was content to go back to snapping pictures, and mmm, check out the rosemary rolls... trust me they taste even better than they look sitting there all nestled in warm garlicy rosemary goodness.

I have some dough currently sitting in my fridge that's destined for a similar fate... but I don't think they'll make it to the two day mark like these barely did.

Charlie was weaving in and out of people this whole time, until finally he got enough attention, flopped down and didn't move until Ree and her daughter dragged him out by his soft little ears.

This dog just soaks up love like a sponge. A very floppy-eared, sad-eyed sponge. And he loves every last second of it!

After our amazing hostess left us to get some sleep, we took a moment to gawk around again and then all headed straight to bed. It was a LONG trip for most of us (Gina and Sara... they had it easy), and we had to be up bright and early the next day so that we could pretend we were cowgirls. None of us had these, though:

Ashely and Dani are being very nice and turning off all the lights and lamps and candles before we head off to dreamland.

Of course, before bed I had to get all googly-eyed over the bathroom, which is *gorgeous* like everything else. I've stayed at fancy-pants hotels and really, none of them are as comfortable as staying here. Not to mention the beds, seriously, most comfortable things in the universe. Did I already mention that?

My mom mentioned being able to fit seven people and a breakfast table in the shower, and she was right, it's HUGE.

Hi, it's me! Who else loves mirror shots? I know Ashley does, because girl has this same picture on facebook!

Just one last bathroom shot! Okay I'm done. For now.

Oh, and these cow skin thingies? SO soft and actually adorable. I was a little iffy on if I'd want these instead of rugs, but I am a convert. Sadly I don't think they'd go great over our brick-red carpet here in Massachusetts.

And then... to bed!

The Lodge: Suppertime

2010-02-24T01:49:00.002-05:00

Alright, so I wasn't serious about putting up 34 separate posts, but since I really need to get my behind to bed, here are just a few from supper the first night. Once we 'landed' so to speak, we met Ree and her lovely eldest daughter who had been cooking and re-cooking our meal all night, trying to keep things warm for us. They showed us to our gorgeous, amazing, hotel-like rooms and I had approx. 2.4 seconds to snap a quick shot before we ran back out to enjoy a delicious feast and shyly tell our entire life stories around mouthfuls of buttery rosemary rolls (or maybe that was just me).

For dinner, well, go check out PW's post with pictures and stuff. It was amazing, I almost died when those rolls hit my mouth, and I could NOT at all get enough of the sweet tomato ketchup sauce that went with the meatloaf. Make that stuff, you'll be famous in your home! For dessert, I managed to come out of my food coma and pick up my camera again. Let's just say these apple dumplings were SO amazingly good (thanks to Mountain Dew of all things) that there is currently a fresh-made pan sitting on my kitchen table. Well, only three are left, actually. Make these too! Also, please note the cowgirl napkin on my lap.

Now that the cameras were out of hiding again, I felt not too weird snapping pictures of everyone and everything. Before they got up from the table I managed to capture Dani and Ashley. Midwestern girls are ridiculously sweet and pretty, let me tell you!

I also caught Ashley and Paige, mostly because they were situated directly in front of me and could do nothing to avoid it.

We lingered over the delicious apple turnovers for a while, because they really deserve lingering over. Make sure you don't forget to sprinkle the cinnamon on top, by the way... it makes a huge difference. Not that anyone in the following picture did something like that yesterday...

This big smile is in spite of the fact I gained two dress sizes over the weekend. Can't win 'em all.

After dinner we all tripped over each other to help clean up, mostly to avoid having to talk more about ourselves I think. It didn't work though, Ree is a masterful expert at coaxing detailed histories out of people (if only my background check company had half her skill!)

Oh, and can we all look at Ree's eldest offspring for a moment? She's the one twice my height wearing a fashionable scarf. My mom and I are pretty sure she's going to become an international model if her parents ever let her off the ranch... which certainly isn't as wholesome a life as a cowgirl so I think it's good they've got her in the middle of nowhere.

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention those unfortunate guests who were not welcome at the table, and were therefore salivating with hunger just outside the door for hours and hours and hours. Poor dears.

Yup that's Charlie above. There's more Charlie to come. And on the left down below is Hooker. I always assumed she was titled after a 'Lady of the Night' and Cowboy Josh just had some weird sense of humor... but actually she's named for a town that's called the same thing. And she HAS been fixed, after a single litter of puppies... and if I were you I wouldn't bring it up.

Alright, there's a ton more to come, see you tomorrow!

The Voyage to Oklahoma

2010-02-22T18:05:00.002-05:00

Our long journey began in an airport in Paris in the 1940s: just two women, alone save for a hoard of pastry, facing the beginning of a dusty road to the very far west.

That's a 'Get Smart' style Russian walkie talkie, not a cell phone

Our spirits were high, though the miles before us were long, and the warm sun greeted us cheerfully from behind the industrial plate-glass.

It being Paris in the 40s and all, I am exclaiming something to the effect of 'Ooh la la, sacre bleu! Je suis une bibliotheque chevre au vin!' Basically I was swooning with excitement to get on the plane.

Finally, about 70 years later, we arrived in Oklahoma! Cue this video please. Actually there was no one singing in the airport when we landed, but once we spied our limo our hearts sure were! We met Shelley and Paige first, and all decided no dementors/party poopers would be allowed in, or at least wouldn't be given complimentary mini soda cans.

Of course we weren't disappointed, everyone who came was amazing, fun, sweet, and a joy to be around. This was the best group of ladies anyone could have wished to be stuck with in the middle of no where for an entire weekend. Here's Ashley (NOT Emily) and Dani who are sisters from Idaho and the last to fly in.

After we rounded everyone up, William our driver took us to downtown Tulsa (it's a real city, with big buildings and running water!) to pick up Gina and Sara. We may have been chanting loudly as they walked towards the limo- we're a rowdy crowd. Once we snagged Gina away from her cute new hubby, we all took off on the loooong drive out to the ranch. On the way of course, someone had to use the little girl's room, so William pulled us over at... this place. Now previously, I had the impression that Oklahoma was a wholesome, family-friendly state, but, well... see for yourself what kind of establishments they have littered all over:

Now not only do they have these ... "gas stations" all over the place, they sell merchandise so people can advertise their proclivities to the whole world. Look, they even sell BOXERS with the logo pasted all over them. Just saying.

Now before you guys go judging me and my fashion sense... let me just say that I heard it from the horse's mouth that a certain single cowboy whose chaps you have all likely enjoyed drooling over has *this very same hat*.

Cowboy Approved.

Once we finally pried ourselves away from this establishment, and drooled over the Sonic next-door (which we resisted, based solely on the powerful motivation that Ree was at home slaving away over the stove for us), we spent another 6 hours getting to know each other while traversing dirt roads and tumbleweed deep out into the pitch-black prairie. It was so dark, by the way, that when we finally saw the blazing lights of the Lodge looming ahead, William was so excited that we all nearly flipped seven times down a cliff in our giant limo.

So happy to be alive!

Of course, he was much too skilled to lose control, and we all gratefully clawed our way out onto solid ground to begin our fabulous weekend! Stay tuned for more...

Pioneer Woman Pretty Much Rocks

2010-02-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

I just met a number of truly incredible women, thanks to the Pioneer Woman's sushi weekend giveaway. I am in love with everyone I just met and it's pretty lonesome now that I've been home from the Lodge for less than a day. I'm a wimp! I'm probably going to post up 36 entries about every little detail that I can remember, but Ree beat us all to the punch!

Ree was twittering the whole weekend (click to go check 'em all out)... including of course the time when my mom smelled some bacon... and wondered aloud if perhaps her butt was on fire? (Here's the twitpic of that moment).

She also already posted about the amazing meal she made us on Friday night, and of course HOW to make it and be a domestic goddess too (she totally really honestly in-real-life is, btw). Or maybe that's a separate post... well just go read the whole entire site okay? If you're not an addict already be prepared.

And of course, there is a big old post that chronicles our entire weekend together, complete with lots of pics (one of which may or may not feature a certain single country gentleman's Wranglers) and her usual witty charm. Another post about the sushi may be upcoming too. Oh... my... bacon butt was it good! Everything. Amazing.

So right, I need to go work on my own pictures. Some of the lovely ladies already have some up on facebook, so I apologize in advance for also ganking those and posting them. It's your guys' fault for not having blogs that I can link to, okay? Friends section is looking really bare over there on the right...

Mid-Ranch Weekend

2010-02-20T17:26:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I've snuck onto the computer at the Lodge to blog under the super secretive magical Oklahoma atmosphere that makes everyone out here incredibly fun, wonderful, and witty! My mom and I are having so much fun with all the other girls here, Ree has been spoiling us rotten with food to-DIE-for and views of the amazing countryside. The Lodge is even more gorgeous in person and the beds are incredibly comfy! I think everyone else is napping while I sneak on to indulge my addiction. I would post a pic or two but I don't see a card reader... oh wait there is one, maybe later tonight!

Anyway, best weekend in the universe. Love everyone!

The Rise of the Bobosaurus!

2010-02-18T11:38:00.001-05:00

So I just happened to google 'Bobosaurus' just now, as someone had come here from said google search. Well, it turns out that Bobosaurus has become an official kind of dinosaur, just in the past few years! Isn't that crazy?? Apparently it is a kind of plesiosaur, which is one of those water-dwelling brontosaurus looking creatures - http://www.plesiosauria.com/bobosaurus.html - how cool is that?

Also, I found this t-shirt which I need to get immediately: http://www.cafepress.com/+bobosaurus_rex_kids_light_ts,160636806

Bobo is SO famous. :)

Joolie's Birthday Celebration

2010-02-13T18:12:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Julie's birthday this year. We celebrated with some delicious takeout from Filho's Cucina, mmm so tasty! Julie had requested an 'animal-shaped' cake... so umm, out of ideas we went with a teddy bear. Mom proceeded to decorate the teddy bear when I wasn't looking... and I think made him into a homeless grifter/serial killer looking bear. He tasted good at least!

This bear had a scruffy chin strap which my mom took off after my expression of horror... and then it looked like he had an even sketchier five o'clock shadow. And check out those huge googly eyes - decorating is how we get rid of old candy. :)

Bobo may or may not have had only cheese-puffs for dinner. Which he ate with a fork.

And here's Julie wearing a Venetian mask... hey why not, it's her birthday!

Happy 26th Birthday Joolie!!

Early Morning Tea Party

2010-02-13T13:30:00.001-05:00

For Christmas, Lauren brought my mom over a lovely tea sampler from some posh English brand. It contained several bags of eight different varieties, and was all nicely packaged into convenient little sleeves and placed gently into compartments. All this effort on their part was for naught, because now that Bobo can reach up on the counters no tempting box can escape unscathed.

Yeah, that was a fun way for me to start the day, trying to match up tea varieties... And look at his innocent little face, as if he just stumbled upon these neatly arranged tea packets just left by the Tea Bunny or something. I especially enjoyed that he placed some cars alongside the tea packets... just adds a little something to the arrangement, don't you think?

Winter and Ice Cream

2010-02-13T13:19:00.000-05:00

Now I'm all for ice cream, I think it's a great idea. But... not so much in winter time, I'm already frigid enough as it is! Bobo doesn't feel the same way, apparently.

He doesn't even care that this is fake ice cream. And let me tell you, it's nasty. I'm sorry for everyone who is on Weight Watchers and has to use this as a substitute for the real thing... because it's gross. I would so much rather eat nothing than eat pale, chemical-y imitations of yummy treats.

After it started gooping all over into this weird clear yellow liquid that fake ice cream (including the McDonald's stuff, which I actually like) melts into, he switched over to a spoon - still good!

Little Fuzzball

2010-01-26T23:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever seen anything so sweet and cute as a curled up little blue possum all snug in his nest? Aww, wait, that's just the Bobosaur in his polar bear pj's... asleep in a little ball in his Christmas chair.

Why is it that he can fall asleep in the oddest places in less than 3 seconds, but it takes him forever and a boatload of whining before he will take a nap in bed?

Pure preciousness.

Good Things Afoot

2010-01-26T13:27:00.000-05:00

As you may know, I've been hoping to find a full-time job since my last semester ended and I'm only taking a half-time course load this semester. The tricky part is that I'm obviously not finished with my IT degree, but that's the field I want a job in (British history is just not a bustling industry, sadly), more specifically working with Oracle (which is really hard to get into without experience). So, yesterday I started casting my net a little wider, and applied to this company that my friend works for... and this morning I got a call back from them! I am very excited, so cross your fingers for me!

As if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, a little while later I got another call and it was a *head hunter* (or recruiter, as they prefer), who found my resume on Dice! Unfortunately, he didn't really READ my resume well and wanted someone with RAC experience, but it was still really neat to have a random stranger call up and try to offer me a job! So, I'm a big dork and I'm getting a huge kick out of this lucky streak I've been having, and I really hope it keeps up long enough for me to get into a great position! Oh, and here's one of the suit pictures that somehow managed to miss Bobo playing trains over my shoes.

Oh My GOODNESS GRACIOUS!

2010-01-25T10:27:00.002-05:00

So... perhaps some of you Pioneer Woman readers happened upon this recent post in her cooking section? If not, maybe take a moment to peruse it... she's offering another one of her amazing Lodge-party contests with a make your own sushi twist... in February.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/01/surf-and-turf-a-weekend-cooking-giveaway/

Yeah... I'M GOING!!! I never win anything, I can't believe my luck!! I'm still waiting to figure out the details, so fingers crossed nothing falls through. I couldn't be more excited, though!!!!

The Roller Skating Adventure

2010-01-23T20:53:00.008-05:00

This afternoon we headed down to Roller Kingdom, the skating rink where we used to go as kids, to take Bobo for his first ever roller skating experience! Things started off a little iffy... we got there 20 minutes before they closed for lunch so we had to leave and come back. That ended up working out well- we had a tasty lunch at Panera and then hit the Home Depot for a while (too long a while). Unfortunately, by the time we got back to Roller Kingdom, the previously empty parking lot was JAM PACKED. Cars were parked everywhere, on top of each other, and even on the side of the highway... The entire huge ice skating arena parking lot next door was also full... so we were headed out to park across the highway when we saw some guy leaving four spots away from the door... score!

Once inside, it was also really packed... apparently Saturday afternoon is THE time to have your birthday at Roller Kingdom. It was borderline ridiculous and crazy kids on rollerblades were everywhere... next time we will certainly get there right when they open instead of having to deal with the 'party scene' and parking nightmare.

Bobo did really well at roller skating... except for a melt down after they took his shoes away and gave him his skates (mini real person skates!). I guess he thought they were stealing his shoes! It took 10 minutes to convince him to even put them on, I thought we would have to leave before we even got to skate, but he came through. Once they were on, Bobo was all for it. He was SO good, he could skate across the carpet all by himself after just a moment.

We headed into the center of the skate rink, which is the area for beginners and little kids, with everyone else circling at break-neck speed around. Bobo was really getting the hang of it as we skated back and forth, and then when Momo finally got some roller blades (they were so busy they didn't have ANY women's skates left) and joined us, and then we braved the big circle for a lap or two. After that, we had to wait through 10 races, so Bobo played with the arcade machines... and then we scored a free game of Ice Ball! (Bobo is not ready for Ice Ball, I might add.)

It wasn't bad for a first experience, and now we know for sure to get there right when they open, or maybe try a week night. It was too cute not to do again soon, I loved how his mini skates looked!

He was so tired afterwards that he ASKED to take a nap as soon as we got home! So sweet.

Bobo Making Cookies

2010-01-23T18:52:00.017-05:00

I'm a little obsessed with pre-sliced frozen holiday sugar cookies... they're just so easy, tasty and cute! They used to have three different holiday designs for the whole year, and now they've caught on and made a ton, for every holiday. I'm surprised they didn't have Martin Luther King Jr. ones. The sad thing is, I will buy any new holiday design they come up with!

I've shared my love of these cookies with Bobo, and HE loves them because these are one thing that he can 'make' all by himself! He gets so excited when he sees these because during Christmas he got to make them for the first time. I didn't even finish unpacking the groceries when he grabbed them, began dancing around, and telling me he had to 'make cookies' right away. Who could resist that?

After someone opens the bag for him, and slides out the tray, he meticulously takes one cookie at a time and places it on the baking sheet. When he's finally finished they are all mostly on one side, so he has to spread them out (and gets a little help before they are popped into the oven).

Then of course comes the waiting... but that's no problem thanks to his ten thousand trains that he has. Notice the nice MAT on the floor... that was a gift from Todd. I asked for a Silpat for Christmas (and notice how we are using it for the cookies, I loves it!), and Todd went last minute shopping without a list and all he could remember was that I wanted some kind of a mat! So he got me a PLACE mat, and this FLOOR mat! Nice attempt, but the best thing is this floor mat is AWESOME... its so comfy and makes you want to wash dishes... I'm not kidding.

And finally we have the cookies! They taste best when they're warm (but I pull them out right after 9 minutes so they stay really soft even days later), so of course we gobbled up a bunch. Mmm! I think next time I go shopping I'm going to have to get another pack... you know, because they have TWO different Valentine's Day designs, and we have to see how the arrow heart ones taste!

Hey Bobo... did you eat a million cookies or what? (I think that's a yes.)

The Unfortunate Bite

2010-01-23T17:23:00.001-05:00

This week Bobo had a rather unfortunate experience at Miss Robin's... he got bit by a little girl. Apparently Miss Robin bought a bunch of new trucks and cars, since all the toddlers there love them, Bobo included. She went to the kitchen to heat up lunch while Bobo and this girl were using the new cars in the play room, and then Bobo started crying... and the girl ran away to hide.

Judging from how dark the bite marks are they must have hurt a lot and that girl must have really chomped down! They were probably going for the same toy, who knows... apparently the girl has never bit anyone before. It didn't break the skin, but still...ouch! My biggest concern is Bobo now getting the idea it's okay to bite people... he already chomped on Momo's hand once since the incident. Right away we talked about how much that hurts and not to do it, and I think he got the idea... I hope so. :/

So here is my little darling the night of the 'attack'... don't worry, the mark was all faded and gone by morning and he went to day care the next day just as excited as ever (the girl wasn't there though, we'll see how next week goes). And the sad puppy face he's making here isn't from his traumatizing experience... he's just really sleepy. He gets over things pretty quickly, he's all zen like that. :)

Long Road Ahead

2010-01-21T19:05:00.003-05:00

Le Snow Suit

2010-01-21T18:56:00.003-05:00

The Pajama Samurai

2010-01-21T18:28:00.002-05:00

I guess Bobo was inspired by the Wii Fit to do his own special workout. I like to think he looks like a training samurai! He found himself a fashionable head wrap and then began to practice his meditative martial arts. Rawr!

Is he a cutie or what? Look at that concentration. I couldn't perch and balance on the edge of a box like this! And then of course he had to ham it up for a while. Notice the green blanket fort in the background, I think it adds to the effect. A little samurai house, if you will.

More Snow!?

2010-01-19T19:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, it snowed again today... so if I have to look at it so do you! Actually this is another one from yesterday, I took about fifty thousand... snowsuit pictures to follow. On an unrelated note... doesn't Arin look like the kid from Jerry McGuire when he wears my glasses??

Oh Snow!

2010-01-18T20:35:00.001-05:00

Said to the tune of... 'oh no'. Yes, another day, another snow storm. I suppose it's not been a bad winter snow-wise, and at least this storm was very wet and stuck to the trees very prettily.

January Rolling On...

2010-01-15T14:33:00.003-05:00

I haven't been posting lately I noticed. I had a bunch of things to take pictures of during the holidays... but now they're over and we haven't been doing anything exciting! It's the beginning of that long stretch of winter where nothing happens and there is no where to go... until spring time. Boring! Not to mention it's ridiculously cold out and who wants to do anything in weather like that?

Anyway, Bobo was home with me for the long weekend and I was trying to take a 'professional' picture for my Linkedin resume... let's just say it wasn't as successful as I hoped. But, I got some cute ones of me and Bobo! I wonder if that would impress hiring managers? I think you're not supposed to let them know you have young kids, so I should probably change my facebook profile picture (because they show up on google, and companies like to search interviewees.) Though, that's probably not as bad as the old photo links you can find attached to me all over the place! Oh well... most of them are overseas so it doesn't count right?! :) I created a new email for my resume, which is good because the old one brings up a whole bunch of old pictures and stuff that are kind of embarrassing. No I'm not telling you my email (shoot, it's probably on the side isn't it?). Don't do it!

Bobo is loving spending a few hours a week with Miss Robin and his new friends at 'school', he talks about how they play with trucks and watch Thomas and the best part is that she has a PUPPY... it's a cute little dog and so sweet. It's great, it's like he gets to have a pet but we don't have to clean up after it. I'm just keeping up with the job search and trying to learn as much about Java as I can before my classes start in another week... it's not a full course load but I'm taking a lot of programming stuff which I find difficult. I'm hoping to be in a full-time position before the end of February, and to graduate (again) this summer, so cross your fingers for me!

Snowy

2010-01-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

January means cold, cold, cold and lots of snow!

PatternCooler

2010-01-08T19:53:00.001-05:00

OMG, I just found the best utility ever... PatternCooler! It let's you customize all these amazing seamless patterns... you can use them as-is (they are really awesome) or change the size, colors, etc! This is the best idea ever if you want to customize your blog, or it would be awesome for digital scrapbook pages or other websites. Go check it out at: http://www.patterncooler.com/index.php

Now I am going to play for a thousand hours until I find a new one for this blog. Yes, I know, there are a thousand other things I should be doing (like vacuuming or learning Java before my class starts), but this is way too much excitement to pass up.

Edit: Check out the new look! I am so in love. Here are three of the patterns I customized in the last hour! Okay, the little ones don't look that impressive, but they're much cuter when set as backgrounds.

Welcoming 2010

2010-01-05T22:29:00.007-05:00

Happy New Years... a few days late of course. We had a nice little party at our house to watch the ball drop. Sadly, our party was not the most exciting, and everyone ended up sitting in the living room watching one person at a time play Chicken Shoot on the Wii (don't ask). Then we watched some questionable musical dance routines on the various New Year's programs... the one we found the most enjoyable and family-friendly was one of the spanish (Mexican?) networks, go figure!

One exciting moment for me (before the ball drop... that's *always* exciting) was when Mom brought this little gem of deliciousness from the store for us:

Haloumi! She found it in a Lebanese store but this stuff is CYPRIOT all the way. It only comes from Cyprus and is so delicious. You actually grill it to make it taste the best, its a little rubbery and slightly crumbly once grilled, and very salty, buttery and mild. It's a great treat, and we all fell in love with it while in Cyprus but it's pretty hard to find here (in the UK it's much easier to get a hold of).

So, I grilled it all up and we enjoyed it with some tzatziki that I actually just had sitting in the fridge from making souvlaki... what good fortune! I think it's a sign for the new year, which has been quite nice so far. The past few years have been a little rough in their own ways, but I am rooting for this year to be the best of the decade, who is with me?

Stocking Stalking

2009-12-29T23:32:00.002-05:00

So... what have I been up to during my downtime this holiday season? Well, besides manically changing the theme and style of this blog about 50 different times (still going with that, btw), I've been touring holiday homes across the country. Legitimate stalking ensues (stocking stalking, hee hee!).

Nester's site has a grand Christmas Tour with over a THOUSAND links people submitted to posts about their holiday decor. I cannot resist. If you have an hour or a million, go check it out if you haven't already. Even though Christmas is over now, it's still super fun, trust me.

So, I may or may not post any more of my own holiday pictures... or post anything ever again. :)

Summary of Christmas

2009-12-26T15:04:00.003-05:00

This basically sums up our Christmas morning! Lots of fun, family, and TOYS. We had a wonderful day, hope you all did too!

Timeless Christmas

2009-12-21T23:28:00.003-05:00

Cleaning Up for Christmas

2009-12-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

Previously Arin's toys ruled the living room... but we had to make room for the Christmas tree. It's a good thing we did, because we ended up with the fattest, widest tree ever! It takes up almost all the space that you see Arin clearing here. Isn't he so sweet, deliberately picking up all his books and stacking them up on his chair?

Official Mall Santa Picture

2009-12-17T00:42:00.008-05:00

Here it is, the 'official' Santa shot. I was too lazy to take it out of the frame, so I just took a picture of it on the mantle. I did fix it up a little bit! If I get more ambitious later I'll actually scan it and make it glowy or something.

Merry Christmas!

Santa Comes to the Mall

2009-12-17T00:27:00.005-05:00

During my take-home final last Tuesday, Mom took Arin out for a fun night at the mall, so I would have some time to complete my test in peace. I'm jealous thought, because he had such a fun night and I wish I had gotten to go! They met up with Carl and JJ, and first went to see SANTA. Arin loves Santa, even if this one is a bit creepy looking. Carl was smart and brought his camera, so he got these shots while they were taking the official ones.

It turns out that the night they went was DOG AND CAT night to get your pet's pictures with Santa! So my Mom, who is allergic to furry critters, had to stand in a looooong line with them and a toddler. Fun!

Apparently Arin would NOT smile, no matter what they did, and they tried everything! They were wiggling stuff in front of him, telling jokes, and even gave him a candy cane!

The one thing that did get his happy attention was Santa's fuzzy sleeve. Apparently he loved it, and sat there and pet it for a few moments! How precious is that? Here is him petting it, with the petting part cut off... oops. But in the 'formal' picture Mom bought it has his hand resting on the fuzzy sleeve part, so that's a cute inside story to tell when he grows up.

When they came home, Mom told me that after spending all that time there that they hadn't got one picture of him smiling (which they didn't), so she refused to buy one! I was like, what, you can't do that! But it turns out she was waiting to surprise me, and on our 'early Christmas' before Julie left for England, she gave me the framed picture that she bought, and gave mini ones to Julie and Dad.

After all this fun with Santa, Arin and JJ went on to ride the special Christmas Train, then they had a yummy dinner at the Food Court, followed by *ice cream cones* and some fun holiday walking around the mall. I'm jealous! But not really jealous enough to brave all the crowds with a stroller until after Christmas.

December Storm

2009-12-15T18:19:00.004-05:00

We had a large storm, the first of the 'official' winter season. I'm not counting the storm we had earlier in the year, because that was just uncalled for. Now, though, we have enough to ensure a "white Christmas"... probably. We got almost a foot of snow last week and let me tell you, it was heavy and not at all fun to shovel. This "storm" was only an inch or two and came a few days before the big one... but the snow was very wet and stayed on the trees for days, so pretty!

Candy Canes

2009-12-15T18:04:00.003-05:00

This year Arin discovered he has a deep and abiding love for *candy canes*. He is always asking for more, and is very excited every time he gets offered one. He doesn't lick or suck on it like a normal person, however... he crunches them down to nothing in record time. Guess he's just too impatient to sit there and enjoy it, he's got to chomp it up as fast as possible!

Putting the Lights on the Tree

2009-12-15T17:38:00.002-05:00

Christmas Tree Shopping

2009-12-14T21:46:00.003-05:00

We got our tree a little late this year... but not as bad as other years when it seems we were out a few days before Christmas. We took it easy this time and just headed to the local town courts where the Lions Club was selling trees. It was *freezing* and we were the only ones there, so the two guys were jumping through hoops to sell us a tree. Which was even more funny because the first tree they showed us we liked, and then ended up getting after seeing them all... at least we all got some exercise I guess!

Of course they knew to ply the kids immediately with candy... though Arin was so smart and wouldn't take candy from strangers, I had to take it and give it to him. Safety first, hahah!

Speaking of safety... the way they secured our tree was almost certainly a safety violation. They had this extremely thin rope, like dental floss thin (okay it was kite string), and just wrapped it around the top and bottom of the tree.

Mom is here being like... there's no WAY that is going to stay, it's going to fall off. But the guys assured us the tree would make it 'to the rotary, or your money back'. The rotary is directly outside the lot, btw. After we pointed that out, they said fine, if something happened they would give us another tree for free... on December 26th. Nice.

So the six minute drive home took more like 20 because I was driving like an old grandma... and STILL the tree slipped halfway off the car! As you can see below, by the time we got home it was sticking way off to the side of Arin's window. But, we made it!!

Smile or No Camera

2009-12-13T15:49:00.003-05:00

Arin is just like his mommy... he loves cameras. He's constantly trying to get at mine to look at the pictures, and now whenever I grab it to take a picture of him, he stops what he's doing, runs up to me and tries to grab it out of my hand! I told him he can't touch the camera UNTIL he smiles and gives me a nice picture... so finally he got the idea! How cute?

And thanks to Juju and Lauren for this dapper Gant sweater that was one of Arin's awesome Christmas presents.

Here's the original 'gimme gimme omg gimme!' stance that prompted this particular SMILE OR ELSE ultimatum.

La Carreta apres la Christmas Tree

2009-12-13T12:20:00.007-05:00

After we got our Christmas Tree last night we had to go out and celebrate, so we headed up to my favorite place - La Carreta! I love this restaurant, we've been going there since I was in high school and it has hosted countless celebrations, dates, girls nights, etc... It's SO tasty and the decor just keeps getting more fun every year, not to mention its a fantastic deal.

Library Tree Lighting, Part 2

2009-12-13T12:10:00.005-05:00

Here's the second part of the Tree Lighting... starting with once we FINALLY got inside. It was cold out, and Arin was heavy! Thank goodness we convinced my Dad to come, he took over Bobo-lugging duty.

Julie showed up and her and Mom snuck in to the Santa room... without waiting in line.

And here is THE Santa picture... not that great because Julie took it, and just one! The only other one shows ... well let's just say I don't think Santa was wearing any undergarments and it is very apparent in the other shot. So here is the shot of Bobo not looking with red eye and none of the pretty background... but at least Santa's not flashing us!

After the kids get their turn on Santa's lap, they have little candy canes and bags of 'reindeer food' which is oatmeal mixed with glitter that you're supposed to throw out on your lawn. Yeah, sounds like a great idea... we just opted for the candy canes.

And on the way out we had to stop at the pretty tree, all lit up! And a mini Santa was running around too.

Merry Christmas!

Library Tree Lighting Ceremony, Part 1

2009-12-13T12:01:00.007-05:00

Last Friday night was the annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony at our local library. This was Arin's THIRD year going... I can't believe it! I am going to try to find pics from when he was a baby and we went so I can make a comparison of all three times. The only bad part was that this year the fire truck that Santa arrives in LEFT before Arin had a chance to get on and play... that was pretty disappointing. Last year it stayed the whole time and the kids could get up in it and explore right until the end.

Here's the tree before Santa arrived to light it up! Arin keeps talking about how Santa 'lights up' trees now... he thought he would have to come into our living room and light up our tree for the first time too!

And there's the fire truck and Santa... the kids mobbed it immediately! When I was little Santa would throw out candy from the truck, but I guess now he just lights up the tree and goes inside for pictures. Arin was really excited to see Santa, he kept saying his name when he got out of the truck.

The line to wait to see Santa was loooooong and somehow we ended up in the back even though we were right near the door when the line started. We should have just seen the fire truck first instead of waiting! Next year.

After getting back from the hairdresser, Momo joined us! Julie showed up later on too.

Maybe she was trying to distract the crowd so we could get ahead ...

The Dance of the Christmas Lights.

Late Apple Picking

2009-12-04T15:39:00.005-05:00