The Sick Day

Every winter, it's inevitable - everyone gets sick at the same time, and in that awful mix of sickness, snow storms and cabin fever I find myself feeling horribly claustrophobic and ready to run away.

We're running out of ways to entertain ourselves after almost a week of consecutive snow days and sick days. So we made a movie! About being sick! (Be forewarned, there's a lot of runny nose action - not recommended viewing for the squeamish or germophobic.)

It was a fun project for this week. I know nothing about putting together video, but as I fumbled slowly through the editing process I found I loved how different it was from taking and editing photos. I needed a good challenge! 

I think we're finally pulling through this awful virus, and the sun is back out today after a very snowy start to our week. March may come in like a lion, but - it's MARCH! Spring is practically here. I'm so excited.

Olive Says...

"Mom, don't you want to have another baby?"
"Not really..."
"But Mom, don't you miss pumping?!"

"Mom, were you born during the time of slavery?"

Overheard fighting over a toy...
"You give me that back or I'll see you HANGED!"
(Thanks Disney's "Pocohontas" for that new phrase.)

"Dad, can we tell the manager that it's Mom's birthday tomorrow?"
"What manager?"
"You KNOW - the big bald manager at church!"
(The fact that our 6 year old apparently doesn't know the word "pastor" reflects awesomely on Matt and I, we know we know...)

Speaking of birthdays, this was my most favorite gift this year...

"Do we have to put peckins in the frosting?"
"The what?!"
"PECKINS!"
(She meant pecans. We will forever call them "peckins" now in this household.)

Scratchy Beard

There's nothing more fun, apparently, than being attacked by Daddy's sharp-as-sandpaper 5 o'clock shadow...

Silas elbows in for his dose of pain with a side of beard burn...

Oh these guys...

I kind of like them a lot.

The Dutch Version of "Santa Claus"

A friend from church was talking to us this morning about Holland's Christmas festivities. They have a "Sinterklaas" parade apparently, and instead of trying to explain it to us, our friend sent us to this link to hear David Sedaris explain it.

I don't know what we found funnier, the Dutch Santa story or Sedaris explaining Michigan's strange hunting laws. You have to listen!

Skyline

I love the feeling I get when I see the skyline of a big city we're headed to from the highway.

Exciting.

We had such a fun first visit to Chicago a couple of weeks ago.

So much fun that I didn't take many pictures with the Nikon. Too busy looking up and around.

We spent most of the time at the Shedd Aquarium, where we saw the aquatic show...

(Verdict: Baltimore's is way better.)

We also got to pet sting rays! 

(Verdict: they feel surprisingly slimy and just, gross. Sorry rays.)

Some funny Chicago stories...

We were supposed to meet my cousins at 10am at Shedd. 

We totally forgot about the hour time difference and ended up downtown at 8:30CT. 

Oops.

We had the hardest time finding a place for lunch.

We had spent so much time at the aquarium that by the time we left the kids were really antsy.

(^ that is an understatement, folks! ^)

With the aid of our combined smart phones, we finally found an open place near Millenium park.

It was called "The Tilted Kilt."

Of course Matt and I had no idea what a Tilted Kilt was, being the naive, sheltered kids we are. ;)

But we figured it out pretty quick once we saw the hostess.

However, the restaurant was practically empty, and the kids were nuts. And we were all starving.

So...mistake or not, we just ate there.

And laughed the whole time, because seriously, WTH were we doing? 

(But to their credit, the waitress behaved extremely well and was super nice and the food was good.)

What Men See In the Mirror...

I shared this video a few days ago.

Well, this one is even better. I'm still laughing.

You Know What Day It Is, Right?

It's what, like 2 years later, and the song still gets stuck in my head every friday. (We so excited!)

This happened today.

And then this. I'm still laughing.

This also had me laughing ridiculously. (I still have the humor of a 13 year old boy sometimes.)

On a less silly note, I am HOOKED on this channel. Every time I get a quiet 5 minutes, I try to watch one. I feel like I've learned so many practical tips from him in just a couple of weeks, and he is such a sweet, likable guy. If you feel like a dummy with makeup (like I do!) give these a try!

So my plans for the weekend are pretty boring. Hopefully they'll include some walks outside, lots of coffee and maybe some reading time. I've also got a few crafty-like projects I'd like to get started on. Oh, and we started watching the first season of House (love Hugh Laurie) and while it might not be the best choice of entertainment for a self-diagnosed-hypochondriac, it sure is addicting.

Hope anyone reading this has a great, relaxing weekend!

Make Up Pet Peeves

I found this hilarious. 

The Next Big Thing??

Urban Outfitters totally got me on this one. I laughed so hard once I (way too late) remembered it was April Fool's Day. (Hey, when your daughter has an April Fool's birthday, you kind of forget about that prank-fest side of April 1st.) Seriously, I almost wrote a blog post titled "WTH is the World Coming To?!?" or something of that sort. Can you imagine wearing something like this? Too funny.

Here's the accompanying interview. :)

Thursday Story Time

64 / 365

I got a call from the library this morning, informing me the 6 or so kids DVDs I had checked out 2 weeks ago were a week over due (someone didn't realize you could only borrow DVDs for 1 week here, though the books are good for 3 weeks.) They also informed me I was racking up quite a lot of fines and I had best get those stupid Madeleine DVDs back before the library had to seize my car and house. (Not really, but gosh, librarians do take these things seriously!)

So I left a napping Silas at home with Matt and took Olive with me to pay my debts. And we just happened to get there right as the weekly story time for 3-5 year olds was starting. Before I could even get my bearings I was being ushered into the story time room by the librarian (who was playing a red ukelele.)

I have to admit, one of the reasons I had never voluntarily taken Olive to story time was that I had no idea how she would respond or interact. While she loves stories and reading, she rather despises singing and dancing with me. Or maybe she just hates it when I sing and dance. That must be it, because she LOVED story time. She was perfectly behaved and sang and danced with all the other kids and had a ball and I was one proud mommy.

Actually, I was the only proud mommy. I was literally like the only mother in the room, as the rest of the children were accompanied by dads (or male nannies?) It was a little strange.

So before I close, I have to share this clip because I loved it.



I, along with most of the rest of the world, LOVE her. :)

14 [Proof that My Kids Are Hilarious]

It was hard to pick a favorite picture today because I found them all hilarious. 

They had the strangest case of the "Mondays" that I have ever seen!

This Made My Night

What's In My Bag

Contents: 
clutch: Target, cosmetic bag: Burt's Bees, sunglasses:Target, August issue of Vogue magazine, gum: Orbit sweet mint, notebook: Emily Martin (black apple), lip balm, Burt's bees Tinted Lip Balm (honeysuckle, rose and hibiscus, lip stain: Revlon Kissable Balm stain (rendevouz), mascara: Covergirl Lash Blast Length, eyeshadow, Almay intense-i-color #412 (for blue eyes), blush: Maybelline Dream Bouncy blush (rose petal), lipstick: MAC (lady bug red), keys, Handmade flower pin brooch

This is kind of a lazy post, because I took the pictures quite a while ago to help a friend with a blog post she was doing. It was fun - I might do this again as the weather gets colder and the contents of my bag (and probably my bag itself, as it's overtly summery) change.

Oh, and here's a picture of what the contents of my bag usually look like on a daily basis:

So glamorous.

The Amazing IncrediBooth!

These phone apps, I'm telling you... Too much fun.