This.

This is all I could have asked for for Christmas. This picture. You'd think I have so many pictures of us, but I don't. Not at all. I could complain about my looks...but ya know what? I'm giving myself a pass. Those 3 smiles you're looking at are all that I can see. When I saw this as I was downloading the pics, I got all choked up. I'm still choked up. I'm going to get this printed at my professional printer and cherish it forever. Thank you for taking it, Mikey.

Sucker for these sorts of things

http://www.sanddunebooks.com/

Check out this link and if you're like me, you'll be ALL over this type of thing. I ordered one for my mom and one for my dad.

A World Without Etsy???

This is s.e.r.i.o.u.s.
I just heard about some new law going into effect in February 2009. It is the CPSIA (Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act). It will make all handmade items that don't go through hundreds of dollars of safety tests illegal to sell! Ridiculous!
Read more about it here and add a button to your blog! The link I just shared will tell you how to add the button.
I could not live without Etsy. I love it.

Mr. Jingle

Mike's school has 3 "towers": Technology, Medical, and Professional. Each tower had a contest where the kids had to vote on a male and female teacher to be Mr. and Ms. Jingle. The criteria were the teacher had to be Friendly, Caring, and (aw geez, I'm forgetting.)




Guess who was voted Mr. Jingle???

I think we can make all sorts of jokes with the monniker Mr. Jingle!

Mikey's pretty hard on himself, so an external reward now and again is bound to make anyone feel good. I'm proud of him. This semester at school has been a rough one with the death of one of his favorite students. He's still affected by that everyday.

Anyway, give your hubby an extra hug today in honor of Mr. Jingle!

The Store that makes me Crazy

Anthropologie.
It's just to die for.
How does it survive...
because it is so.damn.expensive.
I really want to know
who shops there.
Reeeeallllly shops there.
Are there
that many rich folk
in the world
to keep it going?
Was there the other day
browsing and browsing.
And browsing.
Didn't buy a thing.
Picked up one thing I needed
and could afford
then felt silly
taking that $12 item
to the checkout.
Put it back...
in the wrong spot.
On purpose.
Oops!

There is some
serious eye candy
in that store.

Pout.

Them

Am quite smitten with them, I am.

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Tree Lighting Wrap Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Blizzard of '08

This ain't dandruff, people. Check ol' Houston out!!!!
It just so happened that we had pre-planned to get our Christmas tree on this day. Cosmic forces intervened to give us a snowy afternoon to do so. I was like a ridiculously excited puppy. MORE EXCITED than Lily. The guy at the Christmas tree place found me appalling, I'm sure. He stood around for 15 minutes in the cold and snow staring at us (tree, ma'am, which tree????)while I dragged my family around the lot taking pictures of us in the "winter wonderland" that is Houston Garden Center. I made believe I was in the Pacific Northwest, y'all. Cut me some slack. We don't get much beauty in these parts :-(

Look at us in our evergreen forest! hahahahahahahahaha

Mike picking out the perfect tree.

Lily giving me the cold shoulder after snapping my bazillionth picture.

I had asked her to catch snowflakes and close her eyes and it all proved too much.

Breaking News

It's snowing.
Back with pics later!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Things to Remember and other nonsense

Yesterday, the girls and I were at Kindermusik. OMG we love Kindermusik. I wish we had it everyday. Lily's been going for well over a year now and Natalie started a few months back. Lily goes to her own class now without me, while Natalie and I attend a class together down the hall (at the same time as Lily's class.) Natalie's baby class is so dang cute. Well, the big deal yesterday was sweet Natalie Noodle clapped for the first time ever! Yay! I pointed it out to all the moms and when she did it again they all clapped and cheered her on - so it was very exciting. People without children (and heck, even Dads?) may think this seems silly to get so riled up over, but when your baby does something new with purpose it just makes the world seem like a better place. Small joys ;-)

Also of note yesterday, while Lily and I were at the breakfast table I asked her what she was going to ask Santa for Christmas. She thought for a minute and said, "A bigger placemat." ????????????????????????????????? Alrighty, then!

Speaking of...here is Lily's latest letter to Santa. She wrote it out and told me it says I LOVE YOU SANTA CLAUS. LILY. She wanted to hang it on the fireplace so he knows it's her house. She asked me for tape and everything. She didn't write down anything she wanted, she just wanted Santa to recognize her and to take the note back home with him to the North Pole. She is so sweet. Behold:

I love how she writes her name in all straight sticks - because when you think about it...that's what her name looks like.

And then there's our Penny Moon - the new dog. This is what she does on a daily basis:

If you look closely, I have numbered all the shoes. She brings one of each shoe out of (usually my) closet. Any shoe will do, but she prefers anything furry. Like my gajillion dollar Ugg boots. She deposits them on the living room floor. Other juicy temptations for her are any and all stuffed animals. Being relatives of Catherine Moon's, this house does NOT LACK OF STUFFED ANIMALS. Thankfully, Penny just slobbers them, as opposed to shredding them. Thank heavens for small mercies.

I will close by announcing that I have removed my live feed widget off the sidebar because one of my favorite Noodle and Bean readers let me know it was freaking.her.the.hell.out. I promise I didn't add it to spy on people, I just saw it on another blog and thought it was way cool. It also let me know if anyone besides her was reading! If you read Noodle and Bean and have never commented, please let me know you're here by leaving a comment! And you can subscribe to the blog to receive updates in your inbox when I post something new in the sidebar to the right. It says "Follow Along" and you can get hooked up that way.

I will be posting some wicked cool photos of Lily on the other blog in a minute. At least I think they're wicked cool. And, I'll be posting some wedding pics over there, too. I did a BANG UP JOB on this last wedding. And I do mean LAST wedding. I don't think I'm cut out for weddings. By the end of the night my back kills me and boy do I ever drag my feet getting those pics edited. I edited 617 pictures people. Whoa.

Whew! I rambled today. Must be lonely. xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxxo

A Dancing Bean

Here is a video of Lily dancing...reminds me of the way Elaine Benes from Seinfeld danced. Ha! Also: still in love with herself. I guess I should hope she always is!


Lily Dances like Elaine from sara moon on Vimeo.

It's So Clear Now

Lily gets a weekly class update sent home on Fridays. I was reading through it and check this out:

"We have been reviewing the numbers 0-9. Many of the children are still having difficulty recognizing these numbers. A great way to practice with them is by using flash cards, which we do during circle time. Assessments are in January, and we will be testing when we return from the holiday break."

ARE YOU KIDDING ME??????? There are so many things wrong with that paragraph. Let me count the ways.
1. My girl has known her numbers for over a year - so it ain't her who is "still having difficulty".
2. SO WHAT IF SHE IS STILL HAVING DIFFICULTY? She's three years old. And so is everyone else in the class. THEY'RE THREE YEARS OLD. I think they'll get it eventually.
3. Flash cards. They're using flash cards in a 3 year old class and want me to use them at home. Uh, how about no. How about we'll play with playdough and color and paint and sing and dance instead.
4. ASSESSMENTS. For 3 year olds. Testing. For 3 year olds. What are they going to tell me...that my 3 year old doesn't have her numbers memorized yet and by god, she's 3 already? That she needs to go to tutoring? That she's not smart enough?

I am ALL about education - but good gracious. I'll say it again - THEY ARE THREE YEARS OLD.

If all goes well, we'll be long gone from this school and baking bread and making soup and taking nature walks instead of using flash cards and taking tests, thankyouverymuch.

I Think I Found Something Amazing

I haven't been all that thrilled with either of Lily's school situations. She has been going to some sort of preschool since she was 2. The first was an expensive, glorified version of daycare that made me cringe 2 of the 3 days a week she went. She finally got a teacher I liked and when she was moved up out of that class - took me all of one day to yank her from the new class.



Last spring, I sent Mike at 5:30 in the morning on enrollment day to get her into one of the best preschools in the area. She's been going there since the school year started 3 days a week.



I have been increasingly disturbed with how cookie cutter the activities and school itself seemed. Nothing bad has happened and not once have I felt she isn't being well taken care of or is unhappy. Quite the contrary - she loves school.



In my heart though, I am dissatisfied and knew there was something more for my kids - somewhere. Also, in my heart, I am a total HIPPIE. I absolutely do not live a hippie lifestyle I realize, but that's where my heart wants to be. I kind of cherry pick some hippie criteria that suit me and then am a creature of comfort on the rest, unfortunately.



:::::::



Okay, this will relate, stay with me. I follow several blogs - lots and lots that I peek in on daily (quickly). Some of my favorite blogs are from moms who I find amazing. I have noticed some things they all have in common: they are CRAFTY, they are artistic, they are hippie or hippie-ish, they are calm, they love nature, they don't care if their kid wears Matilda Jane (though I do love cute clothes!), they keep life simple, they love to cook good food, they are child centered.

In case you're wondering, here are some links to my faves:

Em Falconbridge

Kelly McCaleb

Amanda Blake Soule

Sarah Jane



So reading on Emily's blog, I peeked into a link she had (not sure if it's still there) for Rudolf Steiner Education. Admiring her a TON, I wanted to see what it was about. After poking around there, I saw he was the inventor of Waldorf education.


I had heard of Waldorf education before and one thing I had heard was that the kids aren't taught to read or write until they were like 7 years old - AND I WAS APPALLED.



::::::::



Flash forward to now. I've been seeing more things about Waldorf pop up now and then. For example, another place I've seen stuff is on Etsy. Waldorf toys. Like this, this, and this.

I googled Waldorf schools in my area and there is only one. The Harvest. I went yesterday to check it out and I. AM. IN. LOVE.

The rooms are like warm cocoons of goodness. Seriously, they glow a pinkish hue and look soft.
Everything is all natural materials (wool, wood, etc.)
Everything that goes into their little bodies there is organic, dye-free, white stuff free.
They bake real bread with their own little hands on Tuesdays. They make real vegetable soup (with veggies brought from home) with their own little hands on Thursdays.
They frown on electronic media. We won't be allowed to watch tv on school days.
They spend TONS of time outdoors everyday RAIN or shine.
They imagine and pretend and play play play.
Kids learn best through play at this age. We've all heard this a million times and I want my little girl to stay a little girl and enjoy these days that pass so very fast.

I could go on and on. I'm so excited we found this. It could change our lives ;-) Really.

Here is an interesting link and I hope you will take a peek for your own kiddos (wherever you may live) and if you are Lily's family to see what she (and Natalie one day) is embarking upon!

Rule 1,456: Never Turn Down a Cookie

This morning we were in a rush (as frickin' ususal) to get Lily to preschool by 8. We've gotten into the very bad habit of her not eating breakfast. Strike me dead, I know. Well, I fix things and she's not hungry that early...I've TRIED. Promise. So now, I just give her her daily heroin fix (juice) and she's good to go. In my pathetic attempt to get some food in her this morning, I offered her a chocolate gooey butter cookie to grab for the car ride. I even brought the plate down to her nose level so she could select said cookie herself.

Do you know what she said? "Mommy, cookies are NOT allowed at school." She turned her back on those cookies and walked away. Go figure.

Mind you these were the same cookies she was begging for last night. Mind you, the kid LIVES and DIES for chocolate. Can I get an amen, family? I think I might have a goody two shoes on my hands!! Repeat: I might have a goody two shoes! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As a teacher, I LOVED the goody two shoes kids.