Live For Today... Tomorrow will take care of itself: November 2008

Did you know Hippos smile?

Ok, I've been slacking on the posts with the move going on and all and I really want to avoid packing so what better way to do so than with a post? We went to the zoo today. Jesse and I decided to squeeze in one more visit before our passes expire. We walked some different pathways and ended up at the hippos. Funani, actually. She was in the middle of the pool sleeping, completely submerged. The kids were excited to see the hippo but she wasn't doing a whole lot besides coming up for air every 2-3 minutes. I love hippos but let's face it watching a hippo sleep is as fun as watching grass grow... not a whole lot of action. Just as we were about to leave one of the keepers came walking by. She started to call the hippo by name and slap the glass. The hippo perked up instantly and began lolloping over to where the keeper was. She swam right up to the glass and, no joke, smiled at the keeper. Her eyes lit up and her lips curled back. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen. I was able to capture the moment check it out.

Hope you enjoyed the hippo show. I did some still life work today, LOTS of orchids. Click on my photography website to check it out.

A lesson in Chemistry

Hypothesis: If I give each of my children a handful of chocolate chips at six o'clock then I will get some crazy hyperactive monkeys.

Experiment: give said stimulant to subjects, turn them loose in their environment and observe behavior.

I got a fishy!!!

Mischievous little monkeys

Superman!!!

Yes, he is faster than a speeding bullet. Especially when he is in trouble!

Funny Faces

Monkey man

Frank started to laugh when I was using the flash on my camera

Neener, neener, neener. Ollie is the face maker. He will try to copy anything Jesse is doing.

Funny face. Nope, no boogies!

We kept asking Ollie where his ears were and he kept making this face. Must have been the sugar.

Analysis: My children experienced a "sugar high" (a rare thing in this house) which led to monkey mayhem, superman stunts, and funny faces. Wow, that was fun.

Wha'd he say??

You know how when your toddler starts talking you have to translate what they say to everyone else? The garbled half formed words make sense to you but not to someone hearing them for the first time. I thought I was well versed in toddlerese until Friday. Either that or my brain filter was not tuned to toddler mode. The boys and I were driving to the gym when Ollie kept saying "ie poo-boo."

"What? You have to poo-poo?" No, that can't be it. We don't use the phrase poo-poo. Try again.

"ie poo-boo."

" You have a boo-boo?" Great probability seeing as both boys are constantly falling.

"ie poo-boo." Obviously I'm not 100% correct because he is still repeating the same phrase.

" You have an owie boo-boo?"

"yea"

Mission accomplished.

Situation number two and three were extremely similar to one another.

We were at the store and Ollie was in the shopping cart. As we were checking out he kept whining "suck, suck." I thought he wanted a snack and kept telling him I would get him one in a minute. As we were on our way out to the parking lot I notice his thumb wedge in the bars.

"Oh, your STUCK," I exclaimed as I realized my translation error.

"yea" he replied as I dislodged his imprisoned thumb.

After our nap the boys were hanging out watching a movie as I was vacuuming the living room floor. I couldn't hear much over the vacuum but I saw Ollie begin to cry.

"It's ok bud, I'll be done soon." I assure him thinking "he's never had a problem with the noise before." He keeps crying and saying "suck."

"I'll get you a snack when I'm finished," I yell over the whir of the vacuum.

"HELP!" yells Ollie

I look over and notice his arm is STUCK inside a small Nalgene bottle (mr. chubby man) and he can't get it out.

After three such failings in one day I realize I need to study harder if I am going to master this language.

Hard times= Time to change

Since the crash of the economy October 6th I have had to look at and seriously evaluate our situation. Since food and gas prices went up we were barely and sometimes not living within our means. I tried cutting everything I could think of to make a difference with no dice. Our ever growing boys made our ever growing budget daunting. So we have decided to take some drastic measures to get our family back in balance. Dextrose is no longer with us. Sad as it may be we found him an outstanding family of 2 people and 2 other dogs. They live on over an acre of land with squirrels and lizards galore. Personally I think he traded up, but that didn't make it any easier to drive him to a dog park and put him in the back of someone else's car when we were ready to leave. Jesse and I cried repeatedly that day and it broke our hearts when Frankie began looking for him the next morning. Jesse got a second job with REI for the Christmas season and I have decided to start my photography business. The photography biz is to explore my passion and hopefully make money while doing it. We have also decided to move. All of our sweat, blood and curses over our lawn and garden will be there for someone else to enjoy. Just when I figured out what grows where too. We are moving to Lakeside to a small town home. The only consolation will be the $500 a month savings in rent and utilities. In doing this we hope to eliminate our debt and save up for a house. I know everyone is struggling in one way or another and I'm not writing this because I want pity from anyone. I want everyone to know that it's ok to "back track" to get on track. We don't have to continually expand. Sometimes a stunt in growth or trimming the fat is an appropriate tactic for the health of your family. Everybody has a story but I think what I'm trying to say is if you ever feel tied down something is not right and needs to change. Figure out what it is and be brave enough to change it.

Bare Naked Cooking...mmmmmmmm!

If any of you have not checked out Jessica's blog site with all her amazing recipes I urge you to do so... like right now. Stop reading and click on the link to your right and... whoa, slow down I need to tell you why. If your looking for ways for your family to eat right and have the food still taste good this is a site for you. She has maple pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, chocolate peanut butter ice cream, all the goodies that are amazingly guilt-free. There are other recipes for squash soup (yum), spinach salad, and so much more. I made her chocolate peanut butter ice cream today and one word... AMAZING!! The ingredients are simple and the final product is delicious. No one would know that your not using mounds of sugar, butter and fat. Check out her site and try one. She lives at a higher altitude so if you pick a baking recipe give your feed back too so she knows what works for sea level:)

Happy Cooking