Day 13 - {Short guy walking}

Well the day has come.... this "little" guy, Monkey Man.....

Has a new trick....

Day 12 - {Little Drummer Boy}

Monkey Man worked his magic and climbed into the gaming chair, stretched his go go gadget monkey arm over the baby gate and snagged himself the drumsticks from our Guitar Hero drum set. He proceded to rock out to his own beat!

Day 11 - {The Holy Trinity}

Today ---- well today has been erhm, fun. We survived by the grace of the holy trinity.

Monkey Man got the two on the right, Hot Momma got the biggin on the left.....

Day 10 - {Make*A*Wish}

Today we celebrated Diva Nieces 4th Birthday - Of course Aunt Beff (that's me!) had to take a photo of the birthday Diva -

*These are crummy pics, but it's the best that I could do under the circumstances :) *

Day 9 - {Peck Peck Peckering & Big Boss}

Today I was doing final prepwork on my "job" (I mean really, can you call it that when you have wayyyy lotsa fun doing it?) that I was doing tonight for some friends - sadly (or maybe in everyones best interest) this job doesn't include me scantilly clad coming home with many dollar bills :) ....

Anyhow, back to my story ... so I was there just prepping away when Hubbalicious came in to let me know that there was a Red Headed Pecker in the backyard... and I thought "OMG WHAT" then I realized he meant a WOODpecker :). So I grabbed Lola (thats what I lovingly refer to my camera as these days) and my zoomer (lens) and ran out the door (almost forgetting to grab a sweater - ALMOST)... I was able to snap a few shots of Mr. Woody before he flew the coop (or in this case a dead tree)

Do you see him?

On the left you can see his face, but in the one on the right he's got his head into the hole he made in the tree.

Then I saw a BEAUTIFUL Cardinal - and in fact realized there where three of them. I was able to capture two of them before they all flew away.

And last but not least for you today.... I went to help the Mimi with a "special" project -- Painting a room in her house as a surprise for my dad (he's out of town - he's always surprised my mom with a "makeover" in the house of some sort - ranging from completely gutting a kitchen or master bedroom to simple as buying new porch railings or a front door) so she decided to do the same for him this time. Oh and by the way - on the whole surprise thing --- just because someones favorite color is say... blue, it doesn't mean it'd be their favorite color in a master bedroom makeover. Complete with doors, built in, new flooring, and a CUSTOM made window seat cover and draperies to match... ahem, I'm just saying..... That was LOADS of fun to repaint in two tone green after the "surprise" didn't quite get the reaction that we wanted.... :) (and to think, Mimi thought she was being funny when she told me I could blog that story...haha jokes on YOU Mimi)

So in light of my new $80 hairdo, I didn't want it to be ruined by paint (and I had my teaching engagement tonight so I didn't want to be picking paint out of my hair right before dashing out for that...) so I had to fashion a makeshift "cover".... So what do you think? Its my husbands work hat, plus a dishtowel for a "drape" --- I even went through a local drivethru in that getup for a Diet Coke (easy ice)!!!

And G-ma found great humor in my t-shirt today -- so I figured I'd go ahead and share that with you too --- and I must say, I am the BEST!

Day 8 - {Guilty Pleasures & Slacker Moments}

Sometimes I am just the ULTIMATE slacker.... yup.. there I admitted it...

So it's 8 days into the new year and look....

Yea, so that is our outdoor holiday decor... still in the... well outdoors.... versus nicely tucked away in a storage box to be forgotten about until next year. OOPS....

PS: Obviously Santa and his trusty sidekick (Rudolph) have gone into hibernation...

In my defense it's in part due to Guilty Pleasures like this...

And as a final picture message for today.... when I was sitting out this morning to put the kids on the bus, I looked up and saw this little sliver of moon still hanging out in they sky....

Oh and shhhhhhhhh don't tell anyone I love to watch cheesy reality tv and drink diet dr. pepper when I'm home *mostly* alone :)

Day 7 - {Checking Up}

Today was what I'd like to call a bit of a stressful day ---- it didn't start out that way of course.... but I'm definately glad I get a do-over tomorrow --- a fresh day, a fresh new sunrise....

Today I'm sharing some photos taken just prior to putting Boy Wonder and Miss Pop Star on the bus. The photo above was taken when we first walked out the door.


These photos were taken just moments after...

There is Boy Wonder and Miss Pop Star all bundled up (it was 33 degrees this morning) - I've warmed up the car each morning this week and just pulled into the front yard from the carport for them to wait for the bus. I'd prefer them NOT to get sick from the cold wind that is blowing (making it feel much cooler than the 33 degrees), plus frankly, I don't want to stand in the cold either. So, we hang out in teh warm car, them in their coats, hats and gloves, and myself in my pajammies. Once the bus comes and they skitter off to school I just pull back into the carport and go inside where Monkey Man & Lil' Diva Girl are soon to be rising from their slumbers.

This is over my across the street neighbors house after the bus arrived. Approximately 10 minutes or so after the other photos where taken. I LOVE the golden fire of the sunrise in the trees.

The start of my crummy day happened here... well not in these photos, but not long after... when the nurse came in to administer Monkey Mans 12 month vaccinations... he wasn't happy, and I wasn't either because I had to help hold him down for him to get stick THREE times!

Prior to that he was ALL smiles as you can see!

He thought it was THE BEES KNEES to crawl back and forth with lightening speed on the exam table. I think I need a roll of that doctor exam table paper stuff for the living room...he thought it was just the BEST noise ever!

"Please doctor... do I HAVE to let you look in my ears? mouth? diaper? WHAT you want to look into my diaper... I'm sooooo embarrassed...my mom is right there with a camera...can't you see?"

Well at least I'm pretty sure that is what he was thinking when I snapped that one!

the report....

Monkey Man at 12 months 2 weeks old is a happy, healthy, thriving 12 month 2 week old ...monkey. The official weigh in was 24 lb. 12 oz and a height of 30.5 inches long.

He got his chicken vaccine, his hippopotomus vaccine and his pickle vaccine (aka: Varicella, HiB, and Prevnar).

Lil' Diva Girl did so well sitting in a chair in the exam room during the checkup and vaccines. She read books from the book basket, and told Monkey Man it was okay, he didn't have to cry. She got a piece of sugar free pink gum from the Doctor.... clearly she got the better deal out of this visit...

Day 6 - {Ice Ice Baby, Ride ride slippity slide}

I don't know if it was chocolate or Vanilla - Ice Ice Baby... and I wasn't willing to taste it to find out... but when I got up this am and let the Her Royal Dogginess out to potty, I discovered this

Yup, that'd be ice covering the top of our pool. Like a week and a half ago we had a TON of rain, I mean DAYS of rain and it collected in the pool cover. Creating a small lake. I had mentioned to Hubbalicious that he should siphon that out before we ended up with a problem... well today... could be the start of a problem --- that rain "catch" has turned into ice and I fear that the amount of water is tooooo much on the cover - it is pulling wayyyy in and tugging at the metal top rails of the pool - I will DIE if this pool explodes. It IS my summer sanity saver....

On another note - today was a field trip to the vets office for our furry daughter.... I took her in for her rabies vaccine, her 9way and the county tag we are required to have for her.

Grand total - $70 (GASP).......

The fact that THIS is what happened when I told her to come get in the car to go bye bye with us --- PRICELESS as you can see below!

Yup, she hopped in, first into Lil' Diva Girls chair, then right on over just a hop into Monkey Mans lap. He thought this was AWESOME! HRD stayed there for most of the just 5 minute ride to the vet office. He squealed with delight the whole time and I think Her Royal Dogginess appreciated the "view from the top" she got because she could easily put her front paws on the side window and check out all the great trees and traffic!

Day 5 - {Road to Redemption & Burrrr thday Wishes}

So if yesterday I went to the promised land... I figured today would be the Road to Redemption.... as you can see....

If I weren't too busy having a heart attack AFTER my workout I would have taken a picture of my calories burned today count ---- but like I said.. I was having to give myself mouth to mouth rescucitation at that point....

Know what else nearly stopped my heart? This...

Yup, at 6:50 this morning when I put my devil spawns, erh I mean my LOVELY older children on the bus, THAT double digit was staring me in the face..... WOAH!

It was also the cause of these fine specimens.....

Did I mention we are in FLORIDA? Uh, commonly known as the "Sunshine State" or as I like to call it ...the "You can wear flip flops and tank tops year round, so come on down and enjoy some of this" State....

Here's a little oxymoron for you --- these are sea oats......

Um, frozen sea oats....that isAnd some random vineage on a fence
And so today... I want to finish off by saying

HAPPY BURRRRRRDAY to my neice A -

I can't wait to come to your Hanna Tanna party this weekend! You better wear your new hat :)

Day 4 - {The Promised Land & Al Gore}

Today... I decided to take a trip with the kids to "The Promised Land" ---- no, we didn't need a passport and a long flight to get there..... we just needed about 15 minutes, a few gallons of gas... and we where off to find my saving grace (after 2.5 weeks at home with all four of the kids)....

This is the street of the promised land....

Do you know what I'm talking about???

No?

Ohhh this says we are almost there.....

Ahhhhh sweet sweet Promised Land...

On the way there this is what my van was SCREAMING at me.....

So this was our salvation.......

When we where leaving we saw this --- I thought about tailing him to whereever he was going and holding him at gunpoint, well not really because I don't carry a gun, but I wonder if my camera would have been as effective? Probably not, and it's for the better since I wouldn't have wanted the kids to be arrested as accessory to a doughnut robbery...

And as for Al Gore ----- this was obviously a lie...

because it never ever should be 35 degrees in FLORIDA (ps, I couldnt' catch a picture of the temp. saying 33 when we first got in the car ---!!)

And thats all I have for today folks......

PS: I'm not really an Al Gore hater... I'm not an Al Gore lover either... lets just call me neutral in the Al Gore camp okay! :)