It was 612 different kinds of fabulous

Last night was an official date with mommy. We had an evening of fun and adventure planned. Because she's only 19 months and I keep her very sheltered, she had no idea what I was talking about when I mention the festivities in store.

You can tell from the official "start of the date" photo, she has absolutely no clue what I'm saying. Or she's getting a call on her Disney Princess phone that she can't ignore. She's in high demand.

Because of my Type A personality, I did have the whole evening planned. I also have some belief that a toddler will follow my plans to a "T".

First stop of the evening was Subway. I thought if we were going to have a night of adventure, we may as well start by eating fresh.

We even got a little fancy, by putting the olives on our fingers. Not our fingers. Zoe's finger. She's more "hands on" when eating than I am.

Then we loaded up in the car for the next stop. I got a look that said, "where else are you taking me now?" She was happy to see grass, trees and lots of open space to run. We were at the park!

As we were walking toward the play equipment, we met a puppy named Oscar. The owners were very sweet in letting Zoe get close to Oscar, but she was having none of it. Afterall, there were dead pine needles on the ground that she had to pick up. Puppies cannot compare to dead pine needles.

A swing totally can though.

So can a slide. Especially one she can do all by herself.

In park hierarchy, a big stick beats out playground equipment.

After 2 trips around the cool area with all the sticks, pine needles and pine cones, it was time to go home. The sun was starting to set and the breeze was getting chilly. Not to mention it's bath night. The adventures weren't over.

She couldn't hear me though. Because she was doing this.

I guess a date with mommy isn't meant to end.

Or maybe she wasn't ready to get rid of the dead pine needle and large stick.

I know which one I choose to believe.

The Colonel in the Popemobile

I was reading the news today and was totally impressed by a story I read. KFC is doing something totally unfounded. The are moving the secret recipe, written by the Colonel himself, to another location temporarily.

They've beefed up security for the move. The head of security will be in an armored car with the briefcase containing the recipe handcuffed to him.

Then they're installing new security measures inside corporate headquarters so the recipe will be even safer.

It isn't enough that it's already inside a vault inside another vault. Or that they don't order more than a couple ingredients from the same supplier.

Oh, my goodness, no.

You can't mess with Original Recipe perfection. They will take you down. They are taking the same precautions as say the Vatican with the Popemobile.

Perhaps Pam Anderson and her PETA campaign should stop going up against the Colonel. You don't mess with the mobile or 11 herbs and spices. You just don't.

They would call me an athlete.

For the first two years of our marriage, I would give N a hard time for playing his XBox all the livelong day. His idea of a date night was playing some XBox game, while I sat next to him on the couch. Watching him beat the bad guys. Swooning over his mad skills.

And making snide comments about the "honeymoon period."

Fast forward to this month. We now have a little bit of gaming brilliance, more popularly known as a Wii, in our home. I'm slightly addicted.

I try to play for a bit every night after Zoe goes to bed. I'm getting really good. I did take the gold in archery and curling this weekend. I don't want to brag, but if bowling were an Olympic sport, I would've taken the gold last night.

With a score of 180.

Apparently I'm an athlete in the gaming world. In real life, you'd never use that adjective to describe me. Not. At. All. I must take advantage of my athletic abilities while I can. I need to fine tune my skills. You never know when it might come in handy.

London 2012 is right around the corner.

You see, this is what Noah Webster would call irony.

I can quit anytime I want. Really.

Earning her keep

Saturday we bought a new mop. It's become Zoe's new toy. Yesterday N mowed and edged the yard. Because we've had to let the sod grow, we've been uable to mow for a couple weeks. Needless to say, the grass was almost ankle deep.

Because of the size of the grass, we had quite a bit left on the driveway. N got the broom and started to sweep.

Zoe ran into the garage and grabbed the mop. She was going to help daddy. It was the most dear thing I've ever seen.

We love our grandparents

N and I were blessed with great relationships with our grandparents. We have fond memories of being at their houses and what we've learned from them.

We are equally blessed by our daughter's relationship with their grandparents. It is such a gift to be able to see your children loved by your parents and grandparents in a way that is equal to your love for your children.

We hope that today, you feel equally loved and appreciated.

Happy Grandparents Day - Grandma K, Grammie and Grandpa, Grandma L, GG, Grandma Great, Mommom and Poppop. We are tremendously blessed to have you in our life.

London 2012, here we come

It was a tough battle. The night opened up with a couple tourney in tennis. N's sister and brother-in-law came over for the finals in couples Wii. Bev and I were at a slight disadvantage, having children in our arms or grabbing our legs, but we didn't let that detour us from our hope for the gold.

It was a close game, until Bev hit me with her controller. Fortunately it was my left elbow, so I was still able to swing. The laughter and tears kept me from seeing the tennis ball.

Ever the competitors, the boys took advantage of our laughter and took home gold in couples tennis.

Later in the evening it was time for the individual rounds. N got his best game face on.


I countered with an equally fierce and forceful pose. It shook N to his core.

After two rounds of archery and two rounds of curling, I'm proud to say I took home the gold. I'm not going to lie. It wasn't all that tough. My practice in the off season has really paid off.

Fortunately, we are not bitter rivals. He's a good sport, especially since I made him serenade me with our National Anthem shortly before this.

Friday Five Faves - vol. 10

I love short work weeks. For some reason I'm more tired, but at least I'll be able to sleep in some tomorrow. That should make today a little easier to handle.


In honor of our new house, I thought I would make a top 5 all about the great things within. We're not counting people because, well, that's just plain obvious.


1) The new Wii. N's aunt bought us this little piece of video gaming brilliance. I had an original Nintendo long ago that I still have. I love me some Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt or Tetris. These days, with the Playstation and XBox, I have no earthly idea how to use the 512 buttons on the controller. Instead of shooting people during Halo, I keep turning my helmet light on and off. It's safe to say, I usually don't make it out alive. N has a "show no mercy" stance.


The Wii. That's a different story. You have to physically do the action you want the avatar (impressed with my gaming vocabulary?) to do. For the gaming challenged, you only have to hold at most two buttons. Thank you Nintendo! I worked on my archery and curling skills last night. I don't want to brag, but I took gold at the 2008 Wii Quarterfinals. We'll see how I do in the semi's tonight.



2) My scrapbooking supplies. I know this looks like a set of drawers, a Christmas present and a filing system, but don't be fooled. These are my scrapbooking supplies. They're in my house. I can access them anytime I want. I'm a little beyond excited at the crafty possibilities ahead.


3) My jumbo muffin pan. This is a beautiful, albeit fuzzy, picture of a chocolate chip muffin I made last night. Jumbo sized. Instead of making 12 muffins per pan, you only get 6. They are pure heaven. For some reason, the jumbo muffins taste WAY better than the regular sized ones. I'm eating one for breakfast.

Which is another reason I love the Wii. Works off the jumbo muffin addiction I have.

4) All my Friends DVDs. I realize it looks like Seasons 5 and 7 are missing, but don't worry. They're by the DVD player. I've already started watching my favorite episodes again. Like the good friends they are, they keep me in stitches.

I recommend Season 8, Disc One, "The One with the Videotape." It's also one of Marta Kauffman's favorite episodes. I've watched it with commentary!

5) Keeping the animal kingdom outside. You will remember Vol. 9 of the FFF where I told the heroic tale of N getting the frog out of the arm of the sofa. I went outside to water my herb garden only to see the frog hanging out on the front walk. Because he was outside and I was a safe distance from him (thank you Canon Powershot with zoom), so as not to be jumped on, I got a picture.

Many of you will laugh at my fear considering he's the size of a quarter, but I don't care. Animals are unpredictable. They cannot be trusted. No matter their size.

Happy Friday everyone. Hope you survived the first week of September and school.