Have you met Ginger?

I met her just the other day. It seems she is Gabi's little sister. She is quite the charmer. Likes chocolate milk and cars.

without rain, there'd be no puddles

tired of the rain yet? the upside: jump in a puddle!

Someone's been watching HGTV...

First it was Emeril, then Duff from Ace of Cakes............. Gabi's newest TV interest is "house shows." And I think she is learning something. This is one of the first rooms Gabi made on Webkinz for her virtual pets-- the purple kitchen:
Note the mismatched furniture, cabinetry, etc. You can see little Heartla the yorkie getting a workout on the treadmill there. The double length dining table with seating for 9 is a recent addition. Fully functioning blender and sandwich machine, and the all important potted cyclone.



And here is the newest room Gabi designed for her Panda. Can you tell she has been watching Design Diva? Sleek low bed with lime green bedding, matching club chairs and glass top side table. Even a giant wall clock and modern art above the bed. Nice space, huh? I think the kitchen is going to need a remodel soon.

Happy Webkinz Day!

What are you celebrating this weekend? We're observing the anniversary of the beginning of Webkinz (brilliant marketing ploy by Ganz). Webkinz retailers are having parties to commemorate the occasion. Here's a summary of our Webkinz weekend:

Friday: Gabi has been saving up her money to buy another Webkinz. I knew that the store was giving away a "free Webkinz gift" with every $10 purchase this weekend so we spotted her the $3 she was short and she took her purse full of quarters and dimes ($14 worth- LOL) to the store. Turns out the free gift is another Webkinz. Awesome, right? So in addition to the twin ponies, cat, frog, and poodle she already had, she just bought a Panda (named Bam) and got a black-and-white cat (named it Captain Cat and made it a pirate room). And the store gave us this list of activities and contests for the next day, all with prizes.

Saturday: We dressed Flitter the Cat in her ballerina costume and headed to the store to enter the Webkinz fashion show. Gabi won forth prize- a coupon for an ice cream. There was also a coloring contest, divided by age levels. I look around the store and saw all these 8-11 year old girls, and the lowest age range was 3-5. So, I handed Micah a coloring sheet and crayon. He scribbled the pig pink and called it done. (He's not big on coloring.) Meanwhile, Blake has found me a mother's day gift and a stack of greeting cards to buy. We split them into 2 purchases and got a Webkinz free with each-- brought home a Leopard (Geroge) and a Yorkie (Heartla).

A couple of hours later we get a call that Micah has won the coloring contest for his age! I knew he'd be the only one. Heeeee heee heee. What was the prize? ANOTHER WEBKINZ!!! He picked out a Tiger, and we agreed the plush pet is his and he named it (Rintoo, after a cartoon tiger), but Gabi got control of the virtual version of the pet since you need to be able to read to play the games. She kindly let him decorate the Tiger's room in race car themes.

If you're keeping track, we now have 10 (yes TEN) of these things in our house. Happy Webkinz Day to all!

In Memory of Tipper (2000-2008)

Tipper has been very sick over the last several months. Blake took her to the vet to be put to sleep this morning. Tipper was a great cat and we'll miss her.

Eight years ago, Blake and I had just moved back to Arkansas. We lived in this nifty downtown loft apartment. I had always wanted a cat, since I was a little girl. When a new friend from work told me there was a litter of stray kittens at her house, and one of them looked Siamese, I told her right away we were interested. We met this tiny creamy ball of peach fuzz with giant brown ears who loved to purr, play, and eat. Only thing was, everywhere this little Siamese kitty went, her scrawny black tabby litter mate followed, protecting her from those funny-smelling humans. So, somehow we ended up bringing home 2 kittens that day.


She was a clumsy little thing- kept tipping things over. So, she became Tipper. We also called her "Floppy" due to her penchant for flopping out at your feet while you were trying to walk...
Everyone who came to visit would be greeted by her as she loved affection and everyone would tell her how pretty she was. She loved that, too. She was a extraordinarily curious cat-- always into everything. She was always sweet with the kids, and always stuck like glue to her sister, Mack.

Springtime Weather Means Fun in the Yard!

Pass the Putemonher

Micah tends to make up words if he can't think of one everyone else knows. Such as this scene from last night's bath...

Micah: "Mama, I want the putemonher please."

Me: "You want the cup, to pour the water?"

Micah: "No, the putemonher."

Me: "The, uhmm, putemonher? What color is that again?"

Micah, exasperated and pointing: "The putemonher! Over there!"

All I could see where he was pointing was Gabi's bath toy with a foam doll with lots of foam clothes to stick on the doll. So I brought it to him, a bit worried that I still wasn't getting what he was asking for.

Micah, smiling while picking up the doll and a pair of pants, patiently explained to his not-so-bright mommy: "See? You put them on her."

Micah's Music Critique

Waiting in the aforementioned Line today, I was listening to the Irish rock band, U2. A loud banging song was on, and as it finished up Micah said, "No, no, no, he sings that song mad. He shouldn't do that." The song that followed was more of a gentle ballad, and Micah said, "That's better nice. That's the song he sings when his Mama is in the house."

Got that, Bono?

Hot Springs Weekend

We were reminded what the word "weekend" means when Blake had a Sunday off, so we took a 2 night getaway to Hot Springs. We left right after school, but stopped to visit our "tax lady" along the way. Gabi was curious to meet this person who knew so much math and had an office, only to discover it was her very own MiMi. Then we headed on down to the Springs.

Saturday we made the mistake of telling the kids we were going to Magic Springs, but going to the gardens first. The gardens opened at 9am, while the theme park didn't open til 11. And the tulips were beautiful! But the kids found it was really hard to be impressed with tulips when there are visions of roller coasters in your head.

Gabi rode every single ride they allowed her on, from the toddler level rides with Micah to the Big Bad John roller coaster with her dad. Her favorite was the giant swinging pirate ship. Micah wasn't allowed on many rides, but the park was very lightly attended, so we could stay on the carousel for 4 rides in a row. He did get his first mini-roller coaster ride. His review: "A little bit happy and a little bit scary, but I did it!" And he thought riding it once was quite enough. He also enjoyed the candy shop and the bridge where we could feed the giant catfish and turtles.

The next day we went to Mid-America Science museum where they had the exact same exhibits that Blake and I went to as children. But it was new to the kids and they enjoyed it. We also walked up and down bathhouse row and went in the little museum there.

The kids and I had so much fun we may tag along with Blake to conference and do it all over again. I will update later with the very few pics we took at the garden with the Pink Camera.

"You shoulda named me......"

Today at school, Gabi's class took practice versions of the standardized tests they have next week (yeah, in kindergarten. don't get me started.) So I asked her to tell me about it....

Well, Mrs. S reads us a story and then we have to answer the questions by coloring in the circles. This time she helped us with the hard ones, but she said during the real test, she won't tell us any answers, even if they are super hard. And nobody can talk. Not even a little bit. And that's really hard for me because I like to talk. A lot. Momma, you shoulda named me Talksalot, I like to talk so much.

Well, Gabi, I sort of already did, my dear.

Scooting While We Wait

Micah is attempting to give up napping, but sometimes his plan just doesn't work out like hopes. Like today.... he'd successfully avoided napping with various requests for books and water, trips to the bathroom, and general sillies. But his plot was foiled by The Line. See, to pick up car riders at Gabi's school, you go wait in a line. So, Micah and I drove over and waited in The Line-- The Line works against the napless plan because he's buckled in so he can't wiggle, warm sun through the window, Harriet and a paci, a dull podcast on the iPod... it's hard to keep your eyes open. And by the time Gabi got in the van, he was snoozing.

I didn't really want to get him out of the car until he'd gotten a little more nap just in case the transfer woke him, and it was a beautiful day out. So-- how were Gabi and I going to spend some time out in the front yard while Micah snoozed? Scooter practice! Gabi is still working on her balance but she really loves her scooter.