We’re back…

Posted on July 13, 2008 by carrievoris

…kinda. We are back in body at least, not quite back in spirit yet.

I need to tell you all about how much fun we had spending time with our family, what a fun cruise we had, how pleasantly surprised I was by the boat, the staff, and how amazing all of the girls were for the entire week.

Also I need to tell you about my new “toy” that my loving husband waited over three hours in line for. Yes. I know. I am a bit spoiled, but he wanted one too!

And I need to catch up on my reading – my bloglines is groaning under the amount of writing you all did this week.

I also need to finish my hundreds of photos and get them up.

So, I’ll be back…soon. To share all of this good stuff and more. But in the meantime, check out my brother-in-law, the latest phenomenon on youtube. He is now a minor celebrity around these parts. You’ll know which guy it is…the one that looks vaguely like J and rips into the journalist. Good, good stuff.

We’re Outta Here…

Posted on July 5, 2008 by carrievoris

Well, technically the girls and I are not leaving until Sunday morning, but the ‘ol Mac is taking a bit of a trip, too. It is going to go spend four lovely days and nights at the luxurious Genius Bar and get a little cosmetic surgery. A bit of the “edge” around my laptop has chipped off and apparently they need a few days, but can put a new top on for me.

And I figured since I had already planned on leaving my laptop behind when we went on the cruise, now was a good time for it to be in the shop, and J. has so kindly agreed to pick it up and return it to safety for me.

Speaking of J, we have had him home the past two days and it has been busy but very fun.

He took a ton of photos and videos of the girls’ last two days of swim class. The video of Em jumping off the diving board and swimming to the side like she has been doing this sort of thing all her life just amazes me every time I watch it. I was there, but I still can’t believe it! I will definitely not get those videos edited and up tonight, so they will have to wait until we get back.

But here are some of my favorite photos from the past few days…

Do you think she loves the pool?

Her first jump off the board.

And Addie took a turn as well, although she was clearly not as excited as Em.

We also hung out and played in the fountain at the Paseo for awhile. The girls were a little unsure about the spouting water for a few minutes seconds…

But it didn’t take too long before the call of the water got to them.

All this fun, I probably should have been packing and preparing – but I guess that is what tomorrow is for, right?

Anyhow, I have a few posts set up so you won’t miss us too much, but don’t expect too much until next weekend. We shall return with many photos (I got a 16G compact flash today, so I can take even more!) and stories for you. Have a great week!

Why do I have a sinking feeling about this?

Posted on April 30, 2008 by carrievoris

Addie went to bed minutes ago – unswaddled. No pull-up. Just purple Ariel “big girl” pants between her and the nice dry sheets. I will add that she has had dry pull-ups the last few mornings, but I really wanted just a few more dry nights, as a bit of a cushion.

Still, she was so very insistent tonight that she is a “BIG GIRL!”

The whole time we were having this argument discussion, I kept having flashbacks to the night that Emma declared the end of her pull-up era. After Em had made up her mind – there was no stopping her. And I think that she has had maybe one (?) accident since that night.

So, tonight I relented. I let Addie go to bed and, hopefully, prove me wrong.

We’ll see.

Better than better.

Posted on March 30, 2008 by carrievoris

You’ve had an incredibly rough day due to one two-year old “whiny tiny” (yes, that is what we call her on days like this), and are running on very little sleep (also due to the two-year old and a looong stretch of no sleep the night before). What could possibly make the evening infinitely better?

Convincing your lovely hubby to allow you to go to the grocery store. Alone.

Yes, it has come to this. Joy over solo grocery shopping.

But what is even better than getting to grocery shop sans children?

Coming home to two bathed, read to, in bed, sleeping children.

Pure. Heaven.

Thanks, honey!

A bit of this, a bit of that

Posted on March 28, 2008 by carrievoris

I can’t believe it is Friday already. I have been dreading this week because it was Emma’s spring break and I figured that there might a little too much “togetherness time” and, more than likely, only one if us would be left standing by the end of the week.

Instead, it has been a little preview into what our summer is going to be like, I think.
And by the way, when did my 2 and 4 (almost 5) year olds acquire a bigger social life than I have?

Seriously. We have had 2 lunch/park play-dates, one play-date at our house, one at a friend’s house, and one aquarium trip already this week and we have another play-date scheduled for this morning. Every day, a different kid. It has been crazy. But it has made the week go by very quickly and has kept the kids alive and entertained, so I guess I can’t complain.
(Well, I could – but does it really ever do any good?)

It has left very little time for me to do real work, blog, or any sort of work that might resemble housework. So today will be catching up on all of those and planning some sort of birthday party for Em.

Gah! I think I have been in denial that she is turning 5. She is insisting on a High School Musical birthday party. So again, I will call on you, my internet friends, for some clever ideas for the HSM party. We are going to have the Wii karaoke game that they got for Christmas, but I need some fun game ideas, craft ideas, food ideas. Any thoughts?

What else? I need to start carrying a notebook (like Em does) around with me. We have had some pretty funny little conversations this week, and I’m now drawing a blank on most of them.

Addie is insisting on calling the drain (bathtub drain) – a “dream.” No matter how many times I correct her she will say at least once during bathtime each night, “Is my (ring/washcloth/baby) going to go down the dream, Mama?” Last night she was looking intently at the drain and said, “Am I fit down the dream, Mama?” and before I could answer she laughed and said, “Nooooo, Mama! I’m too big for that dream!” Too cute.

Emma has learned how to be “helpful” while we are driving. She will screech “Stop, Mama! There is a stop sign!” And she doesn’t miss any, either. It makes driving so much more of an adventure than it already is in L.A.

And she carries little pieces of paper, or notes, around with her everywhere. “Mama, how do you spell….” is the most asked question in our house (and car) at the moment. She furiously writes out all kinds of notes to everyone. The Easter Bunny brought a little spiral notebook that she can keep all of her treasured writings in and there are pages of words already that she has written out over the past week. She definitely recognizes quite a few words and is getting much better about sounding others out that she doesn’t know.

I think she is going to be much more mathmatically inclined than I ever was. She is obsessed with adding numbers. J. is teaching her all kinds of math tricks, and the Easter Bunny also brought her a little first grade math workbook (aw, don’t give me that – she got plenty of candy, too!) that she loves, she just sits with her head bent over her “work,” counting on her fingers, lost in her math zone. Crazy kid.

The other night we were out to dinner, and we were eating at one of the tables outside. There was a small group of protesters that were setting up their tables and signs right near where we were dining. One of the signs had a photo of a soldier that had died, and all of the posters had some derogatory remarks about Bush, the Iraq war, and the soldiers that had lost their lives. I was watching Emma as she was taking the whole scene in and I was willing her not to ask me what the sign said – especially the one with the soldier on it.

Instead she turned to J. (ha! my mind trick worked!) and said –

E: Daddy, what does that man’s sign say?
D: Um…it says Happy Easter!
E: No, it doesn’t Daddy! I know how to spell Happy Easter. What does it say?
D: It says we only have about a year before we will have a lot of explaining to do.
E: Daddy! What does it say?
(At this point J. looked a little lost for words and was obviously looking for someone to bail him out.)
M: Remember when you went and helped me vote for a President and we talked about what the President does?
E: Yes.
M: Well, that man doesn’t agree with, or like what our President is doing.
E: Oh. Ok.

Whew. Long, uncomfortable discussion averted. But J. is right, it is coming those hard talks they are all coming, much sooner than I would like.

————-
Just a little note to Aunt Carol, too – hope you are having a wonderful birthday today and wishing you lots of happiness in the upcoming year!

Harvest Time

Posted on March 22, 2008 by carrievoris

We found another use for our Bilibo tonight.

(Yes, some are headed your way, Meesh!)

Some Days…

Posted on March 21, 2008 by carrievoris

…it is so easy to be a Mom to these two girls. I think God realizes that you have to have some really, really, good days sprinkled in with the bad ones, otherwise nobody would ever have more than one child!

But we have had a really lovely – very busy – but lovely week. Pretty much a 180 from last week. Although J. did come home one night this week and asked if our courtyard was part of a crime scene.

I was tempted to make so many wise-cracks, but it kind of makes me hyperventilate to think of anything related to that – so I will not go there. Em just wanted to make “snow angels” in the courtyard – don’t argue with the logic of an (almost!) five-year old. So she drew Addie, and I helped Addie draw her. Can you tell which is which? 🙂

We took our friends Michelle and Emma Louise to the zoo. It is always a treat to meander through the zoo and take in all of the sights and sounds of the animals. And it was perfect timing, not crowded at all, and the girls were able to run around and check out what they wanted to see. They found this koala bear asleep in the tree…

…checked out the new Gorilla Reserve (so very cool!)…

…and Addie had her own little animal encounter.

This meerkat was fascinated with Addie! He was right in front of us and every time she would say something or move, he would just stare at her.

She was delighted, of course. He looks a little like a real kitty, so he was “ok” in her book.

And then, there is a park that is about halfway between Em’s school and our house and we have been anxiously awaiting its’ unveiling. They have totally redone the playground and every time we go past it, one of the girls will pipe up with a “Hey, Mama – it looks like the park is almost done!”

So yesterday, after we dropped Em at school, we were driving past it and Addie says the line on cue. And I realized that there were kids on the playground. So she and I did a little “test drive” of all of the new playground equipment.

Addie thought it was cool that she got to go to the park first, but when I suggested we go pick up Em from school and tell her we have a surprise for her and bring her back, she was over the moon with that idea! She could hardly contain herself as we waited for 4 o’clock.

She marched into Emma’s class and gleefully told Emma, “We have a surprise, and I’m not telling you! Come on we have to go!”

So we went to the park. Again. But, man, it is a totally fun park! Very different and fun toys to play with and on. The girls had a blast and Addie told me, “I love this park, Mama. It is my favorite!” Of course, she says that about a lot of parks, but I think it might be Mama’s favorite.

Em was climbing all over the jungle gym thing-y, and was pretty high up, too. I’m still not used to her being so agile, courageous, and able to get so high up, so quickly. Did I mention that she looked like she was so high up? I told her to be careful and she said,

E: “You want to see how I got up here, Mama?”
M: “Sure. How?”
E: “I just put my leg here and then did this…”
(And she hiked her leg up and scrambled up to the top.)
E: “Hey, I think I got the hang of it, Mama! (Then she laughs as if she has just told the funniest joke!) Hang of it! Like I’m hanging! Do you get it, Mom?”

I got it. Funny monkey.

A little excitement thrown in for good measure.

Posted on March 17, 2008 by carrievoris

Do you ever have a day where you just relish the idea of not having anything to do (well, except of course the chores of the “must be done so your family stays alive” variety) and then end up sitting down a mere fourteen hours later and realizing that for having “nothing” to do, the day was a “kick me in the butt,” whirlwind kind of day?

Yeah. Me too.

I had intended on recapping our weekend for you, and then realized that here we are, moments away from Tuesday, which makes our weekend kind of, um, well…last week’s news.

But, since I’m already sitting here sipping my tea and ready to write, we’ll recap anyhow.

Let’s see…Friday J. and I had to go to some fancy-schmancy, black tie affair. J’s boss got an award, so we got all dressed up, had a bunch of yummy treats, and a night of mostly adult conversation while sweet, sweet Denise stayed with the girls and got them all tucked in for the night. I, not really having any black tie worthy attire, had to shop last week for a dress and found quite possibly the best clearance deal…ever! Totally cute, Calvin Klein, little strappy, black, cocktail dress. I so loved it when I saw it – and then saw the price and nearly fell over. Make that really, really loved it! What would you pay for a dress like that? Original retail price = $189.99.

$150? Nope. $100? Closer. $50? That would be a pretty good deal, right?

How about $34.99??

Eeeeeee! Yes. Did I mention that there was only one in the entire store? And it happened to fit perfectly? Sigh. It was indeed fate. So, Friday was fun.

Saturday we had the usual bagel/coffee date and dance class. Then Addie and I hung out and did some crafts and games while J. and Em went to the comic book show.

Yeah, I’m afraid my comic nerd husband is converting the two little girls into comic nerds, too. As much as it pains me to be completely outnumbered, I cannot deny that this may be the funniest photo you will ever see taken in a comic shop.

Check out Addie just sprawled out, and Emma with her feet crossed – both captivated by the siren call of the comic. Start ’em young, I guess. (J. actually took this a few months ago, now.)

Which leads us to Sunday. The girls and I went to church where they did the whole Passion, the Palms, the procession from the courtyard outside (that is a nice touch…you don’t get to do that where there is still two feet of snow on the ground!), and despite the almost two hour service, the girls were extremely good in church. So, we took them to lunch and to see the Horton Hears a Who movie.

I really liked the movie. They did a really good job of “keeping the Suess” but adding dialogue, characters, and really enough material for an entire movie. I think it may be the first movie that Addie didn’t get antsy at. It is very fun for all ages. I realized that we don’t have the book, so the Easter Bunny is going to see if he can bring it to the girls this weekend.

Which brings us to Monday. Time to do it all over again.

This One’s For The Boys…

Posted on February 2, 2008 by carrievoris

…mostly Daddy because he misses his girls so much. But also for Papa because he is apparently unhappy that I have not posted anything in the past two days.

So here you go guys, photos of the girlies from our park expedition yesterday –

I have been tirelessly trying to keep our days filled while J. has been gone this week, so that (1) the days go by a little more quickly and (2) it keeps the girls busy – both of which will inevitably keep all of us happy.

Ah, who am I kidding? I’m just trying to wear them out as much as possible so I can put them to bed by 7:30pm and they’ll be so exhausted they won’t think of getting up before 8am.

Which I must say has been the case this week, so my evil plan is working. Mwa ha ha ha ha!

We have had a pretty uneventful week, pretty routine stuff. The girls have been a good mix of “pulling-my-hair-out” frustrating and “cavity-inducing” sweet. Which means they give me plenty to be thankful for and remind me that J. and I are very blessed, while at the same time not allowing me to get too complacent and lulled into thinking I have perfect children.

They have been C-H-A-T-T-E-R-B-O-X-E-S lately, though.

Em keeps asking random questions. Persistent questions. And I guarantee that we are not done discussing this topic. It will come up again, probably tomorrow.

E: Mama, what would you say to an alien if you met one in outer space?
M: Well, I don’t think there really are “aliens” like you think of aliens, honey. They are kind of just make-believe, like on cartoons and such. (Sorry to offend any of you E.T. believers out there…but I was trying to figure out the easiest way out of this without inciting any sort of nightmares of possible extra-terrestial life!)
E: Oh, I know. But if you could go up in a rocket ship to outer space and you did find an alien? What would you say to him?
M: Hmm…well, I think that if I did find one, he would be so scared because he had never seen a human before, he would run away before I could even ask him anything.
E: Oh. Yeah, he probably wouldn’t want to talk to you anyway.

And Addie…the girl just doesn’t quit with the funny stuff that comes out of her mouth. Yesterday they both came up to me and wanted me to open something –

Em: Mama, can you open this for us?
M: Just a sec, babe. I’m cleaning the cat poop box out.
Ad: Ewwww! UCK! Let’s get outta here, Emma!

And this morning as she was trying to sneak out of eating her bagel, she leaned over and whispers…“Emma, let’s get out of here!”

She has impeccable timing, too. The minute I am about ready to lose it, she will get this goofy grin, look at me out of the corner of my eye and say something that has me cracking up. The other day she was being…well, a two-year old, again, and Em said to me, “Mama? Is Addie pushing your buttons right now?” And before I could even respond, mostly because I was laughing at Em and her assessment of the situation, Addie looked up at me with her big, puppy dog eyes and said in her little sing-songy voice, “But I love you, too, Mama!”

Who can argue with that?!

How do you get to Chaos?

Posted on January 4, 2008 by carrievoris

I was just perusing my blog stats because I haven’t done it in awhile, and I was looking through the search keywords that lead people to me, like when they type something into Google, and somehow it will bring my site up. For awhile I was getting a lot of “girl poopy pants.” Made me a little uncomfortable, I’m hoping it was just people trying to figure out how to get their girls to stop doing it, but whatever.

Among today’s searches are some funny ones though –

How to tell if a turtle has died? Um…he isn’t moving and seems a little stiff? That is a pretty good indicator, I think. That is how we knew with dear old Tuck.

Cut your own cute bangs. Whew. Fairly certain that they did not find what they were looking for at our site. Em’s bangs are getting longer, but they are still definitely not cute.

And my favorite –

Bossiness in firstborn girls. It isn’t just in the firstborn girl I’m raising (or others I know). It must be some sort of epidemic!

I’m off to take my bossy, little firstborn to school. Hallelujah! I don’t know who is more excited, me or her.

BarelyControlledChaos

Chaos Controlled.Barely.

Category Archives: Everyday Chaos