Swimsuit dilemmas and spots

For the past two weeks, Savannah's been in swimming lessons.

Excitement was at an all time high as we got ready for the first lesson, due in large part to the fact that she discovered she had three different swimsuits to wear.Because goodness knows one isn't enough when you're 3 years old.

We've been very blessed with various people showering 3T swimsuits upon us.

We had a slight hiccup in the swimsuit rotation on the 3rd day, however, when she went to pull on her Dora swimsuit. Wearing the purple suit and the red suit on the previous days had been just fine, but Dora was most definitely the icing on the cake.

Except that, as she paraded around the house in it, I noticed that Dora Swimsuit was sort of falling down on the job.

I know they say that you are supposed to get a high-cut leg on your swimsuit to make your legs look longer and leaner. But I didn't know that applied to toddlers, too. Seriously, this swimsuit rode up so high on her legs, and there wasn't enough material in the back to cover the little tush.

I happen to think that little baby tush is about the cutest thing in the world, but I am not necessarily a fan of showing it off at the public pool. And I knew her daddy would most definitely have a thing or two to say about it.

So we got an impromptu lesson in modesty when I told her that too much tush was showing. To make it a little less painful, I told her she could run around the house in it all she wanted.

That was good enough for her.

So (switching gears here, lest you think the previous story is continuing....)last Thursday, as I was getting her out of the bath, I noticed a sprinkling of peculiar spots on her tummy and chest. She had fallen at the park that night, and face-planted into a pile of wood chips, so I thought maybe it was from that.

Being a good mama, I did the whole 20 questions thing..."Did you fall on your tummy? And your chest, too? Does it itch? Does it hurt? Are you sure? It doesn't itch? For sure??"

She finally sighed a big dramatic sigh, and said, "Mama, you don't ask me that anymore, ok?"

Alrighty then.

So I chalked it up to a bunch of little wood chips having impaled her, until the next morning when the spots seemed to have multiplied overnight. Which is when I began to channel my inner doctor, via Google, and realized that it had nothing to do with wood chips.

I'm pretty sure my baby has chicken pox. A very mild case, but still. Pretty sure it's the pox. So far it has followed the exact progression that Google promised that it would.

My hubby is out of town this week, and so we are going to be cooped up in the house for at least 5 days straight while we wait for these awful little things to run their course.

However, I am very, very thankful that they aren't itchy and painful, like I remember them to be when I had them, oh, 26 years ago or so.

But enough about that...

I am weeks and week behind in my Project 365 endeavor. So here's two collages - the first is from Memorial Day and our trip to the mountains. Notice the two cannisters of Pringles, a very, very rare treat at the Moments and Memories household, being held in Savannah's death grip.She refused to put them down for the entire 2 hours that it took to get to our picnic site.





The second is from our Indiana trip. My brother turned 30, and Savannah had the honor of picking out what kind of cake he should have. She picked guitar. That made them both happy.




Sara, thank you so much for hosting!

Old friends, new friends

I cannot believe my last post was 3 weeks ago.

3 weeks!

Part of the problem is, when you come back from vacation, you are so tired and overwhelmed with laundry and re-adjusting back to your normal life that there isn't time to even think about blogging.

And also, you might just get a call from friends whom you haven't seen in ten years (quite literally, ten years) , and they might tell you that they will be driving through your town, on the very night that you fly home.

And of course you will tell them that you will be delighted for them to stop by, if they can find it within themselves to ignore your dusty house wherein you have not set foot for over a week.

So that's what happened. Our plane touched down at 11 p.m. I lugged my carry-ons and a suitcase and a very sleepy Savannah outside where we waited for the Park and Fly bus to take us to our car. (And lest you wonder why my hubby was not there to greet us, he was in NYC on a business trip. A business trip that involved a dinner cruise around Manhatten and a trip to the Hamptons. A trip full of seafood and steak.)

We finally arrived at home at midnight exactly. I put Savannah to bed, and then called my friends to see how far away they were.

They were somewhere in Arizona, I think, and with embarrassed voices they admitted to me that they had forgotten about the time change. Then they further divulged that they had left late anyway, and wouldn't be there until 2:30 in the morning.

Well, no problem. I was already all hyped up from traveling, so it didn't matter to me. As a matter of fact, I got SO much done in those two hours that I was waiting for them. I threw in a load of laundry. Emptied all of the suitcases and bags. Cleaned the house a little. Lit some candles and threw open the back door for the breeze to blow in, and just enjoyed the quiet. I haven't felt that productive in a long time - I should try the late-night cleaning binge more often. I even contemplated making an apple pie for the following day, but just as I was preparing to peel a bowl of apples, they pulled in the driveway.

It was so worth it. It's wonderful when you pick up right where you left off, even if it has been 10 years. And they have two of the most beautiful kids. Just look at that glorious hair.



It's good to have friends. Both old friends, and...

New friends! A huge highlight of my Indiana trip was meeting these two ladies....Amanda and Wendi.

I knew Amanda lived near my hometown, so I knew a get-together with her would very likely happen during one of my trips, but never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would ever get to meet Wendi. But because she is smart and thinks ahead, she did some googling and found out that she lives 4 hours from my folks. And that if we both just drove two hours, we would find ourselves in a great little town which would be the perfect meeting place.

Perfect because, for one thing, it had a Panera Bread. I had never been to a Panera, because they have not had the foresight to come to my little town yet.

But after eating there just once, I do believe there is no better place to meet bloggy friends than a Panera Bread.

Soup. Salad. Bread, big warm hunks of bread. Wonderful conversation. The day could not have gone any better. Ladies, I am so thrilled to have met you, and only wish our time could have lasted longer.

I've had some late nights recently working on some blog designs. I am absolutely loving it, even more than I thought I would, but it is terribly time-consuming. So if I haven't been by to visit you recently, that's why. I'm sorry. I hope to get faster at this as I go along, but we'll see.

And I also want to especially thank Mama Belle and Missy, my first actual clients since I started this. They took a chance on me, having never really seen anything I'd designed before. So...thank you!

I'm not really here....

I'm in the land of dial-up and humidity for the week, visiting family and celebrating my brother's birthday and enjoying country air.

I've sat here for 10 minutes waiting for the page to load so that I could put a cute little graphic of Indiana on here, but I give up. It's not happening.

I am also technically not here at my blog, either - I am guest posting for the lovely Jamie at Purposeful Pursuit today.

Here is the first part of the story....

Every night after dinner, my 3 year old daughter Savannah puts her hand in her daddy's and they walk across the street to the park.

She is a social butterfly if I've ever seen one, and the highlight for her is not playing on the swings or slide or monkey bars. No...instead, she cannot wait to go and find her friend, Ash-u-lee.

Ashley is 5, but somehow the age difference doesn't seem to bother either of them. Savannah is the little follower, running around after her, and she thinks that Ashley walks on water. Every night she comes home with stories..."Ash-u-lee said I could come to her house....or, Ash-u-lee is going to have a Dora birthday party, Mama!....or, Ash-u-lee gave me a piece of gum tonight! Which, by the way, she promptly swallowed, since she has no clue what to do with gum.

So all was well, and they got along famously. Until a few weeks ago...

Click over here to read the rest of the story.

And then, if you have it, thank the Lord for your high speed internet.

What's Your Answer....

My friend Linda hosts What's Your Answer Wednesday every week, and I've been meaning to join in for awhile now. Because it's just fun hearing what everybody has to say to random questions. I think of really awesome questions to ask during the week, but can never remember them when it's time to post.

But let's give it a shot anyway...

1. What is your philosophy on ironing? Do you wait until you have a huge pile and then tackle it all at once? Do you buy as many wrinkle-free clothes as possible, or are you an ironing fanatic? Or (like nobody I know, just saying...ahem) do you figure that as soon as you sit down in the car, the wrinkles will return and no one will know if you spent 20 minutes slaving over it?

2. Which web browser do you use, Internet Explorer or Firefox? Or something else?

3. What is your go-to meal when you are having company and you want to make something a little bit impressive?


Ok, my answers -

1. Ironing - I'm no good at it. I don't really hate it, but I do try to buy as few wrinkle-ish clothes as possible. A few months ago I got out the ironing board and iron, and Savannah started jumping up and down with excitement .... "What's that, Mama? What are you doing? What is it called? "

Isn't that terrible? She was 3 years old and didn't know what an iron was. I was so glad that my neighbor, who is iron-happy to the extreme, wasn't around to witness this debacle. But to my credit, I usually iron when Savannah's in bed, so there.

2. I use both, but usually IE. I know all of you Firefox users just gasped in horror, but change is hard for me. What exactly is the benefit of Firefox again...?

3. I don't have one, which is why I'm asking you. Because I'm having company soon and I don't have any idea what to fix for them. I'm thinking Pioneer Woman's Chicken Scallopine, maybe?