Dress Up

Fashioned these very official lookinf jedi capes for Pip and Vivie. For a blanket and string they worked out pretty well!

Not a Box

Yesterday it was a hair salon. Today it was an art studio (scissors are now forbidden in the Not a Box).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9VeCRwW-7A

Bangs

Uncle George is no longer alone in the doghouse. While I went to an info session for kindergarten (can you believe it!) Phil was home with the kids. Who were, admittedly, in an unruly, excitable mood after a whole day stuck at home.

I came home to Phil bragging about how well he did and how the kids were asleep without any fighting but just a bit after 8. I should note, that despite what is about to be revealed, this is indeed an impressive feat and deserves some kudos.

It should also be noted, in fairness, that moments before I left for the info session, Phil walked in the door after work to me in the middle of a rant directed at Pip and Viv. It was going somewhere along the lines about how no one cares how Mommy is doing and how Mommy is tired of everyone complaining and no one appreciating her and all she hears in whining and moaning and how she can't take it anymore and how no one cares to ask whether she is happy. Poor Pip was sitting at the table saying "I care about you Mommy. How are you today Mommy?" But I was too busy ranting to listening or responding to his cuteness.

So Phil had his work cut out for him.

But all this said, I found this waiting for me the next morning:



Actually, a bit worse than that. Half of Vivie's hair on the front of her head was chopped off and standing straight up. I mean along her temple it was cut so close as be aspiring to MC Hammer. She and Pip proudly stated that they climbed into one of the big cardboard boxes we have staged for packing and made a hiding place. They brought along the scissors. Daddy had no idea. Vivie said "the hair was getting in my eyes so I cut it". Proud as can be. I immediately called Phil at work and he STILL had no idea, this means he did not notice her chop job throughout the ENTIRE beditme routine.

I grabbed some scissors of my own and attempted to cut the rest of her bangs so at least it would go across her whole forehead. I really can't believe it, though. All this time avoiding the bangs and now they are here -- for a long time. If I could turn back time! Cher and I both want to push back the clock.

Prince and Princess

So Vivie spent the evening before puking her guts out. I mean every hour from 1am to 5am. Even when there was nothing left to come up, she managed to find a bit of bile. :( :( :(

But by the time she woke up she was back to a happy but slower moving version of herself. I decided it was time to tackle some packing for the move (T minus 7 days!!!) and found her tutu and princess hat. She grabbed her fancy shoes and waa-laa, we were out of the funk.

We don't have much in the way of prince dress-up gear, but Pip managed to pull together his "bow and arrows" with some prince shoes, which we agreed weren't really prince shoes, but we would just pretend they were.

A note about Mom

Today Mom packed the WORST lunch ever. Seriously, was I actually expected to eat a cinnamon raisin bagel, grapes, carrots with hummus, and blueberry yogurt???? Pitiful. So I was starving when she finally decided to get me. But did she immediately whisk me off to McDonald's for dinner? No! She had the nerve to ask me to wait patiently while she talked to Jenna's Mom. For a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG time. Ugh. Then she said that since I ate only ice cream for dinner last night (true, but need we have brought that up) I had to have a healthy choice at home. How could I be expected to trust her to cook me dinner after a lunch like today??

I became weak with misery and could barely walk home. And it is officially TOO far to walk from where we have to park the car to the apartment. And she would not carry me. I cried the whole way out of school, into the car, through the drive home, and all the way into the apartment just to make sure it was clear to everyone how awful she was.

Ok, turned out dinner was fine, but let's fast-forward through that. And no mention of the fact that I got two treats afterwards for being in the Clean Plate Club. Not relevant.

She only gave me an hour to play with my LEGOs, which it should be noted I only got out of time-out tonight. And HOUR is not enough! I hadn't even begun my mega-ship masterpiece when she said it was time to clean up. Ignore ... always ignore whenever pressed for clean-up time. I vaguely recall her telling me, 5 more minutes, then 2 more minutes, then warning me it was about to get ugly. Ignore! Kids of America ... we must band together and ignore these completely unfair demands being placed upon us!!! Before I knew it she was cleaning up my LEGOs herself and putting them BACK IN TIME-OUT!!!

This is ridiculous. My Mom sucks and I want a new one. I am definitely NOT going to bed tonight -- EVER.

Sincerely,
Pip Balas

Hangin with Chase and Connor

Did we mention how nice it is to have Katie and Jon back in town! Just a quick phone call or email and a playdate is arranged. No flights, no car rides necessary!!!

The kids even play great together, allowing for us to carry on the occasional conversation. Bonus! For a while it was nearly too silent. I suspected the worst, but they were actually playing nicely in Chase's room:


Here Vivie gives her patented "angry face" to Phil, which you actually only get when she's quite happy.


Pip and Chase worked diligently on trains.

Snow Mountain

The maintenance guys at the apartment complex must get super-excited for big storms, because they evidently get to drive their giant front-end loaders 24 hours a day, moving piles of snow to and fro. It's borderline excessive. The end result is a two-story high pile which covers about 0.2 acres. No joke.

Pip has been exploring it for an hour or two each night for the past few days. Vivi finally agreed to come out and see what all the excitement was about. Here, he is showing her how to zip down the face of the mountain which is like an 80-degree slope.