Playing Dr. Tan...

...in our twirly dresses from Jen. Grammy's AbLounge apparently makes an awesome examination table.

She's hungry! And she's here to help...

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time with Pioneer Woman and her "man-pleasin'" recipes. She's fond of salted butter and salted butter and oh...more salted butter. As a result, there's a lot more Sally hanging over the waist of my pants lately. Not good! Cue: Hungy Girl! I'm a Lifetime member of Weight Watchers, and stumbled across Hungry Girl's site a couple of years ago. She has some great recipes, tips, and the scoop on the latest waistline-friendly goodies out there. Now she has a book! I just picked mine up at Target. Good stuff.

Bounce house down!

Many of you asked what happened when it was time to send the fabulous birthday bounce house home. Well...

Here's the nice man from A lot a Bounce deflating it.


Here's Charlotte asking, "Is it going to sleep?"



Here they are after realizing that, no indeed it was NOT going to sleep, but was getting rolled up, put in a trailer, and driven away. They ran in to share the news. They were so upset they came out all blurry! Yes, that's it.


They were fine about 5 minutes later.

Our little salamander...

Many of you recall the Dreaded Finger Mishap of '06, in which Rachel lost the tippy tip of her finger, along with her fingernail. Well, you'd never know to look at her. Her finger is well...a finger. It looks completely normal, fingernail and all. We used to joke that Rachel had regenerative abilities, like a salamander. Well, Adrian was reading his Scientific American tonight, and it turns out that all humans may have this ability-when it comes to our fingertips.

from the article:

One of the most encouraging signs that human limb regeneration is a feasible goal is the fact that our fingertips already have an intrinsic ability to regenerate. This observation was made first in young children more than 30 years ago, but since then similar findings have been reported in teenagers and even adults. Fostering regeneration in a fingertip amputation injury is apparently as simple as cleaning the wound and covering it with a simple dressing. If allowed to heal naturally, the fingertip restores its contour, fingerprint and sensation and undergoes a varying degree of lengthening. The success of this conservative treatment of fingertip amputation injuries has been documented in medical journals thousands of times. Interestingly, the alternative protocol for such injuries typically included operating to suture a skin flap over the amputation wound, a “treatment” that we now know will inhibit regeneration even in the salamander because it interferes with formation of the wound epidermis. The profound message in these reports is that human beings have inherent regenerative capabilities that, sadly, have been suppressed by some of our own traditional medical practices.


When we took Rachel to the ER, they cleaned and dressed the wound, prescribed antibiotics, and grimly informed us that she probably wouldn't have a fingernail and it might not look the same. During our follow-up with our pediatrician, she said the same thing. When we visited later for a regular checkup, she was stunned to see the finger and fingernail intact, gasping, "But it was GONE!" Turns out, the hospital did just the right thing to let her finger do it's thing. Score one for salamander fingers!

I tried to take a picture of the finger in question, but my camera battery died. All I have to offer is a photo of the bandaged baby. I didn't take any gory wound photos...ew!

By the way, this does not mean that I'm giving you carte blanche to go out and be careless with your digits. DO be careful!

Hopscotch and drawing with chalk...

...they make Mommy do a lot of the drawing.

Thanks Jen!

Jen made a flickr set of her pictures from the party. Good times.

Brithday highlights...

It's Saturday

Someone's going to have a bit of fun this morning.

Becca's right...

Eating dinner outside IS fun.

Getting ready

For some serious 3 year-old partying this weekend.

The world would be a much nicer place...

...if everyone had someone play guitar for them while they're in the tub.*

How does one manage to play electric guitar in a wee little guest bathroom such as ours?

Why, you put your mini-amp in the sink of course!

*I know it looks as if she's holding her ears, but she's really 'washing' her hair. Really.

Some Easter Pictures

We had a great time at our Aunt Judy's house on Easter Sunday. We got to hunt eggs and play with all of our cousins. Cousin Eva even came down from Redding to join in the fun!

Egg? What egg? ...where?

The old "obvious egg in the grass under the chair" trick

Eva and Jessica sorting their haul.

Charlotte soon discovered that eating the chocolate in your basket is far superior to hunting eggs. That's my girl.

Look at the cute felt barrettes Grammy Sandy made for us!

Marching for the Babies!

I'm walking again this May on behalf of Charlotte and Rachel and my late sister, Dawna. All three benefited from the services that The March of Dimes helps make possible. Please see my badge down on the lower left side for more information. Even the smallest donation makes a difference for babies!

Tomorrow is Easter

Do YOU have YOUR tie-dye glitter Easter eggs done? Because we totally do.

Stuff=Good {Spring'08 Edition}

Amy just published some "Bloggy Reviews" not too long ago, so I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. Here are some things that I think are just dandy.

Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara...okay, my eyes are the one body part that I can actually stand being in the same room with, so I'm always on the lookout for a great mascara. This is a good one, my friends. Due to some wicked nano-polymer-microsphere-whatchamathingies, it really fans your lashes out, AND doesn't leave raccoon marks under the eyes. Try it. It's the next best thing to having your eyes re-balled.

A woman much cooler than I once said, "Hellooooo, Lover." These are the best thing ever. They're perfect for a gal like me who just loves her fattening chocolate goo, but just doesn't want to put in the man-hours it takes to actually bake it. These are pure love in a little plastic bowl. For days when I'm feeling especially faithful to my Weight Watchers points, I'll go for the minis--only 3 points each!





YA (Young Adult) books...These books are a huge market, and rightly so. The writing is getting better and better (especially with some "adult" authors trying their hands at it), and at the same time, they're easy reads. I'm currently hooked on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, and I picked up A Great and Terrible Beauty on a recent trip to the bookstore.



Brian Regan video clips. I eat Fig Newtons by the sleeve too.

I'm sorry, what was that?

I'm sorry, what was that?, originally uploaded by sjoprice24.

When it comes to birthday cupcakes, we still know how to party hard.

Books on the couch

Books on the couch, originally uploaded by sjoprice24.

Books...good. Couch...good. Bedtime...gooooooooooooooooooooood.

Still trying to get the hang of editing

This is an oldie of Charlotte. Big banger of a bruise on her head, eh? She looks like she's about to recite "Ode to My Blue Rubber Ball."

Ch-ch-ch changes...

I am SO very glad that the weather is finally changing, aren't you? We all needed some Vitamin D in our lives. I really think I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, because I get so blue when it's gloomy for too long. The girls have been out in force, playing in their playhouse and riding their trikes. Of course, all I have to offer are indoor pictures. I'll try and lug the camera outside soon.

Now that the weather is warming up, it's time for spring cleaning! I was contemplating hiring someone to come and clean our carpets, but I went ahead and sprang for this bad boy:

Holy cow! This thing rocks. I get a little overly-excited about clean carpets and vacuuming, and I've come to realize that most of the rest of the world doesn't. Last night I did the living room after the girls went to bed, and today I'm working my way through other rooms. The house smells so much cleaner!



Another change that's happening is that my coaching position was cut. It wasn't cut by the District, as it's restricted funds, but the President cut Reading First by 63%. Next year there will only be 2 coaches and a coordinator, vs. the 7 coaches we have now. I had signed on for one year anyway, and I'm guaranteed my 2nd grade spot after this year-long absence. My learning curve was STEEP this year, and I've worked with some incredible people. It has definitely changed how I look at teaching, and I'm eager to take what I've learned back into the classroom.


Change is good. Enjoy the weekend!

Teamwork

Working on our Sesame Street game together. Charlotte actually crawled into the chair next to Rachel and Rachel started quizzing her as she did the clicking. The fact that they could occupy these tight quarters and not scream at each other was HUGE!

Yes, it's very green, isn't it? We're in the process of converting the playroom closet to a desk area that's supposed to be mine. We've yet to add the extra shelving and artsy touches. Now I need a different colored IKEA lamp for some contrast!