Happy Sunday

Dateline: This Morning.

Overheard at our house?

"Mommy? Why is your belly button so big?"

Good morning to you, sunshine!

We're off to a sleepover at pseudo grandma's house (just Sofia and I.) I'm looking forward to it as pseudo grandma spoils Sofia rotten and I may actually get to read a book! A non parenting book!

Conversations with Sofia -- Disneyland Dreams & Cat Dissing

On Wednesdays, Sofia commutes in with me as I drop her off at pre-school. These drives have been fertile ground for lots of interesting conversations, to say the least.

She has no idea that her birthday present (and mine) is a 2-day Mommy & Sofia trip to Disneyland. We have annual passes, the flight was free for Sofia and I get the cost of a park ticket refunded to me as it’s my birthday. Also, this non-refundable package was purchased before my husband’s change in employment status. Oops, oh well. Non-refundable.

I have been trying to think of a way to surprise her with the trip as a present at her birthday party in April. Yesterday, I bought an Ariel bathing suit at Costco. I thought it would be cute to give her the bathing suit as a present and somehow tie it in with telling her she’ll be wearing the suit at Disneyland...Not sure how to connect the two in a way her 4 yr old mind can grasp, so everyone in the blogisphere, I’m so open to suggestions!

This morning, she tells me she had a dream that she was swimming at Disneyland and would really, really, like to go swimming at Disneyland. I almost fell over. She announced that she would like to “Go live at Disneyland for a few days.” We might be able to arrange that, I secretly laughed. (I honestly don’t think she has overheard anything.) Of course, she also dreamt that her best friend was there with us, which has been the case in the past, but won’t be for the upcoming trip, so hopefully that won’t be a huge expectation/disappointment for her.

On other topics…Sofia told me she wanted to go to the pet store and buy a dog.

I told her we have CATS, not dogs, but maybe some day.

She told me she likes dogs better than cats and when our cats “go away,” can we get a dog?

Aside from the fact that she is wishing for our cats' demise, I had to laugh. I know she doesn't really want them to go away, but wants to have a whole menagerie of pets. As much as I love dogs (and I do love them, but love cats a little more), I assured her we would not be getting a dog anytime soon. In all seriousness, tending to a dog would be the final crack that breaks me.

Let Me Entertain You

So, dinner party = success.

Houseful of kids (6 under 5) was off-the-charts chaotic, but ever so worth it.

Using Macaroni Grill as the caterer was a splendid idea (if I do say so myself) and would highly recommend it. Did I mention that they deliver for $20? Sweet. The delivery lady was about as sweet as could be and even offered to stay and set up for me. After a nice tip for her, we sent her off on her way to watch the sunset down the street.

The cost of the meal was no worse if we had taken everyone out to dinner or if I'd attempted to buy all the food and ingredients myself. We had chicken marsala for the entree, bread and their house salad. I also ordered chicken nuggets for the kids and for anyone who has had "chicken nuggets" at Macaroni Grill knows this equates to huge pieces of chicken cooked in thick batter. We had enough chicken nuggets to feed an army!! I sent most of the leftovers to my sister in law's today, to feed my children and her 3 hungry boys. We also had my shrimp/veggie dip and a bunch of munchies (mini quiches, courtesy of Costco.)

I managed to stay pretty focused on my "sobriety" for the evening. (I have taken to calling my Weight Watchers sobriety, mostly because I've been watching too much Sober House and it's the only word that snaps me into line when something like cheddar pretzels or guacamole beckons to me. ) I do consider myself a food addict, so it works for me. Can't risk my sobriety, I tell myself and surprisingly, it has worked. I did not count points for the dinner party, but for anyone who entertains regularly knows, overeating is usually a moot point. Over drinking, on the other hand..

I balanced things out by eating mostly zero points or low points food yesterday and am feeling pretty good about things.

Highlight of the evening? One of the blowhard husbands telling me I needed to up my water intake to 50-80 oz a day as this is what worked for him when training for Iron Man. I'm fairly sure that borders on water-poisoning levels, but will have to check on that.

~ Listening to Sofia run around the room, saying "I'm Jewish!" and giggling, for no apparent reason. We're going to file this with the I Have No Idea/Champagne comment. We are not Jewish and I 'm perplexed as to why she would run around saying this like a manic little diva AND think it was hilarious to boot.

~ Aforementioned blowhard husbands chiming in when we were talking about how different my twins look with "What about their genitals? Are they different too?" Exqueeze me?

He made a few other very inappropriate and/or homophobic references which has led me to believe that he, himself, is gay. I am intrigued at people who live a double life, in this day and age, but my gut is telling he may be one of them. In addition to the homophobic comments, he made many other comments, asserting his masculinity. Yep. Pretty sure on that one.

All the kids got along quite well, so that was great. Three girls can be a recipe for disaster, with someone always feeling left out, but fortunately, this was not the case.

Quite an enjoyable evening and I'm proud that I attempted to beyond my comfort zone.

The boys playing chase around the table

Betty Crocker Me Not

Ok, you know you are not much with the cooking when you take your daughter to visit a friend and upon seeing the friend's rack of pots and pans hanging from her wall, your daughter exclaims, "MOMMY? What are those?"

Overnighter

I'll preface this post by saying Sofia has 5 male cousins, ages 2, 4, 6, 8 and 12 and one female cousin, age 2.5.

On the way in to work this morning, I asked her if she wanted to go visit her cousins Aiden and Delaney for their birthday and she said (quite emphatically) "Delaney is not my cousin! She's a girl!!!"

I can't argue with that logic, but I did tenderly set her straight on what a cousin is.

So we're off to visit the cousins (they live 2.5 hours away) for an overnight trip. The cousins (age 2.5 and 4) both have December birthdays, so a joint celebration has been the standard. We're spending the night at the brother in law's house, a palatial spread (I exaggerate, but not by much - 2800 sq feet on an acre with a guest house.) Unfortunately, it's too cold for us to sleep in the guest house (pellet stove - toddlers - not a good mix) but a good time is always had by all when the cousins get together. (Have I mentioned how freakin' cold it is here? I know, Californians are wimps.)

Of course, the amount of gear that I have to bring for an overnight stay is borderline absurd, but that is just the way it is. Pack and play, blankets, bottles, binkies, PJ's, medicines, presents, I could go on.

We'll be back Thursday evening at which time I'm quite sure I'll have lots of amazing photos to share as my new camera that I totally had no business buying arrived Monday.

If we're lucky, we may even see snow!

Wet Halloween

Dinner with the bro' was nice, but chaotic. I know my kids are little maniacs at time, but OMG, the energy level of my 3 nephews is INSANE. They just tear up the place in seconds. I shudder to think what Christmas will be like in a few years. It went well, though, so I'm happy I did it.

Having a few friends over on Sunday, looking forward to it. Hope it doesn't downpour.

It was quite stormy last night and this morning. Experiencing a storm right at the edge of the coast was a trip. I listened to the wind howling and wind chimes rustling in the wind.

I just spent the morning going to Sofia's Halloween parade, getting soaked. My hair is looking mighty purty.

I think I may be coming down with something.

This morning, on the way to school, Sofia says

"MOMMY????? WHAT COLOR IS GOD'S HEART?????????????"

Sofia - Overheard in the Car

Overheard in the car this morning...

"Auntie Laura said God can't come to our house for Thanksgiving because he is DEAD!"

Ohhhh...kayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

(Translation = Grandpa Dave - my dad - can't come for Thanksgiving because he is in heaven with God, or something along those lines)

Sofia's new buddy

Conversation with Sofia driving to school this morning.

Sidenote: Sofia and Mango have become hardcore buddies as of late - he sleeps with her and cuddles with her - it's beyond cute. Trixie - Mango's skittish litter mate who has effectively been hiding in the closet for 3 years, no exaggeration - tries to get in on the action at times, but remains majorly spastic & distant for the most part.

Anyhooties -- she was saying she had a "Trixie Tango and a Mango Tango and a Kiki Bella Tango!" and I pointed out that she was so very lucky to have 3 cats, that some people had no cats at all.

"They only have 2?" was her response.

Ahhhhh, that girl. I find it so sweet that she just assumes that all people have pets. It's usually one of the first things she tells people (I have 2 brothers! I have 3 cats! Do you have any cats?) I love the relationship that is forming between her and Mango. I have felt semi bad about the complete lack of attention the cats have received since Sofia's birth in 2005, but now, seeing them bonding, I am feeling much better.

(A photo of Sofia and Mango would be appropriate right now, but I don't have any uploaded, so this pic of sweet Mango will have to do)

This 'n' That

I've been a neglectful blogger, I hate that. I like it when I get in a groove of writing something every day. Truth be told, I've been pretty overwhelmed with work, commuting and unpacking and haven't had the time I would like to devote to writing. Ah, well.

This week, I took the boys to their first playgroup in our new neighborhood yesterday. I joined the Coastside Mother's Club. They have lots of events, so I'm looking forward to participating in much of that. There were about 5 kids at the playdate, all boys and one girl. They ranged in age from 16-19 months and you guessed it, all of them are using some words. I am trying not to be a freak about this but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned.

The boys mostly grunt and point a lot. David did say "bye bye" yesterday, which is big, I suppose. Maybe being around kids their own age (other than each other, that is) will help in the speech department. We'll see.

Tomorrow is my 5th anniversary, hard to believe. I can't believe it's been 5 years and I have 3 kids. Never in my wildest dreams...

I had to single parent it this morning. Steve woke up at 6 a.m. to go fishing with a bunch of friends from high school. His 30th reunion (YIKES) is tomorrow and there are many people in town, getting together, etc. We are actually going, believe it or not, but we had to get the $$ babysitter. Ah well, it'll be nice to get out, dress up, have a nice dinner, etc. on our anniversary, right?

Anyway, I had to get all 3 kids dressed fed and out the door all by my lonesome. Then again, I usually do this anyway as Steve is either in the shower or on the can when most of this is going on, so there ya go. (TMI, I know)

***

File this in the "overheard at my house" file

Sofia "Mommy? Why did you make David's hair blonde??"

Me "Well, because he looks like me and I have blonde hair."

A look of utter puzzlement from Sofia. Understandable as my hair hasn't been blonde since she was 2 and she probably has no recollection of that. She does recognize me in wedding photos, which is something I suppose, considering I was 50 lbs lighter.

Oh yes, total brag...Sofia can now write an "A." So she can write an S, an O, an F, an I and an A, but she doesn't yet understand about them being in order and forming her name. She just puts them wherever they fit on the paper. Makes perfect sense!