Boredom is the mother of necessity

So..as I'm sure you've heard, we had a few little fires here in San Diego County last week. Actually the fires are still burning...just not as ferociously as they were. Luckily we never had to evacuate, although we did make a list of what to bring in the event we had to go. Needless to say...with all the t.v. coverage about "Firestorm 2007" and the inability to go outside because of the poor air quality...it was a boring week!

Nate and I were out in the backyard this morning in our masks cleaning the ashes and soot of our new patio furniture. We diligently vacuumed and then cleaned each piece of furniture and it began to rain just as we finished...thank goodness!! That is not what this blog entry is about though....what it's about is what happend INSIDE the house while we were outside!

Benjamin was inside the house entertaining himself, as usual, when he came to the window and started saying "Mommy! Daddy! I made Mickey Mouse!" Nate and I were like.."huh?" Nate decided to go inside and investigate. Once he'd seen it he told me I had to go look at what Benjamin had made. Somewhere he'd found a quarter, nickel and a dime and made "Mickey Mouse" from them on the table. Isn't he brilliant?!?

I promise I did not manipulate those coins before I took the photo! He was so proud of himself. He just kept saying over and over how he'd "made Mickey Mouse." I had to leave the coins there all morning!

Sing.....Sing A Song!!

So Benjamin has taken to bossing me around. It's really quite cute...for a two year old (but I can imagine it might get a little old with an older child!) He tells me "Sing Mama....SING!" or my personal favorite...."Dance Mama...DANCE!" At least it gets me a little exercise!

Benjamin also does his own singing. Some of his personal favorites are "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "Twinkle Twinkle." But recently he's been singing some songs that I wasn't aware he knew. The best part is to listen to his personal rendition of the songs. Here are a few of my favorites:

Old McDonald Had A....Horn?

Ole Dunald heed ferm
E-YI-YI-YI-YO
Beep! Beep! Here...Beep! Beep! Here...Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!


Are You Sleeping?

Why you sleepin'? Why you sleepin'?
Brubber Gee....Brubber Gee
(This is where I think he moves into the French Version of the song!)

My favorite part of Benjamin's singing had to be the other day. I was changing his diaper and a song popped into my head (as is often the case) so I began to sing, "Ooooh baby I love your ways...everyday yeah." And without missing a beat Benjamin sings back his reply " I love you too...ooooooh!" I'm such a lucky mom!

By the way...I promise to put some more photos up on the blog soon!

I'm madly in love....

I am madly in love....with Benjamin. Is it weird to say you are madly in love with your two year old son?? I can't help it, he's just so spectacular!! His loud little chuckle just melts my heart. He can be crying, kicking, throwing a complete fit and I just look at his soft little cheeks and want to kiss them. If he's done something inappropriate and I'm looking at him and explaining why he isn't supposed to be taking trash OUT of the trash can (for example) he'll just look at me with his big eyes and say "Mama mad?" and crack that beautiful smile and I'm a goner. I just want to kiss his little cheeks and hug him!

Everything he says and does is brilliant, amazing and super fantastic (at least to Nate and I!) For instance (you had to know I would be sharing a story!) tonight he was riding his "Diego" scooter through the house (yes...I let him ride it in the house) singing a song. When I started paying attention I realized that he had made up his own song....he calls it the "Belly" song. It goes something like this......"Belllly.....Belllly.....Belly Belly....ahhhhh!" BRILLIANT!!

It's fun to be a girl!

So...after being a mom for a couple of years I've finally re-entered the land of "girly-ness." When I stopped working I didn't really see the need to spend the time (or money) on all those girly things like coloring my hair, make-up, pedicures, waxing my brows, etc. Recently I've decided that just because I'm a full tim mom doesn't mean I can't look good! I found a GREAT new hairdresser that gave me a really good cut and updated my color. I am now back to having blonde-ish highlights, I really like it better than having my hair dark brown. I had my brows waxed at a local Aveda salon....or maybe I should say I was SCALPED at the local Aveda salon. Now I am in the process of growing out my eyebrows so I can take them to a different place to be waxed.....one that believes people shouldn't have that "YIKES!" look on their face because they have no brows! The best thing I've found recently is a new line of cosmetics called "Jane Iredale." You can't get them everywhere and I was introduced to them at a hair salon. They are "minerals" cosmetics and are supposedly good for your skin. I just like them because I can put it on and it lasts all day long.....no shiny red face for me!! I use a pressed powder, eye shadow, blush, eyeliner (so smooth it doesn't "pull" your eye skin when you put it on) and their mascara which I adore. The mascara is a soft brown color which is better for me than black since I am getting older (and those crows feet have begun to show around my eyes!) the mascara is also the only brand in recent years that has not made my eyes burn,itch and water when I put it on, and it also does not flake off leaving smudges around my eyes. All in all it gives me a very natural and soft look but evens out my skin tones and, most importantly, makes me feel pretty!!

What's For Dinner?

I've decided that not ALL the posts on this blog have to be about Benjamin. I mean...I actually have other things in my life happening! One thing that happens quite frequently is dinner....so I decided to post new, different or interesting meals as they occur.

Tonight's dinner was fast, healthy and yummy! I was at Trader Joe's doing my shopping the other day when I saw a "Fully Cooked Seasoned Pork Roast." The description doesn't sound too interesting but basically it is a very lean port roast sealed in a bag with BBQ sauce. I thought I'd give it a try....how can anything smothered in BBQ sauce be bad!?

Since I was short on time I decided to cook in the microwave according to the directions on the bag....just 10 minutes! One note...it says to put several "punctures" in the bag and place it on a microwave safe plate. What it failed to mention is that there is actually another bag inside this bag....and if you don't puncture that bag it will explode...just a little! Luckily I had neglected to take off the outer bag so there was no mess to deal with.

After cooking I shredded the roast and put it on hamburger buns (the whole wheat ones at Trader Joe's are also very yummy!) and we had a version of pulled pork sandwiches. It was a little fussy to shred (the drawback of having lean meat is that it isn't always super juicy!) However, the mealwas really good and I will probably make it again.

I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars ****

So...what is a yak anyway??

I know that all parents think their children are brilliant.....I am well aware of those little things they look for that confirm that their children are gifted. That being said.....I'm fairly certain that Benjamin is a genius, and I have the proof!!

Awhile ago I bought Benjamin these little wooden alphabet blocks. I liked that they looked sort of old fashioned and they all had letters and numbers on them (that's me....always finding an opportunity to educate!) He's played with the blocks off and on but recently he's really been into them. He likes to ceremonially dump all the blocks out of their little bag onto the floor and then build "choo choo" train with them. Basically that's the blocks all lined up single file across the coffee table. He is surprisingly adept of keeping the blocks in a very straight line but, although impressive, that's not the brilliant part.

The other thing he likes to do with the blocks is to build a "tower." At first he demanded that Nate or I build the block tower so that he could swiftly knock it down (arguably the best part!) After a few days he began to build his own towers. He's really good at stacking the blocks one on top of the other. So far his record is 14 blocks stacked on top of one another, but that's not the brilliant part either!

The other day we were feeling sort of lazy (okay...it was me...I was feeling lazy) and didn't really want to go through the effort of building a tower. Benjamin began to hand me the blocks one by one and I would tell him what letter was on each block and the corresponding pictures that demonstrated the letter (do you see where I'm going with this?? There really is a yak in the story!)

"This block has the letter 'N.' It makes the sound 'nnnnn' like 'nest' and 'needle.' 'Nest' and 'Needle' start with the letter 'N.' There's about 60 blocks with each letter being represented twice and some that just have numbers. So the next day Benjamin is building his block "choo choo" again. He picks up the block with the letter "Y" and says "Oh....Yak!" WHAT?!?! Nate and I just looked at each other with disbelief. Then we both wondered aloud...."So...what is a yak?" We better find out quickly because our child is most certainly a genius!

more sad news.....

I can't believe I'm having to write this post......I can't believe what happened.....our beloved little doggie has died. We are a family with no pets.....I feel so sad!!

We woke up Saturday morning and noticed that Penny didn't seem to be around. We thought she must have gotten out of the yard, even though she'd never really gotten out before. Nate drove through the neighborhood, up and down every street, in and out of every cul-de-sac. I walked up and down the streets with Benjamin, asking every person I ran into if they'd seen a little black and white dog running around.....no one had. I immediately put together a "Lost Dog" flyer offering a reward for her safe return. We knew that if someone had Penny they may decide to keep her....she was so friendly and loving. As I was on the phone with the Humane Society, giving them a description of our Penny, Nate made a gruesome discovery.

With the small bits of evidence we found we have determined that Penny must have been killed and carried away by coyotes. We figure she must have heard something in the middle of the night and gone out to investigate....she probably thought she was going to play with something. She loved spending time chasing little field mice and lizards in our backyard. We've searched and searched for her remains, we'd really like the chance to bury her, but we haven't had any luck yet.

Penny was the best dog we ever could have hoped for. We searched for the best dog and once we laid eyes on her we knew she was the one. She was so gregarious and wanted nothing more than to sit in your lap and lick your face. The house feels so quiet without her. I miss hearing her clanking collar when she was running to greet me, I can hardly sleep without the sound of her snoring in her little dog bed at the foot of ours, and all those little snorts and snuffs when she was trying to find some remnant of Benjamin's dinner on the floor. I miss petting the soft spot on her squashed little nose and I miss the bare spot on her curly Q tail.

Benjamin hasn't really seemed to notice Penny being gone. It was the same when Oliver passed away. Of course, we had time to get used to Oliver being gone with all the doctor's visits, tests, medications, etc. We knew that Oliver was sick with cancer, that he hadn't eaten in weeks and that his death would end his suffering. Several days after Oliver was gone Benjamin told me the kitty had gone "night night." He's so intuitive and smart! With Penny gone I think Benjamin is just concerned because Nate and I have been so upset. He told Nate yesterday that "Mama sad." It just broke my heart!

I know that some day we will bring a new pet into our family. We even talked a bit today about what kind of dog we might like, but it made me miss Penny too badly. I think we'll have to take some time to heal the grief before we are ready to love a new furry friend. It just feels so weird not to have a pet, to not have to go to the pet store for anything, not have to worry about arranging for a pet sitter for an out of town trip. I'm sure we'll get used to it eventually. As for the rest of you with pets of your own.....make sure you hug them, hold them and love them while you can!