Before and after

My computer friends are sharing their makeup before and after shots, and I decided to play along. Here's my before:



And here's after (with what Johnny is calling my "crazy hair"):



Now, if you know me, you know that usually my hair is just wash and go. Brush through it, put it in a pony tail, but not this curl mop. I did this with my flat iron just for fun. I have so much hair, it is difficult for me to do a good job of this on my own. Courtney's hair is super easy, it's so thin. I do hers all the time.

And as for the makeup, well that is something I really have only been doing for the last year or two on a consistent basis. I've almost always used mascara, but the rest was only for special occasions. Since Johnny was born, I've had this lovely splotchy skin. And I found some super easy to put on makeup (Bare Escentuals). Hides the redness and blotchiness. Love the stuff!

Modesty

Courtney has a journal that lets her answer questions about herself, like her best friends and her eye color and other random items. The other day she proudly came to me to show me her answer to one of the questions.

Question: What are your talents? (Don't be modest)
Courtney's response: I need to be modest!

I hope she is always so proud of being modest. You go girl!

I never claimed to have a green thumb

I have kept alive very few plants in my lifetime. I over water, I under water, I forget they are there. I do have an aloe plant that we have owned almost a year and it made the move from Oklahoma. I don't think you could kill that one very easily. I even lost to a cactus once--thought it would be easy. Last month Kyle brought home a beautiful but half dead clematis. I finished the job on that one too. At least here in Santa Fe, it is a desert and our outdoor plants don't require much on our part. We'd hate to ruin the little landscaping there is on this house, since it is a rental and all. But hey, no grass to worry about and rocks require absolutely no watering!

On a different note, I found this wonderful quote recently about raising children. I hope my real gardening skills have nothing to do with my child gardening skills:

"Try to see your child as a seed that came in a packet without a label. Your job is to provide the right environment and nutrients and to pull the weeds. You can't decide what kind of flower you'll get or in which season it will bloom."
--a modern educator

$150.03

So, before we went up to Utah for Easter, the kids' toilet started having problems...flushing slow. We've never before had a child flush something down the the toilet. Leave it to Johnny! Guess what it was.

Foam hair rollers.

About 8 of them. We haven't used them in ages, so we didn't miss them. $150.03 to extract them. At least he didn't have to remove the toilet from the floor. Apparently they used acrylic to attach the toilet to the vinyl floor. It wouldn't have been pretty.

Oh, Johnny.

We're famous!

The kids and I went to the public library on Friday for Dr. Seuss' birthday...which is today, as I understand it. The mayor came and read a story, and so did the Cat in the Hat. We got our picture taken for the newspaper. Here's the link to the photo and the story:

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Local-briefs-030108

The picture is on the lefthand side. Click on the picture and it will enlarge the pic and the article. My Mom and Dad had to pull out the magnifying glass to see us in the pic, but you can see us all.

(I don't own a magnifying glass. I wonder when I will be old enough to necessitate owning one!)

Kid for sale...cheap!

Johnny is hitting his terrible threes. (Threes, in my experience, are much worse than twos.) Yesterday he found my purse and scattered the contents: keys, drivers license, debit cards, library cards, insurance cards....everywhere! He knew he was in big trouble and sat in time out very still and very quiet. After cleaning it all up, I went to finish the dishes and heard him in my office. Again. He was emptying my purse. Again. I really do need a lock on my door.

He wants to be like me, I suppose. He has climbed up and used scissors to help me on my finished scrapbook pages more than once. He likes to cut fringe along the bottom. Thanks, kid.

He also loves glue, so ooey and gooey and flowey. He has twice dumped out an entire bottle of elmer's glue--one on the carpet to fill up a "bowl" (a roll of packing tape, which incidentally has no bottom...glue and carpet are not a good mix), the other in a rubbermaid box with a lid that I got to keep the glue safe. The box also contained a stapler, tape, and writing utensils. The stapler was saved, but the rest went in the trash.

He is really feeling his oats. He disobeys on purpose, looking for the reaction that is so hard to not give. Tell him no and he does whatever it is even more, looking my way all the while to make sure I see him being naughty. Attention seeking, I'm sure, but half the time when I try to do things with him he just hits and kicks and yells. Another endearing trait of his: hitting/throwing/etc.

BUT, give him something like a glass of chocolate milk, and he is so polite. He doesn't have to be told to say thank you Mommy or I love you (too). He loves to sing and knows how to sit still for a story. But most of the time, he just exerts his right to be an almost three year old. By the way, the photos were taken on Ben's birthday. Just 13 days after the presentpalooza of Christmas, Johnny was, shall we say, a little upset by the fact that all of the presents were for Ben.

So, any takers? Just for a couple years? I'll even let you potty train him. ;)

Thanks, Johnny...

That kid is in trouble. Look what came in the mail today:



Let me help you out. That is our Wii and the cause of all the trouble. It is a little disc, similar to those used in a viewfinder toy, but this is for a Ben 10 watch. It's shaped like a disc, but it ain't no Wii disc, Johnny boy! Lucky for him, the repair was still free.