Graceful as a Swan

This is NOT a good picture of me. For starters, I have a broken foot. Seriously! I'm desperately trying to come up with an exciting story where I attempt some amazing feat and fail, or maybe I run into the street to save a child from an oncoming car, or maybe I'm mugged and my attacker smashes my foot with a crowbar. Sadly, none of these stories are true. The embarrassing truth is I rolled my ankle on the bottom stair (as seen in the picture) and landed on our tile floor with my foot in a position that feet do not like to find themselves in. I heard a very loud pop (think of popping your knuckles into a microphone), and I was back on the stair! We got a "get out of church free card" but it was accompanied with a "visit the ER" card. I got X-rays which confirmed that my fifth metatarsal is broken at the base. They put my leg in a splint, and I'm scheduled to return to the doctor late next week. The little guy thinks my "stilts" are pretty cool, and the pip-squeak keeps managing to find the sorest part of my foot and say, "Owee, mommy?" I will have an appointment with an orthopedic doctor next week, where he may or may not put me in a permanent cast. I'm scheduled to be on crutches for the next four weeks so if you're up for a good laugh come on over and see me hobble up and down the stairs with my gimpy leg. I know my family is enjoying it!

Welcome Christmas

Our little guy was super excited (and by that I mean bouncing off the walls) when I told him it was time to put up our Christmas tree and decorations. He had to have his hands (and feet) in everything I did today. He found our stockings and tried them on for size! The pip-squeak had a lot of fun decorating the tree for the first time (she was in bed when we did it last year). Everything was "pitty" and "spawky" (sparkly). Her favorite decorations, by far, were the bells. I'm totally looking forward to the hundreds of Jingle Bells chorus's that we will undoubtedly be singing over the next four weeks!

Nigh' Night

"I sometimes wake early in the morning and listen to the soft breathing of my children and I think to myself, this is one thing I will never regret and I carry that quiet with me all day long." -Brian Andreas

One and Only

Through the years, many things have slipped silently by the wayside. Rotary phones, 35mm film, one-car households. Our family has been a one-car family since it's conception on August 12, 2000. As the years have passed it has become increasingly more difficult to manage with only one vehicle, but there are some benefits. The one-car family has no need to budget a large portion of its income to gasoline consumption. For example, with gas now below $2.00 a gallon our monthly gas expenditure will less than $100. Automotive insurance is both affordable and easily managed. Our insurance only costs $542 with full-coverage for an entire year. The one-car family spends more time together as they must travel in the same vehicle no matter the destination. We spend a lot more time together as we can't divide an conquer with our daily errands. The one-car family can take advantage of public transportation; benefiting both its pocketbook and the environment. Jon has the benefit of riding the bus to and from work allowing him to take a nap in the morning, and read in the afternoon. The one-car family is able to protect the vehicle from the elements. There is always room in our garage for all of our vehicles. And... we never forget which car we took to the store. Indeed, many things have changed or been completely lost over the years. Our one-car family is almost an anomaly in the 21st century, but someday our frugality will pay off...right?

Bust A Move

Here's one of those moments you just HAVE to get on tape before the time passes! Our Little Guy loves to dance. Whether it's bustin' a move on the living room floor, or bobbing his head while riding in the car, Little Guy is always on the move. Check out his sick breakdancing skills!

Picture Day

We had our family pictures taken by a fantastic photographer (who just happens to be our neighbor) a couple of weeks ago. Here are somof my favorites.

Our poor photographer had her hands full with the pip-squeak. She was a little speed demon, refusing to sit still for more than 3/4 of a second. Somehow Tiff was able to get some great shots of her though.

Here's my darling little guy. Is it just me, or is he one of the most photogenic kids you've ever seen? He definitely plays up the camera better than the rest of us!

Here's a classic little guy smirk!

Have you had enough yet? Here's just two more!





If you love Tiff's work click HERE to visit her site.

For Their Safety

I want to say first that I absolutely LOVE when people comment on our blog. I enjoy reading all your comments. That being said I would like to request that no one use the pip-squeak's or the little guy's real names. Most of you already do this, but to protect them I would like if any comments could refer to them as pip-squeak and little guy, or him and her, or your crazy kids, etc. Whatever you would prefer, as long as it doesn't have their name in it. Thanks for understanding my paranoia and for your interest in our little family :)

Trick or Treat

Halloween night we lit our pumpkins, set out a cauldron full of candy and headed to my mom's neighborhood to go trick or treating. (Our townhouses are very secluded and not very trick or treat friendly.) The pip-squeak was appropriately dressed up as a little monster. I tested my sewing aptitude (or lack thereof) on her costume. It's pretty much a fuzzy pillow case with eyes! The Little Guy picked Venom from Spiderman 3 as his alias for the night. We opted out of the mask so he could have good night vision, and decided on painting a web on his face.

The Little Guy as Venom

The Pip-squeak as a little monster

We invited a few of our good friends to join us with their kids and together we spent a good 90 minutes perusing the streets for goodies. Little Guy would have stayed out another hour if I had let him. His trick or treat bucket was full and the treats were spilling out, and yet he still wanted to keep going. The pip-squeak was done after half a block. Jon took her back to grandma's where she helped pass out candy for a few minutes before she went to bed. They both had a great holiday and are now enjoying their spoils