JuJuBee

Overpriced Baked Goods and (SHOCKING) More Pictures

Since this space has become somewhat of a very infrequently updated photoblog, who am I to change direction and give you some quality content? Right, I would never. All kidding aside, I'm obviously either too busy or too lazy to write, maybe someday...but for now? Photos will have to do. Who doesn't love pictures of other people's kids? What? People don't like that? And they don't like when you put your kid on the phone and force them to chat even though your kid only stands there slobbering into it and nodding? Hmn. Noted.

Back in February the store where I work was selling these Juicy Couture Cupcake Sets for about a gazillion dollars. I thought they were cute but would never be able to justify spending over 40 bucks for a cupcake set. So I took the set and hid it behind my counter for about 3 months until it was clearanced 15 times and decided to buy it for Easter in April. Of course I had hidden it well and forgot all about it, so when I finally bought it, it was about 9 bucks. That I could handle. I gave it to Madeline when she turned 4 and we broke it out for Mother's Day and made them together.

Aren't they friggin gorgeous?! I still have about 4 left in a container on my fridge that I hate to throw out but I know they aren't good to eat anymore. Not that they were ever good in the first place because I forgot to add butter. Heh. Culinary genius I am not.

In other news, the weather is beautiful, I have a brand new baby nephew named Sam (don't ask for a picture) and work is blah. Anyone need a summer sitter? I'm pretty good with kids as long as I have lots of coffee. So have your kid bring some coffee along.

Hippity Hoppity

Just a few random shots from Easter to fill in the space here....some are quite blurry, sorry!

Interview With Julian (Age 9)

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Have a nice day at school!

2. What makes mommy happy?
When I listen

3. What makes mommy sad?
When I don't behave

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
By tickling me or making up a funny joke

5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?
Play with dolls? I guess?

6. How old is your mommy ?
30

7. How tall is your mommy ?
I have no idea

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Good Morning America, or The Office

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Probably wash dishes and watch TV

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Her beauty and funniness

11. What is your mommy really good at?
Drawing

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
Not yelling

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
She gives people make-up ideas

14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?
Macaroni salad?

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
That she has a fun job and earns a lot of money (What?!)

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Mrs. Jenny Flinestone

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
We always do spelling tests

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
We're both good drawers and we're both funny

19. How are you and your mommy different?
I'm a boy and she's a girl.

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
Cause she always feeds me breakfast, lunch and dinner and always gives kisses and hugs to me

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
He's funny and he always comes home and gives her a big hug

22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?
Wegmans

Interview With Madeline (Age 3 and 11 months)

From Beth:

These questions were asked right before snack time, which may explain the food/snack theme...or I might need to evaluate how much emphasis is put on food in our home...?

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
Don't yell at me, Madeline

2. What makes mommy happy?
snacks

3. What makes mommy sad?
When I'm mad at her

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
funny faces

5. What did your mommy like to do when she was a child?
play with her teddy bears

6. How old is your mommy ?
2 or 3 or 4

7. How tall is your mommy ?
(stands on chair)

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
hockey

9. What does your mommy do when you're not around?
Waits for me to come back

10. If your mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don't know

11. What is your mommy really good at?
making the bed

12. What is your mommy not very good at?
nothing

13. What does your mommy do for her job?
she puts make-up on her

14. What is your mommy 's favorite food?
salad

15. What makes you proud of your mommy?
SNACKIES!

16. If your mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a doctor

17. What do you and your mommy do together?
wait for the doctor to come and check me

18. How are you and your mommy the same?
we make dinner together

19. How are you and your mommy different?
we speak different

20. How do you know your mommy loves you?
when she gives me snacks

21. What does your mommy like most about your daddy?
you like to give him presents-WRITE THAT!

22. Where is your mommy 's favorite place to go?
to the store to buy food

Bullets

...because it's been so long, because I have too much going on to pick one subject and go with it and because, come on...who doesn't love bullets?

• The other day, Madeline started saying, "Oh SNAP!" therefore proving my theory that she will indeed become a teenager before the age of 5.
• I will be attempting to remove stitches at home tonight...actually Jeff will be attempting it. Wish us luck.
• Julian told me that  he wanted me to post something about him today, maybe about his new legos...so:

Yesterday, Julian took his Christmas money to Toys R Us and bought a way overpriced Lego set and a new little Star Wars clone dude. He came home and spent the entire evening on his bedroom floor constructing a space ship of some sort. It turned out very cool. The end.

• The letter "R" on our computer came off of the keyboard, probably as a result of Andrew being a little computer geek baby (which is fine!) and it's extremely annoying to type.
• Grandma sent the kids home with a harmonica. Life has been a struggle ever since.
• Disney on Ice was fun, though geared toward the dad crowd with all of those scantily clad princesses.
• I just ate a big lunch with the intent on having enough energy to work out in one hour. May have been the first time I have ever eaten with the intent of "fueling" my body instead of just filling my piehole.
• Felt good to eat with a purpose.
• I am sick of the cold. I don't mind the snow, but really...I could do with a day in the 30s to warm me up.
• The kids need to go out and run off some energy.

• I joined Plinky and I think it will be fun...add me if you decide to give it a go and join soon so that you can secure the username that you like bestest.

That's all for now. What sort of bullets do you have in your life right now?

A Great Day

Today has a sort of shiny, happy, sparkly sheen to it. I can't remember the last time I saw the sun shining so brightly through our windows. Unfortunately it only makes the layer of dust on my furniture all the more apparent, but today is not a day for cleaning. The sun was so glorious that I pulled back the curtains in Madeline and Andrew's room and opened the blinds to allow light to stream in. I never open their curtains really because they never play back there and we keep it dark for nap time...so when they saw all of this light coming from their room, they kinda flipped out with joy and spent the whole morning on the floor in a pile of books. Glorious.

And I of course had the TV to myself during that time to watch history unfold. I'm pretty optimistic about our country right now, and I don't even care if that sounds naive. Just let me have that for one day...optimism. Because after yesterday? I deserve it.

The day started innocently enough with some straightening and organizing and cleaning, which is my Monday morning routine....I thrive on order, so I am happy to zone out and just unclutter the house. Julian was home from school because of MLK day and the kids spent the morning playing and fighting and whining and screaming and all of that kid stuff they do when they are all home and it's too yucky to go outside. I was in the middle of bath/lunch/naptime stuff when my hand grazed the chipped microwave turntable that was drying in our dishdrain. It was one of those moments where you know you hurt yourself pretty significantly, but the pain hasn't come and you don't really want to look to assess damage.

When I looked, it was pretty clear that I was going to need stitches, but it was also clear that I couldn't just drop everything and go. I had to stop the bleeding and wrap  my hand without freaking out the kids, so I stealthily did that, I asked Julian to help get lunches made and I got the bleeding to slow down while they ate. I figured that it would be better for us all if they had a nap, so I got them to bed after lunch.

I was also scheduled to work in the evening, so I planned to shower somehow, get Jeff home to take me for stitches, and then possibly go in to work if it wasn't too late. I rewrapped my hand and wore a plastic hair coloring glove over it (with a rubber-band at the wrist to keep water out...I am so McGyver) to shower, I IMed the husband to come home, he called the Mother-in-law to come over and then we headed off for stitches. It was really a nice evening out for the two of us. Yes. Our lives are that busy that we need to have a date at the Immediate Care Center. So what?

I ended up with only 3 stitches, a tetanus shot (holy hell those things do a number on your arm! Our poor babies and those vaccines!) and a night off from work. Not a great day, but it could have been worse.

Might go out Thursday night and have a few Celebratory Obama drinks with the girls...unless we have another blizzard of course...it is Buffalo, and the sun will only shine for so long.

Did you watch the inauguration? What did you think?

Quick Question

Anyone left here? Just curious...I'd like to get back to this now that the holidays are over and I have a couple minutes of free (er) time each day. Might be starting from scratch with a readership, no? Eh, that's cool. So...who still has the evil Christmas tree up?