Days Go By and Still I Think of You

Remember that song? Days go by and still I think of you... unce... unce. unce... I think it was a car commercial. Maybe early ipod commercial. Just the perfect riff to start this post.

Been too busy to blog. We've had one bounce house birthday party, a very special valentine's day, and an anniversary since the last post. Lot's to celebrate!

Bounce house was a blast for the kids and the adults alike. We liked it so much we did it all over again the following day to celebrate cousin Aubrey's bday. What a weekend! Complete with the entire Perritte clan in town from Dallas. G chose a Batman cake "all by himself" at Randalls and has carried the durn Batman everywhere with him since.

Deeda and I celebrated 9 years of wedded bliss on Wednesday. That means we've been official for officially half of our total relationship. And it all began one fateful football game date where I looked like I walked of the set of 90210... His outfit wasn't as comical as mine, but his polo cologne made up for it. To add one more stat to the nearly 18 years we've been functioning as a team, we've been together half our lives. Can that possibly be? "And we never had a fight."

We have about a thousand photos (literally) from that night. These are the ones I think tell the story as simply as possible. That kiss. Hand in hand and looking good (I must say). And we danced our tail feathers off! Honestly, it was the best night of my life. So fun looking at these photos. When I see the kids that were kids then and realize they're full grown adults now, I have perspective of the time that has gone by. A lot.

Back to current events, the adult discussion of the week has been about how certain things seem so long ago and others like yesterday. But the things that seem like yesterday are usually the ones that were a long while ago and vice versa. So strange how the brain processes time and events. The wedding seems like yesterday. The Atkins diet, a long time ago...

The kiddo discussion of the week has been about the spaceship G and his school buddies are going on. And the fact that he wants to be a swim teacher or scuba diver when he grows up...

The imagination is amazing and I being witness to it so much! It's an inspiration.

When I picked G up today he was playing on the hill at the playground. Running up and down, singing the "I, I, I, go running down the hill" song at the top of his lungs. That was his first favorite song and still is a hit. He's starting to be interested in singing (FINALLY!). I am so glad, I've got all kinds of good songs in my database from my preschool days. Always amazes Deeda.
Meanwhile, it amazes me he doesn't remember much about preschool.

I remember it vividly. The perfect example of something that seems like yesterday in so many ways. I can smell the soap in the "practical life" area. I can remember the cold metal of the shape tool we would trace with colored pencils. I remember the songs we sang and the kids in my class. I remember polishing silver and wood objects as part of a lesson with cotton balls and q-tips. I remember putting my hand in a velvet bag to touch a vegetable and having to guess what it was. That's how an eggplant became one of my favorite things. There's so much more... but the point is, I hope G remembers his early school years as fondly as I do. The friendships made then, literally changed the course of our lives. At least two people from my preschool class were at our wedding. Preschool family friends connected mom and Joe ...

My neighborhood girls and I are working hard for our little S.C. Red community school. The pet project is gaining momentum as we plan for our third community meeting in April. We've conducted a survey, written a marketing plan and distributed letters to nearly 400 homes with kids under 6. We had more than 70 parents at the last meeting. Interest is there. Survey results show if more neighborhood kids went to the school more neighborhood families would enroll their children. Uhm, so, let's all enroll our children and it's a done deal. Right?

The more I learn about Red the more enthused I am. The only thing I would really like to see change is to have more neighbor kids in the classrooms. Deeda and I plan to tackle a web design next. And, the press release I recently worked on sparked interest with a local news station who's assigned a producer to cover our next meeting. Hooray!

It's all exciting and fulfilling, especially because the group of moms I am working with is the best

group of gals I've come across is some time. Our meetings are long and our agendas include school topics, wine and whatever other discussion we please.

What else? Oh, so, so much to tell. But I'll save those details for another time. ;)

Cheese-eeeee

Call it day of the cheese. Commercial appreciation day. Or Superbowl Sunday. They're all one in the same at our house. We've added it to our list of family holidays.

Last year, as we geared up to watch it seemed the perfect excuse to break out the Velveeta and make some queso. K-so, we made cheese dip deluxe and G thought it was the greatest thing on earth. We ate gooey chips and cheese around the coffee table, watched football and danced to Tom Petty at half time. There's video. It was one of the stand out memories I've logged in the last three years with G-man. So, naturally we were thrilled to do it all over again this year. This time we even invited a few friends. Deeda was especially excited to watch on the new and improved TV. Good times.

Just a year ago, G's grasp of the world around him was such that he really thought the Superbowl was the plastic bowl of cheese he was eating from. I have no doubt he knew last night that it's the name of the game. He also knew the name of every character in the Pixar commercials. He called them out with equal enthusiasm for each as they flashed for a nanosecond on the screen.

He's sponging up all kind of info these days. Tonight at dinner he told us W was for watch. And then we listed together a ton of things that start with B. Buzz (numero uno of course). Baloo. Books. Blue. Balls. Bats. He knows how to say yellow in Spanish and I can't even type that word because I am not sure how to spell it. He says, "guess what mom?" like he's 10 or something.

He's just sitting back, taking it in and telling us like it is. His seemingly simple announcements are a near constant perspective-meter. What a difference a year can make. There's no baby left in that boy- unless he's just stubbed his toe.

Next up? The big boy birthday. Tonight we ordered a Batman cake and picked out party favors at the dollar store including bubbles (a new favorite pass time). Sunday before game time G and I spent nearly an hour blowing and chasing bubbles outside while Deeda was playing Rachel Ray over some hot wings. It was a springy day. Great to soak up some son and sun!

lime in the coke you nut

Coconut is G's favorite word the last few days. He calls us coconuts and tonight he referred to pistachio nuts as coconuts. I have no idea where he got this. He cracks himself up with it though.

He is also happily reporting that his birthday is February 7th. However, when you ask how old he is going to be you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes it's three but it's often four. He knows durn well how old he's going to be but he likes to test everyone else...

I marked the date, on Sunday the child finally "rode" Santa's bike. Well, he sat on it while we pushed him to the park and back. Progress. There does seem to be a catch in the chain's getalong so maybe some grease and a couple more practice sessions and he'll be officially all over it. He has named the bike a hot wheels bike, so I feel like he's getting more attached to it. Hot wheels are so cool. Daily we play with the hot wheels tracks...Does this mean the days of lining up the Cars character cars are gone? I wonder. Buzz Lightyear seems to be giving Lightning McQueen a run for his money. Toy Story 2 has taken over the nightly 10 minutes of movie ritual until further notice.

The other child, Dee Dog, seems to be much improved thanks to her cushings meds. She's back to hunting opossums and barking to demand attention. Never been so happy to sush her.

Me and daddy-o are recovering from the reality that we're both another year older and we're working to get back into the swing of work. We finally made it to the grocery Sunday. Sounds simple but it was a major undertaking - especially since somebody didn't have a nap and I took him with me. It nearly got ugly. Flashing back to "the incident" I threatened to abort the mission, but we made it through successfully. The second gold mommy star earned in one week. What was the first you ask? On Tuesday, I changed poopy underwear in the backseat of a car and returned to the dinner table as if nothing horrible and gross ever happened. That's, like, worth two and half stars. Right?

Happy Holidaze!

It’s back to the grind tomorrow and something tells me if I don’t do this now, it could be a while. Where I get into trouble is letting too much time pass between entries and wanting to get it ALL down. Then, it becomes a big task to blog rather than a quick update. So I will add to what’s becomeing a mighty long list of resolutions to blog in blurbs in ‘09. Of course, like all the other resolutions that will have to start tomorrow. There is a lot to catch up on tonight.



First of all, Grammy turned 90 on the 18th. Mom and Steve suprised her with a party. Truly something to celebrate!






Christmas Eve we baked cookies and visited the Martinez Outback for the annual tamale dinner and family get together. This year, Grams, Deeda and Uncle Alex did a special rendition of What Child is This. Grams played piano, Unc Alex accompanied on guitar and Deeda sang. It was great! As was Aunt Laudie’s tango and Carlitos’ and Unc Charles’ version of Oh Holy Night. But I wouldn’t be telling the whole story if I didn’t include the fact that G was quite taken with the mike and did several numbers himself. Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snow Man and Rudolph were top hits of the season. G carefully tapped the mike as if to say “check, check” with each number. He was also sure to read the sheet music as he sang. A budding musician? Perhaps. A ham? For sure. If you have any doubts click here.


Christmas morning we had the most wonderful egg enchilada casserole of all time and that’s all I have to say about that -- except sorry. Back to the list of resolutions… So many things to work on. Seriously, the morning was great. Santa was good to us. G’s stocking was full and Wingo, the Elf on the Shelf, must have delivered his message about the Diego Dino Rescue Mountain because there it was under the tree! Santa also brought a big boy bike. Despite the fact a bike was all the talk prior to the big day, it has been of no interest since. That and making #2 on the potty continue to be a bit of a battle.

The top toy of the holiday may well be the little Spiderman Santa thought to put In G’s stocking at the last minute. Who knew? Buzz Lightyear has been big in more recent days. G taped a rocket to his back and has been flying him all over the house. We’re big Buzz fans these days. Tonight at dinner, G was quoting Toy Story 2 (another gift). It took us a while to figure out what our little jokester was telling us but apparently “Pork Bellies are Falling.” The kid truly set us up telling a joke like a stand up comedian. The gleam in his eye, laughing at his own joke. Again with the ham.

The gifts just seemed to keep coming. Four sets of grandparents and an extended family of friends and relatives are too good to us. If there is anything Cars we don’t have I would be surprised. By day four or so of the festivities G was totally and completely spoiled, asking “do we have any presents today?” So we’ve spent the last few, more quiet, days attempting to deprogram. When he wasn’t getting something he wanted last week, G placed his hands on Deeda’s cheeks, looked him in the eyes and said, “Daddy, let me help you say yes.” Clearly, it was time to reel it in a little.

For my birthday we finally made it to Max’s Wine Dive which didn’t disappoint in the slightest. As per usual we had several drinks and then planned the rest of our lives (again). Then we took in Four Christmas’. Vince Vaughn is always good for a laugh and the title seemed like something we could relate to. Before we headed home, I decided I deserved a little vampire “fix” so we made it a double feature and saw Twilight. Yes, it was my 35th birthday but that Edward Cullen makes me feel 16, so it was the perfect birthday date. I admit a little infatuation, but will remind my other half again that the reason I love the story so much is because it’s a true love story and I can totally relate.

In addition to five Christmas’ and a birthday we managed to work in couple of fun shopping extravaganzas, trips to the park, several movies, too many great meals, a trip to the Children’s Museum, a couple of gatherings with friends, a car wash/detail and my first batch of cake balls --we had a few days to sleep in and stay in our PJs. We caught up with our families, some friends and each other. I don’t think there is anything short of a prescription that would keep me from stressing at least a little over the holidays, but it should count for something that the stress comes from the desire to uphold tradition, make memories, wrap really pretty packages and play like a domestic goddess as if I bake and cook like this all year long.

In the rear view mirror I can see the stress comes from wanting so much from such a relatively short period of time. The final word: we made it. And it was fun.

Happy New Year!

Tigers and Vampires Oh My!

There went a month. What have we been doing? It's been a blur since Halloween. Have I ever mentioned we're a busy clan? I am on calendar overload. Tracking todos and engagements. Counting the days until Christmas. Yikes!

Where to start... beep. beep. beep. let me back up a few weeks.

The Thursday before Halloween Tigger hopped all around with a ton of other neighborhood kids who paraded around the park. It was great to see so many families in the park.

Halloween night didn't disappoint either. We had a great time at the Bromley's block party, trick or treated and made it home in time to answer our own door several times. The Halloween "experience" was complete. Smile.

Toy Story has taken reign as our favorite movie, though Cars remain our favorite toys. At least two still go everywhere we go... G reports they have a "real" Buzz Lightyear at school which may be why we have had wonderful drop offs lately. No drama. All thumbs up from under his new regular "costume" of a baseball cap and sunglasses. Some days he's still wearing them both when I pick him up in the evening. Joe Cool.

The other thing he's wearing these days is underwear (not to be confused with panties - Deeda wants to be sure everyone knows that). After a couple accidents on the bulletproof sofa and several puddles on the floor, the child is proudly wearing underwear to school. We're not there yet but the progress is promising. Let's just say I am not buying the next batch of diapers at Costco (we're now card carrying members). I hope we don't need that many more.

G isn't the only one leaving puddles on the floor these days. Our old girl Dee has been diagnosed with cushings and we're struggling to get her condition under control with meds. In the mean time she's still regularly having accidents because the condition inspires her to drink a ton of water. We've been to and from the vet for many rounds of testing. Please keep our first child in your thoughts and prayers.

After a nightmare on Sunday night, stories of Monsters in his bedroom came home from school with G on Monday. Something has Mr. G spooked. Maybe it's because he got bit at school yesterday? Maybe he's heard me talking about vampires...

Who's excited for the Twilight movie to come out? Had to toss in that little note. Everyone knows this is my current "thing." Thanks to Nennie for the book that started the whole thing. I've always loved me a little "Goth."

For the first time this season, the air is truly crisp today. A jacket wouldn't look stupid at this temp but isn't required either... the cool air feels great! I've been in the mood for weeks. The kind of mood that inspired me to buy goods for baking cookies and to plant mums. I've been nearly giddy the last few weekends. I know. Giddy is not a term commonly applicable to describing me, but I love October THAT MUCH. I would be sad it's almost over if I weren't looking forward to Halloween so much.

I've had Grant's costume a month at least. Tigger. That's what he picked way back when I ordered it. My first EBay purchase was a success. Those things retail for nearly $40... Good thing I didn't spend that, because now he is saying he'd prefer Spiderman. Last week it was Woody from Toy Story. I am considering locating a Spidey suit. He would be cute in tights and we could tease him with photos in about 20 years when we're planning his wedding rehearsal dinner.

Actually, his best suggestion for a Halloween costume has been "a naked jaybird." This is what we call him as he commonly streaks through the living room after his bath. So, the other night after we chased him down and were wrestling him to get the pull-up on before he parked his bare bo-hiny on the sofa he said, "I'll be a naked jaybird for Halloween. Oooookaaaaay?"

In other Halloween festivity news, G made some Halloween cookies with Grams and Pops last weekend while Deeda and Mommy played at the Aggie game in College Station (the day before our "horror-scope" had the word whoop in it. seriously!) The significance of the cookies is that a couple weeks ago, we started talking about Halloween cookies and G said he'd "make Halloween cookies for Santa Ooooookaaaaaay? Pretty cool he remembers making cookies for Santa last Christmas...

But that's not all folks. The things that this kid says never fail to entertain. They're learning about where fruits and vegetables come from at school. Ask the child about it and he'll give you the spiel, complete with hand gestures to help you understand exactly what he's describing. It goes something like this:

"You get some seeds and you put them in the ground. You pat them down and water them every day and they grow big and tall like a beanstalk."

So we were talking about it one night at the dinner table and he was telling us, oranges grow on trees, potatoes grow in the ground, milk comes from cows.... So, I said, "Where do eggs come from?" He looked at me like, "duh mom." And said very matter of factly, "The grocery store."

Another quick one. It's so cute to observe him learning the language. He gets the concept. Really does. Here's how I know. He was naming the tools in his tool box with Pops who said, "pliers" as G pulled the plastic pliers out of the box. G corrected him. "No, I just have one plier Pops."

And last but not least, a new three syllable word arrived at the park the other day. He wanted to stop swinging. So I stopped him. He said, "Let me get situated" and adjusted himself in the seat. Then we were off and swinging again.

In other news the pile of tree limbs and fence was removed from our front yard this week. We're scheduled to get a new fence on Monday. Hooray!

Back to the grind and that’s good.

The word of the day is raisins – that’s short for decorations.

It’s a grind until you’re all out of the routine and then you miss it so. This weekend brought a feeling of normal and a feeling of fall. After a long week of tearful drop offs at school and catching up at work, it was so good to have some home time. We needed it to continue the clean up but we also managed to watch a movie, cook a meal at home and eat Mexican with friends. What more could we ask for?

Going to the store to restock the freezer never felt so good. G was a model child on the trip and the nightmares and flashbacks from the trip I can’t even bring myself to write about a few weeks ago are starting to subside. I still have to play the Rocky theme song in my head to gear up for taking him, but we proved this weekend it’s possible to go and get back without incident or the need for assistance from law enforcement. Someday I’ll tell the whole story….

Anyway… Add to the full fridge, a return of one portable AC unit to Home Depot, a Prince’s Hamburger lunch, nap time yard work and an afternoon run to Target and we were all on cloud nine when we sat down to have this year’s inaugural batch of pumpkin soup for dinner.

Princes Hamburgers is full of neon lights and sparkly vinyl chairs. It looks an awful like the sha-boom life would be a dream scene in Cars. G was amazed and he got his first gumball there—and his second when number one hit the floor. He also liked pushing buttons on the juke box and we heard “If you’ve got the money honey” while we were there. Reminded me that I still love that song…

This morning I had to giggle to myself as we all puttered about. G was reuniting with every toy in the cabinet by pulling them out on to the living room floor, Deeda was in this garage reuniting with his toys too and I was placing Halloween spiders and ghosts throughout the house sipping my second cup of coffee. We all needed the time together and the time in our own surroundings doing “our thing” respectfully.

Despite circumstances, we made good memories while we were evacuees. Many trips to the Wal-mart, Lakeway park and “chick a fill” back and forth down the roller coaster street with the windows down (Living in H-town the hilly drive to Casa Butera really is something special for a two year old). We swam at the Sullivan’s (G still wants to go back). We had a super Austin-style Friday night mole Mexican meal complete with live music and a lake view. We walked dogs “all by ourselves.” We made a good soccer team. We ate Papa eggs. G had the Cabelas experience and hasn’t stopped talking about it since. And we are now the proud owners of one rescue helicopter—just like the one we saw land at the top of the hill. WOW!

We saw at least 10 great sunsets. G even appreciated the sunset. He was still for the sunset. He told us what color the clouds were. Ole Ike made us slow down a little. It felt good.

Toddler Tip: If you make pumpkin soup a dipping sauce (like ketchup) , a two year old will eat it. He even dipped his green beans!