Things that have cheered me up today

1. A phone call from my sister Christie with delightful news.

2. The SUN!

3. Itty-bitty seedlings

4. A crocus in my corner garden.

5. And as always, these smiling eyes.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

I really really hate this time of the year. Can I just take a nap and wake up around Valentine's Day or so? And Chad, before you wake me up, drag me to a sunny beach. Okay, it doesn't have to even be a beach, as long as it is sunny, warm, and at least two hours away from either of our houses.

It's not even snowy here, just rainy, but I think Blythe blood still runs through me.

Chinese New Year

Colin's school isn't doing their big Chinese New Year celebration until Friday, but he got to try his costume on today.

Panda's Den

When we used to live on the other side of Charlotte, our favorite place to eat was Panda's Den. You can tell that it is a local favorite because it is always full when you walk in. BUT you never have to wait for a seat, and you never have to wait long for your food. The waiters speed walk through each of their tasks. Honestly. Also, when you order a soda, when you need a refill, they bring out a two liter bottle and fill your cup up. Have you ever seen that at a restaurant before? I haven't. I don't know why, but it kind of tickles me. Makes it our special, quirky local diner. Or made it. Before we moved across the city :o(

The kids and I were on our old stomping grounds last Friday so we treated ourselves to lunch there. I wouldn't normally take the three kids out to a sit-down restaurant by myself, but I knew it would be fast enough and the owners are very nice. We got two orders of their sesame chicken lunch special, (at $4.95 each) and had enough delicious food left over to take home to Chad. Oh, and I timed how long it took from when we ordered until when we got our food, and it was three minutes! I am sure they just continually make the sesame chicken because if you look around, that is what everyone there is eating! I really miss this place!

If I ever have a girl....

I imagine she'll look exactly like this

Oliver's cousins got a big kick out of this!

A Chilly Morning at The Colemans

Help me out, will ya?

I need some book recommendations. If you could recommend one book that I MUST read this year, what would it be? I'm open to just about everything.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

Last Saturday Chad took our broom over to the flip house to prepare for a showing (someone buy it, please!) and forgot it there. Even though it is only a block away, I have yet to retrieve it. Consequently, this is what our kitchen floor currently looks like. RAUNCH! Yes people, we are going on five days without sweeping.

Chatting with a three year old

Gabriel Robert's thoughts on the exciting events that took place on January 20, 2009:

Regarding the first, and perhaps only, snow-fall of the year:

"But where's our Christmas tree?! We need a Christmas tree!"

Regarding the Presidential Inauguration:

"Barack Obama?! HUH?! Barack Obama is on Star Wars!"

(yes, they are a little obsessed lately. I would never have imagined such an obsession from my kids. Seriously. I saw Star Wars for the first time in college when it was force-fed to me but some nutso friends :)

Regarding his daddy's birthday:

"Arghhhh!"

Which means, "I love my daddy, but talking about emotions makes me really uncomfortable, so leave me alone!

Unity

Happy Birthday Chad. Sorry that Obama guy tried to overshadow you

Conversation with Chad

Colin and Chad are playing Lego Star Wars in the living room and I am in the computer room.

Chad (yelling to me): Dew! You told Colin that Anakin is Darth Vadar?!!

Me: Uh, yeah. Did I spoil the surprise or something?

Chad: You are treading on major Dad territory! That is something a father is supposed to tell his son.

I will have to Chad remind of that Dad territory when it comes time for "the" talk years from now. Or is this "the" talk?

Another one for the grandparents

Colin making Ollie laugh.

Who has it worse?

A. Let's say you are on the computer. You have been sitting there for an hour an a half. Why? Because your baby has taken three 15 minute naps already today, and you are tired of putting him down for naps only to have him wake up, so you decide to just let him sleep on you as long as he can while you mindlessly check every blog of every person you know. Again. And again.

B. Now let's say you are five years old. You are at home, not school, because you woke your parents up at 6 am and told them you felt like you needed to throw up. They took you very seriously because your little brother spent the night before last leaning over their big red bowl. You have not thrown up a single time today, but you have played Lego Star Wars on the Wii approximately 12 times. Four day weekend, woohoo!

Person B drops their Wii remote on their foot and screams in agony. That really can hurt, can't it? A hurt foot in addition to a "hurt" tummy. All this after missing out on the joys learning! Person B runs in to the computer room to cry to Person A about it.

Person B wakes up the baby being held by Person A. The baby is now wide awake and wants a change of scenery. He won't even go in his exersaucer! Person A hasn't even had a chance to blog yet! Poor Person A.

I say it's a tie. What a sad sad world we live in.

Keepin' It Real Wednesday

This is what I look like with no make-up, my hair not done, no smile, and no special poses or photo enhancement. In other words, what I look like 99% of the time.

How about you?