From Mushy Molly to Hannah Hardbody (I hope)

I've been doing Super Hula Hoop on Wii Fit for a few days and it's kicking my butt. I have unlocked the 10 minute Hula and it is so stinkin' hard. The first day I did it, afterwards I took the kids to the pet store to get food for our guinea pig and I could hardly carry the 11 lb bag of food through the store. I was shaking just carrying that thing up to the cash register. From Hula Hoop? How embarrassing.

Every day after I Hula Hoop I do the boxing game b/c they say I'm burning a lot of calories and it doesn't feel like work. Of course I also have two teenage boys and a pre-teen girl in my house - who wouldn't love boxing? That punching bags takes on many different forms.

Another failed attempt to imitate Michelle Burk

What a charming picture I saw on Michelle Burk's blog of her cute little daughter sitting on the counter unwrapping Hershey Kisses, participating already at such a young age in the holiday baking. I thought my toddler and I could have such a moment, and today, I tried to create that. I am baking chocolate chocolate chip cookies (nothing could go wrong with this as the start, right?) and wanted to put candy cane kisses on them. I got the bag of kisses out, primed my toddler by asking if she wanted to help Mommy, and we both settled on the kitchen floor with a plate full of wrapped kisses and an empty bowl. Handing the first kiss to my daughter, I instructed her to unwrap the kiss and put it in the bowl. Then I looked at her other hand and DOH! I totally forgot that her right hand is wrapped in gauze - a "magic mitten" helping her hand to heal from burns sustained on Saturday. There's no way this kid can unwrap kisses. Never fear, I rally my spirits, not willing to let the moment be lost, and tell her I will unwrap, and she can put them in the bowl. She promptly popped the first one in her mouth. To be expected, I thought; she's almost 2. The next two went in the bowl, and the fourth kiss went straight into her mouth. Having only a two year old mouth, there's not a lot of room for kisses, so now the candy cane colored drool starts rolling out of her mouth and onto her sweater. She jumps up and runs across the house. Now my two year old, who previously was yawning, is now, after licking a beater and maybe a bite or two of cookie dough and two candy cane kisses, streaking back and forth across the house, candy cane drool flying, having ingested - right before naptime - enough sugar to fuel a small jet in a cross country flight. I foolishly put her in her crib where she is now yelling "Mooooooooommmmm, oh MOOOOOOOooooooooommm" at the top of her lungs. The legend of Michelle lives on in Philadelphia First Ward, and I am settling comfortably in as Mediocre Molly. I am, however, at the very least, highly entertained.

Latest at Longwood

Grandmothers, these pictures are mainly for you. Mom, remember when we went to Longwood and all we saw were buds on the mums? Well check this out:


And this is one of the 1000 bloom mums. Amazing, it's all from one plant.


Sharon, the hibiscus blooms were gorgeous, so many colors and varieties. You'll have to come see for yourself!

Baby Care Advice

Step One: When baby is upset, gently insert binky. (Look closely, you can see the left hand getting ready for Step Two.)

Step Two: If baby is struggling with binky, use both hands and really CRAM it in there.

Step Three: Check to see if baby and binky are happy.

High Schooler on Halloween

Do high school kids still trick-or-treat? When is the appropriate time to give up trick-or-treating? Andrea didn't go at all in high school, but Chris did his first two years. Nik is a freshman, and is beginning to think he's too old, but the allure of the candy was too strong. I remember that time in my life, trying to judge whether the embarrassment of trick-or-treating while towering over the little kids at the neighbor's door would outweigh the enjoyment of the delicious bites of candy. And I remember the year that the embarrassment was finally so bad, that the candy wasn't worth it. Sometimes I just don't know when to give up, but standing at someone's house when a group of little kids walked up and asked if I was the Mom who was giving out candy was the turning point.

Nik's costume came together at the last minute. His Spanish teacher gave him the mask during school on Halloween, and he colored it after school. I bought the fancy cool sombrero in Nogales in the 70's and it hasn't been worn for any event until this year (good foresight on my part, I know). The sheet is recycled from last year. Altogether, makes quite a striking and very unique costume for this part of the world. We get a good share of Star Wars characters, princesses, and skeletons, but I think this might be the first time many people in Drexel Hill have seen something like this knocking at their door.

Ward Halloween Party

We had your usual showing of rabble rousers, but thought these stole the show. First, a coupla cowpokes. Notice Allison's sleeve. Not quite sure if that's dirt from working so hard on the range rustling steer, or just a little chocolate from wrestling a brownie. Either way, you can tell who won - Allison's a toughie.
Next our two cats - Melanie as a spooky black cat, and Julia as the Cat in the Hat. Our two gorgeous, whiskered, feline fatales.

Halloween Parade

Lots of excitement here for Halloween. Melanie counted down the days as if Santa was coming. During the day, Garrettford had a parade of students, and the local middle school band (for whom many famous musicians have played, most notably Chris and Nik Hawley). Currently, it's Julia's turn to flaunt her stuff in a purple wool suit.
Melanie's big appearance came near the end of the parade; this is after the marching is done. She is one cute cat.