Super Bowl

Super Bowl, baby! The kids and I (and Ellie’s friend Hailey) hung out together and we each got what we wanted. Jack got some tasty buffalo wings, chips and queso, and brownies (which might be a contender for his choice for a ‘last day on earth’ meal). Ellie got to watch Rihanna sing during the halftime (and complained at one point, “why are they playing football during Rihanna’s concert?). And Mama got her babies to sit with her in the same room for like 3 hours without complaining. Win win win!

(That's Ellie's friend Hailey - you'll just have to trust that Ellie is there since she took the picture)

Photos on the Road

Let's face it, there aren't always a lot of photos of moms, because they're usually the ones taking the photos. This is something I realized when I needed a photo for a profile picture. And the only ones I could find were the photos I snapped after each haircut so I could track how fast my hair was growing.

So yeah, these are the only photos of me I can find. But hey, at least I have nicely done hair in them!

Skid Plate

I learned a new car part today, my friends: “skid plate.” What is a skid plate you ask? Well, it’s a big cover under your car that, once they’re done doing lots of expensive things under your car they’re supposed to fasten with bolts. But in my case, while they were doing lots of expensive things under my car they did NOT in fact fasten with bolts, which means I had a big draggy thing under my car. I did not know it was a “skid plate,” so I sent a photo to my knowledgeable brothers, who very helpfully told me that it was my flux capacitor and I’d be fine as long as I didn’t go faster than 88 miles per hour. (Really, my brothers – in addition to all the noogies and Indian burns – are so very useful to have around.) So, after hurling some toxic masculinity their way, I reached out to actual knowledgeable people at the car shop who told me that this was indeed a skid plate and they could fix it (their mistake, that is) right away. So we’re all fixed up now with a properly bolted skid plate. And now I can sound smart next time a friend has a car problem and I can just say “well, be sure to check that skid plate.”  

Huh.

Interesting thing this week - three people wished me a happy birthday. What’s interesting about that, you ask? Well, my birthday is in November. So there’s that.

Souper Bowl of Caring

 Souper Bowl of Caring. Jack and I have been helping out with some food drives at our church, and this week, leading up to the Super Bowl, was the Souper Bowl of Caring. (Get it? Super Bowl? Souper Bowl? Soup? Food drive? Are you with me? OK, moving on.) Jack designed two posters and we put two boxes in the church entryway, so you could donate to the team of your choice. Well, turns out our congregants are pretty good predictors of the Super Bowl, because they chose the Kansas City Chiefs (251 pounds of food) over the Philadelphia Eagles (178 pounds of food).

Yes to the Cat, No to the Dog

Not today, Oliver, not today.

Oliver likes to go down to the basement, and while he’s down in the basement, Oliver likes to pee next to Lulu’s liter box. Because, you know, he’s gross. So we’re constantly darting around making sure that the door is closed and that he hasn’t snuck down there to do his gross peeing business. But sneaky peeing Oliver forgot one thing – Mama has an Amazon Prime account, and Amazon has EVERYTHING. Including door latch thingies designed to let kitty cats in and keep doggies out. Not on my watch, Oliver!

Happy Birthday, Ellie Bellie Jelly Bean!

 When Ellie was little, I called her “Streetfighter Barbie” because she was a strange mixture of girly-girl, mob enforcer, and crazed lunatic. Now Ellie is turning 16 and still defies description. She’s still a girly-girl who loves hair and makeup and clothes and parties. She’s still not afraid to speak up or thrown down. And she’s still the same crazy girl who as a toddler used to hug store mannequins and call them “Daddy” and once spent several weeks testing out different ways to pee (spoiler alert, there’s one). Our

Ellie Girl is still part princess and just a tiny bit psycho and 100% awesome. Happy birthday, Ellie! We love you!!

Handy Dandy

 Now just look at us with our handy dandy home repairin’ selves. Our stove element went out. So did we call an actual knowledgeable, trained, and insured repairman? Silly, of course not. We hopped online (man, I love the Internet) and found the part and installed it ourselves! (By which I mean that Jared installed it and I read off the YouTube instructions and occasionally scolded him for not listening to my instructions.) And voila! A working element and no one was electrocuted!

Say Yes to the Dress

You wouldn’t think that you would need to beg a teenage girl to spend money on clothes. But our Ellie is not a fan of dresses, and as God is my witness, my kid is not showing up to Easter Sunday in sweats. So with the promise of bakery treats to follow, off we went to the dress shop where, miracles of all miracles, we found two dresses AND two skirts. It’s an early Easter miracle!

OK, so she didn't have a proper bra to try on dresses with, so, ahem, there's some nip-covering going on. But still a beautiful dress for a beautiful girl. 

Desserts, Desserts, Desserts

 Raise your hand if you like dessert.

 

Sorry, I couldn’t type because I was raising my hands. But yes, I like dessert, as do all the lovelies in this clan. So we’ve made it a goal to check out a new dessert place each weekend. So far we’ve tried Hungarian chimney cakes, Persian pastries, New Orleans-style beignets, and two different cookie shops. Next up is some King’s cake to kick off Mardi Gras. We’re just getting started on our dessert tour around the DMV, but as long as I can keep buttoning up my pants, we’ll keep on going.