How can it be SUMMER already??

I keep asking myself that question. How can this be? I used to sit around and long for summer. I had a million plans of all the fun things I wanted to do--all the places I wanted to visit, etc. Right now, my only plans involve groceries and butt paste. My how the mighty have fallen.

Luckily, I have some great friends who help me out of my stupor for occasional play dates. So Thursday, I went to the zoo with my great friend and ex-coworker, Christina. We spent the whole visit chasing our girls--literally. If it wasn't for men, or women without children, I think shock collars for children would have been invented somewhere in the 1700's. We moms would probably be able to cure cancer if we thought it would somehow also make our kids behave and sleep soundlessly through the night.

As it went, I only got a few good shots off. Here's one of the girls watching seals.

Yesterday was a busy day. Anthony got home from D.C., and we all went to City Center Park for a little R&R. Tessa loves being at this fountain, but she WILL NOT get in the water. She hates being splashed. This video is a 38-second slice of pretty much all she did. She gets mad at me at the end because she didn't want to be filmed. So don't tell her I put this on the WORLD-WIDE WEB, OK?

When we got there, she was very excited to get going.

But as she neared the fountain, she stopped to gather her courage.

Jack watched from the sidelines--probably wishing he had teeth for the millionth time.

Eventually, Tessa made her way to the edge of the splash zone.

And even laid down in a puddle so she could get her hair wet.

But, eventually, she decided to come chill and lay out on her towel.

Jack was just excited to get to stand on the picnic table.

Here are a few shots of the two contemporaries:

Anyway, after a nap, we were off again. This time, it was to our date night. I mean for Tessa and I. We are trying to do this once a month. We went to see the new movie, Up, in 3-D. Tessa loves going to the movies, and she was fascinated with her 3-D glasses until about 20 minutes into the movie. Then she took them off and started chewing on them. I guess the blurry scenes didn't bother her. Here we are before the previews started:

It was another fun night for us girls. I will let you know how it goes when it's Daddy's turn in a few weeks.

For now, I am going to go assist my husband. We filled the wading pool outside, and apparently Casey has knocked Tessa over in the water twice. She is not a happy camper.

Pre-School Musical 2

So Tessa had her end-of-the-year music program at school, and it came with as much drama as it's predecessor, High School Musical. Things went better this year than last. She actually stood on the stage for quite a while before she lost herself in the role of "crying extra". She had to exit stage right.

Here she is in the beginning. As you can see, the ill-fitting hat finally got the better of her.

Nothing a few cookies can't cure!

Hangin' with her good friend, Owen, afterwards was F-U-N!

You can tell she digs a man with a sense of humor.

Diapers and Discipline

I am getting so bad at keeping up with my blog! Time has not been my friend lately. Neither has the sandman for that matter. We have had some fun times in the last few weeks. My famous parents visited our humble abode a few weeks ago. Tessa finished her second year of pre-school at Great Escape--which she LOVED! I was sad to pick her up on that last day. It has been nice having two days a week with just me and Jack.

Oh well. Two kids are such a blessing. Just call me the Diaper Genie Mom. Or how about Drive-Thru Window Mom (which is a mom who is constantly throwing things towards a child in transit like food, drinks, toys, markers, paints, shoes, clothes, etc.). My least favorite lately has been Sheriff Mom. This kind of mom spends all of her time enforcing the law of the land. She rides through the town with her shotgun strapped on her saddle and a six shooter in her side holster ready to take down any perp who dares to defy justice. That perp is ALWAYS Tessa and SOMETIMES Anthony. :) Seriously, there have been some showdown moments around these here parts. I am at a loss as far as discipline is concerned. I am sure every parent has been here--OK, honestly, it doesn't help to know that. Every parent is not HERE trying to keep the peace.

So, let's just look at some misleading pictures. These pictures will make you think my little 3-year-old is nothing but sugar and spice. Sort of like how magazine pictures make you think there are hundreds of perfect people out there. HA!

And since we are on the subject of cute...
WHAT??????
Do you like my bubble??

Future Politician

Need a Little Color in Your Life?

Right now, I am listening to my husband trying to settle our daughter for bed time. She is very good at causing diversions. Every night he asks her, "Which princess are you?" and she will answer, "I'm princess (fill in blank with Snow White, Cinderella, etc.). The Anthony will say, "Oh! Well, princess (whoever), I'm prince Charming!" and Tessa will say, "OH! Hello, prince charming!". Then Anthony says, in his best prince charming voice, "I bid you a good night princess (whoever)." Tessa LOVES this.

Jack, meanwhile, is wrapped up in his swaddling blankets rapidly falling to sleep. My mom thinks the swaddling is a form of torture. She reminds me that at Odyssey Harbor, it was called a blanket restraint. Odyssey Harbor was a home for troubled children. So Jack is referred to as "poor Jack" after bedtime.

Lately, when Tessa is painting and decides to do something she knows she shouldn't, she calls it doing a "craft". So when I asked her what she was doing today, and she responded with "a craft", I decided to investigate further. Here is what I saw: