Family Time

This week we welcomed some family back to MN. My brother and his family now live only 2 1/2 hours away instead of 22 1/2 hours away! We went over to visit them the other day. Here is Lauren riding her pony Spirit. Lily took a little ride as well, but I didn't get a picture. Lily and Mina testing out the lawn tractor.

Saturday we went to a niece's grad party, so Lily saw some other cousins.

Here is a hot afternoon hanging out at home.

Painting a picture for Dad. (I know, does my daughter ever wear a shirt and pants?)

Finally, here is my hubby grilling supper tonight. He is flexing to make up for the fact that there is no actual meat on the grill. Take a close look: eggplant steaks and green beans being grilled with real apple wood from our own apple tree. It was delicious!

(Yes, his shirt says "License to Grill" -- ha!)

Keeping it real

This weekend I was talking to a friend who is a fellow blogger (and blog reader) about the fact that reading too many blogs can be dangerous to your self-esteem. We tend to write about the fun, cute, wonderful things in life which paints a very one-sided picture of our lives. Well, in the interest of keeping it real, I have composed a list of events/quotes from yesterday and today; these have not been my favorite parenting days.

* Getting ready to leave the house, and Lily wants a snack. I give her the option of cereal or pretzels. She asks for candy. "No, cereal or pretzels." She asks for marshmallows. "No, cereal or pretzels." She asks for fruit snacks. "No. Last chance, cereal, pretzels or nothing." She grabs raisins. "Okay, no snack right now." Fit ensues.

* High school all-star volleyball girls are practicing at the school where I work, so Lily and I stop to watch. A man comes over to tell me a little about the teams. As he is talking to me Lily is saying, "Mom, excuse me, excuse me!" in rising volume. I interrupt the conversation to ask her to wait. For the rest of the conversation she is pulling at me and climbing on me until we just have to leave. Ugh.

* Lily is looking at my beautiful pink Vinca flowers out front. As she touches them I say, "Just be careful; don't pull on them." Less than 5 seconds later, she has popped two blooms off.

* A trip to the grocery store turns into a terrible whine session because the cart seat is "too ouchie", and when I move her to the big part of the cart, she can't stand it when any of the groceries touch her. Oh, and she asked for a treat 57 times. (I know, I know. I should have looked at my day so far and opted out of a grocery trip with a two-year-old.)

*There are many more examples I could share, but I will end with this one. This morning, apparently Lily wasn't completely done on the toilet, because she ended up pooping a little on the living room carpet. As I am cleaning it up, she sits down next to me and smiles. "I like to poop on the floor." Aaaaahhhhhhh!

Well, my hope is that this list will entertain some of you and evoke empathy in others. I am sure I will think it is hilarious. . .when she is 20.

It's just good she is so cute.

"Ollie Bollie"

When Lily was born we were a little concerned about how the dogs would react, mostly Ollie, our Shih Tzu. It turns out we didn't need to worry about either of the dogs. (Lily was the one who needed the training!) Now, Lily has come to love her "Ollie Bollie". He truly is her favorite playmate, and he is even starting to like her. A couple days ago Lily said, "Mom, take a picture!" I turned around to see this scene:

After the picture, Lily said, "Now Ollie gets a treat for being a good listener." Is it still considered obedience when you have no choice?!


Dollies have been occupying much of Lily's time lately, as well. This is a nice development from Mom and Dad's perspective. The other day Mike and I got through a full set of tennis while Lily set up a picnic for her dolls and strolled them around the tennis court. (For those of you without kids -- yes, that is a big deal!)

(Seriously, who does her hair?)

Finally, for those of you who "knew" our Sable, it finally bit the dust. We made that car do things it shouldn't do -- travel the backroads of Idaho mountains in February, serve as a hunting vehicle (including the hauling of a deer. . .and deer carcass!), and multiple trips to the river and back with a wet yellow lab pacing in the back seat. The car treated us well for nine years and held a lot of memories. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a digital picture of it. (But if you've seen one sable, you've seen them all.) So, to replace her. . .

A Mazda 3 -- Zoom, Zoom!

Summer fun

This morning I was taking a shower and heard the door slam. Lily had gone outside. Not too big of a deal since our backyard is fenced. I peeked out the window and saw her trying to get back in. I hurried to finish and went out to get her. I found her playing in the sandbox donning only underwear and rainboots. Too funny!

Later we headed to the "cool park". The weather has been so nice; we are having lots of little adventures.