LIFE IS A DARING ADVENTURE OR NOTHING AT ALL: November 2007

Drum roll please...

And now THE MOMENT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR...

BEFORE ... and... AFTER

I LOVE IT! And like I said earlier... if you don't love it too - LIE!

Oh, and the porch, the gray part, has not been painted yet due to rain. It will be similar only a bit darker, slate gray. Yeah - I'm so happy. Now for the inside... it'll be a while :o(

Alligators, 2 wheels, naked roller skating and renovations

Hmmm, how's that for a collection of craziness? And yes, I know, I am a bit of a copy cat... But you know what they say, "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em".

Okay, here are the final photos of the alligator and lizard after about 36 hours. Max just couldn't take it anymore and busted the alligator out of his shell... well his head and 2 arms were already out. Actually I was impressed he made it that long! He now refers to "Al" the alligator as his best friend and keeps him in his pocket. Too cute huh.

Peek-a-boo!

I see you!

The GIANT Iguana... Maggie's new friend.

Here is a "beginning" picture of my house. The painters showed a little unexpectedly so I ran and took a photo after they started a bit. I HATE the current paint. The new paint is red with black trim and looks AWESOME! The porch isn't done yet and the painters didn't leave until dusk so I don't have an "after" photo but tomorrow... I promise. BUT IT LOOKS WAAAAAY BETTER THAN I COULD HAVE IMAGINED!!! So if you hate it - LIE :o)

"Before" and really not very impressive but just wait until tomorrow...

The kitchen before the counters were removed. This is going to be awesome too. Just wait 'til I tell you about our luck...

Oh, the yellow stickies are Spanish translations for things like faucet. Believe it or not that worked!

While watching the guys paint Max got on his new/used bike with training wheels and took off. I was so proud. Before we left Cali he was too afraid to ride it. Oh he is getting so big!

Later that night I heard a ruckus in the basement and Mike was taking care of the tug of war over a toy so I didn't give it much thought until...

Yup - that's my boy naked roller skating! I simply HAD to post this picture. And in true fashion (bum dum bum) Maggie got naked and put on her helmet and pads. So ridiculous and so cute!

Monkey see, monkey do... and look at that DIRTY face. I know you are shuttering Liz :o)

NEW HOUSE!!!!

Okay, so it's my old house but it will look new in a matter of weeks! I'll post some photos later tonight or tomorrow but the painting of the outside has started, one bathroom has been demo'd and the kitchen counters are gone! So exciting and such a MESS. It's a true blessing thanksgiving is coming up because I won't get my new counters until the 29th so my kitchen really isn't very functional AND I have no dishwasher. I know, not a huge deal but I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY hate to wash dishes. At least the stove still works and I think they are putting my kitchen sink back in after Thurs. (after home depot comes and measures).

Alligator and Lizard 24 hours

Getting bigger...

A little blurry but you can see his head is starting to pop out.

At least I think it's a head... and an arm maybe.

The lizard is growing by leaps and bounds!

They are soooo excited they can hardly contain themselves. "see mom - there's his head... it's coming out!"

Believe it or not but this is such a motivator for them. Me, "time to leave the park". Them, "just another minute mom... PLEASE". Me, "who wants to go home and see if the alligator is done hatching"? Them, "me, me, me, me, me"!

Alligator Eggs

Thursday, October 8 2007

My mom went house hunting in South Carolina last weekend and came back with an alligator egg and a lizard for the kids. You place them both in water and the alligator egg, over the course of about 48 hours, cracks and hatches. The lizard over the course of a week grows from about 6 inches to 36 inches! Sounds cool - right? Well my kids went NUTS!!!! First we put the egg in and they stood there and watched for at least a half hour. Thankfully we started this process at bed time. In the morning Max asked immediately to go downstairs, where the egg and lizard were swimming, and check the egg. This is what we found...

I wish I had thought to take a photo BEFORE I put them in the water. DOH! But here is the egg after 12 hours. Max was yelling, "look mommy look... the egg is cracked!" and Maggie was cheering "yeah" and clapping her hands. They were so excited they wouldn't eat breakfast. Max also asked if he could take the egg to school and show his teacher, Mr. Rose. I tried to buy more time saying the alligator wasn't ready yet but maybe after his nap today.

Here is the lizard. Again, no forethought for the before photo's but after 12 hours this guy has easily increased in size by about a third. His tail is waaaaaaay longer.

"Look Mommy he growed."

"I touch it?"

"Is he nice?"

Such was the chorus of questions and comments. So cute!

THANKS MAMAW!

Those wild and crazy Flynn's!

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!This video would not have been possible without the help of my good friend Kalyn :o)

November 5, 2007 Ballet

I LOVE Monday mornings. Maggie and I walk Max to school and then head for the coffee shop with my friend Jen and her baby boy, all of 11 weeks old and sooooo cute! After coffee and muffins we walk to ballet class.

Before class in tutu's and pretty pink sweats. I LOVE having a girl :o)

Miss Jessica beats the drum in different rhythms for different animals. The kids were just scurrying like mice until.... they found some cheese. Maggie loves this part - look at her nibble!

Maggie was supposed to be galloping like a horse but today she walked very slowly so Miss Jessica took her hand. Turns out she needed a potty break. LOL!

I really, really, really like this photo. Don't they look like a bunch of college kids hangin' out before class. Maggie and Alley look like they are in the middle of a serious gossip session.

After class Maggie waits oh so patiently for her turn to get a pretty pink stamp on her hand for a job well done. Today she got a butterfly, which just happens to be her all time favorite!

After class we made a quick stop at the dry cleaner and then the organic market to pick up a few household items and a snack for Miss Maggie. Then off to the park for a few minutes. Which was a GREAT idea because I think I may have met a nanny for Maggie 2 days a week. Keep your fingers crossed! Finally back where we started - at school to pick up Max. We stopped home for a quick lunch then back to the park for an hour or so before naps. Crazy day I know but it is predictable and oh so fun to have some alone time with my girl. Now I need to finish my Spanish before trouble 1 and 2 wake-up!

Coincidence?

So I have these friends, actually honorary family members, Jeff and Margo, and they have 2 kids Sydney and Abbey. Sydney is 5 and Abbey is 3, 10 days younger than Max. Margot sent me this picture of the girls on Halloween (with one of their friends who is dressed like a cowgirl). Notice anything? That's right... Sydney was Tinkerbell, just like Maggie and Abbey was Spiderman, just like Max. Needless to say those 4 get along like peas in a pod!

INSANE!!!!!!

HILLOWEEN, get it? Capitol Hill... Halloween... I know you all are smart enough I didn't really need to spell that out. Anywho, the only word I can think of to describe last nights events is INSANE!!!!! And I do mean insane, in a good way :o) First of all, the kids TOTALLY got the idea this year and Max was ready to go the second he woke up. Max was spiderman, as evidenced in the photos, and Maggie wanted to be Tinkerbell. Honestly, Maggie picked out her costume not me. But when the time came to put it on what does she say... "I don't want it". So I go through the list of all the "princess" dress up clothes that she wants to wear EVERYDAY and she justs keeps repeating, "I don't want it". What does Maggie want? Don't ask.. I did and she said very clearly, "I want spooky". Okay so it's 6:30 and I'm supposed to pull a spooky costume out of where? Needless to say her desire for candy over rode her desire to be spooky!

Okay, now for the INSANE part... I have never in my life seen that many people/kids on halloween, in one place, all decked out, with crazy houses all decked out, a FREE party with balloons and hayrides and face painting and moonbounces etc, etc, etc... It was CRAZY!!! I asked one woman how much candy she bought (after we waited in line for 5 minutes to get to her door... okay maybe it was 2 minutes but still - THERE WAS A LINE!!!) and she said ONE THOUSAND PEICES!!!! And the kicker is THEY RAN OUT! Seriously folks - it was like the Macy's Parade out there. It was FANTASTIC!

Well that's enough babble... on with the photos. Oh, one last side note - my camera batteries died, of course on Halloween after I leave the house - but no worries, Auntie Lia drove down from Philly to play with us and she had a camera. But those aren't available so you get the few I have.

Soooo adorable!

Trick-or-Treat?

"I want to do it again"... "Meee to!" followed by a chorus of "me, me, me, me, me" with bright shiny smiles. As if I'd say no!

Cool jack-o-lanterns someone cut out and placed on their steps. Some people are so creative and I am so not!

Great SPOOKY house. Both kids were okay with this one. You can see the bones coming out of the ground. They had great lighting and scary music and LOT's of props too. Another house was waaaaay scary and made even Max sad. He said, "that monster is real mommy".