Singing Lessons

"Mom, don't sing," Olivia said to me. "Why, is it not good enough?" "You need singing lessons," she said.

Yo! You better listen to your big sister, a greasy flue, fan and duct above your stove is a FIRE HAZARD!! Clean it or increase your insurance.

Morning Window Light

Have you cleaned your hood lately (or ever!)?

So a couple weekends ago I was home alone. A vacation of sorts and time to get down & dirty. I felt it had been a while since I had inspected the hood of my cooking range. (When I actually figured out the last time I cleaned it, I was pregnant and in nesting mode with MAX! Yeah we are talking 10 years people.) I don't fry, but I do saute and have been known to get on quite a stir-fry kick, so I guess someone that cooks almost every night should know they need to clean their hood on a regular basis. However, that was not happening.

I took apart my hood which is a story in and of itself. However please witness what was up there:


There was about 1/2 to 3/4 cup worth of GREASE the consistency of soft carmel (that would be thicker than honey, and more gooey than butter). I was alone in my kitchen yet still embarrased. I could have only been more embarrassed if Jim Mackay was in my kitchen and had pointed it out to me ;) Luckily, this part of the hood is designed to run through the dishwasher. Which I did after soaking it for about an hour beforehand. The fan was another peice of nastiness which, by the time I finally got it out of it's housing, I was too tired and too stickydirty to pick up the camera and photograph it.

The moral of the story is clean your hoods.

Finally! what Liz looks like these days...

So here are the photos. I know everyone thinks I have been walking around looking like Posh, Rachel, Alpha Soccer Mom. Ok Ok I know it's not bad! I had a momentary meltdown and haven't had an opportunity to take any decent photos. Thanks to Vicki for taking them today. So everyone can stop telling me it's going to be ok. I might actually keep it this length for a while. We'll see...

Favorite Things

Drinking hot cocoa on the porch at night while it's snowing.

Lion Towel

Doing pretend newscasts at the Discovery Museum and pretending to fly the Flight for Life helicopter.

Cabin Fever

On day three with the I-keep-my-mom-up-all-night stomach flu, Liam has decided to start listening to dad's ipod for enjoyment. He sat still for 10 minutes. Brilliant.

Chubber

I love the nicknames that my girls have given to their younger siblings. Olivia is called "Livers" by everyone who has spent more than five minutes with her thanks to Julia's creative genious when Olivia was just a few months old. Now Olivia, with her rite of passage, has eloquently named Liam, "Chubber", "Wittle Wiam", and "Little Dude". I prefer Chubber because he's a tank and his feet are delightfully and deliciously chubby. Here's some photos of our recent game of hide-and-go seek. I would never have found him if his little "Chubber" wasn't hanging out of the bottom of the curtain.

For OH!

I know this blog is about our kids, so it's only appropriate that I write about Morgan. He had his big 4-0 on Friday. I needed to share this picture of him on his birthday eve. He came home from work early, climbed into bed and couldn't get out. He was having an "I'm turning forty tomorrow so now I'm not gonna get looked at by the chicks anymore" moment. Bless him. (Liz, did you go through that too?) 

The Chondo

There's about 7 feet of snow up there. We even sledded the narrow trails from the parking to the condo. I went on the big orange tube with my friend Camille and we went way TOO FAR! We stopped about 2 feet from a 10 foot drop off at the bottom of the hill where the street is. I had no idea we were that far from the ground. No one went doubles again after that!

Milestones

These are some portraits Emilie took of my kids in December. Larry, Morgan's dad, asked her to take some for his office and they turned out amazing! The top two were taken outside with wrapping paper for a backdrop (Emilie's brilliant idea). An update on each: Julia has finished memorizing her piano piece for Federation, which is some type of recital where there are judges. When she first got the music and was trying to learn it, her teacher almost had her switch to music that was easier. I said to let us have another week to try and then we'll decide. Julia mastered the song and I'm so proud of her. She has taken piano for four months and is playing difficult pieces and doing so well. Olivia passed off her first book at school that she read alone. That is a big achievement and I love to see her excited about reading. Liam is yummy, happy and gets into the refrigerator all the time now. He'll randomly bring me a diet coke, string cheese to open for him and occassionally a full gallon of milk that he's clutching so tightly while staggering from the extra weight. He's generous with his kisses, can moo like a cow, and count to three. He's busy, makes messes and climbs on whatever he can...I wouldn't have him be any other way.

Vegas Krew

Yo! This is why you dudes kids all look so good! Shoot.