St. Pat's 09

We had a wonderful St. Patrick's day this year. We were involved in the parade through a friend who needed a trust worthy sober driver for the float. Who comes to mind? Dan of course. 

We met up at Michael's at 8am to be at check in at 8:45. It was a bit cold and threatened to rain, but none fell. 

The float was for the ABC drinking club, named because they bar hop (on a monthly basis) alphabetically, as in a bar that starts with A, then a bar that starts with a B. We joined them at the Tipperary on T month. Lea went and had a blast with the Irish music so she is an honorary member of ABC so she fit right in.

So we joined the party. We got to sit safely (and warmly) in the truck and threw beads out the window. The waiting to get going was the hardest part (for Lea at least). But she made some grown up friends and I brought some distractions (like cartoons on the ipod). We did have one near disaster. Lea had to go potty (did I mention she's been diaper free during the day for 2 weeks... that deserves it own post but this will have to do for now.) We ran down the street looking for a potty and the nearest place was a strip club. Well, I think due to the "Let me in. My 3 year old has to pee" frantic look on my face, the strippers (and bouncers) with hearts of gold (and probably each with 2.1 children of their own) let us in to pee. So yes, Lea was in her first strip club. There were no dancers on stage. They were all milling about out front fully clothed and bundled up trying to stay warm. This was the same place we parked for free last year so I  went around extolling the virtues of the strip club with a heart of gold.

When we finally got going, the parade sped along pretty quickly. It is much shorter to be in the parade than to stand on the sidelines. It was fun to throw beads and watch the crowds. It was very powerful. It is always amazing how valuable those silly plastic beads seem in the moment. I used to call it liquid greed in the streets of New Orleans. The need for beads was almost tangible. It was no where NEAR that, but it was powerful to wave at the masses and toss the beads. Although we did get things thrown at us. We got a little rubber duck, beads and (just missed catching) a football. Some people just have to shake up the order of power!

So that's a pretty good summary. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

St. Pat's Video of the parade

Art, the dude behind it all.

Lea & Mommy's bead stash to throw.
Mommy and Daddy ready for the ride.

Michael and his girlfriends (including Lea).

Lea blowing bubbles in Raney's hat. Note the shirt that Daddy helped make the night before!

Lea and her new best friend Raney. She was awesome. She played with Lea and Wilder ALL day long. She even carried cheese stick snacks with her. She was a 3 year old's (and a mom's!) best friend! And she doesn't have kids. She was just that prepared. Also explains why she had the energy to play with Lea all day.

King of the parade, Art.

Mommy and Lea ready to start throwing beads to the awaiting crowd.

Daddy, doing his scary leprechaun impression.

On the parade route

Throwing beads from the float.

Lea on the parade route. We were stopped waiting for the authorities to check out a woman on the float 3 floats in front of us that fell off her float. I'm pretty sure she passed out drunk because I watched her fall like a bag of rocks to the ground. So we made sure the police knew it had happened and hung out in one spot for about 15 minutes. I heard the crowd cheer so I assume she got up on her own power, but by that time there was such a crowd I couldn't see anything from the truck.

After the parade we dropped off the float and truck and headed to Lisa (and Art)'s house where we met up with the Scotts and Becky. Lisa always throws an excellent party. Its a fine way to spend St. Pat's. We had burgers and hot dogs and the kids ate their weight in chips and cookies! And perhaps we drank a beer or two. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the bottle Kris was toting. With the kid strapped to her back she had both hand free for drinking, hee hee. Actually the day was so long we probably drank alot, it was just over such a long period that I never even felt tipsy. It was also cold so that seemed to hinder slamming a cold frosty one. I will take this opportunity to confess/admit/boast that I started the day with cranberry and bourbon. I had drank three or four minis of Makers Mark before the parade was over. And still... no silly rowdiness... that I remember...

Anyway... here are pictures of Art & Lisa's.

It was a pretty big crowd at Lisa's this year. Perhaps a combination of the float excitement, the additon of Art's friends and the fact that we were making up for missing it last year. 

Despite the crowd of 30-something drunks, the kids had a lot of fun. It was a little bit cold and damp. No rain, but it had poured the day or two before making everything soggy.
Lea amused herself much of the day by leaping from stone to stone throughout the yard. She had Raney and Mommy and Wilder following her on her meandering path through the yard at different points through the day.


The kids played on their own for a quite a while (oh and with Raney for about 2 hours) and then it was time for the parents (and Becky) to entertain them. Some how Kris and Becky found the energy to play 3 year old tackle.

Here Kris awaits a big tackle from one of the kids. Lea enjoyed the tackle game as much as Wilder. I love this photo. Kris always points out Creepy McSips-his-beer in the background. No, no not Chapman... the lurking one. tee hee.

Daddy kisses!

And finally, as a last ditch effort to amuse Lea I gave her my camera and told her to go take a picture of Lisa. This is what I got. Lisa's feet. Oh well.



I say "last ditch effort" as though I was trying to get Lea to stay. I was SO ready for the day to be over when we went home at 6pm. We had been up and about since 6:30 am and I was tired. I tried desperately not to be the first of our group to say "I gotta go home," and I succeeded, but I certainly didn't argue when talk of going home arose! It was a long tiring day, but lots of fun.

Lea on The Party Circuit

It has been a wonderful Spring for Lea, filled with parties and birthdays (not hers of course). Lea got invited to a party of one of the girls in the Friday playgroup. It was a lot of fun. It was kind of a big deal for me since this was her first party that was a friend she had made at playgroup, not someone she sees and likes just because Mommy and Daddy know their parents. Of course those friends are awesome too, especially when they throw a DANCE PARTY like Wilder and his Mama... but that's the second set of photos.

At Eliane's party there were 3 games of sorts. Game # 1, The Puppy Game.

Two kids "raced" to get their puppy fed, pooper scoopered (lincoln logs and a toy shovel... TOO CUTE!), bathe him, get love from his friend, walk him and put him to bed. It was so cute and fun. Here Mommy helps Lea with the puppy game.

Then they played Musical spot.It was like Musical Chairs, but one didn't get taken away. One little girl Ella was true to her spot and when someone else sat on it she became upset. It was cute. She finished the game by keeping her little bottom on the spot so no one else sat on it. Good thinking Ella.

Eliane, the birthday girl, lets out a scream as part of the musical spot game. When the music stopped and everyone was seated they got to make as much noise as possible. What is more fun for kids than to be encouraged to scream and make noise!

When the music started they got to pick a move. Running, stomping, marching, but Lea's favorite is always jumping!

Ariel, Eliane's mom also put together a magnificent Caterpillar for the kids to play with. They decorated paper circles and got to stick them on the caterpillar. Then they all put their heads through. It was very funny to watch. The kids were so cute.

And finally time for yummy little cupcakes. Ariel made them with beets which added a natural sweetness. They were very good.

We had a lot of fun at Eliane's birthday. Lea had a ball!
Eliane's Party Video


Then the next weekend it was time for Wilder Dance Party. Now I don't know who had more fun Kris or the kids, but I am pretty sure that Kris danced more.


Lea ready for the party. It was a bit chilly and Lea and I had so many errands to run that we didn't make it back to put on a party dress. But that's ok because she had her dancing shoes on! Well ok her "let's dance for one minute and then go play with Wilder's toys" shoes on. Still it was a lot of fun. Kris throws an awesome kiddo party. They were all having so much fun.

I think perhaps Kris had more fun dancing than the kids. She certainly inspired them to get moving. But at some point it turned into balloon war more than dance central. Nothing is more fun that flipping balloons at a grown up.

Hunter sat in front of his grooving Mama for several songs just soaking it up. I could not capture it on film, but this photo should be a blur of activity around a wide eyed Hunter in the middle of it all.

In full knight regalia ready to battle for Wilder's toys. She didn't have to battle, everyone shared nicely. Lea and another little boy did spend most of their time in Wilder's room, while the others danced and ran around.

This boy ate an entire bowl of candy before the parents caught on to him. He had a rainbow colored ring around his mouth. In fact after he pushed the last brightly colored ball into his mouth, he himself had a kind of rainbow aura. That's what being a kid is all about!


And some bonus pictures of a very happy niece with her Aunt Kaitlin. I believe there is the threat of a wet willy in this photo.

Aunt Kaitlin and Lea. Look at those gigantic smiles!

Once the kiddo parties were over, it was time for the old folks to have a birthday or two.
For Daddy's Birthday, he got a printer. (One of the many errands we had to run the day of Wilder's party the day before.) Was Dan surprised? Umm... No. Not after Lea came home and said "Daddy we got you a printer, won't you be surprised." Never tell a 3 year old your secrets! But he didn't know we got one with all the bells and whistles. It is a pretty darn cool all in one printer, even for Mommy. Plus it has caller ID in his office now. An unexpected bonus. Grandma Lynn made ribs and Grandpa came for dinner. We had a magnificent feast and a lovely time. I made Dan a Peanutbutter pie with peanut butter cookie and brownie crust and a peanut butter mousse on top. It was yummy, but no match for the cake Dan made for my birthday!

For Mommy's birthday Grandma took us to dinner at Red Lobster. Lea was all decked out and looked like a super star! She ate like one too. She had crab legs for dinner! She was pretty good at getting the meat out if I cracked them for her. At some point I realized I couldn't keep up with her, let alone eat my dinner. I'd cracked at least 4 legs for Lea and not had a bite of my own dinner. But we worked it out and ate like crazy.

Super star Lea.

That was just part of Mommy's birthday. Dan and I went out to dinner at a place with video games for a date night on Tuesday. Thursday was Red Lobster with Grandma. Friday lunch with the office. Plus on Friday Dan made the MOST awesome cake in the world. It was a rich dense flourless cake with chocolate mousse on top. Yes it was the year of the mousse in our house! Then on Saturday we were in the Greenville Ave. parade. But that's a whole other post!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

Lea went to her first Hockey game on March 8. We saw the Stars play Montreal. It was a perfect game for a 3 year old because it was at 5pm on Sunday. Just the right timie.

She wasn't crazy about all the noise, especially when I would burst out with something like "Shoot you idiot," or something equally sweet and nurturing. About 10 minutes in Lea said to me, "Mommy, I want to skip this hockey." But, with some candy and popcorn she made it though the whole game. She kept asking "Did we win?" Well... no we lost with some disappointing power play wastes and a goalie goof, but we had fun. Michael Hopens went too so that added to the fun. Here are some pictures from the game.

Lea's Interview about Mommy

this is a thing from facebook, but thought was fun to share. These were the instructions:
Ask your child(ren) to answer the questions and type their answers in.
(My comments are in parentheses.)

Lea is 3 and a half. I had Dan give this quiz to Lea to see what she'd say when I wasn't around. I intended to give her the same questions about Daddy, but didn't get a chance.


1. What is something mom always says to you?
Eat your dinner

2. What makes mom happy?
me helping put up decorations (we decorated Daddy's office for his birthday and she helped tape things)

3. What makes mom sad?
me not pooping in the potty (gosh maybe I've been to hard on her, but I think we're over that struggle so I'll lighten up!)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
she tickles me (Dan wrote, "this was followed by a giggle")

5. What was your mom like as a child?
me

6. How old is your mom?
I don't know

7. How tall is your mom?
bit, tall, really tall

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
work (hmm... just because its what I do most, not so much my favorite, although we have talked about that I like what I do.)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
she goes to work

10.If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Because she is going to a ball (we're big on the princess thing right now!)

11.What is your mom really good at?
surprising me

12.What is your mom not very good at?
Tickling me twice (we don't know what that means!)

13.What does your mom do for her job?
work, worky (I'm putting that on my resume)

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
so... no she gave up soda. Umm... PIZZA (I gave up soda for lent)

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
that she likes me, and I'm the best kid she ever had (And that's the truth!)

16.If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
a ghost (hmm?)

17.What do you and your mom do together?
play outside (hooray for not saying watch tv together!)

18.How are you and your mom the same?
we have hair, and we have ears and nose. But we don't have the same jammies. we have foots and legs.

19.How are you and your mom different?
we don't have the same Pooh Bear jammies

20.How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she is the best mommy in the world (aww!)

Multi-Cultural Day at the Neals'

So we finally met our neighbors of 3 or more years. Yes the ones with children the right age to play with Lea. What stood in our way? Well, a language barrier. 

The mom definitely does not speak English (or speak only about as much as I speak Spanish). And apparently the little girls don't speak a lot of English either. But that didn't stop Lea! She had been waving to the out her window (instead of napping) and finally there was a time when she was awake the the neighbor girls were outside so upon Lea's instance Dan let them play together. I came home for lunch to a strange play kitchen in our front yard and three little girls in our back yard!

Through mangled Spanish we learned that the younger girl's name is Grace (the one in the foreground) and the older girl is Leslie (in the background) who is age 5. They said they do not go to school when I asked in broken Spanish.

They all played very well together. They played kitchen, scooped rocks, blew bubbles, took turns on the trapese swing. They ran from front yard to back and from house to house. They even got into a bit of trouble as friends tend to do to one another. Lea wanted bubbles so Leslie opened the door to our shop out back, a real no-no considering all the dangers in there. We had a talk and we'll see how well Lea follow rules now that she's getting more and more rules to follow. But they had fun. Oh they played Hopscotch too...


Lea couldn't stop talking about them. No one was around after nap time and Lea was sad. As we went to the store in the evening Lea called next door "Where's Grace?" to the woman walking across the street. It could be Grace's mom... I'm not too sure. While Lea can play and play and play with no notice that they don't speak the same language Mommy doesn't have that same suspension of human interaction.

I did try to teach Lea some words I thought would be important like sí = yes por favor = please gracias = thank you dolor=pain... then I said well if you hurt yourself "Ow!" is international! She said "Let's just use sí for please." I said "You don't get to decide what words mean what, its already pretty set." 

College... No wait, this is just pre-school... application

Many have heard the story and seen the stress, though I'm trying to be very zen about the whole deal... We have applied to a Montessori program through DISD that would allow Lea to start Pre-K in the fall. Silly me thought I was a year early, but no, at just 3 I'm right on target according to this program. It seems to be the only pre-K available through the public school system, though we'll look at paper work for our regular schools if we don't get in.

So on Jan 12 or so we went and tour the two Vanguard Magnet program elementary schools in Dallas. Dealey (which we ended up applying to) and Harry Stone which Mia & Leo attend (past tense in Mia's case since she's older and has gone to another accelerated school in the DISD system). So we had heard good things about both and neither were conveniently located, but we had to make a decision so we went with the one in town as opposed to the one on the out skirts. It was very hard to make a decision and the possibility exists that we could still go to Stone as our second choice. We would be just as happy there.

The application process consisted of submitting a letter of intent and application between Feb. 2 - 27. But we were told that occasionally when there is a tie in who to admit it comes down to the first application in the door. Others had appearently heard this also because they started lining up at 5:30 pm the day before complete with sleeping bags. Dan was kind enough to deliver the application and was at the school at 5:30 am and was #95 in line. He was on the news... well his face, he wasn't interviewed.
Daddy on TV

I couldn't find this film on the Fox 4 website so I just recorded it. Poor quality, but you get the idea. And I point out Dan.
Dan on the news


Once the application was submitted we got an appointment for an interview... yes an interview for a 3 year old! They took 6 children at a time, away from their parents to see how they worked with others and to talk with them individually. We were told at the open house and from parents that the two important things they look for were separation without crying and writing their name. Thus the reason a)I didn't go to the interview (didn't want any Mommyitis) and b) Dan taught Lea to write her name.
Ready for school and an afternoon with Mommy. 

Daddy and Lea off to the interview. Leas said afterwards that she was asked to write her name, draw a circle and draw a person. She reported that she did all of those and that she had fun. So that was the important thing. I'm trying to make sure I convey that it will be good if she gets in, but if not, that wasn't the right school for us. I don't want her to feel pressure at 3 years old for crying out loud. Dan helps me keep it all in perspective.


After the interview I met them for lunch at Chic-fil-a and we played and had lunch. Then it was off to the the theatre with Pam and Molly (Anna was sick unfortunately) to see Click Clack Moo.
It was a stupendous show with fun songs and dialogue that kept all the audience from 3 to 37 entertained. The costumes were so adorable. My favorite was Duck. I obviously conveyed that to Lea because when we talked about it she'd say "Duck was the star."


After the performance the actors were out in costume signing programs and such. It was so cute the actually signed "Cow #1" and "Duck." Here is Lea getting Cow's autograph. They really did a great job with the kids!

After the play, since Anna was a sick bear Molly and Pam had to head home. But Lea and I went to a play ground and found a fun friend named Jude. They played for quite a while and we had a wonderful afternoon.

We look forward to more culture, whether we get into our selective school or not. We'll still have girls day out at the theatre and hit as many playgrounds as we have time for. Besides we learned Lea could write her name, so something good has come out of the experience already.

Christmas (December) Recap 2

And the rest of the Christmas holiday continued Christmas afternoon when Grandpa Neal, Teresa and Robert came mid-day on Christmas. More food, more presents, more great family.

We had a wonderful big dinner and lots of good chats.

Here a handsome photo of Grandpa and Lea.


Grandpa and Lea big smiles all around!

Dan and Grandpa. Handsome boys.

Teresa and Lea


Grandpa and Lea opening presents. Here Lea is getting a very useful blue windbreaker/fleece coat. Teresa got Lea Tinkerbell pjs and Santa brought bubblebath. Many thanks for all the great gifts all around.

Dan's can of Whoop Ass Chili from Arizona I believe. Grandpa Dan must have done some Christmas shopping with Aunt Kaitlin while he was in AZ with her. We all got treats from the Copper State. (We did make the chili and it was good.)

We got Lea Raindrop, Teresa's new Webkins Turtle from Dan and me. Lea named the turtle Raindrop and Teresa loved it. On Webkins your stuffed toy has a house with furniture and food, as well as lots of fun games that Teresa will have a lot of fun with. Lea already as a frog and a panda and loves being on Webkins.

It was a wonderful Christmas day. But there was some things we did to fill time between the big holiday events. There was a lot of good quiet down time at Grandma's. It was nice enough to be out on the porch some. Lea loved going out there to swing. Grampy and Lea on swing. They were having more fun that it appears. I actually love this picture, even though the two are not smiling.

It was nice weather, but very very windy. I had thought we'd sit outside around a nice roaring fire so we brough our fire pit. But with the wind that never happened. However, once I gave Dan the job of gathering fire wood... well we barely saw him for all the time he spent out back trimming a huge downed tree. Grampy helped some. Even Grandpa Dan got out  there and supervised for a while. A rather huge wood pile was the result. There is a lot of tree left to trim and Dan is being sensible and not getting near the big trunk that is leaning against the main tree, but there are plenty of smaller branches. Hopefully over time Dan can trim it down so that it will be less costly to have the big tree cleared. I came up with a log term plan to then turn the broken big left over trunk into a treehouse and play area for Lea... but that's A LONG way off. 
Here are the boys at work.

Dan & Grampy Cutting Wood. Dan used a saws all with a battery pack for a while, but near the end of the long weekend he found an electric one that had him working faster, but taking less breaks since the battery didn't die. 

The other great time waster for the long Christmas break was taking a walk out to the pond and visiting Mary the Donkey.

It started like usual with Lea and Tina feeding Mary by throwing apples and carrots over the fence.
But once I saw that Dan and Grampy were walking in the gate past Mary I decided it was time to take a stroll through Mary's field to visit the pond. I knew Dan had been back there to fish, though he said all he'd caught was tiny catfish. There was a nice mowed path so it was easy to walk. Even Grandma and her bum knee made it out there one day. Margarte came out regularly with Grampy, Lea and me. Lea enjoyed a game of throw sticks in the pond. This would have been a super game if it hadn't been for the fact that she made mommy find the sticks and threw them in faster than mommy could find them.

All this traipsing through the field I think had Mary a bit on edge. But thanks to Margarete the donkey whisperer we ended up with a very friendly Donkey. Mary has always been skittish. She'd check us out, but not get near us. Margarete however talked German to her and was patient and quite. She made a friend. The day we all sat out by the pond Mary was licking Margarete's hair and snuffling in her pocket. 

This paved the path for Teresa to make friends with Mary. At first Teresa was afraid of Mary, but when I explained that Mary was probably skittish because she'd been treated badly before Mom's neighbors bought her. When Teresa heard that she wanted nothing more to make friends. Teresa never got to the point where Mary was nuzzling her, but Mary did eat out of her hand and let her pet her. Mary followed Teresa around as we walked out tot he pond.

Teresa and Robert walking to see Mary the Donkey

And after almost a week of a wonderful Christmas it was time to come home. But not for long for Mommy. We came home Sunday night and Tuesday morning Mommy took off to Chicago for New Years with Sherry. It was a very fun, but very very very very cold time. I was there from Tuesday to Friday. Sherry had to work a party at the Drake hotel so we got to stay there... wow was it fancy! Doormen and everything.
I found a $2 Tueday bar the day I got there, then had a $18 martini at the hotel bar. I had dinner with Sherry's co-workers at Cheesecake Factory (after an hour 15 min wait!). Wednesday was New Year's Eve. Sherry had to work so I went shopping at H&M (I'd heard it was the IKEA for clothes, but not as exciting as I imagined.  I got a bracelet and earrings for that night.) Then we were supposed to all meet at Gino's East but Sherry got hung up working so I met Sherry's co-worker Amy and we had lunch together. While I was getting a table alone I saw Vince Vaughn coming out of Gino's. Authentic Deep Dish Pizza was good. We got enough so we had left overs at 4am on New Year's Eve. Then Sherry had to work the party in the hotel so I walked (a cold, dark lonely) walk to Navy Pier to wander around the tourist places and watch fireworks. I got a little grumpy because I was tired and cold, but some stranger said to me, "Hey, no ooh and ahhs out of you? Come on." It was said with a smile and it totally snapped me out of my grmup. I enjoyed the fireworks and then went to a franchised Billy Goat Tavern... the original "Cheezbooger Cheezbooger. No Coke. Pepsi." from SNL is in downtown Chicago, but they franchised to the touristy area. Then back to the Drake. Sherry was still working so I went to warm up, take a bath and lay down. I couldn't sleep so at 11:30 I went down to check on Sherry and mill about in the fancy lobby with the folks dropping $200 at 11:50 for a party that was over at 1am. We managed to find people to talk to until 4 am. Then we got up at 8am to get to Wrigley Field for the REAL purpose of the trip... The Winter Classic Hockey game at Wrigley Field between the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The Red Wings won, but it wasn't about win or lose for Sherry and I (it was counted as a regular season game for the Wings & Hawks, though). It was about the love of hockey and thousands of people standing out in 22 degree weather to watch some good old fashioned hockey. It was SOOO awesome. 



Then after the game we traveled by bus to Ann Sathers a Swedish diner. Then after a long cold wait for the bus back, we cabbed it back to Wrigley, shopped for shirts and headed back by train. We were SOOO tired, and had planned to go lay down for a bit and then go back out. I think Sherry and I both knew we weren't super likely to go back out, so I proposed stopping at a bar that we'd both took note of by the L stop. So we stopped in. They had High Life! It was great. We ended up talking to two Wings fans that had been at the game. Despite planning on making it an early night, we were still there until like 10. Perhaps an early night in most books, but considering how tired we were it was like 4 am again. But we had a great time. Long conversations about everything!


So back to the hotel, much needed sleep and then our last day. Friday we took the bus down Michigan Avenue to Millenium Park, oogled ourselves in the "bean" and had lunch by the skating rink. Then a nice run through the Art Institute Museum and ready for home. We picked up or bags and I headed to the airport while Sherry who had a few more hours in Chiccago than I did spent the evening with friends who live there. An unadventurous trip home and the perfect cure for mild homesickness. I missed my monkey and my monkey daddy! Back to production week short handed and crazy sick with some kind of bronchitis and before I knew it it was February!