Friday, April 30, 2010

Miscellaneous ramblings


I woke up with a headache this morning. That just seems so unfair, to wake up with a headache. Kind of makes me wonder what I was doing in my sleep.


I'm on the e-mail list for Victoria's Secret, and the subject line of the latest e-mail I got from them said, "Hello, Bombshell." They sure know how to flatter a girl.


Kristin Chenoweth was on "Glee" this week, and she was, once again, fantastic. Her character is hilarious. And she sang at least twice--maybe 3 times? Anyway, it was another stellar episode. I love that show.


Had the following conversation with Ari a few days ago...

Me: (noticing what's in Ari's hands) Ari, where did you find those barrettes?
Ari: I got them from your stupid car.
Me: What did you say?
Ari: I got them from your car.
Me: Ari, we don't say "stupid."

I was so amused at the way she "censored" herself when I asked her to repeat what she said. Devious little thing.


I was reading Ari the story of "Peter and the Wolf" a few nights ago... the Disney version. I had completely forgotten, until we got into it, that there were animal characters named Sasha and Ivan (the names of our dogs). Ari was so excited to see names that she recognized... but seemed a bit confused too, since Sasha was a bird and Ivan was a cat.


Monday morning, I dropped Ari off at preschool. Tony picked her up, then took her to my parents' house, where she spent the night. So I wasn't going to see her again until Tuesday after work. Tuesday afternoon, Tony called, and said Ari wanted to talk to me. We chatted for a little while, and then she asked, "Mommy, are you at work?" When I said yes, she asked, "When are you coming home?" I told her around suppertime, and all of a sudden, her voice got so sad as she said, "But, Mommy, I waaaaaaant you." I told her I missed her too, but I would see her soon. She repeated, even more pitifully, "Mommy, I waaaaant you." Gah, break my heart, why don't you, kid?


Since we were child-free on Monday night, we had a random date night, and we went to see the movie "Date Night" (how fitting, right?). It was so funny, just as I thought it would be. I mean, Steve Carell AND Tina Fey together? How could it NOT be funny?


I have to show you Ari's latest skill... she can write her name. The 3 letters across the bottom (I-A-R) were her first attempt--she knows it's A-R-I, but for whatever reason, she put the letters all over the page. I praised her for writing the letters so well, then told her the right order. So she wrote them again, in the right order, at the top left. Then she declared, "I want to keep practicing" and wrote her name once more.



Then she wanted to write my name. I asked if she meant Mommy or Sara, and she said Sara. So that long wavy line at the bottom is the S. And then you can see the A-R-A. And then she added that tiny vertical line at the bottom right and told me it was an I.



I'm glad I took pictures of these, because a few minutes after I did, she scribbled all over them and covered up all the letters. Silly kid.


And that's all I've got for today. It's going to be a gorgeous weekend here--sunny and in the 80s. Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Miscellaneous pics, BlackBerry style

I realized the other day that I have a lot of random pics in my BlackBerry that I never got around to sharing here. So I figured I should download them to my computer and/or online web albums, and then post a few here. They're of Ari (of course, right?), and the dates are just for my own reference.

11-8-09... Helping Grampa in the kitchen. I'm not sure how much she was actually helping, but I still thought it was a sweet moment. She loves her Grampa.



11-12-09... She joined me in the bathroom one morning while I was getting ready for work, and decided to make herself comfy. I like her "What? Is there something weird about this?" face...



12-5-09... In the bathtub (obviously), shooting me a cheese-tastic grin.



12-28-09... I really thought I had posted this one. She wanted to try this hat on in Wal-Mart, and I died laughing. Tell me she doesn't look JUST like Baby Happy from "Rudolph's Shiny New Year."



2-3-10... Keeping herself entertained at the barber shop while Tony got his hair cut. The slightly-crazed look in her eyes amuses me.



2-19-10... Ari fell asleep in the car one evening on the way home from somewhere. We tried to wake her up, but she was dead to the world. So Tony pulled her into his lap in the driver's seat, where she nestled up against his chest and fell right back to sleep. It was too sweet not to take a picture of.



4-7-10... We bought her a headband (the kind that wraps all the way around the head), hoping she would take to it and that we could use it to help her keep her hair out of her face. She insisted on putting it on by herself in the car, and this was the result. And the face? That's her telling me not to take her picture. I think she was a little miffed that I was laughing at her.



4-23-10...When Ari was sick last Friday, Tony put her hair up in a ponytail, for purely practical reasons (to keep her from puking in her hair a second time). I rarely put her hair in a ponytail because it has this really stubborn natural side part and it doesn't comb straight back very well. I don't know what his trick was, but he got it to work, and there's just something about this profile shot of her that I love.



And I just have to throw in this last one...

3-13-07... One of my all-time favorite pictures of Ari. I took this with my old cell phone, and was impressed that it came out so clear. She's a little over 8 months old in this shot...

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Conversations with Ari


On the way home from my parents' house the other night...

Ari: Why isn't Gramma coming with us?
Tony: Because she's going to stay home with Grampa.
Ari: Why?
Tony: Well, because she's married to him, and they live together, and they like to spend time together.
Ari: Oh. *pause* Are you and Mommy married?
Tony: Yes, we are.
Ari: Are Brandon and Kerry married?
Tony: Yup.
Ari: Are Ty-Ty and Molly married?
Tony: No, Ty-Ty and Molly are brother and sister.
Ari: Oh. *pause* I think I need a brother or sister so I can have someone to stay home with me and play with me all the time.
Tony: Well, what about Mommy and Daddy? You have us to play with.
Ari: No, I think I need a brother or sister.
Tony: What about Sasha and Ivan?
Ari: No, I need a little sister to play with.


Before bedtime a couple nights ago...

Ari: Mommy, do you have a baby in your belly?
Me: Nope.
Ari: Remember when I was a baby in your belly? That was a long time ago.
Me: *smile* I remember.
Ari: Do I have a baby in my belly?
Me: No, you don't. And you won't, till you're a grown-up.
Ari: How do I do that?
Me: Ha, there is no way I am having THAT conversation with you right now.


Important note: We are in the CAR.

Ari: Mommy, let's play a game!
Me: OK, what do you want to play?
Ari: Hide and go seek!
Me: Uh... Ari? I don't think we can play that in the car.
Ari: Yes we can! You count, and I'll hide.
Me: Um... OK.
Ari: Count, Mommy!
Me: 1... 2... 3... 4... 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ready or not here I come. (turns around) Uh, I found you.
Ari: *laughs* OK, now I'll count, and YOU hide!
Me: Ari, seriously, this is not going to work.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter Sunday

If you missed them, there are more Easter pics in the previous entry.

So, Easter Sunday... I wanted to take a few pictures of her before we left for church, in case I didn't have time later or in case she ruined her dress somehow at church. So that's where those last couple photos in the previous entry are from. I also made a lame attempt at a father-daughter shot. The sun was really bright, and we didn't have a lot of time. But see those flowers on the right? We bought those from our local fire station on Friday. I guess they have a flower sale every year, as a fundraiser, and Ari has been obsessed with the fire station lately, so we took a walk up there, figuring we'd support the firefighters and let Ari get a close-up look at the trucks. Even better, she got to go inside 2 of them. She was in heaven.



After the church service, they had an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. See her excitement? I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of Ari's day. Her Sunday school teacher told me that was all she talked about during the entire class.



Showing me one of her first finds...



Action shot!



After she was done hunting eggs (i.e., when there were no more to be found), she started hunting dandelions.



But then soon, she decided she needed to check and make sure all the eggs were really gone. Also... why does this picture make me think she's just about to tumble down a rabbit hole or something? Maybe it's the blonde hair and the blue dress and the fact that I saw "Alice in Wonderland" not too long ago...



I like the expression on her face here...



After church we went to my parents' house for dinner. We made a couple attempts at a family photo. Sometimes I wonder why I bother...





Then my mom set up a little indoor Easter Egg Hunt for Ari, which she loved. (This is another one of my favorite pics from the weekend.)



Showing me her eggs...



She also opened the Easter package she got from Tony's mom. Here she's struggling with the envelope on the card...



Tony helped her open it, and she was thrilled to discover $2 inside. (She's already to the point where, every time she gets a card, she wonders out loud it if has "dollars" in it.)



This picture cracks me up... Tony was trying to read the card to her, but she's peeking into the bag to see what's next.



She also got a cute outfit. I asked her to hold the shirt up for me, and she purposely held it over her legs.



Then she wanted to crack open every single plastic egg to see what was inside...



My brother Dave, Jess, and Micah came over later in the afternoon. Ari played shy with Micah for a few minutes (that's her new "thing"--playing shy with people she knows), but then warmed right up to him. We tried to get a picture of the two of them, and I'm sure you can imagine how well that went. This was probably the best of the 4 or 5 shots I took.



And... that's it. Hope you all had a Merry Easter!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter eggs, colored and tattooed

I took way too many pictures this weekend. So this will be the first of 2 Easter-related entries.

Matt and Kristin and their brood came over on Saturday evening, and Ari and Nick colored Easter eggs (with help from me and Kristin, of course).

Here we are, just getting started...



Ari wanted to check her eggs every 2 seconds or so...



I think she was telling me that this one wasn't done yet... (Do you dig her tattoos? Can you see mine?)



This was her last egg, which she insisted on dunking into several different dyes.



Trying to get Ari and Nick to pose for a picture. Asking them to say "cheese" produces these crazy/fake smiles...



After the eggs dried, it was time to apply the tattoos. There was a whole sheet of tattoos, and you simply rubbed them on to the egg with a little stick. They actually looked really good once they were on.



Showing off a few of our eggs...



Still hard at work... (I love the way she has her face pressed up against mine...)



Ari was great at helping peel away the plastic layer over the tattoos...



Ari and Nick, with their finished eggs on display...



And a final group shot...



Next entry will be pics from Easter Sunday. But here's a sneak peek...



And this picture is one of my favorite from the weekend. I had taken several shots by this point, and she was already getting sick of pictures...



OK, now I'm really done this time.