Basement Renovation day 1 Eve

YAYAYAYAYA It's finally here. Basement renovation time. I don't think I can accurately convey my excitement for getting the basement playroom finished and the toys out of my living room, den, bedroom and whereever else. Here is what the basement looked like a few days ago before we cleaned it out:



Tomorrow you get to see what it looks like all cleaned up and cleared out (except for a couch that marc and I didn't feel like humping up the stairs and then back down in a few weeks).

Stay tuned for progress pix and probably some interesting stories....

Self Sufficiency

of the most basic kind (except he didn't mix it and deliver it):


What's next? A leaners permit????? Oy gavelt!

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas

from the Lif's!

How do I break it to my dear husband

that his first ever snow bonding session with Eva produced a sculpture that looked more like a snowpenis than a snowman????



He had so much fun making it that I don't even think I can.



And would it be wrong to knock it down early tomorrow morning before anyone drives by and actually sees it?

An Oxymoron

Vacationing with babies.

Tomorrow Marc and I will be getting up at 4:30 am to fly to Florida with both of the children to visit marc's parents. We'll spend 4 days tiptoeing around the hotel, apologizing to anyone and everyone for noisy disruptive kids, avoiding crowded restaurants like the plague, living out a of suitcase with only the bare necessities (due to the new jankerific luggage restrictions on all of the airlines) only to come home late Monday night and go to work on Tuesday. Sounds fun don't it????

Wordless Wednesday- The baby seal crawl

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

I have arrived people!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently if you google "Fun toddler photo shoots" my very own blog, ADayInTheLifeOfALif (The Toddler Photo Shoot Chronicles- The Christmas Installment), comes up in a not too shabby 7th place!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holla!!!!!!!!!!

I'd like to thank my mom, my hubby, my kids, Google and of course the Almighty for this wonderful honor!

Pondering Panties

This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.

Why is the word "panties" plural? I get that it's a spin off of pants and it's probably plural because pants is plural, so that begs the question why is the word pants plural? I understand why socks is plural and shoes as well but pants and panties and undies... I don't get it. I've also seen it called a "pair of pants" or a "pair of panties" or a "pair of undies". WHY????? When it's actually only one item of clothing. And since it's a *pair* of pant*s* shouldn't that mean there are actually 4 articles? Pant*s* should mean 2 at the very least and *pair* denotes a quantity of 2 as well. It stands to reason that a pair of pants should be at least 4 items, no? The only thing I can think of is it has something to do with the fact that their are 2 legs/holes in a typical pair of pants/panties. Uggggghhh. Can someone with a grasp of the English language or lots of useless knowledge please let me know why the makers of panties are cooking the books and overinflating their presence so? Please? Kthanxbai.

The Toddler Photo Shoot Chronicles - The Christmas Installment

If Santa were real and I were good enough to be deserving of a gift I would most assuredly ask him to turn my kids into well behaved, good picture taking, cheese saying, pose cooperating charming precious little muffins for like 10 stinking minutes. Be honest with me- is that too much to ask? Since you and I know Santa is a crock I'm stuck with non posing, hair messer-uppers, drooling like a wrinkle dog, non cheese uttering, non cute being, opposite of charming and most UNprecious little devils. So this is installment 3 of the Toddler Photo Shoot Chronicles- The Christmas Shoot. To refresh your memory Shoot 1 was baby announcement day and it yeilded that horrendous but terribly funny picture of ookie that made him look like he was pinching out one. Shoot 2 was Target day which yeilded... NOTHING... well nothing purchasable or usable thanks to the girl child. So as not to disappoint, Shoot 3 was so exactly predictable. There was drool, drama, crying, smacking, running and hiding, bribing, more crying and finally defeat. Be on the lookout for a Christmas card that will literally send shivers up Mammar's spine (sorry Mammar but that's what you get for being away again during another Toddler photo shoot).

Here are some of the more notable shots:

















I know people. There ain't a damn thing right with them. The "set" sucks, the lighting is horrific, the angles are horrendous and as if all of that wasn't bad enough the children were most uncooperative. I've been wanting to buy a fancy new camera but for a while but I know that won't make the children want to behave so I'm saving myself the loot. Their outfits are presh though, no?

Holy

muther effin crud it's December!

Sorry Beatrice

But you were good and you had to go. Today I'm thankful that Bush didn't pardon you.

Just in case

Anyone was questioning the integrity or veracity of my "roll call" blog:



Original post here http://adayinthelifeofalif.blogspot.com/2008/09/time-to-clean-out-evas-crib.html

Happy Half birthday

To my fluffy, stud muffin being, crawling, man boob having, drooling, sleeping through the night, cereal eating, haircut needing,whale like, manly mustache having, 6 month old chub of love OOKIE:



Dare I say, his awesomeness makes me want another.

Not a good day

to be an article of baby clothing in this house today. I had to throw out 2 boy onesies, a pair of boy sweatpants and a pair of girl leggings due to 3 seperate blow out the back and up the front shit incidents from 2 kids. You do the math. That's a lot of feces, diapers, cotton and suds making the rounds up in here.

The 2nd annual Casa de Lif Turkey Day

IS AT MY HOUSE AGAIN THIS YEAR!!!!!!!

Holy crap!!! Let me know if you're coming and I'll let you know what to bring ;-). Here's what's on the menu for now:
Turkey (Duh)
Potatoes
Green Bean casserole
Brussel Sprouts
Green Salad
Yams (which, for the record, I despise but am always guilted into having)
Canberry Sauce
Mashed Cauliflower
Corn Bread (take two)
Stuffing

Anyone have any "out of the box" ideas??? When I say out of the box I mean out of the Thanksgiving box not something I can make that comes out of a box...although that would be helpful...

Thursday 13- My favorite words

In no particular order:

1. Belabor
2. Behoove
3. Integrity
4. Fugazy (not a real word but it should be)
5. Gratuitous
6. Sha-lay(also not a real word but should be)
7. Eleventy (ummmm another made up word)
8. Slackjawed
9. Crikey (more slang- courtesy of the crocodile hunter)
10. Compensation
11. Thus
12. Sereptitious
13. Sanctimonious

After reading over this looks it appears I should write a letter to Mr. Webster....

Halloween '08

Wordless wednesday

Product Endorsememt

For the OCD mom!



Hours of mess free, worry free, fun creative playtime to be had by all...mom included ;-)

A Boy and his buddy part 2

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

Open mouth insert hand, foot, & mouth Disease

Is running rampant in the Lif household. Okay so Lukey's version is mild and it's technically called Coxsackie (streetname= Hand Foot & Mouth virus). He's got a grody rash on his feet and legs and in his mouth and he's a little less happy than normal. No biggie...we'll ride it out and should be good to go in a few days.

Eva's version is a little more severe and it's where the "insert foot in mouth" part comes in. Additionally, I think it's here to stay for a bit longer. Allow me to relay a conversation between Eva and one of her grandparents. The name of the other party has been changed to avoid any embarassment the relaying of this story might cause for the interested party. I overheard this as I was on my computer in my dining room while NANA and Eva were playing in the den.

Nana: Oh eva lets read a book
Eva: Okay "Nana"
Nana: How about this one (insert some random book)
Eva: No
Nana: Okay how about this one (insert another random book)
Eva: No
Nana: Okay well do you want to play with this puzzle?
Eva: No Nana
Nana: Okay well then lets play with this piano
Eva: Okay Nana

Right about now is when Nana bends over to pick up said piano and breaks a little wind... not uncommon for someone in Nana's age range.

Eva: Nana fotted!!!!
Nana(trying desperately to change the subject): Eva here is the piano we are gonna play with!
Eva: NANA FOTTED
NANA (still desperately trying to change the subject): Come here we'll read a book then.
Eva: NANA FOTTED!!!!!!!!!! NANA FOTTED!!!!!!!!!!NANA FOTTED!!!!!!!!!!

It's a wonder that NANA didn't hear me bust out laughing as loud as I did. Or maybe she did and she was just desperately trying to blow the whole thing off (literally).

A 20 lb soon to be 5 month old

I'm taking this show to oprah!!!!!! Is this kid a ham or what???

Mammar dont be mad

But I'm taking the kiddies for "professional" pix today at Target. I hope this doesn't get you like a kick to the gut. You're off galavanting and the kids are getting cuter by the second and you're missing it and my photography skills...well...they suck. So I figure I'll give Target a shot. Wish us all luck. I can't get over this impending sense of doom and the fact that Eva is fighting her what would have been a most perfectly timed nap right now is making me worry. Her mood at this point is out of my control. Their outfits, on the other hand, I have total control over. So you can expect them to be dressed similarly and very adorabley. Stay tuned for a interesting update and hopefully at least one cute pic. Remember what happened last time I tried to have a photo shoot with these kids????? Here's a shot of the boy child just to refresh your memory...

A boy and his buddy

Unbeknownst to me I've created a monster and am setting my child up for a lifetime of rotted out digits and dental work and ridicule from his friends because somehow I created him with an innate urge to suck and of course I put the thing on the end of his arm that fits perfectly in his mounth. Apparently I'm supposed to take away the one thing in this world (besides me) that comforts my boy and makes him happy. WTF? Listen, I tried. I tried making him like the plug or giving him a woobie. And I've repeatedly asked him instead to form an attachement to a stuffed teddy bear but the kid ain't having it. So I'm putting this here so we can move past it. Lukey loves his thumb and momma doesn't have the heart to take it away from him. I've decided to deal with the other catastrophic things I'm setting him up for if and when they happen. For now the boy can have his thumb.... and suck it too.

Friday haiku Ookie

I am a model
you know what i mean yeah i
do my littl turn

on the catwalk yeah on the
catwalk cuz im to
sexy for my shirt

I know.. not very original... but the pic is worth posting no?

Thursday 13- Indispensible things

1. Baby Alice (for snuggle time)
2. Raisins (for bribery)
3. Baby Einstein videos (for sanity)
4. Aunt Kerrie (for days when work needs to get done)
5. Maricela (for when the house is destroyed)
6. Branchinelli's (for Italian in a pinch)
7. The Internets (for vegging)
8. Text messaging (for when I don't feel like calling people back)
9. GPS (for finding stuff)
10. Skinny Cow (no explanation needed)
11. Naps (for all involved)
12. Coffee (b/c without it I couldn't live)
13. Facebook (to keep in touch)

Time to give back people

I am just about to finish my ...how do i put this delicately... in the john reading and I need some suggestions. Let me hear them. I'm partial to mystery fiction with a twist or non fiction memoirs that tug at the heart.

I'm in a serious

fatal almost blog rut.

A plug

If you haven't been you're missing out so you really need to check out

http://imgbainsf.blogspot.com/

If you have been you know what fab reading it is!

Friday Haiku

Indian Summer
All of my fingers are crossed
can we please have one?

Thursday 13 Things I miss since going back to work

1. The gym
2. TV
3. My blog
4. Jeans for dress up
5. Flip Flops
6. Playdates
7. Naps
8. Knitting
9. The mall
10. My forums
11. Not having to ever answer my phone
12. Email was fun
13. Not having to spell my name

Wordless wednesday

Another successfull

Girls night out!! This times sans the "She hater keep a good woman down weather god". In his place the "I'm gonna see how long I can make these hungry hormonal women wait for a table before they completely snap and lose their minds try to ruin our dinner" god. We showed him. We stocked up at the bar with pomegranite martinis (with 2 of the former preggies now not preggy) , cosmos, and beers (yes women do drink beer) and waited not so patiently for our table. It only took 85 short minutes to be seated but. Whatev... we had a fab time!!! The food was great again and the company was greater... again. I can't wait for next time. THAI!!!!!!!!

I did it! I cut it!!

Lukey's hair that is. And before you get all hyper about it I just trimmed the top. It seriously needed to be done. Old boy had an effin behive. Here's the before:

Shouldn't a man with boobs have at the very least a fly haircut???


Mission Accomplished:




Go ahead and flame me........

Seperated at birth

Taking a cue from Perez:

Lukey Lif and the late, great Velvet Fog (AKA Mel Torme)= seperated at birth.

PSA for fellow bloggers (Word Verification)

This shite annoys the crap outta me (and I'm not alone). Remove it!!

Kthankxbai!!!

Pardon me while I channel my inner Paris Hilton

Has all of this "going green" hype gotten way to far into my skull?

Picture it: I'm at the gym riding my little butt off on the bike looking around at all of the other mice riding their butts off on the bikes, and the gazelles on the dreadmills, and the crazies on the stair steppers, and those on the rowers and the beefcakes pumping iron and a thought occurs to me. One that I've had before but have never expressed to anyone for fear they will think I'm a complete dunce.

We are peddling away, burning calores, working up a sweat, expending energy and where is that energy going???? Off into lala land. Why can't we harness it? Hook a box up to each of the machines (NEXT TO NOT IN PLACE OF the personal tv) that stores all of my energy and give me a break on my LIPA bill the faster I go. Why the heck can't that work??? Come on people let's think outside of the box here. At the very least make my own ass responsible for powering my own personal treadmill tv.

I'm just the idea person and no whiz at the science stuff so it's up to someone else now to come up with the mechanics but by george I think this could work!!!

A sweet muffin puppy or a scary evil dictator?????

Lukey's first face painting experience:

We got about 4 whiskers and half a sweet little moist nose in before lukey had a complete spaz attack. Is it me or does he not slighly resemble that terrible man, Adolf Hitler?

No pix of Eva getting her face painted because she would have none of it! NONE. She wouldn't even let me have my own face painted.

Deep thoughts

If no one I know sees me at the gym does it still count as going?

Time to clean out Eva's crib?

Anyone who's ever retrieved Eva from her crib after a nap knows she likes to sleep with a few friends. Well I just put her down for a nap and as per usual she's doing roll call before she drifts off. Here's what I'm listening to on the monitor:

Eva: Baby Alice!
imaginary baby alice voice: here!
Eva: Elmo!
imaginary elmo voice: here!
Eva: Kelsey! (her other baby)
imaginary Kelsey voice: here!
Eva: Elmo too (another elmo different from the first one mentioned)
imaginary Elmo too voice: here!
Eva: girasse!
imaginary girrafe voice: here!
Eva: Tebby bear!
Imaginary teddy bear voice: here!
Eva: Kissord!
Imaginary clifford the big red bear voice: here
Eva: Elmo too! (different from one and 2 elmos mentioned)
imaginary 3rd elmo voice: here!
Eva: Baby brett
imaginary baby brett voice: here
Eva: Big Pooh!
imaginary big pooh voice: here
Eva: baby pooh!
imaginary baby pooh voice: here

Is is time to purge the crib of some of eva's stuffies? Yay or Nay. It's NOT a king size crib.

Whiskers

Apparently the girl child needs a set. If she had them she would have known in time that her big ole booty (courtesy of me) was just NOT.GONNA.FIT. in this tiny crevice.

(my foot is there for scale)

(and I realize my baseboards need a good cleaning)

Friday Haiku

Rain rain go away
Come again another day
Eva wants to play

4 months old today

Lukey Doo that is. Holla!!!!!!!!!

What's worse?

Getting up at 5:30 am to take a spin class on a friday morning that is hard as hell???

Or getting there and realizing that the class isn't until 8:30 am?

Mom Hair

I did it. I cut it. I couldn't stand my mop of hair anymore especially since I've officially reached the "post pregnancy hair is falling out in clumps" stage so I caved in to the post pregnancy urge to chop it. Last time I got my hair cut I asked the girl to cut it short and she WOULD NOT do it. She talked me right out of my idea. I should have known that she was gonna give me an problem when I walked in and her hands were at her waist combing her own hair. Anyway, I relayed the story to the girl who did my hair today and she was all "She's not supposed to do that!!!!". LOL I love pitting hairdressers against eachother. By the time I was done telling her the story she wanted nothing more than to give me the "Susan Powter". Okay before you get any crazy ideas there were no buzzers involved. Since I started with hair a few inches below my bra strap 7 inches only brought me up to my collar bone. I may just go back in a week to take another 2 inches off. Without further ado here I be....

DOH

Ever have one of those moments that comes back a while later and slaps you in the face like a big old Homer Simpson "DOH"? I had one yesterday. Picture it *in my best Sophia Petrillo voice* ... It's 1 pm and I'm at the office on my first day on "The Job". Moving, shaking, grooving, getting shiz done, feeling good. My new boss, who I've known for 10 years, who I consider a friend says "You know what Christine??? It's your first day. Why don't you take this account deck report I printed out and get out of here early. Look over it on the train while you're on your way home and we'll discuss it tomorrow". "Cool, takecarebye" I say as a chesire grin spreads across my face. Minutes later as I'm skipping out of the office on my way to the elevator my new boss walks by on his way to The Lou and says "have a good night" and smiles. DOH!!!!!!!!!! Was this simply a good gesture on my bosses part to let me out early, is he buttering me up for something tomorrow, or was this some "New Salesperson Motivation Quotent test" or something and if so.... BUMMER b/c I failed... bigtime.

Ruh Roh Shaggy!

Cheers and Jeers

So today was the day. The day when my 2 year vacation came to a screeching halt. The day that some would say I went "back to work" (as if I've ever stopped)full time for what I've affectionately dubbed and what will heretoforthwence (or something like that) be called "The Job". The day when some would even say I went from being a stay at home mom to a part time mom. As with anything in life this day had its ups and down. What do you want first? The good news or the bad news?

Okay I'll start with the bad, AKA the jeers. I didn't win the lottery and my boss didn't tell me he's gonna pay me and I don't ever have to come in or do anything and I wasn't promoted (yet). I got a blister from my new fab heels. Oh and I missed my kids.

Now for the Cheers. My kids had a groovy time hanging with their cousins and their Aunt and from what I gathered they DID NOT miss me. Although this is a jeer for me I'm listing it as a cheer because afterall it's the kids that really matter right? Work was laid back and fun and exciting, as to be expected on the first day. I hung with a lot of old friends, got acquainted with my new title, had my first conference call, and performed whatever logistical duties I could take care of so that tomorrow I can do some actual work. Lastly, I don't have to deal with a money stressed out hubby tonight because now we have a little more of the proverbial bacon to bring home and throw around (anyone who's seen what happened to the stock market today knows why I have a money stressed hubby).

All things considered I'd say my first day on "The Job" was a success and now I'm home at my other job. Here's where the juggling act gets tricky from what I hear.........

Apple pickin'

One of the many glorious things I love about fall!!!