TTY: Day Ten

This is the aftermath of dinner with two dear friends that we don't see nearly enough.

TTY: Day Nine

Today, Beans got to play with glitter paint at a play date. She also got her hair painted with a combination of paint and gardening soil by another adorable two year old. She was a shiny, purple, dirty mess. And loved it all.

TTY: Day Eight

Beans enjoy her first hamburger. She called it a Krabby Patty.

TTY: Day Seven

My husband. Dying my hair blue and green.

TTY: Day Six

This is my father-in-law and Beans at my birthday dinner sharing noodles. He has two sons, two grandsons, and one granddaughter. Beans is his first and only little girl. Special.

TTY: Day Five

Today my little Bean learned the joy of blowing bubbles in milk.

TTY: Day Four

Jas drew this on my hand last night with a paint pen. It has yet to wash off. It's reminded me of his love and made me smile all day.

TTY: Day Three

My beautiful Bean and my handsome husband making salsa.

TTY: Day Two

Here is my little Bean wearing my heels and playing with her fairy tree house. She for some loves these shoes. If she gets into my closet she's either putting them on herself or me.

The Twenty-sixth Year: Day One

Today I've decided to start my 365 Project: The Twenty-sixth Year. From what I've seen most people start these on the first day of the new year and seeing that that happened two months ago, I missed that boat. So I'm starting mine of the first day of my new year, my 26th year.

Today is the first day of the 26th year. I woke up to this note from my husband. It was a great way to start my birthday.

Two Years

Last month my little girl turned two. Somedays I still feel like a new parent without a clue as to what I'm doing. Other days I feel like a seasoned pro that could write a book on it.

Bean's feet at 2 weeks.

Bean's feet at one year and two weeks.

Bean's feet at two years and two weeks.

Playdough!

If you've never made your own playdough, I highly recommend it.

Here's a simple recipe:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt
1 cup water
2 tablespoons oil

Mix flour, salt and oil, and slowly add the water. Cook over medium heat, stirring until dough becomes stiff. Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. Knead the playdough with your hands until of proper consistency. Use as is, or divide into balls and kneed in a few drops of the food colouring of your choice.

Have some cheap homemade childish fun!

Give a Two Year Old a Water Gun

Funny thing happened last night, thought I'd share...

I gave Beans a "loaded" water gun and showed her how to use it in the kitchen. I then sent her to the living room to "show daddy". About 5 minutes pass and I don't her much. I go to investigate and what do I find?

Jas has taught Beans to shoot it into her mouth and drink the water! And she looks at me after a couple squirts and joyfully exclaims "delicious!"

The icing on the cake... Jas then proclaims "that and a handful of dog food and she's good to go!"

Guess Who is Two!

That's right. Little Bean just had her 2nd birthday. I've been enjoying two years of the unexpected and beautiful.

She had a great birthday. We had a family corn dog party and I attempted an ice cream cake (a delicious mess). She got a Little People Fairy Tree House, a Safari Set (which she's discovering in the photo), and some cute new clothes. We kept it small - we just had Christmas for crying out loud!

She has also been to her two year check-up. She's still topping the chart in height and weight. She's proportionate, so it isn't anything to be concerned about. She's just big (35.5 inches tall and 30.5 pounds). It was also confirmed she detests the doctor. And the doctor reassured me that her behaviour is perfectly normal for a 2 year old at the doctor.

She's becoming a little person. She is willful (which is just me being a mother and not wanting to day stubborn - she'd put a mule to shame). We're having temper tantrums, but I maintain that I will not negotiate with terrorists. But the majority of the time, she's a happy little munchkin, eating snacks, drinking juice, playing with animals, and giggling like a fool!

It's been another great year and we're looking forward to the next!

A3 [Alpha Cubed]

I have to do some bragging here for a minute. I have a friend that is starting a photography business and she's good! She did some portraits of Beans and a photo for our Christmas cards and I'm in love! She doesn't have her website going quite yet, but she has a blog and you should check it out! And there are photos of Beany Baby!

Posted with permission from A3|Photography

So if you or some one you know is looking for a non-pretentious, competitively priced, and all around awesome photographer, check out A3!

Don't Call Me Punk!

Not sure why this has been bothering me but for some reason it's making my skin crawl.

I was watching a video of the Daily Show when they interviewed Michael Graves. It was an embed on a some site and the comments were nuts. They sent me over the edge. Mr. Graves is a know conservative punk. Several of the people on the aforementioned site were saying that a "conservative punk" is BS like a "liberal redneck."

What?! Really? Wow.

Having lived in the southern US much of my life, this is nuts. I've met many redneck liberals and conservative punks. I have a liberal redneck sister, a conservative punk husband, and I've even got a hippy libertarian father! (Although I have to say I don't think my sister is a redneck, some people might. She's definitely got "southern belle" tendency at least. But for my argument, it works.)

To call some one with their own independent beliefs BS is the antithesis of punk. Now please understand, this is just my opinion. I feel you and everyone is entitled to their own opinions and the expression of them whether I agree with it or not. And that is in my opinion "punk."

I've been "punk" before I knew what it was. How? By doing what I want, believing what I find to be truth, taking responsibility for it, and feeling that others should be free to do the same.

I'm so tired of "punk" being a music genre, a fashion, a trend, a fad. I've found articles on "how to be punk" and many of them start with "fashion." Really? Clothes make your personality? Wait, what? I might need a new wardrobe.

"Punk" is a way of life. And not necessarily one lead in opposition to social mores, with rampant drug use, and a mohawk. It's doing what make you happy, not apologizing for it, and taking responsibility for it. It's about being independent in thought and lifestyle.

If for you, listening to loud trendy music, wearing skinny jeans, and having emo/scene hair is what makes you happy, that's "punk." If for someone else it's living in a trailer with 7 kids, watching NASCAR makes them happy, that's "punk" too. And if it's being a stay at home mom for me, that's "punk" too. As long as you accept what makes other happy too.

It's not about what you do or how you look or what you believe. It's about doing and believing what makes you happy regardless of what other think. It's not about hurting people, it's about accepting people. Conservative, liberal, Republican, Democrat, rich, poor, male, female,... what ever!

So yes, you can have be "conservative punk" or a "liberal redneck." And if you don't believe that, then you don't know punk. And if that's "punk", then don't call me punk!

Beautiful Beans

Bear with me for a moment as I have one of those gushing moments where I show you a picture of my child and tell you just how smart, fun, and amazing she is. I have a friend who is starting up a photo business (Alpha Cubed Photography) and while she starting up she's offering an amazing deal: a photo shoot at location of your choice, including a CD of your photos (edited) and the rights to print them however you choose for a whopping $50! How could I refuse helping a friend start a business and get photos like this?

I now have professional quality photos of my favourite little girl to show off as I please! And if you were wondering she's been doing great. Talking and singing up a storm, becoming a picky little eater (loves cheese, noodles, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, strawberries, and pickles... and that's about it), enjoying "living" in her second hand Little Tikes Cozy Coupe, and  fighting sleep like a heavy weight champ. She's going to be two in just about two months and is becoming more like a little girl instead of a little baby every day. It's like having pure joy run around my living room, asking for "beeries", "chese", and "nulk" and to be picked up.

Hippo Week... It's Back!

It's Tuesday! Day two of hippo week! Yeah, sorry I fell off there. But the next four days, I will bring the hippos!

Look at the hippo baby! Be in awe of it's little hippo cuteness. Baby hippos are born underwater. They have to swim to the surface to take their first breath. Hippos also nurse underwater and will ride on their mommies backs! Hooray hippo babies!

Soup!

You probably don't know this about me, but I really like soup. I'll go to a restaurant and order soup as an entree. I'll eat hot soup in July. I really like soup. Which leads me to tell you one of the many reasons I love autumn: soup.

It's finally that time of year here when it's cold enough to enjoy soup and people don't think I'm "weird". So what's for dinner? Potato soup! What did we have last night? Stir fry with egg drop soup! I might just have chili tomorrow. Or maybe tortellini soup! Or even black bean!

Soup weather, I love you.

It's "Unofficial" Hippopotamus Week!

That's right. I'm declaring the first week of October "Hippopotamus Week"! You want to know why? Well, there's this hoax going around about a Thai circus performer (a little person) that bounced off a trampoline into a yawning hippo's mouth. The dwarf triggered the hippo's gag reflex causing the hippo to swallow. Thus, the hippo ate the performer.

Both Museum of Hoaxes and Snopes report this to be false. For some reason it keeps cycling around as fact. From what I've learned about hippos is they're mostly herbivores. They do on occasion eat carrion if it's close to the river bank, but people? If you get killed by a hippo, you'll be trampled. It happens. More often than shark attacks. At least that's what I've read. But I'm not an expert, I'm just a blogger.

Here's to the hippo! Hope you enjoy Hippopotamus Week here on When Life Gives You Potatoes!