Miscellaneous

I miss "Famous Lily Quotes" I don't know if she's just growing out of this phase or I'm not listening as closely...but I just haven't come up with much from her lately...weird wise...well that isn't true, she's totally weird sometimes...anyway...

What the heck have we been up to lately???

I'd say nearly all of my free time latey has gone to either A) Looking for an apartment to rent online or B)driving all around town looking for an apartment to rent. This epic search for the perfect place to live is dragging on way longer than I ever imagined- though I am not giving up hope...yet. I tried lowering my standards...but then I was disgusted and almost threw up. Really.

Lily has been doing pretty well....adjusting slowly, but still adjusting to a more (for lack of a better word) "rigid" approach to discipline. I've been trying to give her lots of praise for her efforts in shaping up her bad attitude- and we definitely have struggles...but I think we are starting to find the balance.

I'm sure Martin will be embarassed.... me talking about him on here...but I just have to *gush* just a little on the way the two of them have been getting along.

When it was just the two of us (me and Lily) I took a very lax approach to parenting mostly because it was just the two of us and I didn't feel like fighting and also mommy guilt for you know....uh everything us single moms feel bad about. Anyway with Martin around it has been...like I said...an adjustment for her- for all of us. She can't get her way all the time anymore and she has to share me...but...

Martin is amazing...awesome...extraordinary... he doesn't take attitude from her and puts her in her place- regularly- and we team up on that for sure...and in the beginning I thought she would end up hating him for it. Now I am sure it is just the opposite... she adores him... wrote his name out in letters on the fridge, wanted to show him what she can do bouncing on the bed and her painted fingernails... cried when she was afraid he didn't like her anymore.

The other day I was folding laundry in the bedroom...eavesdropping I guess...a little on them in the living room. Martin was watching a discovery channel show called River Monsters. He called  her over to show her some giant nasty creature of the Amazon River- for no other reason than just to show her- to amaze and probably disgust her.

My heart filled to brimming...I realized that as much as single moms do for their kids (and I am in no way down-playing that) nothing can replace the positive MALE influence that men have on their kids. It is something special...something I want Lily to have more of.

Those of you who know me, know the struggles I have been through with Lily's Dad- who at the moment (thank goodness) is completly MIA. He was never a good influence- never what a daughter truly needs in a Dad.

I am so thankful that Martin is here with us...filling in an empty space that I didn't even know existed. And for everything else he does too...

After dinner last night I told Lily no more TV (OMG!) and she sulked for a minute until I reminded her that we were going to paint her finger and toe nails as soon as I was done unloading the dishwasher. She decided to wait right there (next to me) until I was done. So cute. But seriously, how old does she look in this picture???

Oh wait...she did say something funny last night as I was blow drying her painted nails:

Lily: Don't give me goosebumps Mommy. Goosebumps make me jay-red.
Mommy: What does jay-red mean?
Lily: It means tired.

So now we're just making up words. Nice.

Of course it rained at the fair....

We did the Puyallup Spring Fair this weekend...we got soaked but made the best of it I think- with relatively few complaints- until the very end when we were all a little tired. I'll post the link to the web album but I just had to put this "series" of photos up. Poor Lily. But it was just too much fun and hard to resist...

Here we are on the "Bear Ride". I should have taken a picture of the outside- they were very cute and seemed fairly non threatening to the girls. We decided this would be the ride we went on all together- to use up the last of our tickets. I wanted the Ferris Wheel- but Lily was terrified of how high it went. So we get in and they are excited- neither of them realize that this bear is nothing more than a glorified "tea-cup"- Martin is excited because with how strong he is- he knows he can really make it spin- really.

The ride is about to start...I think they were reconsidering...too late!

OMG OMG OMG get me outta here!

I'm the worst. She'll probably have a fear of rides for the rest of her life. Martin spun the sh*t out of that thing- Lily at first seemed ok then as it kept going and going got scared then started screaming- "Make it stop!"

Finally the ride came to a stop and she couldn't get off fast enough...but she did it- and she went on the canoe ride and rode the pony all by herself too. So she did really well--ahh but that face- priceless.

Of course we did other fun stuff that didn't involve torturing them- games and food and animals- but I'm sure that ride is all she'll remember.

Click here for more pics. Hope this works....

Where does the time go?

Can you believe in June I'll have been in Seattle for 3 years!!??!!!??

Lily was only 20 months when we first got here- she was so tiny...and had so little hair! Now we've got the big 5 on the horizon!

I can't believe how much has changed. Lily has grown at least a foot and never ceases to amaze me with the words that come out of her mouth,"Perhaps Floyd will eat my dinner Mommy!".  I see how different I am after all we've been through. I never would have guessed this is where I would get to in my life but I am happy. Happy with where I am at and where I am going. Hopeful for a promising future...

I want to move soon...be healthy...stay challenged...get crafty...live fully...relax.

Stay tuned for cute pics!!!!

Easter Weekend

We dyed Easter Eggs this weekend with the help of Auntie Briana and had an Easter Egg hunt (and Easter dinner) over at Poppa and Gramma Di's house. The girls seemed to get along much better this weekend- I think we had way fewer meltdowns/arguments than normal- not sure if they are getting more used to each other or if we're doind a better job of knowing what will or won't cause a problem. Probably a little of both.

We both know now that no one can have the pink bowl because it will be traumatic- regardless of if the way the bowls are distributed is fair or not (coin toss anyone???). Really though I think we are all adjusting and adjusting well if I may say so. We always have fun together- there is no doubt about that.

Paint, glitter, crayons, dye...what more can you ask for in an art project???

Lily and her ever goofy face...

Egg hunt anticipation...planning her "route" I'm sure...

OMG platic eggs everywhere

...and way too much candy. Can we say Sugar high??

Hope all of you had as much fun as we did. Happy Easter!