Lots of fun in the snow today!
All bundled up and ready for the snow.
Frolicking
Are we done yet?
Taking a rest from the frolic.
Possibly getting a little too action shot for me and my camera.
It's so cold i can't feel my face. Hahahahaha.
Serious. And Goofy
More frolic.
Alright, Malex, now you pissed me off.
When we were in Auburn over the holidays, Todd and I had drinks at our friends’ Iain and Noelle’s house. I love Noelle, because she is a crazy dog lady like myself (but with the added plus of having a husband who allows her more than one dog – they have three) and there are usually about five to ten dogs hanging out there on any given day. Also, they don’t care when I bring along the Q Man. I love that.
So, when Quint was a puppy, Iain’s son, Noah, couldn’t say Quint and instead called him “Squid.” And so the nickname stuck for the Stewart clan, and when Quint is at Iain’s house, he is Squid.
Iain is a very talented watercolorist. While we were there, Iain’s brother Matt showed me a watercolor that Iain had done of Matt and Shannon’s two dogs, Bodie and Omar. I LOVED it and was so jealous. I told Iain I wanted him to do one of Quint some day. Unbeknownst to me, Iain went back to his office and pulled up this picture of Quint on his computer:
And then, while I drank beer and petted dogs, and chatted with Noelle, Shannon, and Fiona while watching Dream Girls, Iain proceeded to sketch and paint Quint, in about 20 minutes. (Like i said, he is v. talented.) Check Squid out!
My dog Quint in a watercolor by Iain Stewart.
That is not a very good shot of the painting, and I did not have time to scan him in, but if you want to see a great scan of the Squid watercolor, and other works by the very talented Iain, go to Iain Stewart Watercolors website or Facebook page. Make sure to become a fan!
You will see that Iain only dabbles in dog portraiture, but is an amazing Landscape Watercolorist (I have one in my bedroom that he gave to us on our Wedding Day) and a talented Architectural Illustrator. In addition, he does a wonderful drunk Scot impersonation, and a damn funny r2d2.
It makes me feel a little like a wealthy Victorian lady to have a commissioned portrait of my favorite pet. I must go find my parasol and bonnet now.
So, i woke up feeling good today, despite not sleeping well last night. But things went downhill. I am just kind of sad today and then realized that today would have been my Pop’s 94th birthday. I was in his world since 1972 and it just seems weird not to be able to call him and wish (yell) him a happy birthday. He was on this earth from 1916 to 2009. . . my mind boggles at all that passed in his lifetime.
And then I also found out that a neighbor (whom I did not even know by name) was murdered this past weekend, allegedly by her own husband. Their kids go to Rollie’s school. The family were members at our pool. The family had been missing and then the kids were found at a family member’s and when we heard that, we all knew it was not good, but still didn’t not know what happened to them. Our community has been rocked by the news of her death.
Just a generally sad, and heartbreaking day. Some days I have little faith in the world.
When we got into bed last night, I looked over to find Todd reading Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox.
I smiled and said, “What are you doing?”
It seems that the other night, Rollie decided to read Fantastic Mr. Fox. We are very proud of him, as he still likes to be read to by us before bed, but then he goes into his room and reads chapter books until he falls asleep. He read Fantastic Mr. Fox twice, and then told Todd that “he could read it after he was done.”
“Oh,” I said, “so you are actually reading it so you can discuss it? That’s nice!”
Todd: “Um, no, just skimming.”
Me: “For what?”
Todd explained that last night, Todd went into Rollie’s room and he was reading the Children’s Dictionary that he received for Christmas from Uncle Lyle and Aunt Denise. (One of Rollie’s coolest gifts, in the opinion of a word nerd like me.)
Todd asked what Rollie was doing. Rollie replied, “I’m looking up “brutal” and “murderous.”
Needless to say, they were not to be found in the Children’s Dictionary.
Todd explained what they mean to Rollie, and was looking through the Dahl book, wondering if they were mentioned in that book. No mention. I wondered if he read it on the cover of Todd’s “Left For Dead 2” xBox game. Nope. Nothing.
Where on earth did my sweet boy learn these words? I am baffled. And at the same time, oddly impressed with his vocabulary. And maybe a little worried that I am raising a serial killer.
I feel kind of sorry for Todd. He and Nick and Rochelle and Ellis are still stuck in that amphitheater waiting for the helicopter.
No, not school. It doesn’t start until tomorrow. No, I’m talking about full on dieting and workouts. And stripper poles. I know I’m not alone. I usually prefer to run or bike or hike outside to anything in a gym. I pretty much detest working out in front of the tv. Not enough room, kids try to join in and make me frustrated. However, i wasn’t about to go the gym today (too busy) or run outside (too cold, plus what would i do with the kiddos?) so I took my friend Dawn‘s advice and worked out at home.
So, I got the kids all riled up, and cleared the ottoman off the rug in the basement, and looked through the workouts on Comcast’s on demand.
Oh. My. God.
If I had known that Carmen Electra’s Strip Tease workout was on here, i would have done this with kids on rainy days LONG ago. There is very little funnier than a four year old girl and six year old boy doing a strip tease dance to Carmen Electra.
Do you want the DFACs number? I am sure you can Google it.
After that, we did Carmen Electra’s Hip Hop workout for good measure. Tiller got a little frustrated with the quick moves in that one, but Rollie totally rocked his awesome moves. He can really cut a rug, in case you’ve forgotten. If I had any balls, I would set up a video recorder to get me doing it too, because I am by far the best hip hop dancer on my street. Never mind that everyone on my street is 80. (Lauren excepted, but if you would like to challenge me, you will have to bring Jake up tomorrow for a dance off.)
We finished it up with a yoga workout. Rollie kept talking, and falling over, but actually seemed to like doing it. Tiller didn’t; She made her Barbies do the moves instead. Rollie asked why there was no talking, and I tried to explain about meditating and concentrating on breathing, but I am pretty sure that I lost him when I began talking about breathing through your eyes.
This wasn’t exactly the great workout, complete with pouring sweat and shaking arms and legs that I was looking for, but it is better than nothing and fits the bill as far as working out every day.
Anyway, I can’t recommend this On Demand workout stuff enough if you are stuck inside or unable to go to the gym, or just if you are bored and want something to do with the kids. Or if you just need a big belly laugh.
I swear to God, Rollie and Todd have been playing Legos for five hours straight. I am completely amazed at rollie’s focus and Todd’s infinite patience.
This makes my heart happy.
Some of my favorite gifts this season were made by Adrienne at AngelARTGifts.
She makes some beautiful hand sewn gifts, and she made these for me. She traced Rollie and Tiller's handprints and put them on handtowels. I gave a set to each of the grandmothers and kept this set for myself. So sweet!
On this one, their hands were so close in size that she put letters on them to designate whose hand is whose.
It was such a joy to see the look on the Grandmas’ faces when they saw them. And I would be lying if I said I didn’t look at mine and get a little weepy thinking about how my babies’ hands will never be quite this small ever again.
Click the link above and check out her other creations. Personally, I am eyeing the sweet crayon roll. Very cool!