Inside Play and some B-ball

Today .... watched pretty snowflakes fall and did some dress-up, more baking, even more gaming and supported our beloved oldest in her last basketball game :-) - and... yes, they did win (my Dad would have been so proud of her in this sport).

Olympics almost over. I know everyone is excited for the US vs. Canada hockey game tomorrow (though I am appalled to hear that tickets for the game are going for almost $5,000 - could that REALLY be true?!?!). And congrats to the US bobsled team for winning gold after - what? - 60+ years of not winning in that event!? Anyway..... will miss Vancouver ;-).

All in all, surviving the weekend... High point: hubby's fish and chips (he even bought malt vinegar) Friday night - he got nice cod - mixed up some Bisquick and some beer (I'm not kidding - made a beautiful crust).... filled two deep pans with oil and fried away (chips or french fries too) - deep pots didn't splatter, so... lovin' that. Low point: Due to busy schedule, missed out on a salsa lesson and night to mix with other couples opportunity.... Next time. Admittedly, I am feeling a little stressed these days.... Rant for another day, right? Stay warm..... Thoughts and prayers to Chile, of course.

Kinda like hitting a "replay" button....

So - another snow day. This time, we are semi-prepared - have all the board games out - batteries in the handheld games for when boredom sets in - dug the sleds, etc. out of the latest snowfall - have soup, cookies, hot chocolate on deck and ready to go - possible plans to ski later in the weekend (have to get "Mad Milo" on a board and curious Enzo BACK on skis plus Olivia and her friends are into it lately) - tentative plans to run out for a quick and close late lunch today..... It'll be fine :-) - though I am sensing some cranky / antsy - and it's not just the kids :-(. And, by the way - we've already done some glitter (like A LOT of glitter - all over the front hall glitter) and glue - painted some dinosaurs (and, yes, Milo did ruin his brand new very cool stripey retro shirt that I bought him for v-day - I am not shocked or saddened - merely ready to check it off as the "thing" that got ruined TODAY - there will be another tomorrow - I'm just kicking myself because I did not make it into the room in time to undress him for the craft :-) - and we've all pummeled each other with snowballs from the front yard onto the porch (and through the door!!!)... and MORE :-). The down side thus far? Lilliana has become obsessed with Oreos - Milo, now shirtless, will not redress for the day and will look like "jungle boy" until bathtime - and Enzo had a meltdown, feeling like he was being judged for not wanting to touch snow. Also, poor Olivia has homework - and I HAVE to mention here that I am exceedingly proud of her mature voice, incredible insights and great use of vocabulary in her latest book report (Bridge to Terabithia - sniff - I know there is a movie, but I remember reading it when I was O's age - maybe younger - and here I am proofing my middle schooler's book report....).

Olympic watch continues... though, there is so much going on - DQs for the strangest offenses - odd things like alternates not showing up for races - crashes - surprise medals - world records..... I can't keep up with the details - though I still love watching :-).

Stay safe - I see the same slippery slush that caused our pre-Christmas accident out my window. Enjoy time with family because, if anything, that's what snow-ins allow us to savor :-). Unfortunately, I am, again, sending positive thoughts to more friends and family experiencing loss or pain this season..... Many good things to celebrate too, but let's think of others less fortunate when we can....

Photos: Someone just sent us this photo of me and my Milo at a volunteer luncheon last year. I didn't know it existed - happy that it does, so... am posting it. Evidence that Milo really can stay calm - especially with Mommy (who was just like him as a kid ;-). And ... a pre-snowstorm(s) photo of Olivia and her confirmation class.

I love rainy days.

They make me reflective but they also make me productive. I have this tendency to want to drink coffee and look at old pictures, but I also get ALL the laundry done - usually cook something new for dinner - spend a lot of hang time with my little ones, etc. Today - I'm going to ignore the dirty, melty snow piles - I'm going forget that, in addition to the big gash on our front bumper, the van also smells musty (apparently, while the kids were waiting on us to get the van out of the driveway the other day, they sat in the snow, soaking their pants and, therefore, their car seats :-) - and I'm going to look on the bright side regarding Milo and his refusal to go to preschool today, having decided to pick my battles with him and forgo the screaming, kicking, yelling, etc. that almost always results in an injury for me and my Lil running from him (and me) or getting caught "in the crossfire", so to speak. Sure, I want him to go, but... the tears (mine, usually ;-), sweat, bloody noses (he has given me two, I believe, with his thrashing) and stares from other preschool parents make it SO not worth it. It's just P3. So... the bright side... (aside from just not dealing with the tantrum and, instead, staying home to play board games and "chef's restaurant" in the toy kitchen with L & M :-) - Enzo has been weepy before school for the past few days, thinking that we are able to make a call to the school and tell them we're not coming because of snow, so he wants to stay home and color, bake cookies, play trains, Wii with Milo, etc. and he went happily today - basking in the glow of his first phone call from a friend - Ben - last night - PLUS, Olivia is settled and happy, having received some good news in the way of acceptance letters from high schools (and is flying so high that last night's basketball game against shockingly unsportsmanlike St. Thomas More, my husband's alma mater :-( didn't sway her mood) - and the weather is better so Lil will go to her beloved "morning out" program tomorrow - all is good :-). In fact, as soon as I clean up the pee pee sheets from Lilliana's room - vacuum up all the popcorn from last night - and get the little ones to eat something more nutritious than marshmellows and Chips Ahoy ... we are outta here! Play area - library - museum - SOMETHING :-).

As for my ongoing Olympic watch.... I loved watching the Canadian and the American ice dancers last night (beautiful leg extensions and displays of athleticism on some of those girls - though some couples were a little too campy, over the top for me - thought the Canadians and Americans did beautifully) AND, of course, the crazy aerial skiing (little soft spot for them - heard many had gymnastics backgrounds like I do :-). I do prefer the big grand skiing and snowboarding events to the ice skating, etc., but... last night's ceremony in which the Canadian team so completely embodied the emotions of a country - of all the competitors - It was so sweet, singing their anthem - just their moment - one they'll never forget or duplicate. Really pulling for Canadian Joannie Rochette tonight in the women's skating short program. She is, first of all, a beautiful, conditioned athlete - great to watch, AND the poor girl - in just an unbelievably tragic turn of events - lost her mother to a heart attack on Sunday - terrible story. I think she is doing the right thing by competing; I'm SURE her mother would have wanted that. There are, in fact, a lot of tragic but triumphant stories from this Olympics.

Today's Diversion: Here's an interesting bit of pop culture news.

Today's Photo: Like I said - rainy days bring reminiscing, and... this is us in 2005 - on the banks of the Seine in Paris - Enzo only 6 months old - Olivia, 9. Isn't that Notre Dame in the background? I believe, on this day, we had just visited there with friends.

My thoughts today.... for what it's worth...

Interesting. (produce and pesticides)

Appalling. (Toyota)

Empowering. (Pregnant Olympians :-)

Photo of the day: A blank wall.... what to do with this area of my wee Lil's room - ???? Paint for sure... what color? Add reading corner..... ? Play kitchen?

What a day!

Do you ever have one of those weekends that starts off with a headache so bad you end up nursing a "Cup a Soup" and curled up and napping on a pile of clean laundry with your two year old? Not that I would do anything like that, mind you.....

Anyway, Sat. was uneventful - big pancake breakfast for 5 kids (Olivia had another sleepover - so we had one of our "regular extras" over :-) - basketball practice - shopping at Whole Foods - play date for Enzo and Milo - a nice dinner of honey, ancho chile, mustard - glazed salmon, asparagus, rice... new recipe cooked with hubby - then out late night for an hour or so to see a friend's band play... drank beer from plastic cups, listened to loud music....

Today was like "bad luck Sunday". And... we had the best of intentions - shopping for Olivia and cousin, Sofia, with Lil tagging along - and a play date for Enzo and Milo with cousin, Oscar. HOWEVER...... First, a big hunk of ice fell from our house, knocked our van off course and into the side of the house as we tried to pull out of the driveway, leaving giant gash in front bumper. While packing up my diaper bag, etc., I discovered that, for the first time ever (I think - and I'm serious), we lost a bottle vital to the care, soothing and happiness of one of my kids (looked everywhere - totally missing somewhere in the house, but... for our purposes - GONE). On the way to shop after dropping off the boys, Lil screamed and cried so loudly, no one in the car could talk and she almost threw up. Once in the mall, we went to eat and get money - wanted to give the girls some $$$ to go off on their own, but... all cash machines were broken. After hubby ate the worst sandwich of his life, we went to The Picture People (last year, we realized that we did not have an "official" one year old pic of Lil so... rushed to Picture People before Olivia had her braces put on and the boys' once a year haircuts grew out.... and had some photos taken - After some failed attempts to order prints with black and white and / or sepia tints along with wallets, etc. for grandparents online, we had to check in at the actual store... ;-) I, of course, digress....) only to find out that, despite paying like $50 for some "membership" that allowed us access to prints for an unlimited amt. of time, most of the photos we had taken were, mysteriously, gone from our folder - they are investigating - will call us tomorrow (some were cute if I remember correctly :-(.

Lesson learned today: I always enjoy my slap back to reality (usually pulls me out of my sulk). Today - got in the car - piled in the shopping bags - got my niece and my girlies all settled - smiled at hubby, then ... listened to a heartbreaking story about ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) on the radio. Man... am I lucky or what? How many times do I say this??? Appreciate what you have, and I'm not preaching... just sayin'...

Anyway..... hope everyone is having fun watching all the Olympic skiing - Super G and Giant Slalom!!! And... is it just me or is this "Ski Cross" new to these games??? Enjoy...

More board, ski and skate watch... kids back to school ....plus a Wii "rant"

Let me preface this with a mention of my need for downtime - hence, my "thing" with the Olympics this winter. Yesterday was an endless sea of unfinished errands, sloppy weather, dirty dishes and laundry (and even if I choose not to deal with it and play with kids, do our number or dinosaur puzzles - whatever - the piles are STILL THERE), dinner to be made, homework to deal with, no sleep (an old dance injury - which was aggravated by one of those "don't know what it is but many pregnant women experience such things" issues from Round 2 pregnancy years ago - is acting up in my leg -making me sleepless all hours), little food (I am watching fat and sugar - a "good Catholic" would say because of Lent - but I just feel lumpy and like Jello) - plus (and this is nothing serious - I am totally being whiny) feeling under the weather with a cough, congestion and headache. Today, I have soup and toast, movie time with Milo, down on the floor rug play with Lil - that kind of thing - on the agenda (oldests finally riding the bus today so no grueling / demolition derby pick up :-). I digress.... AGAIN ;-)....

So - was so excited for the women's half pipe competition, and... wasn't disappointed - Hannah Teter and Kelly Clark won silver and bronze, respectively, but my favorite, Gretchen Bleiler fell both runs as did another team mate. Interesting and fun to watch regardless - results and story here.

I try to watch the singles skating - last night, men, but.. have never been really enthralled by the event. I find the pairs exciting, but... the single skaters.... not so much. I mean, they are REALLY good, but... I just can't tell one jump from the other - find the programs a bit long... the costumes odd .... Anyway Evan Lysecek won gold - have a bit of a soft spot for him because he looks exactly like all the cousins on my Dad's side of the family. Truthfully, I don't know that much about men's skating, but I did think Johnny Weir put in a good performance last night... really good - entertaining - he has beautiful arm movement. I rather like him - despite hearing that he is "controversial". I find him to be a sincere competitor - attentive to his coach - and.... in his head shot that they use to introduce him on screen, I dig his fur coat and sunglasses :-).For some reason people don't like him....

That short track speed skating relay is CRAZY - the way they push eachother and remain all over the track as others skate... NUTS... need to focus on that more next time (though I think there are races coming up).

Enjoy this nice diversion from everything. The Olympics are great.

In closing (and a last sports-related note): Can Tiger Woods make a comback? Hopefully not. And... got an email from J.Crew, which I do love, that said "Give it up for Frank" - apparently, head of their men's design dept. So... I looked. I kinda like what he does (though am not crazy about the gingham for men new arrivals :-(. Anyway.. another diversion from J.Crew :-).

Have a good weekend. Taking a few days off to attend to some stuff for my kids. Enzo is having trouble getting back into a school routine (and, truthfully, my wee ones run around all day - Olivia watches movies and texts friends in her room - while Enzo sits and has lunch with me, asks me questions, enjoys going over his numbers and letters with me, etc. - so I miss him too :-) - Olivia is still applying to some high schools though has been accepted at her top pick so... more paperwork - Milo seems really adjusted and is enjoying school but needs to learn to go into a gymnastics class on his own.... shows talent but can't move into team trainer position until he will go in without me - Lilliana is craving lots of one on one play time lately and needs to get into a movement or dance program (so far - too young for most like Pittsburgh Ballet Theater so... looking for an outlet for her). All expected to be checked off my "to do list" this week (because, for the record, I HATE the Wii - find lately that my little ones are obsessed with it and, because it is in a common area of our house, I can't clean, read, write, eat, drink coffee, talk on the phone, pay bills - do ANYTHING in peace without being bothered by requests to play the Wii coupled with refusals to play with other toys, watch movies or do art projects - all because of the freakin' Wii - ready to pull my hair out and / or throw it into the backyard... Getting out is a huge challenge with all the slipping, car doors opening into snowbanks, having to let kids off in the middle of the street to get to the school, huge slush puddles, ice falling, etc......So... going to FIND those new outlets!!!).

Photos: Little pieces of my schoolkids' rooms.... all (even Lil goes to "morning out" like a big girl) back to school this week :-).

QUICK fyi (s) ....

Remember to visit That's Church (again, see my blog list on this page) for more info. on how to help with the situation in Haiti - specifically, getting other orphans out ..... Power of the people type thing.... call, press politicians, lawmakers, etc. This is going to be a priority effort for a while. Please help.....

Also, have to mention our fantastic US snowboarders and skiers. Men's halfpipe yesterday was amazing - a must-watch sport, for sure. They are doing so much now - way beyond what you may have seen in the Olympics four years ago. Anyway, congrats to everyone but especially Shaun White who got gold and Scotty Lago who got bronze (nice show by teammate Vito, too). Go here for the remainder of the schedule (and some results) - both men and women. And, of course, congrats to our gold and silver medalists in the women's downhill - Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso. Hope all those poor women who crashed yesterday are still doing fine - disappointed, for sure - just hope they are not too banged up. Great show.

And.... ads on my page gone for now (happy, readers? - I am ;-). I'm not so sure about this Google AdSense......

For now... pure joy at watching my two year old read "Don't be Pesky, Little Monkey" - with lift up flaps and cool pictures and different textures.... Lovely - going to be a brilliant day.... WHICH reminds me.... need to mention AGAIN.... visit That's Church - support Haiti in their time of need. Kids need us!

And in closing.... hubby stumbled onto this bakery in Shadyside a while back (since our family trip to Paris a few years ago, we have been on the prowl for French bakeries.... have a few local ones in mind....more on that later :-), but - for now...).... but here it is in Pop City (which is odd because my Lil just pulled the business card out of who knows where in the house, and... then it appears on PC.. hmmm..)... The French Tart... (kitschy and not too original but I'm loving that name.... like in the movie "Run Fatboy Run", one of the main characters has a bakery called "Libby's Sweet Buns" or something... love that too :-)... Time to go play Indiana Jones with Milo..... All in a day's "work"....

The Bake Shop is Open!

We have become quite the prolific bakers whilst inside these days :-). We have sweet and tangy lemon squares, creme-filled chocolate cookies, both glazed and chocolate donuts, iced cinnamon rolls and are preparing to make blueberry buckle and / or banana bread. Cupcakes are a favorite in this house, so... maybe later in the week - especially if we get more snow ;-).

Recipes to follow. Still one of those "pressed for time" days :-).

Oh - and check out the half pipe with Shaun White thus far in these Olympics ;-).... I have a tendency to get antsy when I'm pulling for certain athletes and, yeah, I "Google" results before the event actually airs in my area :-)... while I bake and hang with the kids, that is ;-).

A "to do list" of sorts

Pressed for time today but have lots to say

So - continue to stay safe and healthy. We did not have school again today as our school follows the Pitt Public Schools and, shockingly, they called off today - probably because of the bottle neck nightmares and children left at bus stops or on buses yesterday due to the piles and piles of snow, half lane roads, etc. Ventured out today and can report roads OK in Sq Hill - much better in Regent Sq area - better than yesterday, but... Also - stay healthy. We have this monster cough circulating our house now, and it is not going away anytime soon - seems to be a culmination of many ailments.

Pay attention to That's Church (formerly PittGirl - remember her?) on my links list. Another plea for Haiti, which... I firmly feel that we should still be contributing to monthly to keep funds, supplies, support going and going (almost posted as much the other day then snow hit. My BAD in a big way :-). Have to throw in my two cents as usual - disagree, in part, that ONLY Pittsburgh would respond to the plea for help for the Bresma Orphanage in such a way as is posted on her blog. Thankfully, "'burghers" are very loyal to their native sons and daughters (Ali and Jamie are from the area). This country is full of "Pittsburghers" who still firmly believe that if it doesn't happen it Pittsburgh, it doesn't happen at all (I closely observe this group of "enlightened" Mt. Lebanon grads from years ago as an outsider and can report that they, in fact, will never "leave" Pittsburgh - some in body - some in spirit). Anyway, thankfully, these women were from the area, and Pittsburgh did, in fact, pull those orphans to safety. Having lived all over myself, I am hoping that other cities will follow suit.

Keep watching the Olympics. Sad for boarder Lindsey Jacobellis who missed a chance for gold redemption ....yesterday was it??? The men's skating is interesting - all emotional and talented guys... Nice diversion - these Winter Olympics - uplifting in a way :-).

Up late with the Olympics

So I'm up, checking school closings, dipping whole grain pretzels in mustard and hanging on every little thing these skaters, skiers and boarders are doing. Happy for Bode Miller (and his bronze medal) who seems to have grown up - way past his flippant attitude in Torino (don't know if I feel that way because I heard he now has a two year old daughter, and I have a two year old daughter so feel an odd affinity for him OR if his interview and his comments really did seem more gracious and mature than a few years ago ... anyway, hubby feels that same way - first spotted him snapping his gum and winking at the camera - initial thought: still a jerk - changed after his great downhill performance and grateful interview following). Just watched the finals on Seth Westcott's amazing gold medal-winning snowboard run - came from way behind to pass EVERYBODY! Interesting guy - restaurant owner, etc. - saw a profile on him earlier today (before our power went out for a few hours... yeah - like I always say, a rant for another day....). All these "30 somethings" winning medals! You go, guys! Hanging on the pairs ice skating now. All those spins and throws are amazing. Pulling for the Chinese couple - married, retired, also 30 somethings :-) - highly favored for gold. Love the Russians and their beautiful extensions, and that German couple is amazing.... More on that later.... probably in recap mode. Congrats to Apolo Ohno too, of course (I don't hang on the speed skating as much - though my Olivia wanted to be a speed skater at one time :-).