Chloe and Her Grocery Bag

There are three things that Chloe really loves lately that are all captured in these photos:

1) She loves to bring toys to the backdoor mat and hang out with me while I'm cooking.

2) She loves all purses, baskets, bags, pails, whatever - anything she can put over her shoulder like a big girl.

3) She loves bananas. A lot.

Aunt Rachel bought Chloe this grocery set that includes a shopping bag, as well as pretend groceries for her to "eat" and "buy" in her bag. She loves it!

She played with it again this morning while I was getting food ready for school and sharing some fruit with her. So she walked around with a real banana in one hand and the pretend one in the other... and would occasionally get confused over which was which when she went to take a bite!

LOL

Mommy Work vs. Chloe Work

I just got this cool photo sent to me by Miss Lynn:



The caption read, "Hi Mommy! Hope your work is fun like my work! Love ya!"

Well, today Mommy had one good meeting, one stupid meeting, one boring webinar (which quit out on me when the internet died) and two cupcakes. So, I may be beating Chloe out in terms of snacks, but she's kicking my butt in terms of fun. LOL

Edited to add: I just looked at the picture again and realized there is a sleeping child in the background. In other words, the Napping Bandit has struck again! This kid, I tell you.

Chloe Post: Party at the Shore

Panda and I really enjoyed visiting Aunt Diane and Uncle John at the shore this weekend! It wasn't warm enough for the beach, but we didn't care - it was fun anyway!

Mommy and Aunt Diane took me to the Cape May Zoo on Saturday. I especially liked seeing the ducks and the bison. There are lots of neat animals there - we had so much fun. We also went shopping in Stone Harbor and I got a sugar cookie. That was pretty neat, too.

But, I think the most fun part was going to the playground! Aunt Diane and I love the slides - we slid over and over and over again. I went down on my bottom, but Aunt Diane likes to go down on her belly! She is so silly! We said "Wheeee" and Mommy even let me go on the BIG slide all by myself! It was so cool!

This is the little girl slide. We don't have a picture of me going down the big girl slide because Mommy wanted both hands ready to catch me. Picture this slide, but BIGGER.

Aunt Diane and Uncle John have three cats - that's another good reason to visit them. I liked to wave to the cats and say "hello" so they would know I wanted to be friends with them.

Sometimes, they ran away, though - cats don't always understand how you are their friend. Aunt Diane bought me these neat bird toys that make chirping noises. You can bet Bella wanted to be my friend, then. She thought I had dinner for her!

Aunt Diane loves to cook, which means she has lots of toys in the kitchen. She has one whole cabinet that was big enough for me to climb into and it was filled with lots of these plastic stacking toys! I really liked to play with those while Aunt Diane worked hard to make us yummy food. She has this cool step which is now mine. I like to sit on it and also bang the lid. Over and over and over again. I am the only one who enjoys that, though.

I also had a lot of fun with Uncle John. There is no picture of me helping him do housework, mainly because everyone wanted their hands free to grab the drill away from me, but I was helping nonetheless. I didn't understand the hub-bub, actually. If Uncle John didn't want to share his drill with me, why did he put it on the floor? Everything on the floor is mine.

Anyway, we had a great time and they said I can come back again soon! I can't wait until it's warm enough for the ocean... so I can wear the new bathing suit Aunt Diane bought!

Chloe Post: GO PRESTON!

 I am such a good friend to Preston!  He doesn't even need to pedal if he doesn't feel like it!

Although, my steering leaves much to be desired.

Staff Appreciation Day

Chloe, Ed and I would like to extend a very warm hug and lots of gratitude to everyone at Chloe's school for the wonderful job they do to take special care of the Muppet.

XOXOXOXOXO

It's also worth noting that Mommy's handmade cards and box of Entenmann's was completely outdone by the handmade individualized cookies with the school logo magically superimposed on the icing which were made for EVERY teacher in the school (I just did Chloe's) by Journey's mother. Ok, Journey's mother. I see how it is. Just wait for Christmas. It's on like Donkey Kong.

Chloe Post: Talking with the Pops

Sometimes, Daddy has already left for work before Mommy and I are even awake! This used to really bother me, but it doesn't freak me out anymore... but, I do still look for him throughout the house to make sure he is not hiding from me. Usually, Mommy then lets me call Daddy on the phone.

This is responsible parenting on Mommy's part, because it's very important that I know where my people are at all times. Daddy and I always have much to discuss and then I can feel confident beginning my day.

Stylin'

Breast Cancer 3-Day - No April Winner Yet??

Is it possible that we don't have an April winner yet?

Each month, our family will be sponsoring a walker in the upcoming Breast Cancer 3-Day. Each walker must raise $2,300 to participate and then walks an incredible 60 miles. Chloe will send a little treat to the first person who donates each month - any amount counts. Just post a comment to us when you donate.

This month's walker is: Ambre from Dallas-Fort Worth. Like last month's featured walker, Ambre is on the Two Peas NSBR (non-scrapbooking related) board with me. She's been working on lots of fun fundraising ideas and we're pleased to support her.

Click here to donate for Ambre's Dallas-Fort Worth walk.

Weekend Recap, quoted by Chloe

"Ah, the breeze in my hair and the smell of the Delaware.

Gotta love Camden."

"I AM GODZILLA AND MOMMY IS THE CITY."


"The best part of Camden is the Aquarium! I know all the fish appreciated how I waved at them and screamed 'BYE! BYE!' as they swam past.'"


"These are some of the fish I was waving at... why are their no pictures of the penguins? Or the seals? Or the sharks? Mommy, what is with you?!"

Edit from Mommy: Eh. I was not feeling at my best. My photo documentation of the day suffered. Get over it.

"This weekend rocked - the aquarium, the Temple Phi Sig house, brunch at Jones and then Aunt Jo Jo's potato salad. Rock on."

Chloe and Mommy - A Conversation

Mommy: Good morning, Chloe.

Chloe: Good morning, Mama.

Mommy: How are you doing today?

Chloe: I am well, thank you. I had a very nice evening with Daddy last night while you were at card club. We watched the new Star Trek movie and spread my toys all over the living room floor. Cleaning up toys is illogical.

Mommy: So I noticed. And what is it that you are doing right now?


Chloe: I am drumming. Daddy got out this humidifier and plugged it in for five seconds before I tried to climb it. Then he put it back in the box and left it here. That was months ago and after a certain point of time, it transformed. It is no longer a humidifier, but rather has morphed into a drum set.

Mommy: That's an interesting perspective. I might have said that Daddy left this humidifier on the floor several months ago in his ongoing attempt to kill me slowly, but you are of the opinion that he intended to leave it there so that it could transform into a musical instrument for you.

Chloe: Yes. Daddy and I have a long-standing agreement about such things.

Mommy: I see.

Mommy: You know, Chlo, to change subjects, you look quite cute today.

Chloe: Well, thank you for noticing... and for the new spring clothes and accessories. They help me to look my best... but you know that this barrette is GONE the minute you turn around, right?

Mommy: Why? Don't you want to look pretty, Chloe? Pretty girls wear barrettes.

Chloe: Don't think you can try to manipulate me just because you've started watching the "Real Housewives of New York."

Mommy: Speaking of, I am *totally* Team Jill.

Chloe: Me, too. Originally, I wasn't sure, because the Countess makes me want to vomit, but that Bethenny is trashy. She needs to get to steppin'.

Mommy: Word.

Chloe Post: Outside is Better Than Inside

From now on, I plan to keep my trike in the kitchen so I can easily get it outside because outside is way more fun than inside. Yesterday, Mommy told Daddy she had to go to another well (does anyone have any idea what this woman is talking about??) and so she wasn't home when I woke up from my nap.

Daddy and I went for a walk and played on the front yard, but then he tried to bring me inside and I fussed and fussed and fussed for the entire 30 seconds it took him to bring me thru the living room, into the dining room, thru the kitchen and outside to the back porch. Sheesh, Daddy - you should have told me the plan!

It was so nice out and playing on the back porch was the perfect vantage spot to see Mommy when she came home.


I had a lot of fun trying to teach Pooh how to ride the trike. However, he doesn't have good balancing skills AT ALL and I had to keep stopping and putting him back on there.

Outside is also neat because there are toys that only live out there. Like this stick. I tried to sneak it into the house, but that Mommy. She caught me. She also wouldn't let me chew on it. It seems to me like she might have a stick somewhere, if you know what I mean. (Wink, wink)

P.S. from Mommy: Big kisses to Daddy - as soon as I told him that I think the only way for me to get serious about my writing is to leave the house for 2 hours each week, he told me to put down the laundry in my hand and hit the bunny trail. I did some good editing, wrote 5 pages and came home feeling refreshed and confident. xoxoxo

Going to the Well

I firmly believe that to be a good wife, mom, worker, father, husband, son, daughter, whatever - you have to take time to do that which you do not do in any of those roles. I call this "going to the well" to replenish. For me, there are different wells - creative projects, walks by myself, spending time in an all-female (frequently Phi Sig) environment. I firmly believe that women have the power to re-charge each other. Today, I was really happy to once again represent Phi Sigma Sigma at the Philadelphia Area Alumnae Panhellenic luncheon. It was very fun and very relaxing... I did spend too much money on the raffle and silent auction, but it's all for a scholarship. So, I figure it's all good - a day with the girls and I got to contribute to someone else's future well.

As for this handful (this totally cute and adorable handful), she got to spend the day with Mom-Mom. There was fort-building, ball throwing, sit and spinning, smoothie drinking, whew. What a day. Chloe's own well has been re-filled and she's ready to wreak some serious havoc.

I would imagine that Mom-Mom will spend Sunday recovering.
:-)

Chloe Post: Badness

Today after school, Mommy said that we were going to go shopping for new clothes for me. We got in the car and I cried. We got gas and I cried. Mommy then drove the car into a box and large ribbons hit our car over and over and over again. I don't know WHAT the hell that was about. I stopped crying because I was intrigued... Mommy said "that wasn't worth my eight dollars" and then we drove on. And I cried. I was on my best behavior at Babies R Us because Mommy filled a big bag with pretty things for me and got me the next size of diapers like I was hoping she would. There were lots of pregnant ladies there. They were glowing and excited-looking. My Mommy looked tired and her hair was hanging in her face because she keeps forgetting to buy some pomade. She spent $93 at the BRU, but can't manage to spend $4 on herself for some pomade. But, anyway. Mommy decided that she was tired and instead of going home and "dealing with dinner," we would go to Panera. Thankfully, we ran into Auntie Lu and Adam and they helped Mommy as my behavior rapidly deteriorated. I was eating my grilled cheese until I realized there was yogurt for later. I wanted yogurt NOW. I was drinking my milk until I realized it was more fun to play with the straw. I wanted the straw NOW. Other people somehow didn't see how annoying I was and they continued to pay me compliments. I smiled at them. And laughed at Mommy and her silly little struggles. Then, she cleaned up because if I keep leaving a mess at Panera Bread, they will put a sign up with my picture and a red slash sign through it. Finally, Mommy said she had enough so we left. I refused to fall asleep on the way home. When we got home, I looked for Daddy but he was still at work, even though he had told Mommy an hour before that he was on his way home. At this point, Mommy had HAD IT. Which is different than having enough. Mommy still has to go to Acme because we are out of milk. And pomade. And Daddy is STILL not home even though we've been home for an hour. Mommy HAS to go out even though she is freaking exhausted because Daddy doesn't have a driver's license.

I wonder: after Mommy has had enough and then has had IT, what comes next???

Chloe Post: Sleeves and Socks are for Winter

It was 90 degrees yesterday! Mommy and Daddy are going to buy a sportscar with all the money they save on heating the house and I get to wear my summer clothes!

Aunt Diane and Uncle John bought me this kicky little outfit when they were in Hawaii. Mommy thought I wouldn't be able to wear it until May at the earliest, but that stupid groundhog was wrong! And we are having be-you-ti-ful weather!

Mommy said that she might actually need to go and buy me some other new clothes if this keeps up - she thought I would be in sleeves for a little while longer, but I think not! I have sunblock and floppy hats - I am ready for the sun! Bring it!

Where Women Glow and Men Plunder

When I was a Girl Scout, I obsessively paged thru the Girl Scout manual to work on badges and read about all the features that Girl Scouts had to offer... one of which was a pen pal program. I wrote in and asked to be paired with a Girl Guide from Australia and that is how I met my friend, Jenny. In a time before e-mail, Facebook, blogging or texts, Jenny and I wrote several times a year, exchanged Christmas and Birthday gifts and kept up on each other's lives. Unlike many "pen friends" (as she calls them) over the years, Jenny and I remained faithful to keeping each other updated as we moved into high school, college and beyond.

Before this weekend, we met just once before. She was living in Great Britain and my mom and I were there for a short visit. We went to dinner and enjoyed cocktails in my hotel and then I flew back to America and she returned to her travels as a nanny before heading home to Australia. I will confess that since the influx of technology, we've actually written less - who picks up a pen anymore when you have 8,000 ways of communicating via computer?

But, when Jenny sent me a Facebook message to say that she and her sister, Heather, were coming to America and wanted to visit for a day in Philly, I was overjoyed.

Heather, Jenny and I with Philly's Greatest Ambassador

When Rachel and I met them at the train on Saturday, I asked them if they had ideas of what they would like to do, or if I should be their guide. They said they definitely wanted me to guide them... but also had a few ideas of their own:

"Could we go to a Wal-Mart (ended up being Target) and a Dollar Store?"

I was soon to discover that Jenny and Heather were interested in anything uniquely American or Philadelphian...

At Reading Terminal, we ate cheesesteaks (but not with the Philly Cream Cheese Heather anticipated or the knife and fork Jenny anticipated), bought crafts from the Amish and fought our way through crowds. At the Constitution Center we discovered that Jenny does not quite yet have the answers down to become an American citizen - at least if I'm not there to whisper hints in her ear. We drank beers at Triumph and when I casually mentioned that Cosi has s'mores, they exclaimed "S'MORES ARE COMPLETELY AMERICAN! WHO VOTES FOR S'MORES?" as two arms flew up.

Over coffee and marshmallows, Ed, Rachel and I filled them in on the health care bill and they filled us in on all the ways Australian health care kicks American health care butt. Shocker.

But, we have s'mores.

Jenny and Chloe - Chloe isn't smiling because she was chewing everyone's food at the time.

At the end of our all too short visit, Jenny and Heather presented me with a bag full of gifts: a bunch of Australian animal books for Chloe (the koala book is her fave so far, with the turtle book as a close second), a huge box of chocolates to share and a fabulous koala pendant for me - which I have yet to take off. Of course, the day was a present that I'll cherish for a long time - gifts were completely unnecessary.

As I drove them back to the train station after 10 very fast hours together, I chuckled to myself as Heather sat in the backseat and sang Australian songs to Chloe to try to get her to fall asleep. Of all the songs she sang, I knew just two of them: the one we all know by Men at Work and the one about the Kookabura... it didn't occur to me until later that the reason I know the Kookabura song is from Girl Scouts - the same reason I know Jenny.

Travel safe, dear friends... and come back soon.

Thanks for Visiting, Aunt Rachel

We heard a little bit ago that Aunt Rachel had landed in Jacksonville and is almost home. The time went by so fast! We had such a good time catching up, but it's a good thing we did our extensive (well, for one of us - good luck with that, Uncle Dave) shopping on Friday as the entire city of Philly (well, it felt like us) took Easter off! Alas, we were left to pizza and gelato and conversation - not a bad way to end a visit. :-)

Edited to Add:

Oh.My.God.

A day or so ago we were talking about babies and bodily functions (don't ask, ok) and Rachel made reference to her nephew pooping in the tub as a baby. I said, "Oh, Chloe actually has never done that." And that witch Rachel said, "well, not yet."

Cut to five minutes ago.

Not Me Monday: Happy Easter from Hugh Hefner

I most certainly did not post a photo of my child on the internet in which she is wearing bunny ears and no pants like a damn Playboy bunny (see post directly below this one).
Wasn't me.

Chloe Post: Easter and Aunt Rachel

This is Aunt Rachel. She came to visit me from Florida. We went to lots of neat places and she bought me a really cool grocery toy because Mommy told her how much I like the Acme. She stayed with us in a bed that Mommy somehow created out of our couch. That Mommy. She always has tricks up her sleeve. I was really happy to meet Aunt Rachel and hang out with her all weekend long. We had so much fun!!

I was so busy with Aunt Rachel that I forgot it was Easter! Luckily, the Easter Bunny didn't forget about me! The Bunny used the basket that Mom-Mom got me and filled it up with Little People, plastic eggs, tiny board books, a Pooh Bear slap bracelet, a little Easter purse and a cool shirt that says "One Sweet Chick." Wow!

I was so happy that I created an Easter Egg Dance of Joy.

Easter is fun and I like purses.

Also, we had BEAUTIFUL weather so I dragged my trike thru the kitchen to the back door and Mommy helped me get it outside. Whew - the breeze in my hair out on the open road - good stuff, man.

It was a really fun weekend!

Mommy will tell you all about Saturday later so stay tuned for more...

Chloe Post: Peddlers' Village

Yesterday, Mommy and Aunt Rachel took me to Peddlers' Village for lunching and shopping, but first Mommy got me these cool bunny ears at Target. I am all ready for Easter!

Here I am at a bakery. I was such a good girl while we were out and about that Mommy let me pick out a cookie from this huge rack. I picked out one with yellow and white sprinkles - it was awesome! We had so much fun. Aunt Rachel and Mommy each bought me a new toy and they also took me to Giggleberry Fair.

Giggleberry Fair is very loud and has lots of shining lights. I was very confused. I watched a really pretty carousel and Mommy said I could ride this mini one. But, I didn't really like it - I preferred when it didn't move, actually. Then, we used our last token to play Skeeball. Mommy threw the balls and I touched them for luck. We won tickets, but Mommy said they could only be redeemed for choking hazards so we gave our tickets away.

It was such a busy day - we had a great time and tonight I'm going to a brew pub to meet Mommy's friend from Australia! Wow!

Chloe Post: Wacky Wednesday - Wear PJs to School Day

On Wednesday, we had our last Wacky Wednesday and we all wore our jammies to school! I accessorized my yellow jammies with this cool Pooh Bear robe.

"The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize."

-Steel Magnolias

This is my friend, Griffin. He really likes me and gives me lots of hugs. He gives Mommy hugs, too. One morning, I was giving Mommy fits and she said she was going to ask Griffin's Mommy if she wanted to trade, but thankfully she forgot to follow up.

Meet this Month's Featured Walker

Ambre is our featured walker this month. She hails from Dallas-Fort Worth and will be walking there in November. You can click here to donate to her walk.

Read more about Ambre over there on the right (look for the pink type).

Remember - the first person to make a donation (regardless of size) and then comment back on this post will get a prize!

To recap previous prizes: Aunt Jennifer will get a set of handmade thank you notes if I ever see her again and Grams received a set of handmade Easter cards to send to her peeps. (Get it: peeps are people but also fun Easter desserts.)

Go 3-Day!

Chloe Post: WHERE are my Wacky Wednesday photos??

Mommy needs to get it TOGETHER.