sickypoo

Posted in let me let me update ya, parenting apparently? by ElaineMarie

hi. how was your monday? i hope it got off on a good foot.

ours didn’t. it got started off on foot, and hand, and mouth. yep, poor girl woke up with hand, foot, and mouth disease. she’s taking it in stride, though. the doc even commented on how unfazed darla seemed by her sickness. see, here she is in her super hero cape from aunt colleen. she’s showing she’s tough and gonna kick this virus’ butt!

so yesterday was one in which i was constantly fielding one thing after another. but that’s life. so i’m posting a couple pics of some nicer moments of the weekend to boost morale around here.

fro yo with friends – second weekend in a row and that was mostly motivated by mommy. and pink bath water. it’s not a very good picture and you can’t see it that well in the photo but darla was in heaven. grandma and grandpa tucker had gotten her some effervescent bath salts and when they dissolved they turned the water pink. she keep saying “pinkest water ever!”

now if you’ll excuse me i have to go wait on my daughter hand and foot….. and mouth.

sorry, couldn’t resist the pun. i know you secretly loved it.

1Feb2012

last week i…

Posted in kiddie-do, let me let me update ya, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

did some things that were NOT birthday related.

we finally got the girl out of the house more. we ended up at firefly one day and it turns out firefly now has sing-a-longs. it was great fun watching the kiddos jump in front of the microphone. here’s darla’s turn, where she stood in front of the mic and looked proud but did not sing one syllable of the song. maybe she’ll get it the next time….

did some puzzles, mostly by myself. darla does not like puzzles for some reason. she likes dumping them, turning them over and sorting but not putting them back together. more for me i guess.

i found the perfect set of sheets for the tent bed at salvation army. i tried to encourage a tea party in said tent but, alas, that required too much sitting still in one spot for my girl.

i got darla a shake on her last day of being 2. just because.

triple reused brown bags to celebrate aunt colleen’s birthday. these bags were from our take out lunch, turned art project for daddy + darla, turned last minute wrapping paper idea for auntie’s 30th birthday gifts. after that we were satisfied with tossing in the recycling bin.

and that’s a wrap on last week. bye!

30Jan2012

darla lovin’

Posted in let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

little miss was the recipient of a lot of love this past week/weekend. thank you too all our dear friends who sent her special messages & gifts. your generosity is, as always, overwhelming.

here are two special items from last week. the first being this chris monday comic featuring Darla from our trip to Cosi with Mabel and Chris. Mabel bequeathed a dress unto darla. darla wore it the rest of, well, always. she might even be wearing it now.

oh also, that’s me wearing the back pack. smiley.

the second piece of lovin’ was this super cute video birthday message from our california based buds. we miss them terribly.

Drink More Water

View original post

24Jan2012

last week i…

Posted in let me let me update ya, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

painted chevrons on everything,

treated myself to a Brezel after earning cash dollars being part of a research focus group.

took darla to Wonderlab in Bloomington, IN. Thanks again COSI membership. here is darla enjoying her favorite experiment at the museum – parachutes.

sat by my parents’ fire and rescued woody from dress-up,

took darla to roscoe’s tacos for the best darn tacos around. oh and beans and cheese.

then took darla to literal bouncy castles where she hugged inflatable gnomes,

and finally, i brought the girl home. introduced her to her new “special darla place” that i have been working on.

i’m really happy to look back on this post and be reminded of the small successes of this past week. i feel like most of my objectives for the past week were not met due to extenuating circumstances, weather, a toddler’s whims, etc. but even though i didn’t accomplish all my task goals it was still an ok week. lots of good little moments tucked in between the stressful times and the neverending unpacking of boxes.

the house is coming together and it will all be finished by this weekend. because that is the date we have set to open up our home to others for darla’s birthday/mike’s going away festivities. let’s hope everyone is ok with looking at some blank walls.

12Jan2012

a work in progress

Posted in let me let me update ya, Run Da House by ElaineMarie

the casa nueva es muy buena. but it’s a lot of slow-going work. i’m feeling impatient and rather sloth like. i’m horrified by the amount of television little miss has had in the past couple days. I can now thank the littles for her desire to wear “a tail” everywhere we go. and i let her. why? because it’s easier than fighting about it. and also it’s cute and imaginative. i don’t care if people think she’s weird. i want her to know her ideas are good ones.

the view from these shots reveals it hasn’t ALL been bad. highlights: 1. playing in new spaces 2. better backyardage 3. left here to watch over our vehicle by previous tenants. the number of catholic artifacts left behind leads me to believe that this house is either inhabited by a poltergeist we are yet to encounter or was inhabited by a latino family that loved dogs. the dog part i am sure of 4. cupboards before… 5. cupboards la fonda-fied. yes, there are some paint slip ups but i fixed some and this is just a stage in the evolution of the cabinets 6 & 7 darla’s last morning at the old house. the new house has a long hallway between her room and ours. i love to hear her feet running down that hall every morning 8. walking in the hood. 9. excellent coffee shop across the street 10. cup a day habit (of milk) 11. getting cousinfriend in on the tv watching 12, 13, 14. don’t trip. no use enforcing the “no toys in the middle of the floor” rule while the whole place is basically in the middle of the floor.

our neighborhood has a park, a pub where kids eat free on sundays and a fab coffee joint. we’re set and i’m not moving anymore. ever. for the next year. or so.

dolihaze

next up: tucker christmas

1. breakfast with grandpa at the abe martin lodge 2. displaying her latest talent which she calls “tick-tocking her eyes” 3. the beginning of a 24 hr winter wonderland 4. venturing out into the snow with grandpa 5. i want this hearth in my daily life 6. darla’s thinking ” and so this is christmas…and what have i done?….” 7. michael 8. Big Woods Brewing Company Cattail. mmmm yummy.

29Dec2011

holidaze

Posted in Kiddie Hangouts, let me let me update ya, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

the last of our christmastime festivities are wrapping up today and tomorrow it’s back to columbus to pack up and settle into our new abode. i’ll share our past week with you now, while i watch the fellowship of the ring. ahhhh holiday traditions.

first up: the wright stuff

1 & 2: family viewing of new muppets movie. popcorn overturned after 8 seconds in the theater. 3: lunch 4: salt dough ornaments with aunt colleen and cousin clarebear 5: upon discovering her stocking she exclaimed “what in the world is in here!” 6: opening presents and goodies with grandma 7, 8 & 9: so much enjoyment from a pair of wings and a lollipop 10: said lollipop 11: she said she was knitting a “thneed” with her new tent poles.

these last three pictures i’ve saved for a section of their own. the best part of christmas this year was seeing the littlest cousinfriends together. they have a relationship all their own now and they L-O-V-E each other like whoa. I want to go on record as saying that with this move mike and i weren’t sure, at first, if we were going to stay in columbus. we love this city but it’s not our forever spot. we considered moving on while we still have a flexible life but decided the reason for staying a bit longer is for these sassafrassies right here. there’s no guarantee that fortuna will bestow brothers or sisters or more cousins upon either girl. we owe them the opportunity to develop a strong bond. i say that if we give it one more year these girls will have a established a relationship that time and distance won’t be able to asunder.

hiatus

hi friends,

how was your christmas? merry? jolly? bright? white?

i hope any combination of all of the above.

all was well here. busy busy hectic and busy. but ohhhh so much fun. christmas continues for the tucker half of my family. we’re currently “christmasing” at the abe martin lodge in brown county indiana. the setting is pretty ideal at the moment.

i’m typing next to a crackling fire. the view outside the windows is of snow covered trees and cabins. the lodge is decked out in holiday decor and rustic, natural adornments. kids are running around, families are playing board games in the game lobby. the kitchen is churning out wonderful homestyle food. my child is asleep and i’m enjoying some peace on the internet with my father here by the fire.

maybe that last sentence didn’t fit in with the rest of the painted picture but did you hear me? MY CHILD IS ASLEEP. she’s been very rambunctious due to the lax environment the holidays have created and she’s taking her first nap in what seems like weeks. so i’m catching up on some things on the interwebs by this here fire while i shove my face full of stocking stuffed jelly beans.

semi-quiet solitude: it’s the best christmas gift yet…

ps. i have lots of pics and memories to share from our holiday celebrations but i’ll update on those soon. i’m trying my best to stay present with family time and disengaged from technology. present moments excluded.

23Dec2011

some things worth sharing

Posted in let me let me update ya by ElaineMarie

for viewing:
what do you like to dip your chips in? egg nog??

conference with dad

celebrating winter solstice

this is how she covers her ears while making shakes with dad

these are her latest “art projects.” somewhere along the line she’s gotten it into her head that markers + tape = art project. maybe it qualifies as found object art.

for reading:

flash mob breast feeding

drunk history christmas

teaching about gender

columbus historical society to invade COSI

dadisthenewmom 12 reviews of christmas: start here

and just a couple more wonderful things that i love:

looooook at the woooonderful co-sleeping bed booook via peaceful parenting. designed by photographer Yusuke Suzuki for her own co-sleeping family.

and if any of you are printing out your gift tags, especially if you’re gifting to me, here ya go:

by rebecca’s misc

19Dec2011

weekend view

Posted in let me let me update ya, love and happiness by ElaineMarie

weekending:

moments from the weekend: 1. making breakfast with darla. occupy ladder. 2. child labor laws or no child labor laws, i take help when i can get it. 3. don’t tell me what to do! sign from a visit to columbus museum of art 4. clay art made for me by hubster and daughtster 5. animal building at columbus museum of art 6. she’s pretty pleased with herself for climbing up where she’s not supposed to 7. she looks sweet but she’s really formulating a plan to rip my decorations down. i know this because she told me so right afterward. 8. too cold to smile. 9. pretty holiday brightness at scioto mile 10. breaking out my festive socks purchased in LA. keeping me warm in style and reminding me of warmer days.

can i now narrate some of my favorite moments of the weekend to you? what was that? you’re too busy? it’ll only take a minute.

ahem.

one of my favorite things about having a girl is that if you throw a coupla tutus into the mix it turns any mundane task into a party. while folding laundry darla marched in with tutus and asked that i put one on, too. you know i never turn down a tutu, so i put it on then put the nutcracker suite on and soon i was pirouetting from drawer to drawer filing laundry away and having a blast. probably the most fun i’ve had doing housework evah.

the columbus museum of art was our playground for about two hours sunday. mike hadn’t been there in years and this was his first time with darla. our visit was soundtracked by school choirs singing christmas carols in the hall upstairs and it was sooooo cool. darla actually paid attention to the paintings and stayed with us for 90% of the time.

CMA really impresses me. besides the kids interactive zone on the first floor, they have interactive stations in all the galleries. plus they offer free admission on sundays. there’s really no excuse for not exposing the wee one with the set up at CMA.

we all put together an impressionist puzzle using the real piece as our reference model. and having the added bonus of the place sounding like a rehearsal of the vienna boys choir is going to be hard to live up to in the future. i will want it to sound like angels every time we go back. oh well.

around dusk we loaded up, grabbed hot chocolate and headed to the scioto mile. the city has the park all decked out in lights. we sat on a swing sipping our cocoas while darla pointed out different things she saw: helicopters, planets, cell phone towers, etc. we strolled down to where the fountains run in the summer and as soon as we made it to the open area WHAM!’s “last christmas” started up on the sound system. i hope i will never forget the three of us dancing to wham in the twinkly twilight, free and without a care.

it was a good weekend. how much more holidayness can we pack in this next week? we shall see….