Friday Funtabulous

This video is from a while ago, I found it and couldn't help but put it up...

I've been taking care of myself and remembering that Ami is 2 which has helped with my patience and crankiness.

This morning we listened to Andrew Bird while we ate Peanut Butter Puffins with fresh sliced strawberries.

We played a little bit before we got ready for our day.
We went to open gym at the gymnastics center.

Then we went to Eileen's to have lunch. Ami was so hungry she had half of a honey graham Z-Bar in the car.

To get to Eileen's from where we were, we drove down the 'tree tunnel' as Ami calls it to get to the other side of the river. While we were doing that, I put on some Louis Armstrong. Build A Dream On started playing and every time I hear that song, I think of the first time Mike and I kissed.  We were working on a project and afterward we were driving back to our neighborhood in his car and he put on this Louie Armstrong song...  I texted him this memory and he said he was a smooth operator.
Ah I love him.

Ar Eileen's Ami and I ordered the couscous w cauliflower that had feta, al dente green lentils, onions chopped up finely and of course couscous and cauliflower.
As you can see, I think she liked it.
I'm thinking I could make it with quinoa instead of couscous to make it more nutrient packed.

Then she ate a bit of the devil food cupcake she picked out. Haha, she was so excited about this.

We went home and she took a nap.

She woke up and we went to the water park. I can't believe how much she is growing up. This morning she said, "I put this (a hair band) on my foot for safe keeping."
What!!??

We came home and had green eggs (eggs with the salad booster) and whole wheat toast.  Then I made some ice milk and strawberry sauce.
Haha, Ami was really excited we made 'ice cream.'
I forget sometimes she is old enough to get excited about making things.

When it was bath time, Ami was asking me about my scar on my belly, asking me what happened.
I told her they took skin from my belly and put it on my finger. She said "Oh, it's better?"
I said, yeh, it's better. Then she kissed my scar.

Oh my goodness.

Right now she's in bed and I am going to get in bed and watch some more Mad Men. It's streaming on Netflix.

I do double takes when I walk into the girls' bathroom at the Y.  I think I walked into the boys' bathroom. I am so embarrassed I do that.

blk.- the new water.

My aunt brought the mint water to the beach which got my mom started which got me started. I need to grow some mint.

Earlier I said I was going to Wegman's to buy blk water. I totally did after Mike read up on it then I looked into pH balances of the body a little more. Some info on alkaline and pH
The blk water says it has a high pH of +9.0 which apparently is amazing.
The typical American diet is mostly acidic. The acidic foods include meat, dairy, grains, coffee, sodas, and artificial sweeteners.
Alkaline foods are most fruits, green veggies, lentils, spices, and herbs.
I got all this info from the website which has even more info.
Pretty nutty...

Fyi, the bottle is clear plastic.

Anyway, I taught class this morning...

and afterwards Papa left to be a rock star as Ami and I hung out at the house.  We were both kind of tired. I got to take a teeny nap which I greatly appreciated.
Then we went to Target to get more diapers and wipes as well as a birthday present for Lilly, a little lady who is turning 3.

I found a microphone and a harmonica, I thought she might enjoy (now that I think about it... her parents, too... oops).  The microphone was from B. and is pretty spiffy. Ami enjoyed it until we found a Dora microphone. Dude.  It plays songs from Dora and she was smitten. I had to get that, too.

We were rocking out to the B52s on our way to Target but on our way back, we rocked out to Ami singing Dora. I am not complaining. It was so cute.

The microphone is not in this picture and I'm surprised.

We went home and while I made some lemon and potato soup w kale, we ate some cherries.

Lemon Kale Potato soup... It's tasty.

For dessert we had strawberries and some Galia melon and Juan Canary  melon.

After we ate, Ami took a bath, I painted her nails as she sat on the potty. She picked out pink and sparkly. They are pretty awesome.
Ami fell asleep quickly after her bath and Elmo stories.  Oh!!!  I almost forgot, Ami kissed my belly which was so super sweet. I asked her if she kissed Ollie and she said yes.  Oh my goodness. I love my family.
I wish I wasn't sleeping without my my favorite person these next few nights -sigh-.

I just found this in my drop box.  Thank you, Mike! I wish Bart's wiener was showing.

I Love Monsters and Libraries.

On our way to Wegman's Monday,  Ami and I were listening to the radio. Ina May Gaskin was a guest on the Diane Rehm Show. I wish I could have listened to it the whole way through, but I got just a little snippit. She mentioned that 1% of births in the U.S. happen at home, while that 1% gets the flack for all the birth mishaps.

I think Midwives have more knowledge overall about giving birth than doctors and hospital nurses do.  In one of the books I read when I was pregnant with Ami, doctors aren't being taught how to deliver breech births anymore. If the baby is breech, it's automatically a C-Section. The art of helping a woman give birth isn't being acknowledged and is becoming lost.

I've been doing my exercises to train the baby into birthing position- I've been doing the Kegels as well. They're so important and doctor delivered mommas aren't told to do them. It is amazing to me.

Don't get me wrong, doctors are handy in emergencies... I think they know they are only needed when surgery is involved so they involve it often.

On to another subject...  

Tuesday was lovely.

The weather chilled on the heat front for a bit and we went down to Reston to visit one of my favorite ppl.

We met at his house then drove to a sushi place to pick up sushi. While we waited for our order, we went into the used bookstore and browsed. Ami WAS SO CRANKY!!! and my patience is much thinner than it has been so we didn't get the book I wanted to get for her.   Ah well... I realized she was a bit hungry which contributed to her crankiness.  

On our way back to the house, I gave Ami a banana and she calmed down a bit.

We ate beautifully plated sushi on the balcony garden. It was so nice. Ami ate a whole bowl of edamame and tried just a little bit her sweet potato roll.  I ate the others for her as well as the cucumber avocado rolls.  Yummmm.  

We played with bubbles then I realized we needed to head home to beat traffic.

Right before we left, Ami played with two toy dragons she wanted to take home.  She didn't, but later on she remembered them and asked about the dragons.

Before we went home, we stopped by my sister-in-law's house where my mother-in-law and the fam were. They were busy helping Trish get the downstairs of the house ready for new renters. 

We played w Thomas and Cathy upstairs then we ordered dinner from Tarntip. It was pretty tasty. 

After dinner, Ami and Cathy read a fairy book together.  I'm thinking we could make one of our own.

Either for her or for Ami's friend Sarah... or both.

We came home. I watched Tattoo School which was pretty lame. 

I've honestly been on the fence about it, considering I know how hard it is to get an apprenticeship and deal with what you get dealt esp when you are a minority in the field, specifically being openly gay. 

But what I realize an apprenticeship does is break down egos... something I think is very important for tattooing.

If tattoo schools were like art schools, I think maybe tattooers may feel differently.  The students would get critiqued and broken down.  I think there may be less appreciation for what students have going to tattoo school than if they went through an apprenticeship. I heard a lot of praise and the students were able to take more risks than if they were out of school. The school also seems like it is producing future scratch shop owners and gaining money doing so.
Not that art school isn't shit. It is.
I'm also thinking ppl going to a tattoo school aren't taught what a good tattoo is, and probably don't go about figuring it out.

I think this is what most tattooers are trying to say but are too blinded by rage to express it.

On a lighter note, here is a monster that Cookie Monster is presenting that Ami drew.

And here Ami is playing at the Library. I may or may not join a "Mommy Group" that meets at the library every third Wednesday. There were some crazy kids up in there- standing on tables and just causing a raucous. I could hear them on the other side of the library. 

I was SO TIRED AND CRANKY today.  Ugh.  I still am. My tummy is acidic and my brain is mushy. I barely played with Ami today, I just tried to sleep after we got home from the Library.  I actually had her asleep by driving around the neighborhood.  I got her up the stairs and then she woke up and cried and wanted food.  Ah.  Bad timing and poor planning on my part.

Ollie at 28 weeks.

OMG.

I had leftover cake and an Epson salt/tea tree oil/sweet basil bath last night. It was awesome.
I'm also thinking about naming the lotions I make 'It's Punk.'

This morning I made cherry almond pancakes.
I used Isa's Perfect Pancake recipe, halved, and added about two handfuls of chopped cherries and a handful of sliced almonds.
Perfect Pancakes

The finished crayons we melted together!  Revived and pretty.

Ami helped Papa draw on my belly for this week!  She had so much fun, the next day she asked to do it again.

In a little bit, we're going to Wegman's to try some BLK water and get some more jojoba oil for more lotions. Then we're going to Target to get some containers.

I work today so I'll drop of Ami and go to work.  I really miss teaching, though. I am grateful for the desk job, it's just so different.

I took a quick snap shot of the Mazda Pick-up. It looks just like our 85 Pick-up and it's been sooo long since I'd seen one.  When I DO see one, it's brown. I wonder if this one has power steering.

And this is my monkey.....

We drew on the window for Papa's Birthday. Ami said she was drawing a fish and she ate it.

That is why she has color on her face... it's fish drawing.

And all day Saturday, Ami talked about Papa's party. She was so excited. She didn't want to take a nap. She fell asleep coming home from picking up the cake and stayed asleep while carrying her and the (ice cream) cake, putting it in the freezer.  It wasn't until I laid her down on her bed she woke up saying, "No bed! No bed!"

Jenna, Jay, Trish, Matt, and Larry took Mike out for some drinks. Gabby, Ami, and I stayed home and watched my censored version of Working Girl as I got the final touches done.

Here, Jenna and Trish are watching Ami freeze ppl w the freezer pack that was used moments ago for her bumped noggin.

It's the King Mike... and of course by the end of the night, Ami was calling Papa, "Mike."

The baking of the brie w fig preserves and almonds as well as the bevy of essential oils and jojoba oil in my bathroom was the beginning of the great debate of the night....  The boys were telling me I was a hippie.  

I'm not.     

I'm punk.  

Look at Matt laughing at me.

Sometime after thi,s the dance party kicked off with Craig making a toast. I had asked him earlier if he'd efficient Mike and my renewing of our vows that night.  I didn't share a vow really, I just told him that I was really lucky to know him and the amazement I have that we exist together ( I mean... I think I said this I don't remember much cuz I was pretty emotional. I also didn't want to get too deep cuz ... I didn't want to cry).

Thank you Craig for being awesome and incidentally being a fantastic D.J.  I'd hire you.

"On a rope, on a rope!"

My beautiful dancing lady...

Ami's bite marks in the cake which will explain her Don Juan chocolate facial hair...

And this was the start of Matt's barfalanche...