Thanks to Amanda for tagging me! I like reading other people's tags, I don't necessarily like filling them out myself (which probably isn't obvious since this is the second post in a row that is a tag), but here we go.

What are the last three things you purchased?

- A zoo pass - which I immediately regretted and remembered why I only renew them every other year!
- A pair of shorts - I love designer jeans but really hate spending money on things that I know are going to be covered in cute chocolate hand prints and runny noses, so these fit perfectly and the price didn't make me sick to my stomach.
- A sweater for Dave - I only paid $.20! It was at Banana Republic, it was supposed to be $17 (can you tell I hate full price anything?), it rung up as $10.20, I had a $10 coupon from my banana card and viola - $.20.

What are the last three songs you downloaded?
albums
- Viva la Vida, Coldplay - I like it ok
- Here We Stand, The Fratellis - love this and Costello Music, really fun to listen to
- No!, They Might Be Giants - I think I might like it more than my kids

What were the last three places you visited?
Like visit visit? A trip?
- the zoo
- Park City, a girls' trip without more than one girl
- ???, probably Texas

What are your three favorite movies?

Ooh, hard because I love all movies but not many to watch over and over

-Mansfield Park - I watch this when I am sick, I love it

-The Parent Trap - the original one

-Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? - I love this, makes me laugh each time, Dave totally doesn't

What are your three favorite possessions?

- a gold bracelet I wore when I was really little
- our house - great schools, great neighbors, great location
- ???? - I'll think about this

What three things can you not live without?

I, like Amanda, am going to assume husband and kids are a no-brainer.
- family and friends
- apparently, the Internet and cell phones (pretty much the same genre, right?)
- knowledge and education, although it has been in hiding for the last little while, I am sure I will find it

What would be your three wishes?

Obviously, I want the success and safety of my family, peace, love, unity and such, but let's be a little whimsical:
- Unlimited lifetime spending allotment at Anthropologie - think of all the money I would save if I was gifted all my wardrobe and housewares here?
- A healthy, well-toned body with minimal effort
- 80 degree temperatures all year long

What are three things you haven't done yet?
Just three?
- I haven't seen the new Batman movie (and although we are planning on going tonight, children with fevers may hinder that a bit) ****
- been to all the countries in the world I would like
- found my niche

What are your three favorite dishes?
- Chile Rellenos from Fiesta Mexicana
- Lamb Boti Kabob Masala
- garlic, basil, mozzarella and balsamic pizza

What three celebrities do you want to hang out with most?
- Ellen Degeneres - I love her, she is so funny
- Julia Roberts
- Bono - we could go on humanitarian missions all over the world, change politicians minds about where money should go, I could be a back up singer or just dry his brow in between sets...

Name three things that freak you out:
- deep water, the thought of drowning
- the thought of anything horrible and debilitating happening to my children
- the spider that I just flushed down the toilet, I often think that they will swim back up and get me in my sleep!

If you could describe yourself in three words, what would they be?
this is really hard, I think it really depends on the moment and am I describing what I am? who I am? how I feel about myself right now...
- curious
- impatient
- blessed

Name three unusual things you are good at:
- I also have a lot of knowledge (it is in there somewhere, I have to keep reminding myself), I know a little about a lot of things, not enough to be an expert, but enough to have a slightly educated opinion
- I am very dexterous with my toes, much to my family's annoyance
- I can remember phone numbers once I have dialed them two or three times, useless in most situations and takes up needed space in my brain

What are three things you are currently coveting?
- a remodeled home
- central air
- a larger vocabulary

Name three bloggers you are tagging:
- Linds
- Liz
- Jenny
- Lucy
- Paige
- Tiffany
and anyone else that reads this, seriously, let me know and I want to come and see!
**** I wrote this out before we went to see Batman, which we just got back from, a couple of observations:
Christian Bale is quite handsome. Heath Ledger was freaky good. No one under the age of 13 should see this show - sorry, just my opinion.

Tagged!

Actually, not me, just Eli and Caroline, so I will be their scribe. I also was tagged by Amanda, I will do that later this week. So here it is Liz.

Caroline

Eye Color: Brown

Hair Color: Dark Blonde?

Favorite Movie: Little Einsteins: Our Big Huge Adventure

Favorite Book: Going on a Bear Hunt

Place to go: Farmer's Market and Oma's and to the store

Restaurant: McDonalds

Favorite Food: Pizza and chocolate (notice that chocolate is not considered a candy, but a food)

Favorite Candy: Daddy's candy (a jar we keep full on daddy's desk: smarties, runts, mike and ikes, anything with sugar...)

Favorite Color: pink and purple

Favorite Toy: Shorty - a stuffed animal cat that she sleeps with

Favorite Song: Fidelity by Regina Spector, although Caroline calls it "ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.....)

Favorite Game: eeboo Kooki Bee abc cards

Favorite Cereal: lucky charms, but I don't buy it because they only eat the charms!

Eli

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Browner than Caroline's

Favorite Movie: The Incredibles

Favorite Book: The Lorax and The Sneetches

Place to go: Oma and Opa's

Restaurant: Burger King (but this in only true because they have Pokemon!)

Favorite Food: Noodles

Favorite Candy: Skittles

Favorite Color: Orange (5 years running)

Favorite Toys: His Pokemon guys (I really thought I had bypassed this craze, apparently not)

Favorite Song: City of Blinding Lights by U2 or Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol (I should write out what he thinks the lyrics are but I am still translating them, it is too funny)

Favorite Game: Lego Star Wars for the Wii

Favorite Cereal: Lucky Charms (see above)

If you have children that know my children, you are tagged. If I know your children, you are tagged. If you have a picture of your children on your blog, you are tagged. Come back and let me know when you do your post for this!

Things I am eyeing this week...

Just a few things I have seen on etsy this week. And, I'll warn you, I'm going to use the descriptive word "beautiful" a lot tonight, my vocabulary is still in hiding.

Look at all the special details in this Birdhouse Brunch Brooch by Cheri Lewis. No secret that I love birds, but I love the little particulars, the cat, the flowers.

Again, it is all in the details. The artist, San Fran 67, has a lot of paper sculptures for sale. I really like the colors in Owl Tree No. 2.

These Glowbowls are magnificent. I want some in my living room, in my bedroom and outside on my patio. The rest of Diana Fayt's shop, one black bird, is beautiful too.























I have two stamp blocks from India in my house, I think they are so beautiful, I would love to see what they were used for. I love this hand carved block that was used to print on fabric. You can see it in Creative Rags store.




















My aunt would totally love this bug 6 from burrowburrow, it is just quirky enough. The other little sculptures in the shop are really fun.
























I think this Kid Alphabet Print would be great in my playroom, or our "toy room" upstairs. I love the bright colors and whimsy. Lucky Paperie is a great place to find other colorful prints and beautiful stationary.





















Another place to find some superduper prints is in Jessica Gonacha's shop I love this gocco print You Are So Loved - another one I need to hang somewhere in my house - maybe above each of our beds. I also really like the one that says "You Are My Sunshine".






























And of course, there is always a bag that I am eyeing. I like this Kite Bag by acajou. Her bags look different and well constructed, including the clutches.


























This mask (and others like them in the shop, abigail brown's) are perfect to add to your dress up box. There are quite a few to choose from, I like them all.

Genius

and let me tell you why. I can't take a photo at all. I wish I could. Luckily I have Paige, I mean Miss Paige. These are brilliant. She has totally captured my kids' personalities. Even the pics that aren't picture perfect are totally perfect. Dave and I just got our first look at them and love each of them. Book her now folks, before she becomes super famous and only takes pictures of my kids and Angelina and Brad's.



Such an Eli face...

Love her eyebrows...

Love this one because Eli is looking at Paige, but Caroline is looking at Eli...

Love Eli's cheeks in this one...

Good little brother, good boy...

Dave wasn't planning on being in any of the photos, so I love that she caught this, so perfect because he is such a good dad.

Paigie, I love them all and there are even more than this! I can't wait to get them printed and put up in our home. Thank you so so so much, I adore them. And you.

My mom gave us this old, Italian iron and glass table and chair patio set.

I re-upholstered it and now it is cheery and bright and Dave is trying to understand the colors.

Then, my parents trimmed up their Lindon tree and from it my mom and I made this:

In my head, for years now, I have wanted to do a screen of some sort here, but I have been looking at it all day trying to decide if it is magnificent or laughably awful. I think it might be a little of both. But, it is a new look for our patio.

And the kids are pretty mesmerized by the glass and copper and such. And I kind of like having no rhyme or reason to things.

sleep tight

Have I ever mentioned that Joey and Eli share a room except that they really don't? For the first 6 months Joey slept in a bassinet in our room, E had his room with the crib set up in it. Then we moved Joey over to his crib and we thought it was a good idea to have E just sleep in our room for a while until Joey started sleeping through the night. That was 8 months ago. Joey still doesn't sleep through the night (lay off perfect parents!) Eli falls asleep on my side of the bed, then we move him to a feather bed with his blankets (he has many that he is attached to) and stuffed animals of choice (his hippo and right now a basket full of pokemons). Just now, as I am working on editing and such, Dave asked me to come up and see Eli. On the way up, I asked if he had fallen of the bed, because I had heard a big thud a few minutes before. Dave wasn't sure, but this is what I saw:

I should be more embarrassed to show you that our son sleeps on a feather bed, but this was just too funny. The bed wasn't even laid out properly, it was still rolled up against the wall. He had fallen out of my bed and just wandered over to his "bed" and curled up. This is how we live. We'll figure it all out eventually.

On another note, we had pictures with the wonderful Miss Paige (you have to call her this when she is in photographer mode). It was so fun. Ben and Linds came along with little Josie. I think I finally won her over with a bag of popcorn (yes!). We went to Liberty Park, where they still have on old fair park ride area (I'm sure there is a real name here, but it isn't coming to me). This fantastic old carousel, a Ferris wheel that was in repair, cars to ride, sno cones. I can't wait to see Miss Paige's photos, but her are a few of mine (none of Joey, bad mom). When we left, Eli asked if Paige, Linds and Ben and Jose were coming over and Caroline said, "Mom, I like Josie!". Thanks Paige, I can't wait to see what you got, minus Eli's super model smile.

and this is my future daughter in law, I don't care which boy she marries. And I'll fight for her, I know she is in high demand!

It was a great time spent with some of my favorite people.

I didn't know about this show, but now that I do, I love it. This dance makes me tear up every time I see it. I don't know why. So much emotion. I told my friend about it and she made fun of me UNTIL she saw it and said she had chills and watched it at least three times. Did anyone else see it? I think these two are my favorite couple.

Babycakes

When Eli was about three, we would lay down at bedtime and talk. I would ask him if he would always be my Babycakes, he said yes. I asked him if I could always call him Babycakes, he said yes. He has since outgrown that name. He is so far from being a baby, he is my oldest and my baby all at the same time. He doesn't get enough credit for being such a great kid. I think oldest children always have more pressure on them, I expect him to be more responsible, to not tease (he has too many genes of this to avoid it, sadly), to help me, to be perfect. He isn't, but he is so much more.

Eli was a hard birth. I labored for hours. The doctor all but attached a suction cup to Eli's head and then to a truck and pulled him out of me. Seriously. His noggin ended up being on the large end of the scale and let's just say my body didn't appreciate it at all. But do you know what he did when he emerged from that canal? I kid you not, he smiled. Truly smiled. I have quite a few witnesses if you want to dispute this.

This kid is physically gifted. He was walking by 9 months, running two weeks later and hasn't slowed down. He is shorter than most of his friends by inches, but you would never know it by how he moves and runs and jumps and hits the ball and swings a racket and flips on the trampoline. I love to see his little legs and muscles. He is strong.

He loves to learn. He reads so well, because he wants to. He soaks in what he is taught, he understands it a little better each day until he knows how to do it. He wants to be good at things. He gets frustrated when he isn't. Fortunately, his dad is a natural teacher and calmly works with him.

He LOVES to be social. He wants to be in the middle of it. He wants 13 play dates a day, or more. He is an equal opportunity friend, he loves almost everybody. He has really good friends. I think he is a really good friend. I think all kids have their days where playing isn't a good idea, but his are far and few between.

He is sensitive. Once, while watching LOST, he walked in from his bedroom, we didn't see him. He came over and looked very sad. The scene he had just seen was an emotional one, he asked if the girl would be ok and why was she so sad and what can we do to make her happy. He feels what others around him are feeling. He gives hugs because he knows that they will make the recipient happy. He greets loved ones enthusiastically, sincerely because he is happy they are there. He is wonderful.

His siblings love him. From the moment we drop him off somewhere to play or to attend school, Caroline is counting down the minutes to when they can play together. Like most brothers and sisters, the way they treat each other can be maddening, but they truly love each other and he watches out for her and she watches out for him. She loves him like crazy. He is the coolest, the most awesome, the nicest and sometimes the "teasiest" brother. Joey laughs at him. This morning, Joey crawled over and pushed him on the ground so he could hug him and lay on him. Tears in the eyes for me. He also plays games with Joey and thinks Joey is "Super Joey".

Why am I saying all this? Eli is 6 today. Six years ago, at 5:26pm, he was placed in my arms and I fell in love with this nameless child. My heart about swelled out of my chest. I couldn't stop crying from the magnitude of love. His birth has started the most difficult era of my life, Motherhood. No one can ever tell you just how much it takes - emotionally, physically, spiritually - but there is nothing like it. I'm blessed to have him, and those that have come since. His smile is one of the best things on Earth. His hug is candy. Seeing him develop is miraculous.

p.s. E got a skateboard for his birthday, so Ben and Linds, you need to give him some pointers when you are in town.

Thanks to all that entered the drawing, the winners are, thanks to random.org:

anja

lacey

and jenifer

email me your addresses, piccalillitoo@gmail.com

thanks for playing, y'all can do it, the punchneedle I mean, it is a lot of fun.

Wax on, wax off

"Wax on, wax off" has taken on a whole new meaning to me in the last few years, but from 1984 on it meant The Karate Kid. I just saw it at Target for $5 and had to buy it.

Growing up, my friend Brookie (who lived across the street) asked if we could watch this EVERY day. I think we watched it at least 4 times a week, maybe more. So, today, I bought it and dropped it off at her house. I think there were tears in her eyes. We don't see each other very much, even though somehow we ended up in the same city (not the one we grew up in) and even maybe just 2 miles between us. She is one of those friendships that take no effort, are comfortable at all times, but you never seem to be able to see each other.

Remember Bananarama's "Cruel Summer"? And all the other songs totally take me back. My most memorable line from the movie? "Put him in a bodybag Johnny!" in that totally weasel-y voice. Remember?