Photos of the Week: Adventures in Babysitting!

Hello everyone!  I hope you all had an enjoyable long weekend.

While I'm mentally getting back into the blogging groove, I thought I'd share some cute Photos of the Week with you.

This past weekend, we enjoyed babysitting our friend's daughter - and Anna helped! Check her out:

Cool, a real live baby instead of a doll!

Friday Fun: Owl Butt!

That got your attention, I hope!

Those of you who are my Facebook friends might have already seen this, but I thought I'd share it with the rest of you and also provide the back story because I'm still amused by it.

Anna used to have nighttime pull-ups with owls on them. They had princesses too, but some had owls and moons on the butt. Every night, she would go through the stack and pick out the owl ones. When we would eventually run out and were left with princesses, she would whine and say, "I wanna be owl butt!" Unfortunately, for some reason, I can no longer find those pull-ups, so we've settled for Cinderella ones.

What Rejuvenates You?

As I stare at the computer screen before me, my tired eyes squint because it's taking my utmost effort to concentrate. Sometimes the letters blur in and out of focus as my eyelids attempt to close. I'm not giving in, but I've gotta tell you, it's hard. And coffee isn't enough to help this time.

Recently, my family and I have had some good things happen to us, which has been a much-needed happiness booster. Yet, like so many things, there's the high.... and then the crash. Last week was amazing. And I'm still happy, but the lethargy is starting to creep in again. There is a tiredness in my bones. My adrenaline sustained me for awhile, but it's flagging now.

Zonked after a day at the beach!

The Fight for Fair Maternity Leave

You know, it's amazing how I never have to wonder what to write about for long. Not only does Anna provide pretty much constant amusement and inspiration, but so do my awesome Facebook friends.

Today as I was drinking my coffee and skimming my FB news feed at my desk (it's part of my morning wake-up ritual, don't judge), I came across this article thanks to a link posted by two of my friends. Everyone should read it because just about everyone is impacted by this issue in some way, shape or form. Yes, we're talking about paid maternity leave.

Ahh, baby days

Photo of the Week: Our Spin on a Fairy Tale

Happy Monday!

We're kicking things off this week with our photo of the week, taken on Saturday night as Anna and her pal Izzy B were playing in the yard. We grownups were relaxing on the deck with our kids in their summer clothes when they disappeared. Moments later, they resurfaced like this:

And this was just the beginning of the backyard antics, from tricycle ride to the Princess attempting to walk the Froggy on a leash. Who needs the movies when your kids provide this kind of awesome entertainment?!

We love our real-life Princess and the Frog!

Friday Fun: Adventures in "Reading"!

I absolutely love it that Anna has gotten to the stage where she will attempt to "read" books to me at bedtime, or "read" them together. The other night, as I was getting ready for bed, I found Anna already relaxing and waiting for me (shocking!) and reading to herself.

Chillin' with her new book

 

New Recalls - Yikes!

We now interrupt our otherwise fun and thought-provoking messages for this important recall update. I got an email about this yesterday - it concerns Banzai inflatable slides.

 

Perhaps you, like me, haven't reached the level of success with which comes your own real, in-ground backyard pool, for which you may want a slide like this. If you have - you rock! If not, your kid may go to a friend's house or other event where they have one. Just in case, please be aware of the danger of side deflation that causes injuries. This kind of thing can happen with those large inflatable slides at summer fairs and carnivals as well.

For more recall news, please see this list of the major recalls issued in 2011.

Photo of the Week: My Buddy

This week's Photo of the Week comes from Mother's Day. We actually celebrated a day early so that I could prepare for an important seminar/ presentation coming up on Monday. So my Mother's Day was largely spent in my basement "fun room," which has, ironically, also turned into my home office. Kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

I worked swiftly and in quiet surroundings for awhile....until Anna became so upset that I was down there that she insisted on coming down too and keeping me company. And I do mean insisted. She really is my little sidekick. It brings to mind the song in the TV Commercial for the toy "My Buddy" when I was a kid: "My buddy, my buddy, wherever (s)he goes, I go....."

I told her she could stay with me if she played with her games and toys and understood I was working. She agreed. Then thirty seconds later, she asked, "Can you play with me, Mom?" Somehow, I knew this would happen.

So we played for a little while and then went upstairs, grabbed the iPad, and brought it down for her to watch Pink Panther cartoons while curled up in a chair in sweats and comfy slippers. It's clear who got the better end of this deal!

But after that, my work - companion and all - went swimmingly. And I enjoyed the company.

We've Come a Long Way, Baby!

As everyone knows by now, last week President Obama made history when he became the first United States president to voice support for gay marriage.

I know, I know - detractors will say he did it as a calculated move to help his re-election efforts. Except that doesn't entirely make sense, given that we LGBT folks can be a political hot potato. Many moderate and even liberal politicians are (pardon the pun) closet supporters of gay marriage but don't have the guts to express that publicly for fear of not being re-elected.

Photo from chinasmack.com

Then again, it's always been hard for people in high places to stand up for civil rights at first, hasn't it?

Happy Mother's Day!

We here at My Life With Pie would like to wish all you hard-working, amazing moms out there the happiest of Mother's Days! Enjoy some well-deserved time for YOU and celebrate all you do to take care of and raise your wonderful kids.

Couldn't ask for a sweeter Mother's Day present!

Friday Fun: Little Picassos!

Happy Friday!

The other day while dropping Anna off at day care, I had the pleasure of spending some time with her little friends as well. They are such adorable kids! Anna decided she wanted to draw me a picture to bring to work, and then a little boy walked up to me and gave me a picture he had just drawn and said, "This is for you, too!" (I know the names of everyone in Anna's class but I don't publish them without talking to their parents first so we'll keep them anonymous this time.)

Anna's pic on left, 1st little boy's pic on right

No More Distraction

Distraction is inevitable....to some extent. Ours is a fast-paced world that prizes productivity and multitasking, so finding ourselves distracted at times from the task at hand is unavoidable.

Except when it comes to our kids, that is.

You see, the kind of distraction I'm talking about is the technology-induced, smart phone-related kind. It's the temptation we all seem to have (yes, myself included) to check our Facebook account or e-mail or text messages with an often ridiculous frequency. Let's face it, there's probably nothing new from your last check-in a minute ago.

And, more importantly, while you're reading notifications and status updates and junk e-mail messages, your kids are there, waiting for your undivided attention.

Do they get it?

Other than for picture taking, we really don't need phones at the beach...

Something to Consider

Continuing with our recent self-improvement theme, I found this gorgeous photo with a lot of even better things to say. It touches on the things I discussed last week in the posts "Get a Life!" and "Finding Me."

Instead of beating ourselves up for our past mistakes or hardships, we should be proud of ourselves for learning from them and for persevering despite what we've been through. Something to think about, as we try to look forward rather than backward. Have a great day!

The Hard Is What Makes It Great

I'm sure some of you recognize this quote from the movie, "A League of Their Own." Tom Hanks portrays Jimmy Dugan, the manager of a World War II-era women's baseball team. He's trying to talk his star player, Dottie (played by Geena Davis), out of giving up the game mid-season to go start a family. When Dottie says things just got too hard, Jimmy replies:

"It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard...is what makes it great."

I've thought back to this quote a number of times over the years, especially when I've doubted myself or my ability to get through something. I've reminded myself that nothing worth doing is ever that easy, and that sometimes the best things aren't supposed to be easy.

The hard is what makes it great.

Hanks & Davis, "A League of Their Own" (photo from classic--movies.blogspot.com)

Photo of the Week: Hey Batter, Batter!

Happy Monday!  I hope you all had a fabulous weekend.

We're kicking off another work week with our photo(s) of the week. Having been a big baseball fan in my younger years, when I encountered a giant plastic bat and ball at the grocery store last week for only $3.50, I couldn't resist.

Anna was so excited to get home from school to find the bat and ball waiting for her. Thankfully, it was a lovely evening so we could practice in the yard. I should get her a tee when I'm able to, but in the meantime, hopefully this bat is fat enough that she can learn to hit with it!

My little slugger!

Friday Fun: Going Buggy!

Now that spring really feels like it's in the air (well, sort of), Anna is eager to play more outside. I'm sure that's true for just about every kid. But besides the typical things - drawing with sidewalk chalk, going to the park, playing ball, riding bikes - what sorts of fun mischief can we get into?

Photo from crochet4aprincess.blogspot.com

I just read an article with a creative answer: make a bug jar!  This sounds like exactly the kind of thing I'd have wanted to do when I was a kid. I loved playing in the yard and seeing what I could find. I think my favorite discovery when I was Anna's age was a frog that peed in my dad's hand. I screamed but it was really funny. Some things you never forget.

I also loved trying to see lightning bugs and catch them. Just picturing it, I can almost smell the warm, summer air. It was worth the risk of mosquito bites to see those little lights illuminated against the night sky.

Anyway, I'm going to reproduce here the steps set forth in Hannah Boyd's article from Education.com, but feel free to improvise.

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What You Need:

• A large jar with a lid
• A small screwdriver
• A hammer
• Leaves, twigs, grass, etc.
• A small notebook
• Colored pencils

What You Do:

1. Hold the pointed end of the screwdriver vertically against the lid of the jar, and tap the other end with the hammer to poke small holes all over the lid. Watch your thumbs!
2. Go outside with your child and find some twigs, leaves, and grass. Stock the jar with those and sprinkle a couple drops of water inside. You might also want to add in a tiny chunk of fruit.
3. Now for the nitty-gritty fun part! Help your child search your backyard for bugs. Encourage her to look under rocks and logs, on trees and bushes, and anywhere else you think you might find a little critter to capture. When she finds one, help her catch it. Add the bug to the jar and cover it with the lid. Start with just one bug.
4. Hand her the notebook and the colored pencils. Invite her to draw a picture of the bug. Then ask her what she sees going on (the bug is on the leaf) and what she infers from that (it's hungry!). Ask her to write down her observations. If she's not writing yet, take notes for her; otherwise let her wield the pen.
5. If she wants to keep observing the bug, let her do so but be sure to set the critter free by the end of the day.
6. Over the week, try to find different bugs to observe and keep notes on the observations of them all. Just be sure you release them when you're finished!

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Sounds fun, doesn't it? It's not rocket science, but this is why I scour the web for stuff like this - I'm too tired and overworked to come up with stuff all the time. And there are all sorts of fun things out there! So, enjoy, and feel free to let us know how the bug experiment went with your kids!