from thankful conversation starters

so i had started a post of my thankful list, but rather than replay the usual i thought i'd share some of owen's answers to our "conversation starters" questions from the thankful feast.

1. if you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? (looking at his plate) TURKEY!
2. if you were a superhero what would your super power be? to FLY up up in the sky!
3. if you had a milllion dollars? buy a new THOMAS train
   
4. if you could change your first name what would you choose? JOE
5. if you had to live in another country what would it be? RIVERSIDE (not norway? not france?) nope. RIVERSIDE!
6. what is the worst thing you have ever eaten? SNOT
7. if you had to live on the moon what would you take? a ROPE. so i could climb up to the moon.

some answers from around the table: best invention? michael: airplanes!; if you could be a superstar on tv what would you do? papa: drive racecars; what would your superhero power be?: brooke: shape-shifting; what do you enjoy collecting? nana: earrings; if you could meet anyone from history? janae: cleopatra; what would you bring to the moon? ameen: moonboots; your favorite food as a child? ellise: salsa; if you could be successful at any job? jerry: mechanic; favorite season? edyth: fall, i love all the colors. . .

quiet time

things have been quiet here on the fidfam front--mostly because all the fids are in vegas visiting with great grandma & grandpa and it's just me and the fid-dog. i had these luxurious plans brewing involving a secret spa day, a haircut, and lots of cafe-ing down by the beach. when i arrived home sunday morning after seeing the boys off, however, i thought i should lay down for a quick morning nap. six hours later i woke up feeling like i could sleep another twelve. the "porn" for new moms (and getting older moms) isn't boxer-brief clad dads vacuuming (although that is hot and i'm a bigger fan of dishwashing myself) but the ability to close a door while peeing and take a nap without being violently awoken by take-along percy on his branch line that runs under your pillow.

the other reality, of course, and why i'm here and not playing nickel slots is that it's week 8 in the quarter and i've got 42 papers to get back to my students before thanksgiving break and a satchel of various and sundry quizes and other assignments that need to be logged into the gradebook. however, i plan to tackle these things after a long, scalding hot bath with aromatherapy candles and not a creatacious creature in sight.

still, it's eerily quiet and and i'm looking forward to tuesday when my tired boys return and we can all nap together--three and a dog to a couch. here's uncle ryan and owen showing us how real naps are done:

a playlist for owen

ok, is it so crazy that i saw this ad for the ipod nanos and thought it would be the perfect christmas gift for? i know, i know he's three and its an ipod for goodness sake. but bear with me--this afternoon we googled for the release of the new coldplay we heard on kcrw last night--it took me a minute to recognize the song bentley was playing but owen knew right away the riffs from "life in technicolor" and the drumbeats from "viva la vida." his favorite game is dance party--and we're not talking about the wiggles; just run the mp3 playlist in the living room and tagteam dance moves. seriously. not to mention his total dominance of the cd changer in the jeep--he not only knows elizabeth mitchell is in cd3 and "rollercoaster" is on juno in cd5 . and his newest discovery? abba gold: "the first song is dancing queen!". besides, you should have seen him in the applestore--kid in the candy store, definitely, but he could show those "geniuses" a thing or three. . . besides, he could get orange and the super-squishy kid-friendly earbuds with a low volume max. i'm just saying. santa gets the laptop and mommy gets to rock.

steep humps and long lists

so i totally underestimated the gradient of said hump (see post somewhere below). since then i've run out of gas on the freeway (that aaa membership just paid for itself), lost my laptop cord leaving me unplugged since friday, and spent three hours yesterday cancelling credit cards for a mysteriously missing (since found) wallet.

but next week is our "thankful feast" and owen has been keeping a running list of everything he's putting in his "thankful book"--so really, it's hard to stay too discouraged. here's the list so far according to owen:

1. you! mommy i'm thankful for you! and daddy too! (and he'll be home after he fixes one more computer in sweeden then he'll get on a sas plane and come home!)
2. popsicles!
3. and trees
4. grandma and grandpa AND nana and papa!
5. and my cousins riley and macy and baby lily too!
6. sierra dog is my best friend. no. sierra is my friend and west is my best friend! and i'm thankful for them!
7. blue's clues
8. the magic school bus
9. the library
   
10. and preschool mommy, i'm thankful for preschool and my teacher miss sherry
    

well how's that for a top ten! and me, i'm thankful that i have such a thankful three year old!

Christmas Spoiler (Owen don't read this)

Since mommy and daddy are always on laptops these days, Owen feels the need to explore and see what all the fuss is about. His curious behavior leads him to watch endless youtube videos, thomas the train game, or just typing words in MS Word. So, this year we decided to get him a laptop for christmas. We settled on the XO Laptop -- which is associated with the One Laptop per Child association. The computer itself is based on a Linux-based OS rather than Windows, comes with lots of learning applications and games. we'll see how it goes. I'm excited about this for him. And the best part is that amazon is having a Give a laptop, Get a laptop deal right now, which give you an opportunity to donate a laptop to the child in the world.

happiness is . . .

mini-michael

while owen and i were out having some retail-therapy at the mall we decided to pass on the forty minute wait and the $30 for a haircut in a rocketship. however, on our way out we asked the pink-haired receptionist at carlton if they had any spots for a tot cut. she grabbed the rocker boy who was lounging across the mall at the nordstrom cafe under the escalator and he gave owen a complete salon treatment. not only did he have his first shampoo/conditioner at the big-boy (or girl?) sink but he had a complete styling treatment with the razor scissors and mini buzzer (while the sassy girl in pink explained to superowen why batman is fabuluous) finished off with a blowdry and styling paste. and it hit me when we got home and molly said: wow! you look just like your daddy! that rocker boy gave owen a funkified (note the asymmetrical bang) michael cut. hehe.

over the hump

i woke up this morning and for the first time since m. left i felt ok. i didn't feel wheezy, anxious, phlegmy or just like i was swimming underwater. and i looked in my fridge and it was so sad i took a picture:
so after a lazy morning on our thursday off owen and i went to trader joe's and stocked up (and got ourselves free coffee and scones for breakfast!). here's the after picture with lots of goodies from our friend joe:

so the before and after pics remind of that game in that magazine in the pediatrican's office highlights where you find all the changes in the silly cartoons only there isn't a drawing of a fish in a tree. . .

"kota & sierra will be good friends""

today owen found this in the target toy catalouge. and when i told him we didn't have room for a pet dinosaur he said, oh mommy don't worry kota can sleep in the living room. perfect. i was hoping for some new pillows but a 3 foot dinosaur that plays "4 different adventure themed tunes" (here's the video) would be much much better.

me, on the other hand, i'm pretty excited about this.

saturday seven

i can't even begin to catch up with everything that's been going on since i last posted and i find i keep half starting posts (in my head) of elation and of frustration. but i have been enjoying the post-election TOP 10 & TOP 20 lists. in the true adventurefidfam spirit i thought i'd share a list of my owEn:

the saturday seven summing -up: 7 brillig owen quotes

7. i have bronchitus, a fractured toe (and cramps). not only am i incredibly gimpy but owen explained:
your voice sounds like seaweed

6. the day before when i told him we all just needed an early bedtime he asked:
are you feeling ill?

5. when asked what to have for dinner: hmmmm. how about something tasty?

4. i love you mommy, and i love myself!

3. pointing to the cover of how do dinosauurs play with their friends: that's a lambeosaurus. he has a penis on his head.

2. this is just pure mind reading. with no particular context but perfectly clear:
sierradog is our dog and he needs to live in our house.

1. the last one deserves a little pre-narrative: owen donned his "O" cape (coincidence?) and masked himself as a "superhero for democracy" for our election party with BW&S. by 7:30 the three year olds were over msnbc and cnn.com so we packed up the party. at 8:00 we were in the car and owen suddenly started crying and exclaimed:

but i need my superhero cape so i can save obama for democracy!

five minutes later after the polls on the west coast closed owen had learned to say: "barack obama is our 44th president!".

so many books. . . so sleepy

super owen and buzzy bee melanie go trick or treating

saturday night is pizza night!

ever since we had a pizza party with west last month we've been having our own saturday night family date night with some 99cent whole wheat trader joe's dough and everything from sweet mini peppers to peppered salami.

this guy knows how to use a rolling pin!

and check out his unique heart shaped "family" pizza:sweet & tasty!

i also stole bridget's simple but amazing recipe for caprese salad--one container cilligne buffalo mozerella, handful of fresh chiffonade basil, one package trader joe's heirloom tomatoes (look for a mix with yellow and green--they're wonderfully sweet!). i use our dwindling stash of blood orange EVOO from Oliver's in San Clemente and their drinkable 15 year balasmic vinegar. it makes an amazing accompaniement and the tomatoes mixed with the oil&vineager leave behind an amazing dipping sauce for your pizza crust!