Sleepy Tiger, Grouchy Dragon(fly)

Here we are during the "sun downing" stage of the evening. Naps were scarce and naughtiness is plentiful. My babysitter, Elmo, is doing his best to put the kids into a comatose state if only for a few precious moments. I have been researching which kind of wall paint I can wash "washable crayola" (yeah right!) and processed cheese off of. Researching paint is not very fun.
Moms- have you ever had one of those days that you wondered if giving your children a bag of marshmallows and some scissors would keep them busy long enough to take a 15 minute power nap? Ava starts back to preschool next Monday- afternoons- during Eli's nap time-score! For now, I will rely on my Sesamese au pair, Elmo, to give me that few blissful minutes of reprieve from the outer orbits of insanity that is life. I wouldn't want my life to be even an iota different. That's parenthood for you....self inflicted craziness!

And the verdict is....

Eli really has no idea how close he came to being sentenced to 10-15(days) in a cast. Today we saw the ortho doc for Eli's persistent limp. He decided on another set of X-rays and a leg cast. Our conversation went something like this....

Doctor: I don't think your son's foot is broken, but I think he should wear a cast for 10 days to 2 weeks to give it a chance to heal....

Me: ELI! Get quit climbing the chair. No! Stop jumping! What did you say doctor?

Doctor: I think Eli-

Me: Son! Stop climbing the wall! That coat rack is not for you to hang on! I'm sorry...What about a cast?

Doctor: The cast would-

Me: Eli please stop jumping off the chair; you're going to break your neck!

You probably get the point....After redoing the xrays, witnessing Eli climb everything in the office, break into the patient bathroom twice and scale the toilet, and watch my son jump so high that he seemed to hover in midair for a few seconds, the good doctor decided to re-evaluate the foot next Tuesday....whew! Because Eli is rather....um...special in his Houdini-like behavior, the doctor can only do a full leg cast- all the way to the hip. As fun as is sounds to have my toddler virtually immobilized, I am glad we are granted another 6 days reprieve. (I can only imagine the various tortures my daughter could devise for him...) Please pray that Eli takes a "step" in the right direction before next Tuesday. (Yes that was an atrocious pun- I agree)

We are quite a photogenic family, aren't we?

This is Ava's signature "Silly face". She is wearing her new school outfit that we bought today on our "girls only" shopping trip.

Yes, he stacked all the blocks himself. This is probably not uncommon in the one and a half year old.. but please, let me have my proud mama moment.........thank you.

Do they make "Manly" ballet shoes??

I guess all of that limping must have worn little man out! We go on Wednesday to see the Ortho Doc. Pray that Eli makes a miraculous recovery before then or else he may very well end up in a cast. At least I would always be able to hear him coming! Poor little man walks like a second rate ballerina...he still can climb like a mountain goat though!

Your are so beautiful.....to me....

This is my new junk shop purchase. I so love it! Eric said he felt like someone's grandma just moved in. Whatever Eric...It's an antique and I love it...so in your face Eric....in your face...

Can anyone speak my langauge?

This picture was emailed to me and it struck a funny chord. So often I get coworkers and friends discussing which new films they have watched recently. "Conderman! You seen Rush Hour 3 yet?" "Nope, just Shrek 3." or "Ness, you gotta see Boure Ultimatum!" (me) "Does it have princesses? No? How about talking animals? no? Dancing penguins? Lost dinosaurs? Humerous cartoon vegetables that tell bible stories? No?"
Somehow I doubt that my coworkers want to discuss which Disney princess married the handsomest prince (Cinderella, hands down!), Does Larry the Cucumber deserve his own star on the walk of fame (He sooo does!), and are they going to make an Ice Age 3 (Ava says yes, but I don't think so). They should make a People Magazine that moms with toddlers/preschoolers can read and appreciate. "Littlefoot and Cera...Engaged!" "Shrek opens up about working with Donkey" "Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs...the REAL story...."

Pegleg

Remember how I said a few days ago that everyday we kept Eli out of the ER was a blessing... I suppose we were on borrowed time after all... anyway the blessing ran out today. Yesterday Eli and the piano bench got into a slight altercation in which the piano bench gave Eli a good crack on the ankle. Eli has been hobbling and crawling around ever since. So, Eric loaded up the kids and took a field trip to the ER. The doctor told us exactly what we thought, not broken only bruised...whew. She did advise us to ice and elevate his ankle...I don't think she has been around too many "almost two-year-olds"... Anyway, now Eli walks around like he has a pegleg. Step, toe, hop, step, toe, hop with a couple of "owies!" thrown in. He is rather pitiful, poor kid!
I think Ava sensed that this was not a good day to continue the naughty streak, so in a blessed moment of providence, she behaved.

Eric gave her this 24 piece puzzle and left her alone...it took a half hour, but Ava put this together all by herself!

89 days until she turns 4

When little girls turn 4 they become less wild and more manageable... right? Right? Because Ava has had a rather naughty past few days....
On Thursday night she found a pair of scissors and cut her bangs. She said they were in her face and she wanted to get rid of them. We now call her baldy...
On Friday morning, she hijacked an empty clothes basket (the fact that a laundry basket in our house would actually be empty is amazing in and of itself!). She proceeded to "sled" down the stairs riding in the basket- she even stuck the landing! I couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic for the laundry basket rides down the stairs that I used to take as a child... at least Ava didn't send her brother down first...that's what I would have done...

Folks- this is no comb over!

Ava decided that she wanted to wear her bumble bee costume from nearly 3 years ago-whatever...
Lately Eli has taken to jumping down the stairs. He stands at the top and says "Dump, dump!" and I have to "talk him down" until he agrees to climb down peacefully, or at least only "dump" one step at a time... I feel this is slightly less suicidal than trying to clear the entire flight in one EvelKenevelesk move (which he can do- trust me). I count every day that we keep our little "Spiderman" out of the ER a blessing.

Our little corner junk shop

Down the street from our house is a little charity shop, kinda like a thrift shop. We call it the corner junk shop and it has some amazing treasures. I will warn you... there are no pictures of grand kids and if you don't like antiques you should stop reading now. Really. Come back tomorrow or the next day and try again because this blog only becomes duller for the non antique enthusiast....
So, I love finding little (or big) treasures at my corner junk shop- especially for only 5-10 quid a pop. This way, if I am buying a useless piece of junk, I am not being "taken to the cleaners" in the process. I wanted a record of the things I have bought so far, so what better place than my blog...

This is the one "big purchase" I have made- my English sideboard. I have no idea how old it is, some dovetailing and little oxidation, but not as much as I would expect. The "ball" type things on the bottom are called "cup and covers" and are very detailed. There is an English rose and grape pattern which matches my kitchen perfectly... seriously... I warned you... very dull blog entry... read on if you dare...
My step mom and Grandma Esther bought these candlesticks for me and I found this pewter pitcher a few weeks later- they look so pretty on my sideboard!
This is my "new" Singer sewing machine. He was "born" between 1906-1908, so if he is not an antique- he will be next year! It actually still works and is in very good condition!
5 pound bookshelf- reminds me of the ones we had in our old (now demolished/condemned) Elementary school in Middletown. Really quite functional!
This is my little electronics cabinet- quite a bit of oxidation so he may be kind of old too!
Here is my newest addition- I needed a table to set my antique sewing machine on. That and it is very sturdy for if/when Eli decides to climb it! By the way (if anyone is still awake and reading at this point), Ava took all of these pictures- not bad, eh?

The End of an Era

A couple of days ago we decided that Eli was no longer a baby, but a toddler. Our bathrooms now come complete with potty chairs, and we no longer have gates on our stairs-yeah! The problem is that Eli challenges our decision on the baby gates everyday...
The kid can gracefully climb up and down the stairs with ease and perfection, he just doesn't. He jumps 2 (or more) at a time, slides down headfirst, walks backwards, etc. Yesterday I actually saw him fly out of the stairwell airborne and hit the wall behind him. I almost blamed Ava for throwing him down the stairs, but she was outside playing...

In a rare angelic moment....

He may actually be safer this way...we aren't sure....

Here is our other baby "unproofing". Since Eli could be out of his crib in under three seconds (no joke), he go Ava's toddler bed. She got a "new" bed from the thrift store. She "helped" me paint flowers on it- so now it is of course the new popular bed!
Furniture painting with a child hanging from each arm could really be the new Olympic sport!

How do the little piggies eat?

Moms- have you ever heard the sound of something hitting the floor, and knew that no matter how fast you ran or how far out you stretched your arms, you were not going to change the course of 2 naughty preschoolers antics? Have you? I left the kids reading for 1 MINUTE to get dressed upstairs. My shorts were half on when I heard the first few pieces of cereal hit the floor. My practiced ears told me it was cheerios (duller thump, less bounce, Moms know what I mean, Dads, go with me on this). I tore down the hallway, tripping over my half on pants, nearly "skated" down the stairs on the playskool schoolbus that Eli had waiting for the next load of barbies to send down the stairs. I made it to the bottom to discover this...



I took a picture and then turned a blind eye- they are in there "cleaning up" as I write. Sometimes pretending you don't know is the only way to keep a little sanity...right Moms?
Right?....
*By the way, I should have the "Germany tales" up tonight....stay tuned!

The hills are alive...with the sound of children that have been in the car too long

Wow! How to begin? All six of us set out for Garmisch, Germany last Monday. Our trip began uneventfully, flight on time, no major meltdowns... We arrived in Friedrichshafen airport and proceeded to pick up our 6 passenger van that I had booked. There is a picture later- I would be interested to hear your thoughts on our "6 passenger van". We had a beautiful but looooong drive to the resort (several of us had stopped speaking to each other by that point). Apparently it takes twice as long as the promised 1.5 hours to get there in a "6 passenger van".
All was okay after seeing the resort, however. It was beautiful and right in the heart of the German Alps. Our rooms had one wall that was entirely glass with a beautiful view of the Alps.Here we are at about 10pm eating a very late dinner- notice how wide awake the kids still are!
As promised- the "6 passenger van". We probably could have added a few hitchhikers, some goats, and all 7 Von Trapp children- but at least we were comfortable!
The next morning we took the cogwheel train up the Zutspitz (tallest mountain in the German Alps). This is a picture of Eli trying to jump out of his seat at me. Because the train was going up, gravity would not let him jump forward. He was rather humorous as every time he would jump forward he would be thrown back into the wall...and I let him continue this...

As we went up

Here we all are on the glacier, most of the way up the mountain, from here we had to take a cable car to the top.
Here is a view from the very top- Eric had to take the picture, I was clinging to the children and the inner wall, convinced that we were going to fall over the four foot fence to our death...
It was not enough for Eric to be 10 feet from the top, he had to climb the rocks, holding nothing but a rope to the VERY top. While up there, the clouds rolled in and it began to thunder and lightening. They started yelling in German for us all to evacuate the mountaintop, well, we assume that is what they were saying. So, in all of our wisdom, we took a cable car, through the rain and thunder, back down to the glacier.
Here we are eating at a restaurant in Garmisch. This is Schnitzel with Noodle- and it is now truly one of my favourite things-so yummy! I did have to omit the name of the restaurant because I don't want the grandparents to stop reading my blog...they definitely had some, um, interesting names for things here...For instance, the word for exit is "Ausfahrt". We kept pronouncing this "house fart" which was less than music to my father-in-laws ears. He had really brushed up on his German for the trip which saved us more than once!
The following day we visited Salzburg- what a beautiful city! We climbed up the hill to see a view of the city, went shopping, ate, and took a carriage ride.
In both Garmisch and Salzburg, there were cows running loose in the city. My children decided that they needed to ride one, she was pretty tame...
Here we are in our carriage ride. Our horses names were Apollo and Boobie...

Here we are having (what we thought) was our last dinner on vacation. Ava took this picture by the way- she is becoming quite the little photographer! On the way back we asked Ava how she had liked Austria. She sat in the back giggling and said, "Austria is like a hole in my nose, like nostril!" You just never know with that one...
We arrived back at the airport the next afternoon, returned our "6 passenger van" and boarded our plane. For the next 3 hours we sat in afor mentioned plane waiting for a tire to be fixed. It was not fixed. We deboarded the plane and received instructions in broken English that we would leave the next morning. That was it. No "here is a taxi to your hotel", nothing. We did eventually convince a taxi to take us to a hotel and actually had a very good dinner. There were no tire problems the next morning, so we finally made it home. My in-laws decided against London and Cambridge that night- I don't blame them. Traveling with two small children does wear you out, but, despite the unplanned adventures, we had an awesome time! So, as I have rambled long enough, I will Ausfahrt for now!

We're off

We are leaving in a couple of hours to fly to Germany. Expect many pictures and amusing stories on Friday. My mommy quote of the day...Ava, please don't put your panties on Eli's head.

Eli-1 Bee-0

Grandma and Grandpa Conderman arrived safe, if not a little tired, on Friday. As usual, my little hostess, Ava, threw all of her energy and effort into being Grandma and Grandpa's new best friend. To date she has shown them all of her tricks (and coerced Eli into showing them his!) Last night we had just settled down to one of our famous Conderman euchre games when Eli started crying. Not the "my sister is driving me crazy" cry, but the "something really hurts cry". The problem was that we couldn't figure out why. I saw something black stuck in his hand, so I dug it out with tweezers. He cried harder. Just when I was about to give up and call mom (because Mom always knows-right?), I found a bee dying a slow stingerless death in the living room. Oh. Wish I would of thought of that before I attacked the kid with tweezers... I do find it ironic that my son could play outside all day only to be stung by a bee while watching TV...
After Motrin and Benadryl, here he is still holding his little hand- poor little baby! Ava kept watch over him all night, or so she says!
Grandma's boy- notice the summer haircut; it was actually 80 degrees yesterday-wow!

The Toddler Bed Wars

I remember putting together Ava's little "big girl bed" when she was about Eli's age. We wanted to give her a chance to "choose" to sleep there before the new baby evicted her from the crib. Well, she loved that little bed from day one... now the "evictor" loves it too. Long was the battle, and hard was the struggle last night as they both laid forth their claim to the beloved little bed. Eli can now vault out of the crib in under 3 seconds and he heads straight for Ava's bed. Here he would lay, dead weight, while Ava tried to drag him out. She would succeed and he would climb back in. A real working model in tenacity on both sides. Eventually exhaustion won over and both kids slept. Eli did get to sleep in the coveted little bed (with Ava). I think she got the last laugh, though, as she covered him with stickers after he fell asleep.