Tickle Me Libbi

There is nothing more entertaining for me lately than listening to Libbi laugh. It is purely contagious. Usually we put clothes on her, but her shirt happened to be covered in artichoke dip.

Back to Life!

I am back from the dead and ready to blog again. How a 32 year-old mother of two gets mono I am still trying to figure out, but in the mean time, I am just so happy to be feeling like a normal human being. I essentially missed out on the last 6 weeks of my spring following an impromptu gall bladder removal. I am guessing my system was just stripped off everything protective in the hospital, and then opened the door (with a giant "ENTER HERE!" sign) to the following: extreme fatigue, strep throat, an ear infection, sweating like a 500 lb. man, and the best of all, the symptom that rounded things out for me last weekend ... a full-body rash! Woo-hoo! Seriously, the worst 6 weeks of my life. I tried to have fun at Trivia (which I look forward to all year) and tried to be entertaining for the kids (as much as possible), but for the most part I was a pile of tired.

But I am BACK!

Here are some recent pics from Trivia and our mini-golfing excursion.

Elliot is 4 and 1/2 going on 15. Where's my learner's permit?

Mini-golfing was more about things to climb on that actually focusing on the holes ...

Or watching for low clearances.

Libbi didn't try to hit the ball in the hole once. However, she carried her putter and ball for the entire 18 holes.

One of my "shinier" moments during Trivia.

Kisses for Daddy.

Little Trivia cheerleaders in the making. Lily was way more into this than Libbi -- she gets that from her mom. I didn't like cheerleaders either.

Living w/o FSN

So Dustin and I have been trying to figure out places to cut and save and make smarter decisions ... growing up, right?

As part of our cuts, we decided to streamline our cable w/ DirecTV to a family package. Seemed like a good idea at the time ... until the Twins season started. Almost all of the Twins games are broadcast on FSN (Fox Sports North for those of you non-MNsotans.) Which means, we basically get to watch Twins games on Sunday only.

Last night, Elliot had a brilliant idea to watch the Twins game together. What fun, right?

Dustin said, "Great Elliot, which bar do you want to go to?"

Elliot said, "I don't know, which bar do you want to go to Dad?" :)

Pillow Talk

Since I have started my VERY official mini med school classes, I am unfortunately not home for the pebbles' bedtime routine on Monday nights. But, I do get home just as Elliot is right about to fall asleep (the sweetest time in my opinion). I go in to give Elliot hugs and kisses and secrets ("I love you's") and then he insists on telling me what he had for dinner.

Picture this entire conversation in a whisper ...

"Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Guess what we had for dinner."
"What?"
"Sausages, mmm, sausage and pepperoni pizza with KARMesan cheese."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Yeah, and corn."
"Yummy. What did you have for dessert?"
"Oatmeal cream pie. But you know what?"
"What?"
"It's not really a pie. It's a cookie."
"Mm hmm."
"And it's not really cream, it's frosting."
"Yep."
"So it's really a frosting cookie."
"You're right."
"But, mmm, it was good. I love you."
"I love you, too."
"See you in the morning -- I'll wake up really early to put my ice pack in my lunch so we don't forget, okay?"
"Okay."
"Goodnight, mom."
"Goodnight."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
"See you in the morning."

Splish Splash

Elliot is what you would say ... COMFORTABLE ... in front of the camera. Here he is entertaining his
sister (and himself) during bathtime.

Christmas

Elliot made a decision tonight as he was examining my stitches.

"Mommy, I am going to get you a new gall bladder for Christmas ... and when I do, we are going to take you back to the hospital, find the doctors who took yours out and have them put back in the new one, deal?"

Standards

I have a lot of catching up to do with photos, etc. on this blog, but I had a minor hiccup in my life last weekend (got my gall bladder removed) which makes it hard to be enthusiastic about posting anything. However, I had to share a conversation from last night with my charming and complimentary little boy.

So it is that I am on a semi-restrictive diet following surgery ... while Dustin and the kids feasted on pork chops and perfectly delicious potatoes, I had a bowl of tomato soup.

Campell's, out of a can, mixed with water -- tomato soup.

When Elliot saw it, he had to have some, too.

As we sat there enjoying our respective dinners, Elliot looks at me and says, "Mommy, you make the best tomato soup EVER."

"Thanks buddy," I said, "I opened the the can all by myself."

"You DID?" he asked. "You didn't even need a can opener!?"

"No, I just peeled the top right off."

"Wow."

I can't even begin to tell you the standards this young man is going to have when he heads out into the real world. They are going to be high.