The house.

We are making some progress in our house. It is slow but not at all steady. Stuff gets done in spurts but some of the spurts have been enough that one room is painted. (okay, so it still needs something done with the "closet" and another coat but, come on!!)Another shot of the mostly finished room.
The main room is almost done being mudded (I am ready to call it done.) and the kitchen has been cleaned.
Doh.We had to pull this out because of mold and/or mildew. Yuck.
We now have Hazel in on the work. She is rolling thinned out mud on the walls.
She was awesome.
We also had a new sidewalked put in. I can't find a picture of what it looked like before but, trust me, it was horrible. It was cracked and uneven and everything was sloped towards the house (argh!). The guys that did it were awesome, if you need concrete work, we have a man.
Gratuitious concrete shot.
I don't have a shot of the finished sidewalk except for this picture outline that I drew of Hazel and the picture of Nacho that she drew. But, notice how awesome our sidewalk is. So smooth. So sloping away from the house.

One update, which should be a bunch.

I made this awesome Strawberry Shortcake dress and Hazel hated it. But now she is tolerating it. Probably because of the mad twirling.

I won, or more precisely, Hazel won, a fabulous dress from the Sew Mama Sew day giveaway at Bluebirds and Cherries. It is lovely and she looks great in it. She has actually taken to layering it with a multitude of outfits and it is adorable.

Ben and Zoe came to visit for a couple of days and one of the nights we had a cookout. It was good times and everyone ate a lot of marshmallows, hot dogs and char. Hazel was a bit worried when her marshmallow caught on fire.
But the cookie smores were delicious.
The worried eyebrows return. How can she be this concerned over toasted marshmallow and fudge-striped cookies?!?!
Here Hazel is demonstrating her guns. She needed them to help carry everything back in the house.
The kids, they are crazy.
Oh, so we had a bunch of leftover drywall and Geoff decided the best option would be to take it upstairs. Hazel was a good helper. This looks to me like a totally posed pictures but I just caught her in mid-stride.
Geoff fits in the tiny tent.
Hazel modeling her West Valley hair. Really, the entire scene is awesome. The ratty hair*, the belly, the naked baby. Perfect.
Geoff busted out laser tag. Hazel loves it. I believe this will soon be on the toddler issue of "Guns n' Lasers".

Unfortunately, or fortunately, she is not very good.
*Hazel had been wearing a hood all day, which is why her hair is so ratty. Normally, I like to keep it brushed.

Still on Blogger

Okay, so in my last post I implied that I would be leaving Blogger. Well, as it turns out, I am lazy. And possibly a dope. Thus, I am still with Blogger. And still annoyed with it for a few things (why don't my freaking archives work?? how come Chrome doesn't uploade pictures??), but I am moving on. Or staying put. Whatever. If Geoff wasn't madly trying to finish up house projects I would ask for his help. But, frankly, I would rather have a renter.

Moving on.

Hazel loves this bunny costume from her friend Tayvia. It is kind of too small but she still wears in constantly. She can no longer really get the hand nor feet things on but she manages. Also, she tried to escape.
I still maintain everything is cuter when done in a bunny costume.

Even if it is just bunny ears. FYI: Geoff was not thrilled with me taking a picture of him in the bunny ears. But the two of them were so cute that I just had to do it. Besides, there are boy bunnies. I don't know why he was such a complainer.

Hazel and her friends Jack and Serenity had a fabulous sprinkler day last Saturday. Serenity has this AWESOME octopus sprinkler and the three kids had a great time playing in it. Jack's dad (in the upper right corner) doesn't look like he was having such a great time. Seriously, the kids played in in forever. Hazel was freezing but still wouldn't quit.

Eventually I convinced her to take a break and dry off on her beach towel. Notice our lovely roses in the background. (Tangent) I am not a fan of roses. I think they are poky and lame. I have good memories of my grandfather having them but I still didn't want them in our yard. And then they bloomed. We have five (5!) different colors of roses in our yard and they are beautiful. There are two shades of pink (light and dark-which is behind Hazel), a fantastic reddish-pinkish-orangey (hands down, my favorite) , yellow (also behind Hazel) and an orange one. They are awesome and we have been making great bouquets out of them.

Hazel looked adorable one day and so I asked her if I could take a picture and if she would put her hat back on. This was what I got. Hil-ar-i-ous.

We read stories before bed and the other night Hazel wanted me to read this dorky Mad book (as in the magazine). My eyes were killing me so I took my contacts out and put my glasses on so I could see. Hazel followed suit.Peace out.

Post #100

100 numbered lines about 100 posts. *

1. I actually have posted more, but not on Blogger.
2. In the olden days I coded by hand. BY HAND!!
3. This actually worked better than Blogger.
4. Blogger sucks.
5. I suck.
6. My blog sucks.
7. My new washer and dryer, however, is AWESOME! Behold the awesomeness.

8. Notice the venting Geoff installed. He just cut a hole in our window and ran the vent pipe through it.
9. Our window is made out of plexiglass.
10. I realize the ghetto-ness of this. But let me bask in the glory of my fancy (and, more importantly, functional) appliances.
11. We also had a new main water line installed.

12. It is not as pretty as our washer/dryer combo but our old line was far less functional than our old washer/dryer.
13. A broken washer/dryer does not cost as much in sheer waste as a broken water main.
14. I have no idea what that giant pipe near the hole is for.
15. Whatever it is, I am glad IT didn't break.
16. I am also glad the City is going to split the difference on the gobs of water we used last month.
17. Hazel played outside with Nacho on Sunday while we were in the basement working. I took pictures with the telephoto lens.


18. Nacho has become a far more tolerant dog since we had the kid.
19. Our neighbor, Thomas, has baby kittens.

20. They are adorable.

21. Hazel loves to play with the kittens.
22. I hope she doesn't turn them evil.
23. It makes me happy that my kid loves books.

24. She does not, however, love to have her picture taken.

25. If I was given a choice, I would take the books.
26. Blogger totally sucks.
27. It makes me bonkers that I can't just copy and paste a picture without losing the big picture.
28. The actual BIG picture, not some metaphorically crap.
29. My next 100 posts may be brought to you by something else.
30. Like the letter "M".
31. For Meadow.
32. Now with added cheez.
33. Hazel decided it would be a good idea to stick her hand in the jar of nacho cheese and FLING IT.

34. It was not a good idea.
35. In fact it was a very, very bad idea.
36. Never have I seen so much cheez.


I made her clean it up (mostly) and then scrubbed her off in the shower and sent her to bed.
This was over a week ago.
I am still stumbling upon cheez.
100 things is a lot.
And I am trying to finish before my inaugural load of laundry finishes.
Okay, I am giving up at 42. Hazel wants me to play hide-and-go-seek and I would rather do that.


*Not changing the title. Live with it.

Happy Mother's Day

My bad mothering is apparently as bad as my daughtering, as I didn't get a mother's day present nor did I get my mom a present (delivered, but she will come down and I will give it to her). Anyway, I told my mom I would post pictures of Hazel on her cutie-cute bike and here they are. Two days late.

First, the other day (I think last Friday) I painted Hazel's fingers and toes. And then I forgot to put away the nail polish. Because I am an idiot and forgot a three-year-old lives in my house. She found the nail polish and proceed to paint (a) her face, (b) her body, (c) the computer chair, (d) the rug and (e) the floor. I hate the computer chair so it didn't get cleaned, the floor will be refinished (eventually) but we were able to get the rug and the kid cleaned. Doh. Also, notice how her gut is hanging out? She gets that from me. Poor thing.
But look how cute she is on her bike! We rode to the store. Which was WAY too far. But, Hazel was a trooper.

Ack! The cuteness is killing me!*
Remember this shirt from baby fights in 2006? Well, it still fits. Hazel also ups the tough-factor by 3 by adding a headlamp.

Geoff and Hazel went hiking today with the neighbors, Emi and Jack. Hazel loves having a hiking stick. Plus, she is finally big enough for her Camelbak to start to fit her.

Hat? Oh, it seems to be missing. I am hoping Geoff at least remembered the sunscreen. Oh, turns out he did.

The end.

Mom: Hope this counts for something. I really do have a present for you. Love you lots. Thanks for helping me become the mom I am today.



*Okay, so not to take away from the cuteness I am moving this story to the bottom. While we were coming home from the store, we were on 9th south in front of the bike store and there is the slightest incline ever and Hazel got going a little fast and crashed into a lady (girl? I don't know she was probably about 20). Everyone was okay but Hazel got nervous, I was nervous (because, come on, my kid hit someone!) and it bad for a long trip home. But, she is getting over it and willing to ride again. Plus, she has been practicing her braking. A lot.

The "other" camera

First up, we all went to the dentist* today and no cavities for anyone! Hooray! This was the most official visit yet for Hazel and she did AWESOME. The dentist even remarked at what a great job she did and wondered what we did to prepare her for it. Sadly, we did nothing. We get no good parent points today. Except for the whole good dental hygiene thing. Plus, I love how relaxed she looks in the chair. Okay, everything else is in random date order from the last month-and-a-half or so.

Girls' brunch out at Porcupine. Mmmm....Porcupine. For Shauntil's birthday. I believe this was the day after we got back from Vegas (don't worry, Vegas pictures are coming up).

Swimming while my mom was in town. Her hotel's pool was broken and then cold and so they sent us all to Dimple Dell which was still kind of cold but not broken, plus it was giant way more giant than the hotel pool. We had a great time. Plus, this is the first picture where I can totally see Hazel got my smile. Poor thing, she will never have an upper lip...

The AF Omans were swimming too. This was the best picture I have of Hazel and Gloria. The rest of them make it look as if Hazel is drowning Gloria. But I promise she was just hugging her!

Hazel at her favorite store. If you look at the big picture you can see that I am reflected in one lens and Geoff is reflected in the other. I would also like to point out that we almost never let her take toys into stores so it was a special treat for her to take the Care Bear.

Remember yesterday when I said that the Oman girls take odd pictures? See:

And then this:

Okay, so we went to Vegas in March. Me, Anne, Jesse and Jenni. My step-brother John was a dancer at the Tropicana (the show closed and so now he will be dancing on a cruise ship, and I will visit him there!!). So, we went to see his show before it closed. We also did a little sightseeing. While we were at the Bellagio we saw these girls taking pictures whilst leaning over their cameras to get their heads in the picture with the ceiling. I was enamored with this:
I took a ton of pictures whilst leaning over my camera. And then Jenni stuck her head in one. If you flip through the whole sequence of pictures it is hilarious. Especially on the impossibly long drive home from Vegas.**

These are the best group shots I have. After John's show, in front of the showroom.
And then at the Bellagio gardens. Man, I am a slob. Why am I wearing a t-shirt? I rarely wear t-shirts, outside of manual labor and sleeping. Blah to being a slob.

Finally, any ideas of what I should get my mom for Mother's Day? Apparently, it is THIS weekend!! I should have figured this out earlier and got her a present while she was in town last week. Worst. Daughter. Ever.

*Okay, new dentist update. He was pretty nice. I liked him. We used to go to another doctor but he moved to Oregon, which is kind of far to go for dental work. So, this dentist bought the practice and since we are lazy and already had appointments we stuck with this guy. He did a great job explaining things to watch and took care of the kid. I will be back in six months.

** I realize I am spoiled. I flew down and only had to ride in the car on the way back.