Make A Wish

I have a new post up on Dabbles, with the story behind the photo above. And, of course, more photos.

Three for the Price of One

New post up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. It's all about where I live, in case Jenny wants to stalk me.

New post up on DC Metro Moms. The sexist commercials just finally went too far!

New post up on MOMocrats. Want to read about the Evolution of a MOMocrat?

Missing Her

I have a post about my grandmother with some very personal photos up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. No, it's not that kind of "personal." Get your mind out of the gutter. (I'm talking to you, Jenny!) I don't post porn on the internet. (Although I bet my ad revenue would dramatically increase if I did. Hmmm....)

Missing Her

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Also, the D.C. Metro Moms are discussing education today, all day. I have a rant about public schools that should be up as the introductory post by Wednesday morning. Go check it out!

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Joanne, aka Pundit Mom, will be on Blog Talk Radio for Kristin's Motherhood Uncensored podcast to talk about how moms are getting involved in the elections. A few other MOMocrats may be calling in too and I know you won't want to miss it. (I may even call in myself. Ahem.)

Iraq: Five Years Later

I'm over at MOMocrats today spouting off about the Iraq war today. Actually, all of the MOMocrats are. Check it out.

I was also spouting off about Mommy guilt yesterday at D.C. Metro Moms Blog. Something I know nothing about. {/sarcasm} Actually, all of the D.C. Metro Moms were. Check it out.

I'm also spouting off at Lawyer Mama Dabbles about my discovery and love of color and such. Check it out. I like that photo essay so much, I may post it over here.

And you thought I'd just been slacking lately!

Yes, my readers, comments, and Technorati rating are starting to approach zero, but that's just because I don't have time to comment on all of your lovely blogs. I've been doing the "drive by" a lot lately and I apologize. I'm not doing a very good job of holding up my end of the conversation. But I'm trying.

Most Interesting....

My most interesting photos on Flickr. As determined by Flickr's mysterious calculations.



I have new California photos up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles.

Check over at MOMocrats for the latest on the election.

I swear I'll be back with an actual, real post tomorrow!

Early Childhood Education From A Military Perspective

A lovely piece ran in our local Virginian Pilot today about early childhood education. It was written by a retired Vice Admiral and applied his own brand of "military logic" to the arguments against state funding of early childhood education. It was so refreshing, I had to share it:

A Military Perspective On Preschool

As a retired military officer, I am concerned with the debate about whether to fund the proposed expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative. I am concerned because opponents are often vigorous, employing one of two tactics, neither of which seems defensible.

One of these tactics is political - the attempt to stir partisan opposition to the proposal solely because it is championed by a governor from the opposing party. This tactic, of course, is contrary to a military way of doing business, where decisions are based on reason and empirical evidence rather than political motives.

The second tactic is the "yes, but" approach, as in "we think expansion of preschool is a good idea, but it's too costly," or "but there are too many practical barriers to overcome," or similar yes-but evasions.

To a former officer, "yes, but" has the ring of excuse-making or lack of commitment to the objective, both of which must be overcome to stay on course.

So why should you care what a retired sailor like me thinks about preschool?

You should care, because the military cares, and deeply, about this topic. So deeply, in fact, that starting nearly two decades ago, the Department of Defense launched a services-wide initiative to increase the availability of high-quality early education programs for its youngest dependents.

The military took up this mission to ensure that children of military parents would start kindergarten ready to succeed. Military leaders championed the cause, funds were allocated, programs were made available so all parents could afford high-quality programs.

The effort proved so successful that government and private-sector policy experts began lauding the military's initiative as a model that should be emulated in the civilian sector.

Why such a strong commitment by the military to quality early education and school readiness? Quite simply, the decision was prompted by the following circumstances:
* A large number of military spouses working outside the home
* Half of today's service members have one or more children under age 5; this amounts to nearly 500,000 across all the branches

But there was another commitment, a common-sense one: to do the right thing for children and their parents in uniform.

So, from the perspective of an observer who has seen how this can succeed, I must now ask why some Virginia decision makers seem so reluctant to follow the lead of their military counterparts.

To borrow a naval phrase, we need all hands on deck. Vote to use the lessons learned in the military as a shining example. Access to high-quality, affordable child care for all should be expanded in our state so that all our children have a fighting chance to succeed.

Jim Metzger
Vice Admiral, USN (ret.)
Suffolk

Amen.

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There was a political rally for Obama in Virginia Beach here this evening. Unfortunately, what with the kiddos and all, I didn't think it was a good idea to attend. (It's T's Navy Reserve weekend, so I'm on my own with the kiddos.) I hear it was a good time with lots of noise and lots of people. I have to admit it's kind of nice to hear Virginia's primary described as "pivotal" even if it is the local paper doing it. I'll just try to forget that we were all but ignored before the Wednesday after Super Tuesday and enjoy it while it lasts. I know all the politicians will evaporate from the Commonwealth after Tuesday's election.

Speaking of politics, the D.C. Metro Moms (and all of their sister sites) are writing about politics and voting today. Head on over and check it out. I'm sure there will be some entertaining and controversial pieces going up throughout the day.

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I have some pictures from the zoo up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. You can see what a hellion my Holden is when allowed to roam free from the confines of his stroller....

Spanish Town

I have about 5000 pictures from Mardi Gras parades. And, of course, I want to share all of them! I'll try to restrain myself, but you'll just have to bear with me for the next few days, um, or weeks.

I'll put some up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles every day too.

These are from the Spanish Town parade in Baton Rouge that The Queen was in. She's a member of the Krewe of Pink Ladies. How cool is that? They have jackets and everything. Spanish Town is one looooong parade. It was great and much more family friendly than the parades in New Orleans.


Float with the capitol building in the background. The Spanish Town "mascot" is the flamingo. There was a lot of pink.



The Queen on her float. See what I mean about the jackets?



Hollis in front of the Pink Ladies float. The theme was "Purple is the new Pink" in honor of LSU's national championship. Geaux Tigers! (Please forgive me, Sebastian. It's just a fling.)
Notice that Hollis is all decked out with beads and a flamingo lollipop? This was looooong before the parade started. I just took him up and down the road to look at all the floats getting ready and the boy cleaned up!



My self portrait before the parade. I wore my pink boa just for the occasion. The Queen supplied the beads.



The Queen's gorgeous daughter and honorary Pink Lady. I tried to bring her home with me. Seriously. LOVED her.



Waiting for the parade.



More waiting. See? She's gorgeous. And she and Hollis got along swimmingly.




Everyone who's seen these photos swears these two must be siblings. Nope. There was no fighting at all, just playing. The Princess just entertained Hollis for two hours. Seriously. I'm going to go back and steal her.

I have to say that attending a Mardi Gras parade with two cute kids is far different from attending one as a hot, childless woman. (I'm just assuming the hot part. I never said I wasn't egotistical.) I didn't even have one request to ... um ... lift my shirt and I have never seen so many stuffed animals rain down around me.

I will have more photos up soon....

Absolutely Nothing To See Here

But you can go over to Lawyer Mama Dabbles and see my latest pictures!

While I'm In New Orleans....

Try to forget that I'm having fun in New Orleans. Go over and laugh at my obsessive competitiveness. Leave it to me to combine two neuroses.

Can I Get A Drum Roll Please....?

I have a blogger to introduce.

I know. I see you nodding and thinking, "Yeah, yeah, Steph, but my Google Reader is already about to explode. I just can't give any more." I promise you, you'll want to make an exception.

I am a bit biased. You see, this new "Mommy Blogger" is my cousin. I wrote her a "welcome to motherhood" post shortly before her adorable daughter burst into her world and many of you have seen her comment here on my blog. You may even have followed her link, only to find an empty blog.

Well, it isn't empty anymore.

If you're looking for a new blog that talks about how wonderful life is and how fulfilling and exciting motherhood is, hers is not the blog for you. But chances are, if you're a regular reader here, you'd vomit all over the floor if someone insisted to you that crayons and play doh are more fulfilling to you than any career, dreams, or aspirations you had before becoming a parent.

DM doesn't do puppy dogs, rainbows, and perfect Christmas newsletters. She's a member of my family. We teach sarcasm and pessimism in the womb. Hell, my aunts and uncles even have an informal competition to see who can send out the most twisted Christmas card each year. (For the record, no one has yet topped D&D's card sent out after Hurricane Katrina. It featured my cousin, holding a rifle, in front of the garage spray painted with "Looters will be shot on sight." I'll scan it in some time.)

Oh, and in case you were wondering, DM is not the cousin who was arrested at my grandmother's funeral. No, DM is more likely to get arrested at a protest rally. Or at least she was pre-baby. DM is the person we all wished we could be. She's done everything, from massage therapy to modeling. She was the only bridesmaid in my wedding with purple hair. She's traveled everywhere. (I will never be able to erase that photo of her eating the huge spider from my mind.) She's an incredibly talented photographer and a great writer.

Now, she'll be a great blogger.

If the thought of a minivan and "mom jeans" are enough to make you throw up a little in your mouth, go read Defiant Muse.

Now DM is thinking, "Dear God, WHY did I tell her about the blog?" Just be glad I don't have a scanner at home, DM. It could be worse. This is the only photo I have of you on my computer right now and at least you're not the one wearing a hideously poofy dress that you picked out.

DM is anonymous, or I'd post a more current picture of her modeling. Or if she'll let me lift a picture she's got on her My Space or Facebook pages.... (I got permission, so it's there up at the top!)

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If that photo doesn't intrigue you, I have new ones up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. I know you're all dying to see my homework from my photography class. It's almost as exciting as bark. In fact it is bark.

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I know many of you have noticed that I haven't been visiting blogs lately. I feel like I need to apologize for having such a one way conversation lately.

Do you ever have times where you're really trying to get out of the house to go to the store, but you have two small children and it takes 30 minutes to get them dressed and ready to go. And then when you're strapping them into the car, one insists he has to go potty, so you unstrap them and let him go potty and when you catch them both and begin restrapping them, the other one has to go potty, and then one of them wants a juice and the other one wants a snack, and the other one must find the annoying $.20 Happy Meal gingerbread man toy that says "Not my gumdrop buttons," over and over again, and then the other one has to go potty again, and then the cat barfs on the rug, and then you have to go pee, and all you want to do is sit on the rug with your Resolve and paper towels and cry? But instead you call your husband and tell him to pick up milk on the way home and then everyone takes a 3 hour nap?

That's me lately with the blogging.

I have the best of intentions and sometimes I even get the car out of the garage. But at best I've been driving by the store and not stopping because the kids have fallen asleep in the backseat and I don't want to wake them up.

So please, please don't think I've forsaken you or unsubscribed from your blog, or even stopped thinking about you. To the contrary, I think about you all the time and wonder what's going on with you and you and you and you and you and all the rest of you. (You know who you are, even if I can't possibly link you all.)

When Did I Become The Adult?

I have a new review of The Ultimate Tea Diet up on Lawyer Mama Review. I was skeptical going in, but it really works. Go check it out.

I also have new photos up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. Well, they're not exactly new, but what I did to them is! Want to see a vintage Holden? How about a chocolate and lilac Hollis?

Finally, I have to thank everyone for your emails, comments, and hugs since Pandy got sick. Hell, I have to thank all y'all for your unflagging support all the time. I neglect your blogs for weeks at a time. I post sporadically or post only nonsense and you keep coming back just to let me know you're listening. You open up your homes to me (yeah, I'm looking at you, Joanne and Heather!). You call me and send me your phone numbers. Or you just let me know that you're there.

You have no idea how much all of this means to me. Or maybe you do. Either way, there's a house next door to me for sale if anyone wants to buy it. I'd be thrilled to have any of you as neighbors. And for me, that says a lot!

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Last night was the culmination of weeks of dread. Ever since we got that little slip of paper from Hollis's preschool, I've been nervous as hell. The reason for my anxiety?

Parent Teacher Conferences

That's right. For 3 year olds.

As a child, I was never worried about conferences. I was a nerd model student. Even if I hadn't been, I can usually handle criticism. (Cognitive dissonance works great. You should try it.) But the thought of listening to someone tell me what my baby is doing wrong makes my heart race and my brow break out in a sweat.

It's not that I think Hollis is perfect. To the contrary, I know he's not. I know he's the youngest in his class and that he's probably behind most of them. I know that he's an introvert but he tends to get pumped up and rowdy (and stop listening) when he's in a comfortable environment. I don't know which option frightened me more, hearing that he was completely comfortable to the point of disobedience and insolence or hearing that he was too shy to fully participate.

Well, having actually been in his classroom and witnessed The Toddler in his native habitat, I knew it was more likely we'd be hearing about behavior techniques to get him to listen. I just don't want to be the mom to "That Child." Not that I think we couldn't handle it, but knowing that Holden is far, far worse than his brother, I would be completely freaked out to discover that Hollis is a behavior problem in school!

Plus, every time I go into school as Hollis's "mother" I feel like a teenager masquerading as a parent. Does anyone else feel like this or is this some bizarre personal psychological reaction to schools and bulletin boards?

Hollis's teacher also keeps asking me to call her by her first name and I, stupidly, keep calling her Mrs. N and writing "Mrs. N" on notes to her. I probably make her feel like a grandmother masquerading as a teacher, but really, when did I become the adult? I still feel like I'm not allowed to call a teacher by her first name!

Anyway, it turns out that my fears were groundless. Hollis's teacher told us that, yes, he is young and has a few problems with things a few of the kids have mastered, but he's constantly showing improvement. Hollis is happy and cheerful and obedient (for the most part) and plays well with the other kids. Whew! I mean, we knew Hollis was happy, but it's nice to hear confirmation from his teacher. And to hear that she likes him. We all want our children to be liked, don't we?

At the end of the conference, Mrs. N shared something with us that she calls the "Tell Me" sheet. It's a list of questions she asks the kids and then she records the answers. It starts with basic things like name, age, favorite color, etc.... (By the way, Hollis is still insisting that he's 5. At least he's consistent.) Then she asked him things like, "What makes you happy or sad?" and, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Hollis, to his credit, didn't answer the, "What do you want to be?" question. Honestly, I wouldn't know how to answer if you asked me and I'm 35. How do you answer a question like that? "I want to be happy/thin/tall/a princess/a fireman?" I don't know. On the way home, I decided to ask Hollis the question again, worded a bit differently. Being a creative genius, I asked Hollis, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" My literal-minded toddler answered without missing a beat, "Drink coffee and soda."

That's my boy!

There were a few answers on Hollis's "Tell Me" sheet that cracked us up. For the question, "What do daddies do?" Hollis answered, "Go to work and eat chocolate. I went to Daddy's office and he gave me some chocolate and it was yummy and crunchy." Clearly the kitchen in T's office has made an impression.

In response to, "What do Mommies do," Hollis replied, "Take baths and eat popsicles." Oy. It's time to start indoctrinating the toddler. Does anyone have a copy of The Feminine Mystique that I could borrow? Or maybe I should start out with some Wollstonecraft? Do they publish A Vindication of the Rights of Woman in a picture book?

Hollis redeemed himself towards the end though. His answer to, "What is pretty?" was "Mommy and her smile." Say it with me now, everyone, "Awwwwwwwwww!" When his teacher followed up with, "What makes her pretty?" Hollis's response was, "Her hair and her hair clip."

T was a little disturbed about Hollis's public acknowledgement of his obsession with my accessories. The kid loves to wear my necklaces, hair clips and headbands, and shoes. Clearly, there's hope for my boy!

The Boys - With My New Toy

I promise I'll have a substantive post up tomorrow, as well as a new review. But, since I promised to put some pictures of the boys up taken with the new toy, I'll delay substance a day. If you'd like to check out my post a day early, head over to the DC Metro Moms Blog later today.

As promised, I have photos of the boys taken with the new Nikon D40x. It was evening, so I had to use the flash for all but one. Well, I tried a few others, but only one wasn't incredibly blurry. I'll have to try again with a tripod sometime when the boys will actually sit still.

Holden's foot. The only photo here taken with no flash.

Holden in profile.

Holden's profile again.

Hollis's eye. I also have about 50 photos of him blinking.

Holden's eyelash. Why are the beautiful lashes always on little boys?

Who said brown eyes are boring?

I have some other non-H&H photos up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles.

My New Toy is Here!

My new toy is here!

It was waiting for me when I got back from D.C. yesterday. I'm still figuring it out, but I took a bunch of test shots. I started out with my boys' toys, moved on to the cats and then, finally, the boys. The cats were far more cooperative than my boys. How sad is that?

I have a few kitty photos below, and you can see the toys on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. I'll post the pics of the boys here and at Dabbles tomorrow.

Sir Hillary's eyes. He did not like the flash.

Sir Hillary checks out the camera. Taken with a flash.
My poor kitty is starting to go gray. I can really see it in this photo.

Pandora in the sun. Taken with natural light.
I kind of like how her white whiskers blend in with the background.

The Brittany Spears Train Wreck and Other Important Topics

To distract myself from minute analysis of the Iowa primary, I've been trolling for celebrity gossip. What better to amuse me then Brittany Spears' latest dramady? Apparently when K-Fed's bodyguard's showed up to pick up the kids last night, she was drunk or high or something and wouldn't hand over the kidlets. The police were called, an ambulance showed up, and now Brit-Brit is on a mental health hold at the hospital.

But in reading through the TMZ website and looking at the video I realized that these reporters must pretty much follow Brittany around 24/7. While I certainly don't think Brittany will be up for Mother of the Year anytime in this millennium, I really do feel for the poor thing. Watching your life blow up because of drug and/or alcohol abuse must be bad enough without having it happen in a bright, shining spotlight with the entire world watching.

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In other news, I have yet another post up on the new site. This time I have adorable photos of Holden at Mt. Trashmore. And no, that name is not a joke. But still, I know you want to adore and coo over my Little H.

Click the button. You know you want to.

Iowa, Oh How You Disappoint Me

Well, it looks like Barak Obama has won the Democratic primary in Iowa. It isn't all bad news for Edwards though. He beat HRC. Considering the amount of money she's spent in Iowa, that should really shake things up in her campaign.

If you'd like to check out an insider's view of the Iowa caucuses, Leah Klevar, one of the newest MOMocrats for John Edwards has a great post up live blogging the caucuses. Please ignore the post right below hers where I go on and on about how Edwards is going to win the Iowa primary....

Damn. it.

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I also have a new post up on Lawyer Mama Dabbles. If you ever wanted to see the inner workings of my freakishly analytical mind, this is your chance. I even show you the chart I made while choosing my new digital SLR camera. And there might be something in there about how size really does matter....

Lawyer Mama Dabbles

I've started a new blog. I needed something else to do, what with all the free time I have. Baaaahaaaahaaaa.

Snort.

I crack myself up.

Anywho, I've just purchased my first real SLR camera. I'm super excited to actually figure out what the heck I'm doing with a camera, as opposed to occasionally getting lucky and/or photoshopping the heck out of everything. I'm also starting a photography class in a few weeks.

So, I'm going to document my digital photography education and, of course, the photographs I take. Hopefully, I'll be able to see some evolution in my photography after awhile. And, of course, the new blog will give me someplace to post the 5013 pictures I take every month instead of forcing you to wade through 30 of them a week. I have a hard time choosing just 1 or 2 photos to post.

You hadn't noticed, had you?

The new blog is called Lawyer Mama Dabbles. I have that nifty little button down below - the unobtrusive one with the big sunflower - that will take you there. It's also in my left hand sidebar if you get lost. Unless you're color blind, you can't miss it.



I must also tell y'all how grateful I am for your words of support, comments, and emails over the last few weeks. Please know that I have been reading your blogs, I just haven't been communicating much, through comments or anything else. If I haven't answered your email, please don't take it personally. I can't tell you how much every. single. comment and email meant to me. I'm just overwhelmed right now. I'm sure I'll be back to running my mouth fingers all over the Blogosphere and stalking Wil Wheaton soon enough.

Oh and can anyone tell me when new episodes of Project Runway are starting again? I'm going into withdrawal. During the hiatus, I've been amusing myself at Project Rungay. Have you read the blog? We need to start a write in campaign to get those boys onto Project Runway as guest judges. The Project Rungay boys are fab and bitchy. I want to be them. Except not, you know, male and gay.