One Man’s Treasure
I love my husband. He’s a good, good man. I have a month until Father’s Day. A mere thirty days to find a way to thank him for being both a devoted father and the glue that holds our family together. For being the person I can call to calm me down when my head is going to explode, I am speaking in tongues and my pulse is beating in my ears like a marching band because I have decided to drive straight into the middle of a parade for an hour... Read More
A Day in The Pod
A few of my favorite bloggers have done “A Day in the Life” posts lately, and since I have enjoyed those behind-the-scenes glimpses so much, I thought I’d put a similar post together for you. Indulge me. Or forgive me. Or both. This was Thursday, and, for better or worse, pretty typical. 5:45 a.m. My alarm goes off and since I am 86 and went to bed at 10 p.m. last night, I have no problem getting up. I have a big cup of... Read More
The Green Room
There’s a sign that hangs in our breakfast nook that says, “God grant me the patience to endure my blessings.” Amen. There’s no question I’ve been blessed. There’s also no question I have my patience tested. Daily. I can endure batting helmets worn to the grocery store in case there’s an errant pitch in the produce department. I have no idea why two pairs of sunglasses are needed, though. I can endure digging the purple... Read More
Name That Book and Other Weekend Highlights
1. I hate to say “I told you so.” Lie. I love it. When I left for the gym yesterday, Pea Daddy was cleaning up the playroom, and when I came home, I saw this: I told you so. 2. I then drove to Starbucks with the vow not to leave until the second book was finished. Two hours, a venti Americano and three bathroom breaks later, I was done. Shaky, slightly nauseous, embarrassingly greasy and done. 3. ... Read More
12 More Questions to Ask Your Kids
We were in need of some serious family time this weekend. It’d been at least two weeks since we had spent the day as just the four of us, and we decided to let the girls choose whatever they wanted to do. Thank goodness the Inflatable Kingdom was closed and they’ve yet to discover what Chuck E. Cheese is. If you tell them, I will hunt you down. So Pea Daddy, God bless him, spent his Super Bowl weekend painting pottery. It was messy. It... Read More
Love Notes
Can it really be February? Otherwise known as The Month I Have to Hand Over the Manuscript I Only Started Three Months Ago. I have 23 days. I promise not to count it down every day on here until the due date. You know I don’t blog on the weekends, so there’s that respite for you. It’s also the month of love. And the love notes are flying around here. Lulu brought home this picture she made in preschool. That’s her in the yellow with... Read More
Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs
I am the worst offender at helicopter parenting. Always have been, always will be. But when we went on our “adults only” vacation last week, I knew I had to let it go if I was going to have a good time. Yes, the girls might not eat, sleep or wear their hair like they do when they are at home, but they would survive. And they probably needed a break from me as much as I did from them. Still, the less I knew the better. I simply would... Read More
Wannabe Recipea: Goldfish Crackers
Lulu might be taking her self-imposed lessons in empathy a little too far. Yesterday she sat in her baby doll stroller and rolled herself around the house, claiming to be in a wheelchair. I was going to put a kibosh on her game as being insensitive, but it came to a crashing end all on its own. Let’s just say our stairway is not up to ADA standards. Today she’s pretending that a pair of blue Minnie Mouse sunglasses are actual eyeglasses and... Read More
I’d Lie, Cheat or Steal For You
My girls have a bond that I am not sure I will ever understand. Though I have brothers, I definitely don’t relate to the connection they have. The willingness to do anything for each other. The nicest thing I ever did for my brother was sneak into his dresser drawer, break all his cigarettes in half and stuff them back in the package. I thought I was so clever. What was he going to do? Tell my mom? My girls, on the other hand, will do whatever... Read More
Tuesday News
1. I’m still addicted to Pinterest, and it’s not doing me any favors. Since joining, I’ve been wearing a sloppy smoky eye to Target for laundry detergent, I’ve stopped washing my hair with shampoo and I’ve cut off the sleeves from my cardigans to make boot socks. In other words, I’m a hot mess. Thank you, Pin-interest. 2. The candy on our gingerbread house is “accidentally” falling off faster than it was put on. ... Read More
The Certificate
Say what you will about Gigi, but that girl wears her heart on her sleeve. She gets it from me. If I get a paper cut, you’ll know about it, the thickness of paper that instigated the wound and the eight naturopathic remedies I’ve applied to ensure rapid healing. Aloe vera for the win. Pea Daddy, on the other hand, internalizes things a bit more. I’m sure it has nothing to do with me or my listening and empathy skills. Nope. Gigi came... Read More
Ten Things About Sunday
1. On the 13th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me, one case of pinkeye, acute bronchitis, four missing teeth, and a partridge in a pear tree. 2. How ‘bout some irony? Gigi, both a pacifist and a vegetarian, has been cast as the solider who gets to kill the Mouse King in The Nutcracker. I feel nothing but pride. I suspect Lulu, cast as a mouse, will find her harder to forgive. 3. The worst part about writing a cookbook: 4. ... Read More
Lessons from the Weekend
1. There’s something far worse than having a broken dishwasher–having a broken door to your garage. When you are locked inside. And without easy access to get out of your house to go to the grocery store, to ballet rehearsals, to anywhere away from children that have woken up at 5:45 to eat chocolate. 2. Chocolate-filled advent calendars are evil. For the last four days, my children have been waking up at an ungodly hour so they can eat chocolate. ... Read More
Words About Wednesday
1. This week we each made out our Christmas lists, and for the most part they were surprise free. Especially when it comes to Lulu’s wishlist. Numbers 6 and 8 are real shockers. (P.S. Her handwriting is remarkable, no?) 2. I’ve resorted to inappropriate means to get Lulu to brush her teeth in the morning. Namely threatening to call the dentist and tell on her. I’m about six months overdue for a cleaning, though, so that’s... Read More
The First Thanksgiving
Translation: “The First Thanksgiving by Gigi.” Translation: “When the Native Americans were alive, people called Pilgrims were alive with them. They boarded a boat called the Mayflower.” Mama Pea note: When the Native Americans were alive? I think this is some very dark, though slightly inaccurate foreshadowing. Translation: “The Pilgrims and the Native Americans boarded the boat and set out for a new land.” Mama... Read More
This Thursday
1. Lulu slept in until 8 this morning, when I heard her rummaging through her dresser drawers. She came downstairs wearing a full tutu, pink feathered crown, arrowhead necklace and sense of self-importance. She said she was ready for preschool. They were not ready for her. 2. Pea Daddy introduced me to Angry Birds on Sunday. My life, as I know it, is over. I think my book manuscript would be finished if it weren’t for those... Read More
Two For Tea–and Chocolate Chip Scones
Photo credit Ashley I’d travel many miles in the rain to have a cup of tea and a scone with a dear friend. In fact, I have. Last year it was solely on accident, as I led a handful of unsuspecting bloggers through the streets of San Francisco with this new fangled contraption called an iPhone. It was pouring down rain, but we gritted our teeth, paid too much for drugstore umbrellas and followed my marching orders in pursuit of Leland... Read More
The Pride of Austria
I am no longer a soccer mom, and I can’t stop smiling about it. While most Wednesday nights we’re racing off to soccer practice, this past weekend we had our last game and our Team Austria end-of-the-year party, so tonight I am free! Well, free of soccer anyway. While I’m happy Gigi has played, something changed this year. Girls were more aggressive. There was shoving and there were scowls, and not just from Lulu who wanted Gigi’s post-game... Read More
Six Ingredients or Less: Tandoori Mmmm Sauce
I’m losing my mind. Today was Pajama Day at Lulu’s preschool. Praise God. Thanks to trick-or-treating and subsequent candy eating, we were up far later than usual and then overslept. So when Lulu woke up about twenty minutes before she had to leave for school, we were a bit frantic. “Get out of your pajamas and put on your…pajamas!” I yelled, while trying to finish my crunches, finish packing Gigi’s lunch and finish a thought. I just... Read More
Jack-O-Happy
Don’t tell Lulu, but her class went to the Pumpkin Patch while we were on vacation last week. She’d be devastated if she learned she missed out, regardless of the fact that she was probably illegally riding Thunder Mountain while her class tromped around in pouring down rain looking at muddy gourds. Yeah, they probably got apple cider donuts, but she got a churro. Potato, potato. (That doesn’t translate well into the written word,... Read More
Postcard From the Peas: Disneyland, Day 2
Every family vacation has its defining moment that memorializes that specific trip forever. That moment is so burned into your psyche that you need only say the place and date of the trip and instantly anyone that was there will as a reflex just say, “That was the trip when _____.” Our family is full of them. Kona 2007: That was the trip when infant Lulu screamed throughout an entire luau. I shushed her and rocked her back by the bar just... Read More
Postcard From the Peas: Disneyland, Day 1
Dear Friends, Having a great time in Disneyland. Unfortunately, however, Pea Daddy is divorcing me because: a) I made him drive 10 miles in traffic last night after already driving all afternoon just so we could go to Loving Hut for dinner; b) Loving Hut was closed because it was Sunday; c) the vegetarian restaurant I then frantically found and made him drive to, cursing the whole way there, was also closed because it was Sunday; d) I... Read More
Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Use iPhones
Remember when we were kids and the only way we had to entertain ourselves on long trips was to play Twenty Questions or that little Bingo game with the red sliding windows that marked railroad crossings or police cars? Dad always panicked when we’d mark off that police car. Or if we were really lucky and had a quarter burning in our pockets, we’d get those flat Jolly Rancher sticks that lasted for literally two hours of licking. Green apple... Read More
That’s My Girl
I’ve been thinking about getting a DNA test. Had I not spent 21 hours in labor only to see Gigi’s curly head wrapped up in a pink blanket in my arms, I would not believe she was mine. I never really questioned it until last week. She has my eyes. My flair for the dramatic. My love of spinach and cookie dough (but not together). Her first cold of the season had reached that point where I was contemplating keeping her home from school. ... Read More
Cooking for Daddies
Buying gifts for Pea Daddy isn’t easy. I know you’re thinking, “Hello?! Tommy Bahama shirt!,” but I can’t exactly make fun of it if I buy it. Though I wouldn’t put it past me. Luckily, we’d tucked away a little something Gigi made at school a few weeks ago just for today. And I shouldn’t have wasted a moment trying to come up with a great Father’s Day gift. Nothing was going to top this. I suddenly feel totally inferior as... Read More
Wacky Wednesday: A Pea Podcast (AUDIO)
Wacky doesn’t even begin to describe the day we’ve had. Two ballet rehearsals. A newspaper interview. A visit with my favorite aunt. 66 people finding my blog by searching Google for “wiener jokes.” 37 people finding my blog for searching Google for “Weiner jokes.” Thank you, Senator, for the extra hits. (I’m not the first woman to say this, I’m sure.) Dough ball baking. Really interesting and enlightening... Read More
Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Beach Towels
I’m admittedly a very careful mom. There’s no running with popsicle sticks. No jumping on the bed. No climbing up the slide. And if you so much as even say the word “trampoline” in my house, you can show yourself to the door. Just watch your fingers. I thought by having two girls the worst injuries we would endure would be superficial cuts from our paper dolls, or maybe the occasional burnt tongue from overheated tap water during our daily... Read More
Cinco Means Five
I am a smart person. But I can be a complete moron sometimes. Okay, a lot of the time. Monday, I unknowingly left a candle burning for the entire two hours we were out for dinner. Bad news: it could have burnt our home and everything in it to the ground. Good news: for once my house didn’t smell like steamed broccoli. I promise, it’s the broccoli. Yesterday, I forgot the check for ballet class, but remembered it when we got to the mailbox,... Read More
It Had to Be Lu
I’ve always called Lulu “Trouble.” As in, “Here comes Trouble.” Or “What’d Trouble do now?” My mother hates it. She thinks I’ll give her a complex. But what about me? I bought wrinkle cream this week. I blame it on the trampoline sprained ankles. The peanut butter-coated couch cushions. The hummus hand lotion. The child-sized mug of hot chocolate she finds a way to take a bath in. The sleepwalking that ends with her... Read More
