Slow ride

The Barbie Jeep is still a big hit in our house. Thankfully. You always spend big bucks on toys and then they end up being neglected and lonely. Not a good return on investment. Luckily, the BJ is still new enough that we haven't encountered that problem.

Jeeps seem to be on the mind lately. Shawn's been doing some work on his Jeep in the garage. I think he's pulled every socket, wrench, tire (there are 9 of them ladies and gentlemen), drill press, oil can, tire rim, whatchamacalit out. I'm not exagerating. But, because of the chaos that is JEEP there's been no room to keep Mallie's ride out there. So, he put it in the office until he's sufficiently reorganized the outdoor storage area back to its usual clutter. The kids love having it in the house ... they just sit in it and listen to the radio ... taking a slow ride to nowhere.

They'll play with it for hours. Getting in. Getting out. Crawling over the hood. Hanging on to the back pretending the wind is going through their hair (maybe that's a mommy dream!). I think this love affair with Jeeps is a Tinkham trait. All the men in the family seem to eat, drink and sleep Jeep at some point in their lives. Now that I think about it ... I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee when Shawn and I first met. Actually, it's the one that he's been working on. Maybe it wasn't my charming personality that brought him over to the dark side ... it was the Jeep! It all makes perfect sense!

Anyway ... as you can see in the pic, True is a great chauffer for Mallie and the baby (whose name changes daily so I am not sure what to call her right now). Of course, I hope he can sit down and keep his eyes on the road when it's really time to drive. I may have to revoke his license otherwise.

P.S. Please forgive my issues with formatting. Blogger is not cooperating and refuses to let me put spaces before the picture and before the paragraphs. Someone should send her to time out.

Me, in the eyes of a child

Mallory has started drawing pics of people. With real eyes and arms and everything. This is a big improvement over the blobs she used to draw. So imagine my joy when she told me she had drawn a picture of me. That's me on the chalkboard.



She gave me a HUGE head. But on the plus side, she also gave me small hips. What mommy wouldn't want that?

Oompa Loompa

I love Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Who wouldn't want to go through the ceiling in a glass elevator?! It's just a classic childhood movie (the old version, not so keen on the new Johnny Depp version ... and don't get me started on the book vs. the movie discussion ... yes, I should like the book, but no, I'd rather watch the movie).

Anyway, imagine my surprise when I looked over to see my own personal Oompa Loompa at the dining table. Isn't he a lovely shade of orange?! Sorry for the fuzziness ... he just couldn't sit still you see.


Yes folks, somoeone was taking his taco soup dinner very seriously. That soup must have tasted really good to be wearing it like this. Or, maybe he knows something about a new-fangled skin care regimine that I haven't read in the latest Cosmo (really, Better Homes & Gardens is probably more my speed these days)?

Anyway, I did learn one thing from last night's dinner. Don't get taco soup in your eyes or you'll look like this:

Kissy,kissy Night, night

We were playing around with True tonight and he was just so darn cute I had to take a couple of vids. I will abstain from sharing the nakey versions and just post the clothing not-optional movie. Too bad you can't see his cute little cheeks though!

Mallory's stats

Mallory had her four year old pediatrician visit today. Here's her stats:

Height: 39.25" (50 %tile)
Weight: 30lbs (20 %tile)
BMI: 13.6 (5 %tile)

Poor thing had three shots, a finger prick, an attempted urinalysis, a hearing test, a vision test and her blood pressure taken. It was a VERY long visit. The good news: she's normal (at least physically!).

Sight for sore eyes

On Thursday, we passed this gas station on our way home. I did a double take. And immediately reached for my camera. Mallory couldn't understand what mommy was taking a picture of ... and how do you make a four year old understand why something like this would make me so excited?!

Happy birthday, Bugaboo

On November 6, 2004, our lives were immeasurably changed - for the better. Our little girl, Mallory Manet, unexpectedly made her way into this world. She wasn't due for two more weeks but for some reason she just couldn't wait any longer to make our dreams come true. Now, four short years later it is still hard to believe we have been graced with such a loving, inspiring but insolent child! My little bugaboo (aka "bug").

So on Thursday, her actual birthday, I took the day off to revel in the joy of spending time with my beloved little girl.


Our big outing for the day was to the American Girl store. It was a first (but not a last) for both of us. We spent about 45 mins looking through the store and then headed up the escalator to the Bistro for lunch. Did you know they will let you borrow dolls to share lunch with? They even have the cutest itty bitty highchairs for the dolls that hook on to the table. Mallory got to choose which baby to take care of during our lunch. Unfortunately, she was too busy with the doll to actually eat. I just could not force myself to eat all $50 of the food we had ordered (call me sucker).


As the lunch progressed, Mallory kept asking me if the doll was ours to keep. What's a mommy to do on her first born's birthday? I didn't plan on buying anything but could not resist (I later told Shawn I had "sucker" tattooed on my forehead ...first lunch, then doll). We came home with a Bitty Baby and two sets of clothing (a birthday outfit and a cheerleader outfit). Later that day we stopped to see daddy at work and then chilled at home. It was a great day.

On Saturday, we had the "big" birthday party. Food, cake, bouncy house. You name it. It was EXHAUSTING. Now I know why people choose to outsource the birthday party. And I am already looking for next year's vendor. Way to plan in advance.


All in all it was a great day. Only a few toes were run over with the Barbie Jeep. Truett fell out of it once (thankfully on grass). It's a good thing he's good at the stop, drop and roll maneuver. And now my girl is officially a year older. I already miss my "baby." Mallory continues to protest that she is my baby (she's a big girl, don't you know!). One day she will understand that she will always be my baby.

Sugar shock

The kids had a very happy Halloween. They started off by having a pizza party at school where they were stuffed with all the cheese pizza, Hawaiian Punch and cupcakes they could eat. I think it was their idea of heaven. Honestly, I think I may have been in heaven too ... and I'm much older than a kid.

After lunch, they went room to room and trick-or-treated all the teachers. Each kid came home with a brown lunch bag FULL of candy. All of this before it got dark. It only took me about five mins to assess the contents of the bags and lay claim to the "good stuff." LOL ... this is the fun part of being a parent. I *know* Halloween brings lots `o candy. But I didn't make the connection that as the kids get older the candy also grows exponentially. And my will power is down to zilch. I think I was almost physically sick yesterday from all the sugar coursing through my veins. My only hope is that this toxic goodness is gone soon! I didn't get a before picture, but this is what the stash looked like as of a few mins ago after eating almost half of what was received:


See my surly Pom-Pom Girl (in her defense, this was taken at about 7a on the way to school!):


And the man who saved the day - Superman:


We didn't really end up trick-or-treating because Mallory was invited by the neighbors to attend a Fall Festival. We took True to a few of the neighbors just to show off his cuteness. They oohed and ahhed in all the appropriate places. Even better ... we got to take a house tour of the neighbor across the street who had done extensive remodeling. I was too chicken to ask to see the house as it was being done but they must have sensed my need when we knocked on their door and invited us in to show off all their work (and piles of money) they had put into the reno. Beautiful ... but I cannot imagine spending that kind of money right now.