Ten on Tuesday

1. Virtually every lip balm I have strategically placed in my high-traffic areas has run dry at the same time. Grrrrrrr.

2. The Wizard of Oz has a lasting appeal that has remained a classic spanning generations.  So why am I struggling to get through Wicked?!

3. Thanks to Facebook, I learned last week that 4 May is Star Wars Day.  May the fourth be with you.  Yep, that's what I said.

4. Lauren loves to play doctor.  Yesterday she was checking in my daughter and rattled off a long list of inquiries, including if my daughter has any allergies.  Specifically she was curious if she was allergic to diarrhea.  What do I even say to that?!

5. I believe I have my fine-haired German ancestors to thank for my impossibly horrible bed head.  The older I get the worse it gets.  Though, Abby's is pretty bad too I have to admit.  Sorry, Abigail.

6. So I guess Bin Laden wasn't hiding in that gigantic hole Lizzie dug in our back yard when we were living at Hanscom AFB.  I'm sure he could have been quite cozy, but he probably wouldn't have been happy with the service he got from Comcast there any more than we were. LoL. And I'm sure Comcast would not have cared about him any more than the rest of us on base. Yep, still bitter.

7. Move over Miss Lisa.  Today Lauren and I went to Abby's school to volunteer for a character workshop on being a good citizen.  Lauren loved it, and was especially grateful to be a part of a kindergarten class for the afternoon.  She decided to make Abby's teacher a thank you card when we got home, along with a special note.  The "ILMDL" means, I love Miss Duling.  Just in case you're wondering, the "ILUD" means I love your dad.  Oh, Lauren!



{The Special Note}

8. How long does it take the mail-order pharmacy to get our prescriptions together.  Thank God we've got what we need to get us through.  Still.  Geez!

9. There are two things I want right now: an ice pack and a nap.

10. Just for fun I Googled, "Chocolate Chip Cookies".  The first on the list was, of course, NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE's recipe for their famous cookies.  This is the recipe that appeared fourth on the list, and stakes claim at being the best: www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/best-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx.  Happy National Chocolate Chip Day on May 15th!

Mother's Day.... Like Riding a Bike

Mother's Day 2011 was all that it should be....

• Geoff was the first one out of bed, then headed off to the store for breakfast must haves. Easy for me!
• Lauren climbed into bed with me, providing endless love, snuggles & kisses. I can never get enough of these!
• My Mother's Day gifts included a bounty of cards, drawings, a picture frame, chocolate-covered strawberries & flowers. Yumm!

• Enjoyed homemade waffles.  Thanks, Daddy!
• I made a new friend.... Alyssa Klein.  A childhood friend of Geoff's, we're excited to have another Minnesotan living here in Ohio!  Thanks for spending the weekend with us, Alyssa!

• We visited the Air Force Museum.

• Went out for dinner at my favorite chicken wing joint.  Fricker's!
• Took a nap on the couch with my girls. Enjoying this while it lasts!
• Took a walk with the dog. Thank you, Lizzie, for pooping in the vacant field so I didn't have to pick it up!
• Played outside. No rain!
• And....

Took off Abby's training wheels!  Yippee!

{Waiting With the Wrench}

• Took off Lauren's training wheels....

But this is about as far as she got. Next time!

It was the BEST Mother's Day a girl could ask for.  No work.  All play.  Just being a mom.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms.

Flashback Friday

Today Lauren imitated a project they did at preschool where they drew an outline of their bodies.  Only today she did it with her rocket blanket....

Present Day

This Friday we flash back through the archives in search for some of the earliest evidence of Lauren and her Rock.

September 9, 2008

Thank You Thursday

1. I'm thankful for the kid in Geoff.  More often than I know he replays the winning goal that made the Bulldogs national champions for the first time in men's division I hockey.  It's safe to say I'm thankful the Bulldogs finally pulled that off, too!

2. I'm grateful for Lauren.

This is the bag she made to gift my Mother's Day mug & flower.  She wrote Happy Mother's Day, because Miss Lisa told her to.... her words. She also drew a picture of the Easter Bunny with some eggs.... nice touch.  The "ILMLI" means, I love Miss Lisa.... do you think she loves her teacher?!  But my favorite is her depiction of me.  That's me on the bottom of the bag, pregnant with her.... where does she come up with this stuff?!

3. I'm thankful for the random guy who told me I look like I just won the lotto.  Really?  I honestly thought I looked like a scrub as I strolled to Subway with a book in my hands, waiting for my oil to get changed.  Maybe it was the sunshine, or the prospect of finally getting new wheels, all of which I am also thankful for.  Thank you random guy.

4. I'm thankful for such a great mother-in-law.  I couldn't ask for a better one, and the girls are equally as lucky to have her as their grandma.  If only we could travel like the speed of light and see her more often!

5. I'm thankful for nudging friends.  Sometimes that's all I need.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Better late than never.  Lauren's five year pictures today.  Priceless.

2. The girls still play cars.  Matchbox cars.  They still dump out my old purse full of them into a pile on the floor.  The way they play has evolved, but still they love to play cars.  I love it.

3. In my unscientific study, Wal-Mart's generic nail polish remover is tops.

4. Just got a recipe for Strawberries & Cream Mini Muffins.  Can't wait to try that one, and I just happen to have strawberries in the fridge.

5. The GMC Acadia has moved to the top of my list.  And I enjoyed last Saturday's car shopping adventure with Geoff.  Of course it doesn't hurt that we pitstopped at Perkins for lunch!

6. I love a good story.

7. One day I may be good at Zumba. Until then I shall look like a fool while working my buns off.  But I really do like it.

8. I could not be more grateful that my girls are so different; their own distinct personas.  I love them both in their own way.

9. Who knew being a bus stop mom could be so fun?!  I often wonder what the bus driver is thinking when he loops back around and we're still standing there gabbing.  I know this.... we're currently running a sting oppression to catch the speeding yellow car.  Earlier in the school year she slammed right into a parked car; it was totalled.  I hate to see what happens if she messes with one of the children of the bus stop moms.  Let's hope the cops catch her first!

10. The girls LOVE Mother's Day.  They know they aren't supposed to keep secrets from mom, especially if someone tells them not to tell their mother.... except when it comes to Mother's Day.  It is eating them from the inside out keeping all of these secrets.  So much so that Lauren reminds me she knows a secret she can't tell me.  I just want to grab her little cheeks and kiss her when she does that!

I ♥ Teachers

Teacher Appreciation Day is tomorrow, May 3rd.

I cannot sing the praise of the girls' teachers loud enough.  They truly have two of the best teachers America's education system has to offer.

Blogs are all abuzz with cute & clever tokens of appreciation for our children's most influential roll models outside of the home.  This is what I came up with for our favorite teachers....

At literally $2 a piece, these hand-crafted pencil holders are nothing more than crayons Mod Podged to an empty glass salsa jar, tied with a ribbon, and stuffed with a couple dozen pencils.  Voilà!

Thank you, teachers!

Big Day

A big day for America.  A big day at the Zahn house.  In the last twenty-four hours America has celebrated the capture & demise of Osama Bin Ladin. Abby, on the other hand, is focused on her own conquest: losing a tooth.  The second best thing is getting one of her big teeth; it looks like both are about to happen for our little lady....

{The Big Tooth Pushes Through}

Lauren, on the other hand, has taken up multi-tasking.  She has been logging in a lot of time on her laptop lately....

{Lauren Talks to Grandma & Types Scooby Homework}

The next best thing to happen in Abby's world: she taught herself to tie her shoes....

{Ta-da!}