Elf-guided Hike and Red Wing Arts Festival

Now you know what what Santa's helpers do in the off-season. They guide tours at a Minnesota state park. Unfortunately, our guide never showed. Christmas must be coming!

A boy, a ball and a bug

The Pedros love to play basketball.


We discovered Little Pedrodeo (my newest nickname for him) has a skin contact allergy to milk/yogurt, so we are working at being less messing at meal times and not smearing milk/yogurt across his face.


This is a bug. A big bug. A fast bug. A scary-looking bug.
We became such good friends after he spent the afternoon on my table under a vase that I dropped him out by the back fence that night instead of in the toilet.

Moments of Pedro T. I didn't capture on camera because I was living in the moment

• PT begging for more tomatoes - do other kids like tomatoes???
• PT sliding down the slide with an expression of pure, innocent glee
• PT at the bottom of the slide looking up at the sky, his long hair straight out with static
• PT signing "Thank You" without a reminder beforehand
• PT trying to climb out of the bathtub with babybath lather all over his hair and body
• PT blowing on everything coming at him on a fork - With his big trumpet lips he sucks in hard a couple times, then blows out like he was a Lamaze instructor. (Now that I've lived this moment, I hope I can get it on video sometime because it is too hilariously cute to miss.)

Magician Baby

Yesterday I lifted Pedro out of his crib after his nap. I carried him as I filled up my waterbottle, then we went back to his room to sit in the rocking chair. I looked down and saw a diaperless-baby. We quickly remedied the situation. Thankfully, I discovered it before I had to change my clothes.

Sewing Motivation-Envy - like waves on the sand

I see the amazing, cute, uber-useful items, people make on blogs like "Make it and Love it" (link to the right), and a wave of motivation swells up inside me. Then I remember how few sewing projects I have ever completed and how many I have in line for my attention somewhere in my closet and how I don't really know how to sew anyway and how I get so impatient because it takes so long to measure and cut and how easy it is to write a run-on sentence when discussing my sewing inhibitions, and the wave of motivation crashes and rolls out like the tide leaving behind the residue of envy with the realization that I could change all that with enough motivation and time, uh, lots of time. Darn.

Well, at least I participated in a productive meeting tonight (see post below).


Notes: 1.This particular post is a direct result of to the 2-1 stroller/messenger bag idea on http://www.makeit-loveit.com/
2. I usually don't use the word uber. It's a little too trendy, and I'm not that hip. But, super just didn't seem to suffice in this situation.

I love meetings!

Most people I know express a general dislike for meetings. I am not one of those people. Even if I am subjected to an unorganized, inefficient meeting (they drive me crazy), I get a kick out of evaluating it and identifying how it could have been shorter or more effective. Weird, I know. I love agendas, too. Now that you know, go ahead and snicker in my general direction (northeast for most people reading this).

I've been involved as a member of the board of directors for our neighborhood cooperative for a little over a year now. I get a strange thrill of directing an efficient, interactive meeting regardless of the topic. Tonight we discussed a marketing plan, a pet policy, a grant funding option and reviewed our vision, mission and values to guide our strategic planning. It was awesome!

The members of our board are phenomenal. They are intelligent, considerate people from India, China, Jordan, Tanzania, Brazil and the USA. I love the dynamics as we analyze the options, play devil's advocate and learn from different points of view as we try to create or revise good policy for our community.

Some people like movies; I like meetings. Go figure.

Wicked

My sweet husband stayed home to put the baby to bed last night. I joined 21 friends in taking up the last center row in the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis to experience Wicked.

What a great show! Powerful music. Clever plot. Amazing costumes. Witty lines. So fun!

Someday I will be able to sing like that, just give me a couple millennia.

Brownie Chocolate Chip Cookies

I added frozen brownie chunks to my chocolate chip cookies. Two words: Super Yummy!