Please! I've never asked for anything before!

In my endless search for children's clothing, I came across a current modeling contest for GapKids. I've entered both of my kids and would be forever appreciative if you could click over and vote for them. They are competing in the same age group, but that's ok. You can vote as many times as you'd like (at least once a day).

Just go to http://www.gap.com/castingcall/ and enter their id# (below)

I have several reasons for hoping that they win...

Kaitlyn B.

ID: 317168298

1) Look at her poor hand-me-down t-shirt. Doesn't this girl deserve to win some new clothes? (ahem...no comments from the peanut gallery concerning the fact that she has more clothes than she could ever possibly wear)

2) It would create very interesting fireworks to force Katie into a certain hairdo and outfit for a winning photo shoot. I've read the fine print and the rules do NOT state that the child has to be cooperative. Boy would they be in for a suprise!

3) Amazingly, as horribly as I feel any planned photo shoot has gone with Katie (ie. at a portrait studio) we do always wind up with at least a few fantastic shots. They should be so lucky as to have her in their ads.

Timothy B.
ID: 857168866

1) Timmy should win to prove to the modeling community that it is not nice to discriminate against large-eared babies. They deserve their day to be in print, too. Perhaps, if nothing else, the current president can set a trend to bring Dumbo ears back into fashion.

2) He is a ray of sunshine. He would be all smiles for a photo shoot and full of personality. Keeping his thumb out of his mouth and his hand off of his ear may be a problem, but I'm sure if I dangled a donut in front of him he'd be fine.

3) He fits in baby clothes. Although Katie fits the age criteria for "Baby Girl" she won't fit in any clothes smaller than a size 6. That could present a problem.

Disclaimers:

*Yes, it will make you "register" to vote, but you will get a 20% off coupon (I think) as a thank-you

*If clicking the link above and then entering the ID is too much work for you, but you are willing to register and vote, let me know and I'll send you an e-mail with a direct link to vote for them.

*# of votes does not ensure that they will win, but those with the highest votes will get a second look from the judges.

*Don't even THINK about entering your kid instead of voting for mine. I asked first!

Read more...

Clothing abuse

Green and white striped t-shirt (Lands' End)

perfect for summer with white shorts or cute in spring and fall with a nice pair of jeans

Green "cake" long-sleeved tee (Gymboree)

fabulously adorable with its matching pink "cake" appliqued skort

Lime green stretch pants (Hanna Andersson)

the height of child fasion with a matching purple, lavender, and lime green dress

***

Fashion according to Katie (prepare to cringe)...

Katie and I have come to a sort of compromise. I threaten to throw out all her barbies let her pick out her own clothes each day with only appropriate seasonal restrictions (like no shorts when it's too cold) and she tries her hardest to give me heart palpitations...with a smile.

She works very hard to match appropriately and despite lots of tears and pleading gentle advice from me she is convinced that "matching" means wearing varying shades of the same color. My tutorial on picking out accent colors fell on deaf ears today.

I'm probably the biggest fan of the color green in the entire world and even I feel like I need medication to look at this outfit without wincing.

Read more...

For the modern art enthusiast

When driving, stay on the road!

Katie tells me that is the title of her newest piece of bathroom art.

(Yes, it's bath crayon.)

I'm pretty sure I see a "F#$% Mom" in there. We were taking a little too long to get Timmy ready for the bath and when we finally made it in to the bathroom we found Katie standing on her stepstool and the bathtub ledge working fast and furiously like an art prodigy. Of course her pronouncement of the piece's title led Chris to ponder - "Why is she drawing about staying on the road?" And in case you have the same question - the answer is I have no freaking clue. And PS. she tells me the red thing is a skunk on the side of the road. So really, you can see the mind at work here.

Read more...

The End is Near

View more awesome pictures at fukung.net

Based on this, I'm actually convinced both my cats AND my dogs are plotting to kill us!

Read more...

I'm excited!

Tomorrow we're going to our alma mater, FDU, for the homecoming football game. I'm excited to see friends that we don't see that often and hopeful that I'll see even more people than I currently know are going. It's about 2 hours away from where we live and we haven't been there for 2 years. That was a great day and I'm hoping to have just as much fun tomorrow.

I haven't looked at pictures of Katie from that time period for awhile and I know I'm biased, but holy stinking cuteness! Just two years later and her chin practically clears the top of that stroller. She likes to push Timmy now and she can see over the stroller. And oh my gosh...she's wearing JEANS...oh, the good ol' days!

Chris enjoyed drinking some beers with his pals. The only difference since he graduated was the sippy cup he began to tug along.

I was thrilled to hang with some of my sorority sisters. Yea, I'm the short, fat, pale one that sticks out like a sore thumb and apparently I didn't get the memo for the appropriate outfit for the day...not that I could pull off the white shirt with my skin tone anyway.

And here's Katie looking oh so much like her daddy from back in the day when we first fell in love.

If I'll see you tomorrow, I can't wait. If I won't, I hope to see you soon.

Miss you all!

Read more...

Oh, hello there...

I haven't seen you in so long. Frankly, I didn't even realize you still existed. Although it seems like just yesterday that we met...it has been almost 1 1/2 YEARS!! How have you managed to survive? Where have you been hiding? You may be little and slightly sticky, but you bring memories flooding back.

I remember that day like it was yesterday. We were at the school and Katie was getting evaluated for Occupational Therapy. I had asked for the eval for sensory issues, but it turned out that she couldn't stack blocks either. Well, according to the evaluation. She couldn't throw a ball, hold a pencil correctly, use scissors or close a button. She wasn't very cooperative that day and since she didn't perform exactly as the test required - she failed. Just because she wanted to create her own building and not follow the color scheme and number of blocks dictated to her, she was listed as unable to do it. Just because she wanted to throw overhand and not underhand, another note was jotted down. She still needs help in the other areas, but she's learning slowly. Then she reached into that bucket of prizes...and chose YOU.

Who would have ever guessed that you would still be around after all of this time? Thanks to that day, Katie was admitted in the township special needs preschool program. While I really wanted her to get help with speech - having a second "need" sealed the deal for her inclusion. Here she is in her second year of pre-K...getting so close to Kindergarten. She is getting so big and has so many ridiculous things to say. Did you know that it's very dry outside today? Personally, I think it's a little humid -but Katie made her weather pronouncement as soon as she stepped out to wait for the bus today.

Well, it was nice seeing you again. I hope you don't mind that I will be throwing you back into a toybox shortly. It isn't you...it's me.

Read more...

The Best Part of Blogging

I began blogging to connect with family and friends. Then I began to branch out and read about some other beautiful families that reminded me so much of my own. Eventually, I found my most favorite: humor bloggers. I love to laugh. I love to read others' daily tribulations. Maybe it's the voyeur in me or perhaps just the daily reinforcement that no one's life or children are without flaws that keep me coming back. As any other blog reader already knows, it is therapy...(*sort of, I'll get back to that.)

Some of my bloggy friends have amazing stories about immigrating to America as children. My paternal grandfather immigrated from Russia as a boy, but unfortunately at that time his family was one of many that dove into American culture headfirst at the expense of losing their culture. My father was never taught the Russian language and he was never taught about his family's life in Russia. I eat up other bloggers' words that talks about their families' transitions as a substitute for my family's history that I will never know about. It also helps when the stories are hilarious.

However, one of the best parts of blogging is definately when you come across an amazing contest/giveaway and you win! I must admit that getting personal e-mails from these well-known bloggers before I knew it was just to tell me I won sent me into palpitations almost as much as when I learned about the fabulous prizes I had won.

My first time was this past April. I think I was only one of like 8 entries, but I was still thrilled to win tickets to see The Wizard of Oz at Madison Square Garden, courtesty of Marinka. We had an interesting journey there including missing my exit, getting pulled over by police for talking on my cell, and being an entire hour late, but amazingly we still got there right at "Follow the Yellow Brick Road." Katie was already a huge fan of the movie, but I was slightly nervous at how she would do sitting through a long live musical. If this face is any reflection, we didn't have a single problem. She was spellbound and loved clapping at all the right places.

During intermision, she got to pose with her best friends.
And even better she got an entire day to visit with Aunt Candi (who lives right in Manhattan in Washington Heights)

and to have me all to herself.

(ughh, that forehead, I really need to cut bangs again I think!)

And then, more recently, we received a bucket of love and excitement from ScaryMommy! I was particularly taken with the beaucoup bucks to Target and Starbucks, but Timmy LOVED the pencils and paper confetti.

Then, with a little direction from me, Katie took ownership of the bucket and pencils to perform a drum solo while Timmy clapped along.

Can you believe I've never ever tasted Nutella before winning this basket? It is truly delicious. I can't believe I've forsaken it all of this time!

So, a special thanks to Marinka and ScaryMommy for making my dream come true. Sorry for the belated thanks. I will totally continue to be a faithful reader now. It's possible I would have anyway, but these prizes have definately won me over for sure.

(*I've heard time and time again that blogging is therapy, but I have had a horrible headache since last night and writing this post has NOT improved it. Maybe it's time to go use those Target giftcards today, because I know with certainty that shopping IS therapy!!!)

Winning these prizes and the thrill of getting to shop (and perhaps get rid of this headache) definately Makes My Monday. Join Twinfatuation today to share what makes your Monday!

Read more...