Bring in the Clowns!!!!

Sometimes I don't know what comes over me. I'm still not quite sure I know why I offered to save my friend and coworker $200 by renting a clown and instead dressing up as one myself!

See those green knee socks? Those were the MOST uncomfortable item of clothing I have ever had on in my life! I seriously thought the circulation in my legs was going to be cut off and an amputation would be required by the time the party was over. And that wig, ITCHY! But it was fun. And I rocked it as Giggles the Clown. Although I can't juggle. Can't make balloon animals. And I don't have an act. My act consisted of dancing around like a fool and stuffing my face with freshly made cotton candy. (I just might have to rent a cotton candy machine for the heck of it one day. )

So Emmy's carnival themed birthday was a hit. Cutest birthday party I have ever been to. I mean who wouldn't like a birthday party with carnival games, an inflatable slide, face painting (provided by another co-worker), cotton candy, sno cones, and popcorn!

Missy set up a photo op as the kids came in the door. Sophie looks thrilled don't you think??

The birthday girl, who looks like a 5 year old giant compared to my little squirt! (who will be 4 in 16 days!!)

As for Giggles, she's hanging up her clown shoes. So I won't be quitting my day job!

Meet Pipsqueek

Those cooky Chinese. Seriously what will they think of next? Pet hamsters that don't require feeding or stinky cages! Pure genius.

Before Christmas I had never even heard of a Zhu Zhu pet. Then all of the sudden I started seeing posts on Facebook about people on the hunt for these little critters. I was intrigued. And trust me, if there's a band wagon, i'm gonna jump right on. So I headed to the Zhu Zhu pet website. Oh my are they cute! They even drive little cars around!

So I found one at the Walmarts. Pipsqueek to be exact. And I bought Pipsqueek a fun house. And since these pictures were taken we bought a hamster wheel. So he zooms around his fun house. Makes little squeaky sounds and runs on his wheel. I have to say he's pretty darn cute. And Sophie looooooves playing with him. Stella tries to stomp his guts out. Guess it's a good thing he's not real. Reggie runs.

Unfortunately, these things aren't the best quality. Soph took Pipsqueak outside to show the neighbors on Sunday. She sat him on the drive way and he scooted around a little. Now, he doesn't work all that great. I think the concrete was a little too rough. So now I've gotta find a $7 replacement and more accessories. We are shooting for an entire hamster world!

Ten on Tuesday

Seems like it's been ages since I've done one of these!

1. Does anyone want to see the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland? I'm DYING to see it. Unfortunately, I don't think my movie buddy (Sophie) could handle it. And although he hearts Captain Jack about as much as he does Will Smith, I just don't think I can talk Steven into going to see it.

2. I got an early birthday present from GiGi and I looooooove it! It's a retro bathing suit and it makes me giddy!

If I weren't relegated to wearing a hat thanks to the skin cancer, I'd also buy the vintage swim cap! I'm not even kidding. I think it's the cutest thing since Stella.

3. So I mentioned yesterday that the hubster bought me a Bear Grylls fleece for Valentine's day. And here it is in all it's bad arse Bear Grylls glory:

And it's awesome. It's a lovely wasabi color, it's soft, and it will allow me to be stranded in the mountains with only bugs to eat and my my own urine to drink.

Even better, it came with a free t-shirt. Ok so the t-shirt is on the lame side but it was free and the fleece rocks!

4. Little Bit and I had a date at Steak N Shake the other day. Sometimes I love having girl time with her. She's usually soooo good when it's just me and her. But if it's me and Steven, or me and GiGi, watch out!

5. I need a new Twilight series of books in my life. I finished reading Catching Fire a while back but book 3 won't be out until the fall. So I need something in the meantime. Now don't get me wrong, I've been reading. I've read 4 books on Mt. Everest in the last 2 months. And I highly recommend "Into Thin Air" about the 1996 Everest tragedy. Steven and I have no doubt that if we had over $100,000 we could climb that sucker despite the fact that 1 in 6 people die AND the fact I can hardly climb the three flights of stairs to my office without having a heart attack. Those are just minor speed bumps.

6. My friend and coworker is having a carnival themed birthday party for her 5 year old on Saturday. Somehow along the way, I agreed to dress like a clown. Literally. Meet Giggles. Hope I'm in a bubbly kind of mood on Saturday or the kids could get Homey the Clown! I'll even be wearing the wig and green tights.

7. So we were suppose to have a family photo shoot a few weeks ago. But I just wasn't feeling the cold weather enough to be stomping around downtown Charleston. And Steven has been working on the weekends so it was getting hard to figure out a time. So we moved our session to the end of April. I'm so hoping for tulips by then!

8. Since we've been in our house a year now I'm getting the urge to paint. I have colors picked out for our office and laundry room. And I'd like to paint Sophie's room a shade of robin's egg blue. I told her today my plan was to paint her room "Cinderella blue"seeing as she has no concept of Robin's egg blue and she says "how about Sleeping Beauty pink, I love pink!" Ugh, how about no!

9. So we passed a police car yesterday with it's lights on and Little Bit informed me that "the police will shoot you dead." Nice. This is not Compton we live in but Winfield WV!

10. I've been playing match maker! I love playing match maker it's so fun and Cupid like. I won't be telling the couple that I "connected" about my last foray into match making. They are now divorced! But the guy is now happily married with two kids so it worked out for the best, right!

One Year

It seems like it's been almost a year since I've blogged! Somehow, somewhere along the way I just lost my mojoe when it came to blogging. I use to love it. I've tried countless times to come here and write. In fact, I have countless posts saved but once I read them, I realized how depressing they sounded so I scratched posting them. But I realized something today. The point of this blog was to chronicle the life of my family. And that's not always going to be peaches and roses. So maybe if I just get the bad stuff out of the way, i can move on and get back to telling stories of my four year old screaming "damn it" from the bathtub and talking about poop. Besides, my bad is trivial in the grand scheme of things. So many people have it so much worse.

So on with the show! What I mean by the title of the post is simple. It's been one year since we moved into our new house. Our house that has definitely become our home. A lot has happened since moving here. Some good and some bad. Among the good I like to count the new neighbors and friends we have made since moving here. I'm so thankful to have some of these people in my life. I'm also thankful to have reconnected with old friends. Since moving here, Little Bit moved up two classes at school. Next up, Pre-K! Reggie the cat joined our family and life with a cat has been interesting. The hair! God the puffs of hair I find in corners and on the steps! And Miss Stella came along in August.

But unfortunately there has been a lot bad. We lost our sweet Oscar the Boxer boy in July. I don't think we'll ever quite get over that one. We still field questions from Little Bit. She declares constantly that she misses him and that it's been a long long time since she saw him.

I was diagnosed with melanoma, otherwise known as skin cancer and I'm looking at a surgery and possibly worse if I don't get the all clear from the tests. The words "no more tanning bed" scare me. There's nothing ickier in my shallow world than a tubby pasty me! But the words "possible chemo" scare me even more.

Tax season is back in full swing. And I don't think anyone quite understand how much that effing sucks. It stinks only seeing your husband who does A LOT a total of about 3 hours out of the day and one of those hours includes getting ready to head out the door in the morning. But as the Pioneer Woman quotes frequently on her blog per the good mafia wife, "this is the life I have chosen." HA! But Soph and I miss him terribly. I despise not being able to sit down at the dinner table together every evening.

And that new puppy. The one who helped to heal the gaping hole in our heart from Oscar the Boxer. She has a terminal kidney disease. No one can really say when she'll have to leave us but unfortunately it will be sooner rather than later in terms of having a pet. One vet says probably a year. I'm such a glass empty kind of person that I can't help but think of the end point. Of having to rip back open that wound that hasn't even quite healed the whole way. The questions again. The impossible answers. And just the general underlying sadness of the whole ordeal. We'd like to think that Stella was given to us for a reason. But reality tells keeps slapping us in the face reminding us that shitty things just tend to happen. Maybe it's karma and I need a list like Earl.

So on that note, I'll go ahead and cut this short so I can get back to regular scheduled programming. On a good note, the last season of Lost is on and it rocks! Tons of my friends are pregnant so there are lots of new babies coming this way in the fall. I have a sorority reunion in April. I'm the proud owner of a Bear Grylls fleece thanks to my awesome and thoughtful husband's Valentine gift to me. Nothing says I love you like a guy who eat maggots and grubs for a living. And Little Bit's princess birthday is coming up in a few weeks. So we'll just keep on keeping on.