That Time I Got Stabbed At My Brother's Wedding

We're just back from a trip to DC for my brother's wedding. The bride was gorgeous, the ceremony touching, the pictures full of personality & the reception was off the hook! Until I got stabbed.

By a pencil thin stiletto heel, in my toe. I may have disinfected it with a shot of vodka. It wasn't nice vodka, I wouldn't be so wasteful. But it did end my dancing early, even before my one-year-old niece stole the spotlight with her rendition of the hokey pokey.

I think my bridesmaid season is ending. My brothers are all married, as are many of my friends. Which is fine, because I am a dynamite wedding guest but kind of a lackadaisical bridesmaid. I'm the one trying to get everyone to have some champagne and cracking jokes. The MOH in this wedding was fierce! It was awesome to watch her in action. Reminded me of my own MOH :)

This wedding was doubly special for our family because we welcomed two new members into our brand of crazytown - the lovely bride and my too-cute-for-words nephew. He's only six-weeks and he made it into the family portrait! My mom was so excited. I hope I didn't pull a face in that pic, because I have a feeling it will be hanging in my parents living room forever.

Glam Squad

My sister-in-law called in a glam squad for the wedding. I had no idea what to ask for - so I said I didn't want all my hair back & not too much make-up.

And then all my hair went back and the make-up was caked on. At that point, though, eh, just roll with it. My mom liked it, so there was that. My daughter wanted to know what happened to my face. Nice, kiddo. I'm telling myself that make-up looks good in pictures, not in person.

And learn to take a selfie. Sheesh, that pic is blurry.

#DayofYes Spring Break

Every so often I have a Day of Yes, where I say yes to everything the kiddos ask, as long as it's within reach. I'm not Elastagirl, so I can't reach Tahiti. But macaroni and cheese for breakfast and cereal for dinner? That I can reach.

To kick off Spring Break we had a Mom's Night Out and I was suggesting they try Day of Yes to entertain themselves. You don't tell the kids you're doing it, you just wake up and start saying yes. Mine usually catch on pretty quick, but this time it took them a couple days.

My princess asks for the most, so she probably had the most benefit. Can we feed the ducks? Yes. Can I watch Frozen? Yes. (eleven times yes) Can we go to a restaurant for lunch? Yes. Can we go to a movie? Yes.

Restaurants aren't 'in reach' but On The Border had kids eat free for Spring Break, and Chevy's has kids eat free every Tuesday. The same with movies - but Tuesday is $5 day. And since I fed them lunch right before, they didn't even ask for candy. Icees were another matter entirely.

The kids were certainly happier, and I found they were more helpful. When I asked them to do chores or clean up, there was far less complaining. And the things they wanted were all doable.

waffles - pancakes - read to me - feed the ducks - library - Muppet Caper - Red Robin - play the iPad - rent a movie - bubbles - bacon - have friends over - Chevy's - paint - watch TV in your room - hot cocoa - make lemonade - On the Border - bike ride to the convenience store - hop the fence to a friend's house - burn the science experiment board - Take a bath? (my boys always shower, so the tub is a treat) - can we stay up -- now the secret for when they ask to stay up is to say yes, today. 12:01 is tomorrow

Try a #DayofYes. It's fun to see how long it takes for the kids to catch on.

Spring Break

I just realized I hadn't posted about my Spring Break. We took the kiddos on a road trip where we explored the Oregon Coast, Redwoods, and stayed in a treehouse! It was such fun, I think we'll repeat the same trip again in five years, when PrincessGirl can be more of a participant. Zip-lines and dune buggy rides were not her cup of tea this time out.

I used my camera as an excuse to get a little alone time every day. When you pack five people into a minivan or a hotel room, you do need some brain space every now and again. Plus, this was my first completely work-free vacation since...well, since I can recall. No computer, no alphasmart... It felt odd not to be writing. I think I took more pictures because of it.

All of my kids are animal lovers, so we worked in the Sea Lion Caves, West Coast Game Park and Great Cats World Park. The kids loved the hands on features at the West Coast Game Park. They could talk to a parrot, pet a baby leopard and lion, feed the wandering goats, and we even saw a joey in a wallaby pouch!

Even though it was raining when we explored the Redwoods, we didn't let that dampen out day (natch). We took our time at Trees of Mystery, which explains the history of the forest, as well as letting visitors see it from above with an arial tram. Since the rest of the world thought rain and forest exploring weren't a good match, we managed to score extra rides over the tree tops.

I think the kids could have really done without Hubba Bubba and I narrating every drive with "Wow, isn't that gorgeous? Look how beautiful."

If you ever have a chance to sleep in a treehouse, give it a shot. Of course I can say this because I slept in the cozy rooms at Out n About Treesort. But the kids had an amazing time there. They had horses, so my girl was in heaven. And the boys were counting the hours until they could do the zipline course and tarzan swing. It was really the highlight of their trip.