Gender differences update

According to Milo, you're a boy if you have a penis and tentacles, and you're a girl if you have a mergina.

Just wanted to make sure you were aware of this. Keep those tentacles under control, boys!

Milo's newsflash

Okay, so the kid is getting MUCH more creative at making up excuses as to why he won't eat (or even try) certain things. Tonight I offered him a bite of my leftover lasagna to try, and instead of saying "No thanks," Milo said this:

"You know, I saw on the news today that eating lasagna is BAD for 4-year old kids. It makes their brains turn red and fall out of their heads."

Well, now, we certainly don't want THAT to happen, do we?

By the way, Milo was eating a nice healthy dinner of a chicken patty, a biscuit with cheese and some applesauce, so the lasagna just would have been a lil' appetizer if he had taken the risk and eaten it.

More pictures

Our wedding, lo these many years ago.....

album 1

album 2

Big Steps for A Big Man!

Some major "big man" changes are going on around here! Just this past week, Milo has figured out how to do two huge and important things:

1. Wipe his own butt! Woooooo hooooooo! This is a huge load off my mind (no pun intended :)

2. Snap his own jeans!

Milo can also open his own milk carton all by himself, and pick out his own clothes and put them on all by himself, right side up and right side out AND sometimes makes his own peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast. (with a little supervision)

You know you're a redneck when...

My junkyard dogs!

Quinn has his face cage on, just in case, and Lily is happy to be going for a ride. In the background, Corey is working on the Nova.

You have a dog crate stuffed with two big dogs in the back of your truck! Those two hair up the inside of my truck so much when I take them for a ride it's unbelievable. So I thought I would try something a little different today. It worked out perfectly, once I convinced them to get in it. Lily looked at me like I was off my rocker when I put her in there, and then Quinn joined her. They were smashed in there like sardines, but after the initial shock wore off, they sooooo LOVED it. I drove them to the park for a walk and training session, and all the way there and back, those two snouts were in the air and the gums were flapping in the breeze. I'll have to get a tarp or something to throw over the crate in the cooler weather, but this is definitely the way to travel with those two. I am also going to look for another crate, so the two of them won't be so cramped up and we can go for longer rides.

Quinn loved being a junkyard dog so much that he didn't want to come out of the crate when we got home, so I left him in there for a while. He is too funny.

This is the song that was running through my head the entire time I was tooling around with the mutts: the Sanford & Son theme.

Backyard delights

Corey took some lovely pictures of our backyard in the late afternoon sunlight. We both love this time of year, when the plants are still looking good, but the weather is so much more enjoyable. And the bugs are a lot less noticeable!

Corey's sunflower patch. Some of the sunflowers are about 10 feet tall!

The back 40 that backs up to the field behind us. It always looks so tranquil in the late afternoon.

The very definition of a hussy

You've all known girls like this in college. They'll sleep in anyone's bed as long as it's convenient for them. Meet Monet. I swear, that cat would go sleep in the neighbors' beds if we let her. I've found her in the dogs' various sleeping areas, in our beds...and most recently, when I was making Milo's bed the other day, this is what I found.

Cat lump. At first I thought it was a big wrinkle in the sheets, and then it meeped at me when I tried to flatten it out.

You hussy!

Want a laugh?

I have been sucked into the forces of the dark side and now have a facebook page. I'm not all that enthused about the experience, although I do have to say the photo uploading is quick and easy. I posted a bunch of "blast from the past" photos recently....check them out at:
Good times!

In a Milo house

Things were awfully quiet in the living room this afternoon while I was making dinner, so I went in there and found this couch cushion fort.

What are you doing in there? I asked. "Just sitting" says Milo. OK, I said, and went back to what I was doing. Milo played in his fort/cave for at least an hour.

Dogsplosion

All that fur on the ground is from Quinn. I only brushed him for maybe 10 minutes today, and that's what came out of him. I brush that dog almost every day, and every time it looks like he exploded on the lawn.

Yes, Quinn and Lily are fighting. That's how they show their affection for one another. They're hubby and wife, after all :)

oh how my priorities have changed....

Isn't this what your dining room looks like?

We hardly ever eat at the dining room table anymore because it's usually covered in laundry that is folded and ready to be put away. Plus the entire room has become a depository for random junk, so there is clutter everywhere. This is quite a difference from my formerly pathologically neat self. I used to drive Corey nuts with my neatnik abilities, now I pick up only what I absolutely have to, to keep the house from shrinking too much.

I do keep the kitchen and bathroom clean, because if I didn't that would just be gross. And I vacuum regularly, otherwise we would be covered in fur from one end to the other. But as far as dusting and OCD housekeeping goes, that stuff is all out the window. Being a partial slob gives me a lot more time to do fun stuff....like blogging!

Mommy's Lil' Pervert

Milo is definitely a ladies' man, and he is DEFINITELY a boob man. Forget about legs or butts, the boy likes boobies. Case in point: On Thursday he was at my parents' for his weekly visit, and Milo walked right up to my mother and clamped his hands right on her chest as he's talking to her. My mom was rather startled and asked Milo what he was doing. The answer: "Feeling your boobies." Why? "Because I want to." She removed his hands from herself and told me about it, at which point I realized that although we have discussed what to do if someone touches Milo's private parts, we never really discussed what to do about girls' private parts. I explained to him while we were still at my mom's that boob touching is inappropriate behavior. Milo totally wasn't listening at the time, and I could tell.

So later on that evening, I asked him why he felt like it was okay to touch Grandmom's boobs. Milo said that "because I like boobs, I like the way they feel, they are nice and squishy like a butt." Do you have any IDEA how hard it was for me to keep a straight face? At that point I reminded him of where his private parts are, which are all the pieces of his body that are covered by his bathing suit. So then I said, "What does a girl's bathing suit cover up?" And he said "her shoulders, her boobs, her butt and her gina. So that means that boobs and shoulders are private parts too?" Yes, said I. I figured the more private parts girls have, the safer they are where Milo is concerned. Milo then made the connection that if he has to tell us if someone touches him and he doesn't like it, that a girl could tell her mom and dad if he touches her and she doesn't like it, and then he could get in trouble. Hopefully that has ended that problem. We'll see whose boobs he goes after next, if it hasn't.

Milo also told me this week that his preschool teacher told him that he is not allowed to go into the bathroom when a girl is in there. He must have been in the bathroom pestering the girls to see their bits and pieces, since he asks practically every girl that comes over here if she'll show her girly parts to him. I found this out when I went in the bathroom while Milo was washing his hands, and told him I had to pee, and Milo shrieked, "No, no wait. I can't be in here," and slammed out the door. When I asked what the heck that was all about, he told me that he has been banished from the bathroom at school while girls are using it.

All of this comes on top of an episode that happened a week or so ago, when one of our friend's daughters was here. I will call her Lola Granola to keep her identity safe, since she is only six. Lola loves to take showers here for some reason, so I was helping her wash her hair. Lola was stark naked in the tub when Milo came running in with his camera, took a picture and shouted "I see your gina!" He didn't see much of anything because I heard him coming and had pulled the shower curtain mostly shut. I kicked him out of the bathroom and locked the door, and wanted to die of embarrassment because Lola's father was in the living room witnessing the whole thing. Later I checked Milo's camera and thankfully it didnt' work right, so there was no picture. We talked to Milo later about that nonsense too, but he didn't understand what the big deal was, since we see him naked in the shower all the time.

Oy vey. We have our work cut out for us when this kid is a teenager!

Atomic Pain and his trusty sidekick Cheeta Shootpen

In case you didn't know it, those are mine and Milo's Stormtrooper names. He is Atomic Pain and I am Cheeta Shootpen. He made those names up for us on the spot, no lie! Tonight he and I were the bad guy stormtroopers and we were chasing after Han Solo and Princess Leia in their stormtrooper costumes and shooting them with our laser guns. Han Solo and Princess Leia were really Quinn and Lily by the way. Playing that game with Milo reminded me so much of when I was a kid and would play Batman or Charlie's Angels....good times all around!


Atomic Pain has my back against Han Solo.

Stormtroopers in action.

Oh nooooo! Cheeta Shootpen is being licked to death by Princess Leia!

Milo's song...

Corey and I were discussing Milo this morning and we figured out why Milo loves headbanger music so much. (By the way, Milo has recently added Metallica to his list of favorite bands, since he heard them on WMMR.) When I was pregnant with him I listened to Led Zeppelin constantly, plus, there was this really stoopid song out at the time by the Darkness that was on the radio ALL the time. It was even in practically every movie I watched. We heard it going to the hospital when I was in labor and we heard it on the way home when we were cleared to go home after Milo was born.

I eventually bought the CD just for the reason of that song became Milo's song. I played it for Milo today and he loved it. I explained that band is what is called a "hair band" or heavy metal lite, in my opinion and he thought that was pretty cool. In my most personal opinion, I think they're an updated version of the Village People. You'll see why if you click on the link for the youtube video. So, if you're pregnant, I don't advise you to listen to Led Zeppelin all the time or to mix it with weird hair band music on a regular basis, or your toddler will be a metalhead.

Here's that crazy song by the Darkness: it's called I Believe In A Thing Called Love. I'm warning you though, the video is weird and more sexual than it should be. It is not something I'll be showing to Milo anytime soon!
the Darkness video

only the most awesome bat-shirt ever!

In preparations for my big rendezvous with Adam West, I made a custom Batman t-shirt to celebrate my bat-mania. From the front it just looks like a regular Bat-shirt, but the back is totally cool. I took a scan of an old Batman button (one such item of which I used to have but have since lost, bummer!) and put it in the middle of the logo. It printed beautifully, ironed on perfectly and voila! Every time I wear this shirt I will have happy memories! I did wear it to meet Adam West, but he didn't notice. I think he was too busy thinking I was cuckoo for coco puffs!

The back says "I'm a Batman crimefighter!" Truer words were never spoken :)

The front

Butterfly hatchery

We hatched a grand total of four monarchs this summer. What a neat experience for Milo!

Last Monday, one hatched early enough in the morning that I had time to take some pictures during the grand release ceremony.

Milo watching his butterfly buddy after he put it on the butterfly bush.

The monarch starting to flap his wings to dry them out.

His wings were still wet, so they were darker than usual at first.

Milo had the privilege of carrying the butterfly outside. They are so goofy when they first hatch that they just climb right onto your hand and sit there.

Close up(s) of Milo holding the butterfly.

Milo's first big man book!

We went to the library tonight for our weekly infusion of reading material, and Milo picked out his first big man no-pictures book: The Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Based on the movie of course. It has chapters and everything. We read the first 45 pages of it tonight, and he listened intently, and asked all sorts of appropriate questions. He would have gladly had me read it all the way through (I think its 120 pages or so) but my voice was wearing out after awhile.

I can't believe the kid is 4 years old and has the capability to understand and imagine a book that is written on the 4th grade level! It's about Transformers, but still, there's a lot going on there. Our little genius!

An AMAZING Event in the history of Me

The day I have been waiting for with major anticipation has finally arrived!!!! Tonight, Corey and our friend Brian took me to Monster Mania Con 13, a horror show/movie convention that was held in Cherry Hill, and featuring none other than my favorite Batman: Adam West. Anyone that knows me knows that I've been in love with Adam West/Batman since I was four or five years old, so this opportunity to meet him, was for me, extremely thrilling. I brought along my Batmobile toy from when I was little, for Adam West to sign, and I even bought a special silver sharpie pen for him to sign it with.

We got to the Crowne Plaza Cherry Hill at about 4:30, a half hour before the doors opened for the convention. We had no idea where to go to pay or where Adam West was going to be, because the signage was non-informative. We asked lots of questions and eventually found our way to the place where I had to wait in line. I was first in line for the second group of people to be let in to the private autograph room. We had to wait maybe 20 minutes before we were let in. During that time I started to get all shaky and worked up, and started crying, because I couldn't believe that I was about to meet ADAM WEST. Corey and Brian spent much time laughing at me. Then we had to wait inside the room, where I could actually see the big man at the table. I got more and more nervous. One of the security guys could see how wacked out I was and asked me why I was so nervous. I explained to him that this is ADAM WEST and I love him and I don't want to make a complete idiot of myself, and it was really funny that I was nervous because my job used to be to interview celebrities, only I never spoke to anyone I actually gave a crap about before. The guy looked at me and said, "So. It's just Adam West. He's not really famous." and then went on to talk about all the people he's securitied for. That did the trick and I calmed right down. Whew! (What did he mean, not actually famous, anyway? Harrumph!)

When it was my turn, I proudly handed Adam West my Batmobile, and he said "Wow, this thing is ancient. Hey guys, look at this, it's a collectible! And she even brought a pen for me to write on it with." (The guys he was referring to was his manager person and the person handling the cash box.) I told Adam West that it was my toy from 1978 and I treasured it. I also told him that it was an honor to meet him and that I've admired him all my life. He looked at me like "ooookay." Then I went on to tell him that Batman has always been part of my life celebrations and that at our wedding, I danced the Batusi in front of everyone, to the Batman theme song, and proceeded to do a little demonstration. He looked right at me and said "I'm sorry to hear that," without even breaking a grin. Droll fellow! Then he had to sign the Batman carrying a bomb picture, and as he was signing it, he said "You know, some days, there's just no place to get rid of a bomb!" That's a totally famous line from the original Batman movie, and there's a follow up to it, but of course I couldn't remember it, and still can't. So I just said "Yeah, I know! That sucks!" like a total doofus, while Adam West looked at me like I had three heads. Then it was time for me to have Corey take my picture with Adam West. I asked Adam West if I could give him a hug and he said, "You certainly may." I hugged BATMAN!!!! I said thank you, we gathered up all my stuff and we were out of there.

Oh my gosh, what a great time. I am so glad that Adam West was as nice as I'd hoped he would be. Now my crush on him is back in full swing :)

Since it was a horror movie convention we wandered around the rest of the place, checking out the vendors and other celebrities that were signing autographs. There were all kinds of cool B-list actors there. Everyone was super friendly and chatty. We talked to Kelly LeBrock (from Weird Science) and some guy from Independence Day. And then I saw John Astin and just had to wait in line for him; he was so adorable. And funny too! For some reason the camera wasn't working right, so John Astin had to make chitchat with me for a minute or two while Corey was getting it figured out. He was a pleasure and I told him so. John Astin said "Just act all casual like you actually know me, so he calms down and gets the camera to work." He still has the Gomez voice, and it was killing me. I so wanted to ask him to say "Ahhhh, Carrida" to me like he used to say to Morticia on the Addams Family. But I figured he probably gets asked that a thousand times a day, so I let it go.

After that we walked around and looked at more vendors, and I came away with some great treasures. The ENTIRE series of Batman on DVD (woo hoo!), a Hot Wheels collection of Bat-vehicles: the Batmobile, Batcycle and Batboat (now all I'm missing is the Batcopter) and some little pins of Batman, Catwoman and such.

All in all, it was totally fun and worthy of every second spent there! I would highly recommend it to anyone who's into cult tv shows and/or horror movies.

John Astin spelled my name right! And he thought my name was great, he said he's always thought Yvonne is one of the prettier names in the world.

OMG!! That's me with Adam West!!

OMG!!! He spelled my name right! He didn't have anything to say about it though.

Me with John Astin. I was laughing, so of course my eyes are closed.

OMG!! Adam West signed my Batmobile!! And thought it was cool!

My new and exciting Batvehicle collection to add to my pile of Batman stuff.


For more info on the actual convention and who all was there, check out http://www.monstermania.net/

What a weekend for a big man!

Milo has had quite an exhausting and wonderful weekend. Friday he went to the boardwalk in Seaside with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Carolynn, and had a blast. Yesterday we had a surprise visit from his friend Autumn and her dad. We all had a blast. Today, Milo proved that he is a big man, because he got a big man bed!

He wasn't quite too big for his firetruck bed yet, but the day was looming near. We've been shopping for different types of spacesaver/storage beds off and on, and couldn't find one that quite fit our needs or the dimensions of Milo's tiny bedroom. My mom happened to have a captain's bed in the room that Milo uses at her house. After measuring it and looking at the storage space it offered, I asked if we could use it for Milo. The answer was yep, as long as we hefted it home and moved it into his room. It was a lot of work, but we did it.

Then Milo and I went to Walmart and picked out a comforter and mattress pad, and a sheet set. Milo was thrilled to pick out the Bakugan stuff. I didn't even know there was a Bakugan cartoon, so I learned something new too. (Apparently it's on the cartoon network, if you're wondering.) Milo just loves his Bakugan because they're balls that transform into robots. So now he has a big man Bakugan bed! Woo hoo!

Milo testing out his new bed.


Check out that super-bright comforter!

Fast asleep in the new big man bed. Milo insisted that he wasn't going to sleep tonight, for whatever reason, but when I checked on him five minutes later, he was conked out.

The best thing I like about the big man bed: I can sit in it with him to read the bedtime stories, instead of having to squish into the toddler bed or read in our bed.

First hatchling

Our first monarch butterfly hatched on Friday afternoon. In the morning, we noticed that its cocoon had turned black and that we could see its wings through the cocoon. We talked to Milo about letting the monarch go once it hatched, so it could find its family. Our original plan was to make a little butterfly house and keep the butterflies in there, but then Corey and I thought about it and decided it wouldn't be fair to the butterflies, especially when we have an enormous butterfly bush right outside our front door. We suggested to Milo that we let the butterflies live on the butterfly bush once they hatched, and he liked that idea.

When I came home from work that afternoon, Milo was out gallivanting with Grandpa Bob and Grandma Carolynn, but Corey told me that the first butterfly had hatched, and that Milo thought it was amazing. Milo helped Corey take it outside to the butterfly bush, and watched its wings unfold and dry until they became full sized.

Now we have three more butterflies in progress in our big pretzel container house. They'll be hatching soon.



The cocoon the morning it turned black.

Brand new butterfly outside on the butterfly bush. Its wings were still sort of folded up in this picture.

A few minutes later, the monarch's wings were fully open, and it was visiting with a slightly ragtag tiger swallowtail.