Helvetica

I just looked at our queue on Netflix and I saw this gem selected as one of Grant's picks. The name of the movie is "Helvetica" and here is the description:

We use it every day on our computers, we see it on street signs -- and we take it for granted. Now, Gary Hustwit's unique documentary introduces us to Helvetica, whose readability has made it the most popular font in the world. Interviews with designers and artists offer insight into the development, use and universal acceptance of Helvetica as the typeface of choice for everything from writing letters to creating corporate logos.

Wow. Doesn't that sound exciting? Want to come over when we watch it?

To be honest I just watched the trailer for it and it kind of does look interesting, but that description just sounds awful to me. Grant and I have an "every other one" strategy for our movies on Netflix and while he often picks dry, esoteric documentaries or foreign films (some of which I like), I myself have been know to pick soppy, cliched chick flicks (some of which he likes). So I'd say it's a pretty fair trade :)

You'll be glad there's no photo for this one.

Today we were hanging out with my brother, Chris, and Maggie was, um...picking her nose.

The following is an excerpt from their conversation:
Chris: Are you digging for gold?
Maggie: Nope! I'm digging for boogers!

Isn't the shamelessness of two year olds remarkable?!

We have had a few very difficult days lately and I feel we are finally being hit with the so-called "Terrible Twos." Today Maggie was so sweet, obedient and great, but the last few days were doozies. She's so smart, so spunky, so opinionated and so energetic, but the flip side of all that is that she can be EXTREMELY strong-willed. To give you an idea how desperate we are I'll tell you the book we just ordered on Amazon.com: Raising Your Spirited Child: A Guide for Parents Whose Child Is More Intense, Sensitive, Perceptive, Persistent and Energetic. I've heard good things about it; we'll see if it helps.

Cousins (and Poppy)

Here are some cute photos also from Mother's Day. In the first one it looks like Maggie is entertaining two members of her fan club. Jack's expression is priceless (so was his outfit - it was from a collection at Janie and Jack called "Gentlemen on the Green"). If you could see better you could tell that his visor, shoes, and shorts all matched and coordinated with his shirt. It just made me smile to see him!
I thought this one was so cute, too.

Maggie also has a new friend, Pepin. Pepin shows up in many of my conversations with Maggie, sometimes as the hero and sometimes as the villain. Today Maggie said that Pepin was her husband, but earlier this morning she referred to Pepin as female and said that she made Maggie get sick. As you probably figured out Pepin is Maggie's new imaginary friend. I'm not sure why she chose to name him/her "Pepin" but the only place we've heard the word Pepin is in the preschool version of the "Little House on the Prairie" stories that we read a few months ago. In those books Pepin is mentioned once or twice as the town in Wisconsin that the Ingalls lived in before they moved out west. Maggie must have just liked the way the word sounded.

This morning Maggie asked me, "Is my daddy your husband?" I said yes and that's when she told me that Pepin was her husband. I thought it was a pretty intelligent question for her to ask me though.

In other news, as of tomorrow my baby sister is a DOCTOR!!! This is my sister who decided at about age eight that when she grew up she wanted to be a pediatric oncologist. Well, she dropped the oncology part but has decided to specialize in pediatrics. I mean, who actually follows the career plans they make as a child?! If we all followed our childhood career plans there would be a lot more firemen and astronauts. Anyway, I'm so proud of Lindsay and her husband Jim (who will also be a doctor in two years) and all the hard work they've done. Congratulations, Dr. Lindsay! (Okay, so no one will call her Dr. Lindsay but I don't want to put her last name on the internet without her permission, so you get the idea...)

Coffee's ready!

Our coffee pot beeps when it's finished brewing and Maggie loves to announce that the coffee is ready (maybe she detects an improvement in our moods after drinking that first cup?). This morning we had Blake (Grant's brother) over for breakfast and Grant accidentally burned a pancake. The smoke detector started beeping its extremely loud signal and Maggie said, "Coffee's ready!" It made us laugh.

Here's a photo from Mother's Day that I didn't even want to take but it turned out pretty cute! My favorite part is Jack's milk belly - actually he had just eaten dinner (peas and prunes) and you can definitely tell!

Miley Cyrus

If you're not totally tired of hearing about Miley Cyrus' scandalous Vanity Fair photo, check out this very short article. It hits the nail on the head, in my opinion.

My Little Flower

Here's Maggie in our new flower bed! I promise it looks better than it seems in this photo. Because it's from an angle the plants look like they have gaping holes in between them but straight on it looks good, I promise. We're also going to be planting some hydrangea bushes behind these two rows of plants. We had a huge storm a few nights ago and it knocked a lot of leaves and debris into the bed. Okay, okay, enough disclaimers.

It appears we have proof that some of the nice things we do have been rubbing off on Maggie (not just my Valley Girl talk). Right after Erin and Jim and Jack were left our house the other day Maggie turned to Grant and said, "They are so nice." And the other day when Erin and I were driving around in her car with both kids in the back we overheard Maggie quietly telling Jack, "I love you, Jack. I'm so glad you're my cousin. Thank you for being my cousin." If that's not sweet, then I don't know what is!

UPDATE: I just went to Erin's blog and noticed that she posted this exact same story today and I didn't even know it! And the funny thing is, this happened almost two weeks ago! I guess we are sharing a brain!

Worms!

Yesterday Grant and I were working on our new flower bed and Maggie was playing around in the dirt. She disappeared for a few minutes over to the hose, methodically washing a rubber band she found. All of a sudden we heard her screaming at the top of her lungs and then she shouted, "A worm! A worm! A worm!" Grant asked what was wrong and she said, "A worm! It's... looking at my shoe!" She was frozen in fear by, yes, a worm, 12 inches from where she stood.

Today, Mother's Day, has been a great day for me. Grant let me sleep in as late as I wanted and he and Maggie brought me flowers and a card in bed and then cooked a big, gorgeous breakfast. Maggie's favorite color is, of course, pink and she loves Mickey Mouse. She picked out my card for me and happened to find one that was pink WITH Mickey Mouse on it. Of course she had to have that one. When she came in with Grant he prompted her with "What do you want to say to mama?" of course thinking she would say Happy Mother's Day. Instead she said, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

One of the kids across the street is named Manuel but Maggie has trouble pronouncing it. His sister's name is Wendy so Maggie has kind-of combined their names into one. She calls him, "Winmell" which sounds like "windmill". She'll shout across the street, "Winmell! Can you come over and play?!" Manuel also is quite a character. He is 7 and is absolutely adorable. The other day he came over for a little bit and was telling us very long stories about how his cousin and sister (ages 6 and 8) have been fighting all the time lately and also that his mom is pregnant but his dad doesn't know yet. D'oh! I guess his parents haven't taught him yet that some things are private :)

Hope all you moms are having a great mother's day! I know I am!

I heart birds

Is it just me or is this cake plate one of the cutest things you've ever seen?! I want one so badly but they are sold out!!!!! Sad...

Freepeats.org

For the moms and dads of babies through preschoolers:

Freepeats just opened in Nashville! If you're familiar with freecycle.org, it's very similar to that but specific to baby/child stuff. Basically it's a website where you can offer up baby or child things that your child has outgrown (like highchairs, toys, clothes, etc.) or doesn't need (like unopened formula cans or formula coupons if you're breastfeeding), and in return, you can post a request for things you need. If someone has it and wants to part with it, it's yours! You can also look at the things people are offering up for grabs and see if any of it is what you want. It's free if you sign up within its first month of existence (I think today, May 1, is the first day for the Nashville forum), and if you miss that window it's around $5 for a lifetime membership.

I just checked out the Nashville forum and there aren't that many things listed yet but that's not surprising given that it's the first day. I signed up and can't wait to see what things I can get rid of and also what I can get for FREE!

(They are open in lots of other cities, too, so if you're in, say, Seattle, or Atlanta, I know they have forums for those cities, too.)

Anyway, I hope you join, get some cool stuff, and get rid of some cool stuff your kids don't need any more!

Yay!

We're getting an Urban Outfitters!

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/BUSINESS01/804300400/1003/news01