Tid-Bits

ADDIE: When you are 100 years old then VOILA! You're dead!

Adeline turn of phrase: "You know what really excites me out?"
Yellow tomatoes, of course.

I love that my girls think I smell so good. When I hug them, it's not uncommon for them to inhale a deep breath followed by a sigh as though it's filling their memory bucket for the future.

We have recently started watching So You Think You Can Dance together as a family. I get a kick out of the crushes Ellie has on some of the male dancers. Some of the comments I've heard from her:
- "Oh, look at him! I just LOVE his freckles. Oh my god. He is soooo cute!"
- "Oh no! He's my second favorite. I don't want him to be sent home! Just look at his eyes!!!"
- "Do we ever get to find out where these dancers live? I want to go and say hi to him because he is just too cute for me to believe!"

Ransom

From an unconfirmed source:
"You do not know who this is.....
I have Addie and Ellie and 2 fuzzy blankets... If you ever want to see them again bring chocalate to St Vrain State Park space 6 before 12 pm"

Addie's response:
"Ok, Gramma, I'll give you some chocolate!"

Wordless Wednesday

Try*

Sometimes I find a song with lyrics that are perfect, like words I wish I could say to my future teenage daughters. Sometimes I find a video that is heart-warming, one that brings tears to my eyes without ever needing to explain.... Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Just like my Ellie and my Addie.

Oooh
Oooh

Put your make up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on
Don't be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong, so they like you
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Oooh
Oooh

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards
You don't have to choose, buy it all, so they like you
Do they like you?

Wait a second,
Why should you care, what they think of you
When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you?
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to bend until you break
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Noooo
Oooh

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
You don't have to try

Take your make up off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don't you like you?
Cause I like you

*Lyrics to the song titled "Try" by Colbie Caillat

My Life in Weeks

Inspired by this article, I thought it would be fun to plot my own life out in weeks. It certainly puts things into perspective. Life is too short. I don't want to work hard for as long as a traditional career & retirement suggests. That's not to say I WON'T work until I'm old and grey, but I want to get to a point where it's a CHOICE long before the traditional path suggests.

Our current plan? We're striving for an early retirement (ideally right when Addie graduates from high school), during which we want to do a nomadic retirement. We'll travel around living in various places (likely around Europe) for months at a time. Then when it comes time for a traditional retirement (likely when we have grandchildren) we can settle down and do our due diligence in spoiling our grandchildren.

Yes it's aggressive. Yes it means I'm compromising some of TODAY for TOMORROW. No I don't feel like those compromises are preventing me from enjoying TODAY to the fullest. Have you seen my blog??? We still make it a point to go to Europe every year and more importantly, we've initiated monthly date weekends with the girls. Life is good. My typical Tuesday does not have to be fancy in order for me to enjoy TODAY, but it does have to be simple in order for me to have the TOMORROW that I want. And yes, TOMORROW will come.... eventually. It always does.

Without further ado... I present to you my life in weeks (give or take). I must say that making this so personal was quite surreal. It puts into perspective how short my layoff really was, and it kind of freaks me out knowing that the expected life expectancy for males is right before our 50th wedding anniversary. And parenthood? It's not forever either. Sigh.

Hug your loved ones TODAY for life is too short to do anything else.

Time is relative

ELLIE:  What time is it?
DADDY:  8:03
CLOCK:  8:02
ELLIE:  No it's not.  It's 8:02.
DADDY:  No.  It's 8:03.
CLOCK:  8:02
ELLIE:  No.  It's 8:02.
DADDY:  Ellie, trust me, it's 8:03.
CLOCK:  8:02
ELLIE:  No!  The clock says 8:02.
DADDY:  No it doesn't.  It says 8:03.
CLOCK:  8:02
ELLIE:  Then why does it say 8:02?
DADDY:  If by 8:02 you really mean 8:03, then yes I agree.
CLOCK:  8:02
ELLIE:  No.  It's a 2.  It's 8:02!
DADDY:  Ellie, do you not know the difference between a 2 and a 3?  It's 8:03.
CLOCK:  8:03
ELLIE:  Now it's 8:03. 
DADDY:  See?  I told you!  Why didn't you believe me in the first place?
ELLIE:  DADDY!!!!!

Heroes

We went with Daddy to donate blood today. I do not believe I've ever seen the girls more proud.

ADDIE: My daddy is a real hero!
ELLIE: Yeah, he's so brave!
ADDIE: And he's saving people's lives because he's a real hero!!!
ELLIE: We have the most best daddy ever!

And so on...

And what about Mommy? Sadly Mommy got an MMR booster two days ago and could not give blood yet.

ADDIE: But I wanted to have a hero Mommy, not just a plain one!

Sigh... Maybe one day she'll be proud of me too. Ha!

Wordless Wednesday

Meet Bob

I once had a rock. His name was Bob. Bob was special. Why? See here. I lost Bob after 4 years of carrying him in my pocket. He has been impossible to replace... until now.

Meet Bob. Well, technically Bob the 2nd. I've had him over a year now (he came from our trip to Washington State). Considering I have two girls who also love to hold Bob, I'm actually surprised he has lasted this long.

Sometimes I feel silly for liking a rock so much but he's special. I didn't know how special until Ellie and Addie explained it to the lady at the bakery the other day.

ELLIE: This is Bob!
ADDIE: He's Mommy's rock!
BAKER: A rock???
ELLIE: He's perfect because he is really smooth!
ADDIE: Mommy puts lotion on him to make him super shiny and smooth!
ELLIE: He is perfect because he has a curve that fits your thumb right here, and if you hold him in your hand like this he is the perfect shape.
ADDIE: Yeah! And he looks good in a bathtub!!!
ELLIE: He likes to go on adventures!
ADDIE: Yeah, he likes to explore because Mommy is always losing him but then we find him and say "Welcome home, Bob. How was your trip?"
ELLIE: We love Bob. There is no other rock like him.

Special places

I love that when we asked Addie what she wanted to do today she didn't hesitate.

MOMMY: What do you want to do today?
ADDIE: Can we have a picnic???
MOMMY: With the whole family?
ADDIE: Yeah!
MOMMY: Where should the picnic be?
ADDIE: Can we go to that special place where you first met Daddy?
MOMMY: Where I first met Daddy?

Apparently she and Daddy drove past the CU campus and he told her that we met there. Addie was the one who decided it was a very special place. And so we went to the Boulder campus and had a picnic. The girls were in awe of the campus and the thought of it all being one school, and one where the students can live! Ellie's interest ended when her feet started to get sore but Addie seemed to really appreciate the meaning of it all.

As the end of the day, I thanked her for her wonderful idea. She was proud of herself for coming up with such a great idea. I love that she knows that some places are special and she knows exactly why.

Addlie's True Love

ADDIE: Do you know what I'm really excited about? I'm excited about when my true love finally marries me. Oh, that's going to be a wonderful day!

MOMMY: Who is your true love?

ADDIE: Boy Hayden. Oh he's so cute.

MOMMY: Why is he your true love?

ADDIE: Because he is nice to me and because we make each other happy and he likes to play with me.

MOMMY: It's good to find friends who can make you smile.

ADDIE: And Boy Hayden makes me smile more than any other friend! After we get married we will have kids and I'll name them Bella, Izzy, Math-a-yew and Michael because those are my other friends who make me happy. I like those names because they make me think of my friends!