Goldmine fish

Friday night something momentous happened in our home.
I won't keep you in suspense: Lizzie won a goldfish at the Family Fun Night at her school. Hannah thought it was too boring to wait in line to play the toss the ping pong ball into the goldfish bowl game, but Lizzie didn't mind. AND, she didn't even know that the prize was a real live goldfish -- she thought it was one of the little plastic (and oddly enough GREEN) goldfish at the bottom of the winning goldfish bowls.
So, my little athlete tossed her three ping pong balls and scored a winner.

And the next day we went to the pet store to get our FREE goldfish. We were all so proud that we decided to get Lizzie's goldfish Spottie a friend. So we purchased Drippy. And then Hannah thought that maybe she'd like a goldfish, too. So -- since these goldfish only cost 10 cents each when you buy them -- we decided to purchase Goldie, too.
Here they are. Cute aren't they? And here they are in their first home, an oversized tea cup. You probably can't tell from this picture, but these goldfish are actually dying. They are asphyxiating right here in this teacup.

At least that's what the pet store fish guy told me.
It seems that modern-day goldfish don't much like having to breathe underwater, so they need AIR PUMPS that cost $13 to help them breathe air that is pumped into their environment. Otherwise, he said, they will die.
Modern day goldfish don't like to clean up after themselves either, and will dirty their tanks if you let them. Which no self-respecting fish owner ever would. Said the pet store fish guy. So $7 later, we had a lovely filter to attach to the side of the fish bowl.
But, you see, the air filter that I had to purchase did not FIT in a teacup. It required a tank. A $12, 2.5 gallon tank. And really, when you're shopping with two six year olds you really can't leave the store without hot pink gravel ($3) or a plastic plant ($2.50). And fish need to eat organically created fish flakes that rather cannibalistically come only in salmon flavor (and smell) and cost $2.99.
The pet store fish guy ALSO tried to talk me into a LID for the tank because, he said, goldfish tend to jump, but I knew -- being an experienced goldfish owner back in the day -- that goldfish do NOT jump or fly or in any other way leave their tank except for maybe if a little hand reaches in a pulls them out.
I will be going back to the pet store to purchase said lid though, as Goldie TWICE jumped from the teacup onto the counter and I don't trust that she won't attempt this same Olympic task from her new home tank. Although I feel I must add here that you'd THINK a goldfish would learn after flopping around on the tabletop for a minute or so that it might be a good idea to stay in your tank with the fresh air pumped in and the icky waste pumped out, but I remember reading somewhere that a goldfish has no long-term memory. Like they can't remember what happened two minutes ago. Sort of like when you're going through menopause.

Sooooo, our FREE goldfish ended up costing a little less than $50. But did end up with these stylin' digs:

Which turned out to be a small price to pay for this happy face:

Or these happy faces...

Simple Woman's Day Book

For April 17

Outside my window... brilliant sunshine, mid 60s, gorgeous weather.

I am thinking... that I need to get my exercise in before the girls get home from school or else they will laugh at me

I am thankful for... feeling healthier than I have in looooong time

From the kitchen... nothing is happening as we're going OUT to dinner tonight. Yee Haw!!

I am wearing... salmon v-neck shirt, black leggings and black sneakers

I am creating... a story about country up and comer Jake Owens (check out http://www.jakeowen.net/ to see how gorgeous he is!)

I am going... to take a walk down the driveway to await the school bus, pick up the mail and enjoy the sunshine

I am reading... Kathy Trocheck's "To Live and Die in Dixie," part of the Callahan Garrity mystery series she writes

I am hoping... that my blogger friend's son Stellan gets the care he needs through his recent transfer to Boston's Children's Hospital.

I am hearing... blissful, wonderful, pure silence

Around the house... kitchen and family room need some decluttering and there is an overabundance of Easter grass that needs vacuuming

One of my favorite things... my keurig coffee maker; now Hannah and Liz make me coffee every day

A few plans for the rest of the weekend... Family Fun Night tonight at the girls' school with games, food and a silent auction, maybe a trip to the bikepath tomorrow and lots of time spent outdoors and at least one trip out for Dunkin' Donuts Iced Coffee, my spring/summer drink!

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Lizzie's actually reading!!

Easter Sunday and a brief appearance by Tracy

(This is my second post in two days -- scroll down for Easter Saturday pictures.)

Easter Sunday was just about perfect. It stopped raining. I didn't have to cook. The girls behaved at church. All good. Oh, except that the bread I made came out waaaaaay too heavy. It's the first time I've baked bread in this house and I think the Zen is not quite right yet. So I'll have to practice more. Anyway, on to the pictures.

First, this is Rob and the girls right after Mass. I got the girls' Easter Dresses for about $8 each at Kohl's. (Grandma bought the sweaters at Hartstrings this past summer, so they were FREE -- my favorite price to pay!) Oh, and while it looks bright and sunny out, it was actually only about 37 degrees when this picture was snapped. I am so far not really enjoying Spring in Pennsy.

After Mass the girls tore into their Easter baskets. Not only did the Easter Bunny bring them baskets (and by the way, should you ever feel a need to discuss the EB with them, I told Lizzie that the EB knocks on the door and gives me the candy and never ever enters our house to leave it there because she was freaking out about a strange rabbit running all over our house in the middle of the night) but Aunt Tina brought them Easter baskets as well.Here is Lizzie coveting the Polly Pocket in her basket from Aunt Tina. Aunt Tina believes that as Godmother it is her duty to make sure that my girls are both spiritually schooled and test my personal Christian patience. Let me say for the record that teeny tiny Polly Pocket shoes are ANNOYING. But Lizze and Hannah sure liked them.Hannah, though, was all about the candy. This is her fourth Fun Dip of the morning and, if you check out the clock in the photo it's only a quarter past nine and we went to 8 a.m. Mass. So, you do the math. Hannah loooooooves sugar. I am, however, not a fan. But since I was the Easter Bunny who selected the fun dip I have only myself to blame.Then it was onto Terry's house. Terry (also a Godmother) gave the girls another basket of candy (and YUM popcorn) because really you just can't give OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN enough sugar. Here's Terry with some of the delicious food she cooked. And Tina. The menu was ham and smoked salmon (out of this world good smoked salmon), cheesy potatoes that Hannah scarfed down in between chocolate eggs and jelly beans, devilled eggs (Terry makes the best devilled eggs of anyone I know), salad, fruit salad, my way too heavy bread, and a bunch of desserts, including a turtle cookie bar thing that I made that came out much better than my bread.A closeup of the cook and non-cook:Here's T.A. occupying himself during the cooking portion of the afternoon:Ann and Brenna were there, too. Brenna's holding a bunny named Chewy (I think) that she got in Lancaster and a Frisbee that (I think) she stole from Terry. The Frisbee doesn't have a name, although Brenna did keep calling it MINE. After dinner there was plenty of time for relaxing. Here's Hannah with Aunt Tina.And Tommy having a deep and meaningful convo with Aunt Tina:Before settling in for some video gaming:
Brenna and Hannah getting some rest in the dog's bed. Don't worry that they are not comfortable, though. Tache's bed is a temperpedic mattress, which is nicer than MY bed.

Ray always enjoys making an appearance in the blog, so here he is with Casey:Here's the gang of grandchildren present for the Easter soiree. Doesn't Casey look beyond thrilled to be hanging out with his cousins who are all at least 10 years younger than he is? He's a good sport and Easter is, after all, all about sacrifice.And speaking of sacrifice, I hate having my picture on the blog, but since it's Easter and all, here's me, my husband and my new glasses, as taken by Hannah on Easter morning:

Easter Saturday

We had a very busy (but fun) Easter weekend. T.A., Ann, Brenna and Tommy came by on Saturday and we did an (indoor because it was POURING outside) Easter Egg hunt, followed by a barbecue (because the sun had come out a little and besides, we'd already bought the chicken...)

Here are some pictures from that day ... I'll post the Easter Sunday photos in another entry.

Things on the egg hunt get started as Tommy and Hannah race around the living room looking for eggs:

Have you seen any Easter Eggs?:Lizzie counts all her Easter Eggs (each kid got to find 12 eggs before moving on to help Brenna find eggs):Brenna didn't need much help, as she managed to find her OWN eggs:Hannah does a quick count to see if she's collected enough eggs (so she can start eating the candy inside!):Excuse me Hannah, but do YOU have an extra eggs?:Okay, it's not an Easter Egg, but gosh could this picture be any cuter? I think we got the sombrero from Aunt Anonymous and I have no idea where Brenna found the shaker of cake sprinkles:Here's everyone after the hunt ... getting ready to start running around on a sugar high:

Day Book entry

A new feature! My friend Kristina over at http://www.sweetpeawanderings.blogspot.com/ does this every once in a while and I just think it's a sweet glimpse into her life, so I'm stealing the idea for my blog, in hopes of doing it once a week, on Fridays as we get ready for our weekend. There are lots of other Day Books posted at http://www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ via links. I do not post my link there because I'm trying to keep this blog just for family and friends, but please do go take a look at what other people are doing ... it's really kind of interesting (if you're nosy, like me!)

FOR TODAY, April 10

Outside my window... it looks cloudy and cool, but not raining as was predicted.

I am thinking... that it will be so much fun to have kids here tomorrow for an egg hunt

I am thankful for... daughters who thoroughly cleaned their playroom this morning

From the kitchen... eggs are boiling, coffee is brewing

I am wearing... yellow shirt, black pants and sneakers

I am creating... the new outline for my memoir that makes everything flow together much better

I am going... to call Kara soon and catch up on her life

I am reading... Paul Coelho's "The Witch of Portobello"

I am hoping... for good weather tomorrow, but it's not looking so good

I am hearing... "Tom and Jerry" on the television, Hannah talking to her dolls

Around the house... Hannah's playing with the dollhouse downstairs, Lizzie is watching the end of "Tom and Jerry" and I'm getting ready to vacuum

One of my favorite things... Penzey's spice catalog and the spices I get from it. Just had an awesome dinner made with a Turkish blend of spices

A few plans for the rest of the weekend... Brownie meeting Saturday morning, T.A. and family arriving in the afternoon, egg hunt frivolity, church on Sunday followed by dinner at Terry's house with more family, followed by taming children on sugar highs

Here is picture I am sharing...

Hannah and Liz at the beginning of their spring break.

Ballet update

So, we're heading into the home stretch of the girls' first year of ballet and, as you can see from the clip below, they are actually improving. Sort of. Maybe. Or maybe it's just their mother talking.

Their demonstration (basically a recital without the foofy, expensive costumes, but I heard the girls WILL get to wear tutus from the Schuylkill Valley Dance Theater!) is planned for May 31. Let me know if you'd like to attend ... or you can just wait for the full video of their 1 minute and 45 second performance. You'll get a taste of their dance at the end of the clip below, too.

Painter Girls

A couple of months ago I decided to update the girls' room. They decided it needed updating too -- although that was probably because basically all they've had in the room for the past year or so we've lived here is a bed, a dresser and whatever artwork they pin onto the walls. Oh, and clothes all over the floor.

So they decided that the theme of their room should be the Disney Princesses. Why? Because most kindergartners are enamored of the princesses. But I am not. And perhaps neither will the 8-year-old version of Hannah and Liz or the 9-year-old version. And since I'm not the kind of person to redecorated more than every 5 years ago, we all compromised on a mod-70s, flower power theme.

I let them pick the bedding and paint colors (well, okay, I narrowed it down to two or three acceptable colors and THEN let them pick, otherwise the room would have been pink on pink...)

So this weekend I packed them off to Grandma's house, with Daddy (and Uncle Dude made an unscheduled visit, too, I heard!) and their bikes.

Here they are getting ready to leave... we've switched from the cat theme to the bunny theme in the house (although Hannah is technically a mouse, but she's an EASTER mouse):

And me getting ready to miss these cute faces:

And this one, too.

Once I sent them on their way, I was free to paint for the next 24 hours. Of course there was NO WAY I was going to paint alone. So I invited my sisters to help out. We painted my sister Tina's apartment a few years ago, and except for the fact that it took about three weeks (okay, three days) to do, it was fun.

Unfortunately Aunt Anonymous was unable to make it this time, and perhaps that explains why THIS paint job took only about four hours, including a long lunch break. I believe it is directly related to the fact that since I was in charge of this job instead of Aunt Anonymous, there was no use of that blue painter's tape. We took care of this job the old fashioned way: we just slapped the paint on and hoped for the best.

So here's Beanie (Tina) working on the purple whisper wall (actually more of a stage whisper -- it was darker than I thought it would be) And yes, for those of you who might think otherwise, Bean's actually PAINTING and it came out looking great:

And Terry very happily doing some cutting in on the green goddess wall. Behind her you can see that the purple whisper and green goddess actually look pretty good together (you know, if you're into the whole 70s flower power scene...)And here they both are. I did do quite a bit of painting myself, by the way, but someone has to take the photos to document the job... After they left I continued on with the trim work and decided to paint Lizzie's dresser that same green goddess color. And then I stuck flower decals all over it. But for those pictures you're just going to have to wait for the Before and After pictures when the project is completed. I also rented "The Duchess" through Tivo and it was okay, but I probably should have rented "Australia" instead.

Hannah and Liz (and Rob) had a great time at Grandmas where they went to the zoo (plug for the Cape May County Zoo -- it's free and in the spring/fall not too crowded!), played catch and cards with Uncle Dude and were introduced to Yodels (thanks a lot Grandma!)

They loved the colors in the room and didn't seem to mind that there wasn't a princess in sight!!