Lucky #13

This is a poem that reminds me of myself:

Elsie Marley has grown so fine,
She won't get up to feed the swine,
But lies in bed til eight or nine,
Lazy Elsie Marley.

My kids have a copy of it in their Richard Scary book, with a picture of a sleeping mama pig, surrounded by piglets (all in great need of attention). I think I need to get up earlier, so that my swine don't get into so much mischief.

Tony and I just had our thirteenth anniversary. As per tradition, he got me the coolest gift ever, making my gift look super-lame. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. Modern Family even had a special episode to help celebrate my lameness: Great Expectations. How did they know?

You're thinking, "That's very non sequitor, Annalia." ...but it isn't! My extremely cool gift was an alarm clock - the kind you can actually get excited about - hopping up and down excited. Not only is my alarm clock pretty, but it has me waking up to twittering birds and the voice of my butler, Jeeves, giving me compelling reasons to get out of bed. - a different reason every day, for 6 months!


I am still waiting to hear the one on the box (my favorite!) "Good morning, Madam. I'm so sorry to disturb you, but it appears to be morning. Very inconvenient, I agree. I believe it is the rotation of the earth that is to blame."

I got him a book.

New Moon Fever

My sister Rachel is the most brilliant hostess ever! ...and we're all so grateful to her for throwing a shindig to get us all geared up to watch New Moon. She made us all lots of fun (and thematic) New Moon treats: cds, wolfie treats, fire vs. ice candies, etc.


...and who but Rachel thought of New Moon when these were in the stores? Too, too cute!


I even let Sofia tag along... (Tony had to wait until it was movie time to join us - we didn't want boys making fun of our Twilight obsessions!)


There weren't any questionable photos of me from the party, and luckily Rachel didn't have her camera on her when I was pouring my vanilla syrup in my diet coke at the theater. "Lia - that looks so bad!" ...as if I spike my drinks!

Without Rachel, I would have been completely lost, standing in needless lines, and ended up with no seat (or at least no seat by people I knew!) Thanks, Rachey!

Betsy's Quilt

See, I told you I was going to start calling you Betsy!

My sister-in-law had her birthday, so I can finally post pictures of her present (without spoiling any surprises!)



...and I'm happy to say it looked right at home on her couch.

Left Behind

We always leave something behind when we visit my parents - and I don't just mean the mess either!

We recently went on a wild goose chase trying to find James' shoes as we were leaving. Have you ever tried asking a 3-year-old where they left their shoes?

The most coherent responses I got were:
"...in a hole in the tree" and "not with the goats". Grandpa found them sitting on the riding lawn mower the next day.

Well, this week I left the memory card from my camera at Grandma and Grandpa's. I know right where it is - a lot of good that does me! So, don't expect any snazzy pictures this week! :)

We Have a Rodent Infestation!

But, as far as rodents go, these ones are fairly well-mannered. You'll notice the chipmunk is eating some leftover peanuts from someone's hot fudge sunday.

This table was set up right under our dining room table for at least a week. I kind of miss it....but I had to vacuum!

Snohomish Pumpkin Festival

My hubby has the day off and thank goodness, because he isn't feeling great. ...but well enough to go to a movie with Sofia! 2012 - bleh, who wants to see that! I don't, but I guess I don't mind that they do. ..then I can sneak out of the house and get my vanilla diet coke. It's so hard to indulge in a guilty pleasure when someone adultish is around watching you - making you feel more guilty.

We trying to get some things done today (quasi-vetran's day), but I thought I'd take a moment to share some pumpkiny fun with you. Better late than never.

The real reasons I loved the pumpkin festival:



I get to see a little Mamalia artwork in action. I painted these signs for the Beez Neez some other year. Aren't they cute!

...and speaking of painting, Annika - sporting her snazzy face-paint. The snake is her Lunar (aka Chinese) horoscope.



What would a pumpkin festival be without a pumpkin pie eating contest? ...that we lost.



Sofia was SURE she won! (WARNING: not a good loser!)


Tony sizing up the competition. I was SO sure he'd win. I even tried to bet one of the children $5 that he would. Lucky for me they didn't take my bet, because he got his clock cleaned by some serious eater.


The PikaPals and I had a good time anyhow. If you want to see a picture of me at the festival, hop on over to my little sister's blog. I'm the one with the baby. :)

Romero Miscellanea

How do you play outside in western Washigton?


I think Sofia is dressed as Super Pikachu or a Pikachu Fairy? Either way, the little pikachu is for throwing at people. What a terrible picture! It must have been taken before I cleaned Boo's fingerprints off of the lens.


I would love to show you the other side of this quilt sandwich, but it is TOP SECRET - and the most gorgeous thing ever!


Wait...this is the most gorgeous thing ever....


...and it's even sweeter in my son's arms!