Mixing it up a little

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Natalie

Another hand of the clock has ticked, which means Stella has lost yet another tooth. The other top front one, to be exact. At the pace she is going we are about ready to buy her a set of Billy-Bob teeth so she can chew her food.

The last Tooth Fairy visit proved to be a little bit traumatic in that she mistakenly left the pillow at the foot of Stella’s bed, which means that the Tooth Fairy must have forgotten that Stella’s sleep habits resemble someone making a snow angel – for 8 hours straight. When Stella woke up in the morning her loot was scattered all over her bedroom, at which point she ran into my bathroom sobbing that she couldn’t find all the parts.

This time, Stella would be having none of that tomfoolery and came up with a plan that would insure the safety of her precious tooth loot. She commissioned her father to draw a map where the tooth pillow was safely stowed for tooth withdrawal and reward. Voila! Problem solved. One slight flaw in her plan was that she did not clearly articulate that the Tooth Fairy was then expected to relocate the pillow and draw her a map. Um, somebody needs to tell that Tooth Fairy to GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Doesn’t she know who she is dealing with here?

The Walstons Take a Walk

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Natalie

Ever since Stella discovered the joy of riding on two wheels she has insisted on going on the evening walk with bike in tow. Then Porter insists on taking his bike. At this point you might as well invite a venomous snake and a couple of circus performers, because this parade ain’t going nowhere but straight to Crazy. Trying to coordinate a consistent pace is virtually impossible due to the fact that A.) Stella rides like a bat out of hell, B.) Porter alternately rides for about 13 seconds and the demands you carry the bike, C.) The dog about loses his mind because he JUST WANTS A DECENT WALK ALREADY!

(click photo to see the entire set)

Never a Dull Moment

Posted on July 13, 2009 by Natalie

Hoo boy! Have I been cashing in some serious parenting points this summer. So far, I have accumulated two child-free outings, leaving Steve alone to play zone defense with our sweet but endlessly spunky children. He hasn’t complained even once, and has even been remarkably encouraging. Stupid? Generous? Just plan crazy? I’ll let you be the judge.

My first trip was a couple of weeks back when I went to Mendocino to celebrate Shannon’s 40th birthday. Then, this past weekend I traveled to the Russian River Valley to meet up with my mom and sister for some bonding time that I have been prohibited by law and notarized confidentiality release to ever detail here on these pages. I was allowed to take pictures, but chose to carefully parse and edit them according to the guidelines enumerated in clauses 3, 7, 9 and 14 – pretty much all the clauses pertaining to “excessive ridiculosity”. Instead, you are left with the safe-for-general-consumption set – which should give you some perspective when you get to the photograph of the heart-shaped sign that reads “Tattoos”.

And that’s about all I am legally authorized to report about that.

(click photo to see full set)

I arrived home to find that not only had my family survived weekend number two (complete with a birthday party outing), but that Stella had lost yet another tooth, AND had learned to ride her bike without training wheels – ALL WITHIN A MATTER OF THREE DAYS! She and Steve had this hilariously choreographed set-up wherein he was going to ask me to stand out on the front porch and chat with him while Stella retrieved her bike from the edge of the yard and then nonchalantly ride down the street in front of the house. Unfortunately their plan hit a small snag when Stella was unable to get the kick-stand up and Steve had to run down there to assist her. The whole thing became so ridiculously adorable, I could hardly contain myself. I couldn’t have imagined a better homecoming.

After dinner and bath I had Steve shoot a little bit of footage, including a quick interview before she and I headed out for our evening dog-walk / bike-ride. Pretty much the only thing missing is a yellow jersey.