Las Vegas Mama

Some people make Sun Tea. Usually, they are super fancy and like to drink liquids while holding their pinky up and wearing their monacle. But that's not me. I make tea all regular-like, with water that you boil on a regular stove and stuff. Now, don't get me wrong - I really love fancy tea parties. And I have been known to don a monacle or two in my day. But when it comes to making things that will cook in the sun, I make Sun Quesadillas. We went swimming today, and I knew that lunchtime would come right in the middle of it. So I put together some quesadillas, wrapped them up in foil and set them by the pool to melt. When we were ready to eat, we just came out of the pool and had our delicious, melted, gooey, sun quesadillas. I am ghetto like that.   This just goes to show that you can take a girl out of the barrio but you can't take the barrio out of the girl. I'm kidding. I never made sun quesadillas when I lived in East L.A. I did, however, overpluck my eyebrow...

...'Nuff said.

Phillip doesn't notice anymore when I buy something new that I am not supposed to be spending money on, and hence does not give me a hard time about it like he used to in the early days of our relationship. And when he finally does notice and says, "Huh, is that a new shirt?" I am ready with my response, "I have had this forever, I cannot believe you are just noticing it! Seriously? You just noticed?" And then that disconcerts him enough to knock him off the scent. I know - clever, right?? Now, admittedly I haven't used that line on him in a very, very long time. I wonder if he actually does notice, but I finally just broke his will to live and that is why he doesn't say anything. Yesterday morning after I had donned my new Target tank top (because I am the absolute pinnacle of fashion and everyone wishes they were me), I made my morning latte as I pondered this blog post. The whole "throw him off the scent" idea made a smile start to ...

I was excited to see a new cupcake store in town. I finally got a chance to try Gigi's Cupcakes over on Flamingo just west of Maryland Parkway. As it so happens, I found out that Gigi's is the largest cupcake chain in the U.S. I will let you decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. Gigi's cupcakes are a delight to behold. The the first thing I noticed was that they perform cupcake-icide on the Cupcakery in terms of sheer artistry. When I saw these I was all drooly and weak in the knee. It might have been a mild stroke. But I think it was more likely the sheer beauty of these little treasures. I wanted to try each and every one. I brought them home, had a nice responsible lunch, and then dove into all that cupcake madness. I was expecting Cupcakery quality. After all, they looked better than the Cupcakery. And price usually infers quality. But alas, I was to be disappointed. I tried the Merry Margarita, the Texas Milk Chocolate, and the Red Velvet. I'm sa...

 ... Because when either of my kids cry out for me in the middle of the night, I am instantly out of my bed and halfway to their room before I am even awake. By the time I actually get to their bed I am awake, alert, and ready to handle whatever thing caused them to wake up in the first place. I may not do well in the mornings, and I may not handle lack of sleep too well, but I excel at waking up in the middle of the night. In fact, some nights I wake up completely spontaneously just to check on them. This makes me Super Mom... at least in my own book! ***This post brought to you by numerous middle of the night wakings by both children last night.***

My parents came into town this weekend, which of course means I get a serious, major, huge, grande, fabulous, loco en la cabeza break from mothering. My mom, whom the girls call "Iaia" (which is Catalan for Grandma, pronounced "yaya"), is pretty much ME, only 30 years older. She is the closest thing to a substitute for me as can possibly exist. The girls will actually go to her if they get a boo boo, or if they are upset about something. Normally, I am the only one who can comfort them in those moments. But she is very nurturing and will do whatever it takes to calm them down when they are upset, rather than just hand them back to me. I love that about her. My dad, whom they call Abuelo (Spanish for Grandpa), is a seriously fun dude...because he is funny, and knows how to distract them if they seem like they are about to get upset. He does the silly dances, tells them silly stories, and sings them silly songs. He will spend hours playing games with them, which t...

Kiranda over at This Mommy's Hood has bestowed me with this lovely award! What makes this blog beautiful? Well, in my humble opinion, it is not so much me as it is my beautiful family. Because they give me all sorts of fodder for this blog. For example: Humiliating Puppet Theater Muppet Week My, My, How Things Change And for something aesthetically pleasing to the eye rather than the mind, check out my princess dress creations.

Ok, so this is the first time I have done a blog hop. I am not sure I am doing this correctly but I am going to give it my best. The idea is to be able to find new blogs while allowing others to find your blog. Check it out at Friday-Follow.com if you would like to join in. That said, let me now tell you about an attack I suffered this morning.  We have been having ants wandering in our kitchen lately. I cannot find where they are coming from, and the pest control guy put out ant bait and they are still showing up.  My theory is that they are nuclear radioactive ants. They are coming from nowhere, which clearly means their genetic makeup must have been altered to allow them to disband their molecules and reassemble them on the inside of my house. (This is Nevada, after all.)  Secondly, I keep my counter pretty darn clean, so there is nothing for them to eat. This means that they have longer than usual lifespans, which is perfectly in keeping with the characteristi...

It has become quite apparent that Mommy's little angel... ...is becoming slightly non-angelic, as she is starting to exercise her rights as an older sister. Its manifest destiny, of course, but it still has come as a surprise.  It all started with this: Does that look pretty innocent? Sitting quietly on an overturned laundry basket? Well, its not. Because this is what is beneath that basket: Note the wide eyes and wild hair. She is saying, "Is this what I have to look forward to from my sister??"  The answer is "no", Pumpkin. You have a lot more to look forward to, besides false imprisonment. Because unbeknownst to you, later this week she will also enslave you and make you her little pet. Your new name is "Sparkles the Dog".  And here is Ivy giving her new little pet a treat: I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!

I want to ask you a question. This is important, so pay attention. What would you do if you found yourself at your daughter's ballet class (which is filled with adorable once-in-a-lifetime moments) only to discover you have forgotten your camera at home? I know, its a difficult question to even face. Well, I am here to tell you that I not only faced this tragedy in real life, I survived it. This is my story. Ivy, in the rôle of Ariel, on a day that I remembered to bring my camera   The day started out normally enough, if a bit rushed. There was breakfast for the girls and a latte for me. Phillip skipped both because he is made out of jetfighters and punching. I dressed the girls as I do every Wednesday, never dreaming how everything was about to change. Ballet tights and leotards on, I styled their hair in the professional hairdressers station we installed when we first learned we were having a second girl. We loaded up the diaper bag with water bottles and snacks, and...

So, I have been wanting to revamp the entire look and feel of this blog.  I have been wanting to make into a real Las Vegas theme. Except to do so requires money and/or time. Probably mostly time, because since I don't make money from this blog, I cannot justify spending any money on hiring a designer.  If its time I must spend, then I would have to design something and then have Phillip make it in photoshop. And I'm not good at web design. So its slow going. This is what I want to base the new look on:   Its all I've got so far, but at least I have my new button!

At dinner last night, after I had cleared away Violet's plate she started enthusiastically attacking the food in the serving bowls. She grabbed fistfuls of corn kernels and shoved them in her mouth. "Guuummmph," she grunted happily. Then she lifted the lid off the pot of mashed potatoes, peered inside and noisily expelled a breath thus jettisoning a corn kernel into the pot. She shamelessly reached in with the serving spoon and shoveled potatoes into her mouth. More satisfied grunts with her mouth stuffed full. She was clearly enjoying herself. Her reckless and delighted way of plundering the food made her look like a barbarian so much we had to laugh. We quickly snapped a photo of her so you could see.

Today I realized how much Violet still pinches and abuses my muppets , even though she no longer nurses. I am going to have to figure out a way to get her to CEASE AND DESIST. Soon. I am out of patience. In the meantime, I realized I never did share the story that inspired the muppet euphemism and the subsequent Muppet Week . A Muppet Story We were having breakfast at a local casino with my cousin and her new beau, whom we were meeting for the first time. Ivy, as is typical for her, is dominating the conversation. Suddenly, she starts saying, "Nipple. Nipple. Mom, nipple." Slightly embarrassed, I try to gloss over it by saying, "Mmmm hmmm, yes honey. Shhh." However, this only serves to frustrate... nay, infuriate her. She begins raising her voice. "Nipple. Nipple!! NIPPLE!" I giggle nervously. This makes her little face crumple up in tears as the word "nipple" becomes the focal point of a red-faced tantrum. "Niiiippllllllle,"...

I decided to take the advice I was given in the comments of the dead plant post and cut off all the toasted bits. I fed the poor plant some plant food, slapped a cute bow on it, and hoped for the best.  Good as new, right? 

I have temporarily escaped the home bubble because Phillip is working from home until the AC at work is fixed (they should have just called ARA , but whatever!) We were going to the mall, but Violet fell asleep immediately and I needed to let her sleep a little so I could avoid the mallrums*. So what's a mom to do? In a stroke of blinding genius, I drove over to McCarran airport and parked in the viewing area so Ivy could watch the planes take off and land. If you tune your radio to 101.1 FM you can also listen in to the control tower. We sat in the car with the air running (because I care more about avoiding heat stroke and mallrums than I do about the environment) until Violet woke up. Ivy bounced around in the front seat while we watched and she was very excited to see the planes up close. Here is the view from my car: Added bonus #1: When Violet woke up she was immediately in a good mood because she also loves planes. Added bonus #2: Its free. Added bonus #3: ...

Until I figure out how to put up a Twitter thingy on my side bar ( or wrangle Phillip into doing it for me), here is my Twitter account in case you would like to follow my little snippets of life in Las Vegas. Weather update: My car thermometer read 116 today!

So this morning we discovered that one of my plants was crawling with ants because they all came streaming out of the pot when we tried to water it. So, the logical solution would be to put the plant outside so the ants could leave. Out went the plant. Fast forward 4 hours later when I came home from the girls' ballet class. All the ants were gone, as expected. And this is what happened to the plant:  Do you need a close-up of my once-thriving plant?  The leaves are burnt to a crisp! And that, my friends, is what 4 hours in the Las Vegas sun will do to living things. I am considering circulating a petition to have summer officially rescinded.

I am feeling pretty honored again today because Amber from Airing my Dirty Laundry One Sock at a Time has written a guest blog for us! She definitely has a way with words, so here is our special treat. And when you are done, go check out her blog! I’m not going to lie.   When I got pregnant the second time I hoped that it was a girl. After all, I had a boy the first time around and it was only natural to want a girl. While clothes shopping for my son I’d always wander into the girl section, fingering the pink and purple shirts, yearning for the adorable dresses.   Well guess what? I got my girl.   She came out screaming, this pink ball of temper. I assumed she’d be a fairly easy baby as my son had been. As a newborn he’d wake up crying, eat, and then go back to sleep for a few hours.   My daughter, Natalie, did not go for this.   No, after I fed her and set her down, her eyes would fly open and I swear she’d look indignant as th...

...'Cause I'm a-swoonin'! (And I am also suddenly old-timey and southern, it seems.)  I have been given my first blogging award and I feel honored! I am, after all, just a humble little blogger with a humble little blog. So it means a lot to me that I have been chosen to receive the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks to Kiranda from Welcome to Mommyhood , for giving me this award! The rules that govern this award are that I must share seven random facts about myself (fun!)  1.   When I was 18 I joined a local beauty pageant even though I thought it was stupid just so I could go on their fun day trips 2.   I like the idea of keeping secrets but in reality I hate holding anything back. 3.   Before I met Phillip I was convinced I never wanted to have kids. 4.   I want to win the lottery just so I can underwrite an opera. 5.   When I read, hear or see letters and numbers I also "see" colors associated with them. Like "A" ...

There are few things in this world that really depress me. I am an optimist and I tend to see the positive of most things. But there is something that flat out depresses me. When the girls and I go swimming, they hate putting their faces in the water and won't take instruction from me. They are perfectly content to just bob about on the surface of the water with their floaties. That's it. My mom tossed me in a pool when I was 5 months old and I have been swimming ever since. I have been on some swim team or another almost my whole life. When I was 8 years old I won a gold medal at Finals. I was on a water polo team. So as you can imagine, their extreme discomfort with water just plain depresses me. I want to share the joys of swimming with them, but they won't let me! This is not how I envisioned this going, but the reality is.... This is me: "Ooooh, I love water! I don't wish I was "part of your world", I like it fine down here, thanks!"...

Me: I kind of have a headache. I'm tired.  (sigh)  I don't think I slept enough last night. Phillip: Just take a break. You can get workers comp. Me: Funny. What do people get for worker's comp, is it like 40% or something? So what's 40% of zero? Phillip: What's 40% of priceless ? Tee hee... blush blush.... smile....

What must it be like to be a toddler? I am sure they think they are making sense. And maybe they are, but I just don't get it. Or maybe being a toddler is like being on drugs. I don't know what that is like because I have never tried an illegal drug in my life. But I imagine it could be like a toddler's mind. At lunch today this was the conversation, all delivered with wide-eyed enthusiasm: Ivy: Maybe I can eat angwy pasta. You not know what angwy pasta is? Its just... you eat it when you are sick. I ate it. You know who has it? Pinnochio's kitchen table has it. He do's (does). I saw'd it. And he has chocolate apples candy pizza.  And wombs (worms).  Weally ugly gwoss cooked wombs. (laughs) Just for pretend wombs. I'm just kidding about that. Candy wombs. And hair. (laughs again) Gween beans. Chocolate gween beans with apples. And lollipops, and corn and chocolate chip ice cweam, vanilla cweam cheese, womb stockings, frutilla*  carnival, cookies, u...

The air conditioning company we used to solve our tragic situation is called ARA Heating & A/C, Inc. They are an amazing, wonderful, professional company. When I called, desperately begging for help, the receptionist was so kind. She said, "Let me get a hold of the technician on call, and I will call you back in 5". She totally called me back in 5 like she said she would. That may not seem like much, but compared to the first call I made to an AC company it was night and day. (By the way, they are called AC Las Vegas Heating and Cooling , and they are FLAKES so never, ever call them!) She called me back and said, "He will be over between 7 and 8pm, and he will call you when he is on his way). I felt like this: When he (his name is Tim) showed up in a professional truck with the company logo and a name badge, I was especially pleased. He was polite and respectful of our home. He invited Phillip up on the roof with him to show him exactly what was wrong with the...

Wha-? What the..? What just happened here? MY AIR CONDITIONING WORKS AGAIN. The second company sent someone out last night. They are on call 24/7. How awesome are they?   SO AWESOME. In fact, I am going to review this air conditioning company, 'cause I can. And because my usual muppet-reviews are non-existent since the one-car thing happened. So I have to have a muppet outlet somehow. Plus, now that I have been through the trials of finding a reputable company, I want you all to share in the knowledge that there is a company out there that can help you in the event that "IT" ever happens to you too (God forbid!) This has all been so much less painful than it could have been. I still cannot believe that it was this easy. Maybe its true that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself....

... the "THING" all Las Vegans dread. The thing that I have lived in fear of since moving here in 2004. The thing that I could not even directly think of, because it scared me so much that I had to think around it. Our air conditioning is broken. It is 110 degrees outside. And we have no AC in our house. And I do not handle the heat well at all. I get really pink in the face. And angry. Pink and angry. Not a good combination. I called a repair company and they flaked out. I called another company and they said they will come tonight. Hallelujah. What are the odds that we can have it repaired by tomorrow morning? Probably not good,  and even though this is Vegas, I am not going to take that bet. My face is going to melt off tomorrow. I am pretty sure of that. Oh well, we had a good run, face. Now you will be a little puddle of goo. At least your kids will still love you, even if they can no longer kiss you because you have the consistency of a warm chocolate shake.

This morning I groggily walked into the kitchen just as Phillip was hitting Violet over the head with a rolled up newspaper. WHACK!  Hello, I'm awake now! "Phillip, what in the world are you doing?!?" He looks up at me with a look of determination. "There's a fly in here and it keeps attacking us. I am trying to get it." I looked at Violet, assuming it had landed on her head and Phillip was aiming at it and not at our daughter. She looked back at me all doe-eyed and a little pouty, like "Did you just see that??" Well, Phillip was right - this fly was seriously on a mission to attack, because as I stood there it went ZOOM! ZOOM!   right at my head. I did a weird, uncoordinated flapping movement, almost like a marionette whose strings were just jerked. "Did you get it?" Phillip asked. "Yeah, that technique is very effective in catching flies," I answered mildly. But my anti-fly-ninja-moves must have spooked him ...

So I joined this mommy blog site, Top Mommy Blogs , where people can vote for you and then you rank somewhere in that list of mom blogs according to how many clicks you get. My button is at the upper left corner of this blog. When you click it comes up with a page that says "Click to Vote". It already knows that you came from my blog. So clickety-click click, por favor and gracias! I don't know what purpose this will serve for me. Maybe I will get more readers. Maybe a giant cupcake will fall from the sky if I rank better than last. I don't know. But I want to find out. So please vote for my blog each time you visit (you can vote once a day). Do it. Do. It.  If you do, I will you forever and ever and ever. And if a giant cupcake falls out of the sky, I promise to share it with you.

A Really Bad Haircut Head Lice Your daughter whining, tugging and pestering you to watch a DVD while you are trying to catch up on email and blog.

It is official... we are now a one-car family - GASP! For all you LA readers, I know you are deeply disappointed in me. But things are different here in Vegas. I think we can do it. At least for the next 8 months until our Chrysler is paid off and we can buy another car. Phillip's car refuses to budge another inch, despite numerous carrots and sticks that were utilized to try and make it go a little longer. Perhaps we should try taking it to a mechanic instead. Now I have a fridge full of carrots and I don't even really like carrots that much. I could make a carrot-ginger soup. Ok, to be honest I hate carrot-ginger soup. But at least they would not be in my fridge for long. I am pretty sure carrot-ginger soup goes bad quicker than raw carrots. So for the next 8 months we are going to share the one car. That means if I want to use it, I have to drop him off at work in the wee hours of the morning. Have I ever mentioned how little I enjoy early mornings? Even less so when I h...

I sold a princess dress on Etsy ! Yay me! I wonder if I could make a decent income from home doing this. I would have to put a little money into it so I could build up an inventory of dresses and maybe purchase a URL to sell on my own website. I just don't know what kind of demand exists for this kind of thing. So I am hesitant to try. In the meantime, these side projects are way fun!

Some quotes to ponder from past presidents as we celebrate the anniversary of our independence from Britain. "Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition." ~Jefferson     "I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. " ~Jefferson "Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have." ~Ford "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."   ~Lincoln As a child of immigrants to this country, I believe in the virtue of hard work. Give us an opportunity and some freedom... and we will do the rest. Its what our country was founded on, and it will be how we continue to succeed. We don't need handouts, we don't Bi...

This is about to be a seriously random post. But I don't care, 'cause I'm just livin' la vida loca and that's how I roll. So let me take this point by point. Cows. Earlier this week I put on my old bathing suit from last season because I was lending my "real" suit to my BFF so we could swim, because she didn't bring one with her. This is what the top looks like (the rest is black): When Ivy saw it, she blurted out, "Mom! You look like a COW!!"  Thanks, kid. I know you meant that as a compliment. In my defense, I bought it off season and I was desperate for a suit. I hated it but what could I do? But the lesson has been learned - no animal prints unless you want to be called that animal by your 3 year old. Especially no more cow prints. Ever. Monsters. Yesterday, during Violet's nap Ivy suddenly came running to me and hid her face saying she was scared. I asked her why and she quiveringly said, "Monsters!" I asked he...