short and sweet

The other night after her bath Eloise was telling me that she loved me and that she will always be with me and never leave me.  After a few seconds she updated that statement and said that when she did have to leave home to be a veterinarian she would write a note for me and leave it on the dining room table.  That note would say, "Dear Mom, Don't forget to call Eloise every single day".

I have three reasons for writing this post today.

1.  So I have a record of it just in case I ever even start to forget about it.

2.  So I remember it on the days when it seems like everyone in this house is screaming, crying, or in a time-out, including me.

3.  So I remember to call my own mom and tell her how much I miss her and I that I can't even imagine how much she misses me.

caroling

I.
Love.
Christmas music.

 I can't deny it.  I start listening the day after Thanksgiving and don't stop until December 26th.  I love the fact that there is this giant collection of songs that are reserved only for this short window of time.  I've got to get them while the getting is good and I never get sick of them.

In our house and in our car we pretty much have Christmas carols on all the time.  There is a radio station here that plays them round the clock.  If we ever don't have them on, like, say at 7am when we come down for breakfast, Eloise likes to say "Speaking of (insert whatever we were talking about whether it is related to Christmas carols or not) why aren't we listening to any Christmas music?"  Then we switch on the radio and hope it is not that Home Run Pizza commercial.

I like to belt out  sing just about every Christmas song that comes on and I know most of the words to all of them. (Are you thinking that you are glad you haven't been invited over to our house lately?)  When I am with both girls, Eloise and I like to dance and make up actions to go along with the words.  If it is a really "groovy" one she has to run and put her tutu on.  If I am just with Harriet I like to lip sync along with the radio in an effort to fool her into thinking that I have the voice of  Celine or Mariah...or sometimes Josh.
 I think it's working.

My most favorite Christmas album for years has been Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas.  It is my dad's favorite as well, and I think I stole it from him originally but have since replaced it.  I am not picky when it comes to my carols though.  I pretty much love them all from the old standards to the new pop-y ones.
This year we added the Glee Christmas album to our collection and, as you can imagine, it is loved by all.  My absolute favorite is Kurt and Blaine's version of Baby It's Cold Outside.  Blaine just makes me swoon.

Very soon after we got the new Glee cd it was cut up and made into a collage for the season.  I was laughing so hard when Eloise had the idea to put the little talk bubbles on Finn and Rachel.  She said, "We should cut out those little circles with the points you know and put one on Rachel that says 'Oh, Finn', and one on Finn that says, 'Oh Rachel', because they are friends, you know, and we can put little hearts around them and stuff."

Speaking of little hearts and stuff, why aren't we listening to any Christmas music?

merry christmas

ode to aquaphor

You might have realized this about me already, but I tend toward the obsessive about a few things.  One of the things that I have been completely obsessed with for years is Aquaphor.  

I started using it for chapped lips about 12 years ago.  If you have ever spent a minimum of 15 minutes with me then you have surely seen me digging around in my purse for a tube of Aquaphor.  Open, dab, dab, dab, click, close and ahhhh.    I slowly began to realize how many things it was great for besides chapped lips.  I use it under my eyes at night, on my cuticles, for hang nails, on little cuts or scrapes, dry skin patches, elbows, feet, for a reddened sore nose during a cold.  Also, more times then I would like to admit I have fooled myself into thinking it was makeup.  A little on the lips, a little on the cheeks and, voila!,  I'm ready for my close up.

I thought I had pretty much exhausted the possibilities of this magic potion and then I had kids.

 Aquaphor, may I present diaper rash, chapped cheeks, eczema, cradle cap, chapped lips and that one time Eloise got a ring stuck on her finger.  Aquaphor, is there anything you can't fix?

Everyone in my house is a devotee to this stuff.  My husband no longer says, "Do we have any Aquaphor?".  He now says, "Where is the nearest Aquaphor?"  He has begun to realize that I have them stashed all over the house and outlying areas.

Please, please, please don't tell me anything bad about Aquaphor's ingredients or potential side effects.   I research practically ever other product and food that comes into this house and it can be such a drag sometimes.  I have purposely never looked up Aquaphor.  I don't want to know because I wouldn't be able to quit it.  I know that it probably isn't perfect but we all have our flaws don't we?

In the meantime I will remain blissfully and blindly happy... and moisturized.

kitchen

purse

eloise's bedside

harriet's bedside

my bedside

car

makeup bag

also makes a great teether