American Idol Flashback

Was watching American Idol re-runs on Fox last night at about 1:30 in the morning and saw my old highlight tape. You might not remember this, it's from before I was two, but I thought I'd pull it out and replay it for you. Still can't believe Carrie Underwood beat me in the semis...

I'm Your Ice Cream (Wo)Man

About 50 seconds in there is a Mabel Jane special dance appearance.

Grocery Shopping

Mabel here. Yep, Fin's still sleeping and Dad is in the kitchen making my breakfast... last night when he put in his password I faked like I wasn't paying attention (really, Dad, Bulls23 is your password? That is so 1996).

Anyway, the other day we got home and there were a bunch of bags in the kitchen, hmmmm, what could be in here?

Shiny... red... maybe it's a cupcake?

Whatever it is, it sure looks tasty...

Not a cupcake

Well, the only other thing in here is flour and capers so a girl's gotta do...

And hey, can someone email me if they find out what this yellow thing is. I just don't get it. Finley sits on it and then everyone claps...

Maybe if I sit on it...

No response, maybe I'm supposed to stand in it...

Again... nothin. Well, let me know if you know what it is and what I'm supposed to do with it.

Okay, before I go, I've got a pretty long narrative here but I think it might be worth reading. The other day we were at Nana's but she had to run somewhere so we were alone with Papa (I know, right?). So Dad calls and here is the conversation that ensues:

Dad: Hey Papa, how are the girls?

Papa: Well, they just got up but we've got a problem here - Mae has poop

Dad: Alright, Papa, well, get on it. Call me back when you're done.

Here's the funny part. My cousin Hannah is 12 years old and there have been six more grandchildren after her. And Papa has not changed one poop diaper in 12 years... until now.

So about ten minutes goes by and I know Dad's at work getting a little nervous, and then Papa calls him back.

Dad: So, Papa, how'd it go?

Papa: Well, it went south pretty quickly. I was ripping the back of the wipes bag open til Fin came over and showed me how to open it and get them out. And then I put on her diaper and thought, "Wow, that's really a big diaper for her" and then Fin told me that was her pull-up and she went in the bag and got Mae's diaper.

Dad: So what you're telling me is that you're there with the girls but Mae is pretty much in Finley's care.

Papa: Well, I wouldn't go that far.

Dad (thinking): I would.

Dad: Okay, so Mabel needs to eat now.

Papa: Well, what does she eat?

Dad: Get Fin, go to the fridge, open it and show her all the things that are in there. She will tell you what Mae can eat and how she eats it.

Papa: Alrighty, then.

Now I hope that didn't paint Papa as a bad babysitter, because he's actually pretty good. He gives all the hugs and carries me around and puts on music for us, but when it comes to the technicalities like poop diapers, let's just say thank goodness for Finley's Sister Patrol.

I Heart You All

Okay, so Mom for Valentine's Day Mom and I made some heart-shaped cookies. First of all, let me tell you they were out of heart shapes for cookie cut-outs, so we got a candy cane and got a little creative with it.

Then it was time to frost. Nicknamed myself Frostin Finley while we did this, no joke.

And after that it was time for the sprinkles... wait, where did the...? MABEL!

Okay, got the sprinkles back.

Wait, code red! Mickey Mouse came running in the front door complaining of chest pains so Mae grabbed the stethoscope...

Okay, all's well, he just had heartburn from a BLT sandwich he ate for dinner; where were we? Yep, got the sprinkles back, time to apply.

I didn't think frosting cookies was that big of a deal but apparently CBS did, and they brought in the Good Year Blimp for the occasion.

Mission Accomplished - Happy Valentine's Day.

Birthday Week

So last Thursday was Mae's first birthday and this Thursday is my birthday (3 and counting) so sandwiched in between was our birthday party. We had a birthday breakfast because I wanted a cake made of donuts... ask and you shall receive. How's that for a unique birthday cake?!

Then Mae had her first bite of cake, or sweets of any kind for that matter. And let me tell you, she was not disappointed....

Liked it so much she wanted to share it...

And smash it.

And for an encore at my party, all my friends and I went up to Grant Park Hill and went sledding. Here's me comin down the hill with Aunt Suzy...

And here's me having a rough time getting back up the hill.

All in all, a great party. And just like the cliche, "Every good party is like a war, there are gonna be some casualties," we had ourselves a casualty (actually, I've never heard that cliche and doubt it has ever even been said, but it fit perfectly to end this post. Don't be afraid to use it).

Oh wait, did I mention Mae was digging the sweets... here she is on her third donut, which is only eight less than I ate.

Mae's birthday party: 1.

Birthday cake:

For more photos, CLICK HERE.

SNOW DAY!!!

Okay, so we got, like, two feet of snow last night and this morning and it's still snowing really really hard.

So what to do on a day like this? Well, first I had a huge breakfast party with a bunch of my friends

And then I headed out into the elements.

An attempted walk through the snow to the gate turned into a crawl that woulda made a polar bear envious.

Don't worry, none of the snow eaten in the following photo was yellow.

And right over my shoulder here is actually the entrance to our park out front. As you can see, between the snow and then the snowblowing out front, I can't even get into my park.

For some more Snow Day photos, click here.

Put Me In, Coach!

So I recently got a chance to coach the NHL All-Star Game but instead of standing behind the bench they had us on buckets.

Here's me giving the business to my captain, telling him we need more pucks dumped in behind the net and then we need to go get them!

Okay, well, maybe not, but it felt like it. Dad's friend built an ice rink behind his house and we went over to get some hockey in, and my "captain" above was actually just Isaiah.

But after observing for a little while I decided it was time for me to get up on skates. So I grabbed my hockey stick and stood up to give it a try.

Then, after a while, Dad and I decided to go one-handed and then... WHOA!

Okay, almost fell backwards there. I think I've got it now.