ouch

I can honestly say, without the shadow of a doubt, that having my hair styled by a toddler is not in my job description. Oh what fun... ! =:D

i'm almost old

so i have recently celebrated yet another birthday. yay as it surely beats the alternative! for my birthday, lillian got strep throat (which is one of those gifts that are so difficult to return!). but then later in the week, liz came for a visit (woot!). although the girls' dad has been getting a bit...um...creative in terms of visitation, we were determined to have a good time no matter what. we played with the girls on saturday and then they went with their dad for the night and we. went. out.yum! dinner at the melting pot :) cheese and dessert, thank you very much. oh and a glass of wine (that i finished, even!).

so then, we headed over to dave and busters and i learned how to play pool with friends!and i know that you are shocked that i am not very good in the least. sigh...at least i have

a book to look forward to reading.

ahem...

gainfully employed

forty hours of nonstop bliss

i would like a maid

sometimes you really do have to be careful what you wish for. i am so very thankful to have a great job that is exactly what the girls and i need...they are so happy:

actually, the girls love love love it! elise was in the wrong room and wasted no time letting me know about it. kaely and elise are making friends easily and keep very busy with activities and field trips. lillian likes to be a "big kid" and hang out with the five year old class, but she also likes her proper class (the fours). the teachers seem fairly receptive to me, as well...although it never fails to floor me when they argue with me about things. it's a work in progress.

we have neat activities for the kids, like the ice cream man that comes to visit:and the red robin "chicken" that came to read stories with the kids:

and last week we were visited by a magician. that man had the kids laughing so loud we could hear them up in the front office.
in between the busy days at work, i am still dealing with the girls' father. we've done fun things like "forget" to attend court ordered mediation orientation and make and then break plans and, my personal favorite, introduce ourselves as "karen's husband...for now" to my co-workers. more fun than i can stand! :D this month i go to the parenting class (thankfully he will not be in the same class) and then next month is the actual mediation. i have also replaced the shower curtain in the master bath, which doesn't sound like much, but it was a personal triumph. i try to look at the positive when the girls are gone for a weekend...it gives me time to do fun, kid-free things. the sunday school class went out to dinner one night to a neat asian place called creation...it's located in an old paint store and totally not a place i would ever bring the girls. i've also been to movies that are not animated, bowling (it was like crazy bowling or midnight bowling or something...either way, it was fun), and yesterday i got in a paddle boat (wheeeeeeee). i am meeting all sorts of new people and i quite like that.

aaaaaaaaaaand...lillian has turned four! my girl *sniff* so proud... not just any cake for her, no ma'am. my girl wanted an ice cream cake from




wait for it...










cold stone creamery

yummy on the inside...obnoxious pink on the outside
lillian had a great day opening presentsand playing outside in the sprinkler (to burn off that cake, of course)so...yeah...i guess that's about it then.