Mom According to Hero & Allegra

I found this fun kid's tag on Bobbi's blog, so I decided to have my girls try it.


Here's Hero:
1. What is something mom always says to you? "Good night" every bedtime
2. What makes mom happy? When they house is clean and when we're good
3. What makes mom sad? When we don't do what she says
4. How does mom make you laugh? When she says a lot of funny things
5. What was mom like as a child? She tried to be good
6. How old is your mom? 29
7. How tall is your mom? 5 foot 8 inches
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Sit down and relax
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Playing the violin
11. What is your mom really good at? Taking care of us
12. What is your mom not very good at? Instruments she doesn't know how to play
13. What does your mom do for her job? Cleans the house and takes care of the kids and cooking and laundry
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Anything she makes
15. What makes you proud of your mom? That she's really good at a lot of stuff
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Sandy the squirrel from Spongebob
17. What do you and your mom do together? Shopping and cooking
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like to read
19. How are you and your mom different? She's a better violinist than me
20. How do you know your mom loves you? 'Cause she always says it and she shows it


And Allegra's responses:
1. What is something mom always says to you? Merry Christmas
2. What makes mom happy? Being nice to her and doing what she tells us to
3. What makes mom sad? When you don't follow her rules
4. How does mom make you laugh? She tickles you
5. What was mom like as a child? She sat in a bowl
6. How old is your mom? 29
7. How tall is your mom? 10 feet
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Read Sleeping Beauty books
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Shop in Las Begas(sic)
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? A fancy house
11. What is your mom really good at? Reading
12. What is your mom not very good at? I don't know
13. What does your mom do for her job? Sells maternity clothes
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Egg roll
15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she tucks me into bed
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Sleeping Beauty
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play with Littlest Pet Shops or watch Sleeping Beauty
18. How are you and your mom the same? We both like Littlest Pet Shop toys
19. How are you and your mom different? She likes Sleeping Beauty and I like Cinderella
20. How do you know your mom loves you? She gives me kisses and hugs when she tucks me into bed

Our Vegas Trip

It's hard to believe that just one week ago we were on our way to Vegas to celebrate our 10th anniversary. I was so stressed out about leaving Colin behind - you'd have thought that he was our first instead of our fourth! They kids ended up having an awesome time with Nana and Papa (and many thanks to them to getting the kids to their myriad activities). We dropped the kids off at 7am on Thursday morning, took Hero to school, and then headed to the Boise airport. Our flight to Vegas was completely full, but blessedly uneventful. We had to wait in line for a taxi at the Vegas airport for a surprisingly long time - next time we'll have to splurge for the limo, I guess. Then it was off to the Bellagio. We had planned on just dropping our luggage off since we arrived at 11 and check-in wasn't til 4, but they had our room ready so we got to get in straight away. The hotel was beautiful - I loved the Chihuly glass on the lobby ceiling (first picture). Our room was on the 16th floor and the view was absolutely amazing (the rest of the pictures are of the view from our window)! There was a floor to ceiling window and we had the perfect view of Lake Bellagio and the center of the strip. The room was actually smaller than the room we had last year in the Venetian, but the view was unbeatable. After enjoying the view for a few moments and dropping off our luggage we headed out for some lunch and shopping. We started with the Miracle Mile shops at Planet Hollywood as they were directly across from us, then headed for the Venetian and Palazzo shops. I found several awesome pairs of shoes at the Coach store, and also found a new love - Burberry! Classic and preppy is totally my style, and that's definitely Burberry. I found the cutest navy wool peacoat for Colin this winter. I just wish that we had a store closer. Then we had an early dinner reservation at Emeril's Delmonico steakhouse in the Venetian. I had an amazing bone-in filet mignon and James had the ribeye (I think). After dinner we headed over to the fashion show mall which was shockingly empty. We hit Dillards and Macys (luckily I got my Ralph Lauren fix for the boys since the Boise stores no longer carry RL), Nieman Marcus and Nordstroms, and J.Jill (a personal fave - I love their clothes). Then it was back through the Cesaer's Palace Forum shops and walk-throughs at Chanel, Tiffany & Co, and another Burberry. We also, for the first time, went into the FAO Schwarz store there and picked up some cute stuff for the kids. It's too bad that Vegas isn't really kid-appropriate because they'd love to see the 3 story store with the Trojan horse entrance. Then we returned to our hotel room and enjoyed watching the fountains from our window. Friday was our anniversary day and we kept busy with shopping and a tiny bit of gambling (I won $96 and $.04, respectively, on some slot machines - James was not so lucky, LOL). We had our anniversary dinner at Jasmine, a Cantonese restaurant in Bellagio. We shared a bottle of champagne (expensive, but hey, you don't have a 10th anniversary every day) and had a very lovely dinner. Jasmine overlooks Lake Bellagio, and while we were there the fountains danced to Rachmaninoff's Variation on a Theme by Paganini (the music I walked down the aisle to). It was the most romantic of coincidences and I definitely had to wipe away some tears (and I'm not one to cry at just anything). After dinner we hustled down to New York New York for Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity show, which was risque, sexy, and fun. We didn't get in til 1am, so it was a very late night, but we did manage to get in just a bit more fun on Saturday morning before it was time to go. Thankfully we had brought along an extra suitcase and it was VERY full on the way back, LOL. It was actually warmer in Boise than it had been in Vegas (it had rained on and off on our visit and the temps were in the 60s and low 70s which is very abnormal there). The kids were excited to see us, and it was nice to be home. I'm sure we'll be back to our favorite close-by destination soon.

My Playlist

You might be wondering about my hugely ecletic playlist, so I thought I'd share the reasons I love all the songs. I originally started with a Love theme since this month is celebrating our anniversary. Love Song by Sara Bareilles is the latest download I've put on my iPod (at Hero's request), and it is cute. The Rachmaninoff is the music I walked down the aisle to on our wedding day nearly 10 years ago (I tear up to this day everytime I hear it). Anything Louis Armstrong is good, so I had a hard time picking, but I have A Kiss To Build A Dream On on my Sleepless In Seattle movie soundtrack CD, so I've been listening to it since I was a teenager. Most everyone who knows me knows how much I adore the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty, and indeed James and I danced to the Sleeping Beauty Waltz for our first dance as husband and wife at our wedding reception. I had the hardest time finding a song by Charles Aznavour - isn't just about anything in French romantic? Stardust is another classic that was on my Sleepless in Seattle CD. I apologize now for the show tunes - I know they are an acquired taste, LOL. But since this is my blog and I LOVE show tunes (probably the big cheeseball, over-the-top ones best) I included two of my favorites: All I Ask of You from Phantom of the Opera and On My Own by my favorite Les Miserables character Eponine. If there's one thing to be grateful for, it is that you just have to hear the recordings of them, you don't have to hear ME singing along, LOL. I HAD to include something by Frank - my preferred version of Witchcraft is a Sinatra/Anita Baker duet, but I couldn't find it, so this one is a good stand-in. What is there to say about November Rain - I'm a child of the early and mid 90s, and Guns N Roses was "it". I threw it in there for James, too. Moon River is a song I first heard on an episode of Sex & The City (the one where Big moves to California and he plays this record for Carrie in his empty apartment) and it has stuck with me ever since. Okay, yes, I am wordy, I fully admit my fault, LOL.

Happy Early Anniversary to Me

Whew, what a busy weekend we've survived. We went clothes shopping, furniture shopping, pet shopping, household shopping, and, most exciting of all, we finally made it to Lee Read Jewellers to buy my second anniversary band. I've known ever since picking out my wedding band that on our 10th anniversary I'd add a second anniversary band. Who'd have thought that 10 years would pass so quicky! It was a relatively painless event (well, as far as spending googobs of money goes) and my rings are finally all soldered together. The highlight (or should I say lowlight) of the experience was when Allegra proudly announced that she made a "Colin sandwich" in the store playroom. She had placed the baby on a beanbag chair, completely engulfed in it, and then put the second beanbag chair on top of him - see, Colin sandwich. Hero is shrieking "Colin could've have died" at her sister... All in all, it was classic Fife children.

Parenting PSA

This is what you have to deal with on a daily basis as a parent, so think VERY carefully before you have unprotected sex, LOL. Colin has discovered the Holy Grail of things-that-are-not-toys-but-are-more-fun-than-any-true-toy-could-possibly-be: the toilet. In the span of 30 seconds he escaped from the playroom into the downstairs bathroom and unloaded the contents of the trash can into the toilet. Thank goodness he's not tall enough to flush yet - that adds a whole other chapter to the drama.

May Day Musings

How old-school am I? I remember celebrating May Day as a kid. We'd make little baskets and fill them with flowers or candy or handwritten notes, drop them off at the elderly neighbors' doorsteps, ring the bell, and then run like heck and hide behind the bushes. At some point after they found their May Day basket we'd slyly sidle out from behind the bushes and await the accolades of a sweet old lady (and hope desperately for a candy bar or can of pop for our kindness). Nobody does that anymore, do they? I don't even think Hero and Allegra know what May Day is. That's kind of sad, when I think about it. But on to other musings, I just had to share the joys (well, I get a kick out of it at least) of being the little brother to two girly-girl big sisters, LOL. Ian was very proud of his Ariel wig, and it looked awesome on his freshly-shaved head.