A few new "stories"

The problem with how I blog is that I feel if I don't have a picture to accompany something, that I think it's not that interesting. But there are many cute/funny/horrifying "stories" that happen around Casa Daems that are worth sharing. Because, you know, I don't carry a camera around my neck all day long! :)

The "Lock Out"

Remember those few days of a heat wave from last week? I mentioned that the kids played in their kiddie pool for a wee bit. Instead of enjoying their new pool for the full two days of heat, they got about 30 minutes the last day. That's entirely my ineptitude's fault! I bought a new inflatable pool at Target on Tuesday. By Wednesday the heat had arrived. I didn't get around to blowing it up on Wednesday but promised N I'd have it up on Thursday. So, come Thursday I pull out the handy manual air pump. I furiously start pumping away at that pool. But it seems like nothing's happening. I pump more and more and more....still nothing. I figure, it's a big pool, it's just going to take some time. 40 minutes later and it's just the slightest bit inflated, meanwhile my arm feels like it's going to fall off. I figure the hand pump is not cutting it so I pile the kids into the car and head to the hardware store to buy an electric air pump. Yes, this will do the trick! After nap time, I'm back out there, trying to inflate the three sections of the pool. And, after that long winded intro, this is when the "lock out" happened.

The kids were outside with me, playing around me while I'm fumbling with the air pump. This thing is loud while it's inflating. So, I'm focusing on that darn pool...willing it with my mind to blow up already, as N's whining in my ear, "When will it be done Mom?!?!?!" After a few seconds I look up and see Lexi inside the sliding glass door, which is now closed. I go to bring her back outside, only to find out that I can't open up the door...she has locked it from the inside. So, I immediately start coaching her to see if she can open the lock. No dice. Of course, N is outside with me still and it's melting out there....oh, and I have no phone. So, I run to the neighbor's house...not home. Go to the next neighbors house, she's there. I called my parents, and luckily, they were able to come up the hill with the spare key. While all this is going on Lexi helped herself into the pantry, pulled out a bag of crackers, found an empty bowl, and dumped the entire bag of crackers into the bowl. She plopped right down in front of the door and watched us....cool as a cucumber...actually she gave us a look like, "I totally know what I'm doing, you fools." Then she ran into the bathroom, pulled out her ziploc baggie of itty bitty hair bands and dumped the entire bag all over the living room floor...of course! So, about 10 minutes go by and viola! Lexi opens up the sliding glass door...literally 5 seconds before my dad showed up with the spare key.

All's well that ends well...although we did end up heading down to the hardware store again to make some additional spare keys! Oh, and in case you're wondering why my pool wouldn't blow up...yes, I didn't make sure the valves were open all the way to let the air through. My dad had that thing blown up in like 5 minutes....the shame!

The Snake!

On Tuesday the kids and I headed home for nap time after a full morning of playing. Lexi was comatose in the back seat, ready to be transferred into her crib. I unloaded my stuff and headed back to get her, when I heard, "Excuse me?" It was one of our gardeners. His English was a bit broken but he motioned to me to come to the side yard. I walked through our front gate, got to the end of the pathway, and that's when I knew what he was showing me....a full 15 feet away! Yes, my worst fear about living in our house had finally happened....there it was, a 4 foot long snake!! For those of you that have never visited Casa Daems, our house backs up to open space, which is awesome because it makes our property seem larger, but in all seriousness, it freaks me out too. I'm not the most "naturey" person and I prefer to have the wildlife in the wild...not near my house. We have seen almost every native creature in our backyard....racoons, opossums, skunks...and now a snake! Seriously, I just got the chills even typing that. You see I HATE snakes...like I have an abnormal phobia of them. In fact, any reptile or amphibian really. I am thoroughly disgusted and freaked out by the tiny salamanders that frequent our driveway during the rainy season...so much so that I make my 4 year old son brush them away with a broom because I can't bear the thought of being near them. Yes, I know this is irrational. Yes, I know they don't want to hurt me. But I don't care...I HATE them! So, an actual SNAKE...IN MY BACKYARD....OMG!

The gardener looked at me like, "What should I do?" I'll tell you one thing, there was no way in HELL I was going to touch that thing! So, I called Jeff. Yes Jeff, who was a good hour away and busy in the middle of his work day. As if he was going to be able to do anything. I think somewhere in my panic stricken head I actually thought he'd fly home with his superhero cape on to save the day. He suggested calling animal control. By the time I could get outside to tell the gardener that I was going to call animal control he had already picked up the snake. He asked me what he should do and I was like, "Throw it back into the open space!" So, he did. After telling this story to many people they said we should have killed it, but I totally wasn't even thinking about that in the moment. It's two days later now and I still won't go in my backyard. Seriously, I HATE snakes!

The Drama Queen

Your girl Lexi has fully embraced being two and everything that comes with it. Yes, I know it's a phase and we've already come out the other side with one child to know that it doesn't last forever. But man, if I have to hear one more high-pitched, shrill squeal of protest/frustration/anger, I'm going to pull my hair out. Oh, and did I mention the throwing of her body on the floor too...or the going limp when you try to move her in a fit of rage. Yes, Lexi has FULLY embraced being two. The question is, have I?