Please Watch Your Mouth In Front of the Children

This piece of advice is being given by me . . . for me.

An afternoon a few weeks ago . . .

George makes some comment in an attempt to show how very hip and trendy he is.

Me: "What are you trying to do? Bring sexy back?"

Zane: "I'm bringing sexy back."

Mouth open. Jaw dropped. Head lowered in shame.

Explorer Down! Explorer Down!

Zane is done exploring.

Today we visited the Peggy Notebart Nature Museum.

We got a late start, as I had to finish the whole controlled substance prescription situation before we could visit the museum, but we got there.

We arrived and couldn't find parking.

Anywhere.

Out of all the FREE museum days, this one was the most trying. And the most packed.

After driving in a circle for about 15-20 minutes the sun shined and we all cheered as someone started to pull out of a spot DIRECTLY ACROSS FROM THE ENTRANCE. Ah, things were looking up.

We really enjoy this museum as it is truly hand's on for the kids. However, that being said, it's very hard to be hand's on when the joint is literally packed with schools and every other mother, their children, and their SUV strollers.

Harper and Zane worked together to turn a river into a lake by building a dam, we experienced the butterfly sanctuary as just that - a sanctuary, (as all the other kids were leaving the exhibit just as we entered and thus it was quite peaceful - plus, Zane didn't step on any butterflies this time), attempted to take some portraits in the photo booth (um, yeah, try that with two monkeys and see if you get a good shot), explored a "green house" and made a family crest to remind us to recycle.

Zane spent the entire time going in and out of a grumpy, whiney, "I'm so done with all this" attitude. I had the stereotypical mother/child experience when Zane yelled at the top of his lungs, "I want a snaaaaaaaack!". I smiled. I gritted my teeth. I left my wallet in the photo booth and Harper's crest in the art area.

We got both back.

But, all in all, this is just what it is . . . being a parent and having children. Two tired children.

We got home, read books while Zane used the potty, he got his 3 jellybeans for being successful and then he took a nap.

He's still a bit out of it, even after the nap. Just plain crabby.

My mom says everyone has days like these.

Even in Australia.

Test Subject

I received a free skin care sample by L'oreal today, and decided that if I truly want to know more about the competition out there, I should try it. So I did.

Let me preface this by saying that prior to becoming a Mary Kay customer, I was a skin care junkie. Upon opening my medicine cabinet one would find a wide assortment of cleansers, added benefits, moisturizers and the like. I kept and used every single sample that I received from cosmetic counters, and while I tried to use them before purchasing anything new, I now realize that this wasn't always the case - as evidenced by the amount of stuff I chucked when I became a Mary Kay consultant - not a requirement, mind you, but a personal decision. Some of the products were a few years old (I recall some microdermabrasion by Origins from 2005 . . . it was now disgusting) and should have been pitched earlier.

So, back to the stuff I tried. It's called Skin Genesis (a multi-layer cell strengthening product with Pro-Xylane and Hyaluronic Spheres - ?????). It won some "break though" award in Allure Magazine. It's similar to that of Mary Kay's Day and Night Solutions which are applied prior to moisturizer, offering additional age fighting benefits. It must be stressed that these are age fighting products with ingredients that will not be found in basic skin care, and thus they are priced a bit higher.

I found the product very slippery and it reeked of alcohol. It took a while to actually settle into my skin. My skin was soaked for a few minutes and I wasn't sure when I could apply the moisturizer, as the serum didn't seem to be drying.

I read the ingredients and found that it included added fragrance. Even now, with my Mary Kay moisturizer on top, I can smell the frangrance and my skin feels very taut - not a good taut, but rather a "masky" taut.

I don't know how much this product costs, but as with Mary Kay, this product is part of an age frighting system which includes a cleanser, the skin genesis step, and moisturizer. I do find that there does seem to be a "second" step with age fighting systems, so it is indeed similar to what we offer with our Miracle Set, although I must say, as objectively as I can, that I appreciate that our system does not have added fragrances and is non-comedogenic - Skin Genesis does not state this to be true.

According to PETA, L'oreal also continues to test on animals.

As does Olay.

My face is still sticky.

We may be all pink, and Texasy, and "old school", but I'll hang with the Mary Kay girls.

Cold Turkey

Today was not a museum day, but rather a catch up day . . . Harper's hair needed some immediate attention, there were library books to check out and books to return, there were prescriptions to fill.

I tried to make it as fun as possible. Harper's haircut went without a hitch, although she was a bit nervous about venturing out today with the bruise on her nose that she got while attempting to fly like one of the Superfriends last night. Thank God it's not broken, as when she slammed headfirst into the couch, I thought, "OK, when she gets off the floor, don't overreact", as I honestly felt she was going to come up looking like a boxer.

I digress. The hair is great. Zane swept the salon while Harper sat in the chair. She has amazing hair. Zane sweeps very well.

Then, it was off to the library . . . what I've failed to mention is that today, I put Zane in underwear. We've just had it with diapers, so today, I decided to just stick him in underpants.

Cold Turkey.

Of course he had an accident at the library, I was actually expecting one, but at least HE TOLD ME HE WAS HAVING ONE, and then said, "Quick, Mommy!" as we dashed to the bathroom. We didn't make it, but I praised him anyway.

The kids got great books, I got the last copy of Atonement, I paid all my fines (including the hefty one for a Bob the Builder page ripping incident), and then took the kids for Portillo's as they were pleading for hot dogs.

They didn't eat their hot dogs.

I ended up eating my hot dog and their hot dogs. And their fries.

After the Hershey store from yesterday, the bag of chocolate I bought yesterday, Portillo's and the movie popcorn that I'll be having tonight at Horton Hears a Who, I will need to go on some sort of diet.

The Cold Turkey diet.

I think it's called Slim Fast.

OK, so then, we go to the pharmacy to get Harper's prescription filled as she only has one more capsule left for tomorrow. Little did I remember, that this is a controlled substance, and thus, I must get the prescription filled within 7 days of it being written. It has been 9 days. Would Harper now have to come off of the medication cold turkey until we could get our hands on another prescription? The prescription can not be faxed or emailed, and thus, George is driving down to Children's tomorrow morning to get another one, as we couldn't trust Chicago mail to have it here by Friday. On top of this, our pharmacy doesn't carry this particular medication, so I spent the afternoon calling around to find another one that does.

I wasn't, um, pleasant at the pharmacy.

I called to apologize. Admitted to them that I was terribly rude. It wasn't their fault that I'd forgotten that a controlled substance off which one can make a mint on the street had to be filled within a certain timeframe. They were just following the law as enforced by the DEA. I, however, freaked out on them.

So an apology was completely necessary.

I'm such a turkey.

Smallpox, Water Tower, and Hershey's

What do these items have in common?

Well, they make for a very special day.

Seriously, you ask? Smallpox makes for a special day?

Yep. Add some Chicago history and chocolate and this Mom found herself having one of those perfect parenting days, basking in the enjoyment of my children.

First up for us today was the Museum of Contemporary Art, which upon entering gave me the impression of one of those restaurants that serves really fancy food. Albeit tiny, fancy food. Minimalistic. Food that doesn't cover the plate. I was terrified that the kids would yell out, "So, where's the art?!"

They didn't.

The first piece we saw was bleeding on the wall.

Good start.

Harper brought along her journal and jotted down the name of every piece she found interesting. Zane asked when we would see the toys. Harper would asked, "What's this called?" Zane would ask, "When can we play with the toys?" It was quite humorous.

And then, we hit the mother load.

In one gallery, there was a sculpture in ebony of St. George and the dragon. We literally just read that story. This peaked Zane's interest as he found the dragon's wing, the dragon's beak, the head of George's horse, etc. All the while, Harper was jotting down the names of pieces she found interesting.

Both of them agreed on a favorite piece, Wall's Paper, which was enormous and took up an entire wall. Sorry, no pics allowed.

There was one piece on which they could climb, Convertible Clam Shelter, by Vito Acconci, who became an artist due to his dislike (he went as far as to use the word hatred) of art. One of the reasons for his dislike of art was due to the "no touching" rule. So, he created a piece on which the kids could crawl. It is indeed a huge clam shell with the sound of the ocean playing inside. My two "pearls" (ha) crawled in and had a jolly time until they were told by an employee that they were having too jolly of a time. Hey mister, have you read the artist's bio???!!!

And then there was the piece that Harper almost stepped on, as it just looked like a mess in the middle of the floor. A mess of pills, capsules, a mirror, white powder, a spoon . . . I don't know the name of it. I think I'll call it "Crack on the Floor". Whatever.

Upon turning a corner at one point, we came upon a huge white wall. The bottom corner had some dripping red paint, some type of fuzzy thing and, oh, I don't know, something else I can't remember. What I do remember was Harper's comment about it.

"It makes me feel sick."

Fitting.

The piece was entitled Smallpox.

Other favorites, if you ever get over there, were Garbage Wall, Weed, The Unwearable Dashiki (Zane saw bones in it), and Cage.

We then walked a block to the infamous Water Tower. Did you know it's haunted? Apparently, the guy working the night of the Chicago fire decided to hang himself there rather than burn to death. He haunts it. Kind of ironic, right? As this was the only building left standing after the fire. Had he just hung on (um, wrong phrase), he would have made it out alive.

The Hershey store was next. Free samples. Need I say more.

Then lunch and home. At lunch, Zane had a love fest with mom. It was hugs and kisses the entire time.

Do you think Harper and Zane are enjoying their week so far?

The Museum Adventures of the Dynamite Explorers

Yes, this is a pretty long title, but created by Harper, and thus, perfect.

For Spring Break, we've decided to take advantage of FREE museum days here in Chicago. It seems as if many museums no longer offer free days, or only offer free admission at limited times, however, we have been able to plan a week involving the exploration of at least three of them.

First up was the Chicago History Museum. Become a giant Chicago hot dog, sniff the smells of the city, ride an old fashioned bicycle, hop on the "L" or a steam locomotive, and learn about the great Chicago fire . . . a lot to do and see. We learned that Chicago is named after a word in the language spoken by the Miami and Illinois peoples meaning “striped skunk, ” a word they also applied to the wild leek . . . and we sniffed one. Yuck. Zane wouldn't go near it after the reaction Harper and I had to smelling it. The kids met a little boy name Charlie during our visit and the three of them repaired the steam engine.

I also gained a bit of insight into one of the reasons Harper is embarrassed to share her name with others when they ask (for sometimes he is hesitant). After not answering Charlie when he asked, I took her aside to question her about it:

"I don't like to say my name. People don't get it when I say it."

She went on to share that her name was different and that sometimes people don't "hear" her or get it wrong, or have to repeat it in a questioning tone, ("Harper?"), and that this embarrasses her. Interesting.

Today, we visited the Museum of Contemporary Art.

More on that adventure later!

Avid Reader

The time is 9:15.

Harper has been reading books to Zane non-stop since 8:30.

The vision of them cuddled up on the couch together is priceless.

Listening to Harper's voice as she reads book, after book, after book, is priceless.

Not hearing the word, "Mom!" shouted for 45 minutes straight is priceless.

Headed to the Museum of Contemporary Art this morning. I'm attempting to hit FREE museums this week. Yesterday we visited the Chicago History Museum . . . which brought back a few memories from last year, although this year proved to have a much happier ending. I'll post some pics later today.

I hope the art museum is ready for us . . .