ice queen

no, not me, mother. elle.

elle is rockin' the ice. she doesn't seem too upset that she's not going to school. and...why would she? cartoons. snacks. basically, whatever she wants. see, mommy & daddy still have to work in this "weather". yep. that's right. we're not just enjoying a cushy (what is now 4 day) break.

day 1...started with michael taking the reigns a la michael keaton turns jack in mr. mom (although my michael is a much more competent version). his offices were closed so he was on a "stand by" sort of work duty. we finally broke out of the house for dinner and trekked to a tex mex restaurant that, i swear, was the only place in the metroplex opened. thank goodness the food was good!

day 2...included a trip to our beloved good 2 go tacos & the new coffee shop that they share space with - stir. good 2 go started as a taco stand inside a "green" gas station/convenient store. they outgrew the tiny space and have since reopened their own place. our trip included elle looking at her scrambled eggs & yelling "they have glitter them in them!". the glitter? was black pepper. what can i say? she's a purist when it comes to her food. mommy is still working. daddy works a bit too, but his office is still closed.

at some point in the day 2 afternoon, i realize it's very, very quiet. soon, elle comes marching into the living room, "daddy, i need help getting up there with bitty ("bitty" is her bitty baby)." curious and always obliging to the tasks the ladies in his life set before him (ha!), he goes back to elle's room to find that she has decided it's bitty's nap time and she's going to read to her.
note the stuffed animals she shoved onto her 3" window sill. we're still not sure what that's about.

day 3...today starts with michael looking at me saying, "pigpen, you need to get your butt in the shower". where's the love, people? perhaps it was frozen with that gecko on our back sidewalk. that's right. the little green fella got stuck in the ice.

believe it or not, elle is still being near perfect while both mommy & daddy work. because she's been so good, we decide to take her to target & let her pick out something. here's a synopsis of that conversation:

mommy: "elle, because you've been so good, we're going to take you to target and..."

elle: "ah! taaawget!!" (maybe i should've stopped there).

mommy: "yes. we're going to target & mommy & daddy are going to let you pick out one thing as a reward."
daddy: "you can get a book or a toy or...whatever but you get ONE THING" (really in hindsight, this could've been dangerous; we'll work on that).
elle: "i get a toy?! i get a toy for meeeeeee!!! igetatoy!igetatoy!igetatoy!"
...a few minutes go by...
elle: "mommydaddy? (that's what she says when she wants both of us to answer)when i go to tawget, i get to pick out a toy and a book! da ellie belly gets a toy and...and...and...a book!" you read that right. she often refers to herself in her 3rd person gangsta alias "da ellie belly"
***pause***
elle: "and a colowing book!"

so no, we didn't get everything she wanted. in the end, she went for the board game candy land and a dinner trip to chik-fil-a (cleverly placed right outside this particular target) and all was right in her world.

also from day 2: s'mores. she like the components on their own

but not as a single serving dessert sandwich.

and the gooey marshmallow? was not a hit as it was getting her hands dirty.

day 4: that's right. day 4. doomsday. you're walking on thin ice (literally) day. i'm not sure what day 4 will show us but here's what i do know: my church mother's group was cancelled due to weather. the marriage 1:1 where they offer 3 hours of free - free - childcare (you know, so you can have a meal with uninterrupted adult conversation) was cancelled tomorrow evening & when i called her dayschool tonight, i could hear the snarky smile on the school director's face as she was sing-song taunting us "hello parents. we will be closed friday due to weather. have a good weekend". 

oh, dayschool? monday you will hear my tires peeling out of your parking lot as i send my pent-up-with-6-days-worth-of-energy child back to school. so, the joke's on you PCDS. the joke's on you.