new trick

we also have (absolutely adorable) video footage, but I am NOT attempting to upload it via my mother's painfully slow connection.

Visual signs that your home may not have the homemaker around...

Or Bachin' it with Dan

This picture serves two purposes
one: The wife would never go for wonder bread, it is made of "fluff and nothing"
two: The treats are store bought, not fresh out of the oven



The fridge looks like this, note the lack of anything nutritional in there. except the meat. I can do meat.






The dining room still looks like this. Em would have shipped that stuff back outside in a hurry, and it would most definitely not let it be used as a guitar rack/ clothing storage area.






My bed looks like this.









and the woman in the house looks like this.











The current woman of the house would also like you to know that she is doing just fine after her eyeball reduction procedure.

Hurry back honey before the house explodes.

two picture tuesday

makes me smile:















makes him smile:














'nuff said.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation (part 1)

A picture is worth a thousand words, right? Well, here's my essay (click to enlarge, email me for the non-pixelly original, leave comments, you know the drill).

about 8 hours into a 30 hour trip (and already blurry around the edges)


hooray for campfires at the cabin






























don't you DARE try to take this chicken leg away from me.









visiting grandma W





















Cranium: the one game we all understand.

Lunch time for Puzza

mmm puppy food.

Slow Saturday

stocking the freezer*....




and celebrating ten months of life by taking a nap. what a life. And, just for the record, that's not pack-n-play, it's a travel-n- trundle. Which fits very conveniently under the couch, and is perfect for naps when daddy is upstairs trying to get a good "night's" sleep. yay for hand-me-downs.


*from Wville Full Gospel Church's cookbook:

da dum-da dum!

looks like we'll be hearing wedding bells after all :D

D's leave was FINALLY approved, so barring any unforeseen travel mishaps (God forbid), here's the itinerary:

Leaving Sig in the middle of the night next Monday and arriving in VA in the morning on Tuesday. Leaving VA that evening and taxiing into Rochester at 11:09 p.m. Tuesday night. mr. waaz is staying about 2 weeks, I'm staying a little longer, so if you want to see us, let me know!

did you notice I said next monday. as in 5 days from now. ahhhh! I have NEVER waited this late in the game to pack, much less purchase tickets.

ps: it's ok to squeal in excitement. I did. at least twice. It's also ok to give thanks to God in advance for an eventLESS flight and contented travelers.

pss: thanks AC and big Pat for the tickets, I'm so glad we're actually getting to use them!

psss: Who's in the running to pick us up??

sofafied: another productive constitutional

Last week, while on a walk with my entourage (cat, dog, boy, hubby), I spotted an ugly couch and loveseat combo at the end of our neighbor's driveway. Upon further inspection (I'm so nosy), it was discovered that the couch was in fact a sleeper sofa. Perfect! my beautiful grandmother is coming to visit in a few short weeks, and a blow-up mattress just isn't going to cut it for the sprightly world traveler. I helped waaz carry it from the neighbor's driveway to our own (after making sure that it hadn't already been claimed, of course) and decided that it would be beneficial to our marriage to have someone ELSE help my dear sweet hubby lug the two ton rather cumbersome sofa upstairs. Turns out those things are heavy.
The very next person that phoned our house was voluntold, the couch made it up the stairs all in one piece (the wall did not), and my spectacular spouse and his gullible helpful buddy made a quick escape. After a day to think it over and clear a space in the sewing room, a.k.a. guest bedroom, it looks much better. I have yet to take a nap and see just what we got ourselves into, but I'll keep you posted. And, since this thing isn't going anywhere for a long while, anyone know where I can get a slipcover on the cheap?

yes please.

Ipod nano surrounded in chocolate? Handmade mei-tai? Total mom makeover? I'll take "all three for free," Alex. Like she said, really starting to like this 5MFM website. (ps: any mom can sign up, just click on the first link or on the button in the sidebar). If you're related to me, you of course are obligated to share at least a piece of chocolate as a referral prize when you win.

uh-oh...

look who's cruising now:

Also spotted today: the sharp edge of tooth #3 (top middle rt) and swollen gum indicating imminent arrival of tooth #4 (top rt), and clapping on command. what a developmental rock star.

Caltagirone Market

I just realized I never posted about either of our trips to Caltagirone. oops. Here we go. I am not going to mess with the spacing right now,* so I apologize in advance.

One of mr. waaz's work buddies' wives (Jen) and I decided to find the market St. Partick's day weekend so that when we came back the next weekend with the husbands and another couple we wouldn't look like hopelessly lost tourists. I REALLY wish I'd had my camera turned on to catch a pic of a typical road sign. Picture 10 different town names, in no particular order, pointing both "distra" and "sinistra" (left and right), and the one town you're looking for is posted upside down near the bottom of the list.
Anyway, once we found the town, we turned around about three times and finally found a great place to park that seemed like it was close to the "centro" of town. After asking directions and walking "direto" (straight) for about 15 minutes, we asked again, "dove el mercatino?" and received a "mama mia!" in reply from the twenty-somethings who were relaxing at a gas pump about 5 feet from the road's edge. We were instructed to turn around, go back to our cars, and drive (younger Italians speak way more english than we americanos do italian). We did, asked for directions again--this time by stopping in the middle of the road next to a man that was double parked and talking to someone who was walking down the middle of the street-- and the gentleman in question had pity on our lack of comprehension and told us to "seguimi" follow him. phew. He used his turn signals, didn't weave in and out of traffic, and even found us a great parking spot (which we drove right past...oops). What a guy. Turns out we almost went the right way the first time; only one wrong turn.
Caltagirone is known all over Italy for their ceramics, which are displayed everywhere, from ledge (that ledge overlooks a HUGE valley...the town is in the hills) to the front of each step in this pic (close-ups in the link). Very pretty.

We didn't sightsee much, only enough to notice that there is a ceramics museum and many great shops. We were too excited to finally find el mercato. Shawn even did a little skip of glee.

Markets are great; if you ever visit I'll take y'all to at least two. Aside from the typical fruits and veggies, there are also things, tools, tablecloths, and toys galore. Just about anything you could want to purchase for much less than retail price.
After we were done shopping, we went to a little bar for lunch before heading home. Can't remember what these are called, but mine was filled with cheese, spinach, onions, and garlic.


*if you must know, EP fell asleep naked on my lap (after a bath in the sink) and now my leg is numb and I'm afraid he's going to pee. you're the one who scrolled down to see the notation, so don't blame me if you just spit coffee all over the computer screen.