Shoe Whores

I just might be becoming one of those people.
A Shoe Person.
Not that it's a bad thing...
But if you start becoming a shoe person and your husband already is, then you of course have to be for your children as well. And then you just become a Shoe Family.
This past weekend Sophie wanted these gorgeous pink shoes. And neither her mother nor father could deny her.



They were on sale for $39.99. Yeah, some sale.
But Sophie tries them on and says she loves them!
When asked how they feel she jumps and exclaims "I can hop good in them!"
And she won't take them off.
And I keep waiting for Dwayne to say no. yeah right.
And who am I to say no when I looked down and saw the beautiful silver words Nina inside the shoe?

Nina! just like the shoes I splurged on for myself recently.


So cute! She has great taste and I'm sure she's making her Shoe Oma very proud!

One hundred fifty dollars and 3 pairs of kids shoes later, I felt sick to my stomach. How can it be that we just spent the same amount of money on Holden's itty bitty shoes as we do for my own? (excluding my aforementioned Nina shoes of course)
At this rate the Lummins future college tuition will be spent on fabulous shoes for our Shoe Family.

In my shoe whore defense, the Lummins both have wide feet with very tall insteps. Back to the first pair of shoes bought, none of the cheap ones would fit properly. Target didn't carry wides, Payless shoes weren't tall enough, the baby Reeboks and Nikes left horrible red indentations after walking around the store in them, Foley's didn't carry her size, etc. etc.
I scoured every cheap shoe store in the entire mall and a few others outside before I came to the realization that we might have to try the Stride Rites or other expensive brands that I laughed at my friends for spending so much money on and vowed to never pay that much for.
Yeah well.

Tampons Inc.

And on a totally new subject.
My children have found a new game to entertain themselves with.
It's called lock yer brother in the dog crate.



Also,
Big Baby has a new hat.


I know that after seeing this picture some of you are going to going to think that my children play with feminine hygiene products way too much!
Maybe they do. But I swear we play with lots of other things...
It's just that I find it quite humerous when they do play with them and then the notion to grab my camera and snap a picture is that much stronger!
Just look at all the ingeniuos ways they have found to use them so far.
Sophie saw this pantyliner in my drawer and asked oh-so-sweetly if she could play with it. I was trying to check my email and I knew she would leave me alone if I let her.
And that is the story of how Big Baby got her new hat.

Dish a Little

Did you know that at least 3 times a day someone comes to The Everyday Lums looking for pictures of poop?
Sick people.

Someone else found me while searching the words "marvelous nipples."
Too bad they only found my bit about not wanting a yeast infection on my nipples.
Not to say that I don't have marvelous nipples and all...

Poop and Nipples. Poop and Nipples. Poop and Nipples.
All this dirty talk has got me thinking...

I took down my other poll about what kind of free service you would choose for three years
Housekeeper was the #1 answer. Hooker came in 4th place. Imagine that.
So after pondering the results and trying to examine the point of this new found knowledge, I decided that it doesn't really matter. It ain't never gonna happen anyway! (unless you count your wife/child/husband as the free housekeeper)

That poll really didn't quench my thirst for learning about your dirty little secrets anyway...
I decided I want you to dish out more. So from here on out all polls will be of a more personal nature.
Take a look at the new one and vote!

Lummin Overload

We ran out of food so the Lummins found the next best thing to munch on...



Socks!



Seriously, I do not know why.
I looked over and they were both devouring Sophie's socks, laughing and squeeling away at each other!


Here we have Holden earning his keep at the Lum Manor. He has to sweep the deck twice weekly if he wants his allowance.



We also reward him with food.




And this is my two and a half year old. Going on 14.



This morning- after a delightful night out with my sexy husband, a very delicious but expensive sushi meal, and many glasses of wine- I was hurting to drag my arse out of bed.
I came downstairs and announced "Ugh, I think I have a hangover."

"I have a hangover too!" Sophie replied.
And later quipped that she would be needing a pedicure.

My Bedside Manner

As if I didn't share enough of my personal life with you.
Here's a little more...
but this is for Stuff Portraits Friday.

The inside of my nightstand drawer:


A good book I've read:


I love reading. There are soooo many good books I've read it was hard to choose just one. But this was sitting in my nightstand drawer, a fluffy book every girl should read if they LOVE this show like me.


And my favorite lamp:


A beautiful antique that belonged to my grandparents. I love how delicate and simple the design is.
Ironic though because I am neither delicate nor simple.

Please Me

1. I snagged a bunch more Blogger Blowout pictures you can find here.
Please do note all the new pictures of me molesting Crazy Legs the blog frog!

2. I have a new poll up over there to you right. Take a look and VOTE!

3. I need help.
This week has sucked so far. It's been rainy, foggy, yucky weather and I think we've all gone STIR CRAZY. I've been cooped up in the house with the Lummins and and the old crotchety dog whose instinct is to herd cows and small children. Hendrix has been a bit snipy at the kids since he can't go outside to escape them.
Sophie has been nasty and attacks when provoked. She has bitten her brother three times in the last two days.
Holden has been nothing but clingy and fussy. He immediately begins crying if I stand up, walk 5 inches away from him, try to go to the bathroom, or dare leave his side. He's been sleeping a total of 30 minutes each day.

I can only come up with so many ideas on a rainy day before we've run out of things to do and I resort to Sunny Days, or that Spanish Girl who always needs her Backpack and a Map, or those Aussie's who like to jump around...

I would like to compile a list of Rainy Day Activities to keep on hand for days like today. I can come up with plenty of ideas for Sophie, but the problem is finding activities that Holden won't eat, choke on, or otherwise harm himself with.

So far here's my list:
tampons

Please help.

You learn something new everyday

Well who knew that the bottom of a Kotex tampon can also function as a whistle?




When my friends TKW and Carrie were visiting this past weekend, Sophie dug out one of her *toys*.
They both looked at me as if I was crazy to let her play with the tampon.
"What?? It's a clean one!!" I told them. "I thought everyone let their kids play with tampons."
"Well not opened ones." TKW says.

Whatever. I highly reccommend using tampons for toys. Probably best for ages 0-4. After that age, they might tell their teachers on you.

The best feature of The Tampon is that it provides you with at least 10 minutes to yourself.
Need time to throw on your makeup? Break out the tampons.
Wanna take a dump in peace? Tampons.
Entertainment for the car? You know what to bring.

How can you go wrong with a toy that's so versatile?
Wrappers to crinkle and tear; tubes to pull apart and wear on your fingers, or even use as a whistle; strings to pull on... and many other great features!

Please tell me if there are any other creative ways your children/pets have found to use a tampon.

Seriously?

I just finished laying Sophie down for her nap and I'm in Holden's room getting him ready for his. Suddenly I hear this terrifying shriek come from Sophie's room. It sounded so bad I thought Satan himself had appeared in her bed and was trying to claw her heart out!
I run in there and see her shaking and crying so hard that her cries are silent.
"WHAT? WHAT? WHAT IS IT?!?" thinking maybe a scorpion had gotten her, or she hurt herself, or saw a monster. Something horrible had definitely just happened.
After a few minutes of trying to calm her down enough so she could speak, she clues me in.
"You forgot to put on my shirt Mommy!" She still had her pajama shirt on.
"Are you serious Sophie? You are totally freaking out over your pajama shirt?"
Yes that was it.
No blood. No scorpions. No kidnappers in her room. She gave me a near heart attack. I am still shaking
And it was over a shirt.
Seriously people. (And this is reason #2 why Mommy needs a beer each and every night.)

I'm Beat

This weekend was the Blogger Blowout Convention of 2006. And by "convention" I do mean a night of drunken fun downtown Austin with a bunch of gorgeous blogging women.

My dear friend Mama Duck (aka TKW) flew down Friday and stayed with us for the weekend. All the way down from The Land of Cheese and Snow, she brought both the cheese and cold along with her. Sophie was thrilled with the big cheese Mama Duck brought for her!



It was literally freezing all weekend, with enough freezing rain Saturday night to shut down the major roadways as well. You know that we've had an absolutely beautiful winter, absent of real winter weather all season, but THE ONE weekend my friend comes from her arctic state to enjoy the warm weather here- it had to be icy cold. Brrrrrr!
No matter. Us girls still put on our party gear and had a blast!!



I pondered taking my camera Nik out for the evening with us, but since he was quite expensive and the fact that I can barely be held responsible to hold my own beer sometimes when I go out, he stayed home safe and sound. The pictures I did grab from the weekend can be viewed here. I can't wait to see the pictures from all the other cameras capturing our sexiness and craziness of the night!

It was a wonderful experience meeting these blogging women, most of them for the first time.
It's like you know them already...you already know about their kids, their husbands, their likes and dislikes, their sex life, their jean size, their drink of choice, their losses, their struggles.... but then you get to put a face and a real live person behind the woman you know online. And have a blast partying with them too!

Our fun night downtown has left me a wee bit exhausted now though. After hitting the bars until closing time, dancing like the Dancing Queen that I am, smoking waaay too many cigarettes, enjoying many beers, being on my feet in my sexy 3 inch heels for about 9 hours straight, waiting for hours to get a cab home, and finally arriving home just after 4am- I am now compensating for the lack of sleep and rest with many many cups of coffee!
And I keep thinking how we MUST do this again!

Death

Would you like to know the precise date of your death?
Would knowing when you'll die help you plan your life?

I usually try to avoid thinking about death. Like many others, I cannot imagine losing someone close to me. The very thought frightens me so much that I have to push it out of my head. Otherwise I would obsess and spend my life worrying all the time. And that's just not a healthy way to live.

But death has been on my mind lately.
On Valentine's Day my neighbor gave us some sad news. The man we bought our house from had passed away. He had been diagnosed with cancer last summer and now, less than a year later, he is gone. He was a young, healthy man, who had a wife and three children in grade school.
A terribly sad story. I know the unfortunate reality is that someone dies of cancer everyday, yet the news really made a dent in my heart.
We did not know the previous owners. But I feel some sort of connection to this family. We are living in the house that they shared for nine years together as a family.
Everyday we see reminders of them and their lives here...
...the small splatter of red nail polish on the floor... the glow-in-the-dark stickers on the ceiling of the children's' rooms...the drops of candle wax on the wall behind the dresser...the smell of perfume in the master bathroom closet...the spot on the children's bathroom counter that never comes off...
And you know there's a story behind each one of these marks. I try to imagine the story whenever I see these little reminders.
When I start thinking about their family I know they must have reminders and reminders and reminders everywhere of their daddy/husband. The man that once filled their house and their lives. How empty it must feel now.
It makes me sad. And I don't ever want to KNOW that feeling.

Death is a depressing topic.
We can't change death. And even if we wanted to, we'll never know the exact date of our demise. I hope that I am living my life the same way I would if I knew that date. I want to cherish each and every day I have with my loved ones. So when the day comes for me or a loved one to leave this world, I want them to know how much they are loved!

I will try to remember that even when Dwayne is irritating me because he didn't put his dishes in the dishwasher, when I want to run to the liquor store because Sophie and Holden have been screaming and crying all day, when I don't agree with my family's opinions- I will still hug them tightly, smother them with my kisses, and tell them I love them!

And I guess that is all I can do.

I'd first like you to take note of my new Flickr badge to the side over there. ---------->
Click on it and you can view my latest photos.

Next, I'd like to review the results of last week's poll.
The question was: Do you judge others by higher or lower standards than you use to judge yourself?
As I predicted most of us (85%) use lower standards to judge others.
I know for myself if I look in the mirror and see a small wrinkle, a bit of pudge, bags under my eyes, etc. I think look terribly ugly, fat, old, or disfigured. But were I to see the same imperfections on another, I might find them to be charming or a sign of character.
We are our own worst critics.

Little known facts about the Lums

Fact #1:
Did you know that the Lummin's (the Lum children) inherited beautiful lips from the Lum family gene pool?

Exhibit A: Lum Dad

Look at these lips!
Are those not the most sweetest looking lips you've ever seen?

But they get better...

Exibit B: The First Lummin


That set definitely comes from her Dad!


Exhibit C: The Last Lummin


So far,
Lum lips: 2
Winkler lips: 0
(Not that the Lummin's don't posess other wonderful qualities from my side of the DNA chain.)

Fact #2
I own 51 pair of shoes.
Now aside from the $98 pair of shoes I recently acquired, most of my shoes come from TJ Maxx, Ross, Target, etc, etc. No top dollar designer labels in my closet.
9 out of 10 days I'm wearing the same old flip flops.

Fact #3
Holden Lum is really a monkey and can eat a whole banana in less than 2 minutes.

Fact #4
At 38 years old, Dwayne still holds a professional hockey contract.
He also owns 34 pairs of shoes.

Fact #5
Dwayne really married me so he could get his Green Card.
And because he likes my booty.

Take a walk with me

Spring has Sprung and it's only February 13!



On our walk through the neighborhood today I brought my baby along, my camera.
I took lots and lots of pictures of course. Can you tell I love taking pictures? In case you couldn't tell, I really love taking pictures!


Our house is the one the left and the other is the new one being built.

My new camera is my obsession. All the things I had wanted to try with my camera before weren't very easy to do; and the ways I could manipulate a picture were very limited. With my Nik I have so much more control of my pictures.
I am slowly learning how to do exactly what I want my picture to do~what I want it to say, if you will. When I look through my veiwfinder I try and ask myself: What am I trying to convey or acheive out of this picture? What do I want people to see and feel when they look at this?



On our walk today I saw these bursts of color blossoming amidst the backdrop of the deep blue sky and the contrasting dead brown colors of winter.
Beautiful blue skies: Reason #43 Why I heart Austin, TX.



So I take a butt load of pictures everyday and honestly probably half of them are crap. I take the same picture over and over but change something slightly each time (exposure, white balance, focus, etc). This is how I learn to take better pictures though. So when I go back and scroll through my pictures of the day, I pick up one more piece of information I can take with me and use next time.

Just fair warning here, the following post may be TMI for some family members. But screw it, this is me.

You have been a part of our lives for way too long. We don't like you.
Auf Wiedersehen!
We won't be missing you.



No more breastfeeding means NO MORE CONDOMS!
I just don't think married people should have to use these things. It's against the rules.

I have been waiting for this day for along time.
Say hello to my new little friends.



These friends mean shorter visits from Aunt Flo, and I can control when she comes.
I mean I do not want her around on my vacation to Mexico.
Based on the dates of our trip to Mexico, I have carefully counted out pills and days in my cycle, calculating exactly when my monthly visitor will arrive and adjusting the start day of my pills accordingly.
(Here's the part where family can stop reading.)
These pills also mean extra pleasure for both of us! You know what I mean. Bare skin. No more stopping to put one on right as you're getting into it.
Ok, I'll just stop there before I really start giving you TMI.

Randomness

Poll results:
On my poll asking how often do you enjoy alcoholic beverages, I discovered that the majority of voters drink a one/few a week, and next popular was an everyday drink.
Whew! Glad I'm not the only one.
And results from the latest poll inquiring how important sex is in a relationship quite surprised me. "10" was the top answer, with "8" coming in at a close second.
Horn dogs.

My conclusions: we like to drink and screw.
NEW POLL TO YOUR RIGHT!---->


So tonight as I'm shaking out the laundry to put in the dryer, I kept hearing this little "ping, ping" sound coming from the clothes. Like something tiny was falling out of each of them.
Hmmmm, what could that be...
I found the little treasures inside Holden's jacket pocket. Dirt and bark. Silly little boy had filled his pockets at the playground.
I thought,
Oh, he is such a boy! I'm sure this is just the first of many surprises to come doing his laundry.
I just hope it's not gonna be a crayon someday.


I have officially weaned Holden from the boob! After his whole fungus in the mouth ailment (thrush) I decided now would be a GREAT time to wean.
I mean would you really want a yeast infection on your nipples???
Precisely.
My only concern now is that he's not taking the so called required amount of formula per day.
Any thoughts here? He's 11 months old now. Should I keep trying and try not to worry about it? Consider giving him some whole milk to try?
I can't wait to go buy some real bras from Victorias Secret.
You know a gift card for Valentine's Day would be marvelous! (hint hint Dwayne)


The Bud and Sissy baby update:
The baby girl they had at 31 weeks has a very rare condition which causes fluid to build up in her lungs and around her brain. The concern is not that she's premature, but that she is very sick.
Breaks. my. heart.
She has made baby steps of progress in the last day however. I have faith that she will get better and come home to their loving arms one day soon.
I am saving some cake from Bud and Sissy's baby shower that I put in the freezer for a good luck token. I told Sissy I would bring her the best cake in Austin when they bring their baby girl home.


I leave you with a few pictures of the darling Lummin's (my new term for the Lum youngins) taking their bath.









If you think it looks like Sophie is molesting her brother in that last pic, you are only halfway correct.
See, Sophie likes to wash Holden. She had already washed his arms, his tummy, his back, his hair, and then proclaimed it was "time to wash his penis".
Dwayne and I looked at each other and busted up. I then got my camera in position.
And she washed it for him. He had to fondle it himself right after as well.
Nothing like childhood where you can do that stuff right out in the open.

$$$

Well, I'm back from my weekly trip to the Land of the Great Big Red Bulls Eye.
I am officially over the "Target Rut" I had been in for many weeks.
The last two weeks I have been BACK on TRACK! Filling up my cart with all the essentials and then some. A lot of then somes... the wonderful clearance and sale items that are just too cute to pass up. You know you do it too!
Yet everytime I get to the checkout counter and the salesperson tells me my total, I am in awe at how much I spent! How can that be, when I used my $7 worth of coupons and everything I bought was under $20??
What I've come to realize is that even though all those wonderful items are on sale, when you pile 20+ items that cost 1.99-3.99 each in the cart, you still end up with a big bill!
I admit I did overdo it a bit this week though. Came back with $30 worth of chocolate!! Choxie baby! Not all for me however. That big heart of a holiday is just around the corner and I had a few valentines to buy for.


Oh, oh, oh!
Wait till you see my new purse I got today as well! (But this baby did not come from Target.)


And here's her rear


Isn't she pretty??!!

Ch-ch-ch-Changes!

Finally, I got a new template here.
It's not my favorite, but I like the colors. I'm still searching for THE perfect template for me!
Expect more changes in the near future...

Gone But Not Forgotten

(Way Back Wednesday sponsored by The Kept Woman)

The three deaths of loved ones that have made the most impact on me,
My dear friend Cynthia,
My grandpa Big George,
My crazy grandma Rita.


Cynthia and I, having a beer together circa 1995.
That was the last time I saw her alive.


She and I were great friends in high school. She was such a free spirit who lived by her own rules. I loved her. She was someone I have always wanted to be like. One that takes life in easy strides and lives it to the fullest!
Some great, crazy times we had together...
She died at the age of 18, drowned one night after jumping in the river for some late night fun with friends.
I was away at college and she was still back in St.Louis.
I got the dreadful call from her mother.
I didn't really know how to deal with the death of someone so close to me, someone so young who died an unexpected death.
I kept picturing her death over and over in my mind, and envisioning her last moments. I tried to imagine how she must have felt drowning... what did she feel when she realized she was going to die? was she scared? helpless? at peace? I'll always remember Todd telling me drowning was a peaceful way to go.
Many months after the funeral I still had not truly "greived" her death and became very depressed. It was a long time later I finally let go of her (if you know what I mean). It was then I stopped dreaming that her death was all just a big hoax.



This is my BG.


Big George we called him. He's George's dad.
We moved into his house after my grandmother died. We lived together as a family for 8 or so years. I have piles and piles of good memories from all the holidays, birthdays, vacations, laughs, arguements, and conversations we spent together.
He slipped and fell on his birthday one year. He went into the hospital and it was downhill after that. He had Alzeimers and a number of other physical ailments from smoking cigarettes for so many decades. It broke my heart to see him in his last days so small and weak lying in bed stripped of everything he stood for.
I remember BG as a very dignified, generous, hard working, put-together man who believed in good manners and acting proper.


Crazy red-headed Rita, my grandma on my mom's side.


She was a hoot!!
Some of my favorites...
Telling me, "Honey, you should stuff your bra with some oranges!"

"Love 'em and leave 'em honey. Love 'em and leave 'em."

"I haven't shook my ass like this in 30 years!!" at my sister's wedding.
She insisted she couldn't walk anywhere without her walker, but when the music started at the wedding she got up and had no problems bustin a move!

Of course she was also on the somewhat delusional side at times and would coin certain people as evil; sometimes she thought my mom, or my sister, or aunt were pregnant and was angry and upset with us because she thought we were hiding it from her.; and how the nurses at The Home were always stealing from her and that she "would kick their asses."
Oh she was a funny one alright!

The only thing these kids share around here is their germs!

One week it's a cold, then an ear infection, next was major diarrhea for days, now thrush from the antibiotics. The other one now has a fever and chills and new teeth coming in.

It goes from one set of funky germs to the next around here.

Our pediatrician is hopefully making a killing.
If she gets as many visits from other babes as she does the Lum offspring, she should be rollin in the dough.

Please send lots of tissue and a plastic bubble for all of us to live in.

The shower that wasn't

We were having a baby shower for our friends this Sunday. Let's call them Bud and Sissy because I don't know if they want their names published on the internet and well, I just love those names! You know, from Urban Cowboy.
So this was a shower for their second baby, a girl this time. An absolutely lovely afternoon shower was planned with yummy snacks, the best cake in Austin (Lucy's), lots of booze, and good friends.
We got a call that morning. Sissy was at the hospital in labor!
Her baby was not due for another 2 months. They were trying to stop her labor.
So we waited to see what would happen.
Unfortunately they did have to have the baby via C-section because Sissy's placenta detached. The fragile little girl was born with fluid in her lungs and around her head; the doctors told Bud & Sissy to be prepared that their baby might not make it.
My heart dropped when they told us that. I began to cry just imagining what that must feel like. The feeling that your baby may only live for a few hours. The feeling of not knowing. I think the worst must be the feeling of complete helplessness. There is not a damn thing you can do except sit and wait. That is the hardest thing.
I felt unsure of what the right thing to say is in this situation besides how sorry we are.
To try and make light of things, I told them we were going to eat their cake without them, but I'd save a big piece of it for them when they're ready. And BEER! Oh yes, I'll bring some beer for you too. So Bud laughed and said "thank you Jackie."
If only we could do something else for them.

We had a baby shower planned, so we decided to carry on with the party anyway minus the guests of honor.
Aside from the somberness in our hearts, we had quite an enjoyable time!
How can you have a bad time with beer, the best cake in Austin, and spinach-artichoke yummy munchies??
Exactly.
(Click here for a slideshow of pics from the party.)

And there's been no news since. The baby is hanging in there for now and I just hope hope hope for them that everything turns out well.
I have baby gifts, cake, and beer for Bud and Sissy when they are ready.

Gotcha!

Toni

Silly scaredy cat.
If she even sees me go towards my camera bag she tucks her tail between her legs and is off to hide under the bed for at least an hour!
Ah ha! she couldn't see me through the door.
('Course I'm not sure you can see much through that door looking at all the doggy and baby slobber.)

The Ghost of Christmas Past

What's this?


This my friends, is our dead Christmas tree still laying on the side of our house.
Let's refresh our memories here...
Christmas Was Dec. 25. It is now February 2.
Dwayne said he would put it out with the trash next week. That was 4 weeks ago.

We'll probably end up throwing it in the woods.
Right next to the one from last year.

The human vacuum

"Holden, are you eating rocks?"


And his face says it all,
"Who me?"

Way Back Wednesday

Money, money, money is the theme this week. (TKW)

Do you see the money in this picture?
I'll let you decide who is "money."

In my eyes, it was Dwayne.
This picture was taken back when we were dating.
Back when I was just a college student who had never met Money, until Dwayne.
Dwayne, who had a job with a nice salary, drove two different Porshes and a Land Rover, who never shopped for bargains at Target, bought my gorgeous dress to accompany him to a wedding.
I love this picture...
It reminds me of the time in our relationship where we still got butterflies in our tummies seeing each other...we were still playing the "game" of courting...it was summer and we were really tan...he had blonde hair and a six pack...I was being myself of course, drinking, dancing, being silly that night...we were so hot for each other that we made out the whole cab ride back to his place...
**Dwayne just reminded me that he caught the garter at the wedding that night. Heading for the bar he notices the garter heading his way and nonchalantly puts up his hand to catch it.
***Oh yeah. And we had some sizzlin hot sex that night!