The Truth About Florida

So, everyone seems to have gotten just bits and pieces of what went down in regards to me going to Florida. At some point a rumor had even surfaced that I had left Ray and moved to Florida.

Let me set the record straight. I have not left my husband. And we have not been stationed to Florida.

I took a trip to Florida for what had to be the longest distance and most expensive babysitting job in the world.

Corinna and Mike had planned a cruise trip for the two of them and everything was set up for Mike's parents to watch the kids while they were away. Well, due to unforeseen illness the babysitting plan fell through and Mike and Corinna were left with only two options- try to fit all three kids into their suitcases or find another babysitter.

This is where I come in. Corinna called and explained the situation to me. My first thoughts when she asked were, (and I'm sorry, but I must be honest), "Hell no! I just spent all last year traveling back and forth with Elektra in tow. I don't even want to look at a plane let alone spend six hours on one. Don't people remember, I HATE flying!"

But luckily for Corinna she said the magic words, "You don't have to give us an answer right now. Think about it for a few days, talk it over with Leonard and let us know."

I spent the first 24 hours pouting and steaming over the idea of getting on another plane. One of my New Year wishes were to not have to do any major traveling this year and a six hour flight to Florida was definitely major traveling. But then I started to soften up.

I would be able to see the kids and see how they were doing. I would be the first family member to visit the Brown tribe's new house. It was an all expense paid trip to a place I've never been to. And what really sealed the deal, was that I would get Christina's old IPod since she just recently upgraded to a newer one. (Okay, a chance to get a teenager's used IPod may not be enough to get you to take a six hour flight with a cranky 13 month old, but it worked for me).

The call form Corinna came a few days later. They couldn't thank me enough for agreeing to come and watch the kids. Ray said Mike and Corinna just racked up a whole summer of 'you owe us big time' babysitting points just off this trip alone.

So off to Florida we went. We'll just call the flight going there the 'pre-IPod flight'. It sucked! I had to transfer planes and both flights were packed. Between dealing with a cranky toddler, having no leg room and sitting next to twig-thin teens who's intellectual conversations consisted of whether of not Brad Pit was hotter when he was married to Jen or now that he's married to Angelia, you can understand why at several points during the flight I started entertaining the idea of stabbing myself in the neck with a pencil. Instead, I just drowned my pain with several glasses of ginger ale. (I was a dollar short of being able to purchase the glass of wine that I really wanted.)

Finally we arrived in Florida with Elektra soaking through her diaper and me wishing I had one on as I scrabbled to get off the plane and to the nearest restroom. We made our way through the maze and when we finally got out of the restrooms we made our way through the even bigger maze that was Orlando Airport. Eventually we found Corinna, Mike and the kids.

I'm sorry to say that my time there has now become somewhat of a blur to me. No, I didn't get a hold of Corinna and Mike's alcohol stash and drink away my pain the entire time I was there. Although I will admit to looking for the liquor, but alas the cupboards were bare. No, instead I caught a really bad case of the flu.

From what I can recall, the kids were wonderful. The boys were well behaved and Christina was a lot of help. I did get to meet the 'man' in Christina's life, Robbi, whom Ray and I have nicknamed, "Chicken Legs". (You would have to see Robbi's MySpace picture of himself at the beach to fully appreciate our chosen name for him).

Anyway, I also remember feeding the fish at the nearby pond, making cupcakes for Caleb's birthday and ordering pizza one night. There was also the trip to Chucky Cheese and going to the beach and having dinner on the pier.

In the past when family have watched the house for Corinna and Mike something always died. I was determined not to follow tradition. Everything stayed alive even if I did look and feel like walking death during the end of my stay. Despite getting sick, I did have fun being in Florida. The weather was wonderfully warm.

My 'post-IPod flight' home was more pleasant. Elektra had also caught a bit of the flu so she spent most of the flight cuddled in my arms fast asleep. As we landed in California it dawned on me- I had just been in Florida for a week and not seen even a glimpse of Disney World! Oh well, guess we'll just have to save it for the next trip.

Total thanks to Corinna and Mike for the trip to Florida, for having cable T.V., for watching Elektra when I needed to rest, and for having enough cold medicine to keep me going those last couple of days.

Also a big thanks to Christina, Zach and Caleb for entertaining Elektra and me, for making me realize that cupcakes and spoons full of frosting is an acceptable dinner option and convincing me that although having just one child would be a lot less stressful, it would not be as much fun as having three. Thank you!

Superbowl at the Mattingly's?!

No, this is not some early April Fool's joke. No, it was not the result of losing a bet either. And no, it was not caused by a moment of temporary insanity. We, (yes, we), actually hosted a Superbowl Party this year.

Yes, I know how unbelievable that sounds, but it's true. We really did invite people over to watch a sports game with us. Okay, wait, let me clarify that. We invited people over to watch a sports game with my husband while I watched Elektra and knitted a scarf.

Several of Ray's co-workers came over with food and kids for an afternoon of shameless couch potato munching and whatever else guys do when they sit around a television watching football.

The spread was worthy of a Methodist potluck. We had Hooter wings, veggie trays, cheese trays, chips, dips, and a chocolate fondue with slice pound cake, oranges and cookies to dip in. Ray and I also contributed two cakes- one decorated to look like a football field, while the other was shaped and decorated to look like a football.

It was a great party. The kids all behaved while the adults were all loud and rowdy. Of course I have no idea who won or even who performed at half-time, but the Hooter wings were Awesome!!!!

Elektra's 1st Birthday!

It's Birthday Time For Elektra!

On January 20th our little girl celebrated her !st Birthday.

We had hoped to spend her birthday either in Phoenix with family or at least in Disneyland. But both plans fell through. We settled on just celebrating her B-Day at the park, but even that plan was soiled with the start of a downpour that morning. So we found ourselves spending her birthday indoors where it was warm and dry.

Because of Elektra's allergies we couldn't give her a regular cake. The cake we needed could not have any eggs or dairy in it. It took some searching online, but I did manage to piece together a recipie for a cake that Elektra could eat.

The cake itself came out more dense then a regular cake. It was more like a pound cake in it's texture and feel. The taste remined me of sweet bread. Since there would only be the three of us I made to small cakes. One for her to eat now and one that I froze for a sweet snack later.

The chocolate frosting was made from cocoa powder, powdered sugar, canola oil, imitation almond extract and rice milk.

We made a princess party hat and laid some decorative cloth over her highchair, (mainly for the sake of protecting the highchair).

We put Elektra in her highchair, gave her a toddler fork, placed the cake in front of her and then stood back. Unfortunately she didn't give us the, 'cake all over the face and all over the place' moment we were hoping for, but she did have fun stabbing the cake to death and running her fingers through the frosting.

The Stress Is Getting To Her

This shopping stuff is just too stressful. That's it, next year for Christmas everyone just gets a gift card!

The Santa Picture

So we almost created a moment for our child to use as a guilt trip on us later in life. We almost forgot to get Elektra a picture with Santa Claus! (Gasp!)

It's not that we forgot or anything. I mean we had good intentions of dressing her up and taking her to the mall with the other heard of parents. We would stand in line with the other kids all in itchy outfits waiting our turn to plop Elektra on some strange man's lap. He would ask her what she wanted for Christmas and her response would be a high pitch cry that could be heard as far away as the food court. Then we would stand there as proud parents watching her get temporarily blinded by the camera flash. And for the price of a full tank of gas we would walk away with 4 wallet size photos of an event she won't remember or even care about when she's 15. At least that was the plan.

Well, with all the activities going on, the whole Santa thing sort of got pushed to the back burner. But not to worry, where theirs a will theirs a Mattingly willing to dress up in a Santa costume.

That Mattingly would be David, Elektra's grandfather, Marine, retired DPS Officer and now undercover Santa Claus.

Let me just say that Elektra adores her Poppie David, but when he put that white beard on it was a scene from one of those 1980's stranger danger videos they use to show you in school. Elektra wanted nothing to do with Santa and she clung to us for dear life. Trying to sit her on his lap you would think we were trying to make her sit on a pile of hot coals.

We did manage to get a few pictures for Elektra just had enough. And, of course, as soon as the beard and hat was off, Elektra was back to loving her Poppie.

Christmas Morning At Grandma Ann's