Suburbanhood

Why, you might ask, does the world need another blog. Well, I'm not sure it does. But I have had such fun this summer reading my sisters blog (http://www.summerofalana.blogspot.com/), that I figured there might be a few people who could be interested in the daily goings on in my little corner of the world.

So, what will I write about? The ever changing, and always exciting life of a suburban mother. For example - today Cara and I went for a morning walk in town, which culminated in my darling daughter stealing the clucking chicken toy (which is hysterical) of another child and refusing to give it back. I mean, I can understand her interest, this toy looked just like a miniature rubber chicken, and made a hysterical noise when squeezed.

A number of us asked where my friend bought it, since it was such a hit with all the kids, and I was not surprised when she said she found it at that bastion of random shopping - the Christmas Tree Shop.

For those of you who have never been in a Christmas Tree Shop, it is almost worth a trip to the east coast to find one. It's not just for Christmas stuff. They carry lots of seasonal merchandise (I bought a ton of luau gear for Cara's first birthday party there), and have everything from food to toys. But half the fun is never knowing what you'll find. The stuff isn't usually very expensive, and I've bought tables for $15 that are shaped like fish, and fold flat for storage. I can totally see taking Cara there in the future on a "shopping spree" the kind of thing my siblings and I would do at Stewarts Pharmacy when we were little and had $5 to spend. Ah, to be 7 again and happy with a handful of laffy-taffy and multi-colored glitter bracelets (yes, it was the '80's).

In any case, the rest of the day included me fixing the drain lever in the downstairs bathroom (not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be), and having Cara's friends Tad and Evie (along with their moms) over for pizza. The kids had a great time destroying the kitchen - which luckily Cara has destroyed many times before, so I was prepared. As an example of her wanton abandon with kitchen goods, check out this picture of her in the remains of an entire box of cereal at her grandparents house... Priceless.

See, never a dull moment.