Nella Vita di Sleepovers

About a month or so ago, we watched Shane's parents dogs while they were away for the weekend.  Molly loved having her "Uncle Rocky" over ("Aunt Xena" not as much).  She made sure that Rocky got to sleep on JC's bed, and then she laid down next to him in the same

 position!  Being a whole lot bigger than JC, poor Rocky didn't fit completely on his bed.

Nella Vita di Wedding Plans

Well Shane and I sent it the contract and deposit for our wedding venue.  This is our first official step towards making the whole wedding thing come true.  We like to joke that there is no turning back now.  We will be married on Sunday, May 30, 2010 at Stonefire Station.  We are planning on having the ceremony around 3 or 4 in the salon, followed by cocktail hour on the pergola and patio, and then dinner and dancing til Monday in the ballroom.  An old friend of Shane's was married there a few years ago, and when we started our search he mentioned this firehouse reception he had been to.  My only rule with a reception location was no firehouse or veterans hall, so I immediately ruled it out.  While doing my own search, I came across this gorgeous Venetian Pallazzoesq hall about a 20 minutes outside of Cville in Barboursville.  Turns out it is the same 'fire station' Shane was telling me about.  It actually was a fire station years ago, but was converted into an event hall when the new fire station was built.  So it ended up being perfect for us on so many ways, picturesque in a rural country setting, large enough for 200 people, the flexibility to host both the ceremony and reception, gorgeous architectural features, Venetian characteristics, adaptive reuse, and extremely affordable.  The only thing that would have made it better is a mural of flamingos on the wall (oh well guess they'll have to be represented the old fashioned way ;) ).  I had the opportunity to go to a wedding there in October and see how beautiful it looked all decked out.  And Shane and I visited last May or June when we first started looking, and I noticed that all of the flowers blooming around it were a gorgeous shade of dark purple which just happens to be one of our colors.  Our next big hurdle is to figure out our guest list.  Our contract includes 200 chairs so in essence we need to get it down to 198.  Seeing how Shane's alone is over 150, we're going to have to start making some tough decisions...maybe we'll just have a wedding lottery!

Nella Vita di Kitties

Let's not forget the kitty cats.  They have been fighting with each other a lot so its rare to get a picture of them being nice together.  They were enjoying a serious cat nap when this picture was taken.  Pollux is on the left and Castor is on the right. 

Nella Vita di JC

It's good to be a dog!

He can be cute when he wants to be though.  It's hard to get upset for him sleeping on the forbidden furniture when he looks this damn precious!

Nella Vita di Furry Friends

Haven't posted pics of the animals recently, so here are some from the past few months.  More to follow soon.

Molly likes to sleep curled up real cute and delicate.

JC likes to use Molly as a pillow.  She has gotten fatter since moving to the country so she makes a soft pillow. 

Molly is mad that I disturbed them.  JC could care less.

 

Molly loves her fox toy, though it is really JC's 'baby'

Still, she loves to use it as her pillow.  She usually lies down wherever JC happened to have dropped it. 

Nella Vita di Crazy Parents

So for our Valentines 'date,' Shane and I went ice skating.  It's something we've wanted to do since we met, but since we rarely have time during the week or weekends when we are both off it hasn't happened.  Needless to say it was tons of fun and so nice to actually spend an afternoon like a 20 something engaged couple should.  

While we were there though, I saw some parenting behavior that just made me so disgusted.  Usually I'm not the type of person to judge or criticize someone's parenting skills.  For one I am not a parent so who am I to say anything.  For two, that's just not the type of person I am.   I'm much more anything goes, to each their own, and que sera sera.  But the bottom line is I've been reading parenting books and magazines since before I could even physically have a baby, have spent a great deal of time with kids of all ages through personal life, work, and volunteering.  Plus I have common sense.  

That being said, why the hell would you take your toddler ice skating?  This little girl was probably a year and a half, maybe just pushing two.  Walking is a skill that has been barely mastered and for some reason this mother thought that she could handle gliding through ice on shoes with razors on the bottom.  I can totally understand wanting to expose kids to new things while they are young and all of that, but I mean really.  The little girl was completely using buckets to hold herself up while her mom held her diaper and pushed her forward.  So pretty much the mom was pushing the freaked out child while causing her a wedgie at the same time.  And to make matters worse they were right in the middle of the lane where the fast skaters were, forcing them to skate around them and causing people to crash into each other.  I was so disgusted and livid that someone could be so thoughtless and execute poor judgement.  I don't believe in violence or hitting, especially of children, but I must admit I was tempted to skate blades first into the little girl, just so I could teach her mother the lesson that an ice rink is no place for a toddler and if you don't want your precious future figure skater to lose a finger you had better at least move over to the edge of the rink.  

Nella Vita di Library Books

I love the library. Always have, always will. Reading either for pleasure or education is very important. The concept of sharing resources instead each having their own is very important. Saving money by having access to free books is very important. It played such an important place in my childhood, filled with many happy hours, and I hope that it will in my future generations as well.

In early blogs (Handmade Toys), I talked about new legislation that will require lead testing for products intended for children under 12 and alot of potential problems with that legislation. Another one has just been brought to my attention, library books. Imagine libraries having to pay to have every childrens book in their collection tested for lead. Imagine every childrens book going to a landfill and having to be replaced. The whole idea just makes me feel very angry. Lead and children certainly do not mix, but sometimes I have to wonder when is enough enough? Is a library book or any book with trace amounts of lead (assuming it is 'contaminated') really that fatal?