The Sperske’s

Jason and I went on a highly anticipated date night tonight. It was so highly anticipated, in fact, that we showed up a week early to see Mark Kozelek. Apparently the she is next week. It ended up being a great date night anyway.

We went to a great sushi place for dinner before we showed up to the empty Palace of Fine Arts Theatre. We got to sat at the sushi bar which is a rare treat. When you have little kids you always have to sit at the low tables, as bar stools are for the more experienced chair-sitters.

After discovering our date mix-up we moved our grown-up bottoms to some different bar stools and had martinis at Fuzio’s as we waited for a movie. It felt very grown-up and was a nice way to pass the time and validate our parking at the as well.

Then we went to see Mao’s Last Dancer. It was a good movie. The dancing was beautiful. The story was good, but the dancing was better. I’d recommend it.

The best part was that Jason and I laughed – a lot! We just had so much fun together. Any time you almost wet your pants from laughing at the end of date night you know it’s been a good one.

Jason and I are nearing our 7th anniversary of dating. It’s still about a month away, so at this point 7 years ago I was just hanging out with him and leading him to believe that we were only friends and our relationship would never progress beyond that. Now look at us. It’s crazy that in just a couple years less than it took me to get through college we dated, got married and had two great kids. I sure do feel blessed.

I’m pretty sure that God considers date night a success when I blog about how blessed I am afterward. I consider it a success when I laugh so hard on our date that I think I’m going to pee my pants – and don’t. And acknowledging blessings is good too. Thanks, God!

Piper would like to take over mothering responsibilities for Miles. She tells about it here. Watch it. She’s a fun little person to talk to.

Piper has a new game that she likes to play with me.  It developed out of another game.  See, the original game that we played went like this:

Piper would say, “Mommy, I love you.” And then I’d say, “Well, that’s nice, but I love YOU.”  Then she’d say, “Actually, I love YOU.” (Or something to this effect)  Then I’d say, “Well, that’s all well and good, but I love YOU.”  (Or something like this.) And then we’d go on and on like this, getting more elaborate.  “I hear what you’re saying, and I respect your opinion, but the what you need to understand is that I love YOU.”  She got surprisingly good at this game.

So, the new game that she made up goes like this:

Piper says, “Mommy, I love you.”  Then I say, “Aww, Piper, I love you.”  Then she says something like, “When I go to school, I love you.”  Then I say something like, “When I brush my teeth, I love you.”  And she says something like, “When I eat my vegetables, I love you.”  And this goes on and on.

She gets so happy when she plays this game.  It’s not a game that can be played without smiling.  I mean, you’re pouring out love to each other.  It’s pretty awesome, actually.  Why don’t we tell people that we love how much we love them more often?  It really is good for the soul.

Another thing that is good for the soul is Miles.  Man, he is one awesome little baby.  He likes to fall asleep on me in the afternoon and not let me put him down.  And, besides him getting pretty sweaty, I don’t mind it at all.  Oh, or when I have to pee.  Then it’s kinda annoying.  But he’s just so precious.  And he’s so happy.

He’s started crawling backwards.  It’s really more of pushing himself backwards.  And then he turns himself around to get something that he wants.  And he gets so excited when he finally reaches something.  I should take a picture of him reaching for a silly toy and blow up the picture, photoshop a black frame around it, photoshop the word “Determination” on it and sell it as one of those inspirational posters.  I’d make millions because – have you seen the kid?  He’s very cute.  Oh, maybe have a puppy giving him a little push with his little puppy nose on Miles’ booty.  Now, THAT would sell.

I put him in the nursery at the Tennis Club so that I could take Piper swimming.  When I picked him up he was in the walker having a grand time.  He’s never been in one of those before and he took to it like a duck to water.  He was so happy.  It was pretty adorable.

Okay, I’m going to bed.  My Sleepy-Sweden-Head is asleep next to me.  Guess I should go to sleep to.  Nighty Night!

Jason is home from Sweden. We are all very happy to see him. Piper was pulling at her car seat straps to get out and give him a big hug. Miles seemed happy to see him too. It’s a short blog tonight because, well…Jason is home and I want to hang out with him!

Tonight is our last night without Daddy.  Jason comes home tomorrow!  Piper is very excited and has said that she’s going to give him a really big hug.

It hasn’t really been that bad.  I’ve found things to do to keep us busy.  And it’s kinda nice not to have to wait for Jason to get home to eat dinner.  When Piper gets hungry, we eat.  I don’t have to keep convincing her to wait until Daddy gets home and trying to find enough healthy snacks to keep her happy.  If you know Piper, you know that she likes to eat!

To celebrate our last night before Jason comes home I took the kids to see Despicable Me.  It was a really cute movie.  As we walked in it occurred to me that taking 2 kids to the movies without backup might not be the best idea in the world.  But we survived.  Miles didn’t make a peep.  I thought he would fall asleep but he didn’t, he was just happy the whole time.  Piper had to go potty right toward the climactic part at the end but she said she could hold it so we could see the ending.  She had gone right before the movie so I figured she couldn’t have to go that badly.  Then I figured that we’d better go when she, very nicely, asked if she could go potty by herself.  We got up to leave but she really wanted to watch the end.  So we watched the very end and she held her crotch to the bathroom.  We made it through with no wet undies and no screaming from the baby!  However, the three orphan sisters in the movie have made Piper decide that she wants a big sister.

Here are some pictures from our night.

Both the kids in their seats at the movie theatre:

This is the 3 of us at Starbuck’s after the movie.

And this is Piper doing ballet at Starbuck’s.  She always has to do ballet wherever she goes.  The first position of the feet is nice.  We just need to work on getting those arms a little rounder.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I am watching my last Lifetime Movie Network movie before Jason gets home.  Tonight’s movie is called “Guilt By Association.”  The synopsis reads: A woman is sent to prison when her drug dealing boyfriend tells the authorities that she is his accomplice and she battles the system to prove her innocence.  My favorite connection of this movie:  Rachel McAdams plays a fellow inmate.  No, I’m not excited because she starred in “The Notebook.”  I’m excited because she was in the first season of “Slings and Arrows.”  If you haven’t seen “Slings and Arrows” you must rent it, Netflix it, buy it, whatever.  But watch it, it’s great!

Goodnight all!  Oh, and Miles is 8 months old today (on the 30th, not the 31st when you are probably reading this.)

The lack of sleep that I’m experiencing due to Jason’s being in Sweden is catching up with me.  I’m tired today.   In my attempts to get to bed before midnight for the first time in, well, forever, I’m just posting a picture of my sweet girl.  And then I’m going to bed.

I’m falling asleep as I type this.  Again.  This seems to happen a lot, and when it does I usually end up having to delete a row of d’s that I accidentally typed when I fell asleep.  Tonight is no different.  So, goodnight.  Sleep tight.

Okay, since I wrote about my weird fascination with Lifetime Movie Network yesterday, I have to tell you what’s playing right now.  It’s called “Deadly Intentions…Again?”  The synopsis reads:  “A doctor wrongly convicted of murdering his wife searches for the real killers after his parole.”  imdb.com tells me that Joanne Kerns plays Sally.  This is the same woman who played the mother of Hillary Swank in last night’s “Terror in the Family.”  If you are around my age you may recognize her as Mrs. Seavers, the mother on Growing Pains.  This woman was created for the made-for-t.v.-movie. Anway, I just thought you’d enjoy hearing about tonight’s cinematic gem.

Well, Jason has been away for 5 days now and we only have 3 more to go.  I’m so glad.  I don’t know how military families do it.  It’s just not as much fun without him around.  We all miss him.  But, I have to say that the kids have been so good that’s it hasn’t been hard.  They’re just fun, sweet kids.  I hope this easy, fun phase stays for a while.

I’m off to bed.  Sorry I’m too tired for anything very exciting tonight. But getting to use the word “perfunctory” is pretty exciting!

Since Jason has been out of town (actually, out of the coutry) I’ve taken on some strange behavior.  Well, it’s really just one very drastic change in behavior.

I’ve started watching Lifetime Movie Network movies.

It started because there was nothing good to watch on t.v. and I didn’t feel like watching anything on our DVR.  I was flipping through the channels and ended up watching the last 2 minutes of a movie about a girl who parties too much in college and her roommate dies or something. Anyway, it set off this weird fascination with Lifetime Movie Network movies.

Here’s what I’ve noticed:

1.  They make me miss Jason more.  As I watch them I think of the jokes we’d be making about almost every scene.  I keep thinking that I should record the show just so that I can replay some scene or moment that I thought was funny for him to see.  But then I don’t want to fill up the DVR with movies about troubled teens or mom’s with drinking problems.

2. IMDB was created for movies like these.  In every movie there is at least one person who comes on the screen and makes you say, “Oh, what else has she been in?  I know her from something.”

3.  Hillary Swank is in A LOT of these movies.

4.  The commercials during these movies are ridiculous.  There was one for some hair removal product that was just the funniest thing ever.  It’s some kinds of spray that is supposed to make it possible to simply wipe off unwanted hair.   I’m pretty sure that they added hair to the people in the commercial  and then did the demonstration.  One person had the most ridiculous little patch of hair on his (it may have even be a her) lip and it was removed very easily with this product.  So ridiculous and so funny!

5.  They’re addicting.  I find myself wanting to see the movies that they advertise later in the week.  Then I remember that I’M WATCHING A LIFETIME MOVIE NETWORK movie and this kind of behavior needs to be stopped.

6.  Like all movies, I can not stay awake through them.  Ever.  Not a single one.

Well, it’s taken me far to long to write this blog.  I was watching “Terror in the Family” while writing it, actually.  Yes, there were some great moments that would have led to awesome jokes between Jason and I.  Yes, Hillary Swank was in it.  Yes, I looked up two of the other actors on IMDB.  Yes, the commercials were priceless.  Yes, I kinda want to see the movie that they were advertising will be playing next week about the newlywed woman who thinks her husband is drugging her and has some sinister plan.  And yes, I fell asleep.  Now there is another movie playing called “Destination: Infestation.”  The description reads:  “Tourists about a plane enroute from Columbia are terrorized by a swarm of deadly bullet ants.”  It’s like “Snakes on a Plane” but without Samuel L. Jackson.  It promises to be terrible, I’m sure.

Jason needs to come home and put me out of my Lifetime Movie Network misery.

I don’t know if Piper is going to be an actress or a doctor.  She’s very into acting, dancing, musicals, etc.  And she’s also very intrigued by the human body.  I’ll present to you two cases (with evidence that actually happened) and then you may place your vote about Piper’s future career.

Case #1: In the following real-life scenario you will see evidence of how Piper would make a good director.  She has an idea of what a character that she is directing should speak and act.  She has no problem telling others what to do.  She expects her actors to give a full-out performance for the entire length of the rehearsal or show.

The set-up:  We are playing princesses.  She has taken on the roll of Cinderella and I am to be portraying Sleeping Beauty.  This has gone on for quite a while.  The whole time she has remained in her character, telling me all about her step-sisters and step-mother who won’t let her go to the ball and telling me her life’s story.  She’s asking me questions about my life.  “Do you have a witch?  Why did she want you to die?”  When I answer the question in character, but not with a princess-y enough voice she corrects me and insists that I speak in a higher pitched, more feminine voice.  After this goes on for a while I get a little tired and bored so I accidentally let out a yawn and glance at my phone.  She immediately notices my waning focus and says, “What are you doing?”  I tell her, “Sorry, I yawned.  I’m a little tired.”  She says, “No, you can’t you’re Sleeping Beauty.”  This is when I glance at my phone.  Piper says, ” You looked at your phone.  You can’t do that.  Sleeping Beauty wouldn’t look at her phone.”  Then I tiredly put my head back and she says, “What are you doing?”  I say, “Sorry, I just put my head back because I’m tired.  I’m Sleeping Beauty, you know.  Get it?  Haha”  Very seriously, she tells me, “When you touch the spinning wheel and die you can sleep.”

Cast #2: We went to dinner tonight at Baja Fresh and then went to Borders to let our food digest before topping off our tanks with some frozen yogurt.  I told Piper that she may pick out a book to purchase.  She browsed the books and then I suggested that we look for a book about bones because she likes bones so much.  We found The Visual Dictionary of The Human Body.  She audibly gasped in excitement and made me find the page about muscles, and then the page about blood cells.  Needless to say, we bought the $19 book.

We walked across the street to Yogurtland and Piper asked me to read her “The Body Book.”  We went through every page and I tried my best to explain cells, joints, arteries, valves (as in the heart) and digestion.  She had a million questions.  Meanwhile, Miles sat and entertained himself with a plastic spoon in the stroller.  When she came to the Reproductive System page and she asked what it was I did tell her that “it’s how babies are made and I think we’ll skip that for now.”  She just turned the page and didn’t ask any more questions about that page.  Wheww!

As I was cleaning up she pretended to sword-fight with a Miles with their plastic spoons.  When I looked over, she happily told me, “I’m fighting.  But it’s good fighting.  We’re gonna pretend we’re blood cells!”  This is because I had just explained that red blood cells carry oxygen and white blood cells help fight off infection and disease.

So, there you are.  What will it be?  Doctor or Director?  Performer or Proctologist?  (Ewww)  I mean, she can be whatever she wants to be.  She can be a garbage woman if that makes her happy.  It’s fine with me.  But I do hope that she stays enthusiastic and curious.  I hope she realizes what great potential God gave her.  I have the same feelings for Miles, he just hasn’t presented his interests yet.  Unless he has a future in banging cups and being super cute.

My Daughter, The Turtle

Piper had her first day as in her new preschool class today. She has graduated out the the Busy Bees class and is now a turtle. However, she has made it very clear that she is not a turtle herself. I kept saying, “On Wed. you’re gonna be a turtle.” So Piper has been quick to correct me, “No, I’M not turning into a turtle. I’m in the turtle class, but I’M not a turtle.” Glad we got that cleared up.

Here’s a picture of her in front of her classroom this year and in front of her classroom last year.

She’s such a big girl!

I told her as she was getting dressed that she needed to make sure she didn’t show anyone her panties.  She has a tendency to not think about who is around her and she just lifts up her dress as she dances around.  So when I asked her how her day was and what she did, she immediately said, “I didn’t show my friends my panties!”  Good for her.

CSI Livermore

When Piper got home from her first day in her new classroom it wasn’t hard to get her down for a nap.  She was pooped!  After about an hour and a half Jason called from Sweden and we started FaceTiming.  (Is that a verb?  Well, I just made it one.)  I went upstairs to wake Piper up so that she could  talk to her daddy.  When I go to her bed I saw blood all over her face.  If she hadn’t moved right when I noticed it I would have thought that something really bad had happened.  It looked terrible.

Apparently, Piper had a very bloody nose in her sleep.  It was all over face, hair, leg, arm, pillow, sheets.  I think she didn’t realized that she had a bloody nose in her sleep and accidentally smeared it around.  There was even a perfect bloody handprint on her sheets (Okay, it was missing a thumb, but pretty good for not trying.  I took a picture but didn’t think bloody bedsheets were appropriate for this blog.)  I had no idea that so much blood come out of one little nose.

When I saw all the blood I knew that I had to stay calm.  I calmly told Piper that she had a bloody nose and started cleaning her up.  When Piper saw the blood she got a little nervous, but didn’t cry and immediately said, “I’m sorry!”  She’s a trooper.  Then I threw her in the bathtub because we had to wash her hair and everything. So Jason got to Facetime with me while I cleaned Piper up.  It was like he was right there in the bathroom with us.  Piper was loving it.  Go apple!

Well, I must go to sleep.  I swore I was going to get to bed earlier tonight but I failed.  I’ve gotten a total of 6 hours of sleep across 2 nights.  And now it’s hitting me.  So, goodnight and good luck.