Sugar and Spice and everything nice

One of the major reasons I had no time to blog anything last week but was provided with Plenty of Bloggable Activity was that my sister and her two little girls were here for much of the week. She had not been to Austin since last May when upon entering my home her 15 month old promptly began falling and bashing her head into progressively harder and harder surfaces. First the stair banister, then the kitchen island, then the floor, then the edge of the table, etc... There was a cranium cracking episode approximately every 2 minutes and 45 seconds (average). She left here looking like the beginnings of the Elephant Man with lumps and goose eggs all over her skull that were developing deep, rich colors. For some reason, my sister wasn't eager to come back any time soon.

Little M is the kind of girl who is safest in her own home which is outfitted in similar fashion to a padded cell. She's.....ahhhhh...shall we say....inquisitive. I'll leave it at that. Luckily, she's got lots of cuddle-inducing sugar oozing out of her to compensate for all that spice, or else my sister might not keep her. Well, I'm sure she'd still KEEP her...but she'd complain about it.


Big M, on the other hand, while still a handful, is a handful of normal 3 year old magnitude. In typical 3 year old fashion she is very eager to be The Big Helper, so I turned that to my advantage every night by employing her to make dinner for the kids. Her payment was a little apron which when presented to her she carefully rolled up and asked her mother to please put in their car to protect it from dragons.


It was kinda like vacation because KT walked her cool boots down with some queso and we shared chili and queso and fired up the Rock Band. It was awesome when my sister gushed about how awesome KT's boots were when she didn't even know her to be KT of Cool Boots fame. This following her nailing PJ as a cop due to the outstanding projection of his voice the night before. Anyhoodles...Aunt A took lead on guitar while KT laid down the rhythm on drums. I had the dubious duty to sing during that episode and I apologize to everyone present. It was painful....I know. My ears bled for hours. Later, I was able to hone some drum playing abilities which is another hilarious spectacle to behold. The thought that some people can work their feet and hands all independently across 4 (or more!) drums plus the bass drum is mind-boggling to me. I guess what I'm saying is that my musical ability is not just bad, it's non-existent.

That doesn't mean it's not a blast though. Just bring your earplugs.