Picnik with Puffs

Our neighbors are awesome.  When we moved in next door with our little dog, Ryan was so nervous to take Oxford for a walk.  Yorkies are all over the city but Ryan worried what walking a 7 pound dog would say about his masculinity.

After standing outside for a few minutes, our neighbor walked over and introduced himself.  Mike then asked if Oxford was a Yorkie and Ryan was getting ready to sputter out his "We just moved from a condo in the city..." speech when Mike said, "Yeah, that's cool, we have one, too."  We've all been friends ever since. 

Fast forward two years and we were talking outside and I complimented one of their photos of their baby.  Mike told me they edited it in Picnik.  I had never heard of it before and checked it out first thing the next morning.  I'm in love.

This series of photos was taken when I realized that Madeline was smuggling her Puffs in her little fists from meals and then snacking on them throughout the day.  These were taken like an hour after she ate lunch:

Sepia with Matte

Vignette

Color Focus

1960's

 Holga-ish

Cool, right?  I also did text over all of them. {obviously} 

Picnik has goofy features like word bubbles, cartoon features, you can do collages, etc. etc.  The basic membership is free along with registration.  There is a premium membership also available that unlocks even more fun editing tricks.

A big thanks to Neighbor Mike for showing me this great new site that will feed even more into my computer addiction! 

Food processor..check!

What do you do when you have a baby in the front of the cart and a three year old in the back and they are taking turns squawking {yes, there really is no other word for the sounds they were making!} happily at the top of their lungs in Bed Bath & Beyond?

Thank your lucky stars that the three year old demanded to wear "a beautiful dress with a matching bow" today, buy the first thing on the bridal registry and get the hell out of Dodge, err, BB&B.

The shoppers complimenting me on how cute and well behaved my girls are must not have realized the noise that sounded like a hawk dying a terrible death was my girls.  Because if they did, there is no way on this earth they would have been saying anything pleasant about them.  While we were in kitchen appliances and they were shopping for a new duvet cover, there hands were probably over there ears cursing whatever animal could be making that sound.

Madeline started it all.  She has the ability to produce a noise that can absolutely pierce your ears.  Ellie then laughs and tries to match her pitch.  Which makes Madeline laugh and do it again.  And there you have the vicious cycle that leaves anyone with in range in need of Advil stat.

I somehow managed grab the right Kitchenaid Food Processor and get them together before the check out line.  As soon as we pulled up to the cashier they sat like big sister and little sister angels eating up the praise and attention from strangers - Elizabeth in her summer dress with huge blue bow and Madeline in a tropical bubble.  Looking sweet as pie and fooling everyone.  ;)

RIP Siffy Siff

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of Siffy Siff.  It's ok to shed a tear.  I shed more than a few myself.

Siffy Siff was a Betta fish that Ellie picked out when she was potty trained.  Basically Siffy Siff was her bribe.  And he worked.  The first week with no accidents we went to the Pet Store and she picked out the only red Betta they had in the shop.  At that moment Ryan and I looked at each other and thought we were totally screwed if this fish bit it because we would never find another one that looked like Siffy Siff.

A pleasant surprise to everyone in our family, Siffy Siff lived past his five day pet store guarantee.  In fact he lived in our home for 11 months.  Which makes it more difficult to say good bye because we were attached.  In fact if you asked Ellie if she had any pets, she would answer, "Yes!  I have Siffy Siff.  Oh, and a dog named Oxford, too."

Our little red Betta was named by Ellie herself.  At a little over two, right after she picked him out Ryan and I asked her what his name was.  She answered Siffy Siff.  Which in two year old Ellie speak was Fishy Fish.  Ellie said Fish wrong until she was three.  Mostly because she likes to be difficult and different.  Last summer we would tell her "Fah-fah-fah FISH" and she would reply "Fah-fah-fah SIFF!" every time.  She would say farm, fan, fort, Frank - any other F word {well, not the F word yet, thank goodness!} except fish.  And every time she said Siff she got a little smirk on her cute face.

So the last few days Siffy Siff had been swimming towards the top.  We knew it wasn't good but what do you do for a fish?  We crossed our fingers at night hoping he would make it because Ellie runs over to say good morning to her little friend each day.

This afternoon I peaked in his fish home and saw his little body laying at the bottom.  A flood of emotions swept over me.  I was grossed out, sad, and nervous.  How do you explain a dead fish to a three year old?

Remembering how traumatized we were as children when our first goldfish died, I immediately called my sister.  Auntie's Betta, Claude {after Monet, of course} lived in a tiny bowl in her office for three years!  I felt like a failure.

After reassuring me that changing the water four days ago did not kill Ellie's favorite pet, she gave me really good advice on how to deal with the situation.  The first thing she told me was this is the part of being a parent that really sucks.  Ain't that the truth!  She also assured me that Ellie can handle the truth - we don't need a replacement fish and we shouldn't hide the tank like he never existed.

Auntie helped me break it down.  Trees live a really long time.  People live a long time.  Dogs live kind of long, but small pets just aren't around a really long time.  And that's ok.  It's ok to be sad and it's ok to miss Siffy Siff.

So that's the talk that is going to happen in the morning.  We flushed him after Ellie went to bed - we all agreed she didn't need to deal with thoughts of a burial at sea yet.  But I'm scared.  I'm bursting a bubble and taking something away from her.  Making her face a reality. 

Wish me luck.  I will update later on how it all went.

And just because I am having a REALLY bad mom day, I searched everywhere but we do not have a picture of Siffy Siff. Sigh.


So here is a pic of a red Betta fish.  Not ours, but one will similar coloring found by searching "red and purple betta fish" in google.

RIP Siffy Siff.

UPDATE:

We talked with Ellie this morning.  She had more than a few questions.

First she asked, "Well, will Siffy Siff be back tomrrow?"

Next it was, "Can I make Siffy Siff a card so he'll feel all better?"

Then, "Where will Siffy Siff live when he is done living in Heaven's house?"

And onto, "But who took Siffy Siff out of his bowl?  Where did he go?"

Finally, "Ok, so if fish don't live as long as trees, can we get another one now?!"

We answered everything as best we could and Ellie seemed satisfied with our answers.  With the exception of the "Can we get another fish?" question.  I told her we would have to think about it because honestly?  I don't want another fish.  Fish totally creep me out.  Apparently they creep Ryan out, too, which I didn't expect. 

So I guess the real answer to can we get another fish would be "when you are old enough to clean out it's bowl and keep it in your own room, sure!" 

I'll probably be posting pictures of Ellie and her new fish next weekend.