Day 74

Saturday October 30, 2010

I had been up late with Nina. She had a hard time sleeping. Thankfully, Addie had slept right through all the fussing and the frequent runs to the potty. Poor honey-girl was having a hard time sleeping again. She had fallen asleep easily but then around 1am woke up from a bad dream. The next several hours were tainted by tossing and turning and worrying that she would never fall asleep again. Thank God she did fall asleep and that she and Addie slept in so late!

We woke up to the smell of bacon! For a Portuguese girl (we Portuguese folk love our pork products!), nothing is better than waking up to the smell of bacon. This sentiment was especially true for our little piglet (I know...sick humor :)....what can say?!?!) She rolled over and said, "Mama, I think I smell bacon!" I laughed! She was right! I kissed her cheek and told her she should go find dada in the kitchen and tell him she wanted BACON! She kissed me back and then rolled over to Adelae and said, "Adelae, do you want some bacon?" Addie laughed and nodded affirmatively. Both girls crawled out of  bed and went in search of bacon.

When the girls left the room, they forgot to close the door so I was able to hear all of the laughter permeating through our small condo. I could hear Teddy cracking up at something that Silas said. I could hear Nina and Adelae commenting on bacon and wanting more whipped cream on their pancakes. I could hear Teague enticing Max to chase a string. The commotion of smells and sounds brought me an unexpected wave of sadness. I was so thankful for all of the gifts we had already been given! Time!! We had been given time!! But with this time had also come a new and very burdensome sense of awareness!

After breakfast, I ran downtown to pick up Todd and Joe's wigs. I literally laughed so hard my side started to hurt. All I could do was imagine Todd and Joe in the ridiculous ensembles and I'd start cracking up.

Silvermist, Tinkerbell, and the Army Fairies (check out their wings!) What a beautiful crew :)

By the time I arrived back home, the kids were tearing through the neighborhood having a blast. Even Nina joined in, walking hand in hand with Addie. Then the real fun started :) As the kids played outside, Joe and I went upstairs to watch Todd try to put his tights on. I tried to video this but apparently Todd is shy!

Earlier, I had quickly run to Kmart after picking up the wigs to buy the guys an extra pair of tights. I had realized that one simple, flimsy pair of tights on those man-legs might be a recipe for disaster. I came home and suggested that they double up on  their tights, just in case the top pair tore. The last thing we needed on our Halloween adventure was torn pantie-hose on grown men :) The guys agreed. Watching Todd try to put on his tights was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! Joe and I convulsed from laughter! Todd literally tried to shove his leg through the tights without scrunching them up first. I could barely breath. All Joe could say was, "This is so wrong!!" over and over again. I am convinced that our entire neighborhood heard us and I am honestly surprised that no one called to find out what all the commotion was about.

As we laughed, a plan began to emerge in my mischievous mind. I turned to the fellas and explained that I was going to go to talk to our neighbors Larry and Diana about helping with our photo shoot. They starred at me and I reassured them that all was going to fine. That was their first mistake....trusting me! I quickly ran to Larry and asked him if he'd been willing to come to our place in a hour to take photos of us all in our fairy costumes. Larry is the world's most agreeable person and said he'd love to see the man-fairies in person. Then I paid my friend Diana a quick visit. I asked her if she was willing to have two over-sized fairies take a few photos on her red, velvet couch. Diana has a fabulous sense of humor and immediately started laughing. I explained that as I had watched the guys put on their costumes a devious plan and formed in my head. All I could think of was the George Costanza photo on the tee-shirt I had given Todd for his birthday. That photo of George was priceless but how much more would be a similar one with two men in fairy costumes be??? Diana agreed that my plan was genius! I gave her a hug and went on to collect the kids.

In no time at all, the kids and I were dressed. Nina sat on the couch, ready for the Fairy King's grand entrance. Todd announced his arrival from the top of the stairs and then proceeded to descend. The look of pure joy on Nina's face was priceless. She laughed and laughed and laughed. She laughed so hard she couldn't even say a word. Eventually, she said, "Awww....dada!" Todd laughed equally hard, happy to see the glee he had brought his daughter. The rest of the kids enjoyed the man-fairies just as much, although Adelae seemed a bit disturbed by the image of her father in a tight man-dress and creepy granny wig! Silas and Teddy proclaimed that Todd's wig was way cooler. Truth be told, they were right :)

The photo shoot at Diana's was nothing short of stupendous! I could go on and on describing the scene but this is the kind of situation where a photo is worth a thousand words....literally!! ENJOY!!!

By the way, if folks think these photos are fab, I am currently working on setting up a paypal link for some more outrageous pics!! As I took them, I knew I had struck it rich :)

Strike a pose....a la George Costanza!

Laughing Man-Fairy....what more is there to say?? You look good in wings Joe??

Joe looks like he's being molested and check out Todd's bodacious thigh! I'm using this pic on our Christmas card...and it's going to say, "Wishing You a Fairy Merry Christmas!" I came up with that all by myself to Todd and Joe's horror :)

The Fairy Brothers

Clank, Queen Clarion & Bobble (If you haven't watched the Tinkerbell movies...you're missing out!)

We laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed!!!! Then we laughed some more! I love laughing but eventually can contain myself. There was no possible way to contain the laughter that just poured out each time I looked at these two fairy-fools! I was so appreciative of their commitment and panache and so was Nina! She beamed and so it was ALL worth it!!!

I thanked our neighbors, who are probably going to send me therapy bills now :) We loaded up the kids and went off to the Boo at the Zoo. Problem was, we arrived at the zoo to find it EMPTY!! Apparently, the Halloween bash at the zoo had occurred the previous weekend! How in the world does that make sense!!! The kids were so disappointed! I was heartbroken. Then Adelae came to the rescue, "How about we go to Zodos?" Silas chimed in, "Oooh, can we also go to Yo Yum Yum?" Thankfully, everyone was happy again and off to Zodo's Bowling and Beyond we went.

We had an awesome time bowling, eating, and playing in the arcade. Below is a video I shot of us arriving at the bowling alley. The guys didn't know I was recording. They thought I was taking photos. Listen carefully to folks laughing and cheering Todd and Joe on :) I spent the rest of the night sending all of friends and relatives photos of Todd and Joe in all their glory. The slew of smart-alack remarks kept me entertained for hours!




After bowling and frozen yogurt, Todd and Joe changed from their costumes and went to Isla Vista and downtown SB for some beer and costume watching. The kids and I had movie night and hung out. Intermittently, I'd get another hilarious text from a friend or family member. I don't think I have ever laughed so much in single day! By the time the guys returned from their ridiculous pub crawl, the kids were in bed. I slept like a baby! All the laughter had wiped me out! For once, I fell asleep laughing instead of crying and it felt soooo good!!