Friday Funny Stuff ~ Addie Style

Posted on December 4, 2009 by carrie

I won’t even bore you with all of the crushing details of our incredibly insane life right now. Just the fact that I’m couldn’t even manage a bullet-list T&T Thursday this week can probably give you an idea of the mayhem around here.

But there is one conversation Addie and I had today that I decided I must sit down and document because it is just too, too good! So I decided it has been too long since we have done a Friday Funny Stuff entry – and here is one for you…

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We were on our way somewhere today and Ads had brought both Cookie (the ratty, filthy-even-though-I-wash-him-at-least-weekly, orange cat that she has taken to dragging around with her) and Bear. I had to wrap them both up in blankets because “my babies are going to be so chilly, Mommy!” and finally got the three of them to the car. Then Addie had to buckle Bear into Emma’s seat and Cookie got stuffed into the pocket behind the driver’s seat.

A: “You have to buckle all your babies up, don’t you Mama?”
M: “Yep. So they can be safe.”
A: “Babies need lots of good food, protein, and eight cups of water to grow, don’t they?”
M: “Yep, but I know something else they need…”
A: “Sleep?”
M: “Yes, well that, too. But something else.”
A: “I dunno, what?”
M: “LOVE! They need hugs and kisses. Don’t you need love from your Mommy and Daddy to grow?”
A: “I guess so. That is a lot of stuff. It is hard to be a Mommy all the time.”
M: “Amen. It is hard work to get your babies to grow up strong and healthy.”
A: “I think it is too hard. I think I will just stay a kid. All babies should stay kids so they don’t have to work so hard.”

If only it were that easy…

The Ants Go Marching.

Posted on November 17, 2009 by carrie

Just another little morsel from Addikins. Emma and I were almost crying we were laughing so hard at her last night.

The setup: Daddy is away this week at a Leadership Training thing where they are doing a mock business deal. We hopped on Skype last night so the girls could say goodnight and download with him for a few minutes.

M: So how is the training going?
J: Good. Except my “job” that I was given is finance.
M: Erm. That isn’t very fun.
A: Daddy you first have to get an ant farm, like Max’s. (We had just watched Max & Ruby where he has an ant farm.)
J: Yeah? Ok.
A: Yeah, if you have a farm then you can find ants.

Finance. Find ants.

Believe it or not, Emma got Addie’s word play before anyone else. But once we all got it…we couldn’t stop laughing about it. I’ve been smiling about it all day.

Um….

Posted on November 16, 2009 by carrie

Didn’t think I’d be having this conversation with my 4-year old so soon.

A: Mama can girls be boys?
M: What’s that?
A: Can a girl become a boy if she wants to?
M: Ah…well…um…huh. I don’t know what you mean.
(I’m not usually known for being super quick on my feet, but in my defense…hadn’t had my coffee and was caught a little off guard!)
A: Oh. Well, Bear just told me that she doesn’t want to be a girl anymore. She wants to be a boy Bear, and be Cookie’s brother.
M: Oh. OH! Yeah. Ok, well I’ll try to remember that Bear is a boy from now on.

It’s a Bear’s prerogative to change her, er…his mind, I suppose.

(This photo has nothing to do with Bear, but J. is traveling all week and he is going to need his girly fix. So be prepared for lots o’ photos. We miss you, Daddy. Come home soon!)

This & That Thursday

Posted on October 7, 2009 by carrie

Thursday again? That was a quick week!

Poor Addikins. Did you happen to hear the screams yesterday? She had to have 5 shots. (That is 1, 2, 3, 4, FIVE!!!) It was terrifying. For Mommy. I got a flu shot first to show her how easy it was and then had to HOLD.HER.DOWN. while she was stuck five times. Did I mention she had five shots? The poor thing. It was a wee bit traumatic.

Therefore, pretty much anything Miss Addie wanted yesterday, she got. “Mama? My tummy really thinks it wants McDonald’s for lunch.”

Done.

“I will go up and pick out my own clothes for the park, Mama.”

Alrighty then.

Yep. She really did go out like that. And, Yep. I really did tell her she looked fabulous.
All I know is…my arm aches. Those flu shots don’t mess around. Ouch.

J. is on the first of his whirlwind October travels and we are all missing him already. So to fill our afternoon we headed to the park, after we picked Em up from Chess Masters that is. Yes, you read that right. Chess Masters. She came home so psyched last week about the club that teaches you to play chess! And you get to play with a life-sized chess board!

So, we said, why not? It might make for some craziness for a few years, but she needs to explore and figure out what really gets her excited. Now when Addie gets to this stage and I can’t keep up with the two of them, I’m going to have to put my foot down and make them start choosing. But for now, she has added Chess Master to her repertoire.

I think that taking a break from my camera, is very smart for me. I feel like I get to the point where I get stale and uninspired. And then after a few weeks of not looking through my viewfinder, I find that I am pleasantly surprised when I download my photos at the end of the day.

My new favorite photo of Em…

This one isn’t too bad either. I love it when she scrunches her nose up like this.

I have high hopes that this weekend is going to be productive and relaxing at the same time. That is possible isn’t it?

Me, My Girl, and Some Cocoa

Posted on October 6, 2009 by carrie

It was a chilly, fall-like morning, well, I know it is all relative, but it was chilly for us. I was enjoying a big cup of coffee and Addie had moved all of her Polly Pockets to the one spot where the sun was streaming in through the windows.

“Mama? Do you want to play with me? You can bring your coffee over here and be the Mom?”

“Hey, wait! When it is cold outside we should have some hot cocoa! Can you have your coffee and make me some hot cocoa? Please, Mama?”

Who can say no to that? And she “helped” make the cocoa with very specific instructions. “I need the Winnie-the-Pooh cup, Mama!” I have had this mug for over 10 years, 15 maybe? Wait. I may have had it in college… At any rate, it’s been around a long time. And I love that the girls like to use it. It is definitely a good hot cocoa mug.

It is also nice when there is only one girl around, so there is no fighting over the Pooh mug.

And no fighting over the camera either. I decided as long as it was all sunny and my girl was being sweet that the camera needed a little bit of love, too.

So the camera got some shooting time…

Addie got some Polly Pocket playing time with Mommy…

And Mommy got some warm fall sunshine, good coffee, and girl time with her favorite 4-year old.

Does it get any better than that? I don’t think so.

Peace. And Quiet. Very Quiet.

Posted on September 16, 2009 by carrie

Today, (finally!) Addie got to start school. She is doing M-W-F this year and is thrilled to be going to school even more than she got to last year.

We met her new teachers (one of them is her Sunday School teacher) on Monday and every 30 minutes or so since then she has asked, “On this day, do I get to go to school?” (I LOVE that she always says that, “On this day…”)

(Apparently I am in love with parentheses today, too.)
(I think that is what happens when you are giddy with a quiet house all to yourself.)
(Okay, I’ll stop now.)

So anyhow, on THIS day, was Addie’s first day. The requisite first-day-of-school-under-the-tree-photo…

And the first survey of her new classroom before kissing Mommy and Daddy goodbye and dismissing us…

What a difference a year makes! Look at her on her first day last year, she looks so little and just a “toddler!”

And now we have this gorgeous, all grown-up looking girl. There wasn’t even a discussion if Bear should accompany her to school. She is a big kid now.

No tears from anyone this year. I helped with the Parent coffee, ran to Em’s school and volunteered in her classroom and am now enjoying my own coffee and catching up on emails before I go pick Ad up. Two happy, in school girls?

A mama could get used to this.

Crafty Tuesday

Posted on September 15, 2009 by carrie

Here it is Tuesday again already. I do have lots to share since our entire last week was just one big craft project. So let’s get to it.

A few weeks ago I showed Addie some paper with cute little birdies on it and she said, “Oh! That is what I want for my birthday, Mama. Flowers and birdies.”

I gave it a few days because we have had a “theme-of-the-week” for the past few months and I figured it wouldn’t stick. But, ‘lo and behold it did indeed stick, she was adamant that she wanted flowers and birdies. She is kinda my flower child, and she really does love to bird watch so I thought, why not? Plus you all know how I feel about birdies….tweet!

The good thing about a totally non-commercialized birthday party – it.is.CHEAP! I really only bought some cool colored plates and balloons. The invites and decorations I designed and printed on my printer at home. Voila! Birthday party done.

The invite…

The signage and goody bags….

And… the cake. When I searched for “bird cakes,” I came across this one. Which Addie happened to see and of course, had to have. I read up on fondant and it didn’t sound too difficult. I made my own using this recipe. Albeit a little sticky, it wasn’t that hard to make.

Then the girls and I spent a few hours making some birdies and flowers. It was fun and they liked to help make the decorations. And then…we tasted the fondant.

Ew. I so love the look of a nice, smooth cake – but I don’t see how all that trouble can be worth it especially if everyone peels off the fondant and doesn’t eat it. So we decided not to “fondant” on the cake. Just buttercream frosting – and it was good, and looked cute and Addie LOVED her cake. So all was good.

And we had enough cake batter and flowers for cupcakes, too. Which are always a hit!

On the sewing front, I finished the Super-A cape.

Unfortunately she didn’t think it was nearly as cool as I did. But it has made an appearance or two in the past week.

And I think it may get used a little more especially since I finished her friend Alexander’s cape. Now they can be superheros together.

I also finished the birthday banner for our house. It looks suspiciously almost exactly like the one I did for my friend Jamie and her girls. And I still have enough scraps to possibly make another. So looks like someone might be getting one for a holiday gift, too!

Now I’m off to make a few things for Em. I have been promising her some lounge pants for weeks now but they keep getting pushed to the bottom of the sewing pile. And she also wants a superhero cape. While I was wrapping Addie’s I said to J. “Em is probably going to want one of these, isn’t she?”

He just looked at me and said, “Um, have you met our girls? What do you think?”

Yeah. She has requested a Super-E in purple, please.

Ok, your turn. Show me what you got!

Mama? On this day am I four?

Posted on September 12, 2009 by carrie

I heard that question every morning for two whole weeks before she finally was indeed, four years old.

And then the day I finally got to say “Yes, THIS day you are four,” she kind of slept in. I had to practically sit on Emmy to keep her from going to wake Ad up, she was so excited.

Addie finally sprung out of bed, threw on the dress she had picked out three days prior for her birthday, and clamored downstairs to get the day started.

First stop – she “hugged” her pinata to check if Mama had filled it with candy. I had, and she could barely lift it.

Next, she checked out her chalk-card in the courtyard.

And then we opened some presents! I think one of her favorites was a pettiskirt that I had bought for her almost 2 months ago. It went on straight-away.

We got Em off to school, and Daddy off to work and then we went to finish up last minute party preparations. And had a little birthday lunch – noodles at Corner Bakery – Addie’s choice, of course. (If I had known we were going to try to do a little self-portrait, I might have put a spot of makeup on. And a different lens on my camera. Next time…)

Then Em came home from school and we waited for the bounce house to be assembled.

And waited for our guests to arrive.

We were ready.

Finally the guests came, and we jumped…with the pettiskirt, of course! It did not leave her body and looked gorgeous bouncing around all day.

Even when the bouncing turned into tackling.

We discovered Daddy’s hidden talent of making balloon animals. He figured it out, kinda on the fly, and then all the kids waited in line for a balloon creation.

We did a little craft, the kids all decorated their own frames to take home.

We ate some pizza.

We waited patiently for Daddy to get the pinata hung up.

And, after all the kids had a whack at the pinata, Addie took a second shot at it. With a little help from Daddy (and some strategically placed cuts), Addie finally freed all of the candy.

And on top of all that sugar, we needed just a little bit more. Time for cake.

Hey, that’s me in a photo! Thanks to my friend, Kristen for the photo, and J. for the video.

Can I have one more cupcake, Mama?

Overall? I think we did ok.

Addie told me when I was tucking her in, “Today was my best birthday ever, Mama.” I know she really only remembers two, maybe three, birthdays – so that isn’t saying much. And it is a lot of work and effort, but I think I’m going to strive to hear her say that every single year.

It is so worth it.

The party is over…

Posted on September 10, 2009 by carrie

Whew. She is officially four and the partying is finally over.

She had a great birthday, but it technically started a few weeks ago when we started celebrating it at Disneyland. I’ve had this post (in pieces) for over a week now, but I’m finally getting it out.

“So, it is my birthday…and I get to pick everything we do, right?“

First up, the Dumbo ride.

Dumbo always has a wait. So while we were in line, Em and Addie tried to convince me that they could go on their own.

They could not. And did not.

However, we found out that Addie is tall enough to go on Big Thunder Mountain. So she rode it with Daddy.

We were all excited for her. Daddy asked if she liked it when it was over and she said all seriously, “Yes. But I don’t want to ride it again.” It was so funny.

Also funny? Watching Addie try to direct the goats in the petting zoo for a little photo shoot.

No. Look this way. Say cheeeeeese!

To get a good photo, you have to get right down to the goat’s level.

Oh, the pin. The Happy Birthday pin. Once she had it on and people started wishing her a happy day, she was all smiles and made sure that everyone could see it.

And Alice took a break from Wonderland and the parade to wish her a Happy day.

Addie could hardly believe it. “Did you see who I just high-fived?”

And then, the highlight of the day.

Addie got asked to come out and dance with the cast members. I thought there was absolutely no way she would go out there. But she did, and after he coaxed her a bit, she even twisted a little. It was priceless. Thank God J. got it on video…

Next up, the party continues. We’ll fast forward to the real party.

Happy 4th Birthday Addikins!

Posted on September 9, 2009 by carrie

Dear Addison Rose,

Yesterday was a a bit of a blur. Finishing up last minute gifts, getting them wrapped, completing party preparations, baking cakes, double-checking lists and last minute shopping, yet sitting down to write this letter to you has been the hardest task of all. I just can’t believe that today you will be four years old.

The past few weeks I keep insisting that you need to stay three – that you just can’t turn four. I’ve threatened to put books on your head so that you’ll stop growing. But every time I try to slow down time, you say the same thing to me, “No, Mama! I have to turn four. I have to.”

And that is your mantra lately…”I have to.” You are quite possibly the most stubborn and independent child known to man. You start the morning wanting to pour your own juice and you end the day choosing your own pjs, brushing your own teeth, and combing your own hair. “I have to do it, Mama,” you sigh if I so much as try to hurry you, or help you along.

The precious moments in between those early mornings (for you are still an early riser) and when you finally give in to sleep in the evenings, you can be found trying to help Mommy around the house. You love to be a “help” and try desperately to please me. I hear, “Am I doing a good job now, Mama?” “Do you think this looks good, Mama? “How do you like this, Mama?” countless times a day. And I only hope you hear in my voice too how very much I appreciate your willingness to help. Even if it is not so…helpful at times.

We also hear a lot of your singing voice lately. I admit that I have an “Addie playlist” that I purposely play in the car because I know it is songs that you and Emma like to sing. I love to hear your little voice singing everything from Coldplay to Deathcab for Cutie from the backseat. And my iPhone is now full because “I have to sing you Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Mama.” Even if you never make a dime in the music business, I know those recordings are going to be worth all the money in the world someday.

I feel this year is going to be huge for you, Addikins. I think you are going to struggle with your “have to” attitude and it is going to clash many times with Mommy’s idea of what you “have to” do.

But I also know that you are an amazingly smart girl who will figure it all out. And it is going to be a spectacular year full of growth and possibilities for you.

I feel so very blessed to be your Mommy and lucky to get to be along for the ride. And if you have to turn four, then I guess I’ll just have to let you.

Wishing you the very best year, my four-year old girl!
Happy Birthday.
I love you,
Mommy

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