Mommy’s View During Our Walks ~ Wordless Wednesday
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Who were you expecting?
Cinderelly?
Meet the newest princess, Belle.
Crafty Tuesday
I have been trying to budget my time to fit in some more scrapbooking this week, however – sadly, I am still not very effective and only completed 2 pages again this week. I am so envious of Kimmer, she attended an all-weekend scrap this past weekend – she better have some good stuff to show today!
First up, I got this paper this month from my scrapbook club and with the fall-like weather around these parts this past weekend, I felt a little inspired. This was 4 weeks after Addie was born, her first trip to the pumpkin patch. I incorporated four (count ’em!) different papers and used chalk to “vintage-up” the chipboard and some of the papers. Getting a little crazy around here…
(As always click for the bigs.)
Next up. Might be one of my all-time favorite layouts. I love the simplicity of this and the fact that it celebrates Em and her best friend, Lauren. Had a hard time deciding on photos for this one, though.
What sort of craftiness have you been up to lately? Bring it on.
Getting a little crowded in here.
Daddy didn’t bring back presents from his trip last week to Chicago, so while we were out last week, (Little sidenote – we had 2 consecutive date nights…that is two nights. In a row. Without children. Doing grown-up things. It was heavenly.) he found a couple of friends that he had to buy for the girls.
Yes, the last thing they need is more toys. Yes, they are a wee bit spoiled by their Daddy. Yes, the cat is larger than Addie and she can barely carry him. And, yes, the monkey looks suspiciously like Emma.
So they have been carefully added to the respective entourages. And I wonder why Addie doesn’t want to nap lately?
That is her, curled up under kitty to the left of the crib. In case you couldn’t spot her.
Also present: bear, blankie, old kitty, snoopy, Birthday puppy from Nena, Birthday doggy from Uncle Jeff and Wendy, Birthday puppy (and purse!) from Aunt Meesh, Elmo book, and the ever-present Cinderella gown. Although she did take it off, it is never more than a few feet away from her.
By the time we get everything in the crib she wants to sleep with, you’d think she would be tired. Maybe there are just too many diversion. Or maybe there just isn’t enough room for her to stretch her weary body out…
Pure concentration ~ Best Shot Monday
When A. concentrates she sticks her tongue out like this. (I do it, too, I know.)
I catch her doing it a lot when she is trying to run and catch Emma. It is a little scary. We haven’t had any tongue-biting casualties yet, but I’m sure it is only a matter of time.
If you have time to concentrate on some other BSMs, pop over to Tracey’s.
Picasso v. 2.0
I took Em to this free art class today at the Happy Art Studio. I found out about the free lesson because the instructor is also a fitness instructor at my gym. (Very talented artist AND incredibly fit, as well…yes, you can hate her, too.)
Anyhow, A. and I dropped Em off, and I am continually amazed at how “old” Em appears to be. She sat right down at the little desk, like she does this sort of thing all the time. Dropping her at a strange school, with a woman she has never met before, and running for the door, it all didn’t seem to phase her in the least.
When we returned two hours later, the teacher could not stop raving about how talented she is, how well she listens, how detail-oriented she is, and just generally what a great kid she is. Of course I was partly very proud of her, (I do know she does have some artistic talent in there) but I was also a little, “Whaaaat? Not one sassy moment? You didn’t have to repeat yourself twenty times? No excuses?”
It is very comforting to know that she is a “good” kid when I send her out on her own, into the world. And I should just be thankful that she is comfortable with me and understand that she needs to test her limits. But, come on! Can’t I have just one day with that “good” kid? No fights. No battles. No questions asked.
Here is the artwork she worked on today –
I was pretty impressed. They were working on basic shapes, mostly circles, ovals and half-circles. I did like the school, they get a lot of individualized attention and she really liked it. She said she would rather do art school than soccer (which she has been bugging me about for the past year!).
But, (there is always a but, right?) it is expensive. So expensive. So now what do we do? She could be a great artist. I certainly don’t want to squash any talent she might have, or not help it blossom. But I could also buy her a lot of art supplies for the cost of just a few classes.
Rain, Rain Stay and Play
It is one of those gorgeous, lazy, rainy days. We had plans to visit the fair, but those plans were thwarted a bit by the fact that it has been raining since last night.
But I couldn’t be happier! We get so few rainy days here in SoCal, it really is a treat.
I’m going to go lounge around in my jammies, eat our bagels and hopefully the right Michigan team will show up today so we can teach Addie “Hail to the Victors.”
Can you spot the trend…
…in ALL of these pictures?
Ding, ding, ding. Gold star for you if you answered that they all contain an impossibly cute child.
BUT, extra credit for those of you that noticed she also happens to be sporting the (insert expletive here) “Cinderelly” gown. In. Every. Single. Picture.
This is actually the second Cinderella gown. Well, just the bottom half of the gown, if you want to get technical. She needs to wear it everywhere. For a few days it was the absolute first thing she put on in the morning and the last thing I peeled off of her before bath at night. She does get quite a few admiring glances and comments when we venture outside of the house. A few strange looks as well, but it really isn’t worth the fight. I simply let her wear it, it isn’t hurting anybody.
She also insists on putting it on herself. “I do it, I DO IT!” as she throws it over her head. She pulls it over her upper torso til it reaches her hips and then she pulls her arms through. Which I think was the demise of the first gown. The elastic was so stretched out that it wouldn’t stay up, yet she continued to wear it and just did everything right-handed since her left hand was busy holding the skirt up.
A few nights ago I told her I would fix it for her and suggested she wear the other little Cinderella bottom that we have. She was not very happy. The second, new skirt has a cute, little tulle overlay over the satin skirt. And she “don’t yike that!”
But then she figured out she could turn it inside out (yes, that means the itchy tulle is next to her skin) and it looked just like the first skirt. Now she has a “puffy” skirt.
So the new skirt has passed the very discerning fashionista’s test, and it is in heavy rotation. Well, I’m not sure if you can even say it is in rotation, it now goes to bed with her. She takes naps in it, she sleeps with it on at night, she only takes it off to bathe, or change her clothes that I insist she has to wear underneath it.
Yesterday, when she didn’t want to nap, and I think was a little bored, she took the skirt off along with her sweatpants, t-shirt, and pull-up. When I finally went up to let her out of baby jail, I opened the door, she was standing up in her crib. Naked. I said, “A. what are you doing?”
She looked down and then said with pure surprise on her face and in her voice, “Oh! Mama! I nakey!”
And she quickly reached down to put “Cinderelly” back on.
A confession.
So I have a confession to make.
Yesterday, as I was driving along – sans girls, I realized that the High School Musical album was still cued up and playing on my iPod. (It is the ONLY thing we can listen to in the car these days. “High School Music-school, Please, Mama!”).
I realized that it was still on, I didn’t have to be listening to it, and (here is the horrifying truth)…I didn’t change it.
In fact, to make matters worse, I found myself singing along. Now, not only has Disney managed to turn my children into living, breathing, walking advertising magnets, who are sucked in by “all things Disney,” the marketing geniuses over there have somehow figured out how to infiltrate my subconscious, too.
They do have some darn catchy tunes, though, I must admit. “When I hear my favorite song…I have to sing along… “
I’ve got a secret ~ Wordless Wednesday
