T-Minus 28 Days....

 

It's almost time for our two month long Grand European Adventure!!

Two little blue passports arrived in the mail the other day, and I think they look mighty fine sitting there next to mine, although it breaks my heart majorly, knowing that Will's maroon-colored passport isn't thrown in the mix - he will be severely missed during the time that we're gone!

Other than stocking Louisa May (that would be my Kindle) with mass quantities of LM Montgomery, and getting my itsy-bitsy baby's kindergarten registration stuff in order, I haven't done much to prep for this trip. I should probably think about what to pack besides the books ... yeah, that might be something to think about so I don't show up in only t-shirts and skirts and sundresses, like I did the last time we went to the UK and Sweden in the summer, only to be smacked in the face with cold weather and rain. Whoops.

But YOU GUYS, have you seen the article, from the New York Times, broken down by the Everyday Minimalist, in which a flight attendant demonstrates how to fit enormous amounts of stuff - enough for a 10-day trip - into a carry-on? (thanks for the link, Pinterest!)

!!!!

I can't wait to try it.

Also, why the Grand European Adventure title, unlike the previous Grand UK Adventure title? Because we're going to a whole bunch of places!

*faints dead away from excitement*

Gracie's heart has been set on visiting Paris someday, so I figured while we're so close, let's pop over for a visit with the Eiffel Tower and the Mona Lisa. I talked to my MIL and she said, "Let's totes do it! In fact, let's road trip our way to Sweden and go all over the place!"*

*(not an exact quote)

Have I mentioned that I ADORE road trips? I think I need to get about a million extra memory cards for my camera...

And I think it's time I finished my Grand Spring Cleaning Adventure because the last couple months went by too fast for me to even remember to blog about them, and I know the next month will go by even faster. Yikes!

Happy Wednesday, folks!

xoxo,

On Teeth, and the Collecting of

Today, Cathy over at The Camera Chronicles blogged about squirreling away her kids' baby teeth the way Hilary Duff squirrels away her kid's umbilical cord (ewwwww). And my first thought when I learned that Cathy has a box filled with tiny, blood-crusted teeth was:

EWWWWWWwwwwwww!!

Yet... I have a basket of teeth. Yep.

I can't seem to throw away the tiny, gnarly little things that have fallen out of my two children's mouths (2 from Annelie, 6 from Gracie).

And every time I add a tooth to my Nantucket Lightship Basket o' Teeth, I think of the time I discovered the collection of teeth in my mom's jewelry cabinet and was thoroughly grossed out (yet completely fascinated). Why in the world did my mother collect teeth! What a creepy hobby! I don't know when I figured out that the teeth weren't just some odd collection but the teeth once belonging to my brother and me. But I couldn't call her on it at the time because I was, of course, snooping through her stuff when she didn't know it.

I'm pretty sure if my kids found my Lightship Basket o' Teeth, they'll know just what they've come across, because I just had to save the letters the girls have written to go with them.

My dreamy soon-to-be-seven-year-old writes notes of love. I don't think she'll ever consider the possibility that I might be the Tooth Fairy - she's too in love with the magic and sparkles of it all.

Her little sister, on the other hand, just likes her money. (so says her note)

Will I keep these things forever? Ew, I hope not. But someday, if the kids are curious about their baby teeth, or if they decide to be collectors of gross and odd things, I'm totally prepared.

Speaking of teeth, and the collecting of, have you read Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor?
----------------------

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

-------------------

I loved it! Also, I was furious that the sequel is not out yet. Books shouldn't be allowed to have sequels that aren't out yet, in my personal opinion. Because then you have to wait for them, and waiting is NO FUN.

How about you? Do you keep a stockpile of baby teeth just because?

xoxo,

Outta the Mouths of Babes: Mean Mom Edition

 

My dear darling five-year-old is mad at me at the moment, because I wouldn't let her rip out the page she drew on in my planner to give to her friend. So what does she do to let me know how mad she is?

Why, draw me a picture in which I have only one arm, of course!

Which reminded me that I have some Outta the Mouths of Babes to post...

------------------------------------------
After a time-out-for-hitting-big-sister session:

ANNELIE [glaring hard at me with what she calls her Hot Laser Eyes]: I'm thinking very angry things at someone right now.

ME: Oh yeah? What kind of angry things?

ANNELIE: Really bad ones, like swear words. I'm thinking them at someone. [screws up face to glare even harder]

ME: Oh, wow, that does sound angry. What kind of words?

ANNELIE: I'm thinking words like stupid and sucker at someone.

ME: Ahhh, I see.

[sometimes is is SO hard trying to keep from laughing]

------------------------------------------ 

GRACIE: Sometimes when you get really mad at us, I wish we could go live with Grandma.

ME: Sometimes when I get really mad at you, I wish you would go on a long vacation to Grandma's.

GRACIE [laughs hysterically]: That works.

-----------------------------------------

ANNELIE [pausing during playtime for a hug and a moment of sweetness]: I love you, Mommy.

ME: I love you, too.

ANNELIE: I love you even when you be mean.

-----------------------------------------

And I love her, even when she's giving me Hot Laser Eyes. Oh the joys of being a mom.

Happy Wednesday, folks!

xoxo,

Hearting Being Elmo

So, it might just be a weepy time o' the month for me, or something, but lately every happy thing I watch has me crying. Sometimes sobbing. It's a little silly. Especially when what I'm watching is a documentary on everyone's favorite furry and red, preschool-aged monster.

Being Elmo. Have you seen this documentary yet? SO GREAT.

I wasn't a particularly huge Elmo fan back in the day. Ernie and Bert have my heart ALL THE WAY. My kids were never Elmo fans, either. In fact, they never even liked Sesame Street, preferring a certain purple dinosaur to Jim Henson's amazing muppety monsters (Seriously, what is wrong with my kids? I just don't know)

But it doesn't matter if you love adorable furry puppets or not, this movie is such an awesome, inspiring story of someone with a creative dream making it happen ( I'm talking about the puppeteer, here, not the puppet - if you want an inspiring Elmo movie, try CinderElmo - with the help of his Fairy Godperson, his dreams come true, too).

That's pretty much all I have to say on the subject, other than if you haven't seen Being Elmo, you should.

How about you folks? Seen anything amazing lately?

xoxo,

Sleeping Beauty (or how I learned I am crueler than a wicked step-mother)

In the wee hours of the morning, I woke up, and there was Annelie beside me, pajama-free (her sleeping preference), curled up in a shivering ball.

MY POOR SHIVERING BABY! I thought, as I grabbed the big brown blanket at Annelie's feet, and cuddled it up to her chin.

There's something completely satisfying about pulling a blanket up to your sleeping kiddo's chin. It never fails to give me those Chicken Soup for the Soul warm fuzzies, being the adoring mom, adoring my sleeping baby... Especially as she had probably run to my room from the other side of our dark, dark house, because of a bad dream.

I'm pretty sure I was smiling as I fell back to sleep, having done my parental duty of keeping my child warm and safe.

When my alarm clock woke me up an hour later, Annelie woke up too, and let out a joyous gasp. "You gave me brown blanket! Thanks, Mom!"

Her voice was thick and sleepy, and she smiled huge and closed her eyes again, snuggling into the blanket.

"I woke up and you didn't have a blanket," I told her, patting her head. "You poor thing. You looked so cold!"

She opened her eyes and gave me a funny look. "Yeah. I was cold. But remember? When I came in because I had a bad dream, I asked if I could have a blanket, but you said no."

Yeah, you read that right.

She asked for a blanket, and I SAID NO.

"Are you sure about that? I don't even remember you coming in," I said, just to clarify, because seriously!

"Yes, I'm sure. You always talk to me when I come in," she said. "You said no, and told me to just go to sleep."

And that, folks, is how I learned that I talk in my sleep. And that my sleep-self is a terrible mother.

How about you? Learn anything startling about yourself lately?

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo,

"There's a storm blowin' up - a whopper, to speak in the vernacular of the peasantry."

On Tuesday, my hubs decided to work from a nearby coffee shop rather than drive the three hours into Dallas, where his office is. Other than the whole WOO! My hubs doesn't have to travel for work today! (his new job has him traveling 3-4 days week), this was a non-event.

And then I got a call from my Grandma, who asked how we all - particularly Will - were doing.

Well, it was a clear blue skies kinda day, and we were all feeling just fine. With the TV off and the Jack Peñate station on Pandora blasting from my speakers, I had no clue there were tornadoes tearing up Dallas.

This morning, however, when I overheard the tornado warnings stopping Annelie from enjoying her episode of Caillou, my heart froze. Ice slipped down my spine. According to the warning flashing across the screen, tornadoes were on their way to Dallas.

MY BELOVED HUBS IS NOW IN DALLAS!

I tried not to panic. I didn't want to upset Annelie, especially not after seeing all the photos of Tuesday's tornado damage spread across Facebook this morning, and knowing just how disastrous tornadoes are.

"I'll just give Daddy a call and see where he is," I said, sounding übercalm. Then I left a message on his machine to call us back IMMEDIATELY.

"This is the worst day ever," Annelie said, as morose as possible. She knew about Tuesday's tornadoes, and was no doubt imagining her dad's office getting sucked up and whirled around and spit back out in the land of Oz.

With more warnings interrupting our regular programming, the few-minute wait to hear from Will was excruciating. When the phone rang, and the caller ID told us it was him, I was so, so, so relieved.

"I don't hear warning sirens!" I exclaimed. "That's a good sign that things are okay where you are, I'd say!"

"Um.... what are you talking about?" Will said back. "The weather is perfect. All sun and blue skies."

*crickets chirping*

"But it's saying across the TV screen that there are tornado warnings in Dallas...." I said.

And then I looked at the TV again.

Here's a little something to note: we have DVR. And Caillou, while being a show in which tornado warnings blaring over the whiny, obnoxious main character's voice makes it BETTER, is one of Annelie's favorite shows... so I record it for her daily.

Yeahhhh.

I was watching a pre-recorded tornado warning. From Tuesday, actually.

*facepalm* 

Man, no one even needs to bother fooling me on April Fool's Day. I fool my self.

If you haven't seen the photos of Tuesday's tornadoes, this collection of photos is pretty chilling. I'm so glad the injury rate was so low (about 12 hurt) and the death rate, as far as I've read, is non-existent! Hope all my Dallas-living blog peeps are doing fine!

And now for a round of Random Quote Trivia - which character in the 1939 movie of The Wizard of Oz is responsible for my hilariously awesome blog post title?

(hint: it's Professor Marvel!) 

Have a great Thursday, folks!

xoxo,

Spring Bunny Digital Stamp Freebie

 

I've had digital stamps on the brain lately, so after whipping up this little spring bunny for Annelie to color in whilst watching Sponge Bob last week, I decided to turn it into a digital stamp for my bloggity blog. However, I wanted to make it downloadable via MediaFire, which I can't for the life of me figure out... and I failed.

So here it is. Not downloadable via MediaFire, but here for you just the same!

 

If you want it, just save it to your pictures. You can color by hand, or do what the awesome Alyssa did, and use Photoshop:

www.Alytopia.wordpress.com

LOVE!

And if you are of the pinning to Pinterest persuasion, or want to share it on your own blog, would you mind using the watermarked version only? It makes me SO SAD to see handmade pictures floating around the internet with no links or source, and I don't want my bunny to float linkless and sourceless, too.  

Looking for more cute freebies? LOOK NO FURTHER than my good pal April's blog, Apple Loves Orange - because she's made a ridiculously cute poster up for grabs. 

Here's a sample:

 

Click the pic to see the whole thing!

Hope you are all enjoying spring so far! It's been crazy busy round these here parts. I'm looking forward to a LOOOONG vacation... but I still have two months months of busy-ness first.

Happy Tuesday, folks!

xoxo,