Suddenly Seven

It's time for that obligatory post in which I go on and on about how my itsy bitsy newborn is suddenly 7-years-old, and it seemed to happen over night, and how did this happen when she was just in diapers, eating sweet potatoes for the very first time...

And then I post a baby picture from long, long ago. Such as this one:

Because tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, yeah. But more importantly, it's GRACKMEISTER G's 7th BIRTHDAY!!

Last weekend she said to me, very, very seriously, "Mom, I don't need any presents for my birthday this year. I get to go to Paris for a day, and that is my one and only dream come true."

Then we skyped my MIL, who told Gracie she booked a hotel in Paris for three nights, and Gracie burst into tears, put her head down on the desk, and sobbed until she had to excuse herself to calm down.

She's pretty jazzed for age 7, the year her one and only dream comes true. 

And I'm jazzed to see what her next one and only dream will be, because if Gracie's anything, it's a dreamer, and her dreams are all pretty great!

Happy birthday, little kiddo! 

xoxo,

Flying Spring Chickens and Cracking Eggs

I was more than a little excited when Gracie, my 1st grader, brought home a kid/parent spring project for us to work on the other day. The instructions: build a nifty little container for a raw egg - one strong enough to keep the egg from cracking when dropped off her school roof.

Gracie came up with the parachute idea, and wanted to make a bubble wrap-filled container that had a happy face and flight goggles. I thought that sounded pretty fantastic, and added the suggestion of making the container a mama chicken, tucking the egg safe inside. 

We found the making of our chicken to be a pretty hilarious task, using plastic containers for the body, and gluing on terry cloth wings and a tail, and a sparkly pom-pom comb. Gracie made the feet, beak, and goggles out of scraps of felt.

After school, Gracie was very pleased to announce that only four eggs survived the drop.... And wouldn't you know it - not only did the Great Flying Chicken make Gracie's whole class laugh, but the Great Flying Chicken protected her egg!

Annelie thought this project sounded pretty great, so while Gracie was off at school, she decided to make a nifty egg container of her own. Only she was quite certain a bit of paper on the top and bottom, and an even smaller bit of tape holding them to the egg would be sufficient.

"Gee, I don't know - you might need to build a container that's a little bit stronger than paper and tape," I said.

"No, this will work," she answered with conviction. "It's a helmet."

I didn't climb up to our roof, but I did drop her egg from a table over the back patio, about 10 feet from the ground.   

 

It cracked - just the tiniest bit.

"Let's drop it again!" Annelie exclaimed, because cracking eggs is FUN.

So we did.

A very fun, if not slightly messy, experiment for all!

xoxo,

Babies and Bubbles

I've had horrendous baby cravings lately. Maybe it's because my newborn is getting all registered for kindergarten and I'm suffering from severe PNS (pre-empty nest syndrome). Or maybe it's because half of my Facebook friends update about their sweet bouncing babies on a minutely basis and OMG BABIES. I love them.

So what's a girl who doesn't want to have another baby to do?

Spend a week with a soon-to-be 2-year-old, that's what!

Last week was a busy one for Annelie and me, our days spent in the company of a toddler named Ryder.  Annelie ADORED every second of it. Especially when I whipped up mass quantities of bubble solution.

BUBBLES. Honestly, who doesn't love these things? They're the best. I got my recipe from Family Fun magazine, but substituted the corn syrup (gross) with glycerin:

Mix - 1 cup of water with 1/3 cup dish washing liquid and 2 tablespoons of glycerin - VOILA! Big bubbles!

 

Unfortunately, I didn't have any bubble wands on hand. Fortunately, I did have potato mashers and sawed-off plastic water bottles. (thanks for the water bottle tip, ProjectsForPreschoolers.com!)

 

These bubbles kept the kids busy for ages! 

 

Last week, Annelie made an awesome big sister. She's so good with babies, and adores taking care of people. I guess at some point I should stop seeing her as a widdle baby..... 

 

Happy Wednesday, folks!

xoxo,

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?
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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...

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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]

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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,