A.Bea.C.1.2.THREE!

Tonight I tucked in a child under the age of three in my house for the last time.  sniff. sniff.  Tomorrow when we wake up, Rella will be 3 years old!  Knowing all I do now, how could I have answered anything other than "YES!" when the nurse at Rex called me three years ago tomorrow morning, asking me if I was ready to come in and have my baby?  "Yes! Yes! Yes!"  Tomorrow I'll take her out for pictures, but for tonight, enjoy my teeny tiny birthday girl.

(so this picture is not stellar, but she's so tiny, and she so looks like herself! And her daddy is so smitten with her.  I love me some floppy babies!)

One-Armed Bandz-it

Silly Bandz have hit our house.  We don't usually get into the stuff that all the kids are into these days, probably because my kids just don't watch TV.  But they have gotten into Silly Bandz in a big way.  Well, Hi-Hat and Rella have.  Fancy has them, likes them, and likes to collect and trade them, but she won't wear them.  Nevertheless, there are lots of them around here.  I like that they count them, sort them, make patterns, and make up games with them.  It's very cheap entertainment.  I also like that my kids will work like dogs for a single 20-cent novelty rubber band! So far none have been confiscated from school or sent home in the dreaded "stapled bag," never to be worn to school again.  All in all, an agreeable fad.

The one little thing about them is that I tend to find them on the floor throughout the house.  And faithful readers will know of a certain naughty little dog who would think silly bandz a wonderful mid-day snack.  And I would find it a not-so-tasteful late-day carpet cleaning project.  Or sometimes it get's to be 7:00 and I'm somewhere civilized like orchestra rehearsal or the art museum (well, not really, but it COULD happen) and I'm wearing 5 silly bands that I've collected throughout the day and slipped mindlessly on my wrist.  And another adult or new teenage high-school orchestra member will say, "wow? You're into Silly Bandz?"  OR, my kids will yank them off at night in a big clump and they get all twisted and knotted together so that it takes forever to get them untangled and sorted and put back on when we are running late for school and I'm frantically trying to move kids out the door we leave in the mornings.  So during one of my many trips in the car today I came up with a solution: The One-Armed Bandz-It! 

Only available online for a limited time through this special blog offer! 

Not really, but I'll tell you how to make one.  It's so stinkin' simple. 

You will need an empty paper towel tube, a piece of freezer paper cut large enough to wrap around towel tube with about 1-inch overlap on each end of the tube.  A paper towel dispensor (one with a bit of tension provides resistance and is good for preventing the tube from moving too much as you take bands on and off).  Wrap the freezer paper around the tube, securing with double-sided tape.  I wrapped with the paper wax-side out.  Tuck the overhanging ends of the paper down into either end of the tube.  Decorate as desired.  Slip tube onto paper towel dispensor and populate with Silly Bandz.  Easy-peasy!

Then deliver your final product to your child who is probably still up reading despite it being 10:30 at night and get the following reaction:

Eyes big as saucers.  "You made that just for me?"  Long pause as he looks back and forth between the contraption and the Silly Bandz lined up on his window sill.  "Su-WEET!"

Trash Talk

Someone threw away what I believe is a Happy Meal toy in my kitchen trash last night.  Today, whenever I open the trash lid to throw something out, the trash says either, "Hey!" or "Watch it!" or "I'm warning you!"  It amuses me.*

*It was not so amusing the time there was a Happy Meal toy cow hidden somewhere int he kitchen that was motion activated.  Every time I sat down in a chair there was a "moo" sound.

2-year-old graduate

Yesterday Rella finished her first year of preschool.  Wow, I blinked and that happened.  Since she is still not three, her teacher said I could do a little birthday lunch on her last day.  She has been so excited about her party.  She picked out birthday plates, napkins and hats, and we made cupcakes and ordered Chick-fil-A for all her friends.  If you follow me on fb you know that she woke up early yesterday morning and came running into my room to wake me up, saying she was all ready to go to school.  She was nude, wearing only shoes (her explanation was that she's a big girl now and doesn't need a pull-up. I explained that even if she didn't need a pull-up, she still needed clothing).  She then handed me a pink t-shirt, winter thermal socks, black dress shoes and Hi-Hat's khaki linen pants and told me I needed to get up and get dressed.  So I was expecting quite the happy girl when I went to her school at 11:30 for the lunch.  Um, no. Here's my girl, leaving a final impression on her beloved teacher:

Poor Rella, after crying for an hour because all the adrenaline had left her little body and she was overtired from waking up early and she was confused because in her mind it was her birthday but her teacher and I kept telling her it really wasn't and so she wasn't getting presents today sad that it was the last day of school.

The Kids at the Library

Friday afternoon, Hi-Hat's first grade class had an Author's Tea for parents.  We all arrived to find our little authors sitting in groups with the books they had been working on writing all week using story starters.  Each student took a turn reading their story to the parents, and we celebrated their work with tea and cookies.  I thought I'd share Hi-Hat's story (unedited).

The Kids at the Library

Ritin and Ilistrated by [Hi-Hat]

One day a boy named Jeff and his friend Larry went to the library.  Jeff's mother said they could each pick out five books.  Jeff got five Magic Treehouse books.  Larry got four Junie B. Jones books.  "Wait" said Larry.  I need one more book.  "OK" said Jeff. 

But right when Larry got to the Junie B. section the lights went out and the gaurd came out and the door locked.  And they were locked in the library. "What are we going to do with that gaurd out asked" Larry.  I don't know said Jeff.  Maybe we can ask the gaurd if he has the key. 

"Good idea" said Jeff.  They went to ask the gaurd if he had the key.  He said no.  I'm afraid your stuck.  "Oh no" seid Jeff. "Mom" said we haft to be back by 6:07.  She'll be mad.  "Try the window" said the gaurd walking by.  They went to the window but they tryed it and it was stuck. "They asked the gaurd if the offices were locked. Yes" he said. 

Only the furnace rooom is unlocked.  Is the key in there? Yes he said.  Let's go check.  Oh man it's in a locked safe.  "Wait I know the code" said the gaurd.  He dialed the number 200,567,800,24. 

 "Here's the key" said the gaurd.  "Yay" seid Larry and Jeff and they got out of the library.  "What took you so long" said "Jeff's mom when they got home.  Oh it's a long story" said Jeff.  "We'll tell you at dinner" said Larry.  And they did. At 4:00 in the morning they broke into the library chimney and dropped onto a blue tile.  They got trapped and dropped into the doungoun.  The gaurds asked them the code.  "They remembered the code," said it, got out, went home to bed and lived hapily ever after.  The end.

About the Author

My name is [Hi-Hat]

I am 7 years old.

I am in first grade.

My favorite food is pizza.

My favorite book is Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days

My hobby is shooting targets.

Clipping Coupons

Ha! This post is NOT about clipping grocery coupons.  This is about coupons I'm actually excited to clip, but I wanted to record the values before I clip them and use them up.  Hi-Hat made me a coupon book for Mother's Day this year.  Sounds like a cliche gift, but I LOVE it!  Geof said he came up with it on his own. I guess he was clued in my my Sunday afternoon ritual of clipping grocery coupons and my not-so-subtle hints as of late that I need a little more helo around here. :)  Here are his priceless offerings (unedited):
- 1 free window wash
- 1 free car wash
- 1 free utencle unload
- 1 free vacume clean
- 1 free craft maker
- 1 free room clean
- 1 free dog take out
- 1 free clubhouse cleaner
- 1 free clothes clean
- 1 free table washer
- 1 free table seter
- 1 free worker
- 1 free green machine
- 1 free Ellary intertaner
- 1 free dog intertaner
- 10 additional "1 free" coupons of my choice!
**Note, after he read all the coupons to me, he said, "Mom? If I actually do all those things, will I get a prize?" :)

Friday Night Laugh

Preface: Hi-Hat has been playing drums since, well, forever.  Drum drum drum drum drum.  He walks around the house with books stuck to his face, reading constantly.  Often over the past year I will find him camped out in the kids' office writing stories.  Two days ago he got his first Nerf gun shooter. 

Today I went to an Author's Tea in his first grade classroom.  Each student read a story that s/he had been working on over the past couple weeks, and we all enjoyed tea and cookies.  At the end of their stories, each student had prepared an "About the Author" page.  "My name is [Hi-Hat].  I am in 1st grade. My favorite food is pizza.  My favorite book is Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days.  My hobby is shooting targets."  Um. OK.
______
From the mouth of the 2-year-old just as I was delivering bowls of steaming hot alphabet soup to the table:
"Why are there clouds coming out of my soup?"
______
Late last night, well past bedtime, I look out of my room in time to see a giant orange cardboard iPod sandwich walking down the hallway.  "Fancy, WHAT are you doing?" Fancy, "One time I borrowed this from Hi-Hat and I needed to return it."

Dear Diary

Tonight I sat down and read my 2009 blog book cover to cover.  That was fun.  I closed the book feeling very satisfied.  Satisfied that A) I had actually written down so many great memories for my kids, B) I actually had those writings printed and bound so my kids can read them to their kids, C) on paper, we are a fun, busy, creative family!  Granted, there were a few disappointments:  1) I didn't follow through on my Project 365 that Beth so looked forward to reading. 2) I never did get those Disney pictures finished.  Not from 2008 or 2009.  Or the Chicago pictures.  But never say never. 3) Rella is still not potty trained.  4) Despite my words, we did get a dog.   I think I'll make time to read over these books every year and always keep my little ones close in mind.

So I just wanted to post what I did today.  In case Kellen is reading this 20 years from now and wonders.

Today I took the big kids to school.  Then I took Rella to ballet and worked on VBS curriculum while waiting for her class to finish.  We came home and I made reservations for Fancy's cooking school birthday party and I had a cup of coffee for breakfast.  I took Rella for a play date with two little friends.  I ate her left-over lunch for lunch.  This afternoon we spent 45 minutes picking out Mother's Day cards and then realized I had no wallet in my purse and so had to go back home to fetch it and return to the card store.  While there I picked up three packages of Silly Bandz, because I would not have gotten those when I was a kid.  Then we went to the party store to look at A) cooking party stuff (which they do not have) B) cowboy stuff (which they have very little of) and C) jelly beans (which Rella was sweetly asking for but they did not have).  Then we went to Target to look for wooden mixing spoons (party favors down the road) and some snack mix and lemonade because I was hungry.  Picked up the kids from school.  Surprised them with silly bandz and got "woo-hoo - these are so cool! Everyone has these!" reactions from beaming kids.  I smiled.  Dinner out and family shopping trip to Crate and Barrel for a wedding gift. Fancy announced that it was the most beautiful store she had ever been in and Rella complained that she wanted "to get outta this place."  I drooled over the most adorable miniature sherbert cups and spoons stacked neatly on display, but sadly left them there.  Because I'd have to start making sherbert.  Then I came home and read my blog book while Super Dad put the kids to bed before heading out to the gym. 

Today we also purchased tickets for Rella's upcoming dance recital.  Washed uniforms for two baseball games tomorrow.  Joined a community pool and made the executive decision to throw our non-swimming kids onto the swim team (go Aquabears!) to learn how to swim.  We are looking forward to evenings at the pool, dipping bananas into jell-o powder and pizza on the pool deck (at least that's how it was when I was a Season's Trace Serpent).  We confirmed our Disney trip and restaurant reservations.  Rella's been talking non-stop about getting to eat "at Hi-wy-ee."  I administered an inhaler and gave lots of bedtime hugs and kisses and joked about running out of them and having to get more at Target.  I prepared brag books for two photo clients and drank another cup of coffee.  I just helped you (Kellen) find another book to read since you've read all your library books.  I just hugged you again because you ran back to the kitchen with open arms and said, "I just want to make sure I hugged you tonight," and we checked for wiggly teeth (you have 3).  I just heard the dryer cut off, so I'm going to go fold laundry.  And if you're reading this 20 years from now and have had a full, exhausting and satisfying day, I'm right there with ya, my love.

Buy me some lugnuts and cracker jack ...

This week Fancy had her first t-ball game.  She's a Lugnut!  I love me some little baseball players, with their too-big shirts, helmets that make them look like living bobble-heads, and swings that send baseball t's flying into the outfield.  I love me some!  But now what I REALLY love are little girl baseball players.  With their pink bats and pink cleats, so full of gumption to be on a team full of boys!  Fancy just loves it, and it's fun to watch her do something unlike anything she's ever done before.  Team sports just might be her thing.  We'll see.  For now, she's cute and I've got a bazillion pictures to prove it.  Have a look and you'll love you some little baseball players, too.

Running from 1st to 2nd | doing a little ballet in the outfield

She saw lots of action in right field (which was really deep first); doesn't she look worn out after that big throw? ;)

Next game I will paint ner nails red.