Let it Go

"Let It Go".

Oh. . . anyone with a girl (or even CHILD) between 2-14 has probably heard that phrase 1,000 times since "Frozen" came out last Thanksgiving.  But this post is totally unrelated.  (Sorry)

Yesterday I went shopping for some misc supplies to start getting my home photography studio set up.  I've had a bean bag chair that was needing extra fill and happened to notice a huge (HUUUUGE) bag for only $10, so I snatched it.  

I'm sure you've figured out by now what happened with that bag of bean bag fill.

It happened so quickly.  I thought, "Oh, I'll just fill it up really quickly before nap time."

I opened it.  B came over to "help".  Once squeeze on that giant plastic bomb and we had tiny, electro-charged little styrofoam balls EVERYWHERE.

Ok. . . perhaps I could've -- or should've -- just stopped there.  It was obviously going to get very messy, very quickly.

Most moms know and understand that "point" you reach at times like this.  When things go from "OMG, what just happened?" to "NO!!! STOP!!! DON'T LET IT HAPPEN!" to "OH. . . WHAT THE HELL. . . "

As the balls flowed out onto the floor, I started to tell Isabelle not to touch them and to go in the other room.  But I stopped myself.  I imagined how exciting they must be -- even better than bubble wrap!!!  It was like snow. . . that didn't make you cold!!  And *look* -- they stick to you like leeches!!

I'm honestly dilutional enough that I thought to myself, "Oh, what a great science lesson on static electricity".  Ha, as if we haven't had that lesson every day since winter began and we set off sparks just by walking through the house in our slippers before touching the handle on the garage door!

So. . . I just let it go.  I let them play and be kids.  When I was grimacing as they began throwing it in the air and stomping it into the next room. . . and then down the hall. . . and into the kitchen. . . I let it go.  I watched and laughed.

AND THEN I (with some more "help" from B)cleaned up tiny styrofoam balls for the next hour.  And I'm still finding them over 48 hours later.  They.  Are.  EVERYWHERE!!!!

Kids and Pets

Originally I started this post just to post about B's new pet fish (more later).  But between the time that I took the pictures to today, things have changed and I just wanted to address pets in general.  

(Later already). . . So -- B got a pet fish.  :)  I sent out a massive, possibly somewhat obnoxious message to all of our family before her birthday with a list of things she wanted, and my sister jumped on the "pet fish" item.  Her oldest son was only 2 when I bought him his first pet fish, so it was her turn :)

Once the craziness from the day (birthday party) died down, we got the fish settled.  B loves her. . . she promptly decided to name her "Sandy". . . which Lee thinks is from "Finding Nemo", and I'm starting to think it's from the Starfish on "Jake and the Neverland Pirates". . . but regardless, Sandy is well loved.  

She started her first night in her new
home on B's night stand.  I may or may not have failed to mention the fish to my husband (who had left for work when it was gifted to her). . . and Sandy was quickly dumped over in the morning by our youngest daughter while B and I were at Sunday school.  Luckily, despite a rather long time she spend out of water on our rug. . . Sandy somehow survived.  She has since moved to a few other locations, but is finally resting peacefully on B's build-in shelves in her bedroom.  Down far enough to see without a stool, but high enough to keep from getting knocked over again!

 The most exciting part of the girls day seems to be when it's Sandy's feeding time.  Between feeding the dogs and feeding the fish, for whatever reason they are obsessed.  A relative of our posted a clipping recently on their facebook page that had chores for children, and of them listed feeding the pets.  What a great thing for them to do!  And a great way to teach them responsibility for others.  So now I'm going to change the subject around a little and reminisce.  Maybe go off on a bit of a tangent.

Just a few days ago, we lost or pet rabbit, "Kitty".   We got her when she was just a wee little baby in 2007.  I've always loved cats, but since my husband is allergic I settled on a rabbit.  We litter box trained her -- she was great with our boxer-mix and could roam around our house when we were around to supervise.  I trained her to target on a pole and sit-up on command.  She tolerated the many additions to our family in the years to follow. . . from Sierra (our tri-pawed pit-mix) to our children.  She was sweet, tolerant, and darn cute!!  But as the family grew, we were able to take her out of her cage less and less.  Regardless, the girls ADORED her.  Every time we would leave the house, S would squeal and poke at her through her cage to say "hello" and "goodbye".  Luckily, they've both taken her loss really well.  B had LOTS of questions, and I'm still not sure she fully comprehends what has happened, but it's something we're talking about and teaching her more about every day.  "Maybe we can give her some carrots to feel better and be alive!" takes some explaining to work through.

 There are MANY, MANY, many days when I am grumbling over the trouble that our pets cause.  You have to feed them, clean them, train them, wash them. . . deal with them barking when your baby is napping and stealing their crackers when they are awake.  BUT (**BUT**) pets are still important.

  Pets teach our children about unconditional love.  No matter how bad your day has been, they always are there for you.  A dog will pretty much always want to play, always welcome a snuggle, and will always be there to sit with you when you need company.  Everyone knows petting a dog lowers stress and anxiety, and I even read a study recently that showed that 40% of 5 year olds said that when they felt sad, angry, afraid, or had a secret to share that they would go to their pet. :)

Not only that, but with a pet it helps children understand what it means to have someone rely on them for their health and happiness.  It's teaches empathy.  In some cases, it teaches consequences like "If you aren't careful with the fish, it will die!"(ahhh!) or more light-hearted: "If you leave our your toy, the dog might chew it up".  Even just in the short time we've had Sandy, it's help B understand what it means to have commitment.  With Kitty, she's just recently learned about the Circle of Life. . . which has been hard, but so much easier for me to explain now, instead of after loosing a close friend or relative.

Pets are fun.  They're entertaining.  They have so much more of a purpose than you originally think.  So if you have the space, time and love in your heart. . . go adopt a pet in need!!!

Baby B turn FOUR!

B has been booking forward to this day since about mid-March of last year.  She loved her Mickey Mouse birthday party last year, but ever since then has been saying "At my next party, I'm having a Jake party."  The girl goes through phases like you wouldn't believe.  Just in the last year, she's had seasons obsessed with Sleeping Beauty.  Then Peter Pan.  Then Sophia the First.  Then Rapunzel.  Then Doc McStuffins.  Jack Frost (Rise of the Guardians).  Bruno Mars.  Elsa.  Jake and the Neverland pirates fit in there somewhere, but I kept expecting her to change her mind and suddenly declare that she wanted a princess party or a Michael Jackson party.  But, without fail, everytime. . . "Jake".  I felt the pressure to make it good!  

 Ok, YES I realize I cater to her alot.  If I can make her happy, I will.  So when I [kinda made the mistake and] asked her what kind of cake she wanted, she very specifically told me, "I want the cake to have sand.  And a ship.  And I want it to have Jake, and Cubby, and Izzy, and Captain Hook."  She went on to tell me the specific POSTURES she wanted the characters to be in, which included Cubby standing with his hands on the ground, one leg in the air, balancing on one foot.  I DID draw the line there.  I had designed one cake that was the typical layered cake with a "shipish" bottom, red and white striped middle, and "island" topper.  But as I talked to her more, I realized she really just wanted a SHIP ship.  So. . . grudgingly I searching pinterest and made it.  A good 4 hours later. . . I had my masterpiece.  Lee comes home and says, "Holy crap, is that a CAKE?!  You realize we are just doing to EAT IT, right?"  Yes. . . thank you, dear.

 I really don't care for party favors.  Because, let's be honest, they're pretty expensive and are probably going to get tossed in a matter on minutes, days at most.  But we went to the party store and there along with the plates and napkins (what we really were going in for) were magnifying glasses.  As a mommy fail, a magnifying glass was one of the things she kept asking for at Christmas but didn't get. :(  Her main request was binoculars -- and she got those -- but apparently still wanted a magnifing glass.  So for $0.39 each, I had to get them.  And then I can't put JUST that in a bag, so I got some pixie sticks (PIXIE sticks. . . get it?  Pixie. . . Tinker Bell. . . ) and gold doubloons.  Brown paper bags from WalMart -- 50 for $1.00, Photoshopped some pictures of characters and had themprinted at Walgreens for $1.00 (5-4x6's at $0.20 each). . . and there ya go.

 . . . and then that glorious f***ing ship.  Since I built it 5 days before the party, my girls were over it by the time the party started. . . but I think the other kids enjoyed it.  Or I assume they did, since it was completely destroyed by the end of the night!

 Isabelle's yearly books on display

 Strung up Disney pics (Jake and the Neverland pirates is Disney, incase you weren't already aware!)

 That's my favorite -- with Snow White.  <3

 B dressed up as "Izzy" from the show -- I dressed up as Wendy (although B explained Wendy actually is never in JakeNLP) -- Sopha was supposed to be Tinker Bell but of course the costume was M.I.A, and Lee put on 1/6 of his "Jake" costume.  And then Landon tried on her Elsa wig :)

 We ran the party 3-6 to try and miss lunch and dinner -- usually we serve a "meal", but it's so hard to find something everyone likes and so expensive!  So we did appetizers -- pasta salad, vegetable pizza, popcorn, taco dip, BBQ cocktail weenies, cheese ball, and chips.

 I made popcorn cones with old scrapbook paper, the brown paper bags I had from the party favors, and extra pictures I had left over from the favors, as well.

 Play time!

 Birthday girl, ready to blow out her candles!

 Hello Kitty from Great Uncle Steve

 New Tutu!!

 We love this hat!!

B's cousin, Truly

Overall, it was a great success.  Because any big event in my children's life always seems to involve some sort of major snow/ice/hail/rain/illness, some of our family didn't make it because of the weather.  Either literally or by being under it -- as in under the weather.   But regardless, B had a great time, things turned out great, and we are truly, truly TRULY ^^ blessed :)

Cardboard Pirate Ship

B is SOMEHOW turning 4 tomorrow!  I'm in denial.  Sometimes, it feels like she was just born yesterday.  And then I think about when she was a baby. . . how different life was back then. . . and it seems like it was such a long time ago.  We're prepping for her 4th birthday party, which she decided she wanted to be "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" about 11 months ago just shortly after her LAST birthday party. . . The anticipation for this day has been a long-time coming!

Yesterday I started the construction on her Buckey ship for the kids to play in at the party.  Ohhhh my was my house a disaster yesterday!  Between all of the scraps of cardboard plus the chaos I created trying to keep the girls occupied while I works (coloring, play-doh, dress-up, books, and so on) my house looked like a battle zone.  It's almost done -- stay tuned for pictures from the party!

 Buckey is (basically) complete!  spy glass, slide, anchor, steering wheel and all!

 The rope runs into the inside where the kids can raise and lower the anchor