I miss my little girls longer locks. Occassionaly she would actually allow me to put it up in some funky do or make it look all fancy.
Here is her rocker look:
(She asked if I could make her look like a cat)
And here is her "fancy" updo.
This took some patience since her hair is layered:
I took an old table and some cheap sale chairs and spray painted them, sealed them, then recovered them with new fabric and vinyl.
Here is the before and after. I am so proud of myself! *Andrea pulls out her suspenders and smiles a big cheesy grin.*
We had a hand-me-down table from my mom (with a rip in the vinyl) and some clearance chairs from Bed Bath and Beyond. I wasn't really fond of the print on the chairs and had to repair the table top for regular use anyways, so I decided to redo both chairs and table.
I used a puppy dog print fabric on the table and a heart with dog bones print on the chairs. I covered the fabric with clear vinyl. You can't see in the picture, but the spray paint is a brown with gold flecks.
Here we are using the table and chairs..well, the kids are using the new table and chairs. Adult behinds not permitted!!
Family Friday: Pictures from the depths of my camera..
My Jesse pre-shaved, BrandMan enjoying the scenery, T-bone cheesing while The Princess slumbers:
Fur Rondy Fun:
We took off for some adventure recently, poking our noses out into the crisp and cool air.
First stop: Snow sculptures! Here is Scratch from Ice Age and a little bird in a nest.
A dinosaur and some characters playing in the snow.
A flock of geese and a native riding the waves.
This is the sculpture that won first prize. It is entitled Nalvkatak Dance (Whale Festival)
Rondy, Rendezvous C'mon... (Only we Alaskans will get that one.)
B-man and I went for a ride on the Ferris Wheel. It was a bit chilly windy up there as the carnival is located right next to the port. He was fine getting on, once we got to the top and the seat started to sway, he wasn't so fond of the ride anymore! It sure did make for some awesome shots of Anchorage and the scenery around it. One of the shots I took of The Sleeping Lady (mountain) turned out very nice:
As you can see, the Alaska Railroad runs from the station right on the port.
While on the ride, I took advantage of some neat shots of the blanket toss (large pieces of hide sewn together with handles all around to toss people up and down on it).
Their Third...
Who do you think he looks more like? His mom or his dad?
Our New Year's Celebration...
Grapes, soda and a movie at midnight...
Lots of games and noise....
Watching crazy neighbors set off fireworks next to the neighborhood gas station and power lines....
A Happy New Year for all...including sleeping toddlers...shhhh!
Lexi was a pink and black punky kitty:
Tyler was the cutest dinosaur you've ever seen!:
(he's without dino hood since it was very hot at the Performing Arts Center)
(I was a black widow. Much like the picture you see here):
My sister wrote this blog message recently and I will have to admit it really is the true-life-real-deal we had to "put up with." Now we get to sent the same coded insane messages to our own children. Lucky kids! We would joke about the translations as youth and check to see what mom said so we can figure out what the next step is.
Never say yes to anything. I inherited this tendency from my own mean mother. It took an entire childhood of studying this ancient dialect to get it down pat and be fluent at it myself. So allow me to translate for you so that you can inflict this upon your own children. It's the least I can do.
Take this simple question: "Mom, can I go bowling with so-and-so?" Hmmm... seems straight forward, right? WRONG! Pay attention, people.
"No," of course, means no. [Don't push this one or trouble will ensue!] But any other response to the request gets a little more complicated. For instance, there's
"we'll see," which means Yes, but I don't feel like consenting at this exact moment and if you hound me about it I'll eventually say no.
"Maybe" means Yes, but I'm going to think of something to make you do first, such as clean your room.
"Let me talk to Dad first" means I can't make up my mind whether it's a good idea or not, so I'll let your permissive father say yes and then he can get the blame when you act like a spoiled brat later and I won't have to feel guilty for it. And then of course, there's
"I guess," which is as close as a mean mommy ever gets to actually saying ye... ye... ye... the Y-word [which is NEVER uttered from a mothers lips in our family unless we really want to torture ourselves. It really is a difficult thing for us].
We had an interesting week. Yet again, Mom's overbooked herself with good things but things that require lots of energy. Energy taken away from things most important. In particular, calm and sweet family moments. Can I just say v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n? So desperately needed yet so far away. I am very glad Thanksgiving is coming soon. Our family needs the break.
We got together this week as a family to talk about being reverent during moments when we should be meditating. I remember as a young child visiting a neighbor girls house. Her mother had what they called a "meditation moment." Everyone in the house needed to contain themselves to a reasonable level of quietness. No one was allowed to knock on the door nor enter her bedroom during meditation moment. Whew do I need those - I am sure you who read this think the same about your own lives. Unless you take those moments for yourself already. In that case, I say congratulations you've received an incredible level of organization with your family and life.
I will soon post pictures of our family in costume and us in "meditation moments" HA! If I can get it on camera - we shall see!
The sweet spirit our children bring into our home invites me to laugh, shake my head at times, and forces me to see things at a different level. Here is an example of the latter. The children have a camera of their own. Here are some of the pictures they took:
Little Princess a-d-o-r-e-s her pillow she calls affectionately, "Pico." It is her lovey. Yes, she is very sophisticated. When Little P was a new born, I would place this bolster pillow in her co-sleeper to give her comfort since she looked so tiny in that big bed all by herself. She started growing accustom to it and played with the fringes on the end of the pillow. She calls it a he and sucks her thumb whilst grabbing the fringes between her pointer and middle finger. She took this snapshot of him. He has a special place in her heart.
Look into my eye.....
What's the time? It's time to get ill.. What's the time? It's time to get ill!
Pllllllllbbbbbb!
