Wiggly!

Yep, it has happened!!!!

SIMON HAS HIS FIRST LOOSE TOOTH!!!!

And he could not be more excited.  He has waited a very, very long time for his first wiggly tooth.  He discovered it this weekend and CANNOT keep his hands from wiggling his tooth.  (I keep making him wash his hands, oh the germs.)

I will never forget the last day of Kindergarten.  He came off the bus with his head hung low, all sad and mopey.  He became teary when he saw me.  I asked him if he was excited for summer.  He first stated he would miss his teacher. Then, he said "Kindergarten is over, I am still 5, and I haven't lost a tooth".  Starting in Kindergarten, each class has had a loose tooth chart and whenever a kid lost a tooth, their name would be added.

I wonder if there are any other 2nd graders that have yet to loose their first tooth?

We have his Grandma made tooth pillow all ready.   I hope his tooth fairy is ready!!!!

Simon brought a whole apple for his fruit snack today in hopes of losing it at school.  You see, they have tooth necklaces that have a tiny container that holds the lost tooth.  So much excitement for a little boy to handle.

Beyond Excited, dozen style

I love this time of year, especially when experienced through the eyes of little ones!  Amazingly, with this extra week since Thanksgiving was "early", I am not overboard where I am constantly listening to Christmas music.  YET! (wait until tomorrow). I do have to wrangle and relax 2 kids to make it to Christmas without losing their skins.  This year's joys so far:

1.  Thanksgiving was all done-and-over when dishes were being carried upstairs post turkey dinner.  Because, my little one's eyes saw snow-flakes falling from the sky.  Bodies became overjoyed and the magic of Christmas set in.  Nothing melts a heart more than hearing a 4-year old say "Happy Merry Christmas" over and over.  We couldn't help but walk around the block and attempt to make a snow angel in a dusting's worth of snow in a dress.

2.  Both kids each declare multiple times that they know what they want to get family members, including me.  Simon once said to me, "I can't wait for Norah to not be around so I can tell you what I want to get her."  Norah wraps up some of her little items on a daily basis with a recipient in mind.  I love my cheerful givers!

3.  The eternal hope that secrets can and will be kept has set deep in my heart.

4.  The play house now has a snowman door mat and a Christmas musical doorbell (secured from a rummage sale find this past summer).

5.  After picking the kids up yesterday after a Faith Weaver Friends church program, Norah declared that we "have to get set up for Christmas".

6.  This morning Norah said "I am the only one waiting for Simon to get up and put up the tree".  The excitement is high.  Today we will "build" the tree and tomorrow we will decorate the tree. Simon asked why we don't get a real tree, and that he wants one.  Sorry kid, not when it's branches are so close to the fireplace.

7.  Grandma brought over a train and a countdown clock.  Imagine the excitement.

8.  Last year I stored kitchen Christmas items in a spare cabinet in the kitchen.  I brought those out, and tis' the season has been upon us in the form of placemats, mugs, and towels.

9.  I actually remember that I purchased a book similar to this one.  Now I am deciding what to put in our Advent Calendar.  We have done the same thing for a few years now.  We always have the Usbourne Advent story and nativity book each night.  This is lovely, and the excitement builds until Baby Jesus arrives.  I am thinking this year that I will put a Christmas song title in the containers for each day.  Our devotion will be reading in the book what the carol means and how it came to be.  Then, we will listen to it (I'm sure we will have it on one of our many cd's) and sing along.  Simon is a great reader, so he can read the devotion.  This will be something new that we have not yet done.

10.  Next Wednesday Elmhurst College has their Lessons and Carols.  I LOVED this during college as it was a warm, relaxing, spiritual and welcome calm break amongst finals preparation.  It totally puts me in the right mood for the season.  Luminaria are available for $1 to go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.  Simon and Norah each get one in honor of their lovely Grandma.  This event has become one of my traditions.  I have gone with girlfriends and dessert after, I have gone with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and last year we tried as a family.  Norah was a bit young and both fell asleep.  I like this to be a family tradition and Eric loves the beauty of the evening as well.  We will decide if we go to the 4:00 or the 7:00 service.  I am sooooooo excited!

11.  Simon has told us what he wants for Christmas.  But what he wants from Santa is a secret.  Grandma told us - what he told her- what he wants for Christmas, a bit unrealistic.  As she stated he wants a guitar and an iPod.  Seriously?!?!?!

12.  And my projects get completed (mostly during Thanksgiving break), and some have been added.  Some not even started.  YIKES!!!

I soooo love this time of year.  I almost enjoy the time before Christmas more than Christmas itself.

My absolute other very favorite moment?   Well, there are two.  The first with my family in church singing Silent Night, in the candle-lit church.

The other? On Christmas Eve, the children are nestled all snug in their beds. The night is dark and quiet, interrupted only by the dim white lights of the Christmas tree.  All decked out in glory and the magic of joy in the morning.  The mantel filled with angels and stockings hung with the hope of Santa's gifts.  The table elegantly set for Christmas breakfast.  Eric and I soaking up the moment just looking and sipping our wine.  Thankful that we absorbed the Birth of Jesus, the true reason of the season and were blessed enough to provide a happy Christmas.   And that we got it all done!

Hug those you love!

We know two families that are struggling with the movement required to perform all the little activities in daily life.

One is a high school friend of Eric's that has been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease.  He has progressed to where moving his arms has become a true struggle and his legs are starting to feel weak.  His kids are in middle school and his loving and lovely wife is a special education teacher.

The mother of another family we met through our sitter and Simon's school had a very serious car accident.  She broke her radius, has fractured vertebra, and a constricted spinal cord.  She is in a rehab facility for quite some time, probably until early December.  They have a girl who is in the first grade.

Hug your kids and those you love, be grateful for every little thing, and be glad you are able to do what usually causes complaints!

And if you can add these two families to your prayers, God will hear.

Once upon a time . . .

I don't view Norah as a princess.

• She loves worms; digging for them, holding them, playing with them, fishing with them, and excited about them on rainy days
• She touches any animal that comes her way; dogs, cats, fish, worms, caterpillars, roly poly bugs, snakes, turtles, etc.  Just no spiders!
• She loves dirt and everything about digging in it.  From planting seeds to just digging and moving it around.
• She'll play anything with Simon.  Cars, legos, animals, sports, chase, race, hide-n-seek, doll house, anything pretend, etc.
• She is loud, opinionated, silly, super fun, strong willed, super chatty, and emphatic.  Did I say she is loud?  
• She does not play with dolls.  Any stuffed animal is loved and adopted without question. Parting with such items is unnecessary and never considered.
• She has never had any clothing item with the word "princess" written nor has she had any princess toys.
• We have NEVER EVER called her a princess.
• We have not watched a lot of princess movies.  Some are just way too scary.
• She does love to wear dresses.  Daily.  We are stocked with knit dresses and knit pants/leggings.

Since Halloween provides a chance to dress up as something you are not, this fits my Norah.  She has decided to be a Princess again.  She told me that she can be Minnie next year.  

Simon is ecstatic.  He has his princess back.  Let the rescuing begin!

I do love that she is not a specific princess, named and costumed by Disney.  She is just a pretty princess.  With a lovely, satin dress bought by Grandma (to be worn again next Easter - I am all about dual purpose when it comes to Halloween) and pink sparkly shoes.  A cape and crown to accessorize and a wand designed with and to be made with Daddy.

And there is still time to change her mind back to Minnie.

I don't think so though, I believe her mind is set.  Only time will tell. 

14 out of 19

I have created 14 of the 19 pieces needed for Simon's dragon scarf.  Just need to cut the felt pieces, and assemble all parts.  Whew!!

• back
• belly
• mouth
• tail
• 2 round parts for nostrils
• 2 small pieces to add to nostrils
• 2 ears
• 2 eyes
• 2 streams of fire
• 2 white felt eyes
• 2 black felt eye balls
• white felt teeth

If I knew all the details about this scarf, I may have chosen a simpler pattern.  But, I am glad that I made this scarf.  I increased my pattern reading skills for knitting. I have never blocked my knitted or crocheted projects.   Following some online suggestions on how and why to block acrylic yarn, I made my first attempt.  Once the pieces are dry, I will lay out the length of the scarf belly and scarf back to also steam and dry. My ironing board is only so long!

Then, assembly is needed.  I am looking forward to seeing the final product!

Change of Character

So my Lil' Miss does not want to be a princess. Honestly, she is not the princess type.  Norah wore her red and white polka-dot jumper dress to preschool. Her teachers told her she just needed a bow to look like Minnie Mouse.  She now wants to be Minnie Mouse for Halloween.

NOT a princess.

She was o-kay with being a princess; I am not so sure she loved and clung to the idea with utmost excitement.

But Minnie, this actually suits her better.  She has a strong, true love for small figurines of characters.  An intense, burning love, where she must constantly hold a small character.  This love has lingered since she was itty-bitty.   LOVES her characters.  Today she wore a dress with a pocket, and seconds after donning it, Eric asked me to check the contents of that pocket.  A tiny pony was inside, all cozy and comfy.  Hence the need for pockets.  Small, plastic animals or characters are necessities of daily life.  Didn't you know?

So, Minnie seems to be the costume that she loves and that fits her best.

I went to one more resale, Rhea Lana, if you've ever heard of it. If not, see if it is in your area and go, quality items slightly used at great prices.  While there, I picked up a red and white polka-dot bow clip from a vendor.  While perusing the clothes, I found a black and white polka-dot turtle neck and a black and white polka-dot zip-up hoodie that is lined in red!   I also found Minnie Mouse shoes, for $8.00.  A quick check on ebay found them available for $29.95 plus $9.95 for shipping.  I think I got a pretty good deal!  Since Norah's foot is approaching a size 11, her new Minnie Mouse shoes sized 11-12 will be played with for some time to come.  Maybe worn out and about as well!

I made her close her eyes while I put them on her feet.  She was so happy when she opened her eyes.  So happy in fact, that she took them off in just one minute and said, "I don't want to ruin them".

Minnie Mouse ears will be made from felt and hair clips from my basement stash. That's a project we will make together.   I found 1 1/2" wide white elastic in my basement stash and bought a belt buckle at Jo Ann's.  All I need is a big, white, bow to attach to the belt.  I'm hoping to use a large, white hair bow to attach to the middle of the belt.  If I have to make a bow, I will.  Making bows is just so fussy.

Once October comes, no more changing minds!!!  She can be a princess or Minnie Mouse.  I think it will be the mouse.

Oh, and our brave knight is still just that.  He's been happily playing knight since I completed his helmet and found a chest plate with a matching shield at Good Will.  He has made his own sword out of Grandpa's wood and tool set gift.   But oh, the sadness, he was so sad.  The brave knight lost his princess to rescue and protect.  I told him he must now be brave and save his Minnie.

Well Said

Eric asked at dinner last week, "How do we know that there were dinosaurs?". 

My Little Mister sat pondering. 

My 4 year old Lil' Miss answered, "The big rock comes and then their skins peel off and their bones are left". 

And there you have it.

How To Play 30 to Milk

Here is our story, on how to play 30 to Milk, Ready Set Go.  This game brought out the giggles and a lot of family fun.

You need an imaginative, 4-year old girl, who wants everyone at the table to guess something. 

We all were trying to guess what Norah drank for lunch, snack or sometime today. Norah emphatically repeated "ready, set, go" while pounding her fist on the table.  She added "30 to milk" to her chant somewhere along the game.   We shouted our answer all at the same time, to which she awarded each of us zero points. I received 12 20 points for giving her a kiss, then 29 more points for blowing her kisses. She kept saying "ready, set, go", and Eric asked "go where?". She mapped out a route, and declared whoever returned to the table first won. So we all went off running around the house, repeating "30 to milk, ready-set-go".   Some tickling may have been involved.  An unsuccessful attempt for the adults to hide and take a nap was thwarted by the little people.   And dashing to return to the table first enjoyed by all.  Overall, an interestingly fun game.

I really don't know. 

But it sure was fun!

Because I can't help myself . . .

I found a pattern to make this

And then I found a pattern to make this

If you recall from Octobers past, I like to make costumes for my kids.  Not just for the day of Halloween, but items that will last for dual purpose.  So, my knight in shining armor will have a sturdy helmet for bravery and a fiery dragon to slay.  But after the sugary day on October 31st, he will have a hat and scarf set for the upcoming winter.  

Perhaps this will be played with more than even I realize.  I can only imagine a fiery dragon capturing the lovely princess and the brave knight slaying the beast to rescue the fair maiden.  

They will be hand-made, but very boy!  Not cheap plastic that doesn't fit, always falls off, needs a strap modified, or broken after a few uses.

The only difficulty may be finding a variegated green yarn without cream, tan, brown, or camo colors.

Not that I need another project, but I can't help myself.  Simon is thrilled when I make him something. Thrilled, to the point of asking me each day if that is the day I will finish.  Norah has dragon jealousy. She forgets her cape and crown were made for her by me long ago.

A very busy day . . .

Here is what I did today.

12:00 a.m.  Awakened by a wiggly lil' miss who crawled in and bumped me awake and left me with no room left in the bed.  I carried her back, and since I was up, it was difficult to return to a sleeping state.

2:30 a.m.  Awakened by snoring.  The snorer got up and went to work.  I was awakened enough that I could not return to that dreamy, sleepy state no matter how strong my desire was to slumber.  So I got up and:

• checked work items via computer
• made a list
• sorted laundry, started a load and switched a load
• ran upstairs from the basement to silence alarm to prevent waking my lil' miss, she was up before 6:00, and before Eric returned from working 
• emptied dishwasher, loaded dishwasher, washed dishes by hand, cleaned counters
• turned light and watched a raccoon waddle away from our garbage cans
• made oatmeal for my lil' miss
• made my lunch
• made coffee
• showered and readied myself for work

7:10 drove myself to work, eating an egg cheese bagel made for me by Eric

7:30 hit the ground running at school, took a 30 minute working lunch, not sure if  I even used the bathroom, no breaks

3:45 forced myself to leave school for the day-care dash to pick up Norah and come home to Simon and rescue Grandma

4:00ish checked my lil' mister's homework folder, planned dinner, breathed for a bit

4:30 or so:

•  made dinner (corn dogs, carrots and tator tots for the kids and leftover beef roast and fixin's for me)
• math homework while food "baked"
• cleaned off table

5:30

• ate
• math facts practice
• reading, I dozed a bit on the couch while Simon read to Norah and myself

7:45 

• readied the kids for bed 
• changed laundry around 
• emptied dishwasher, put dinner dishes in dishwasher, wiped counters, swept kitchen floor, wiped table

8:30

• changed laundry and started to fold
• watched the 9:00 news
• Eric came home from his golf outing

9:45 felt really, really tired, but still wanted to get things done, like fold another load of laundry

And after all of that, my floors still need a vacuum and a mop and my bathroom could stand a cleaning. My work could use some time management planning.  Good thing there is always tomorrow!

I don't fold socks and if I pick up small plastic items, it usually goes into the garbage.  So I really don't pick up small plastic items.  I have enough to do!!!