Fashion Friday

If Merry keeps coming up with creative outfits I will keep sharing them. Some times I think she's a nut.

I like to think of this as her Island Wear.

The skirt was brought back from Nicaragua from her Great Grandmother's gulf cruise. But the shirt is a Target find. I'm pretty sure they "go together" because they "both have flowers."

What really set this outfit apart was the scrunchies as anklets. I'm glad my scrunchies, witch I haven't wore since the 90s are finally seeing the light of day once again.

scratch art

So I have bee busily cleaning, sorting, and sidetracking myself this week. But I can't be the only one to pick up a pile looking like this

and imediatly thinks, "Art Project"

The instructions were simple. First color a note card with crayons, make sure to press down hard, make layors of color and for best results color with lighter colors first then color over them with darker colors. The more crayon on the paper the better.

Second use a tooth pick and scratch the outlinr for your picture.

And wa-la fun easy art sutible for any fridge.

my little fashionista

Merry has a fashion sense all her own and todays outfit was worth sharing.

Her outfit consists of a vintage sunny dress, circa 1984 (previously worn my me) jeans that were just a smidgen to small (expecting a flood?) and her black boots. Boots are currently a fashion staple for her be it her black boots, cowgirl boots or rain boots.

so top is Merry and bottom is me,

And no impromptu photo shoot would be complete without making the girls pose like there in Japan

T minus one week and counting

So I now have just one week to go before we start the school year. I had started the summer with lofty goals and hopes to have this year planned and prepared way in advance. Then we would only have to open the books. But those goals were quickly foiled by a paper jam in my printer and the general sense of discouragement that followed.

Now the crunch is on, I have a new printer, new set up (the spare room is now the school room), and a new sense of urgency. Week one is all planned out but the room still isn't ready for us.

So I guess my blogging break is over, time to rearrange furniture and printout worksheets.

ToothFaerie

I've never tried to have my kids believe in anything not true. (i.e. Santa Clause, Easter Bunny or ToothFairie) We like having the fun traditions (i.e. stocking, egg hunts, and quarter) but I never want my kids to question what is real or to give others credit for what I do. After all there are years the stocking of goodies is all we can do for them at Christmas I want them to know that was me thinking of them. And I feel the same way about the toothfairie.

So when my daughter lost her first tooth I had put some thought in how I wanted celebrate. The result: her tooth-faerie doll and cards. I bought a cheep fairy doll (hers happens to be Barbie) and told her that as long as she had it we would play faerie every time she lost a tooth. The Faerie leaves not only a quarter but also a small card where I write the date and which tooth was lost.

Charry has been very diligent leaving her tooth and doll on the bookshelf before bed each time so she can get her quarter and her card. In fact after the first three I skipped the card because she didn't seem interested so she made a special request that I not forget the card this time.

It's always nice to know your kids appreciate what you do. And besides making Tooth-faerie cards is a fun way to use up scraps and the extra embellishments that I always have laying around.

Disneyland

For thirty very happy years I didn't go to Disneyland. Not Even Once. I had seen pictures, received the occasional postcard but never actually gone anywhere close. And I never missed it. Not Even Once.

This year life was weird and hard and being a mom/wife was weird and hard. So someone offered us a trip to Disney. My gut reaction was to say, "No Thank you." But I worried about my kids because of how weird and hard things had been, so my husband and I said, "OK." And we all went to Disneyland.

Now as anyone who has been to Disneyland can attest to at the end of the week we were experts, ready to share our new found knowledge with anyone willing to listen. And so I have the following bits of wisdom and advice gained from my experience.

1. Get to the park early as possible, better yet get the Magical morning pass and come an hour earlier. That way you can ride more rides and spend less time in line.

2. Pack a lunch, best time to eat is while in the longer lines.

3. Get a small backpack for each child to carry their own gear, lunch and water.

4. In the gear: dry clothes incase they get really wet.

5. Take a siesta/dinner break to rest and save money by not eating at the park.

6. Set your souvenir budget ahead of time and stick with it.

Now you may be curious how our trip was thanks to our wisdom. Well unfortunately the wisdom came after the trip was over so we won't know if any of that would have helped until next time (hopefully it won't take thirty years to go back.)

June 17th, 2011

I tend to write only when I feel at my absolute worse. When all my emotions are ready to burst and I have to just let them all out. But that doesn't really show how I am from one day to the next.

Everyday is a little different. Sometimes I feel a little lonely. Sometimes I feel a little sad. Sometimes I look at his picture and smile, he had cute ears. Sometimes I look at his foot print and smile, he had my weird toes.

So even though I may have a tear in my eye I still have times when I can remember and smile. God is good and I know this life is temporary. Someday I will see my son again and until then I can love him from afar.