It's been an interesting week...

Well, they always say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is my picture for the week.

Haircuts & Dinosaur fossils...all by Maeve I have to add.  Yes, this week Maeve decided it was time to cut her "bangs".  Technically, she doesn't have bangs, or at least she didn't have bangs.  What she has are longer wispy pieces in the front that have happened when she drags her hair pretty from her pony tail, causing a few pieces of hair to break off.  She doesn't like that, because her current favorite hair style is a low pony tail in the back, with all of her hair in it.  So, this past Sunday, while I was doing yard work and she was supposed to be playing inside, Maeve took matters into her own hands and trimmed her bangs.  Basically, cutting all the hair around her face to a super short length.  She was so proud of herself when she was telling me about it, especially the part where she told me that "I didn't even ask your permission first" knowing full well that I would have said No.  Oh well, it is just hair.  It will grow back and Maeve thinks she looks great.  So if she is happy, I am happy.  But all scissors are now safely put up and hidden from my budding hair stylist.

Now the dinosaur fossils are all part of her latest interest.  Ever since we saw the dinosaurs at some of the nearby museums, Maeve is crazy about dinosaurs.  My dressed in every shade of pink and sparkles princess is a Dino-fanatic.  One of her favorite places at one of the museums is the "Find the Fossil" area.  Basically a sand box, with fake fossils covered up and small paint brushes attached to the sides for budding paleontologists to dig up their latest discovery.  So, when I saw some dinosaur sand toys on clearance at a local store, I had an idea.  Today, Maeve & I, with the generous helping of Plaster of Paris made our very own dinosaur fossils.  Tons of fun, now I am searching for a clearance kiddy pool or sandbox to hide them in to complete the game.

The best thing about making "fossils" is that is perfectly okay if the break or chip a little coming out of the molds...and if your plaster bubbles up a little bit, it just makes them look more authentic.  ;)

My favorite picture from the week is Maeve acting silly at the pool.  This is typical Maeve and shows off her new bangs as well.

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Posted by Laura at 10:05 PM

A TV when she is 12 years old...

I should have known I was in trouble.  That is all I can say, I should have known trouble was brewing when Maeve strolled on up and casually mentioned, "Mommy, I have to ask you something."  I'm still scratching my head over what followed.

Me - "What did you want to ask me?"
Maeve, straight to the point, - "Can I have a TV in my room?"
Me - "No.  We've talked about this.  I am not getting you a TV for your room."

At this point, the discussion should have been over.  Question asked, answer received, but No, Maeve was determined to make her case.

Maeve - "But, Mommy, I am so booorrreeed.  If I had a TV, I wouldn't be bored."
Me, foolishly thinking I had her here, - "Now Maeve, if you are bored, you have so many toys to play with and books to read.  Go play with..."
Maeve, politely, but firmly cutting me off, - "Mommy, I know I have a lot of toys and books, but I am too bored to play with any of them."  At this point, her voice is adopting a tone to it.  Some sort of mix between strained patience and blatant patronization as she has to explain everything to me.  "Mommy, I am thinking of my toys, but I am too bored to play with them and I am thinking of my books too.  Mommy, I am just too bored to read."

Now, this is actually pretty funny and I am congratulating myself, a bit prematurely, that not only is this an easy argument to win, but I am getting "Good Mommy" points here by showing such patience and restraint.  So, I start up again.

Me - "Well, Maeve, if you can't find anything to do", I begin, but before I can get any further.
Maeve - "Mommy, you have a TV in your room.   No fair, I should have one in my room too.  Mommy, don't you want to be fair?"
Me - "Now, Maeve.  I don't have a TV in my room, I have a computer and I use it to work."

Now, I am feeling guilty over a little white lie, because I use my computer to watch TV too.  Just have to love Hulu & Netflix.  But I quickly rebound.

Me - "Maeve, you watch Netflix on the Ipad.  Why don't you just use that right now if you are so bored."
Maeve - "Mommy, I am just too bored to use the Ipad.  Besides Mommy, you know how I always am on your Ipad and you can't play your card game?  Well, if I had a TV in my room, I could watch my TV and you would be able to use your Ipad."

Notice the quick switch there by Maeve.  This is my favorite part.  The fact that I will have an opportunity to use the Ipad, which is mine by the way.  The conversation continued for another five minutes, with me saying No and Maeve giving her best argument on the advantages of the arrangement.  I have to give her credit, she is good.  In the end I did what any good, firm and to the point parent would do.  I told her she could have a TV when she was 12 years old.  If I thought she would forget about this conversation and I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, I was wrong.  Since then, her opening line of conversation with anyone she comes in contact with is, "I'm getting a TV when I am 12 years old.  Mommy promised me!"

I am in so much trouble when she gets older.  :)

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Posted by Laura at 2:49 AM

"The Big Kahuna's Party Pontoon"

Two years ago, for the annual pontoon decoration contest & parade, at Grandma & Grandpa's place, we took 1st Place.  Our them was "Pirates"and we went all out.  Grandpa supplied the pontoon, Uncle Tony decorated it complete with sails, air cannons in the back, and a captain's wheel on a platform for the kids to "steer" the boat, and I was in charge of costumes for all the kids and Grandpa.  Oh yes, and Uncle Eddie supplied....hmmm....hmmm...I'll have to go with morale support here.   Although, he was very helpful on the pontoon, especially when the "sails" really worked and both, Tony & Eddie, had to quickly shred them to prevent us from blowing away.  The kids and Grandpa had a blast!

Last year, Dad & some of the kids were judges, so we did not enter the competition...but this year we did....and we won again!  The theme was "The Big Kahuna's Party Pontoon" mainly due to the fact that I found a huge clearance sale and bought most of the decor for next to nothing.  This year was nearly the same as the last time.  Uncle Tony supplied the Volcano (it really worked!) and a couple of home-made surfboards to decorate the pontoon, Grandpa supplied the Pontoon and the Hawaiian music, I supplied the costumes for the kids and helped decorate the pontoon....and Uncle Eddie was big on the morale support again. :)  Now, I have to say the kids and Grandpa looked super cute...super, super cute, but the competition was fierce, one pontoon had a live polka band and another was the "League of Justice" with a bunch of super heros (another super cute one).  If I had to say what was the tipping point for securing us this win, I would have to admit it was Uncle Tony's volcano and enough smoke bombs to keep it "erupting" for the entire competition. It looked great and the kids all loved it.

For the record, everyone always calls this "Laura's Thing".  My brothers both do a little smirking when I start sending out the emails and organizing it.   Now, I organize and follow up with everyone, but when Grandpa and Uncle Tony are already arguing with me on next year's theme, I think it has turned into a "Family Thing".  :)

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Posted by Laura at 10:46 PM

She's getting married...

That's Maeve I'm talking about.  Sorry if I got your hopes up Mom. :)  As for the backstory, it started innocently enough.  Maeve is "Princess Crazy" and loves anything princess, especially Rapunzel in "Tangled".  She has the movie memorized backwards and forwards.  I found "Tangled Ever After" on Itunes and downloaded it.  It is a cute short film that shows the wedding.  This combined with the fact that I had bought a confirmation gown (huge clearance sale...couldn't resist) and had it sitting in a closet, complete with veil and gloves was too much for her to resist.  She has married just about every stuffed animal she has, and officiated several weddings as well.  Seems if a toy/stuffed animal wears the veil they are getting married.  Not sure of the legal ramifications of all of these weddings, although I have to say that "Big Bear" is getting around.  He might have his own TLC reality show soon with all of his wives.

Maeve's interest is starting to wan a bit and she is moving on to other things.  BUT....I think I am going to have to start a wedding savings fund for her, as she is pretty exact on what she wants for her wedding dress already and she is only 6 years old.  Big and pouffy, so it really twirls and the veil has to be super long.

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Posted by Laura at 11:50 PM

Maeve's Fashion Style

Around November of 2009, Maeve decided she could dress herself all by herself in the morning and did not need any "advice" from Mommy. This decision prompted some interesting clothing choices. Usually she dressed herself in some variation of pink and "Dora", but sometimes her mood took her elsewhere and we ended up with some very creative dressing options, such as the one to the left.

This look to the left was composed of her shorts & shirt, knee high Valentines Day socks and her water shoes. Needless to say, we turned

a few heads while we were out and about that day, but who am I to stifle the artist within. :)

Other days we end up with more normal looking outfits, such as the one to the right.

But a clear favorite and worn many times throughout the month of November was her Halloween costume. Here she accessorized with eyeshadow, just like Mommy (as she told me...hmm, maybe it's time for a makeover.)

We did wash off the make up before we left for our Saturday errands and my little fairy and I had a wonderful day.

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Posted by Laura at 6:00 AM

Time to get up to date on this...

It has been awhile and so much has happened in the past year, so here are some of the highlights. I'll start with October 2009...

- Vacation in Michigan for the big Hayride party at our cousin's house. We also had plenty of quality time with Grandma & Grandpa and lots of play time with all the cousins.

Of course...still "Tooning" with Grandpa.

Grandpa's "Hayride". They loved it!

Grandpa and his grandkids.

Spending time with Grandma doing something they both love...reading.

All the cousins at the Hay Ride Party.

Who are Grandpa's girls??? I know. ;)

Then back home and on to all the other activities planned for October.

Lots of fun at the company picnic...

Later in the month, we went to the "Movie in the Park" showing. Can you guess which movie? :

Halloween at last! Maeve was a fairy with a really nice costume from "The Children's Place". She loved it!

We spent Halloween with some old friends...

and some new friends. :)

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Posted by Laura at 6:06 AM

Webster's Definition of "Spoiled"

According to www.merriam-webster.com, the definition for "spoil" or the inflected form "spoiled" is as follows,

a : to impair the disposition or character of by overindulgence or excessive praise b : to pamper excessively

Let's see if this definition fits Maeve...

This past Sunday, I woke up at 7:30am to a three year old poking me and hollering, "Wake Up MOMMY!" in my ear. (My little angel had actually let me sleep in a hour past my normal wake up of 6:30am. No spoiling there, just a generosity of soul that recognized Mommy needed a little extra sleep that morning.) Next, after a quick breakfast, a certain small person convinced me a trip to the pool was just what we needed. Something about asking the same question, "Mommy, go swim?", fifty different ways has a certain persuasive aspect to it. Off we went for the next hour or so. (With my best interests still at heart, my little angel realized I might need a little refreshing and the ice cold water was just the trick.) Then it was back home, where the little general graciously allowed me time to do the yard work and a few household chores. (My angelic cherub even grudgingly picked up almost half the mess she had made with her toys in the living room.) Shortly into the afternoon, my little angel, decided she didn't have time for a nap, when the world was desperately in need of a princess and in her big pink foo-foo dress, complete with crown she certainly fit the bill. So, sans the nap, but with global peace and an environmental campaign to save the rain forest in mind, Maeve headed off to the local grocery store with me.

At the store, Maeve became a little cranky (now who can blame her, after all saving the rain forest can cause some stress in a three year old), so Mommy resorted to her tried and true method of offering her a treat to eat while in the store. "Do you want some cake?" I asked, meaning a plain cake donut that has satisfied her during past trips. But this trip to the store didn't include regular Maeve, this was mighty Princess Maeve who was on a quest for global peace and rain forest restoration. This Maeve quickly located and insisted on having a 1/4 chocolate sheet cake decorated with various flowers and trim. A cake that was not complete until three ballerinas and a fanciful "Maeve" was added to it.

Now, I could have said "No", but it wasn't truly spoiling. After all, Maeve did recognize that Mommy was a little tired and what better to fix that, then a quick sugar fix. Plus Maeve knows Mommy loves chocolate too. Besides, who can say "No" to the mighty Princess Maeve, promoter of world peace and champion of the rain forest!

PS - Maeve has been singing "Happy Birthday" all day today and telling me that this is her (or mine) birthday cake. :) 0 comments

Posted by Laura at 10:00 PM