House of Estrogen

Happy Memorial Day!

Sorely Overdue Easter Post

Easter was so long ago, but I hated for it to pass me by completely with no photos, so here are some long overdue Easter pictures.

My little cupcake baking helper

and cupcake decorators in cute bunny aprons from their sweet Aunt B. Thank you, Aunt B!

The cupcakes were nothing if not well decorated... or, er, overly decorated.

We didn't decorate eggs this year, and nobody complained. I felt no guilt in skipping a year of that mess. Perhaps we'll dye them next year.

Elise and Addie participated in our neighborhood egg hunt. Addie looked so sweet in her spring dress.

I could not convince Elise to wear something pretty. <sigh> Khaki shorts and a grey tee just don't scream Easter to me, but I have to pick my battles.

To give her some credit though, she did have a good point that the hunt location for the big kids doesn't exactly lend itself to fancy dresses and nice sandals.

Fortunately, the bunny at this egg hunt was much friendlier looking than the creepy horror movie bunny from the last hunt we attended.

The night before Easter, the girls put out a snack for the Easter Bunny, "Eat up and Enjoy!"  Do you think the Easter Bunny really eats Tootsie Rolls?

Then, they killed me. They put out notes to the Easter Bunny requesting what they wanted in their baskets! Whaaaa?  Letters to Santa... yes. Letters to the Easter Bunny?  Um...NO!  The Easter Bunny does NOT take requests. No way. No how. Not happening.

The letters read:

"I want a white paint and purple paint, new games for my leappad, books, Pez, candy, paint set (water colers)  from addie (pink basket)"

"Dear Easter Bunny, Happy Easter!! You must be really busy so I'll make this quick. For easter I would like: Books (Hunger games), Amazon gift card, and Book of advansd jump rope trick. (Elise, purple basket) P.S. thank you!"

"Dear, Easter Bunny Hi! I'm Nina and I'm 8 years old. I would like make-up, and Hank Zipzer books, jewelry, candy, watercolor paint, and paint brushes, and a paint pad. from Nina (Blue Basket)"

I'm not sure any of them received things on their list except for Addie and her Pez. They all seemed happy with their baskets, regardless. After breakfast, they went hunting in their pajamas for the eggs the Easter Bunny left in the yard.

We had a nice Easter dinner with both sets of grandparents later in the day where I neglected to take any pictures. It was a nice dinner, despite the lack of photo evidence. One of these days I'll figure out how to host a meal and take pictures too.

Easter is long gone, and summer is nearly here. Time flies when you aren't a timely blogger. Hopefully I'll do better this summer. It is going to be a busy one though!

Mother's Day

It is nearly midnight. As Mother's Day comes to a close, I find myself sitting here watching "Doc McStuffins" with my four year old as she does a nebulizer treatment for asthma. As much as Mother's Day is supposed to day of pampering, relaxation, and a "day off" for moms, there's just no such thing. Don't get me wrong, I had a great Mother's Day. There was a fancy breakfast, lovely gifts, some time to myself, and a nice dinner as well. In the big picture though, there is just no break, no time off, no vacation from being a mother. It is a hard 24/7 job, period. A day at the spa, a weekend at the beach, or a week in Hawaii may be a little time off from the day-to-day chores of wiping snotty noses, packing lunch boxes, and muddling through confusing second grade math homework, but there is no break from the overwhelming responsibility of raising these little people. Is another nebulizer treatment at home the right answer? Or is it time to head to the ER?  She's in respiratory distress, but how bad is the respiratory distress?  Sometimes the questions feel so big. Moms have been doing this mothering gig for centuries. I know I can do it. Sometimes it just hits me what an awesome responsibility it is. I have to keep these little people safe. I'm responsible for their health. I have to do all I can to insure that they grow up to be hard-working, honest, responsible, independent adults.

You'd think I'd have adjusted to this by now. I've been a mom for ten years. Some days seem harder than others though, and those are the days I'm reminded how huge the job really is.

The nebulizer is done, and I'm off to bed to lie there waiting to see who needs it next. Will I be watching Handy Manny with the four year old or iCarly with the ten year old? I'm tired... not physically, just mentally. Tired, and desperate for a wheeze and cough free night.

Good night. Sweet dreams.

Early Easter Fun with the Old Folks

This past weekend, my mom invited us to a family Easter event at their retirement community. I had no idea what to expect, but it turns out those old folks put on quite a nice little celebration for grandkids!

We had lunch, and then there was face painting.

There was a magician making balloon animals.

There was a photobooth, crafts, and the creepiest Easter bunny ever. Addie was scared of him. Can you blame her? Check out that face. He looks like something out of a horror movie.

Of course, no Easter celebration is complete without a good old-fashioned Easter egg hunt. Nina declared the age 6+ hunt "the worst Easter egg hunt EVER". (Apparently it was quite disorganized.) Addie had fun at her hunt though.

 

As we got ready to leave, I thought it would be a great opportunity for a nice picture of the girls with their grandmother. Uh yeah... maybe not. We'll have to try that again another time.

Happy Easter!

Happy Balentine's Day!

I think my favorite part of today was listening to Addie wish everyone a Happy Balentine's Day, talk about her Balentine's Day party at school, and to see how excited she was about all the Balentines she received. I doubt next year will be Balentine's Day, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

The last two years, we have put a lot of time and effort into the girls' Valentines for school. Two years ago, we did the iPod Valentines. Last year, we upped the ante with the iPhone Valentines. This year, I had no time or energy for anything complicated. I needed cheap, easy, and quick. Hello Pinterest! I found these great glow stick valentines on the Teacher Wife Blog complete with a free printable. Bingo!  Glow bracelets are 15 for a dollar in Target's Dollar Spot. For six bucks, I got enough for all three kids classes. 

 

I hope Addison's friends enjoyed their Balentines from Abbison and Appison!

For the first time ever, I decided to attempt heart hairdos. I have always admired these but never actually attempted them.

Elise's hair is short enough that there weren't a lot of options. I went with this little side heart. I think it has potential, but I definitely need more practice. She liked it, but apparently she took it out on the bus on the way to school when Nina told her it looked ugly. Gotta love little sisters.

For Addie, I went with the braided heart. It turned out OK, but her hair wasn't quite long enough to really do it properly.

Nina's hair is the longest, and I think hers definitely turned out the best. Fun, huh?

I hope all of you had a wonderful Balentine's Day!

Christmas Wrap-Up 2011

Christmas was good to us this year. My dining room table made a rare appearance to host Christmas Eve dinner.  If you know anything about my dining room, this photo in itself is nothing short of a Christmas miracle.

This is my parents' first Christmas here since their move from Texas, so they came over for Christmas Eve dinner. My dinner plans involved cooking a pork roast. Unfortunately, I forgot to pull it out of the freezer early enough to thaw it completely. Since I was hesitant about serving up roast ala salmonella, I ran out and bought a Paula Deen ham on Christmas Eve. That sucker was great! Thank you Paula Deen!

My parents were in luck. They got to hear Addie's harmonica concert. It was as lovely as you might imagine from a hyped-up four year old with a new harmonica.

After Christmas jammies were opened and donned, JoJo read stories.

Then, I had a little fun taking bokeh photos of the tree,

and late that night, Santa stopped by. He stuffed the stockings and set out the baskets o' electronics.

I usually prefer still photos to videos, but I do love videotaping the girls coming down the stairs each Christmas morning. This year, I think Nina's reaction was priceless. I'm so glad I caught it on video.

You think she like her iPod?

Elise was pretty happy with her stash as well.

One of the things on Addie's list (along with a roller coaster, a fox, and a giraffe) was "little tiny people that I can push on a little tiny swing."  After puzzling over this request for a while, I finally realized that she was remembering playing with some vintage Little People that my mom's neighbor in Dallas had. As always, Ebay can usually get me out of any jam. Who would have thought that in 2011, a four year old would be asking for 1970's Little People? When she opened the gift though, she exclaimed, "It is just what I asked for!!"

In the afternoon, we spent time with JC's family. All the testosterone bearing family members (they are few and far between) received remote control helicopters. Papa looks like he was having fun!

 Addie continued her streak of good presents.

Maybe she had just opened her Cars Play-doh set. That was a huge hit. Most other toys were neglected the rest of the day while everyone played with Play-doh.

After a couple of science experiments,

 

a few rounds of new video games, too many desserts, and saying thanks that nobody's hair got caught in the remote control helicopter blades, we all settled down for a long winter's nap.

A Little Christmas Spirit, Finally

I've been feeling a bit lazy and Scroogish so far this holiday season. My Christmas cards have been sent, and much of my shopping is done, but I just haven't been able to get myself geared up for the baking and decorating. The kids need a tree though, so putting up the tree was today's mission.  J.C. is the ultimate Scrooge when it comes to the tree. In his words, "It is a wasted weekend day putting it up, and another wasted weekend day taking it down. Bah humbug."  Nice. Clearly, I was getting no help from him. Elise and I tromped around the attic until we finally found the tree.  Those tree boxes weigh a ton. We managed to drag it over to the top of the stairs. Then I slid it down the stairs, nearly crushing Elise in the process. There's a nice holiday headline for you: "10 Year Old Girl Crushed by Artificial Tree, Mother to Blame."

Eventually, we got it standing and plugged in and got busy decorating.

Addie started off the morning trimming the tree as a ballerina... a Sugar Plum Fairy, perhaps?

At some point, she decided a Pocahontas costume was more appropriate for the event. Doesn't everyone have multiple outfit changes for these occassions?

Nina asked me to take this picture of her. I'm not sure what the expression means, but I obliged.

Although J.C. would rather not be at all involved in the tree decorating process, we force him to help put the angel on top. It would not be pretty if I tried picking up Addie like that. That headline would read: "Christmas Tree Collapses under Three Year Old Dropped by her Mother."

 

In years past, I have often hosted gingerbread parties; however, this year, our local Panera Bread was offering gingerbread decorating. How can I turn that down?

I didn't have to buy anything OR clean up the mess! Plus, a few of our neighbors were there too, so it was just like a party at home... kind of... well, if you ignore all the other people we didn't know who were there too. Really, it was just like home but better. Plus, they make lattes!

I think our day of Christmas cheer got me more in the Christmas spirit. I mean how can I look at this face and not get excited about Christmas?!

Only two weeks until Christmas! Are you ready?

Surf's Up!

A Proper Tea

"A Proper Tea is much nicer than a Very Nearly Tea, which is one you forget about afterwards"

~A.A. Milne

It is hard to believe that November is here, the leaves and temperatures are falling, the Christmas ads are upon us, and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is beginning. Addison and I had plans today to attend our first holiday event of the season, the Sugar Plum Fairy Tea Party, with her good friend S. Unfortunately, S had to cancel at the last minute due to an illness in the family, so Elise and my mom joined us instead. Elise was the oldest child in the room by at least 5-6 years, but she enjoyed it regardless. Addie loved it all. She was awed by the ballerinas, gobbled up brownies and cookies, and took it all in with the wonder that only a three year old can have. Last time we attended this event was when Nina was three. I think that must be perfect tea party age, or... perhaps 40 is the perfect tea party age since I get the privilege of viewing it through the eyes of my three year old. It doesn't get much better than that.

Halloween, 2011

Halloween seemed a little different this year... not necessarily bad different, just different. We definitely had fun. We rode a haunted train. We went to a pumpkin patch, but we never carved the pumpkins. Our porch sported plain jane jack-o-lanternless pumpkins this year.

Usually, it seems we have two or three occassions to wear costumes over the course of October at Halloween parties or festivals, but this year, the costumes weren't donned until Halloween night. To say Addie was thrilled with her Foofa costume doesn't even begin to describe her state of mind. Discovering a costume for her doll took her excitement to an almost manic level.

You say you don't know who Foofa is? Really? Because Addie is quite certain you do. Over the past month, she has told countless waiters, neighbors, teachers, and friends that she was going to be Foofa for Halloween. They would say, "uh... you're going to be what?" Then with complete exasperation, she would say, "Foofa!" as if that is as obvious as something like "lady bug" or "ballerina". The adult would then turn to us with that tortured look of, "What language is your child speaking? I have no idea what she just said."  So, for you Foofa-ignorant souls, I'll help you out. Foofa is the pink monster on a quirkly little kids TV show called Yo Gabba Gabba that has a bit of a cult-like following. Here she is.

Addie makes a rather cute little Foofa, eh? My mom made the majority of the costume. I ordered the hat from Etsy seller HLP Studio. I think this may be my favorite House of Estrogen Halloween costume ever!

We dined on mummy sausages, monster fingers, and monster mouths.

Then it was time to set out trick or treating. We had a bit of a motley crew... Athena (Goddess of wisdom), a devil (who forgot to wear her horns), and little Foofa. I always admire families who plan a theme for Halloween - with every child being a character from Harry Potter, Wizard of Oz, or Alice in Wonderland. It always looks so fun and coordinated. We're just not that family. We went with more of a devil, goddess, flower monster sort of theme.

Then, we set out in the rain... the cold, miserable, dreary rain. We've had cold Halloweens in the past with jackets covering up costumes. We've had hot Halloweens in the past with costumes changed out at the last minute because they were too hot to wear. I can't ever remember having a rainy Halloween though. I don't recommend it. It was wet. And cold.

It sure didn't keep anybody from the candy though.

So, we tromped around through the puddles knocking on doors. Nina judged each house on how many pieces of candy they let her take. Addie judged each house on whether or not they had a dog. If there was a dog, she would scream, turn and run back to us, leaving Nina to get a candy for her. If there was no dog, she would come away happy saying, "That house doesn't have a dog." If she lucked into two in a row, you'd hear, "That house didn't have a dog eeder!!"  All the houses were the same to me except for the one serving cornbread and brunswick stew to the parents - love that one! It was some spicy stew, but it sure warmed me up on the cold, wet night. When we returned home, the sorting, trading, and eating commenced. (How do you like Addie's hot pink hair feather?  Nothing says, "I have two older sisters" like being three years old and having a hair feather.)

Nina and Addie snarfed up a bunch of candy, saved a few for lunch boxes this week, and then set out the rest for the Halloween Witch. She will come tonight, take all the extra candy, deliver it to an organization who sends it to the troops overseas, and then leave each girl a couple of new books. Nina wanted to make absolutely certain that the Halloween Witch knew which candy to take and which candy was off limits.

About an hour later, Elise arrived home with the motherload. Then the real sorting began.

Elise ate a bunch and then gathered up her pile for the Halloween Witch as well. I think the Halloween Witch may secretly stash away a few Kit Kats and Reeses Pieces, but tomorrow, Halloween will be over. We'll have to start planning our costume theme for next year. Perhaps we'll go with a cowgirl-fairy-vampire sort of theme... something really cohesive like that.

I'm linking up with Sellabit Mum's Boo in the Blogosphere. Click here to check out more fun trick or treat posts.