Handy Manny Birthday Cake

As I mentioned earlier, my youngest daughter turned 3 last month. 

This is where I’d like to talk about how beautiful she is – because she really is gorgeous.

(She also refuses to look at the camera for pictures)

I’d like to tell you how smart she is, what a quick sense of humor she’s got, how she posesses a God-given ability to entertain herself quietly for hours.  I’d like to tell you how bittersweet it is to watch her grow up, knowing that she is my last baby.

But since I just said a blog shouldn’t be all about ‘me’, I can’t.

So instead I’ll tell you about her Handy Manny Birthday Cake.

The kid is head over heels for Manny these days.  I have my concerns, but whatever.

She got the Handy Manny Talkin’ Toolbox for Christmas, so a toolbox cake seemed appropriate.  It also seemed easy, since I could just steal borrow the plastic tools from her set.

My mom was kind enough to bake the cake and fashion the handle for me – my only task was frosting it.  You’d think I’d be able to handle that, but actually not so much.  Cake decorating is so not my thing.  Pardon the rough splotches.

The design on the front was meant to make it look like her toy toolbox.  My dad printed the image off and laminated it and then I just stuck it in the frosting.

(You might notice here that I said ‘my mom’ and ‘my dad’ and not ‘my husband’.  That’s because he did nothing.)

Lilly was a happy camper.

And a good day was had by all.  Even by Mommy, who cried a little when she tucked a 3-year-old baby into bed that night.  Bittersweet, I tell you.

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Lilly’s First Haircut

As I have mentioned before, we support Locks of Love in this house. 

Well, those of us with hair do. Ahem.

Annie has donated twice.  Catie has donated once.  I have donated 9 times.

About a month ago, Lilly decided that her time had come as well.  It was her first ever haircut, and she got it just before her 3rd birthday.  She was delighted about the outing and sat very still, patiently waiting.  I think she was just delighted at the prospect of a short bob that would mean no more fending off Mommy wielding a hairbrush.

Here she is before:

The first cut:

And the end result:

11 inches gone!

She looks older which I don’t like, but the cut is adorable and it suits her perfectly.  Short and spunky, just like my girl!

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Wordful Wednesday – Lilly Wussell

My little Lilly Pie turned 3 a couple of weeks ago, and I didn’t blog about it yet.  Shame on me, I know.

Anyway, Catie is in preschool 3 hours a day now so I have had more time to spend with Lilly all alone, and it’s been amazing watching her grow and develop into such a unique little person.  She’s so spunky and funny and smart, and just a delightful little girl.  And she entertains herself exceedingly well, which is a quality any mother will tell you is a blessing beyond measure.

Her given name is Lillian Russell (after my great-grandmother, my great-grandfather, and my father – not the actress) but she prefers to talk about Lilly Wussell and Pappap Wussell.  They are very good buddies.

Last spring when we went to Disney she got sick.  Very sick.  Barfed in line at Toy Story Mania – barfed pretty much everywhere actually.  Among other things.  She was so sick, in fact, that she was hospitalized the day we returned home.  Poor dolly. 

But when she first got sick, I packed her up and left the park to take her back to the resort to rest.  She had other ideas though; as soon as we got back to the Polynesian she felt strongly that we needed to eat.  I guess having an empty stomach and all…  So my girlie and I hit the Kona Cafe, and had a lovely little lunch together.  Which as you might guess, didn’t stay down for long.  But it was good while it lasted.

And in that brief interlude, between episodes of vomiting, she turned on the charm as she always does.  I sat laughing and in awe of her, wondering where the sick little girl I’d seen an hour ago had vanished to, and hoping that she’d stay well.  And I couldn’t resist snapping this picture, which in retrospect is not only a cute memory, but the the very essence of Lilly.

Adorable - check.  Ornery grin - check.  Food nearby - check.  Mommy’s heart in her hand - check.

Love you, Silly Lilly.  Thanks for completing me.

*This post is part of the Wordful Wednesday carnival.  If you have a moment, swing by and check out more pictures with a story over at Seven Clown Circus.

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Makeover Monday – Lilly’s room

Finally, the saga continues.  We’re still upstairs in solid kid territory and Lilly’s room was next to get a facelift.  It was painted a nice golden camel color which I really like in our living room, but not so much in the kids rooms – it looked so dull and dreary.  You might recall that I had already done one lovely lime green room, and as luck would have it there was a whole gallon of paint left over (huge shout-out to Wal-Mart for their one-coat coverage paint which actually does cover in one coat!)  So guess what color Lilly got?

I timed her new paint job to coincide with the switchover from nursery to big girl-room, so it was very easy to pull out the crib, changing table, etc and paint in an empty room.  Definitely made the project go faster (which is awesome since I do these things all by myself) and felt like a more dramatic change.  I also replaced the basic light fixture in her room with a ceiling fan.  I know they aren’t the most attractive things in the world, but they are functional, and I’m a practical kinda gal.

If you knew me 20-odd years ago, then you have probably seen this daybed before!  It used to be back satin (wow – what a look) and fit in perfectly with my Chicago Bulls themed room.  When I moved out my mom recovered the bed with this tone-on-tone stripe.  Looks pretty good for its age, doesn’t it?  I like it because it sits nice and high so there’s plenty of storage underneath.  Though we’ve actually kept it empty because it’s a pretty cool place to play, too.

The bounce and spin zebra has been re-homed now as well.  See that huge Mickey over there?  He’s sitting in a high chair that belonged to my great-grandfather when he was a baby.  How cool is that?  I only regret not taking a picture of each of the girls in it when they were still small enough to fit.  I’m terrible about remembering things like that.

I really hate these ugly stuffed animal nets.  My kids don’t even like stuffed animals and never, ever play with them.  Unfortunately though, people keep on giving them to us, and I feel rude immediately chucking them.  I think there must be a polite waiting period before you get rid of a gift, right?

And this is the room entrance/closet door.  As you can tell from the pictures, it’s still not done.  The problem is that I can’t figure out what to hang on those bare walls!  I can’t find anything that matches the bedding nicely, so I’d love to hear your suggestions!  My sister offered to paint a mural while she was here this summer but I felt bad having her do that on her vacation.  I now wish I hadn’t been so polite.

That’s it for this edition of Makeover Monday.  Stop by next week for the girly chic makeover I did on the kids’ bathroom.  I think it might be my favorite new room upstairs!

And of course, if you’d like to play along I’d love to see what you’ve been up to!

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A very Disney halloween

For the first time ever we used these really cute Disney jack-o-lantern patterns. They are cute, and surprisingly easy. Nest year I’ll buy a battery powered cutter rather than doing it all by hand though.

The last one was after trunk-or-treating. Yes, I know, I still haven’t posted pictures. Behind as usual!

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Election Day!

I have guilt when I’m away from the blog for too long. So rather than post the catch-ups in chronological order, I’m going with the most exciting first. We got to see The First Lady yesterday!

It was such a l-o-n-g wait! We didn’t have enough info first. There were no seats, standing room only, and it was hard concrete. It was packed, so much that I was afraid the girls would get squished. And they nearly did a few times. And it was HOT, since it was 80 degrees here yesterday and the a/c didn’t appear to be running. At least not enough.

We arrived at 11 to get a good seat (ha, ha), and the First Lady didn’t speak until 12:40. The girls were very patient, but they did get quite tired. Annie rested on Pappap’s shoulders:

I made them all outfits to wear. Catie is wearing a really cute twirl skirt that you can’t even see in this picture! lol Annie designed her own tee. She is absolutely enthralled with the idea that a woman could be VP. Interesting to me, since having a female leader has never been at all important to me. But I’m happy to see her enthusiasm. Anything can happen, child, anything can be.

Lousy picture, but at least you can see a glimpse of Catie’s skirt. The bottom layer was blue with silver glittery stars.

Lilly still does her Disney World picture pose! She’s holding Tink of course.

I can’t get these pictures to appear in the order that I want and I’m frustrated and giving up. This was taken at the end of the rally. The crowd was thick and I couldn’t see at all, so I just held the camera up and snapped away. This is a pretty good one!

Here she is giving her speech. Behind her are local candidates:

A better shot of Lilly’s shirt:

Annie wanted desperately to meet her but there was no way I could get to the front of the crowd. She and Catie are small, so they held hands and worked their way up to the front, very excited. Unfortunately then a man passed out next to them, and they had to move so paramedics could get in.

OK, try again. Catie gave up, but Annie wormed her way up front again. In comes the r-u-d-e lady and her child standing next to Annie, who told her that she had to leave. Annie was confused and just looked at her, and the lady said that kids weren’t allowed to talk to the First Lady. Annie ran away in tears. Turns out this was just some attendee who didn’t want Annie taking away from her own child. MANY children got up front and met the First lady, got autographs, snapped pictures…Annie just wasn’t one of them. If I had found the lady who scolded my daughter I might have cheerfully choked her.

Instead I told my baby not to cry, hoisted her onto my shoulders, and ran in as close as I could. Mrs. Bush was just about to leave and I knew I couldn’t get any closer so I told Annie that this was it. She shouted, “I love you Laura!” It was so cute, and many people in front of us turned to look. Including… Mrs. Bush! She looked up and smiled and waved right to Annabelle!!! It was definitely the highlight of our day, and could have been better only if I was able to take a picture of the moment. But that’s ok – when we left Annie found a heart-shaped rock at Fazoli’s that she kept as her remembrance of the day.

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Let’s talk serious literature

my current favorite kind, that is. Namely children’s books. LOL

In reading to the girls each night I often think of things I mean to blog about later. And then of course I forget to do so. So tonight, after reading 2 stories, saying our prayers, and tucking three sweet little angels into bed, I raided their library. I have beside me a stack of things I’ve been meaning to mention for some time now. So in no particular order…

-My favorite page from Kevin Henkes Julius, The Baby of the World:
“JULIUS, THE GERM OF THE WORLD. BY ME,”said Lilly. “Once upon a time there was a baby. His name was Julius. Julius was really a germ. Julius was like dust under your bed. If he was a number, he would be zero. If he was a food, he would be a raisin. Zero is nothing. A raisin tastes like dirt. The End,” said Lilly. The story earned her ten minutes in the uncooperative chair.

If you haven’t read this book, please do. It’s really quite funny and not as mean as it sounds – there is a happy ending. For that matter, all of Kevin Henkes books are worthwhile. My personal favorite is another book about Lilly, Lilly and the Purple Plastic Purse. I’d say his books are good for the 2-5 year old range.

-Seasonally appropriate, I love Jerry Seinfeld’s Halloween book! It’s probably designed for slightly older kids – say in the 30+ range. LOL It could be read to little ones (5-10), but honestly they won’t appreciate it like you will. They won’t be able to wax poetic with you about the costumes of yore. Trust me. Buy this book. Pretend it’s for your kids. And then love it up. And if you can find it, definitely buy the coveted collector’s edition which includes a CD of Seinfeld himself reading the book. It’s classic.

So the first time you hear the concept of Halloween when you’re a kid, your brain can’t even process the idea. You’re like, “What is this? What did you say? Someone’s giving out candy? EVERYONE WE KNOW is just GIVING OUT candy?…I’ll wear anything I have to wear. I’ll do anything I have to do to get the candy away from those FOOLS who are so stupidly GIVING IT AWAY!”

-Probably my favorite children’s author ever is Shel Silverstein. And I ask you, is he really a children’s author? Is the man really writing to little kids, or just to the kid in all of us?

Listen to the MUSTN’TS, child,
Listen to the DON’TS
Listen to the SHOULDN’TS
The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON’TS
Listen to the NEVER HAVES
Then listen close to me –
Anything can happen, child,
ANYTHING can be.

(from Where the Sidewalk Ends)

-And speaking of Mr. Silverstein…as much as I adore his poetry books (the above, plus Falling Up, A Light in the Attic…) I’ve always been troubled by a few of his books. Namely, The Missing Piece and The Giving Tree. I find myself thinking of this often, since as luck would have it, Annie loves both stories. They seem so…metaphorical. So what do you think – are they about marriage? Looking at Shel’s personal life one might well believe that they are. And if that’s true, it makes me sad. So while these stories may be great, once I looked at them in this light I’ve never been able to read them the same way again. And on the nights Annie selects either book, I have to choose another one to follow so we can end the evening on a more positive note. Have you ever felt this, or is this just another example of my insanity?

And in closing, another mini book giveaway. Do you or your child like Junie B. Jones? (I do like the stories, but don’t like that I have to edit them to remove the ‘hates’ and the ’stupids’) I have a shiny new copy of Junie B. Jones has a Peep in her Pocket that’s just waiting for a lucky reader. If you’d like to enter, just leave me a comment here. Tell me what you think of my over-analyzing children’s authors, or recommend to me another great book or author for little ones. I’d love the inspiration! I will draw a winner at midnight on Thursday, October 16th.

Good luck!

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I love these kids

Annie has been home on fall break and it’s been so wonderful. When she heads back to school on Monday my heart will hurt again – I miss her when she’s gone.

Of course she will be thrilled – she ran downstairs this morning and the first words out of her mouth were “Do I get to go to school today?” Don’t worry about my feelings, kiddo, really. I’ll try not to be offended! lol I really am glad that she loves it so much though – I know we’re blessed in that regard (see that word again?).

At breakfast she suggested that we all pray for Grama, who was at the doctor. So proud. My mom had a hysterectomy + on Wednesday, and is having a difficult recovery.

Late morning they asked if they could watch a movie and I obliged, thinking of the work I could sneak in while they were occupied. As they snuggled together on the couch I heard Catie say, “I love you guys so much” and Annie replied, “I know Catie. I would be lost without my sisters.” It brought tears to my eyes. And actually I am also blessed in that regard as well, because words like these are a pretty common occurrence around here. I’ve always been careful to tell them how lucky (blessed) they are to have each other, and how sisters are best friends, no one will ever love you like your sisters, etc. I hope that stays with them their whole lives.

Before Annie’s soccer game last week they were playing on the playground, and one of her teammates came up and asked Annie to play with her. She said, “I’m playing with my sisters right now, but you can join us if you want.” I love that she didn’t ditch them to play with the big kids.

I really can’t remember what I did before these girls entered my life, but I know it wasn’t anything good. They are my favorite people in the world.

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Reason #76 why a home office in the basement is a bad idea

All I had to do was print a few shipping labels. 5 minutes, tops. When I went downstairs the scene was pretty dull. Catie was crashed on the couch:

Lilly was snacking happily in her high chair:

And well-behaved, ever-responsible Annie was reading a book.

When I came back upstairs something was different. For one thing, Annabelle had changed her clothes. (Ok jammies, whatever. It’s a jammie kind of day at our house. Also known as ‘a day when Dadda isn’t home’) But it wasn’t just the pajamas. Something else had changed. If only I could put my finger on it…

So I asked about it.
No, she did not have anything to eat.
Yes, she is sure about that.
Very sure.
Yes, she knows that lying is wrong.
No, she does not need to think about that again.
She is positive.

Hmmm… Then how in the world did this get here?

(I mean come on kid, seriously! At least throw away the wrapper! Spot check in the bathroom mirror! Something!)

When confronted with this evidence, she blushed. And looked at the ground. And said, “Oh.” And then, “Also I couldn’t find a napkin.”

I glance over to where her little finger is pointing:

“We don’t have to tell Dadda about this do we?”

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