Low Key

Decided that low key holidays are kind of nice.  Enjoying chilling the day after Christmas.

New Hair

Jane has been dying for a haircut for about forever now.  I've been getting so stressed with all the screaming that hair brushing brings on, that it was definitely time.  Jane has also been hinting that she wanted substantially shorter hair.  I do love long hair on little girls...but I've also been trying to take the stance that to a degree, it's her body.  Same reason I tell her that I didn't pierce her ears as a baby--it's not my decision to put permanent holes in her, she gets to make that choice.  She has, of course, told me that 'hair grows back, ya know'.  Anyway, we got to the salon and she kept pointing higher and higher til our awesome stylist said, ummm, we're just going to donate it, okay??  I took a deep breath and said fine.

 So, it's pretty short and she's flipping ecstatic. She's so incredibly happy about it, that I don't think I'm even that sad.  Except for the part where my little six year old looks like she's 10 all of a sudden!

Penny also got her first haircut.  She's got these crazy wavy curls that have been a bit of a pain.  Luckily, they don't appear to be just baby hair; even though she cut off almost 2 inches, it's still quite curly, whew.  She did great, and was happy she got a haircut after watching her big sis.

Not School Girls

Public school started yesterday; Jane is super excited that we can now visit the indoor play spaces (since they're not insanely busy). We went to a homeschooling storytime at our library and got a couple of not back to school photos. Cutey-pies!

Last Days

I'm kind of refusing to believe that summer is over.  When you don't 'start' school after Labor Day, you don't have that defined end of the season.  Especially the last few years, it's been warm into October.  However, all the local spray parks and such shut down after Labor Day weekend; we got in our last visit of the year by hitting the one at Indian Springs (can't believe we were only there once this summer!). 


The girls had fun with friends, until Penny hit her wall...she almost fell asleep in the wagon ride back to the car.

How much wood could a rented splitter split?

Mike's brilliant plan for the year: rent a wood splitter and process as much as possible in one day.  Mom came to help with the girls, and Dad came to help Mike and I with the wood.  It was pretty fun running the splitter, and we will be warm this winter!




Jane also lost another tooth tonight.

Busy Season

Summer seems to be flying.  We've been hitting as many playdates as possible, swimming and having tons of fun outside.  We went to a tye-dye party with some of our homeschool friends and made some very cool things. We're all ready to do it again!  The girls are doing a short gymnastics session this summer, which has been another good way of expending energy; it's been pretty hot this year, and sometimes we end up inside more than I'd like, just to get out of the heat.  I wish we had more shady playgrounds in our area. 

4th fun

Low key 4th of july at home this year.  We did have some local fireworks that we sat across the highway to check-out.  Jane was pretty impatient as they were late.  Penny made a wish (or a vish) upon a star--for a sparkler (for her), for the fireworks to start (for jane), for a new camera (for me!), and a car (for Daddy).  She's pretty perceptive for a barely 3 year old.

Sandy Mess Love

Magic happens when I stop trying to direct their play or control the mess on them or the lawn.  Sheer magic and joy...even if it's only for 5 or 10 or 15 minutes. 

Summer Fun

Busy warm summer so far!  Girls are enjoying summer fruit, playdates, and the climbing pyramid score from craigslist. We managed to get a little garden in, and they have a container pot each with some mini-pumpkins and sunflowers...hopefully!

Happy Three!

Kind of hard to believe I have a three year old and a six year old!  No more babies around here... Nice day, few errands, lots of outdoor fun.  Dollar store visit for a couple of balloons turned into blingy plastic birthday crowns. And earrings. Oh, the horror.  But they're so happy and fantastic in their craptastic jewels...I yield.  I also release the mommy guilt in not having a big bash and not making any gifts...or even making a birthday cake this year.  She's smiling, I'm not stressed, and Mike's managed to get the electrical wired to the gazebo (which will allow the hole by the house to be filled and hopefully not flood the basement corner again!)  

Homeschooling warm fuzzy today...as we walked around Meijers and Jane did addition problems on my grocery list pad.  With joy (like I've just given you chocolate kind of joy).  And excitement over figuring something out and 'knowing' the answer.  And then she drew a clown with a wart on his nose...cause that's how she rolls.

Penny's Swing.MOV

Silly Swing with Bling

Fairy Party

Penny's 'party' at Heavenly Scent Herb Farm.  Jenny and the girls came, as well as Grandma Deb and Dave.  Beautiful day...tired birthday girl!

Fairy Garden Fun

Been wanting to build a fairy garden, and figuring we're going to the fairy fest (where they have really expensive 'garden trays' you can make)...why not make our own?  We've had this old wine barrel full of weeds sitting around, so I cleaned it out and we put our finds from our earlier shopping expedition into it, along with a few things from around the house.  Girls had a blast, and I did too.  We even got Mike into the project, by having him cut down an old grill grate to make a little ladder, so cute!

Low Key Easter

We woke up to ham we baked overnight which was an awesome-o idea! Lovely spring day.  Just nice to have some time around the house without a big production.  Easter baskets, little egg hunt, and Mom & Dad came for dinner after dropping Gram Nomi at the airport.

Tweet

Robins are back!

Slow and steady...

Upstairs project...insulation and knee-wall for the girls' rooms is in.  Mike's working on the desk area, as well.  Little by little, and we'll get there!

St.Paddy's

Girls spent last night at Gram D's and were fairly tired out when they got home.  Did a little yard work as it's crazy nice outside, and then they watched a movie.  Unfortunately, Penny took a late nap on Mike...oh well, both of them were really tired, apparently.  Had some corned beef and cabbage, and I attempted to make some rainbow cupcakes from Pinterest w/o food coloring.  They were tasty with all the fruit in them, but definitely not that colorful.  Took a couple of cute pics outside after dinner.  Mike's trying to pull up all the bricks and pavers in the front garden, and the girls were running around enjoying the nice evening.  Jane made us a St.Patricks Day chalk picture in the driveway; she was pretty proud to have written everything herself!

Robot Princess Party Party

Jane had a fair amount of disappointment last weekend as Penny got sick on Friday and we had to reschedule Jane's birthday party.  We tried to do a few fun things to distract her (like lunch and movie out with Daddy--which might be a new tradition--Penny is looking forward to 'my birthday I go out with Daddy and Jane stays home with Mommy and gets her hair brushed' Ha.) 

Today, we had her party with some of our friends from our LIFE preschool group and our Woodland Circle group over for cupcakes and birthday fun.  Kids had a blast with the bubblewrap jumping and we built a pretty cool castle.  Mike brought home a ton of cardboard from work.  Happy birthday...can't quite believe my little girl is six.

Volt ride and Jane is Six

Mike has a Volt for the week.  We took it out to dinner tonight, and it seems really cool.  Jane is six!  She had a pretty eventful day, presents before breakfast this morning, flowers delivered from Grandma Sandee and Grandpa Mike.  Lunch out with Grandma Debbie and Dave. Birthday card from Uncle Baird and Aunt Amy for a build-a-bear outfit showed up today as well.  She picked the sushi place for dinner, and they sang to her and she got ice cream with a candle.  I love that our kid picks a sushi place as her favorite restaurant! I think she's almost getting more adventurous than I am as far as trying different sushi, but she doesn't like the spicy ones. She also got a helium balloon from the dollar store afterwards (as that was the concession for not going to Red Robin as we have in past years--'I like the balloons better than the food'. Ha.)

P.H. House Tour

Made a quick run to check out a house Jen + Brian are interested in and had lunch afterwards.  Jane was soo excited to have a little time with Averie!

V-day

Quick lunch of grilled cheese heart sandwiches and soup, and a little last minute valentines stuff tonight.   Girls got a couple of trinkets and little cards from us, and ones from the mail from Grandma Sandee and Grandma Nomi.  We're excited about having a party with friends tomorrow.

Birthday, it's a Birthday...

Had a great day around the house with the kiddos.  Had an early breakfast out with Mike and dinner out last night.  The girls spent the night with Grandma Debbie, fun for everyone.  Mike and the girls made me brownies, and Jane insisted upon candles.

Build-A-Bear Evening

More from our Build A Bear evening. Penny was climbing the store, of course. Both girls got to stuff their bears. Jane loved doing the heart thing, and  you can see that she is making a wonderful wish before placing it inside the bear. Penny really liked the stuffing machine and kept going back to stare at it.  Jane got a magic noise, and Penny got a heartbeat placed inside.  The bathing area was also a hit, although Jane now thinks she needs a hairdryer for her bear! Jane looked at a number of different outfits for her bear, Daddy spied one up high that she ended up picking.  Super bright (to match the bear) with detachable fairy wings...that light up.  Full on awesomeness right there. Penny was a little overwhelmed at that point (there was a slumber party of older girls there and a good amount of people in general in the store).  It took awhile to figure out an outfit for the penguin, but she finally liked the pink dress.  She also got a fishing pole with some fish for hers and Jane got a pair of aviator sunglasses for hers.  Jane liked the shoes, but Mike and I both struggled to get them on the bear's feet (this style had big feet?), so we went with a different accessory.  It was a fun experience for the kids, and Jane is now looking forward to making or getting more clothes for her bear.  We found matching Minnie Mouse sister sized chairs on our way out of Sears for a little break--seriously cute...and two seriously tired little girls!  Thanks Uncle Baird, Aunt Amy, and Gram Sandee + Gramp Mike!

Build-A-Bear

We welcomed Penguin the penguin and Rosepetal the bear into our home after their creation last night.  Uncle Baird and Aunt Amy gave the girls gift certs for bears for Christmas, and Grandpa Mike & Grandma Sandee gave them some money for outfits. We drove down to Novi and had some Chinese to celebrate the Chinese New Year, and then headed over to the mall to make some animals.  Friday night was busier than I expected, but the girls had a great time playing with the animals and picking out their favorites.  Jane debated a bit between a couple of different color bears, and finally landed on the most colorful one she could find.  She is not exhibiting signs of her parents' interest in minimalist designs!  Penny pretty much saw the penguin and was done looking.  We did watch Happy Feet a week or so ago, but I think she also liked how big it was!  We also didn't realize that her bow lights up til we go home, so bonus! 

BAM

After reading Freeplaylife, I've decided to participating in her 52 weeks of self-portraits challenge...took my first one today.  Kind of weird, but really, how cool to make an effort to include myself in photos.  I've often thought about how much time I spend with the kids...and how infrequently I am recorded in photos of them growing up.  It will be good for me to make an effort to take more photos (or ask someone else to!) of me...even if they're not the most flattering or perfect shots, they're just life.  I'll probably look back some day at these days of early young childhood and want to remember how I was as well as how the girls were.  It will be good for the girls to be able to have photos of me with them and in our day to day life as well.  It's a challenge, but a good one.  Posting on flicker. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jesscarleton/6760082435/in/photostream

Art?

 I knew it was a little too quiet... Penny found a scrapbooking marker in Jane's room...and tattooed her face, hands, and feet.  She was especially proud of coloring in her finger and toenails.  Gave both girls some finger paint in the shower as something that is 'okay' to put on your body (vs markers, which are not!)...and I checked on them to find Jane painting Penny, so I also painted Jane's face for her...she was pretty excited to see it, even though she 'knew I was making her a cat, because I was making straight lines, which must be whiskers'.  Geez, can't get nothin' past that kid!  Most of the marker came off...at least it wasn't a sharpie.