kryptonite and other things

 There is a word/place that exists that I cannot think about or go to without being in serious jeopardy of passing out.  I am reluctant to mention it here for the same reason, but I am sitting down and drinking something cold so maybe I'll be ok.  I don't know why I have such a visceral reaction to it, I wish I did.  It's been this way for a long time.  I remember once when I was a teenager we were just talking about it and I almost blacked out.  Now you want to know what the trigger is don't you?  It's my kryptonite so maybe I shouldn't divulge this information to the public, well my little public, in case one of you may be my arch nemesis.  Miley's been talking about superheroes too much, it's rubbing off on me.  Is it just me or does anyone else think Superman is kind of a lame superhero?

So we went to visit our sweet niece last week.  She had to get her gall bladder out.  Poor girl.  Miley was excited to visit and bring happy balloons, but Marissa was a little out of it and so tired.  Miley was a little sad they didn't play.  I guess we didn't explain the concept of surgery very well.  I was just glad that I stayed on my feet, because we had to visit her in the hospital and that my friends is the place that I cannot visit or talk about for very long.  I had seriously forgotten about my kryptonite until we were in the middle of our visit and I could no longer control my temperature and the nausea and vision restrictions started happening. ?!?!?!

I can not go to hospitals.  I think it's the smell that sets me off.  I DON'T KNOW, that's what is killing me.  I've never had a traumatic experience with hospitals.  I've had experiences, but I don't think any of them would register high up on that scale, or I've buried it deep in my subconscious.  Weird.

I can talk about and even view pictures of guts and blood anywhere else.  No problems.  I can go to the doctor's office and talk about guts and blood and still no problem.  I can touch guts and blood and am currently making fake guts and blood for decorations without any problems.  What is wrong with the hospital?  Is there a phobia name for this?  If you can diagnose and fix my problem without using that word too much you can comment because just thinking about it. . . . I think I might be able to figure out the problem if I could talk/think about it for longer, but I've reached my limit and now must change the subject.  Quickly.  And go get a Coke.

Feeling better now. . .

 Miley has decided that she would rather have school lunch than any lunch I would send with her. After our first experience we had many successful lunches which she devoured without complaint, but I guess first impressions are hard to overcome and of course the lure of something new and different is hard to compete with.  Maybe it's her badge of "I'm a big kid now", yeah like the potty training commercial.  She feels so grown up ordering and paying (with her code) for her food.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this, she is very good at doing it at restaurants.

I however, wasted a great deal of time researching good school lunch packing techniques, menus, notes, etc.  I didn't plan on doing notes every day for lunch, but after doing one the first day she loved it and requested them with her meals.  I made a bunch of notes, so I could just add one and not scramble to make one or, gasp, forget one day.  Kid jokes, yeah I read them all and am hoping Dave will appreciate them in his lunches.  Where do library books sleep?  . . . under their covers!

Dave's bummed, because now he's back to making his own lunches, but maybe a fun little note will ease the pain.  I even made little puzzle cards, because I could only write "I love you Miley" so many different ways before it became monotonous.  I guess I could have done them in Spanish, but we're trying to curb her love of Spanish after her many attempts of speaking to strangers in "Spanish." So I made these notes with closeup pics of some stuff around the house. . .

I only got to send one before her veto of homemade lunches, and she couldn't tell what the pic was of, so maybe this idea was ahead of it's time.  Oh well.  Maybe Dave will be able to guess them.  ;)  I'll keep you posted.   I didn't get to use classic eat your food threats like, "Remember, a unicorn dies every time you don't finish your lunch" either.  I don't think Dave will be motivated by those notes.  Bummer.  ;)

 I don't hang wreaths on my door for most holidays or everyday cuteness.  I don't mind them, but I just can't do it.  I can't have just plain cuteness hanging on my door.  I don't know why.  It's not a wreath thing, because I have many Halloween wreaths I've made and use.  I see so many wreaths online and even pin some of them for possible projects, but I just never make it, well for myself.  I love to decorate for my favorite holidays, so I should be into putting wreaths up.  I want to but I can't.  It's a conundrum.

I finished my Nightmare Before Christmas wreath this summer and plan on using it for Christmas on my own front door, crazy, which then sparked an idea for a Valentine's day wreath which I already started. . . and then epiphany, the wreaths I am excited about using myself must have something weird and possibly gross.  I don't know why.  My name in German means DARK.  Do you think I was like this before I was named, aptly it turns out, or did it come because of my name?  Chicken or the egg?  Nature or nurture?

 It's the most wonderful time of the year again.  Crazy how fast that came around.  I am in the process of bringing to life my Plan C for Halloween costumes this year.  Yes, two plans discarded unfortunately.  I don't usually make it all the way to my third, but I usually always have one.  I think it's the addition of a fourth player and also a third player who is more opinionated than ever that complicates my plans.

I asked Dave the chicken or the egg question about his love of Halloween, and it turns out that it was me who probably MADE him love Halloween.  By force, or because he wants me to love him.  ;)  He loves that I love it and so he inversely loves it more to make me happy, or some such nonsense that just made me smile when he tried to explain it.  Either way, he dresses up happily and I can't imagine anything cooler than that.

 No soccer for Miley this year.  I'm feeling a little conflicted about that.  She went back and forth on whether she wanted to do it again, so I was even less convinced that it was a good idea.  After all the butterfly chasing and dandelion picking of last year when she wanted to do it, I was sure convincing her to go would be even worse.  Except that she got so much better at the end of the Spring season.  Yeah, it took two seasons, but progress is progress.  Am I messing up this parenting thing by letting soccer go in lieu of another activity?  Maybe she's supposed to try lots of things and then, it'd take a miracle, she'd come back to soccer. . . well anyway, we're moving forward here, and now I'm not going to look back.  I know Jovey will play soccer so we still have that.  Miley is going to do gymnastics this year instead.  We'll see how it goes.

 Jovey's adapting to the stuck with mom all day routine.  She desperately misses her sister, but enjoys getting into her sister's stuff without Miley watching or reprimanding.  The only problem is she can't figure out when to sleep.  She will NOT sleep after Miley comes home.  She will NOT miss any more time with her sister than she has to.  She hasn't decided whether she needs one nap or two and it's getting a little tiring for the both of us.  I've decided that I need naps because of it.

 Sing it loud is my girls' motto.  Sometimes I buy things that I know my girls will love and forget to think about whether I'll be able to survive it.  Who knew putting your kids first would be so dangerous for your health.  I know I've definitely lost hearing since I bought the karaoke machine.  My girls are in heaven.  Jovey asks EVERY SINGLE DAY ALL DAY LONG to have it playing music.  She mostly just holds the mic and breathes into it though.  That's where the not being about to talk so much is really paying off.  ;)  Miley on the other hand, well sometimes I do regret teaching her how to talk. . . and sing, but that wasn't taught, that's all natural talent.

So, the other day Miley asked Jovey if she wanted her to sing her a song while Jovey was sitting on the potty.  Miley proceeded to sing something and Jovey immediately plugged her ears with her little fingers.  I have no idea where she learned to do that, probably her dad, but I tried not to laugh as Miley finished her song with a flourish.  Miley was not hindered in the least by her less than receptive audience. . . and she shouldn't be, because she's a rockstar!

 Jovey sleeps with a doll, she has had it since she's been home.  It's her comfort and she puts it in her mouth.  She wouldn't take a binky.  I'm not ready to take the doll away from her.  I'm trying to get her to sleep with it without putting it in her mouth so I told her it was ca ca and yucky to put it in her mouth.  She of course holds it until I leave the room and then pops it in her mouth.  So maybe it's not working so much.  Now she thinks the doll's name is ca ca and calls it that.  Maybe it's really not working.

Mom, take our picture. . .

. . .aren't we so cute together. . . that's what I hear from Miley any time she wrangles Jo into something that matches her, or they are sitting together nicely doing something.  So I get a lot of pictures like these. . .

 The next picture is when the lightning and thunder started overhead. . . safe with her big sis.

 And not to be forgotten, my two other sisters who sometimes get the same pictures taken.

oh the drama

A couple dramatic stories for you today.  You'll have to add the dramatic flare to your inner voice to get the full effect.

So, we've had issues with birds killing themselves on our windows.  I've tried reflector stickers, no go.  I stopped cleaning them, and that didn't help either.  OK, that wasn't a solution just laziness for a time.  ;)  I'm going to get a wind chime or something, though hanging CDs didn't scare anything away either.  Man, birds are stupid.  Maybe my windows are providing a service to the bird community.  Like natural selection.  Survival of the fittest.  That's good an all, but I'm tired of cleaning up carcasses, which brings me to my story from last week.

We heard a thud and I got up to see if my services were required outside, when I saw another bird flying straight at me.  Thud again.  Shudder.  It wasn't dead though and was flapping about on the patio when a giant hawk swooped down and picked it up and flew away.  Didn't land at all.  Right in front of me.  My girls, thankfully did not get up to check on the noises and so missed the live show.  Miley did ask why I was yelling though.  I immediately looked for my dogs to make sure they were in the house.  I need to get bigger dogs.  All was well, but now I'm not sure our backyard is safe.  ;)  Snakes, scorpions, and now attacking hawks.  Crap.

Miley's first week of school was going well until Thursday and we got a phone call saying that due to enrollment our child's class would be changed.  What?!  So it turns out that they weren't good at predicting numbers or every other child on the list fell into a black hole.  I don't know, but they hired a new teacher for this year, which Miley got, and then in the first week of school fired her as well because her class was just too small.  I was not happy.  Miley found out that afternoon in class and when we picked her up she was BAWLING.  My kid gets attached to her teachers.  I was hoping that one week was not enough to bond, but first grade is a big change and the stress of it was too much to take this much change.  I was soooooo mad that they made my baby cry, which of course meant I cried, livid-angry-tears, not the kind that damsel's shed.  ;)  We hugged her first teacher, who was heartbroken and that didn't help my angry tears, and then met her new teacher who seemed nice enough but I was too ticked to really pay attention.

Miley made some pictures and a card to go with a little present for her first teacher, while I drafted a thorough list of the ways this school has disappointed us into a letter.  The next day Miley got to visit the counselor's office for some grief counseling.  Yeah, her tears were more of the damsel variety, but they've dried up and I think we're on our way to a normal school year.  Fingers crossed.

Jovey definitely deserves to make this post as well.  She's trying out the terrible twos in dramatic fashion. . . with well, her fashion.  She HAS to pick our her clothes and pajamas, and shoes, and accessories or the crocodile tears erupt and the ugly bawling commences.  Seriously, where did she learn this crap?  Don't get me wrong, she's still my happy little monster, but she's serious about her look.  Girlie girls x 2 I'm afraid.  I asked Dave if this freaked him out, but he blew it off and said he was used to it now.  So I guess that means Jovey learned it from Miley.  ;)

(I put her in the wrong pajamas, she wanted the Minnie Mouse nightgown in her hand)

2 x 3 girlie anecdotes

Miley:

Decided school was probably cancelled one morning because it looked like it might rain.  We're not good with actual weather here.  ;)

Asked me to cut her hair short.  I told her she'd look like an old lady with short hair.  (Disclaimer:  I don't actually think people with short hair look old, just trying to dissuade my kid from cutting hers all the way off and it somehow fit with our conversation at the time.)  She said, 'Grammy has short hair and she's not old or a lady.'

I asked Miley who she ate lunch with every day this past week and every day it was a different person.  I asked her why she didn't eat with her friends and she told me that she 'sees new people and thinks, hey I should go meet them.'  I assumed all these new friends were in her same grade.  Wrongo.  I found out that she had a nice little lunch with some third grade girls where she asked them what they had learned in class that morning.  ;)  My kid, what am I going to do with her?


Jovey:

This girl loves baby dolls.  She carries them everywhere and takes care of them with all her own stuff.  I noticed when she lifts them up to hold them on her hip she does it very exaggerated like they are heavy and makes a grunting noise.  Then I watched Dave pick her up and saw the same thing play out before my eyes.  That explained a lot.

At church Jovey went up to a little friend of hers, he's just turned one and learned to walk.  Jovey went over to him and pointed to her flower on her dress and then to her headband and then to her bracelet.  I think she was expecting him to tell her how cute she was.  She didn't mind his wordless response cause he gave her a big smile.

Jo learned that Daddy hates it when you wipe messy hands or even wet hands on him.  I don't know how she knows this already, she's a quick learner.  She'll tip her sippy cup into her hands and then walk over and wipe it off on Dave and do the cutest evil laugh.  She is soooo my daughter.  ;)

Sisterly photo of the day

I may have held onto her ankles as she dragged me to the door

My baby is a first grader.  An all day, eat lunch without me, one step closer to college, kind of school girl.  Yeah, I cried.  So did Jovey.  We'll miss our Miley all day long.

Miley was so very excited for her first day of school.  She was ready extra early and begging to be brought to school.  I could not muster that kind of enthusiasm for her first day, but I'm glad she wasn't taking her cues from me.

She had to twirl in her dress, of course. . .

It was hard to keep Jo out of the pictures.  She is Miley's little copycat.

Her report from the first day:  It was great, we had three recesses!  And I asked her what else happened and she said she couldn't remember.  Awesome.  At least she liked it, I guess.  She said that it was sooooo loud in the lunch room, 'freaky.'  Oh and she told me she did not like the sandwich I made her for lunch, but she ate it anyway.  Gee thanks love.  ;)

My two girls broke the sound barrier when reunited at home.  So loud after my brief taste of quiet.  Kinda looking forward to that again, the quiet part.  ;)

Jo jumped so high as well.  Just like her big sis.  ;)

How to impress a 6 year old

Decorations!

Well who doesn't like party decorations?  As for me and my house, they are necessary.  People always ask who I invited over when they hear or see the decorations. . . I only decorate for the birthday girl/boy.  No matter who is coming over, the party atmosphere is for my special people.  On this day it was a simple family affair and that was perfect for us.

The theme this year was RAINBOWS!  As in Miley's favorite color.  ;)

Door streamers are a sure hit, and super easy.  Take a plastic table cloth and cut strips.  I folded it and used a rotary cutter so it went fast.  Tape to doorway and you've got a decoration to run through all day long.  We hung ours a little higher so the girls wouldn't step on it and immediately rip it off.

The rainbow was simply crepe paper strung all around our living room.  Much to our surprise it stayed up all night and through Miley's birthday.  The texture on our ceiling makes taping things to it obnoxious.  I won't be doing a texture in my next house, it impedes our decorations.

The hanging clouds are poly-fil attached to foam wreaths.  I sprayed the wreaths with spray adhesive for a little extra stick and then used pins to attach the stuffing.  I tied fishing line to the wreath on two sides before I attached the stuffing so I could tie it for hanging.  I made three to hang from the ceiling and a few more for shelving.

I tried using balloons as the base for the clouds, but it was more work than it was worth and they were a bit unwieldy.  The foam wreaths were light enough and stable enough to use, but I was annoyed I had to purchase them.  I like using stuff from my own stock, but now they are added to my stock so I'll be good to go for my next project.  I disassembled the clouds, they are easy enough to put back together if needed.

For over the window I just stuffed the stuffing between the rod and ceiling.  Easy peasy.  I made the raindrops from vellum cut into the shape of drops and then sewn together in a continuous line.

Miley helped me make the pom pom banner by threading pom poms onto baker's twine.  Easy and cute.  The flowers I made from paper napkins for a previous birthday party, but worked for our theme this year and so we pulled them out of the party box once again.  I don't keep all my decorations, but I'm glad I kept these ones.  They've been quite useful probably because they are bright and girly and my two kiddos are these flowers in human form.

I hot glued skittles to a wooden M for her rainbow initial centerpiece.  She was in rainbow heaven.  My girl loves decorations.

Finally, our family tradition is to put up a picture mobile for birthdays.  I print out pictures of the birthday person and hang them on the hook over our counter.  Miley made this tradition happen and I am so glad she did.  It's been fun to see pics of her through the year hung up to celebrate all of it and what's more to come this year.

I love to decorate for birthdays, as you will find when you receive your birthday package from me in the mail (see this post), if you haven't already.  I'm done with that project, finished, wahoooo!  Everything is ready to send out to you happy birthday people.  Until then here are some pics of Miley opening up her gifts.  I love catching the open mouth, wow face when she opens them. . .

Jovey was muy impressed with all the gifts as well.

This next gift was from Jovey and Miley was very appreciative and even let her help open it.  What a super big sister, like the card said.  ;)

Thanks Great Granny Nina for her big surprise!  She couldn't believe it!  Days before she requested this exact doll for her birthday.  Crazy.

Miley wants me to tell you all a big THANK YOU for the gifts and cards.  She has loved and played with them all, all over the house.  She is too easy to spoil.

Jovey was equally thrilled with her baby.  Like doesn't set her down, ever, thrilled!

Our Miley's birthday ended with a yummy coconut cake, her request, which looked just like a cloud for her rainbow themed party.  Perfection.  She made us sing the cha cha cha version of the birthday song as she took her sweet time blowing out the candles and wishing for more wishes.  ;)

I asked Miley not to turn 6 and she told me that she had to because when she was 6 she would be 'gooder'.  I'm hoping that means her grammar, and attitude.  It's been a long summer.  ;)  She also said she had to get older because she wants to have a boyfriend some day.  Oh my stars.

Everywhere we went she told people it was her birthday and they all guessed that she was 7.  What?!  Dang growth spurt.  She also got free stuff all day and so now she's very eager to go more places next year and see what she will get on her birthday.  ;)

If only we could have birthdays every day. . .