The Dad Hatter's Tea Party

After watching Alice in Wonderland (which I don't  remember ever liking, but which Lucy and Spencer found nonsensically delightful), we thought it would be fun to spruce up a dull Monday night with a little un-birthday celebration.  We hoped to picnic outside under a big tree but it rained.

Inside was OK.
We picked our hats (which had to be traded whenever the Dad Hatter rang his bell),

and sat up to our plates (which also had to be passed around at the sound of the bell).

      

Our meal was constantly interrupted....

(Silly Dad Hatter!)

  

But we finally finished off with very happy un-birthday cake.

Alice said it:  "Stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!"

St. Patty's Day Memories

They're not Irish. But kissing is always a good idea, no?

Oh, we had a great green day! There was fun at preschool. There were four leaf clovers at lunch (one of which Lucy bequeathed to her good friend Jay Brown)...

There was a pretty cute little leprechaun. Mischievous as usual.

There was sunshine. (BLESSED SUNSHINE!)

There was holiday window art. (Do your children have a pack of window crayons? Mine didn't until Valentines day -thank you Mark and Maria! And I'll be honest: we never truly lived without them. They are WONDERFULLY FUN.)

Daddy arrived just in time to see the artists in action. (Would these pictures be cuter if I occasionally slid into the window well to wash the outside of the glass panes? Yes. Do I plan on doing that anytime soon? No.)

(You'll note that part of Lucy's art was patterned after her lunchtime clover. Smile.)

Then, after dinner (well, after an RA interview, and a visit from a good friend, and a mopping of the kitchen floor with an emerald green rag - gotta keep these things fun, I say - and then after dinner, and more playing, and a quick trip to the grocery store)...



...Lucy and I sent Daddy to class and put Spencer in front of a PBS special (featuring old fashioned Irish music & performing; I tell you: step dance might very well be in this child's future!), and tried our luck with a festive St. Patrick's day treat.

I wasn't sure these little leprechaun hats would turn out like the picture I had in my mind (especially because we had to create them in between RA one-on-ones), but they actually came close!



(Mini marshmallows dipped in melted chocolate, attached to a "Right Bite" sized Grasshopper cookie, and buckled up with a little yellow icing. I'm sure you could produce more masterful variations on this theme!)

So, after Spencer was in bed and the parade of RAs was finished, Lucy and I had a little girl party complete with a "Lucky Sundae" to share.



(Lucy was thrilled with the plastic green, cost-three-pennies-at-DI goblets that she discovered when I asked her to unload the dishwasher. And she happily colored and cut up a little shamrock complete our treat.)

After our tiny party, I laid by Lucy in her bed. I listened to (and laughed internally at ) her random, drowsy comments. I watched her eyes blink and blink and finally close. And I felt luckier than a leprechaun with a pot of gold. Children are such treasures! (I feel like I need to follow up with a rhyme there: "to snuggle and love and hold" or something. But isn't that just over the top?! =)

Hope you and yours had a mighty fine holiday too!

Don't Inhale (Including a Recommendation)

We've done very little jazzification of January this year. Haven't even hung the envelopes! Been sick and lazy. But I think we're finally on the mend! In celebration...

Snowmen.
Pretty self-explanatory. But here's the process for any curious parties (and because, what else am I going to do with these pictures?)

Candy corn for noses, black licorice rope for for eyes/smile (feels like Halloween. I know.).



We (well, Lucy) painted the candy corns with a little orange food coloring. ( I wasn't initially going to. Seemed too over-the-top. But...with a willing little chef on hand, why not? And it really made all the difference.).

Then we (well, I) used a butcher knife to chop our "coal." (And I chopped it too small at first. It's helpful to leave the pieces a little long so you can push them into the doughnuts. Otherwise, it's hard to make them stay atop all that powdery snow. Cutting on a sharp diagonal makes the attachment even easier.)

And...that's probably about as creative as it's going to get at our house this January. Good thing Preschool's got my back!! =)

Besides.  As we've muddled through these weeks of sickness, etc, it's not so much creativity I've been craving (although creativity is neeful and so often rejuvinating!).  What I've really been wanting in my mothering is WISDOM.   You know, the kind seasoned moms have. Maybe that's why I've given up reading Design Mom in favor of reading this mom. She's related to a dear friend of mine. Spend a little time. You'll fall in love!

Use it Up, Wear it Out, Make it do...?

Lucy had a pair of jeans with holes in both knees. I had a bunch of left over quilting fabric. So we turned something old into something new:

She was tickled about it. I was too! But. The skirt doesn't hold a candle to the face...

(These are the basic skirt instructions. I made Lu's skirt shorter and double layered. It was a fun, quick project! I highly recommend!)

L. Truman, M.D., Part One: Pediatrics/Veterinary

Back in June, I used this basic pattern ('cept I used an old T-shirt vs. a dish towl) to make Lucy a little nurse's apron for her dress up basket.

It took the daily care-giving 'round here to a whole new level.

And I can't help it. I love a little girl and a doll.

Summer Celebrations: Under The Sea

It's getting hot.
So we've been SWIMMING and celebrating FISH + other water creatures.
I have no pictures of Spencer looking super cute in his sea turtle suit (because ten minutes after we put him in the water he broke out in a sad little rash all around his eyes...sunscreen? chlorine? Poor guy.).

But I do have pictures of our trip to the fish tank inside a local doctor's office. Someday when our budget allows, we want to take Lucy here. Anyone ever been?


During Spencer's daily naps, Lucy and I "fished" with a magnetic Melissa and Doug puzzle that we found at Kid-to-Kid, played a sea shell matching/memory game (clipped from the Highlights magazine you sent, Mom. Thanks!), and our favorite...

Swimmy pictures! Lucy loves (adores) Leo Lionni's Swimmy (and most of his other books, too. Did I post about the inchworm? I meant to.) Inside the cover of Swimmy are instructions for making potato print fish. It was a ball. Best art project we've done yet.
We also made sea shells. Quicker and less involved than Swimmy pictures, if you're looking for quicker and less involved (Noodles + Ziploc bag + a little vinegar and food dye. shake.).
Pretty fun.(The real fun, though, was digging them up at "the beach!")

Throw in a Nemo movie party (complete with gold&Swedish fish), and you have one fabulously fishy week!

*Fish books:
Swimmy, Leo Lionni (LOVE)
The Rainbow Fish, Marcus PFister (LOVE)
Other Pfister/Rainbow Fish books (LIKE)
Fish, Fish, Fish, Gorgia Adams (LOVE)
Hello, Fish! Visiting the Coral Reef, Sylvia A. Earle (LOVE)