Saturday, March 31, 2012

Silly Saturday

I guess the rain finally did decided to show up.  I was convinced that the sunshine was permanent.  I was wrong.  We were lucky enough to get some outside time in and had lunch outside on the new patio set.  But now we are cooped up.  So since we are now held inside from the weather we have spent the afternoon being silly.  I treated myself to the first season of the Muppet Show so we are slowly making a way through the collection.  It's hilarious.  Clover is laughing her butt-butt off.

We also decided to start in on her very first cookbook!  She got it as a birthday present and since we are inside today and had the ingredients we gave it a shot.

This book is so cute!  It's a board book so it's very sturdy.  (There is my favorite Princess Tiana)    

Clover helped with the dough but because she couldn't eat it she got bored.  She liked rolling out the tentacles!  She did come back when the glaze was being mixed. (I'm sure the Cleaning Fairy wasn't very happy that I managed to mess up my counters so quickly :)

We attempted the Octopus cookies.  

Which went well until I had to frost them.

And thats where things went down hill.

My darling daughter proclaimed that I was the best mom ever for making her cookies.  I felt a little discouraged because they looked nothing like the picture in the book!  I can't frost a cookie to save my life!  I don't even make frosted sugar cookies for Christmas because I suck at it.  I guess it's such a good thing that I have so much practice laughing at myself!  They were very tasty!  I mean it's a chocolate chip cookie with a whip cream/powdered sugar glaze!  How could it not taste awesome?  Went well with an afternoon cup of joe.

Where Did March Go?

I was looking forward to March.  With the health problems and Dr. appointments that took over the Christmas season I feel like I got robbed of that magical time.  So in my head I had vowed to make it up to my Clover.  The beginning of March appeared and the marathon of planning had begun.  There were portraits to take.  There was a low key birthday party to plan and execute.  There was also our Disneyland trip to plan and prep for and eventually recover from.  There were also friend's birthdays and a baby to wait for (still waiting).  And just like that March was over.

This year I feel like for the first time I was actually able to focus on Clover's birthday.  This time the previous years we had to do blood tests around the same time as her birthday, so at the same time we were celebrating the anniversary of her life, we were also reminded of the roller coaster we boarded afterwards.  This year we were told that we were testing too often and that they recommended that we get her blood test every six months.  So that puts our next test in April.  At first I was apprehensive about waiting but at the same time I now see it as a blessing.  I was actually able to focus on the here and now along with the future without being reminded of our past.  Whatever happens next month I will deal with then.  But for now it is nice enjoying the now.

Clover had an excellent birthday!  She got to choose the theme of her birthday party and decided that she wanted a Bubble Party!  Everything seemed to be going great until our oh so unpredictable weather decided it didn't want to play along.  And yes I stressed about it.  At the last minuted a block of sunshine appeared and we rushed the kids outside to have some bubble fun before it started storming again.  She is very much my social butterfly.  The only thing she wanted was to spend time with her friends and family.  She totally didn't realize she was even getting presents, even with all of the gifts stacked on the coffee table.

We were hesitant to let people know we were going to Disneyland.  You would be surprised how many people have an opinion on the subject.  Clover had an awesome time with so many great memories that it was all worth it.

A must do when you are at the big D at your birthday is to get a button!  Just let anyone know that it's your birthday and they will get you a button.  We let the hotel know and they had a button waiting, along with a glossy signed 8x10 of the Princesses, which at the current moment in time is Clover's favorite (as if I needed to remind you).  They also give everyone celebrating their own buttons which are cute.  Clover put her button on for her birthday and was amazed at how many people told her happy birthday.  Every Cast Member she came across excitedly wished her a happy birthday!  She was amazed that everyone also knew her name (which was on the button).  We all realized that this puts a big kink in the ongoing Stranger Danger talk but decided to pick it back up when we got home.  I am always amazed at the level of patience that Cast Members posses.  Along with Starbucks employees.  They see literally thousands of people a day.  Some nice and some not so nice, but somehow they always seem so happy to talk to you!

We only ran into a couple of rude people in the park.  I know everyone has their days but I can't understand how people can be grumpy at the Happiest Place on Earth.  Clover gets excited at the mention of the place.  We might not tell her the next time we go just because she was so excited the night before that she could not sleep.  So in turn we couldn't sleep!  That morning it was hard not to let her enthusiasm infect you as well.  And she did not let up the entire time we were there.  She managed one nap while we were there and hit the pillow every night at ten only to wake up again by herself at six.  I will admit that I couldn't keep up!  I think that's why we had to spend a few days recovering when we got home!

Now that we are all recovered and rested it's nice to catch up on all of the things that I've been neglected.  Like my bloggy blog and the laundry.  Okay so not the laundry...So here I am spending the last day of March debating getting up and starting a load of laundry.  Oh and waiting for my friend's baby!

So bring it on April!

It's Still There

I don't have to tell you that the Muppet movie has become one of our favorites around here.  I am a little embarrassed to admit how many times we have watched it since we bought it at Disneyland.  One of the unfortunate side effects however is that the songs get stuck in my head.  I guess it's a good thing that our copy came with the soundtrack.

But seriously I have had "We built this city" stuck there for two days now.  It's one of those things where I am afraid that I am going to burst out in song at some random point in the day.  Hopefully it's not when I'm at the grocery store or something embarrassing like that.


I came pretty close to bursting out in song at Target last night!

Floppy Bunnies

Time is forever messing with me.  Some days seen to go by really slowly and then some weeks fly by without any notice.  I have to remind myself to enjoy the moment.  I have a tendency to bumble bee around and every now and then I have to tell myself to stop and smell the flowers.

I wanted to do something fun last night and yummy!  A few weeks ago a friend suggested that we do Peepsmores.  Uhm..yes!

So we gathered our ingredients...

I went with fun size hershey's and they were perfect.

Poor bunnies don't know what's coming to them.

Yummy!

We had originally planned to have a fire but it was pretty warm last night since it was supposed to rain today.  I say supposed because it's actually very sunny outside.  Since we opted for no fire I just roasted the Peeps over the bbq grill.  As my daughter would say it was easy peasy.  She was pretty happy that she got to stay up late and have smores with all the grown ups.  She even somehow weaseled 3/4's of one from Daddy.  Who told me they were "sharing".

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Chiari at Disneyland


I'll be honest, I was a little worried before we left.  I've been feeling pretty good but I was worried that with the fast pace that we usually it the park with that I would wear down quickly.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I actually felt pretty good at the park.  Being active makes me feel pretty good.  One of the key things is to have a great pillow to support my neck and the hotel had a great one.  I think I might actually call them and ask what kind of pillows they are.

One of my doctors is worried that at one point I will pass out.  And while I do have some typical Chiari  symptoms, I have never experienced passing out.  But now that she has mentioned it, it's now a fear stuck in the back of my head.  Whenever I go somewhere or do anything I have a constant fear that I will wake up on the floor.  I was really worried that I would pass out and ruin the trip I had spent so much time planning for.  I'm very glad that things went great and I felt pretty good.  The drive wore me out and gave me a headache but other than that I felt pretty good.

There were some things I wasn't able to do.  Roller coasters were definitely off the list, so no California Screamin for me.  Looking up at menus at restaurants was a bit difficult because I'm not supposed to look straight up but I figured out that if I stand back it puts less strain on my neck.

Taking lots of breaks was key.  Whenever I felt off I told myself that it was in my best interest to sit.  We actually hit up some great places to get our snack on while were were there and taking a break.  Every now and then I have to remind myself that there is other stuff to do other than the usual fun stuff we hit up when we are there.  Clover's favorite ride this time around seemed to be the Jungle Cruise.  She also said that she was a big fan of Space Mountain although she kept her head down during the entire ride.  In one of the pictures you can't even tell she is on the ride.  That was also a ride where I waited for them at the exit.

I was a little bummed at first that there were so many rides that I couldn't get on but there were so many new experiences and cute things that happened on the trip that made up for that.  Lots of cute stories to come but for now I need another cup of coffee.

I've Got Everything I Need, Right In Front of Me



Taking some down time this morning to process the last week and relax.  We threw a birthday party for my darling Clover and then spent some time at Disneyland.  It was a crazy fun week.  We took our time and took lots of breaks.  The slow pace was weird at first but very enjoyable.  Right now I am soaking in the down time with my favorite things.  My Clover, The Muppet's new movie and a box of Caramel Delites.  How could this not be the most perfect Sunday?  Hubby is in the office because he said that seeing this movie more than three times is enough.  I think he is wrong but we are agreeing to disagree.  Good thing he is cute because I think that may be divorce material.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

More Than Meets The Eye

Our pretty-pretty-princess-dress-wearing daughter is all about keeping things in balance.  She has bright pink toes and ringlets bouncing on the bottom of red hair.  If you cross her you will see the dark side.  Especially if you fast forward during her Transformers movie!

For a couple of months now her interest in the robots has increased.  Lately, her night time routine has included snuggling up with her Daddy and watching the cartoon.  She knows most of the Transformers and her Daddy couldn't be more proud.  She loves Arcee and Ratchet from the cartoon and Optimus and  Bumble Bee from the movie.  

She has always been into grown up movies.  For an entire year all she could talk about was the live action Alice in Wonderland.  So when she expressed interest in Transformers 3, I didn't think much of it.  Today I tried to start the first live action Transformers movie and it wasn't appreciated.

"Mom!  Can we watch Transformers?"

Go to start the movie...

"NooooooOOOoooooOOOoo!  Not THAT one!"

So I start Transormers 3

"I want the one with the boy and the girl!"

"Sam and Carlie?"

"Yeah!"

I figured that she wanted to watch the robots and proceeded to fast forward and felt the fury.

"MoooOOOooooOOOm!  I want to watch the BOY and the GIRL!"

Then she proceeded to steal my remote and hide it.  I guess she didn't like me messing with her movie.  I have to say it's probably one of the cutest things ever.  Watching my daughter in her very pink dress express how much she loves car changing robots!      

Yeah, I May Be Procrastinating

Sometimes I wonder if procrastination is my middle name.  I tend to wait to the last moment and work well under pressure.  Although I have learned that if I don't get things done lately, they just don't get done.  I have a tendency to put a lot on my plate.  Right now the list is small while I wait.  The more closer I get to Clover's birthday party the more things will get added onto the list.  But for now the list is small and includes things like "company" cleaning the bathroom.  Fun times right?

Probably put some Kylie on while I get scrubbing.

I would recommend picking up the album Aphrodite.  It's pretty awesome.   Lastest álbum vía Grooveshark.

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Great Purse Clean-Out of 2012

I would say that we are in Spring Cleaning mode.  But that would be a lie.  We are in "Company is Coming" cleaning mode.  Usually I don't care because people who know me know that I'm not obsessive about my house.  Sometimes it a little embarrassing and sometimes there are too many things going on to care.  Since we are having Clover's birthday party here, I'm tidying up more than usual.  The entry way hallway got cleaned out on Friday.  Apparently thats where all of the belts and purses go to die.  I have a bad habit of taking out my wallet and just leaving the purse.  The final count was ten hanging in the hallway.  All filled with old receipts and junk.  There were tons of snacks, about 28 crayons, four pairs of clean undies for Clover for those "just in case" moments, lotion, neosporin, boogie wipes and three bottles of nail polish.

Yeah, this was only half way through.

So after cleaning out ten bags I figured out that even though I forget to put it on, I have a lot of lip treatments.  Clover was hunting around the counter for treasures.  She managed to find $1.38 in change and stole one of my chap sticks.  So she scored.  After I cleaned out and sorted I washed most of them and hung them to dry.  Once they were dry I stored them back in the closet.  It's nice to have a clean entry way.    Hopefully it's a metephor for 2012.  The clean entry way, not the pile of junk I pulled out of my purse!  

Saturday, March 3, 2012

That Time Of Year Again

 I'm going to get a little sappy on you.  My not so little Clover's birthday is coming up.  Her party planning started in January.  We started by picking a theme and brainstorming.  She is old enough now to have some major input on what she wants.  She even helped me make the invitations.  Even though I said we were doing a small party we ended up making 16 invites.

Im keeping myself busy with tiny details of party planning and vacation checklists.  Little bits to keep my mind distracted.  All that effort to stop myself from focusing on how my little baby is no longer a little baby.  She hasn't been a baby for while and mentally I know that but still...she's going to be 4 years old!  I know all you veteran parents out there are probably rolling your eyes and telling me to get over it.  Kind of how I giggle at new parents when I realize that I was once like that.

She will tell you that she is absolutely not a little baby anymore.  We've had many conversations about not to be rude when informing people that she is indeed a big girl.  There has been lots of "I"M NOT A BABY" moments.  She loves to correct waitresses and checkers at the grocery store.  One guy commented that she was being such a good girl and her first thought was "Mom, at least that guy didn't call me little!"

Since I can remember she has always had an opinion.  And even though we have our battles every now and then I really do love how independent she is.

Even her face looks like it's changing to me.  Every year I notice how much older she looks.  This year she is a preschooler.  That is so much older than I think I am ready for.  I was good with the infant/toddler years.  I had plenty of experience with that age group after having my own classroom for many many years.  After she outgrew that stage I have been winging it.

I can't help but get a little teary eyed when I think about how far we have come and how big she is getting.  They are absolutely happy tears.  I'm not sure why it seems to hit me so much right around her birthday.  I guess it's just that time of year again.

Wacky Fun

Yesterday was awesome.  We had a ton of Seussical fun to celebrate the author's birthday along with Read Across America day.  We played with Ooobleck and had lots of yummy treats!  I thought about writing a post but I already did a Sesuss quote page.

We also found this little gem on Netflix.  It's the Cat in the Hat play done by the Royal National Theatre.  There is a preview on YouTube.  I guess you can rent it on YouTube but you can also watch it on Netflix.  Clover has fallen in love with the play and follows along with her book.  The scenes are so much like the illustrations that it's so easy to find where she is in the book.

We had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures.  Bad me.