Cute hats

This is a disaster of a photo, but a cute hat. Q3 and C5 both loved the hat made by Aunt G. They were less than enthusiastic about the blue and green one, although I liked that one, too. It didn't fit my head so well.

More at the National Harbor

We went to the Peeps Store. They have the best location in the whole place! YUM! They wanted peeps stuffies, but really, isn't a chocolate covered peeps worth more in the long run?

Q3 was hesitant at first, but soon realized that they were delectable:


Cheers peeps!

A weekend with Ninoo

Long overdue update, but here it is! We had a great weekend with Ninoo, just being with her. And then C5 didn't have school on the 25th, so Ninoo stayed home with the both of them to play while C40 and I both went to work. I think it is better that way, actually. If I'm there Q3 just wants to be with me. If I'm not there she is perfectly happy to be with others.

Ninoo brought King Cake, which was well recieved, even if it wasn't the mythical Mckenzie's:


So, we took them to the National Harbor, which was great fun. We went to the Launch Zone, which is a little experimental play place run by the National Children's Museum which is not yet operational. Lot of fun there!

After all that nuttiness

Here is a simple, sweet picture.

Got a sewing machine, made a purse

She enjoyed it, too.

Business as usual

C5 & Q3 were going crazy the other night, asking me to video them doing ... everything. So, here is Q3, starting out quite seriously singing a song, but the thing degrades, degrades quickly. And in the background I think C5 is going nuts. If this is the video with the squeaks in it ... those are balloon noises. Just so you know.

Kaleidoscope

Is that how you spell that? C5 got one for Christmas, and she and C40 put it together. She's been enjoying it.

Radio

Q3 has been listening to her princess stories and music VERY LOUD in her room at night. I go in and lower it. I leave. She raises the volume. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. So today C40 gave Q3 a set of headphones to listen to the princess stories while I sewed (the machine is noisy).

She loved them. She visited the whole house with them on, just to check it out.

Do you want to know ...

What really happened at the PJ party?

Here's the lowdown.

Cinderella

Last week C5 was spreading around to two friends (M5 & E5) that she was having a sleepover party. Well, the news got back to the parents, and nobody REALLY thought it was a good idea, because, of course, they are still too young to sleep away at a friend's house. At least my daughter is.

So, I nixed the plans for last Friday night, and we invited the girls and their sisters (A2 and C2) over for a pajama party, which would include pizza, snacks in bed, and a movie in bed. Parents were welcome to stay for adult chat and drinking, or to go and spend time away from their progeny.

All went very very well. Pizza eaten, movie watched, games were being played. Parents were talking and having a good time. No fights, no problems, nada. A2 was getting tired, and resting in her father's arms. Q3 began to get exhausted, so I put her to bed, crying. I think she fell asleep before I returned downstairs. At the same time, A2 vomited copiously in her father's arms. By the time I returned to the dining room it was mostly cleaned up. And before we could get her home, she did it again. Poor baby.

The first family left, and M5 said she wanted to stay and sleep over, but when her parents called her bluff she rocketed up and into her father's arms and left a crying C5.

The next morning, however, all the bad parts were forgotten, and the pajama party was deemed a success. Even A2 recounted her incident with a twist ... me on the floor washing up like Cinderella. It's better than the wicked stepmother, eh?

Prunes

C5 and Q3 do like prunes. Which is good. So yesterday I offered them prunes for lunch, and C5 jumped at the chance to bring them. She negotiated how many she'd get, then she suggested that she bring EIGHT, one for each child at the lunch table.

I can't say no to sharing, so I said sure, and put eight in her lunch bag.

Turns out there were only three or four other children at her lunch table today. And none of them wanted prunes. I guess this shouldn't be much of a surprise, but I was thinking that a few of the children wouldn't want them and she'd end up with maybe four. Instead she ate eight.

And around 4:00 the results arrived. We had to leave the park quickity quick to get home to use the potty.

Reading in bed

Q woke this morning (a good thing, actually, we weren't sure what bit or burned her last night, and she appears to be fine this morning) and demanded I take her photo. And post them here.

So, without further ado, here are her poses, as she reads her new Cinderella book from J & C:

This one looks funereal to me:


Then she'd turn a page and ask me to click. I managed to get one without her posing:


But then there were more:


And more:


And finally:


If you are wondering, the version of Cinderella is by Barbara Karlin and illustrated by James Marshall. My favorite picture in the book is when the coach turns back into a pumpkin. It looks as if the pumpkin (gently) explodes and Cinderella is bounced up and out as the pumpkin breaks and the attendants turn back into animals.

Q wanted this

Q3 desperately wanted me to take a photo of her in her sleeping bag in her bed.
She actually was almost asleep here, just minutes after I went to get the camera:



But then she woke up and faked it a bit:

The tooth fell out.

Actually, it fell out at school. And C5 did not notice when it fell out. So we don't know if it fell out of her mouth or what. She claims it was there after breakfast (blueberry muffin at school), but around 10:00 am Mrs. B noticed that it was gone. The shark tooth had taken over and pushed it out.

Mrs. B promised to look for the tooth at school, but in the meantime, the toothfairy really does have to come. We planned on giving one golden (Sacagawea) dollar, and C40 claims to have a bunch in the basement. I'd planned on buying some at a bank, but that didn't happen because I got a last minute eye appointment and just made it in time to pick up Q3 before nap time. So, hopefully C40 IS finding them.



Hello, tooth fairy!

Gardening

Yes, this is the time of year for imagining a garden. I know I do it. What to plant, where to plant, when to plant.

Q3 received a lovely gardening kit for Christmas which was the surprise sleeper hit of the season. She played with it the rest of the afternoon when the opened it, gardening on the ottoman. She wanted to bring it to Massachusetts, but we said no.

So when we got back -- to freeeeeezing weather, frozen ground, and small piles of snow -- she brought it right back out. And demanded some seeds.

Preparing the soil:


Digging (you can see she gives up with the trowel and moves onto the plant marker to dig out in the frozen tundra)


and planting and watering


What you DON'T see is the next 15 minutes while she meticulously waters and tends those seeds. And the next hour when she demands that we go out to look and see if they've grown at all.

Happy girls

New year's goals

Me: (not too ambitious, but reasonable, I think, although the no treats will be difficult, I do love my sweets )
1) eat 5 fruits and veggies a day
and
2) only eat homemade treats, preferabley ones that I make.

C40:
1) No diet coke after 10:30 am
and
2) eat 5 fruits & veggies a day
(the former might be difficult. The latter should be easy for him)

C5: (she was VERY ambitious with this!)
1) No temper tantrums
2) Try new foods without fussing
3) Not too many sweets
4) Eat healthy
5) learn to sew

Q3: (living in the moment a bit)
1) No gummy worms before orange juice (I modified this to no eating candy before meals)
2) Juice after milk or water
3) No touching spindles
4) (Be a) good princess

So right after we set the goals C5 had a temper tantrum because I wanted her to try ham. Q3 tried it and went "yummmm!" and has had it almost every day since. C5 ... is now a vegetarian because she doesn't want to hurt the animals. But she did try egg yolks.