Crazy Undershirt

As Connor was drying off after his shower, I set out his jammies for him to put on. He got on his underwear. Then his bottoms. And then, he wrinkled his face into a scowl as he grabbed the top.

"What is this," he demands and shows me the T-shirt in his hand.

I explain, "It's an undershirt we've been using as a jammie top for months. What is wrong with it?"

Apparently, this answer did not meet His Royal Highness' approval because the furrowed brow remained.

"Mom," he says, with a tone of annoyance. "Five year olds just don't expect this." He drops the shirt on the edge of the sink and exits the room in a huff...and shirtless.

All it wanted was to be loved.

He Puts the Spy in Spyder

I'd like to say that the kids have a bedtime routine. I guess I could, if you consider "doing whatever they can to get out of going to bed" a routine.

While getting ready for bed, Connor enters and then exits the bathroom without having completed any tasks. I ask, "Why aren't you brushing your teeth?"

He answers, "Mom. Come look. There's a spider in the bathroom."

Partially because I realize this is a stall tactic but mostly because I didn't feel like getting up to deal with the thing, I say, "I've seen spiders before. Just ignore it and brush your teeth."

"No," Connor insists. "Come look."

I insisted, too. I insisted he brush his teeth, but he could not focus on anything but the arachnid. Realizing I was not going to give in and look, he ups the ante.

"Mom. You GOTTA come look. This spider is MYSTERIOUS!"

Fun with Invitations

I love to be crafty.  I think I've mentioned this before.  More specifically, I like to use scissors and cut stuff out.  So, when I go to undertake a new craft project, the amount of cutting is never a daunting item.  In fact, the opposite is true.  The more cutting, the better.

Take the recent bridal shower invitations that I made.  I found a pattern online that I altered to fit my design and got to cutting.  And cutting.  And cutting.  I cut at a friend's house.  I cut at the swimming pool.  I cut watching tv.  Just about anywhere that I knew I would be sitting for any length of time, I had my paper and scissors out and was working on these.

At the end of this cut-a-thon, I had the components to be able to put together a very fun and custom-designed invitation for my best friend, a hot air balloon enthusiast whose favorite color is purple.

Wheee! It's a purple balloon!

The back had more cutting. This time, with the fancy scissors!

The next invitation project that I took on was for the kids' cousin's 8th birthday.  Maggie decided that she wanted to have a fashion show birthday party.  Since Maggie is a hands-on kind of kid who has her own unique sense of fashion, my idea to do invitations that she could custom design herself was met with enthusiastic approval.  

Maggie and I went to the craft store so that she could pick out her color scheme.  She decided on hot pink and turquoise, two colors that looked amazing together.  I was so on board. 

I got a pattern made and had Maggie go through my abundant stash of fabrics and choose 10 fabrics that she wanted the individual dresses to be made out of.  I did most of the cutting and the gluing, but the rest of the design is all Maggie.  Though it's a shame that each girl getting one of these won't get to see the other designs, too, we both had a real great time making these which really is the point in the end.

Ten Maggie originals.

And the back.

 Cara's birthday is in October and, much to my delight, she stated months ago, "Mom, I would really like a themed birthday party this year."  Time to get cutting!

I Love My Nerdlets II: Attack of the Nerdlets

In recent months, Cara has really taken to reading chapter books.  She often ignores everything around her when her nose is in a book.  Cara's recent love of reading has been sparked by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter.  She's read every single one of these thick chapter books.  She'll actually read anything that Ms. Hunter puts her name on including the Seekers series (about bears instead of cats).

So, when we stopped at the library today, Cara went straight for the H section and came back with two books.  I found it curious that the books were graphic novels, but since they were about cats and had Erin Hunter's name on it, it wasn't all that surprising.

After we finished in the kids' section, we stopped by the music.  Cara pulled a few CDs out, showing me that she got one Glee and two Now That's What I Call Music CDs.  I showed her Lady Gaga and Katy Perry discs, but she just wrinkled her nose at those opting instead for John Denver.

When we were in the movie section, I hear a quiet cheer and am shown two discs while she says, "I LOVE Hayao Miyazaki films!" A minute later and she states, "I have to get this one. I haven't seen Star Wars: Attack of the Clones yet," referring to the second Star Wars movie (or fifth, depending on how you want to look at the sequence).

When we got home and were divvying up our library haul, I found my daughter's collection to be incredibly amusing.  Chock full of nerd-tastic fun.  I am sure that her collection won't win her any popularity contests, but she would pshaw anyone who tried to tell her that any item in her pile was not completely cool.

Add caption

I love that she is still at an age where "I like it, so that means it's cool" hasn't turned into "my friends like it, so that means it's cool".  There is a good chance that it's not just a phase, considering that her mother is more excited about having her bedroom remodel finished so that she can hang her Doctor Who/Van Gogh poster on the wall than about having her own closet space again.  And that's totally cool with me.