What My Kids Would Miss the Most

If I was snatched by aliens tomorrow my kids would miss me a lot! The thing I think they would miss the most would be hugs and kisses. I give my kids hugs and kiss all day long. They get them when they wake up, dropping off at school, when I pick them up from school, before swim practice, after swim practice, before and after Girl Scouts, anytime I leave them, bedtime, a second time when they come into our room after bedtime for and extra hug and kiss and of course just because! They would miss my cooking. I am always making them special meal that they love. Tonight we are having waffles for dinner as both Princess A and Princess G requested it. They would definitely miss my baking. I always bake at least once a week, usually a few times a week. Lately I have been baking homemade baguettes for dinner and Madeline's. My repertoire includes cookies, cakes, toffee, cupcakes, pies, rolls and brownies. I am making myself hungry here. I should make some rice crispy treats for them before school gets out today. My girls would miss me reading stories to them. Princess A reads really well (above 6th grade) but she still loves when I read her and her sister stories. Just last night I was reading some library books to them before bed. The Princesses would miss me as their girls scout leaders. I only help out very little for Princess A's Brownie troop but I am the leader of Princess G's Daisy troop. I plan almost every meeting and prepare the crafts. My girls would miss my silliness. I can turn almost anything into fun. Just last week when we spent almost two hours waiting at the doctor's for Princess A to be diagnosed with a double earache I had the girls giggling. We just played silly games and I told silly stories which made the wait a little easier. My girls would miss doing art with me, at school or at home. I am the art docent for both of the girls' classes which means I teach an art project for an hour in their class. For Princess A's class I have already aught three lessons this year. We also do a lot of art at home. We have been trying different mediums such as oil pastels, chalk and water color crayons. They would also miss having me help at school. Both of the girls get so excited when I help in their classroom. I usually help on Mondays and Thursdays and then do the art docent on Wednesdays. sometimes it feels as though I am at school almost everyday. My girls would also really miss having their clothes clean. They go through so much clothing each day. Princess G likes to change socks a few times each day and they can not be re worn, no they need to be cleaned first. The girls would really miss clean cloths, especially since that is the one thing their Dad is not that great at, well that and cooking. They would really miss me when they can't find something. I have that Mom memory where they left something in the weirdest place and when they ask I know right where it is. They can never find something, even when it is where it is suppose to be. Lastly they would just miss having their mom to talk to. Everyday my girls love to tell me everything. Every little thought that they have, everything that happens to them or just stuff that they see. We spend a lot of time everyday just talking. They have lots of questions about things and how they work. Luckily I have a strong science background to share with them. Just this week we were talking about molecules and bile (don't ask about how that discussion git started.) My kids would really miss me if aliens snatched me, so hopefully that does not happen.

What would your kids miss most if you were gone?


I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms blogging program, for a gift card worth $25. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

New Glasses

Princess A wearing her glasses for the first time to school.

She was just so excited that everything was so clear.

She has been really good about taking care of her glasses and she just really loves them. When we picked them out at Sears she grabbed them right away and just knew they were the ones.

First Time Roller Skating

Princess G tried rollerskating for the first time. She loved it!Princess A's Brownie troop was having a skating get together and Princess G came too.

Two years ago the troop (they were Daises then) skated together and if you count that time this was Princess A second time roller skating.

They both had so much fun and want to go again. I did not roller skate this time as I am not the best skater and trying to help the both of them balance would be a recipe for disaster. Of course I am more of an ice skater and again I was reminded that I really should take the girls to try ice skating.

Ground Hog Day

It was so nice on Ground Hog day the girls were both so convinced that spring was coming early. After school they played outside and enjoyed the sun. I also found them twisting these two poor plant's branchesLittle did we know that we would be having huge snow storms later in the month. Princess G only had school one day last week! They did not cancel school but if the have a delayed start a.m. kindergarten is canceled!

The girls played on their bikes and scooters for the first time in a very long time.

They even set up some tables and made some drawings of nature.

Night & Day Studios Apps Review‏

I am still trying to figure out which apps will work for me and my girls. I tried three apps from Night & Day Studio, or should say Princess G tried them. She has played with Quibble Kids the most. Quibble Kids is a picture matching game. Basically you have four cubes with four sides (you don't use the top or bottom of the cube.) You spin the cubes until you have four that have the same theme, for example: flower, musical instrument, fruit, and so on. Princess G loves playing it over and over. Next we tried the Kindermusik Radio app. It is similar to Pandora for kids. The app has 100 songs, each with lyrics and a unique activity to do with your child. The first time we tried it we tried the Tell Me a Story section. Princess G wanted to be able to see the word and pictures. She was frustrated and did not want to listen anymore. I tried again a few days later while I was trying to get her to take a nap (she was just at the beginning of her cold.) This time she really liked listening to the music and stories. I like that if I press the iPhone button on top to lock my phone the music keeps playing, that way I am using less of my battery.

Lastly we tried the Charley Harper's Peekaboo Forest app. I am new to apps so I do not know the two previous apps in the Peekaboo series, but this is the third one. In this Peekaboo Princess G explored a forest and found the hiding places of animals behind stumps and foliage. The illustrations are of the mid-century modern illustrator Charley Harper and are simple gorgeous.
Princess G has asked to play with all of three of the apps but her favorite by far is the Quibble Kids, she loves puzzles and this has just enough challenge without being to hard.

This post was written for Family Review Network & Night & Day Studios who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.

Harry Potter and Last Pacific Science Center Visit

The girls love Harry Potter and kept asking to go to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. Finally we gave in and bought ticket to go. Princess A was picked for the sorting house and of course she was sorted into the Griffindorf house. The exhibit was just great. It was a little crowded but if you just wait you can see everything. Of course the girls wanted to get something at the gift shop. They both picked out Hermione wands (they were out of the Harry Potter ones.) Just as we were taking this picture we ran into Princess G's teacher (she was also Princess A two years ago) and her family. It was a wonderful little bonus as her girls and my girls adore each other.

After the Harry Potter exhibit we enjoyed the rest of the Pacific Science Center. Though we did not know it at the time it was our last visit as members. We planned on one last trip but them my husband broke his foot. Luckily we saw every one's favorites. Here the girls are running in a circle with Daddy.Princess G loves the potty exhibit. She also likes the water play area nearby.

As always we had to make a visit to the butterfly house.

We also have a tradition of getting an elephant ear in the Seattle Center.

It was a great visit (the Harry Potter was so wonderful) but we probably won't get a membership again for awhile. We are considering a membership to the zoo of the Museum of Flight next.

Goodbye Lucybird

Our pet Lucybird passed away. My husband has had a few birds before and they always seemed to decline over a few days to a few weeks. Not Lucybird, she was fine when we put her to bed. An hour later, while I giving the girls dessert, she was making a very strange noise. I got my husband and less than an hour later she was gone. Princess A made her the note above to bury with her.We decided to paint some rocks to place over her burial spots. All of the paint washed off later the first time it rained, I guess I shouldn't of used washable paint. The only rock still marked is the one I wrote her name on with a Sharpie. We picked a pretty spot in the yard that we can see from the kitchen window. She has been gone for a few weeks and I keep forgetting she is gone. The girls were ready to pick out a new pet the next day but I think their Daddy won't be ready for quite awhile. Lucybird was really his pet but we all miss her. The girls tell me that Lucybird sometimes sings to them in their dreams but the rest of the time she is in heaven with their Great-Grandmas. This was the first death they had to deal with in person and it did bring up lots of questions. A few years ago when my husband's grandmother passed away the girls heard about it (they did not know her at all) and Princess A became worried about death. I told her that everyone is suppose to live a really long time (almost a 100 years) but sometimes if you have an accident or something else you can go to heaven early. The 100 number really helped her as she likes to figure out how much longer a person will be alive unless they go to heaven early. (I added the go to heaven early part to explain why younger people can die and to let them know that we still have to be careful so we don't have an accident.) I am really hoping that this will be the only death they have to deal with for a long time.

Rough Two Weeks

It has been a very crazy and tiring two weeks. It started with my husband being out of town for a week for work. We did fine at home without Daddy though we did miss him very much. In the middle of his trip he called to tell my he hurt his ankle/foot running. He said it really hurt but did not want to go to the emergency room. When he finally got home late Friday of that week his foot was swollen to twice its normal size. We had planned on going to the Pacific Science Center for the last day of our membership but that did not happen. My darling husband actually said we could still go but I said "No." We iced the foot all weekend and kept it up but it did not improve much. I was able to talk him into going to the doctors after work on Monday. They took an x-ray and gave him crutches. He got back just in time to stay with Princess G so that did not have to take her to her sister's Brownie meeting. I got a call from a nurse the next morning and she reluctantly told me that the x-ray showed a misalignment of a foot bone. (I am not sure why she was so reluctant my husband listed in his medical files that medical information can be released to me also.) I then spent the day contacting our new insurance about the orthopedic recommended to us to make sure he was on our plan. Then I spent a long time trying to get him an appointment. At first they wanted him to wait over a week but finally they said they could see him if he could be at their office with in the hour. I called him at work and had him leave right then. He was able to make it in time and he received a walking cast and since his foot and ankle were still so swollen the doctor wants him to come back Wednesday and take another x-ray. The one he already had taken showed a possible bone chip but they need another x-ray to be sure. The best part is that this doctor really got him to understand that he need to stay off his foot so it will heal. It has been hard keeping him resting as I keep finding him trying to clean. Even today I caught him vacuuming. To add to all of this Princess G became very sick and the 3rd night she cried all night because her ears hurt. She has a horrible earache in both ears. The doctor said that if she was in the Olympics her ears would get a 9.9 they were so bad. The antibiotic is messing with her intestines so lets just say she has been in the bathroom many, many times and I have had to clean her up in the shower. Princess A now has the cold and I am hoping it will only be sneezing, coughing, fever and runny nose but not an earache. I can feel the cold trying to get me too. And to add to everything else it is Girl Scout cookie time!! Thankfully I am not the cookie mom for either troop but last weekend I had to pick up over 150 boxes of cookies from two different places (the girls each had about 75 pre-orders for cookies.) I was able to deliver most before they both had to stay home sick from school but I still have a few left. I have a whole pile of posts that I just need to polish up and check one more time before posting. Hopefully I will find sometime between taking care of my sickies to get to that tomorrow. I will also have to get a picture of my darling husband and his huge walking cast!

Sharing Happiness

I am generally a happy person and I like to share that with those around me. The easiest way to share happiness is to just share a smile. When I drop my girls off a school (or half the time sign-in for volunteering) I say "hello" or "good morning" and give them a smile. It is the simplest way share happiness. As for my family I like to make them things. Sometimes it is baking them a favorite treat such as cookies, cupcakes or even toffee. Lately I have been making fresh bread to have with dinner. Last night I started baking the bread and everyone decided they wanted waffles for dinner. We ended up eating a fresh baguette and homemade waffles for dinner. An interesting combination but it made my family happy. I love baking and I love to share what I bake even more. The girls and I like to make treats and share with friends and family. We sometimes make toffee or friendship bread for their teachers. I always make my mom her favorite cookies when she is coming for a visit. I even make my mother-in-law her favorite molasses cookies. Last week I surprised my family with Madeline's and it was an extra surprise since I had never made them before. My darling husband mentioned that he was hoping I would make a cake next time. Well I made him one that night while he was upstairs with the girls. He was so happy and surprised that I made them that very night. Of course the only frosting I had in the house was orange from Halloween but he did not mind. I also enjoy making non food items to spread a little happiness. Right after I was married I taught myself how to knit and crochet. My girls (and their friends) love when I make them a little something. For a while I was crocheting cupcakes all the time so the girls could share them with their friends. Making something from your heart is a great way to share happiness which is why last month I had my Daisy troop make bracelets and cards to go with each bracelet. After the girls made the cute bracelets (they made them with beads and one large heart bead) we sent them to the Global Genes Project to be handed out to kids with rare diseases and disorders. The girls felt happiness to make something for other kids and the shared that happiness with the kids who will know someone is thinking of them. Sharing happiness is easy, how do you share happiness?

I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Hershey's blogging program, for a gift card worth $25 and some product. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Wordless Wednesday: New Glasses

Princess A just got glasses and she loves them.

Daddy also got her the giant pink puppy (and another for her sister) to celebrate this momentous occasion.

She is just too cute!!!!!

Dapper Snappers Review

Both of my girls are thin so it is hard to find pants that fit them or at least not droop. I was sent a pink Dapper Snapper which worked great for Princess G. I usually try to purchase adjustable pants but I can't always find them in the style the girls will wear. The Dapper Snapper has two snaps on each side so you can adjust the Dapper Snapper for two different sizes. The girls almost always wear dresses or skirts over their pants but sometimes they don't. It is nice to know that when Princess G sits or squats people will only see her pants and nothing else. I know we will be using the Dapper Snapper when Princess G wears pants, especially for the Kindergarten Round-up (a school concert.)What I really like about them is that they are elastic! Since they stretch Princess G can still take her pants on and off to use the bathroom without touching the Dapper Snapper. Obviously she needs to be able to use the restroom without any help. The Dapper Snapper keeps her pants on snugger similar to a belt but since it is only on the back she does not have to deal with it at all. They also make Dapper Snappers for Moms to be too. The Dapper Snapper is perfect for kids who are on the narrow side so their pants don't droop. They are also great for kids who are skinnier than the kid they are getting hand-me-downs from. My sister has given up lots of clothes my niece wore and she is more solid than my girls so the pants are always too wide. Now Princess G can wears all of the clothes from my niece, especially the pants.

This post was written for Family Review Network & Dapper Snappers who provided the complimentary product for review in exchange for my honest opinions.