Abby's wish list

for Christmas:

cell phone

ipod

nintendo ds

laptop

something's wrong here.

you never stop learning

I ate at a friend's the other night and she was talking about how she always forgets to bake the shells until the last minute when she's making tacos. Um, what do you mean bake the shells? Yup, there it is on the back of the box. Bake the shells--three hundred something for 5ish minutes. And WOW. They are a hundred times better baked!!! Yummy and crispy and light. I always wondered why my shells seemed stale! I'd buy a box and eat them that night so they'd be fresh. Still stale. Sigh. Sometimes you just miss the memo. Thank you, Sheri, for changing my taco life.

By the way, I have been thoroughly teased by locals who knew this their whole life. But I am CERTAIN there are more of you out there who are picking your jaws up off the ground because you never knew shells from the box should be baked. Admit it.

scenes from a Ballerina party

Like...

the table (guests got to take a balloon home)
Ballerina silhouettes...

We traced these as guests arrived. They didn't turn out as dramatic as the American Idol ones from Abby's party as kids were doing some of the tracing. But it's still such a fun activity as you're getting going.
The best one...the cake...
the stickers...

Abby gave Eliza a sticker maker for her birthday so we made some name stickers. We had 3 guests--each had a 6 year old sister we also invited. They were our "helpers." (loosely interpreted) It worked out great.
We cleaned out Germantown Library's ballet section...somewhere for kids to sit and entertain themselves if they weren't interested in the activity going on. And, extra tutus!
games...

This is "guess the bundle." Tightly wrap household objects (shoe, phone, scissors, toy car) in tissue wrap, add a bow. Have a child pull one out of a gift bag and see if anyone can figure out what it is. Might be harder (thus more fun) than you think! Unwrap and see!

the big moment...
gifts and those who gave them...
mom, who had to wear pink too!...

Eliza turns 4!

Here's the family's newest 4-year-old! This birthday morning was full of precious moments. Every gift was so special to her. I love this moment here--she was so excited about this tiny little Ariel doll.
Since her friend party was coming up on Saturday (and I don't love eating or making multiple cakes) I followed my SIL's tradition of having ice cream sundae's on the birthday. And saving the cake for the party. The kids loved it. All I really needed for Eliza though, is ice cream and sprinkles.

She is a precious one! I think turning 4 has turbo charged her personality--the past couple days have been vivacious!!

Crabby

Daniel stuck these sticks in the hermit crab tank. They LOVE to climb and hang out at the top. When I saw all three on one stick I thought it was worthy of a picture.

Daniel...a year older!

It's true. He's gained a year. For his birthday, we surprised Daniel and took him out to a movie! We each made a giant "ticket" to go see "Cloudy, with a Chance of Meatballs." I wasn't sure how long we could keep the secret! Eliza had already told him earlier in the week (in all effort to keep the secret) "I'm not going to tell you what movie we're going to see!" Luckily he had a hunch we were buying him a movie/musical and maybe that threw him off. Anyway, it was a really fun outing for all of us!! As for a "Cloudy" review: We liked it a lot! Lots of laughs and witty lines. The only time anyone got really scared was when the girl (who is severely allergic to peanuts) nicks herself on peanut brittle. We almost lost Abby. I think the older the viewer, the more it was enjoyed. Eliza (who never showed any sign of dissatisfaction) claimed afterward that she did not like it. Who knew!

Happy Birthday Daniel...since keeping track is getting hard, we'll keep reminding you how old you are from here on out. xoxo

Assembling a new office chair!
I made him a lemon/pineapple cake that his Grandma Stewart used to make. As it says in her recipe book..."luscious!"
Gettin' in party mode.
Opening our package of "tickets"
Oh, yes. We put up a bunch of fun birthday signs for Daniel. Andrew made one about "Jungle Dad." As he was coloring he checked with me, "Mom, Dad has gray hair on the sides, right?" Yes, yes, it's true.

trick or treat!

Here they are: hula girl, Popeye, and the wee ballerina!

We gave a grass-cut to an old adult-size skirt, and created a flower barrette from an over sized bracelet (that now fits just right)...
For Popeye I added gold anchor buttons and the big red collar to a blue polo. He's using a "bubble pipe" we bought 8 years ago when Daniel was Professor Plum. Tattoos: crayola marker.

Don't forget the spinach can for the candy! (Yes, we covered a plastic jack-o-lantern bucket.)

All we did here was glue some rhinestone's to Eliza's shirt and we had the rest! I just love this pose.

All together nowThere was something fun about the trick-or-treating this year. We didn't have to carry any toddlers, worry about long princess dresses getting tripped on, or any of that. The kids were pretty independent! They actually went up to the doors together and we stood back and watched! But the really cute part was how Eliza led the show. She was geared up and ready to go! I had to hustle Andrew and Abby along to catch up with her. All things considered, yes, we felt older. For a little parental independence, I'll take it.