Stripey Sparky
I've rented one of my dream lenses for a reception I'm photographing this weekend. I figure I need to get my money's worth, so I've been using it as much as possible since it arrived on Wednesday. Sparky was my first subject.
Fun Stuff
I recently had to dig through some old files on my computer to find a Halloween picture, and in the process I came across my "year end" slideshow files for The Princess from a couple years ago (I think this was the year she was 2 turning 3). I just wanted to share a few of the images I found.
I have a really bad habit of shooting a lot of pictures of my kids and then never having any of the images printed (or even getting as far as editing the images). My kids are probably going to think they're adopted, because there are hardly any prints of them on the walls.
Actually, there are NO prints of them on the walls at the moment, because the only thing on any wall of my house is Sasquatch's (DH's old/new nickname for the blog - a bit less generic that way) big wolf picture over the mantle. And a faerie calendar where my computer desk used to be.
I need to get better about having prints made from the thousands of pictures I take of my kids. I also need to get better about decorating my house. I guess I kind of keep hoping in the back of my mind that this isn't our permanent dwelling place, and that if I avoid decorating, there's nothing to tie me down here. I suppose the proper way to tempt Mr. Murphy would be to get my house just how I like it, so that I'll be annoyed if we end up moving.
Don't get me wrong, I love the people we've met here. We've made some amazing friends. But I still feel lonely and cooped up most of the time, and I hate being so far away from all of our family and friends. And the one car situation is pretty miserable most of the time.
Okay, enough whining. Onto the retro cuteness!
This first picture is still one of my favorites. I was out with a friend and Sasquatch was babysitting, and she managed to find my makeup stash. I was furious at the time, because she got a ton of makeup ground into the carpet, but I think it's hilarious that so much of the makeup is applied "correctly." Or at least on the correct areas of the face.
Obviously she perfected the dirty looks at an early age.
She used to run around with this tape player and pretend to take pictures of everyone and everything. It was super cute!
Tutu cute!
Don't you just love cliché titles?
Just one of Miss Sparky for today. I finally had the gumption to create a studio portrait to go along with a similar (albeit rather different - but at least they're both wearing beads) portrait of The Princess at this age. The Princess was actually about 9 months in her portrait, but since Sparky is kind of a peanut compared to her big sis, they still look pretty similar. I think I'm going to get this one printed as a 16X20 to match the other portrait, and maybe I'll actually start putting some art up on my pathetically bare walls.
If you want to get the full effect - click on the picture to view it larger. It will still look a little too red and dark (something awful happens when I post images on the web) but it will look at least a little better than the smaller image.
Isn't she a cute little monkey?
First Day of Kindergarten
Whether or not I'm ready for it, The Princess is now in Kindergarten.
She missed the cutoff by three days last year, so she's more than ready for school. She's already reading and writing (although they didn't tell us how she did on her assessment), and she's thrilled to have the social interaction.
The first (and second) day went really well. She had trouble sleeping the night before (adrenaline/nerves/baby sister who was screaming for hours), and didn't have much of an appetite for the fancy breakfast her dad made for her, but she had a lot of fun at school. And being in school all day has helped with her behavior at home, as well (knock on wood).
I was apparently a bad mommy on the first day - the temperature dropped to the 70's, and "all the other kids" had jackets while she had to fend for herself in capris and a t-shirt. I suppose the heat and humidity has already thinned her blood and she's turned into a cool weather wimp. I was LOVING the "cooler" temperatures yesterday and didn't even think of having her take a jacket. She insisted on wearing one to school today in order to be like everyone else. I guess we haven't done our job teaching her that it's okay to be different.
Here are a couple of snapshots - she's sporting the spiffy new backpack that she picked out all by herself.
The Princess' Fool-Proof Weight Loss Plan
Apparently I need to be more careful about what I say around my eldest daughter. She's already catching onto the the "I'm too fat" statements I make about myself. I definitely don't want to give her any body issues (the media is perfectly capable of taking care of that for me), so I guess it's time to start speaking about myself in a more positive light. DH will appreciate that... Here's a conversation The Princess had with her dad at breakfast time today.
During breakfast, DH was making PB&J sandwiches, and had both creamy and crunchy peanut butter on the table. Trying to decide which peanut butter she wanted, The Princess said, "The crunchy peanut butter has less fat than the creamy. So I think I'm going to eat the crunchy peanut butter from now on, because I'm trying to get into better shape."
Later in the meal, The Princess was reading the peanut butter jar. She turned to DH and asked, "What is S-A-T fat?"
DH: "Saturated fat."
The Princess: "Crunchy has sixteen saturated fats... I think that's okay... I can handle sixteen because it won't make my hips get bigger."
DH had to work really hard not to laugh out loud. He told me he's never been so grateful for having so much peanut butter in his sandwiches - he had to stuff half a sandwich in his mouth so that she wouldn't think he was laughing at her.
Shareware and Women's Clothing
We had a "Shareware" at church last night. It was great that it was on a Tuesday, because DH has cub scouts on Tuesdays, so we were all able to go to the church at the same time and I didn't have to spend a night at home alone with the girls (it seems like my two little hooligans save most of their grumpiness and attitude for the evening - especially on cub scout night).
So what is a Shareware, you ask? No, it's not free software... It's more like a ward-wide thrift shop (except everything is free). In an effort to practice provident living, families have been bringing their unused clothing and housewares to the relief society presidency for the last few weeks. Last night, everything was set up on tables in the gym for other families to browse through and take home. So basically, I dejunked a bunch of stuff from my house (not nearly as much as I would have liked - I never made it through the third bedroom and Sparky still sleeps - or not - in our master bedroom closet), and brought a bunch of other stuff home to replace the stuff I donated.
My goal (other than getting rid of some much unused kitchen items) was to pick up some clothing for Miss Sparky, since so much of The Princess' old clothing is the wrong season. There wasn't much in the way of 18-month girl's winter clothing, and there was nothing in The Princess' current size (which is fine for now because she's okay on school clothing at the moment).
However, I did get a couple of really cool toys for Sparky (again, so much for reducing the clutter in my home). I picked up a Leap Frog learning drum, which is exactly what I'd wanted to get her for her birthday (I think she's destined to be a percussionist when she's older - so Grandpa - that drum set would be a WAY better option for Miss Sparky than it ever would have been for The Princess), but didn't have the money to get (look on Amazon - they're expensive). Someone had also donated a cute toddler playhouse type thing - it's basically a free standing set of windows with a door in the middle - I'll take pictures later - my wonderful visiting teacher agreed to transport it home for me since it wouldn't fit in my car. A lot of the pieces are missing (there's a little spot for blocks of different shapes, and what I'm assuming was a flower by the window is no longer there), but Sparky will LOVE opening and closing the little door to crawl from one side of the structure to the other.
I also decided to look through the women's clothing. I felt sort of silly looking, because I kind of have this fear that the person who donated the clothing will see me wearing it, but I suppose the whole point is to help on another. I found a REALLY pretty gauzy skirt and top (and it will look nice if I'm brave enough to wear it to church), and a cute pair of khakis from The Gap.
Old Navy and The Gap are two of my very favorite women's clothing stores (and of course I love their kid stuff, too). Why? Because when I wear clothes from these two stores, I'm instantly two pant sizes smaller than any other brand of women's clothing. It always makes me feel better about my post-pregnancy body. :) I think they mislabel their clothing on purpose. It's definitely good psychology for me (I'm much more willing to purchase something that tells me I'm a smaller size than I thought), or maybe I'm just a sucker...
So thank you to whomever donated the items I brought home from the Shareware. They've gone to a good, loving home, and we're grateful.
My Sweet Girl
I did an event at GreenPea Nursery last night, and I was gone for a few hours. I'd left the house in a hurry, and the front room was pretty messy (granted, it was mostly The Princess' toys, etc, but I had also left a few things lying around).
I came in the garage door into the kitchen, and it was totally clean (thanks to my wonderful hubby). The Princess was really excited for me to go into the front room - she had cleaned the entire room all by herself. It was TOTALLY spotless (she had even tried to sweep the kitchen, but Miss Sparky thought that was the perfect time to start playing with the broom and the crumbs)! I was pretty dang proud of her - it definitely made my night to come home to a clean house.
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