Diamonds aren't the only best friends

My good friend, Julia, gave me a bunch of her high (and I mean HIGH) heeled shoes after her recent back injury.  The girls went CRAZY trying them on this morning.

Lily was delighted to add three inches to her height!

After this one shot, all the kids crowded to have their glamour shots taken.

4 kids, 7 high heels, 1 bathroom.  I can't wait until they are all teenagers.

Lily wanted to see if she could make her feet stay at the top and not slide down to the toes!

This girl is a natural poser.  Has she been reading fashion magazines on the side?

Even Christian had to get some shoe action.  Always on just one foot.  He seemed to prefer black.

Eliza decided an umbrella would be the perfect prop for this outfit.  I have to agree.

And suddenly the costumes were flying.

Anything goes-even a boot and an open-toed heel.

And now they are busy writing a fashion show/play.  The main characters: 3", 4", and 5" heels, of course.   Clearly diamonds aren't the only best friends a girl can have.  Thanks, Julia!!!

Look no further for good parenting

Christian cried an especially long time before going down for a nap one day.  I peeked in later to find this.  Oops.

He forgave me when I gave him free reign on the marshmallows later.  Because that's how good parents say "I'm sorry," right?

Fashion

I took this picture of Christian on Mother's Day.  He was tromping up and down the hallway, wearing one of my shoes and pushing a stroller.

I am always delighted when he puts on my shoes.  I don't know if it means he loves my sense of fashion, or that he wants to be like me.  But either way, I'm flattered, and I love this kid.

And, while we're speaking of dressing up, Lily's latest favorite look is to wear her swimsuit cover up, and that's all.  There is no event that she doesn't want to wear it to: as a substitute for PJs, a lovely dress to wear to the school/the store/churh, even a cover to a swimsuit (imagine that).  It has proven to be quite the multi-purpose frock in her mind.  I feel less enthusiastic about this than Christian wearing my shoes.

Notice the addition of biker gloves to the ensemble.  Classy.

Decorating by Lily

I just found this unposted Christmas blog in my archives.  Better late than never, right?

They say two's company, and three's a crowd.  But what about four Nutcrackers on one branch?

Decorating by Lily

Dance terminology

Eliza was doing dance moves to a Tangled song and she did something and I said, "What's that called?"  She replied quickly, "It's an arabesque."  Then she did another move and I asked, "What's that called?"  She thought for a second and replied, "It's called a huge leap."

Sisters are good for teaching life lessons

Older sisters are the best for teaching their younger siblings important life lessons.  How else would I have known how to use hot curlers or to have the guts to play basketball with the boys at recess, but for my older sister, Krista?  And how lucky my younger sister, Danielle, is to have received "Pointers on Boys" from her experienced, 3rd-grade older sister (me).

This week I overheard Eliza (6) giving Lily (4) some advice.  And this is an exact quote because after I heard it, I walked straight to the computer to type down the exact wording, because, well, I couldn't make this up if I tried. 

Eliza: "If someone tries to tickle you, don't tell them 'Stop; I'm ticklish,' because then they'll tickle you more.  Tell them 'I have explosive diarrhea' and they'll totally run away."

Which leaves me with so many questions.  Does she have a tickle tormentor at school that I don't know about?  Where did she learn the phrase "explosive diarrhea"?  Did she use that excuse at school?  Did it work?  Did it freak anyone else out?  Should I be freaked out?  Is it bad that I'm still laughing about this, three days later?

And most importantly, why didn't Krista teach me this important lesson years ago?