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?

HAIR

I volunteered myself and my mom and sister to run Sage's class "Fun Day Friday" just before Halloween.  We did five or six Halloween science projects with sixty kids.  And did I mention that we dressed up?  Ratted hair and all.  Becca worked her magic on our lovely locks. 

 

Sage decided to be a mad scientist for Halloween, including ratted hair.  We certainly could have used Becca's help with the ratting.   (And the detangling after, for that matter!)

But Eliza is a natural--she woke up with these "rainbow bangs" earlier this week.  I couldn't have gotten them like that if I had been trying!  (She is my only kid to sleep face down into the pillow, and thus graces us with some awesome morning 'do-s.)

 

And after Krista called Christian's lovely locks "old man hair," he met the shears for the first time.  I asked Eliza to take a picture of me cutting his hair, and this she did EXACTLY that. 

The End Result.  (I can't show you the back, because there are sort of two cut lines back there. How does anyone cut straight lines on wiggly babies' heads?  And don't say "with a sucker and a movie" because that was insufficient for us!)

Okay fine--here's one of the back--Christian got a hold of the phone and went charging down the hallway to get away from me.  (Where Lily may or may not have been wearing pants, but definitely had mittens on.  Which pretty much counts as fully dressed in her mind.)

Trick or Treat?

  Someone left me this little treat (or trick?) near the computer today.
 

Mischief Managed

Christian has been so busy lately.  Consider the evidence.

This was so cute, until it made the dishwasher pop out of its little cubbyhole.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3.  

These curtains will NEVER be white again.

I know, I was dumb to give him an ice cream sandwich in the car.

What a goof.

He kept bobbing for apples long after his sisters lost interest.

We love this kid to death.

My mom is awesome

Have I ever told you how awesome my mom is?
 
Last week Eliza lost her tooth on the way to Grandma's house. 

She worried about whether the tooth fairy would find her in Grandma's basement.  Luckily, the tooth fairy did, and she left three quarters.  (Which was quite a disappointment after the previous tooth's crisp dollar bill.)  By the time we had to leave, the three quarters were MIA.  We left with a crying six year old in tow.

Today I got an email for Eliza from Grandma:


Dear Eliza,

Guess what?  I found your missing quarters.  I was so surprised!

I went to mend some clothes and when I sat at my sewing machine to lift up the pressure foot and put in the fabric, guess what I discovered?  3 neatly stacked quarters under the pressure foot and a broken needle (that had apparently tried to sew through them). 

I never would have thought to look for them there, but there they were!  I put them in your Mom's maid bag for you when you come again.

Love ya, the toothless one!

Grandma

PS--Are you the one who hid the little mouse in the fridge?  Ha!  That was another surprise I discovered after you left! 

A dollar a glass

I decided to take the plunge and recruit some kitchen help.  It happened a few nights ago, after Mark poured himself a big glass of milk that turned out to be spoiled.  Neither of us wanted to try anything from the other gallon in the fridge, so I paid Sage $1 to taste it.  

 

 

She tasted it, reported it safe, and then refunded my dollar.  What a good kid.  

I think it's safe to say that I will be soliciting a lot more kitchen help, now that I've had my eyes opened to the many advantages.  The price is certainly right!