Thank you Grandma L!

The girls were super excited when they got home from school today because there was a package -they are suckers for mail! Usually it's a big disappointment when they discover it is just my medicine, but today it was for them. Thank you Grandma L for the super cute early Valentine's Day presents. The girls ripped off the packaging with glee and put the outfits right on. They have also already announced that they will be wearing them to school tomorrow (albeit with tights and sweaters!). I'm sure Grandma L won't mind that they are wearing them early. :)

Aren't they cute!

Thank you Grandma!

OK - Starshine's pants are a little long, but in true Grandma L fashion, I told her "you'll grow into then."

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Jr. Princess is being super cute tonight. She is pretending to be Mommy and helping Starshine after her bath. While I am leisurely getting today's blog entry ready for the jr. typers, Jr. Princess is running around getting pajamas, drying her off and in general doing all of the work. Ahhh- delegation...

Winter Carnival

It's finally Winter Carnival time! Let's face it - if you're going to live in Minnesota during the winter, you need to find some sort of fun cold activity to embrace, and this is ours.

Of course, this year was definitely a test of our fortitude. It was -10F yesterday when we woke up, but we were not going to let that stand in the way of our family tradition (it would just abbreviate it).

Here we are at the the ice carvings downtown:

And here we are in a local park digging for the medallion. It still hasn't been found - I think the weather (along with the tricky clues) is really slowing people down this year. I know we didn't last long outside (and by we, I mean me. The girls probably would have stayed longer but my toes were Popsicles!).

I almost forgot - there was also a stop at Candyland for some treats. Starshine fell in love with her cherry popcorn ball.

Popcorn balls are the best!

Later we went out to eat for dinner. Now, I know our kids are definitely good, adventurous eaters compared to the average kid, but here is photographic evidence. Jr. Princess decided to eat the cilantro garnish off her plate!

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Dinner Table Conversation

Jr. Princess brought home this adorable box from daycare this week.It contains conversation starters to use at the dinner table. So, for dinner last night we pulled out the first one - "How do you properly introduce yourself to someone?" I was very impressed with how well the kids did. What a cute idea...
If mommy put mine on that would be the best!

Here's Jr. Princees... (keep in mind we told her to use a fake name so it could go on the blog)

Not sure how the conversation turned, but later we started explaining the different jobs that Grandma and Grandpa M have had. Grandpa M used to be a teacher, he painted houses, etc. Well, Starshine interrupted very matter-of-factly, "Grandpa M made rocks." M&M Dad and I laughed so hard. Has he been pumping her full of mine stories already??

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Lots of Swimming

Saturday, Starshine got to go to a birthday swimming party for one of her friends from daycare. She had lots of fun. I was a little nervous that 2 parents couldn't effectively watch 10 kids, who don't know how to swim, at a swimming party where the pool is full of hundreds of other kids. But, in the spirit of not being a helicopter parent, I let her go.

(Confession - I'll admit after a trip over to the library, I came back and watched a little though the observation window. The birthday Mom did a great job keeping everybody in the kiddie pool.)

Then, on Sunday, it was off to swimming lessons.

I am a better swimer then last year !

The girls had a blast, and it gave M&M Dad some quiet time for a long run. He was excited because at the end of a long run he was able to do his first sub 6 minute mile. Seriously, I am not sure if the treadmill will be able to keep up, soon. It is impressive how he gets faster with age as the rest of us get slower :).

The rest of the weekend was full of lots of bathroom tediousness. I am working in overdrive so the kids can use it (and it not be an exposed-electrical deathtrap).

I also want it done so we can focus on the Winter Carnival next weekend. We're looking forward to the ice carving contest, a trip to Candyland for my favorite Chicago Mix popcorn, and some treasure hunting.

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Star of The Week is Over

Well it had to happen. Starshine's reign as Star of the Week has come to a close.

Her favorite moments:

• Getting to read her two books from home to the class
• Picking a new friend everyday to be her helper
• Erasing all of the boards
• Stamping the due date on the take home sheets
• Taking the lunch account down every day

This was such a fun week. I loved to watch how excited she was to go to school. I hope they do this next year in 2nd grade.

I get to go to my friends birthday!

Tonight we are relaxing before a big weekend of a birthday party, swimming lessons, and working on the bathroom. The contractor finished yesterday, and it looks fantastic. The only problem is we still need to paint and caulk before we can unleash the splash monsters near the patched drywall. (That and I have to hang 4 new smoke detectors, one in each of the bedrooms because, apparently the ones in the hallway are no longer good enough. Thanks a lot city inspector. So, you can now feel super safe when you visit because we will soon have 6 smoke detectors, because the existing 2 are hard wired and it's not like I feel like taking them down and patching up the ceiling. )

At least the toilet and sink are in full working order, because Jr. Princess loved using her "once a night potty card" to come all the way upstairs and see what was going on after bedtime.

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FYI - orange is Jr. Princess's blog color.

Star of the Week - Day#1

Last night we ran to Target, and the "Star of the Week" Gods were smiling - sparkly shoes were on clearance. Starshine has been coveting them for weeks, but in true M&M Dad and Pink Mom fashion, decided they were not worth 5 weeks of allowance (we're so proud). Well, yesterday they were super cheap and she picked out these fabulous black ones for only $5.24! (I would totally buy them if they came in my size.) I think it was a great use of the Christmas Gift Card from Great Aunt C.

(Ok - so the picture does not accurately represent how sparkle-tastic they really are... and please don't comment on the dirty floor. We are in the middle of construction...) So - anyhoo - she looked fabulous today in her sparkly pants and sparkly shoes. She was soooo excited to go to school with her glitter-glued poster.

Here is her report of the day-one duties of Star of the Week:

• line leader multiple times
• talked about her poster
• in charge of counting the lunch orders (Mrs. L double checks, but Starshine got it right)
• took the lunch account down to the cafeteria (and got to pick a friend to come)
• went to the office when another student needed a new folder

Sounds like a great first day in office.

I was so excited today.

Yesterday M&M Dad had the girls out sledding for what seemed like an unusually long time, even for their winter toughness. I thought I heard some shrieking that I didn't recognize, and when I went outside it was Sledding J (nickname selected by Starshine), our neighbor. She had gotten her adult daughter's whole collection of sleds out of the shed and she and the girls were having a blast in the backyard.

This sled was nicknamed the bullet..

because it shot Jr. Princess right into the swing set!

And here is Starshine showing the "magic carpet ride."

It's pretty much a thin sheet of slippery plastic that the girls loved because whenever one of us adults tried it, we ended up rolling off and face planting in the snow! We have such great neighbors...

Happy Birthday Grandma M

Birthday wishes from Jr. Princess

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Not to be outdone, here is Starshine

I wanted to sing you a song.

It's Star of the Week Time!!

It finally happened - Starshine's name got pulled out of the hat, and she gets to be Star of the Week in her class starting on Monday. As you may guess, she is beyond excited! Here she is diligently working on her "All About Me" poster. She is very excited about being first in line every day and getting to bring the lunch order down to the cafeteria in the morning. I am sure we will have lots to post about on Monday.


We spend the morning deciding which pictures of the family, her and her pet, to put on the poster. We, of course, don't have pets so she is putting a picture of one of our backyard pets - the deer. She and M&M Dad braved the cold this morning to try and get an awesome new photo with our awesome new camera, but the deer were not cooperating, so we found a photo from fall.

Mom forgot to say that I get to be the lineleader too.
(Hmm, I'm pretty sure I mentioned that...)

The big crisis almost came when the old printer printed some HORRIBLE pictures, but luckily we had our new printer from Grandma and Grandpa L for Christmas. 15 quick install minutes later -Wow - look at the difference...

Crisis averted!

And on another note... say good bye to the hideous downstairs bathroom! Seriously - who ever though grey and brass went together???

The contractor got started this week, and it should (hopefully) be all done on Thursday. It even looks better right now with a big hole in the wall into the laundry room. The contractor is enjoying pointing out all of the shady craftsmanship put in by the previous home owners (too thin drywall, non-code approved sink piping, etc.). Don't I know it. Every time I try to change something in the downstairs I find some sort of crazy home improvement choices. I am super excited to kick the kids out of my bathroom when the new tub is ready.

Don't expect any completed pictures for a while, though. We are doing the final painting and adding of towel bars, mirror, etc., which means this could drag on for a while :).

Fun Friend (and the Ensuing Meltdown) Weekend

Yesterday we invited Starshine's "Best Friend" and her little brother "Sword Fighter" over to play. We gave him that nickname because he turns everything into a sword, and, incidentally, was quite disappointed in our lack of scary options in the dress up box. Sorry - but this is a definite Princess house.

We made sure it was a warm-ish winter day so we could burn off some energy outside, and sledding in the backyard was a big hit. M&M Dad made a wonderful burm so the new inflatable sleds wouldn't get tore up on the landscape rocks again (maybe he does have some hidden inner engineer). This was their favorite choo-coo train sledding action shot:We also made more great use out of our awesome Wii game from Grandma - the kids loved it. Best Friend's parents have a Wii, too, but apparently it is their little secret that their kids don't know about. I made the case that it is an excellent way to burn off some cooped up steam!
And here is my favorite photo of Jr. Princess this weekend. (I especially like her choice of Leprechaun socks). Of course, all of this excitement led to the funniest meltdown tonight. Jr. Princess wouldn't share with Starshine, so after her time-out she was told she would have to go to bed. Unfortunately, she can't tell time so she didn't realize that it was only 15 minutes early. The meltdown was so long, uncharacteristic, and funny that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab the video camera... hee hee.



And, thanks for all of your concern about M&M Dad - he is feeling better.

Starting the New Year Off with a Bang - Literally

Yesterday the girls and I drove down to St. Paul to have lunch with Matt, because he was working. We went to Cossetta's, which I love, and Jr. Princess had the best time people watching. The girls and I even stopped on the way to exchange M&M Dad's Christmas hockey stick (right handed- because I naively assumed he played hockey right handed like every single other sport) for a left handed hockey stick. Well, perhaps I shouldn't have...

This morning, the family went out for a bit of ice skating. Before I had even gotten both girls onto the ice, M&M Dad had skated 1 1/2 lengths of the rink, attempted a shot on goal, and then face planted into the ice. It was quite scary. Check out the road rash on his face.

Needless to say we went home, and I checked him frequently for signs of a concussion. (He did lose to Jr. Princess in Memory again this afternoon, but that's actually normal :).) He's been laying low in the bedroom for the afternoon. I joked that this was all a ruse to get to watch bowl games all day, but I know when he didn't go for a run that he was really hurting. I wonder if his eye will swell up like his ankle did the last time he hurt himself? Tomorrow's project - get his glasses realigned. They are totally wackadoodle from the fall...

So the girls and I had a low key afternoon trying to keep quiet to not bother Dad's headache. Grandma L - we love the Outdoor Adventure game for the Wii. Even Jr. Princess can do a lot of the games and we have lots of fun with it.

I'm sad that Dad got hurt.