Kids Write the Darndest Things!

I was sorting through the papers in Starshine's folder after school today and started laughing out loud...

Here is a picture of the first one...
It was followed by 7 more papers...

"Pleeeeeeaaaaassseeeee don't bring pets.
Don't dare"

"Is that to much to ask!
am getting angree"

"Please don't bring cats
don't bring dogs please
don't bring babies
a'm serise [translation: I'm serious]

"pppllleeessseee"

"Don't bring cats"

"Don't bring Dogs"

"Don't bring Dogs"

Oh my goodness - hysterical! After we were done laughing about it she explained they couldn't play on the slide at school because of some dog poop. So, she and a friend were making signs to hang on the fence at school. Well, that makes sense, I guess.

Thats ridiculous mom, don't put that on the blog!!!!!

More Grandparent Fun

Here are some more updates of Granparent fun...

Grandpa M was brave enough to play Memory with Jr. Princess...

The girls gave rave reviews to the pie. (It actually was quite delicious - whipped cream, crushed Oreos... what's not to love?)

Hanging out by the fire pit...

All in all, a fun weekend.

After they had left, Starshine spent a fun afternoon swimming with a friend, while Jr. Princess and I went to see Earth, which was great. M&M Dad - well I'm not sure what he was up to (except a run, of course) but I'm sure he was enjoying the alone time.

The best part of the weekend for me, however, was when Grandma M told me how they had learned about Original Hem Jean Alterations when they were in Colorado from Fashion Uncle. Well, I don't know about you, but I am constantly annoyed at the length of jeans. Manufacturers think we are either 5'10" tall supermodels, or we like to wear heels every minute of the day. Well, I quickly looked it up on the internet (http://www.daciaray.com/?p=38), and 20 minutes later had modified a pair of jeans in my closet...

Fabulous! Seriously, why did I not know about this before????

Grandma and Grandpa M are here!

The girls had been counting down the days until a grandparent visit, and it is finally here. M&M Dad's parents arrived last evening and we all went out to dinner.

Jr. Princess quote - "Grandpa likes Red Robin and I like Red Robin! Perfect!"

Today we were all ready to watch the girls' activities. Well, Starshine's coach cancelled tennis because he thought it was too cold - total wimp. So, we all went to see Jr. Princess at gymnastics. At the community center they were having a kids' health fair. Starshine completed a "How Fit Are You" challenge, and I have to say I was totally surprised at how good she is at push-ups. Her gym teacher must be working them pretty hard!

This afternoon we bid bon voyage to the shabby vinyl tablecloth by finger painting it in the driveway before throwing it away - super fun!

Oh, and Grandpa M now knows the danger of visiting a blogger's house. Look closely - he put some of the girls Mac 'n Cheese on his salad for lunch - huh?


The girls and I snuck out for a top secret mission to Bakers Square this afternoon. Starshine got an awesome $5-off coupon at the local parade last year and we have been saving it for when the M's are here because they both really like pie and it's really not M&M Dad or my favorite, so we really didn't want a whole pie in the house if no one was here to help eat it. Well, I may change my mind tonight because they picked out an Oreo pie - super yum!

Starshine choosed a wonderful pie!

Medical Updates

On Wednesday, M&M Dad took both girls back to the dentist. Jr. Princess got her filling like a trooper (clearly better than me), and Starshine had her tooth pulled. Here she is showing off her fabulous new gap...(Not sure why her hair was so scary.) IT's barely a gap because the big tooth is so far up already! And here they are showing off their awesome sunglasses they got as prizes.

On Monday they were told they would get prizes for not crying (check), but Jr. Princess was outraged that another little girl cried the whole time and still got a prize!

Then, on Wednesday evening we took Starshine to the Optometrist because we had noticed that she couldn't read some things from a distance. She did test to be slightly near sighted, but surprisingly they now recommend holding off on glasses for as long as possible (as long as it's not affecting her school work), and even then to take them off for reading and close-up work. I guess the theory is your eyes start to adjust to the prescription and then start getting worse. When M&M Dad was a kid, they pretty much made him get glasses right away and he was constantly told, "why aren't you wearing your glasses." M&M Dad commented that the fact that medical theories have changed is a sure sign that we are getting old, similar to the feeling I have when I don't know any of the dinosaur names anymore because they have all changed.

Dental Drama and M&M Mechanic Unveiled!

Monday morning I took both girls to the dentist for what I thought would be a quick routine cleaning. I was wrong...


First, we found out Jr. Princess's molars didn't form correctly. One has a divot without proper enamel, and she needs a filling. (Seriously, I didn't know 3 year olds could possibly need fillings.)Luckily, because it is a baby tooth, they probably won't need to drill, just fill. Yikes. I sure hope this is not indicative of her big girl teeth...


Then, the dentist recommended pulling Starshine's first baby tooth because her big girl tooth popped out behind it. If we pull now, her big tooth should grow into the right spot (fingers crossed). I had many baby teeth pulled, too, so this does not come as a huge surprise.


I am excited that my tooth will get lost and that I can keep it! I love that he gives prizes if you be good and don't cry.


So, I know we were all guessing when the tooth fairy was coming... well the answer is Wednesday. M&M Dad is taking both the girls in tomorrow morning, and I am really glad not to be there. (I seriously hate the dentist, though I am trying to keep it a secret to not pass on my phobia to the girls!) I couldn't believe it when the dentist told me both girls would get some nitrous oxide to help them relax. I didn't know people still used laughing gas, and, more importantly, how come nobody ever offered ME any to help ME relax. I was a total stressed-out wreck during my filling earlier this year.


On an unrelated note...
Last week my car battery was struggling so I asked M&M Dad if he knew how to change a battery. Well, he's definitley not a car guy, so I got quite the look... The problem is, I hate going in to get my car serviced because it involves way too much schedule coordination, so I looked up how to change a battery on the internet. According to credible websites, the only skills involved were the aility to lift 60 pounds (check) and basic tools (check). Sorry M&M Dad, but you're qualified...


So here it is .... M&M Mechanic! (I'm not sure this pictures properly captures how much he was not enjoying this :).) To his credit, however, he did a great job and it works great! Needless to day, he was not thrilled with me bringing the camera out to the garage, but I told him Grandpa M would need to see it to believe it!

A Busy Saturday

Whew - what a busy day. First, M&M Dad took Starshine to her very first tennis lesson. She was excited because there were mostly lefties in class. M&M Dad squeezed in an outdoor run on what was a fabulous Spring day.


In the meantime, I took Jr. Princess to gymnastics and then over to a friend's birthday party. Here she is in her princess finest for a fabulous afternoon of princess crafts, a princess parade, princess cake, etc.

We then headed home to get ready for the evening. I was dragging M&M Dad out to a work dinner, and the girls were excited about a new babysitter. I think Sunday will definitely be more low key, except for trying to put a new battery in my van. Hopefully that turns out to be as easy as the Internet would lead me to believe!

Easter, Part 2

Jr. Princess was feeling better on Wednesday and went back to school, so Starshine put out a note for the Easter Bunny when we got home telling him (or her?) that the coast is clear. He must have been waiting, because later that evening we had Easter part two. I didn't get a lot of great pictures because my daughters are super fast and were streaking around the house causing a lot of blurry pictures!


(Did you notice that Starshine is STILL wearing the wristband from our waterpark weekend back in late February. M&M Dad is threatening to cut it off...)
I love this picture - Starshine can't understand why the Easter Bunny would bring baseball cards...

Thank you Easter Bunny!

Easter - not as planned

Well, poor Jr. Princess was still sick, so Easter definitely didn't go as planned. She was so zombie out of it, that Starshine nicely wrote a note to the Easter Bunny asking if he could come back on a different day. (He left a nice note replying yes). Hopefully this will be over soon because I really want to eat the decorated hard boiled eggs in the fridge...

Of course, we couldn't delay the neighborhood egg hunt, so Jr. Princess sat on my lap, in her pajamas, watching the other kids run around in glee.

Starshine was ecstatic that she got to collect twice as many eggs to help out her little sister. Don't be fooled, this picture grossly under represents the number of eggs. I think she collected at least 80 for each of them...

Yup - we have to use big paper grocery bags because cute little Easter baskets just don't have the capacity...

It's now Tuesday and we're still home from work with Jr. Princess. She seems a little more chipper this morning, but I have fallen for this before... It will be a miracle if one of the rest of us doesn't catch this...

Easter Eve

First, a fort update. M&M Dad and the girls moved the teepee further back into the woods and did some fabulous criss-crossing of branches. Our neighbors commented that it is starting to be Survivor worthy; we just need some banana leaves. I am just excited that we know have something to do with all of the sticks that constantly fall off of our trees. A few more improvements and the deer might move in.

Many of you may know that I kid M&M Dad about never spending any money. Well, he came home on Friday announcing that he had bought something. Yup - he spent 8 whole dollars on some 1992 baseball cards for his amusement. Isn't he cute. It is part tradition, because Grandma M always had some in his Easter basket. I'll have to report back on how the girls like them. The last time he got out his baseball cards to play with Starshine I laughed so hard. She doesn't know anything about teams, so they were sorting mustaches vs. no mustaches...
He couldn't believe I got out the camera, but that is the danger of me having a blog. Anything that amuses me...

Saturday started out with the girls helping stuff Easter eggs for the big hunt tomorrow. Starshine didn't even think this was a job, she thought it was super fun! No joke -she stuffed over 200 eggs. Our neighbor said there were 1100 eggs last year. It is seriously over the top, but the girls love it. Lots of fabulous pictures to come tomorrow if we are all healthy.
Poor little Jr. Princess had a stomach virus this afternoon. You know it's bad because she went to bed early without eating dinner, snacks, or decorating Easter eggs. Here she is looking miserable right before she went to bed. Poor Jr. Princess...

She was so sick she barely enjoyed opening her Easter mail from all the Grandparents. (Sorry Auntie - still no sign of your package). I sure hope she's feeling better for the Easter hunt tomorrow.

A Beautiful Evening

Last night was the first nice evening in awhile, so we ate dinner quickly so we could get outside and enjoy.

First, Jr. Princess and I went for a jog to the park. Now, it is quite the hill out of our neighborhood, and all the way to the "no nay nay" park, especially when pushing a 35lb preschooler. Well, Jr. Princess asks lots of question about why I'm not running fast like Dad and I explain that I am not as fast/strong/etc., so I walk up the hills, but I'll run with her down the hills. So, on the way home from the park, she noticed there is a small hill before we begin my downhill jog home, and she says "you can run up this hill, Mom, I know you can!" And then when I got to the top she said, "See, I knew you could do it - good job!" Well, who knew Jr. Princess was my own little personal trainer!

While we were gone, M&M Dad had time to open and assemble his Christmas present - a fire pit - and had a nice fire going. This is going to be a fun addition to the backyard. I am already planning on some new deck chairs...

At first I thought we should get some marshmallows for the weekend, but considering the giant neighboord Easter Egg hunt is this Sunday, we clearly do not need to be purchasing any additional treats. Though, we could make smores with the chocolate eggs...

The girls have also been busy making forts with all of the tree branaches and logs in the woods. Here is Jr. Princess's fabulous teepee with help from M&M Dad.

Starshine, of course, wanted to craft her own. This is the beginnings of her fort. I forsee some structural issues...

Look out Parker Brothers

File this blog entry under "My Husband's Hidden Talents."

This weekend M&M Dad was spending a long time at the coloring table with the girls. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it involved rulers and lots of focus.

Well, several hours later I come to find that he was busy making his own board games to play with the girls. It started out as a baseball rules lesson/dice rolling/hidden math lesson game to play with Starshine. But, he quickly realized that Jr. Princess would not be left out so he made her one, too.

Here she is playing Jr. Princess's Shoreview Adventure. She has to go around town visiting all of her favorite places (Red Robin, Target, the apple orchard, school, etc.), and then return home. She loves it! And, in true M&M Dad fashion, it is a big map that is quite geographically accurate. The funny part is that she dominates when she plays. She is a freakishly lucky roller.

Starshine has barely played her baseball game because instead she has spent her time crafting her own game, "Healthy Body Choices."

I think it involves collecting fruits and vegetables, but only M&M Dad has gotten to play so far. Super Adorable!

April Fools

It hasn't been the nicest spring, but even I did a double take when I woke up this morning and this was the view out the window... M&M Dad had been hoping to go for a bird walk today. Well, we went anyway, but needless to say the birds were hunkered down for the morning..




I have yet to get out everyone's spring clothes, and at this rate it may never happen...

Jr. Princess was adamant about going sledding this morning...

I think the geniuses building the new Twins outdoor stadium are freaking out this opening day. I sense there will be a lot of early season road trips...

Limes and Chainsaws

Friday night we went to Chipotle for dinner. I am so glad that I have a cell phone camera so I can catch moments like this...

Jr. Princess both loves...

and hates eating limes!

Then, on Saturday we were getting ready for lunch when rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, the neighbor had two guys over cutting down some dead trees with chainsaws. Well, normally I like the kids to sit down and display decent table manners during lunch, but that clearly wasn't going to happen. We spent lots of time staring out the window at all of the action.

Needless to say, we didn't go play in the backyard for the afternoon, but after it was all over we had a fun evening helping with the bonfire. Both girls were super helpers hauling logs and sticks and throwing the dry ones on the fire. The only bummer is we didn't have any marshmallows in the house.