We're Too Old For Slumber Parties

Last night was Starshine's first ever birthday slumber party. While everybody was arriving, there was A LOT of giggling and screaming while running around the house. We then had a pizza dinner with M&M Dad's awesome watermelon drinks.

After the girls ran around the house playing hide and go seek with the aid of Starshine's new walkie talkies (a huge hit at the party), we headed out to the garage for the pinata that Starshine has been working very hard on making all month. There were older, stronger kids this year, so we started off with a blindfold round before letting them hit free will. Good thing, because it didn't take long...

Next, we went back inside for presents...

and Starshine's requested donut sundaes. I was a little bummed not to get to bake anything, but I find that nobody eats the cake (or in this case donuts) anyway. It was all about the toppings...

It was then time for pajamas and a photo on the couch...

...followed by a movie with popcorn and root beer. Don't be fooled by this picture, however, because most of the kids barely sat still for the movie. We kept hearing Jr. Princess yell (BE QUIET, I CANT HEAR THE MOOOOVIE). If you look close you will see that Jr. Princess thinks one of Starshine's friends is HER new best friend.

Everyone was in bed and teeth brushed by 9:30, but we definitely underestimated the will of 7 year olds (and one 4 year old) to stay awake. Close to 11 we ended up separating everyone in different rooms and I slept on the couch in the family room to scare them into being quiet. Man, I think that officially makes me the mean mom...

People started getting up at 7:15, which again backs my theory that kids who stay up late don't sleep in, they just get up at the exact same time and act crabby! We enjoyed a pancake breakfast, and then the kids went home.

The girls had a super fun time, but M&M Dad and I are officially too old for slumber parties. I went back to sleep almost immediately, because I certainly did not sleep well on the couch in the middle of loud breathing girls. But even M&M Dad, who got 8 hours of sleep, alone in our bed, is upstairs taking a nap now. M&M Dad has to be dying to agree to a nap, and I didn't even have to encourage him. I think he just has giggle/shrieking overload.

Happy Birthday Starshine!

I can't believe she's 7 - where has the time gone???

Starshine got to open the rest of her birthday presents on Thursday morning before school. Jr. Princess got her an assortment of High School Musical stuff, and we got her walkie-talkies, which she has been wanting ever since she got to play with Grandpa M's.


And for a fun idea, M&M Dad bought a whole bunch of things at the grocery store that she has always wanted (blueberries, an exotic soda, Japanese treats, yogurt drinks, etc.).

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do much to celebrate her birthday on the actual day because of Jr. Princess's first soccer practice. She is SUPER excited to finally get to play, too (Starshine and M&M Dad rode their bikes there).

But after practice we went to Culvers for custard as a treat to celebrate being 7. The main celebration, however, is Saturday night, when Starshine hosts her first birthday slumber party!

Happy Birthday Princess!

She means buy a cashew custard.

FYI - Starshine has changed her blog color to blue, her new favorite color. (Dolphins are blue).

What a Crappy Day

Well, it has been a crappy day....

First, we had quite the electrical storm last night and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Then, after my alarm went off at 6:15, but before I made it to the shower, we lost power! So, I didn't even get to use that as an excuse to be late for work! I put my greasy hair in a pony tail and headed off to work. I was just crossing my fingers this wouldn't last 3 days like it did a few years ago...

Well, I soon forgot about our loss of power when I got a call from daycare that Jr. Princess's eye was swelling up again! (Just like the 4th of July.)

Unfortunately our doctor was not available this afternoon, but we made it into urgent care so we could get another antibiotic. We just don't know why this has happened two times in 2 months (perhaps she has become allergic to Grandma and Grandpa L - just kidding!). She's in good spirits, and says it doesn't hurt, but now I'm worried that we don't know why this is happening.

I happy this day is almost over...

Another Full House Moment

I have told Starshine since she was in Kindergarten that she could get her ears pierced whenever she was ready. Sure it hurts when you have it done, but then it's fine and you can wear fabulous earrings...

So on Sunday she was watching the episode of Full House where Stephanie lets Kimmie Gibbler pierce her ears and they get infected, and she decided she was ready! So we decided a trip to the mall and the ability to pick out whatever studs she wanted was a great early birthday present.

Here she is nervously waiting with trusty Dolly by her side...

And here she is enjoying her "I was brave" lollipop with her fabulous new pink flower earrings! What a fun Mother-Daughter afternoon.

Of course, she was very interested in the cleaning and sanitizing parts of the whole routine because she doesn't want to get infected ears like Stephanie!

Super Grandpa!

Anybody who has ever come to our house probably has noticed how much our stairs squeak and creak. I have tried many things over the years (shims, extra nails, etc ) to no avail. Well, Grandpa L wanted to give it a try this weekend. "OK, I said, I'm happy to invest 20 bucks in supplies for you to try. (The only caveat was we couldn't start until Saturday because I was not going to ask M&M Dad to haul out stuff from under the stairs on his birthday!)

Well, several hours and $0 later - Hallelujah, it worked! Apparently no amount of nails or shims was going to the fix the fact that the builder did not support the two corners of the stairs on the cement foundation. So, with the help of the car jack (which caused some ASP flashbacks) and some scrap lumber, our stairs are soooooo quiet! I seriously feel like a stealthy cat when I walk up the stairs. (The downside - it is going to be much easier for our kids to sneak out of the house someday...)

Well, now that he was on a roll, Grandpa L couldn't be stopped. He helped haul in the computer desk he brought (newly finished) from Wisconsin, fixed the broken slider door handle, made sure the screen door flowed smoothly, sprayed the neighbor's hornet hive, and helped the girls hang their birdhouses...

Awesome job Grandpa L - it was appreciated!

Of course, none of this was planned so it required multiple trips to the hardware store. Hmmmm - maybe I'll make a list for your next visit.

Happy Birthday M&M Dad

On Friday, Grandpa and Grandma L came to visit for the weekend. The girls opened a fabulous goodie bag from Auntie and Uncle full of great school supplies...

They also sent some delicious tomatoes and peppers from their garden - mmmmmm - thank you!

After M&M Dad made it home on his bike from work, we went out to celebrate his birthday at Red Robin. We made it a double birthday celebration (because Starshine's is right around the corner), and ended up with singing and sundaes for two!

Each girls was wearing a fabulous jumper made by Grandma L...

Then M&M Dad and Starshine opened their presents and enjoyed his awesome birthday treat...

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Jr. Reader

Lately, Jr. Princess has shown some interest in reading, so I figured I should dig out the old Hooked on Phonics books and tapes (and the only remaining working tape player we still own) we used with Starshine. Starshine was almost 5 when we got these from a neighbor, and she learned so quickly that we thought we would start a little earlier with Jr. Princess, if she seemed ready.

So, tonight we started on tape #1 with the little flashcards that teach her the sounds that go with each letter. Man -she is a little sponge soaking up information, and she was soooo proud of the fact that she was learning how to read. She is definitely ready to start. I hope this positive attitude keeps up!

Here she is at the end of lesson one showing M&M Dad and Starshine how much she knows...

Party at Mom's Work

Every summer my R&D facility has an event affectionately known is our family as "party at Mom's work." This is the 2nd year in a row that M&M Dad missed out due to work travel, but I don't think the girls even notice he's not there - It is a bonanza of kiddie fun:

Tattoos...
The Cheerios dig (for prizes)...

Treats...

Pony Rides (I think they each went at least 8 times)...

Petting zoo...
All kinds of inflatables (and this year Jr. Princess did not get almost trampled in the obstacle course by big kids and have to get plucked over the edge, screaming, by a helpful volunteer)...


Rock climbing wall...

And lots of other fun games and food. It was a fantastic evening, and we were all exhausted by the time we got home.

An Eventful Saturday

It was quite the eventful Saturday. First - we got a verbal commitment to buy M&M Dad's car on Monday when the bank is open - yeah! M&M Dad HATES anything to do with buying and selling cars, so we are glad this went reasonably quickly, thanks to Craig's List.

It then went from raining all morning to a sauna outside. (It was seriously hard to breathe). That didn't stop the troopers from having fun playing hockey in the driveway while we waited for our guests...

And then my best friend from college and her family stopped by for a visit on their long drive back to Colorado after visiting her family. I was sooooo excited because we haven't seen them in five years since we were in Colorado, and there have been 3 new kids since then!The kids squealed a lot over the little toad (or frog??) we found in the backyard.
And everybody had lots of fun riding the roller coaster in the basement after dinner.
It was such a wonderful visit.

We then started to relax for the evening when the tornado sirens started going off. We didn't have any signs of bad weather in our area yet, so we turned on the news and were surprised to see a hail storm heading straight for us. Well, our first thought was - "Crap, M&M Dad's car is parked in the driveway, and the buyers will probably walk away on Monday if it now has hail damage!" So we ran to the garage and did the world's fastest rearranging of bikes, snow blower, etc., so we could jam his car into the 3rd stall. When we got back to the TV, they were now projecting the storm to be heading directly towards our town. Now, we have gone to the lower level for many storms, but we have never been so concerned about a forecast that we woke up the kids to go under the stairs, until last night...
As it turns out, a freakish little pocket opened up and the storm went north and south of us. Thank goodness - because it appears to have been bad over near my work. I love this picture of the girls, though, because it totally exemplifies our kids. Starshine is asleep under the stairs (she doesn't even remember this happening), and Jr. Princess is wide awake playing with a flashlight thinking this is an awesome new adventure.

My goodness, what a day!

Fun Saturday

We have mentioned in the past that Jr. Princess is freakishly good at games of chance. In fact, Starshine HATES when I suggest a coin toss to make decisions because it is a forgone conclusion that Jr. Princess will win. So, today, the girls tossed a coin to see who had to come with me to Home Depot while the other got to stay home with M&M Dad and pull weeds. (I can't believe my trip to Home Depot was less cool than weed pulling!) Jr. Princess actually lost the coin toss and had a huge meltdown because she has not yet learned to lose gracefully.

Well, she sure changed her tune when we got to Home Depot. It was kids' clinic day, and she got her very own apron and got to make her very own bulletin board for her room!

We gave her back one of her dry erase markers for the whiteboard (they had been revoked after the "drawing on pillowcase" incident of spring '09), and she picked where to hang it in her room. She thought it was sooooo cool that Starshine didn't make one, too. Apparently we need to take more Saturday morning trips to Home Depot.

Later on we went to Dairy Queen to get Jr. Princess's free ice cream with her Sheriff's coupon...

Starshine and M&M Dad decided to ride their bikes there. She felt like such a big girl...

She definitely earned her ice cream. We estimate this was a 5 mile round trip...

Too bad she didn't get pulled over by the police on her way - she was wearing her helmet!

Little House on the Prairie

On Tuesday, Starshine was invited to a day camp with her best friend at Gibb's Farm where they got to spend a day going to an 19th century one room school house. The night before, when we were discussing timing, Best Friend's mom mentioned that the girls should come dressed the part. Crap - I totally thought they would have costumes there.

Luckily we have lots of old fashioned aprons from M&M Dad's great aunt that looked fantastic. But then, Starshine asked if she could have a bonnet (she's seen a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie). "Uhm, sure honey, I'm sure I can whip something up tonight..."

Pretty good I think...M&M Dad even packed her lunch in a cute little metal pail.

She had the best time. She and her friend tied as winners of the 1st grade spelling bee, they made candles and corn husk dolls, and learned all about old-time school life. She chatted about it for hours - especially the new knowledge that kids used to get spanked in school! I have a feeling this will be a yearly tradition. Jr. Princess sure can't wait until she gets to go.