On Friday and Saturday nights, Husband and I made hundreds of potato and cheese pierogi. Saturday, during the day, Little Miss and I went to the library, I think. We did something in the morning. Then, we took a very lengthy afternoon nap. That part I do remember. On Sunday, Little Miss and I went to brunch for book club. Afterwards, we walked to the bakery where they had a free decorate your own cookie activity.
We're lazy. This is not new information. So, Little Miss has had a pretty easy diet of things she happens to like. Nothing unhealthy necessarily, just no big variety. I noticed recently that she is downright defiant when it comes to eating or trying new foods - even different ways of serving foods she already likes. I informed her that in the next week, she was going to start to try new foods. This didn't go over well, but I told her she can pick out a food each week on her own. Depending on what it is, we can make it together. In an effort not to ruin new foods for her forever, I suggested we start with fruits, vegetables or desserts. So, she suggested pumpkin. I said we could make pumpkin cupcakes (aka pumpkin muffins).
On Friday, Husband and I did our grocery shopping before Little Miss came home so we would have a nice, quiet evening with her. On Saturday, we had a big day.
Little Miss has started pre-reading where she can identify letters and will ask what certain words are on the page. She will also memorize entire books and then "read" them to us. We're not long before she reads us bedtime stories which is only sad because I was never a good person to sit and listen to a story. I'd much rather be reading it myself. Anyway, tonight, I recorded her reading Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. It's in two parts because I didn't realize she knew the whole book, and she was kind of bummed that I had the camera off. It's a bit lengthy and some of it is fast so she may be hard to understand, but she knows almost the entire book. You certainly don't have to watch both lengthy videos, but if you don't watch the second, how will you know how the story ends?
So, a man accidentally threw away his wife's engagement ring. Then, with Waste Management's help, dug through a lot of trash to find it. You can read the entire story here. Do please click on the link because the first comment is my favorite. "Let's be honest here - did he really have a choice? LOL" Seriously, I think Husband would dig through 9 tons of garbage over listening to me nag, yell, and scold him for the rest of his life.
Last weekend, we had a good weekend with Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law and Nephew. I forget what we did on Friday, but I'm sure it was low key.
On Saturday, Little Miss and I went to the library and chose new books. Then, we came home for lunch, and she took a nap. Afterwards, we went to Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law's apartment. We chatted and ate and watched the kids and ate and then got pizza. We tried to keep Little Miss up later than usual so she could adjust to the time change the next day, and she handled it ok.
On Sunday, we met Sister-in-Law and Nephew at the mall for holiday portraits. This is the first year that Little Miss was absolutely perfect. Poor Nephew is entering the phase that his cousin just exited. Still, I think the pictures came out well. After, we grabbed some lunch and then head for home. Little Miss napped on the way home and then wouldn't nap once we got home which is fine.
Good weekend overall!
I would never categorize myself as messy, but I don't like to clean or tidy so I go as long as possible without doing it. With limited space in our apartment, our living area becomes messy within a day if there is no cleaning or tidying. So, when we went 2 weeks including a deluge of presents from Little Miss's birthday, it got pretty bad. So bad that Husband cleaned floors and did his part last weekend (we divide the chores). As it happens, if I do a big cleaning, Husband will follow so conversely, when he breaks down to clean, I follow with my jobs. So, last night, I finally put away Little Miss's changing pad from the top of her dresser and put all her knick-knacks up there. That freed space in her bookshelf to put actual books. Then, I picked up the toys and changed the sheets and put away the clean clothes. Little Miss came home and ran into her room and gasped. "Mommy, you made this place look wonderful!"
So, there may be days where being a grown-up is a thankless job, but sometimes, it's all worth it.
Today was a long day. I took a half day from work to see Little Miss's Halloween Parade as I missed last year. I worked the other half from home. First, I helped some of the kids get ready in their costumes and then watched as they paraded around the parking lot area of the school. They were all just the cutest things ever. Then, there was a big party with lots of food and drink, but it was much more organized than I expected.
Little Miss's actual birthday was last Friday. Husband and I hurried to get grocery shopping out of the way so we could spend some time with her in the evening. You can see her evening here.
Bonus points if you know what movie I paraphrased.
This year, we carved a pumpkin for the first time (I think Husband may have helped me with one when we were first together, but it was a poor attempt). You can see my efforts in this previous post, but here it is again:
If you click here, you can see Little Miss Birthday first thing this morning with her birthday shirt and cupcake hat (though you can't see the cupcake portion of the hat).
So, here are the treats I attemted to make. Here are the ones I actually made.
We talked about families today. Husband and I said our parents were coming over. Little Miss asked who our parents are. So, we explained that our parents are her grandparents. Also, she was lucky because she has great-grandparents. She looks up at me and solemnly asked, "Who are my bad grandparents?"
It is an honest question. Without bad grandparents, how do you know your great-grandparents are great?
Last year, I did not buy school pictures. It was confusing because Little Miss only went to school on Tuesday and Thursday. Pictures were on a Monday, and I wasn't smart enough to figure out when the make-up day was. Regardless, this year, we were prepared. I sent her off to school and crossed my fingers. I was pleased with the final result.
The good news is that I remembered this year! I didn't blog about it, but I did remember. Husband I celebrated 12 years married on Monday. We plan to celebrate in old married style over the weekend (read that as dinner and a movie). It was a low-key anniversary day, but that's what happens when the anniversary falls on a Monday. Still, 12 years! It seems like a long time, but I swear it flew by in a blink.
Husband recently said that he hopes Little Miss has the same confidence that she has now when she's 13. Case in point:
Over the weekend, she asked Husband to pick her up and put her on the bed so she could see herself in the mirror. She tells him, "I want to see how beautiful I look". So, he picks her up and puts her on the bed. She looks at her reflection and declares, "I look beautiful!"
I was using my fingers to count the number of children coming to Little Miss's birthday party. Each child's name was ticked off by pointing to a finger. Child 1 - index finger. Child 2 - middle finger. Child 3 - ring finger. At this point, Nephew looks at me and, straight-faced, asks me if those are the names of my fingers. I'm proud of myself for just answering, "No, they are Little Miss's friends coming to her part." I figured it may be damaging if I laughed at him... like his mother did.
Little Miss was cuddling with Husband the other night. She looked up at him and just says, "You love cuddling me." Husband nodded.
"You love hugging me," she says. Husband nods in agreement again.
""You love kissing me," she says. Husband nods.
"You love making coffee."
At that, I must admit that Husband and I both laughed. Those actions, according to her, are his favorite things. I'm disappointed that I didn't even make the list.
A couple of weeks ago, Little Miss sat down to breakfast. Husband served her pancakes. She took a bite and declared them "yumtastic".
Since then, she's added "- tastic" to almost every word you can think of.
Then, the next day, when asked how much she loved her daddy, she replied, "100 much!"
I guess sometimes, the words you know just aren't good enough to express what you're feeling.
On Friday, I picked up Little Miss on the way home and we met friends and their two kids. We had dinner in our neighborhood at The Front Page and then went to our apartment for dessert. The Front Page is really great with the kids. They bring them snacks as soon as we sit down and crayons and then serve them their food first. After dinner, the little ones get a little toy (Little Miss chose a bouncy ball which I'm sure we've already lost). The kids really had a good time. Little Miss was sad to say goodbye and asked to see them again on Saturday. We had plans to, but then the weather turned out awful.
On Saturday, our plan was to take family pictures in the morning except we hit horrendous traffic and got there over an hour late. The very nice people at The Picture People took us almost as soon as we got there regardless and were very efficient at taking the pictures. Little Miss allowed herself to be posed and gave us mostly good smiles. It was painless! After, Husband went to get new license plates for our new car while Little Miss and I had lunch with Sister, her boyfriend, and Nephew. Then, Little Miss and I saw Sister's new house and then hung out at my parents' place until after dinner.
On Sunday, Little Miss and I ran errands and took a nap and did our Sunday routine - eating, sleeping, more eating, bath time. I read quite a bit. It was a relatively relaxing day which is rare this month.
