Day 2...

Today was the second day of mother's morning out. Since the first day didn't go so hot we were unsure what to expect today. Since I picked her up on Monday we have really been talking to her about how cool school is and how much fun it is and how she would meet new friends. I guess it worked because she stayed the whole morning and her teachers said she did great! ( I'm pretty sure they weren't lying to me to be nice, it is a church school after all!)

Tucked in her bag was this morning's art project, too cute!

She was very proud to show me her awesome coloring skills!

For a special treat for staying we had lunch at her favorite place - McDonald's!!!!

I think she has already had a big boost of confidence in going to school because she hopped right on in the playground there with no hesitation to play with all of the other kids. Normally I would have to crawl all through the nasty play equipment with her!

Here she is beaming with delight from the top!

I hope that it continues to go well and so does my house, I managed to get the whole place vacuumed and dusted as well as doing 2 loads of laundry and the dishes! Whoohoo!  

Mother's Morning Out?...

Today was the first day of the mother's morning out program I had signed the little one up for. It is at a church 2 blocks from our house. We have been talking it up to the little one for over a month now. She seemed really excited about going .

Here she is doing her I'm going to school dance this morning!

Here she is hopping in the stroller to walk to school.

And here she is pushing her bun bun to school in the stroller.

Can't you just tell how excited she was?

Unfortunately, all of that excitement and happiness wore off immediately upon me dropping her off. Not pictured is the tearful face I saw after the school called about an hour later to tell me she hadn't stopped crying and would I come to pick her up?! So much for my high hopes that she would instantly love it and that I would have 3 glorious hours twice a week to myself!

I am hoping that Wednesday will go better and that she might stay at least for an hour and a half!

Happy Monday!

Surprise! and the case of the forgotten potatoes!

For the three day holiday weekend we decided to go and spend some time with my folks for mom's birthday. As a special surprise one of my sister's flew in.

Can you see the surprise on mom's face?

While we were visiting we visited a park close by that the little one enjoys.  

The slides were fun until mommy got road rash on her elbow from the slide!

The little one of course enjoyed the swings, it is hard to convince her that the other playground equipment can be equally as fun.

We also went to the pool in mom's neighborhood. Which was a real treat for the little one, who has only been in a pool a handful of times.

Unfortunately she found the water to be more refreshing than the ocean, which is her usual swimming spot.

We all had a grand time playing around with her little float, it made a great necklace for sister and a wonderful chin rest for me.

Mom found it to be a wonderful seat, once she was able to get it under her!

Caught her just as she was making her first attempt at hopping on it! Nice!

We also hit up some of my our favorite places to eat. Lunch at J. Michael's Philly Deli and dinner from Smithfield's , Awesome! J. Michael's Deli has the best cheese steaks and Smithfield's has the most wonderful BBQ, since moving away from Wilmington, hubby and I have found nothing that even compares to either place. Sad to say, but years ago it was their cheesesteaks that broke me of being a vegetarian, I just couldn't resist the yummy goodness of it! The cheese, the meat! I'm drooling just thinking about it!

We also ate several meals at mom's house which brings me to the case of the forgotten potatoes. Mom makes a really yummy dish we call a potato volcano. It is smooth and creamy mashed potatoes baked with lots of cheese and butter. Unfortunatly the meal it was intended to go with came and went before she realized it was still happily baking away in the oven. Ooops! Although I was already stuffed full, I did have a small dish of it, yum!

So the plan was to have it the next night with supper, we would just reheat and enjoy!

Unfortuntaly, it wasn't until after we had all scarfed down our

Elmo birthday cupcakes and a full meal that mom came to the realization that, D'oh!

We had totally forgotten the potatoes in the oven, again! By this time they could have been used as a nice doorstop because the cheese was so very hard and crusty, so out to the trash they went! Which was a total shame because the little bit I ate when they were fresh out of the oven the first time was delish!

It was fun to get out of town for a few days. It wore the little one completely out. Here she is napping at Grandma's in her special princess tent. She thought she was hot stuff because it came with its very own pink flashlight!

Hope ya'll has a great holiday weekend, i'm off to tackle the mountain of laundry that goes along with a roadtrip out of town!

Not The Most Talkative But Oh So Entertaining...

Today we had the pleasure of having one of the little one's friends over for playtime and lunch. I have to say it was one of the most entertaining lunch dates I have had in some time. Granted, I don't get out much but that is a story for another day. So if you have a minute to spare check out the video excerpts from my lunch with two toddlers. I bet it may even make you laugh or at least crack a smile. :)

I'm sorry I thought this was a jungle-gym...

The last two mornings I have caught the little one playing with her kitchen set in a new and exciting way.

 Who said kitchens were just for cooking?

The sink also makes for a comfy chair while cooking.

Somehow I don't think that standing in the sink is recommended but it sure is much easier to reach things stacked up top!

"Total Score" Moment and then a Total "Oh Shit" Moment...

 On the way to the grocery this morning a beautiful claw foot sofa caught my eye as it sat outside a consignment shop that is going out of business. I thought about stopping but then decided probably not a good idea, i didn't really need it. On the way home passed it again and thought, maybe I should stop and check the price. I was in a hurry to get home to put away the groceries that were melting away in the car so I opted not to. I got home and realized that the bagger at the store had neglected to put part of my order in the cart so off we went to retrieve it from the store. Therefore, I had to pass that beautiful sofa again. Needless to say on the 4th trip past I couldn't help myself and pulled in. I have always loved the look of this kind of sofa. She had a price on it that was reasonable but not what I wanted to pay so I offered her half. After a few minutes of bargaining we agreed on a price we both thought was fair and low and behold I am now the proud owner of a recently refurbished claw foot sofa! YEA! Total Score!

The shop owner told me she had purchased it at the estate sale of the mother of Marshall Tucker who is the front man for the Marshall Tucker band. So it does have a little back story to it, which is always interesting with any piece of old furniture.

After getting it home I went to decide where to put it when I noticed on one of the other couches we have, a small stub of red crayon. I thought "I should pick that up before it makes a mess" and that is when I noticed this...

 Can't see it well? Let me show you a close up...

 "Oh Shit!" I was a little late on my thought of not having a mess on my couch! The little one had taken red crayon to my cream colored couch! I'm not sure when she decide to be an artist on my couch, but she did own up to it when I called her in the room to ask her about it.

" Did you do this?" I asked "yes Mommy" she replied. "That is bad, you were a bad girl!" I scolded as she burst into tears! Hopefully lesson learned by both of us. For me, I need to keep a closer eye on the crayons for her it is to not draw on mommy's sofa!

Here she is shortly after the crayon incident went down.Still with a few tears in her eyes, she agreed to one photo.  Not the best moment for a photo shoot but I really wanted to get a picture of her in her new dress, to show off to you all,  that her very talented aunt just whipped up and sent to her!

It is too precious! Thanks sister! I hope to get some better pics of it when we are in a better mood and I am done washing crayon off my sofa! :)

Princess cookies for a princess party....

A girlfriend of mine had a princess themed birthday party for her little girl and had asked me to make some princess themed cookies for the event. Here is what I came up with. I think they turned out really well and I look forward to making them again for my own little princess.

Large tiaras - pink glaze with purple and pink sprinkles with sugar pearls

Small tiaras - purple glaze with purple sprinkles and sugar pearls

Princess Castles - Pink glaze and pink sprinkles

Princess slippers - light red glaze with red frosting and sugar pearls

I always forget how time consuming decorating these little suckers are, my only regret was that I didn't start earlier in the day as I was up until after 10pm finishing them! The small cookie cutters came from Michael's Arts and Craft store for $3. What a bargain and so cute! They will also make good sandwich shapes for the little one's PB&J's as she won't eat a plain sandwich, they must be cut into cute shapes!

:)

Top Chef?

Peaked into the little one's room the other morning and found that she was in her kitchen cooking up a gourmet meal or rather soup of baby doll!

She even threw in a little lemon to add some flavor.

Which dull plastic knife would you like me to cut your head off with?

Maybe this dish needs a little more seasoning, how about a little pepper or salt?

I think I will just zap you in the microwave. That will be faster!