"I'm Princess M! I'm six!"

Well, I've had these pictures ready to be posted for the past week.  But I just never could seem to find the time to write.  Princess M had her 6th birthday last weekend.  Since she was born on Labor day, school was closed for her birthday and she was able to have some friends over for an Elevensies Princess Tea Party.  We had to add the Elevensies in because her birthday this year was 11/11/11 (and of course we started the party at 11:11 am as well.)  We had 11 dishes at her party, all with 11 items on the plate.  I couldn't think of any other way to incorporate 11 into the party.  

Here's Princess M blowing out her 6 candle on her 11 cupcakes.

We broke the girls up into a green team and a pink team and had a princess dress up game.  The two attendants had to make the most beautiful dress that they could on their princess using green and pink streamers.  

The only working camera I had was my cell phone, so the pictures are not very good (or very plentiful either.)

The girls had a lot of fun together, ate a bunch of goodies, and just had fun being princesses for a few hours.

Like I did for Banana Girl, I'd like to take a moment to record some observations on princess M on this, her 6th birthday.  At this point in her life, these are her favorites:

Favorite Color: Green.  Although closely followed by purple and then pink.
Favorite Toy: At the moment, her purple unicorn pillow pet that she got for her birthday, but I imagine that won't last long.  The two new barbies (Rapunzel and Super Star Barbie) have a better shot at staying in the favorite toy lineup for a while.  She also favors a few Littlest Pet Shops from time to time.
Favorite Foods: Here's what she would have chosen for her birthday menu, if I hadn't been so busy preparing a friends party: Hot Chocolate & Blueberry scones (which she did get at her tea party), quesadillas with lunch meat inside, ramen noodle soup and rainbow chip cake with green frosting (which she also got at her party).
Favorite Movies: Cars 2.  (Not very girly in this genre at the moment.  But that's the newest Disney movie out; which is generally her favorite.)  She also loves watching "Eloise" Movies, which inspired the title of this post.
Favorite Music: "I Know Heavenly Father Loves Me", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Stuck Like Glue" by Sugarland, and anything Abba.  She also really enjoys listening to classical music.  She calls it "ballet music" since that is what they dance to in class.
Favorite TV show: Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Favorite Activities: Swimming, going on hikes, riding her bike, ballet, painting toesies, playing at a playground, playing at friend's homes or with the other kids at school, being in charge, playing battleship, and playing computer games (barbie.com, pbskids.org, and mickey mouse clubhouse)
Favorite Clothes: Anything with a skirt!  Hearts and butterflies are a bonus.  It's like pulling teeth to get her to wear pants though.
What I Want to Be When I Grow Up: A Veterinarian.

Princess M is our firstborn, and as such is our trailblazer child as parents.  Every new phase she goes through is a new phase for us as well.  It has always been so exciting to watch how quickly she is growing up and learning new things.  And learning new things has always been something that she does very very well.  She is so bright (and a little tall for her age) so everyone always thinks that she is older than she is.  She is at the top of her class in Kindergarten, and just loves to share with us the new things that she is learning there.  She can read several basic words and is getting good at sounding out new words.  Before too long she'll be reading all on her own.  She just recently learned how to play battleship with her dad, and has picked up very quick on the strategies of the game (and how to taunt and trick her dad.)  It's really fun to watch.
 
Like me, she loves to plan things and organize things to her liking.  Also like me, she is very focused and persistent in her ventures.  Some may call us stubborn; and maybe we are; but it can be a very good thing when pursuing worthy goals.  (I just need to remember to be patient with her persistence; since I know where she gets it.)  I hope I can help her to channel all that good stick-to-it-iveness in good directions.  

Unlike me, however, she is very artistic as well as smart.  The first time she stopped scribbling and asked me how to draw a smiley face, I showed her how to draw a standard face.  The perfectionist in her then wanted me to show her how to draw everything, but I pretty much stopped showing her at that point and asked her to draw whatever she saw, however she wanted to draw it.  She resisted at first, but very soon she just took off with it.  It has been so fun watching how she perceives the world through her drawings.  And they get better and better all the time.  It's usually very clear too, exactly what she is trying to draw.  Her world right now is full of rainbows, unicorns, and very happy people.  It's wonderful!

Princess M has always had a love for music and especially dancing.  Even before we put her in ballet, she was trying to learn on her own by watching Barbie movies with ballerinas.  So often she'll be going about her chores or games on pointed toes, striking a pose on her way.  She has developed an appreciation for classical music as well, which she calls "Ballet Music," and which I am very grateful for.  Her ballet school puts on the Nutcracker every year for Christmas, and she is very excited to be one of the mice in the show this year.  If anyone will be in town the first weekend in December, it promises to be a great show.

Princess M loves to play with other girls, especially those just a little older than her, and especially if they let her be the leader at all.  Even so, she also really loves to play with her younger sister and teach her what she is learning in school and ballet.  I just love that they play together so well, and seem to genuinely care and watch out for each other.  Princess M also just adores her baby sister.  She would smother her in hugs and kisses if I let her, and has always been a great help to me with taking care of her.  She's very loving and likes to cuddle with us whenever we'll let her.  She loves animals and can't wait until Christmas time when we've told her we'll be able to pick out a new kitten.  However, I'm not sure I'll allow the name "Hearts" for our kitten, that she has already decided on.  We'll see.  Maybe I'll have Santa surprise her with a kitten this year.  That could be fun.

Princess M is so very precious to our family.  I see so much of myself in her, both good and bad.  She's beginning to comprehend this big world that she's living in; there doesn't seem to be anything that I can't talk to her about anymore (almost.)  I'm so proud of all she is and is becoming, and hope I can be the loving, understanding, and patient mother that she needs me to be.  

Happy Birthday Princess M!!! I love you very very much!!!

Halloween Weekend

We had a great Halloween Weekend last week.  The church held a Family Fun Fall Fair Festival Fete Fling Thing (or something like that) on Saturday.  The girls jumped on jumpy castles, ate cotton candy, popcorn, and snow cones, went fishing, got "Fairy Eyes" painted on their faces, and just had a really fun time. 

 

Aren't they Gorgeous?

The next day we got all dressed up in our Orange and Purple dresses for Church.  Banana Girl even had a Halloween shirt with cats and pumpkins to wear under her jumper.

Our outfits were complete with orange flowers for pigtails (Banana Girl) and spider hair clips (for Princess M & I).   

 I make girls hair bows for fun, from flowers to bows, to bugs (lady bugs, bees, and butterflies) I've been wanting to try a spider for a long time. This year I finally did it. They turned out pretty cool I thought. Mine had brown legs and Princess M's had orange. They were a hit at church.

Monday brought Halloween.  Princess M got to wear her costume to school all day and the other 2 girls joined her after dinner in costume for Trick or Treating at the mall and the park for community sponsored festivals/"safe" trick or treating. 

 Little Mouse wasn't too happy with her costume at this point.  She made an awfully cute jack-o-lantern though.

Princess M went as Rapunzel.  We had an old blond wig laying around the house and for the cost of a cheap hair extension ($6) we brushed out the hair, braided the extension into the wig and filled it with homemade flower pins to look like Rapunzel at the floating lights celebration.  It's too bad I didn't get a picture when we finished making it.  It was quite stunning. 

 Here's what it looked like after a day at school and trick or treating though.

Banana Girl went as her favorite princess, Cinderella (the one in the pink dress as she put it.)

We had a great time!  The girls came home pooped and with a basket full of candy each.  (Which Mom and Dad promptly confiscated and now use to bribe them to do chores.  What mean parents we are!  Thanks for the idea, Nate & Cindy!)

October Randomness

Just a few random photos.

Here's my fall table center, complete with fresh roses from my front bush.  Aren't they gorgeous?!

Banana Girl wanted to cuddle with someone as she fell asleep.  Princess M was happy to oblige.  It just warms my heart when they care for and love each other.  

On the pet front, we finally sold the last puppy.  Horray!  

Bad news is that Princess M's goldfish that she got from the family fun fair, only 2 day ago, died today.  We've been warning her since she first got it that goldfish die easily, but she was still pretty broken up.  I walked in the room and she tells me, "Mom, I've been praying to Heavenly Father that my fish will come alive again."  And then she burst into tears.  What do you say to that?  Sometimes the answer is just "No."  I may have to go buy a goldfish sometime with her this week.  

We did, however, brighten up the day with a little toesie painting.   

Our happy fall toesies look like gilded Reeces Pieces.  They're great!

Rachael's the Best!

Here they are: the long awaited family pictures from July!  Enjoy!!!

She's a Crawler!

.

 See Little Mouse.

  See Little Mouse Come.

Come, Little Mouse, Come!

 See Little Mouse Go.

Good Job Little Mouse!!!

(Pictures Courtesy of Princess M)

Speaking of Small Pox...

Alex and I have been watching a TV miniseries called "John Adams," that aired some long time ago.  Great show, very interesting to see the dramatization of the events that brought about the autonomy of our country.  They show the political debates that the colonies went through at that time.  It's a miracle that they were ever able to get a unanimous vote, (or 12 of the 13 colonies to all vote for independence; NY abstained in case you don't remember.)

Anyway, they showed the the small pox that was running rampant throughout the continental army and Abigail Adams' concern that they might contract the deadly disease.  What a horrible, terrifying disease that was.  I guess I always imagined the small pox as something similar to the chicken pox, only deadlier.  Oh, no!  There was nothing "small" about these pox.  No mild little red spots like the chicken pox, but terrible scarring huge pockets of puss everywhere, just like a really ugly winter squash.  I can't even imagine having to nurse my own child in such a condition without completely breaking down.  Thank Heaven above that that horrible disease has been eradicated!

So yeah, it was a very small part of the show, but the image of how they "inoculated" Abigail and her children against the disease still amazes me.  The doctor seriously just made a cut in her arm and then shoved into her a wad of puss that he had extracted from one of the huge pox on the man in the cart outside dead of the disease.  Well, of course they're all going to get sick from that!  And although I read that it was still a legitimate way to avoid contracting the disease; I don't understand how that can be any better than just hanging out with the diseased people and contracting it that way.  It was no weakened strain of the disease, but the full blown, active killer that he shoved into their bodies.  It just seamed so barbaric.

I'm very very very grateful for modern medicine!  And yet I wonder what we do today that people will think of as barbaric a couple hundred years from now.

It's Fall!

Officially anyway.  The days are still hot here, and there's no leaves changing or anything.  However, the nights have cooled off quite a bit, and all the monsoon rains have stopped.  

Anyway, I picked up some fall decor this week: some mini pumpkins of different colors, a couple winter squash that look like they have the small pox, and several ears of Indian corn.  You know, those multicolored ears that are all dried up and last forever, because they are hard as a rock.

They're so pretty, and they make it feel like fall, even though the weather does not.  I'm excited to get the rest of the fall decor out now.

However, I read online another thing you can do with Indian corn besides decorate, and I just had to give it a try:

Popcorn on the cob!!!  You just spray them with cooking oil, place in a paper sack and put in the microwave until it stops popping.  It worked perfectly.  My girls loved it!  I think we just found a new fall tradition.

Happy Fall, Everyone!