19 posts tagged “precious princess”
This is what made the most lasting impression on Precious Princess after last night's adventure. At least, this is the first thing she said about it to Grandma when it got to be her turn to talk.
Later, after we got home, she had to write it all down right away. (I think she'll be a journal-writer when she gets older; I recognize that impulese.) She made herself an illustrated book about it, using staples to connect the pages.
She wrote it all down again during free play at school today. In our school district's kindergarten and throughout much of first grade, they let the kids use "natural language" while they are learning to sound things out. Now in second grade, Eldest Son has spelling words that he has to learn to write correctly every week. He also is learning correct punctuation. But not in kindergarten.
So, here is Precious Princess's best effort to sound out and write down her adventure:
I WOTID TO GO ON THE EVADRE THE EVADRE GOT SUK THE EVADRE MAD A LOD NOS AND IT WUD NOT SOTP. WE WR SUK FOR A LOLN TOM FONNULIE THE MCNIC UPID THE DUR. WEN WE GOT OWT THR WR ULOT UV PPUL.
:-)
(ps - just for Punkinshell - Princess strenuously resists the idea that words should be written with lower-case letters...)
It was the biggest adventure of the evening at our church, and there were a lot of people waiting around to see how things turned out. Dear Husband was stuck in the elevator along with all three of our children, an elderly lady in a wheelchair, and her friend who was pushing the chair. They were in there about half an hour. Nice that the elevator company apparently has people in the area who are on call to rush out at 7:30 PM and fix a problem right away. He was the hero of the evening, for sure! And he had a mustache.
Eldest Son's assessment as soon as he got out: "It was boring."
(Though, he did have quite a lot more to say about it to Grandma on the phone, later...)
:-)
Littlest Brother's pronouncement was, "I never, ever, ever want to go on that elevator again!" (Though using phonetically spelling, it would go something like this: "I nevo, evo, EVO want to go on dat ewevado again!")
:-)
Thank goodness none of them had to go potty! I carefully refrained from asking, lest the power of suggestion rear its ugly head...
Oh, how did I manage to escape this fate? Well, we had been leading a class for the younger kids (age 4 thru 2nd grade). At the end of the class, our kids were getting wild, so Dear Husband decided to take them out to the playpark while I waited in the classroom for the other kids' parents to come and retrieve them. Precious Princess in particular, but really all of them, love to go on the elevator at our church, even though it's only one flight of stairs. (Well, not any more! Dear Husband thinks they're cured of that, at least for a while...) Needless to say, they did not get to play on the playpark after all, and they were wired on adrenaline for an hour after we got them home. Late bedtimes all around.
Cheers.
Recent cutenesses from Littlest Brother:
"We've got cwime to fight." Said during a (brief) pause in play with Big Sis, with a serious look and tone, the subtext being, "I don't have time for idle chit-chat, woman!" (that was the part that was cute, obviously, but you'll just have to imagine it)
***
"I'm not David, I'm Super DD Boy! And I have TEN superpowers." (Both hands outspread to show how many.)
"Oh, yeah? What are your superpowers?"
"I can't tell you. It's a secwet."
Obviously beyond my clearance level.
***
"I'm not David, I'm a tall, daowk stwanger." (Where'd that come from???)
***
So, okay, came up with a new concept for my contest story.
Although, I DID in fact manage to cut the other one down to 3500 words (YEAH!) and feel I'm still saying most of what I meant to say. Not sure it's ready yet; think I need to cut more out of my favorite section (snif!) and put in a bit more texture & backstory in a few other places where I cut too deeply. But honestly, I'm really pretty amazed at how well the story survived its crash diet. Hm. There's a lesson there...
But, I think I MAY do better starting with a fresh concept and writing UP TO the 3500-word limit... rather than taking 10 lbs. of s*** and trying to stuff it into a 5-lb. bag.
Or what the heck, maybe I'll finish both and enter both. (This contest, you can enter as many stories as you like, and last year's 1st and 2nd place prizes went to the same author -- not me, as regular blog visitors will recall.)
***
Took all the kids to see "Bolt" yesterday at the dollar theatre. (Economies, y'know.) That was a great movie. Highly recommend it to families with young kids. Even Eldest Son the dog-and-all-pets-hater thought it was great. The whole film-within-a-film thing was a bit too confusing for Littlest Brother to sort out, though. But he liked it anyway.
Took Precious Princess to see the local High School Musical of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" today -- she went in her Belle dress. Kids in costumes got a goody bag, a pleasant surprise. She was great, and the performances were great -- especially the girl who played Belle. (Though Beast, Gaston, LeFou, and Lumiere were no slouches either.) Tell you what, that girl has a mega future in musical theatre, should she desire it. MEGA. Her voice is strong, sweet, and crystal clear, throughout her whole range. And she has a great range. She didn't miss a single note, not even a tiny bit off pitch, and never flubbed a line either. (Believe me, the musical is close enough to the DVD that we'd have known if she did.) She had great stage presence and her emotive performance was flawless too. Her look and hair were perfect for Belle, too. It was almost scary. (And the weirdest thing is, she's also my mother-in-law's piano student. small town life, heh.)
Precious Princess, and all the little kids, were welcomed up on stage afterward to meet the cast and check out the set, which rocked. She totally dug it. Now she wants to take acting lessons. Hm. Well -- why not? We've got the summer coming up, and she could take acting lessons then if she still wants to. (She's definitely been a drama queen around here lately, I'll tellya...)
***
ANND, Eldest Son has his concept for his science fair project down. Now just have to fill in the entry form, and get the boy some library books... Volcanos, and not just any volcanos, but (1) Mount Vesuvius & the destruction of Pompeii, (2) Krakatoa, the explosion heard round the world, and (3) the Yellowstone Supervolcano, which is overdue for a major blow-out, just FYI.
(Yeah, that whole bad economy thing? Auto industry going belly up, yada yada? Terrorism, even? Octomom? Eh -- may not need to worry about it. Sometime between now and 10,000 years from now, the Yosemite Supervolcano is going to cover the western United States in dust and ash, and destroy Western Civilization, possibly human life on Earth. And just because we'd LIKE to believe it will be at the far end of the scale, that doesn't MEAN it couldn't be tomorrow.)
(And you people say we don't need to colonize the Moon! Sheesh! Where ELSE are the people going to come from who repopulate the Earth after it's wiped clean???)
Okay, where was I? Oh yeah. Science fair project. Got a concept. Just need to execute.
***
On to the next week! Hyah! *crack*
We're getting lots of snow.
Sparkling, fluffy, cold, and needing to be plowed off the driveway and shoveled off the walk, sometimes twice a day.
It's just so wonderful, until you get sick of it.
***
Took Eldest Son to his orthodontist appointment today, in which he received his first "appliance" and I got this nifty little pointy gadget with which I (or Dear Husband) must turn a tiny screw in the appliance once a day for the next month. Very weird little system, I must say. E.S was quite the champ in the chair, too; the whole thing went so much better than it might have gone a year ago, I'm flabbergasted.
He really is doing better.
Going to have his kid party this Saturday, at the local inflatable bounce palace. They love that! A place where it's okay to bounce off the walls! (Good God, a riot of 8-year-old boys hyped up on cake and ice cream, bouncing off the walls. Somebody save me!) :-)
***
Sold Girls Scout Cookies with Precious Princess for the first time; that was fun. How it brought me back!
"On my honor, I will try, to serve God, my country, and mankind, and to live by the Girl Scout Law."
At least, that's how we said it back then; it's a little different now, but recognizable.
***
Littlest Brother is starting to seem four now, so much more grown up than three! He's Just So Cute!! He's got his little opinions now, and can express them with remarkable acuity. And he's doing great on the pottying. Occasionally he has "issues" with unfamiliar pant-fastenings, but never an out-&-out accident where he just forgets or neglects to go. He has dunked his bottom once, but in general almost doesn't need the potty seat any more either.
***
Last week I saw & approved a proof of my first story to be accepted for publication (the one for $5), which means it really will appear somewhere, sometime in the near future. That was encouraging!
I don't have any stories out for consideration at the moment, but I mean to change that in the next week or two. One of my more recent ones I feel is really promising (made one of my first readers cry, and she's no sissy), I just hafta polish it up a bit more.
***
Dear Husband has been a rock, an absolute rock, and I could not ask for a better friend and partner in life.
Sweet Sixteen coming up in a couple of weeks! (Hard to believe, that!) (Seems like just yesterday I was writing up our fifteen-year anniversary...)
***
Cheers, all.
***
PS, Also lost 8 pounds in the past two weeks! I guess that "no desserts, no booze thing" is paying off...
Precious Princess: "What in carnation is that??"
***
My mom is here this weekend. She's sleeping in Littlest Brother's bed, which he graciously offered her while begging her to sleep in his room and not any of the other children's. He offered to sleep on the floor, in a sleeping bag. So that's what they did.
That's the backstory.
About 2:00 AM, my mom woke up to hear a little voice whimpering quietly.
Granny J. (half-awake): "D., D., -- are you okay?"
Littlest Brother (quietly): "Actuawwy, I don't wike having my head stuck undoe da bed."
(Well, who does??)
So, she hauled him out by one sleeper'ed foot, and got him settled in his sleeping bag again, and they both went back to sleep.
The next night we built a temporary levee of pillows and stuffed animals under the edge of the bed so it wouldn't happen again. Seems to be working well.
***
Littlest Brother is discovering the joys of proper pronunciation. Specifically, he is working on his L's. He is not pleased with himself when he uses W instead -- although, of course, he still does use W for R. Well, one thing at a time.
Sometimes he's confused as to whether a sound he has been used to pronouncing as W, "should" be an L, an R, or in fact a W.
L.B.: "I tuwned on da LLLight! LLLet's go down da sLLLide. LLLet's pLLLay."
Later: "GLLLanny, LLLet's LLLun a LLLace! -- I LLLun!" (would formerly been rendered as, "Gwanny, wet's wun a wace! -- I won!"
***
Precious Princess saw "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" with Granny J yesterday afternoon, and it apparently made a big impression on her. Since then she has been drawing nothing but Chihuahuas. She cuts them out and glues them onto popsicle sticks to make puppets of them. We have a fairly rousing pack of puppet Chihuahuas at this time.
***
Eldest Son is doing well, but hasn't said anything especially cute lately. He's outgrowing that phase, I guess. He knows it all now, I suppose, so... Those cute little malapropisms don't pop out of his mouth that often any more.
Speaking of his mouth -- His dentist has referred him for orthodontia. (!) Yes, already. Now he's got 2 permanent teeth on top and 2 on bottom, and that's enough, I guess. Apparently he has an overbite that they want to work on while his facial bones are still growing. If they waited until he was a teenager to tackle that, they wouldn't be able to correct it completely by moving only the teeth. Whereas if they get cracking on it now, apparently they can coax the bones to match up better. So, well, I had kind of thought (or hoped) that we were still years away from paying for braces, but I guess not.
***
It seems such a cliche, but they are growing up so fast! When E.S. was a baby, I thought it would never end. Now, every time I hug L.B. I think, "I won't always have a little 3-year-old to hug." And he is so unbelievably huggable!
Why ARE 3-year-olds so gosh-darned CUTE????? (Well, it's adaptive, for one thing, but still...)
Cheers, all.
G'night.
Our church play-park has skywheels.
Basically, these are like monkey-bars, except they turn freely. So they are quite challenging for kids to get across, even kids who can do monkey bars well. Because you have to manage your momentum just right to swing the wheel you're on close enough to grab the next one, and so on. You have to be not only strong, but also fast and coordinated. You have to get in a groove, get into a rhythm.
It's tough.
Only one kid could do it right away, a year ago, and a lot of kids still can't do it.
Eldest Son can't do it.
Precious Princess can.
She did it for the first time about a month ago, and then she did it again that same day, so we know it wasn't a fluke.
She did it again last night, when we all stopped by to put the finishing touches on Phase II (benches, picnic table, bouncy whale).
She tried and tried and tried for a year -- and failed for a year -- and now she can do it.
She's five.
That's like, me working toward -- and failing at -- a challenge for, oh, about EIGHT YEARS.
Kind of puts everything in perspective.
(I've always been impatient.)
I've only been working on my writing, I mean really WORKING, for going on 2 years.
Last summer, I was nowhere near being published. This summer, I've had 2 near misses. Two pieces that made the short list, but not the final cut, at two different publications. Plus the two pieces that made finalist in that contest, even though they didn't win.
So really, that's a lot of progress in a year's time. And 2 years AGO at this time, I didn't have anything. Not one single piece that even I would have considered finished.
Patience, girl. And never quit.
Failure is only temporary.
(Dear Precious Princess! I've learned so much from her already, and she's only been around for 5 years...)
Went to the local 4-H Fair this evening.
*** WARNING: After having read thru what I've written here, I felt I should warn you that despite the title and the opening sentence, this post has all KINDS of content that will upset a vegetarian or romanticizer of wildlife. Consider this "Full Disclosure" before you read on. ***
Dear Husband and his mother like to bid on steers. Don't ask.
Well, okay, okay, it's kind of a strange family bonding activity, but they like to go in together with various other friends and family members -- not always the same ones, depends on who needs beef this year, and who has space in their freezer -- and buy a steer, have it butchered, and then pack it away in the deep freeze -- we all have our own, bought specifically for this purpose -- from where we pull it out and eat on it for a year or more. I once found an old package 'way in the back, and ended up eating a cut of beef that was older than Precious Princess -- who was four at the time. Popped it in the slow-cooker, and dang, it turned out fine. I can't even remember the last time I bought beef of any sort at the grocery store. Of late, we bought a pig too, just to try it out, and I for one could go for another pig, but my mother-in-law is lukewarm on the idea for some reason still not clear to me.
Anyway, they like to support the local kids economically, and they feel better about how the cattle were reared by the 4-H kids. No factory-farming here! And the quality of the beef, for the price, even including the cost of butchering, just can't be beat.
Where was I?
Oh yeah. Bunny Luv.
See, last week we had a day of Wildlife Trauma at our house. Precious Princess found a dead baby bunny out by our front porch.
I conjectured that it had been ALMOST caught by a coyote the night before, and had died of its injuries. It seemed fine except for -- well, you really don't want to know -- but enough of it seemed fine that Eldest Son actually pronounced it kind of "cute." He elaborated that it was its face that seemed cute (not the injured part), and Precious Princess added that its little feet were cute too. Then there were tears.
(Yes, we have coyotes -- not personally, but they live down in the wetland and woods at the end of our street. Dear Husband has heard them howling when he takes his exercise walks -- at night, after the kids go to bed.)
So fortunately, it was trash day, so I picked it up (using the cunning hand-inside-plastic-bag method well-known to dog-walkers all over America) and threw it away, thinking, the garbage men would come soon and take it away, and problem solved.
So then there were more tears, that it had to be thrown away, and Precious Princess described her preferred outcome, namely that the baby bunny would be magically healed of its injuries and hop happily away.
Then she worked out her feelings that afternoon using art therapy. She drew a little picture of a happy bunny and a not-attacking coyote under a night-time sky full of stars, and a moon too. She wrote a note to a pet store, explaining how she had cried about the dead bunny, and how now she wanted a live bunny for a pet. (I helped with the spelling.)
Then we spent the afternoon looking up bunny breeds on the web and trying to decide what kind of bunny would be the best one for us. Naturally, all the most beautiful (and smallest) breeds were described as "excitable" or "prone to biting." So the search was inconclusive. Then Daddy came home and vetoed the bunny pet plan.
Eh -- we'll see. Not sure we're ready for it YET, but --
So this evening at the 4-H fair, Precious Princess spent a lot of time looking at the bunnies on display, and exclaiming over their beauty and cuteness, and hugeness -- she seemed drawn to the biggest varieties, for some reason, although I still hold out hope for a Dwarf Whatever -- and a proud 4-H kid owner offered to let P.P. pet her bunnies, and took them out of the cages and everything. She was thrilled, of course.
Precious Princess kept careful count of the animals she petted this evening: 5, including 2 bunnies, 1 baby goat kid, and 2 llamas. (No, we're not getting a llama under any circumstances -- even though she said they were her favorite.)
Hm -- I'm not totally sold on the whole bunny thing -- but we've got to get the poor kid SOMETHING.
(Sorry -- sacrilege not REALLY intended. Just couldn't resist. Actually that was a prayer...)
This is THE BUSIEST WEEK OF OUR LIVES (and stupid ME for signing them up for so much all in the same week -- but that's when all the programs they REALLY WANTED or NEEDED to do were happening...), and probably the most challenging aspect of it is our church's Vacation Bible School, which is held in the evenings.
We changed to from daytime to evening a few years back b/c we could get so many more volunteers in the evening. But, it is really quite hard on the little kiddoes. (and isn't it supposed to be for them? -- Eh, never mind.)
Not that they're not having a wonderful time, but they get home well after their normal bedtime, and then they take a while to wind down, and then they don't sleep in in the mornings, so by today the cumulative sleep deficit was--uh, well let's just say it was CLEARLY having an impact.
Poor Eldest Son is really struggling with his allergies too, which usually manifests itself in him as a constant post-nasal drip leading to constant hacking cough, usually leading to some form of secondary infection, this time an ear infection and probably sinus too. He's on Benedryl for the allergy-cough, and antibiotics for the infection, so don't look at me like that when I tell you that I let him continue going to his activities if he feels up to it. (And so far, he has only missed one session of Science Camp -- that's how I knew he was sick in the first place, when he said he thought he was too tired for that...) So tonight he was just absolutely beside himself, just completely, completely...
Lord. Give me strength. (I mean that. Or maybe not strength, maybe patience and flexibility. Or maybe just whatever the dickens you think I need -- that usually works...)
He fell asleep tonight within about 5 minutes of being dragged up to his room -- protesting he wasn't tired. Let's just hope he really sleeps in tomorrow -- he's not real good at that.
And Princess! Man alive, that little woman was a stinker and a half today. It was like she did not understand English.
Littlest Brother was the only one of them who was remotely normal today -- and, of course, he's the one who stayed home with me last night and went to bed at his usual time. Plus he still takes naps, although this week he's getting shorted on them a bit b/c of the schedule for Precious Princess's Safety Town class. By the time we get home from dropping her off, he doesn't REALLY have enough time for a nap before we have to go pick her up again.
Ai-yi-yi, well, over the hump, anyway. Tomorrow evening's the last day of VBS, and then on Friday we have just the two camps in the afternoon -- Safety Town and Science Camp. A nice slow Friday morning will do us all a TON of good.
Plus, I'm tired, and when my sleep deficit gets high enough, well, let's just say that an outside observer could probably tell.
So g'night!
Finally downloaded my camera, and now have shots illustrating some of my recent posts. So, what follows is a whirlwind tour of my life in May; for more details, scroll down to earlier posts! ;-)
(1) Portrait of the Artist. Mentioned Eldest Son had a first-grade artwork chosen for the all-district art show. His is the fancy letter "A".
(2) Eldest Son's Rainforest display. Only two of MANY projects related to the rainforest unit, but these are the most photogenic. (He refused to pose in front of his poster.) Note, he specified in the poster that we must save the rainforestS (plural) because, as he pointed out, there are many of them, all over the world. Little Mr. Precision, that's him...
(3) Tidy Kitchen Counters!!! Yeah!!
(Note the Macaw mask in the center of this shot -- yet another rainforest project!)
(4) Memorial Day (Today), at the parade. Clearly, I should have stayed out of this shot... But the kids are cute!! :-)
(5) Precious Princess teaching her dinosaurs about addition. Note that they have each been issued with a blank sheet of paper and a sharpened pencil. The teacher of these students is prepared!
On this day that we set aside in honor of all those who have served our country, so that scenes like these can continue to occur in peace and safety,
I dedicate this post to you.
Thank you.
What they hey, all KINDS of other Voxers are doing "Things on Tuesday," so I guess I will too.
Things I'm Loathing Today:
- Having eaten chocolates after lunch
- Having failed, ONCE AGAIN, to tidy up the house before my cleaning lady comes tomorrow (She does the cleaning -- vacuuming, mopping, and so on; I'm supposed to do the tidying that makes it possible for her to do her work...)
- Watching my poor little tykes get their shots at their check-ups today
- Having to communicate the decision I've come to -- can't really put it off much longer
- Water waste, agricultural run-off, invasive species, and loss of biodiversity (hey, it's Earth Day after all)
Things I'm Loving Today:
- Eldest Son, Precious Princess, and Littlest Brother
- Oh, Dear Husband too! :-)
- Having come to a decision
- Having tested a hypothesis regarding Eldest Son's behavioral "issues" (and deciding I was RIGHT)
- Feeling not judged, but supported, by Eldest Son's teacher and school social worker at today's meeting
- Looking forward to tomorrow's first meeting with the psychologist -- in the sense of at last maybe here is someone who can help us all (hoping this is not setting myself up for a big crashing disappointment like last year's counselor was)
- Learning that my little tykes are about as healthy as horses -- no worries there; no surprises either
- Having access to vaccinations for my kids
- Watching Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" with Precious Princess for the first time, this afternoon (I'd seen it before, when it first came out; she hadn't ever, before today)
- Aerobics Boot Camp
- Sloppy Joes for dinner
- Dear Husband taking the kids out for ice cream, so I got to eat my dinner AND take a shower in peace! Heaven!
- Looking forward to this weekend's Women's Retreat for my church.
*****
Cheers, all!
- C
...and I'm fwee!
Thus spake Littlest Brother.
(Yes, that is a third finger being held up -- hard to do, hold it up separately from the pinkie -- he did his best!) (actual birthday this past Wednesday, but party was today -- joint party with Big Sis.)
Precious Princess & Friend reading her NEW book (one of her faves), "Alice the Fairy" by David Shannon.
(Highly recommend this book by the way, especially if you have or are expecting a girl. When she is between the ages of say, three and six, this will be your life!) (Precious Princess actually has a pair of the over-the-shoulder fairy wings, and SEVERAL magic wands!)
TOTALLY lowered my standards this year! TOTALLY.
Took them all to Jungle Java; I didn't have to clean up my house before or after, or prepare any food whatsoever!
BOUGHT cakes from Meijers! (Can you believe it????)
Well, Precious Princess wanted a Disney Princess on her cake, plus roses, and I knew my artistic skills with frosting did not meet this standard, so rather than stressing about it, figured, what the heck. Bought a cake with roses already on it, and then went to Party America and bought some Disney Princess cake toppers, and voila! Princess cake with roses. She loved it.
And then I thought, well, gee. Seems silly to make Littlest Brother's cake when I'm buying Princess's cake. What the heck, buy 'em both! Bought cake toppers with "Cars" theme for L.B.'s cake. He loved it.
Figured, the kids will eat it anyway, store-bought or not. What do you know, I was right!!
Of course they all love Jungle Java, so the kids had a blast. Dear Husband and I were totally NOT stressed since we had utterly no work to do other than show up with cakes, so we had a blast.
Everyone had a blast! What's not to love???
What a day!
Ahhhh.
(they're all asleep now...)
(nighty-night)
