Cease Fire

Our 6 year old little Darling has a way with big temper tantrums.  Most of them are associated with clothes.  Like most children she is uber-sensitive about the way the seam in her socks fits on her toes, but my personal favorite clothing complaint is the one about how her shirts bunch up around the neck whenever she inexplicably stretches her arms out in front of her and crosses them at the wrists.  No matter how many times I try to tell her that there is absolutely no reason she should have to do that during any given normal day, she remains unconvinced.

This disagreement between us has gone on for months.  The pinnacle of the Clothing Wars was the day Eric had to physically hold her down while I put a shirt over her head.  It was at this fine moment that it occurred to me that maybe this wasn't how all families with young girls started out their mornings.  Things had to change.

That's when the internet came to the rescue.

I did a quick search and found this really interesting topic: Sensory Disorders.  Many people with this issue have problems with clothing.  Of course Lilly doesn't have this issue, but she definitely has Issues with clothes.  And as I was reading, I found this really neat cure for the Issue at hand: rub different textured items over the body to get the skin used to different sensations so that the sufferer will get used to these textures and realize that clothing is not going to hurt them.

I thought this was ingenious.

That night I began the Ritual.  I took a flat paddle brush and scraped it over Lilly'e entire body while she stood there in her undies with a perplexed "have you gone crazy" look on her face.  I nobly explained to her that this was a type of Occupational Therapy that helps people with clothing Issues.  The next day it was a dry Loofah.

On the third day she was miraculously cured and never complained about how her clothes felt again.

But occasionally we still have disagreements about what is fashionable.  For instance, there was a period of months that Lilly would only wear what she called her "Horse Rider" clothes.  Basically this meant she had only two pairs of bottoms that she would wear: a pair of purple capri leggings or a pair of knee length denim shorts.  (Note: Oddly enough she refused to wear either of these articles of clothing during the summer when they were appropriate.  Instead she waited until the cold days of November to decide they were acceptable).  Then she would add a nicely worn out t-shirt and tuck it into the waistband of the chosen bottoms.  To finish the ensemble, she would wear her knee high black leather boots.  And Voila!  Horse Rider extraordinaire!

To negotiate a cease fire of the Clothing Wars, I came up with a bribing system.  For every 7 days that she wears the outfit I pick out for her, she gets a treat.  Today ended the first week of said negotiations.

Lilly has a brand new fashionable Barbie and I have a brand new fashionable daughter.

All is fair in love and war.     

Nostalgia

 This weekend I helped a friend do a "Chocolate Tea Party" for her newly turned five year old daughter.  It turned out darling - she did a beautiful job.  And it made me remember the "English Garden Tea Party" we did when Hannah turned eight.  It would have made Jane Austen herself proud!

So, for all of you party lovers out there, I decided to post some lovely pictures of lovely girls at a lovely party!

The Birthday girl - How beautiful she was in her fancy dress!

 I literally spent months scoping out thrift stores and antique shops for the perfect cup and saucer sets for each girl.  I wanted them all to be mismatched and cost less than $2.00 each.  Thankfully, I gave myself LOTS of time and in the process learned how to make really fancy three tiered stands out of thrift store glass plates and wine glasses!  And the best part was that each stand cost less than $1.50 to make.  Talk about shabby chic at its cheapest!

Table fit for any English nobility.  Check out the tiered stands!

Each English beauty received her very own one-of-a-kind tea cup and saucer to take home

The lovely ladies at the party dined on the finest finger sandwiches, strawberries and cream, assorted cookies, and of course "tea" (which was actually lemonade and punch- we are LDS afterall!)

I actually grew all the flowers in my very own garden!

And what English tea party would be complete without dancing?  Well, luckily, Eric and I had just started taking English Country Line Dance lessons so I was able to impart some of my newly gained knowledge to my young proteges.  But first, they had to be schooled in the art of Fan Language - an essential part of any young ladies education!

A fan was every girls secret weapon

They all caught on very quickly - maybe it is in every girl's nature to be coy!

Practicing for a Ball - Aren't they lovely?

 The cake was a yummy strawberry and raspberry jello and whipped cream cake.  The only objection was that the raspberries decorating the top began to drip down the sides!  Hannah had to make a wish fast!

It almost makes me want to cry to think back to that party and the little girl who just turned eight, got her ears pierced and was baptized.  Now that she is fifteen, I don't often have the opportunity to have parties like this for her.  Things have changed and she has changed.  Her last party was a murder mystery (I'll post that later) and there were BOYS there!  Oh, how time swiftly passes us by!  But, happily she is still my little girl who holds my hand when we go to the mall together and who cuddles on the couch with me when we watch Jane Austen movies!

I know what you are thinking, and I agree - I am a lucky mom! 

Gingerbread - YUM!

It is an irrefutable fact that Lilly ADORES gingerbread.  Now, Eric and I have tried many times (unsuccessfully) to figure out which side of the family this taste bud trait follows - neither of us are particularly fond of the spicy cookie.  As a matter of fact, I must confess that I never tried it until about three years ago when Lilly had it for the first time in preschool.  Because enthusiasm is contagious, I decided I had to try it.  I really wasn't that impressed - not that I hated it or anything, I just prefer chocolate chip or peanut butter, or oatmeal, or snickerdoodles....anyone else getting cookie cravings?  Anyway, you get the idea. 

Confession #2 - In all the years we have "made" gingerbread houses (probably 12 years), I have always bought the ready to assemble kits.  And, to make matters"worse", about 10 years ago I began hot gluing our houses together!  I was fed up with trying to hold the darn thing together with that gloopy frosting stuff!  So, I think it is pretty clear why I have never actually eaten gingerbread before Lilly introduced it to me. 

Well this year, we received a cute little gift from Eric's sister, Sandy.  It was a Gingerbread house kit!  Complete with directions on how to make your people 3-D.  At first I panicked at the excitement that Lilly demonstrated when she saw that we could make our very own gingerbread.  Then I remembered that all things in life should be done precept upon precept, so I decided that we could attempt to make JUST the gingerbread people this year from scratch.  

So one sunny Saturday I gathered the cooking crew (Lilly and Emmett), donned my apron (they did likewise), and we began measuring and mixing.  It was a bit messy because my crew insisted on working independently, but I am proud to say that in the end, we had some fabulous gingerbread dough!  And a few hours later, we were ready to roll, cut, and bake! 

(The baking is my favorite part because it makes the whole house smell incredibly delicious!)

But, of course, the best part was the decorating.  Lilly insisted that we needed a whole arsenal of decorating delights: frostings, sprinkles, sugars, candies, etc. 

 

I do have to agree that they turned out beautiful AND delicious!  We had so many cookies that Eric's Home Teaching families got plates of surprises, too.  I am sure they felt so loved to have received such hand crafted delectable delights!

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Lilly and I were talking the other night and she shared with me some of her future plans.

First, she wants to live next door to me (Emmett can live on the other side and Hannah across the street).  She said that since she will be too big, and I will be too old for us to live together, being neighbors was a good idea.  But, she did make me promise that if I decided to move I would call her and let her know.  She didn't want to  just wake up one day and find that I had moved!

Secondly, during the same conversation, she told me that when she grew up she wanted to marry someone younger than her - that way she could be the boss of him!  When I was finally able to catch my breath between the fits of laughter, I happily informed her that I didn't think it mattered how old he was, she would still - most likely - boss him around!

Isn't it always fun to get a glimpse of the innermost workings of a child's mind?

Delightful Disney!

I know it sounds crazy, but we really did pack up four kids (Hannah brought her friend, Anna), board a plan and head to Disney World the first week of December!  And it was a BLAST!

Hannah and Anna (try saying that 10 times fast), were two single ladies out on the town.  Figuratively speaking, mind you. But, knowing that they were of the ripe old age of 15, we felt comfortable letting them go on their own (you have to understand what a HUGE step that is for me).  I can't imagine why they would prefer riding all the roller coasters they wanted instead of standing with us in line to visit Mickey's house, but they did.  And it sounds like they had too much fun.  Just check out some of their pics! 

Lilly discovered that she was tall enough to ride anything she wanted.  So, it was one roller coaster after another for this little thrill seeker.  She even conquered her fear of all things dark and creepy to ride Tower of Terror AND Mount Everest!  No ride was too high, nor too fast.  She was in heaven!

 

Emmet was still a wee bit too short to ride most grown up rides, but that did not hinder his fun.  He had a great time visiting all the game areas and attracting all kinds of attention with his magnetic personality!  He even got to meet some X-Men and a few Jedi - though he was not so sure about Darth Vader!  Eric on the other hand was ecstatic to meet his Star Wars icon!  Even I got to fill a life long dream of touching a Storm Trooper and finally getting to feel what his costume is made of!

But the best thing for Emmett was getting to see "another" China at Epcot.  He was so excited and kept squealing that now he has TWO CHINAS!  He even met Mulan and informed her that he was from China, too:)   

Hello Harry!

For all of you want-a-be wizards, but are just plain old muggles out there, it will not be too surprising to learn that our family had the time of our lives visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.  We hopped on The Hogwarts Express and and literally got carried away into a new world!

It really did live up to our expectations and it was fun to pretend for a day that we were at Hogsmeade.  The shops were super fun and delightful to the young (Emmett and Lilly LOVED Honeydukes),

the teens (can you say Zonkos?) and the "old" (Dervishes and Banges provided some very nice pillows for the basement, thank you very much).  But the true magic was to be found on the rides.  Flight of the Hippogriff 
 and Dragon Challenge rides were great,

but NOTHING could compare with the  FORBIDDEN JOURNEY!  It was a masterpiece of special effects that could make the most skeptical a believer!  Lilly even rode it twice knowing she would come face to face with a Dementor and a Dragon!

All in all, we LOVED living out our Harry Potter fantasies and spending a few magical moments riding dragons, hippogriffs and enchanted benches!

Fairy Magic

A Fabulous Fairy Gathering

For Lilly's 6th birthday, I secretly wanted to do something feminine and lovely.  I was so excited when she chose "FAIRIES!"  Here was my chance to girl it up and use purple and pink (a  color combination I usually try to avoid).  So, with a wave of my magic wand, a lot of internet shopping, and a little fairy dust, we had one fabulous fairy fiesta!  Feel free to fly around and amuse yourself!

Every Birthday Fairy would be lost without her wings, wand, and special birthday crown!

My first ever Birthday Crown!  Lilly LOVED wearing it!

The perfect pixie table all arranged in purple and pink

A Birthday Fairy needs her own personalized banner or else we would never know who's party it was!

I especially had fun making these fantastically sparkly Fairy Wands!

A fancy Fairy place setting

Fairies ALWAYS drink from "Crystal" Goblets!

Like always, I like the decorating, but the fairies loved the activities.  We began by putting sparkly make-up on each Fairy as she arrived.  Then they were sent off to decorate their Fairy Treasure box (later used as their take home "baggie").

After that, we played Flower Flight (musical chairs) where the girls earned their wings.

Then they designed miniature fairy gardens to prove they were ready to receive their magic wands.

  And finally we relaxed in the Fairy Bower and read a fantastic Fairy tale.

To wrap it all up, our little fairies dined on flower shaped sandwiches, star shaped cheese wands, and purple pixie grapes.

But Lilly's favorite part was her cake and presents!

Happy Birthday, Fairy Lilly!