How cute is this girl? I mean really...maybe I am biased (a little) but I just want to pinch her little cheeks all the time...

So-Lily does not like to get up in the morning (as you all well know). She especially hates it when the sun is in her eyes when she first wakes up (what is wrong with her? I love waking up to sunshine!!)

Anyway, I always make sure the lights are off and the blinds are closed if it is a bright kind of morning- the last couple weeks especially. So I also know she has in her head that carrots are good for her eyes...(this is hilarious to me) so every morning I set her at the table for breakfast and if it is too bright out she immediately starts whining (shrieking??) "Mommy I can't see- I need a carrot!" Apparently these are the most nutritious carrots in the world because after only one bite she can miraculously see again and all is right with the world. Wow.

Finding Happiness...

A couple of months ago I wrote a post about being happy- and I guess I have some more to add to it now. I talked about my happiness scale and how different things rate on my "happiness continuum" This last weekend Lily was with her Dad from Friday all the way until Monday- I had a lot time to myself to do what I wanted and just think and be I guess.

This weekend I bought plants at Lowe's and had so much fun getting them all potted and pretty. I can't wait for them to grow and it reminds me how much someday I really want to be able to have a real garden growing lots of things...I also started working on a new art project- sort of a painting/ paper collage. If you've ever looked at the blogs I follow ---> the Finding Home blog author does some very cool work. Her blog gave me some inspiration to try my own artwork- on a little bit bigger scale than just cards. And as I was working and having that time I realized that this art- whatever it may be- is a really big part of who I am. I think I let it go too long-didn't do enough- and when it came to the question...who am I? What is interesting about me? There weren't really any answers...I was just being...living and breathing having to go on autopilot Mom mode for so long. I guess now I finally feel like I can be more. Lily is more independent and able to entertain herself. And I am finding the time to do the things that make me happy.

I am happy being independent. I had really forgotten how much I enjoyed it-so I was soaking it all up when Lily was gone all weekend. It also reminded me how that even though sometimes I think it would be nice to start dating (meeting people again???) I feel like right now adding anyone extra to the mix I would have to give up the carefully allotted "me" time I am really enjoying...maybe someday I'll feel differently about it- I'm just not there yet.
Anyway...enough about me...Lily's teacher did her hair yesterday in these cute little stick up all around twists- but as soon as we got in the car they weren't comfortable for her so she had me take them out : ( so I didn't get a picture- too cute though. She is really getting tall- a bunch of her pants are getting too short- now they are "capri pants" haha. Oh, and that reminds me that I want to get a little ruler set up to measure her (maybe just a long piece of paper taped to the wall or something) so we can see how much she's grown... it seems like she's grown quite a bit taller in the last few months or so. Otherwise she's still just Lily. Mostly happy and sweet (kind of clingy after being gone so many days!) And very excited about our Fort Warden trip coming up this weekend. She's so excited to go on a ferry boat again, and me too! PS That was the first time I have ever added a link within my blog... now that I know how...who knows what I'll come up with ; )

Bouncy Fun!

Lily's friend from school had a party last weekend- with lots of fun toys and a huge bouncy house. We went and had a lot of fun- and it was a really beautiful day. Many neighborhood kids were there so it was pretty noisy! But a good time all around.

We also spent some time in Tacoma visiting Gramma Deb, Grampa Bruce and Ma'mma as well as Grampa Bruce's mom- Barb, who I haven't seen in probably 12 years??? and Lily had never met. We had a really nice afternoon hanging out and enjoying the sunshine. Gramma and Grampa spoiled her and bought her an entire box of Dum Dum lollipops from Cash and Carry. Thanks guys! ; )

Bears! Oh my!

Dear Black Bear,

You are very cute- and almost cuddly- but not up close. Please do not wander down the very streets I walk on a regular basis nor in the parks where Lily and I play all the time. Because, well, it freaks me out a bit. Please find your way back to the forest- it will suit you much better- I promise.

Love,
Sarah

Pajama Day

Yesterday Lily's teacher said that today would be pajama day for her class. She was very excited about it and put on her pajamas as soon as she got out of the bath last night. Of course she can't wear any shoes with them since they have little footies so I'm not sure how that is actually working out for her at school. Before she took her bath though this is what her hair looked like. Apparently another child had a handful of red paint they put her in her hair. If you really look at the picture the outline of the paint looks exactly like a small child's hand print. Pretty funny. It all washed out so no worries.

A mommy and a Baby School bus:

So big!

Look everyone! My strawberry plants came back this year and I didn't have to do anything! They are just growing with no help from me. Of course I started watering them again once I noticed the little green parts! I thought I was going to have to buy new plants but apparently they are resilient enough to survive even when I don't water them. Wow! Now that's the kind of plant I like. Lily will be super excited to have more strawberries this year. I think I should get some fertilizer or something though...is that what I'm supposed to do? I have no idea. I wanted to show this little set up we have in our living room because 1) I love this picture of Lily holding a dandelion and 2) we made these cute little flowers out of magazine strips a buttons. Lily picked the pages out of the magazine and did some of the cutting. Then I put them together with the button. So cute. I saw it in a magazine. I think I could use this technique (a little more refined) on a card. Plus aren't her little "tea" animals so cute. We have so many of those guys!

Here's Lily and Papa at his house on Mother's day. They were watching a movie together but Lily was bouncing around all over the place on the back of the couch. At one point I caught her licking the little wood strip she's leaning on in the picture. What??? She has never been one to "eat" too many strange things- but she'll lick anything, I swear-especially windows, mirrors, counters, tables- smooth surfaces I guess. I haven't caught her licking the floor yet. I'm sure that day will come. This morning Lily woke up in a much better mood. We had time for breakfast and she let me braid her hair. I did french braid pigtails and they actually turned out pretty cute. I try to keep her hair out of her face but most mornings she barely lets me brush- so I was happy with the super cute look she had going on! (Gotta love the boots too!) Also she found the jack-o-lantern plastic bucket Di gave me to save for next Halloween and she put her stuffed puppy into it to take to school for show and tell day.

Tough week

It has been a bit of a rough few days for Lily and me.

At Dad and Di's on Saturday I said, "Lily, you are really starting to irritate me." Because she was being whiney and annoying. Then she said back, "You are irritating me, too." I guess I deserved that. Then I said, "I think we need a little break from each other." She agreed.

I guess it is nice that we can have this kind of conversation but for real- is this kind of stuff happening already? She's three and a half going on fourteen. What happened to my baby?

Then this morning she was being whiney again and I asked her why she was acting like a baby (throwing herself on the floor kicking and screaming). She responded "Those words are disgusting Mommy!" "Uh, what words are disgusting?" "Words like Baby" "Then stop acting like one." Nothing but whimpering from her. Seriously...Seriously?

I guess I just don't have a lot of tolerance for whining. Like, get mad. Tell me why you are mad- tell me all about it, reason with me, bargain with me whatever. But falling on the floor whining...just can't take it. I have no patience or sympathy for it. Are my expectations too high? Am I setting myself up to be frustrated by expecting her to tell me what is going on rather that just throwing a fit? I don't know. I really don't know. It seemed like she was doing so well- then her dad canceled last weekend with her and now we are back to this. Again. Blegh.

Well enough self reflection for one day. I'll have some pictures tomorrow I think. Later!

More Famous Lily Quotes

I am so glad I am writing these things down regularly because this stuff is hilarious and I don't want to forget.



Lily: Eww, Mommy you have whiskers on your legs!

*Apparently, even though I don't particularly care what my legs look like, it is important to Lily that I have smooth legs, especially when she wants to sleep on my tummy and her feet touch my legs.

Lily: Mommy, what's in my balloon?

Mommy: Uh, nothing. I don't see anything (I will admint I was a bit distracted getting ready for work)

Lily: No Mommy- there's something in there.

Mommy: Lily, honey, (taking the balloon from her hand and examining it) I don't see anything inside the balloon, okay?

Lily: There is too. There's Helium in there.

Mommy: Oh, yeah, Helium. Yes there is Helium in there. Sorry.

Smart Girl.

Pictures from Greenlake Park Over the Weekend

Monday again

Well- another Monday. Let's hope this week is better than last week. Over the weekend we had lots of fun but also some not so fun moments : (

Lily's class last week was learning about bugs- they did some bug searching outside and read some bug stories. Now, she has never been a big fan of bugs. If we ever have a fly in the house she makes sure we (by we I mean me) chase it outside somehow or suck it up with the vacuum cleaner. Though one time she did get a bowl from her drawer and place it on top of a dead fly on our windowsill. Thanks honey! You're my big helper...

Anyway... the moral of the story...Now she is absolutley terrified of bugs. At the park she literally had a panic attack when a fly or bee flew near her- hysterical screaming and clawing at my legs to climb up..craziness. Then on Friday night she woke up at one o'clock after having a bad dream. She said in her dream her shadow turned into bugs and they chased her. We went and had some tea and watched a show for a little while before going back to bed with the bathroom light on. Every few minutes she would ask me to turn on the lamp and "check" the ceiling for bugs. This lasted about two hours. Ugg. Luckily we were able (by we I mean her, I was up around oh the usual 6:30 am, grr) to sleep in.

Saturday night we only had to check a few times but again last night she had another nightmare- we went to sleep with the bathroom light on but sometime later I got up and turned it off. She was up from about three to four or so and we of course had to turn the light back on and check the ceiling-repeatedly. Of course I finaly fell back asleep and my alarm went off about five minutes later. Happy Monday, y'all!

We had fun yesterday during the day though. We went to Greenlake and played at the park- Lily was super excited about the "tongue swings" and also had lots of fun chasing the ducks. I forgot my flash drive so the pictures will be up tomorrow.

Lily "Quotes of the Weekend"

"Mommy, if you were a worm I would catch you!"

"Oh, this song (on the radio) makes me a princess!"

"Get your cute shoes Mommy so we can dance!"

Then we danced. She loved it- I loved it. : )