A Cruel World

How do you teach a 3 year old that cruelty exists in this world for no good reason at all? How do you tell a 3 year old that the birds we have watched for weeks build a nest, lay an egg, and care for it are dead? How do you explain that the perpetrator was a heartless person (if you can call them a person)? A person who threw rocks at them and left their bodies between pieces of nest scattered on the ground.

Heartless.

Cruel.

I cried for a good hour this morning. The only upside being that I didn't take Lily to see them today because we were running late. But now I have to explain the empty space in our carport where the birds are supposed to be.

Crafty!

These are the cards I made this weekend. I got the idea for the first card from a book I found about card making using colored pencil techniques- which I like but haven't done much of. So this is my first attempt. I really like the result- the colors are much more vibrant in real life- the flowers are raised too so it has some dimension.

The second card I used paper from the new "Glitter Stack" I got on clearance at Joanns (wohoo!). I like shiny! : ) The pink flowers on the first layer are textured and the stamp is embossed with a new embossing powder I got at a garage sale (new!) for 50 cents! I love a good baragain that's for sure.

I made eight scrapbooking pages but changed my mind about posting them to the blog. I will send out some individual invitations through email with a link to them on Picassa. If you don't get an email from me but would like to see the pages- you can leave me a comment with your email maybe??? When I looked at them they just seemed a little too personal to put up...I don't know why..since I pretty much post everything else...

Warning: Poopy Content

I think all little kids go through a "poop" phase where anything relating to the bathroom is absolutely hilarious- in fact I am pretty sure that most men never outgrow this phase...anyway. I'd say nearly all of Lily's favorite jokes lately involve some kind of bathroom humor.

L: Knock, Knock
M: Who's there?
L: Poop. (Laughs hysterically)

M: How did poop get on your forehead (apparently I should have been supervising this one!)
L: The poop came out and then it went and pooped on my forehead. **Really??**

L: Spongebob Poops.
M: How do you know?
L: He has a butt.

L: The unicorn went down to the buggy water and he pooped hisself.

This weekend Lily is with her dad and I am finally getting started on her "First Year" Scrapbook. Four pages down...only 22 or more to go (two pages per month)...yikes! And that's just year one! I think that they will start to go more quickly as I do more of them though. I don't think I am going to do a whole separate album for each year but probably combine the next two years into one- since there are some months I am missing photos from. I'm just glad that I finally am getting started...I made some cards today too...pictures tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight- going to bed!

Discovering Static Electricity...

and other adventures at the duck park..

We had fun- why am I always the only parent climbing on the toys, going through the tunnels and going down the slides...???

Thanks Joeleen! You're the best!

My 100th Post!

Congratulations to me! This is my 100th blog posting and I considered doing some kind of give-away but that is too much work. Maybe for my 200th. Haha.

It's Saturday morning so I really wanted to take a nice long shower...I made sure Lily was okay to go with something to watch so I had at least five minutes to myself. I get in the shower- leaving the door open to hear any kind of loud noise that might mean "Emergency!" About a minute later I hear the pitter patter of little feet coming my way. Lily grabs the end of the shower curtain pulls it open about half way and asks (very seriously) "Are you doin' okay in there mom?" "Yes Lily I'm fine. Thanks for asking." And off she scampers onto the next thing.

I've noticed lately that Lily is beginning to be much more aware of people's emotional state. She seems very in tune with how others are feeling and can be affected by their state of mind. She is concerned when someone in her class is upset and just generally notices when people aren't happy. Of course my moods she picks up on especially. Yesterday she dropped her toothbrush with toothpaste on my clean work shirt and I was a wee bit irritated. She immediately said- "Oh I'm so sorry Mommy!" and tried to help me wipe it up. This morning I was getting seriously annoyed when she kept putting a toy in my face. I told her to stop several times- by the third time I was using my "mean" voice. She said "Mommy, don't be mad at me! Don't use your mean voice!" I told her she needed to use her listening ears if she wanted me to stop using my mean voice. She seriously considered this concept and stopped doing what she was doing.

I could see the little wheels turning- cause and effect, action and consequence, she knew what result she wanted and was able to make a good choice. I think my expectations are high for her- maybe too high sometimes. I expect her to make logical, rational decisions- which I know she is not always capable of but I can see that she is a seriously smart kid. Her vocabulary and language skills are amazing. She has some seriously interesting trains of thought. I try not to compare too much to other kids but in this aspect I think she is ahead of the group. Emotional skills- social skills??? Not so much, but my expectations aren't quite as high in this area I think because I understand her limits and don't want to push her too hard.

Now I just need to get her to put some clothes on so we can go to the grocery store...that could prove the most challenging of all. : )

On this day in history:

June 20th, 2006 Lily's first taste of scrambled eggs

June 20th, 2007 Lily's first trip to Greenlake Park

June 20th, 2008 Lily cleans the toilet (remember this one?)

June 20th, 2009 Lily refuses to smile for me, also eating a bowl of Cheerios

Lily Eats a Popsicle Video

I saw a book at Thirdplace Books someone had written all about the funny things their kid said over the years..what do you know? Apparently I'm not the only one with a quotable kid.

Tonight, as I was putting Lily to sleep, a tune I made up using her name- kind of a lullaby that I used to sing when she was really little- just came into my head. I started singing it and it was like she remembered- or it felt familiar and she just relaxed. When I was done she asked me to sing it again- so I did.

LILY'S BIRTHDAY COUNTDOWN

Did you all see my little ticker at the bottom that is counting down to Lily's 4th birthday? So cute! From www.lilypie.com. Woohoo! You can do all kinds of countdowns from there- pregnancy to kid's birthdays- any special occasion. They just updated their website too so now its even better!

Happy Happy Happy!

Well- it's Monday again- thank goodness its almost over- I need some sleep! I had quite the packed weekend full of fun stuff. My birthday was awesome and now I've got to start thinking about Lily's...what are we going to do this year??? Anyway- I had in my head a whole list of thing's Lily has said in the last few days but as soon as I tried to remember any one of them - I can't. Typical. One thing though-she walked into our apartment, hugged the bathroom doorway/wall and said, "I love you apartment!" Awww... and I'm thinking of moving??? On with the pictures... Shake those Maracas!Swing batter batter...

I broke the pinata! Everybody rushed in for the candy...P.S. My Zucchini plant is doing great!

Hmmm...

Lily: Look Mommy- it's your favorite store! (Pointing to the Alberton's)

Oh honey, I guarantee there are many more stores I like better than Albertson's. Seriously.

Lily: Look at the Hockey game Mommy! (Pointing to a basebell field)

Ummm...???

There is a starling (?) nest in our carport not too high up that Lily and I have been watching carefully. The momma and daddy bird take turns sitting in the nest- so everytime we walk by I pick her up to get a good look. She says "Oh I just love those birds!" It is so nice to appreciate the little things with her- see the world from her perspective. At the park there were a bunch of birds flying really low to the ground. Since it was twilight there were lots of bugs so I think the birds were eating. They were flying very close to us though and Lily's eyes were lit up in wonder. She said she thought it was the same mommy and daddy bird from our apartment and they just might be... you never know.

Seven years bad luck...

Just when I thought my life was a little too boring(haha).....Lily broke our hallway mirror. Oops. Luckily she wasn't hurt. She was just trying to hang on it and it fell forward and hit the other side of the hallway. It broke into many pieces but not too many small pieces since it was pretty thick glass. Poor thing was totally freaked out and said, "Oh Mommy- I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!" I just said I was so glad she wasn't hurt and that she wasn't in trouble. She tried to come over to give me a hug but since she had bare feet I had to stop her and come scoop her up. Then I plopped her safely in the laundry basket and vaccumed up the floor. My neighbor (who happens to work construction) was outside cleaning his truck so I asked if he could please bring the mirror downstairs to the garbage. Thank god he was there because it was really heavy and awkward with the broken glass pieces hanging out of it.
By the way- the clean laundry- Since I brought it up from the dryer on Sunday-I can't even think about going to reach for anything in the basket lest I mess up her carefully crafted seat. I think I have enough underwear to last me through the week- or else I'll have to sneak a pair when she falls asleep. Pick your battles I tell ya.

This hair <--- her teacher did-she liked it until she got in the car seat and couldn't put her head against the back of the seat.

It was my Blogiversary yesterday...and I totally forgot!

I was having too much fun out on a boat on Lake Washington partying it up to remember that yesterday was the one year anniversary of starting my blog. Click Here to see my very first post...Anyway- these picture were from last night. Dad and Di were able to take Lily for the evening since Briana invited me to go out on this boat with people from her company. The music was bumping and the drinks were flowing- it was so fun. What was really awesome though was that despite how much crap and yucky stuff is going on in the world every boat that we passed- and nearly every person we passed (like when we went through the Mountlake Cut) waved or yelled or started dancing as soon as we got within earshot. We waved and hollered back to everyone. It made me happy to see people so responsive- like yes we are still alive- yes we are making it through and for a minute we can still let loose and have fun- just be and enjoy and sing as loud as we want. So happy blogiversary to me- and many more...(I sang that part : )

Also today I baked the yummiest loaf of Whole Wheat Bread ever, made very tasty homemade egg rolls, and bought a bag of cherries for only $1.98/lb. Sweet! Overall a great day so far.

P.S. Heard from Lily so far today:

Lily: Don't give me no attitude Mom.

Lily: Mommy I love you! I want to snuggle you. (Awww : )

Lily: I'm turning into dough! (while helping me with the bread)

Little Einsteins...

Apparently we've been watching too many Little Einsteins DVDs. As I woke Lily up this morning she said groggily "Oh no mommy you are going to spill the rocket soup!" I laughed and she opened her eyes. She said she was dreaming about big blue jet. Silly Lily.

Picasa Web Album

Fort Worden

Seriously, I am such a slacker. Anyway- click on the picture above and it will take you to my web album...I figured that part out but I also have sooooo many cute things Lily said over the weekend to post too...oh well. Maybe I'll have time to type a few up at lunch tomorrow- Right now though I gotta try to go to sleep but my apartment is literally over 8O degrees right now- absolutely stifling and there seems to be a lot of noise outside so I don't know if leaving the windows open is an option...well I guess I can post a few things she said...




Heard on the Fort Warden Trip:
Lily:Mommy you're driving too slow! Mommy you're driving too fast!
Lily: Mr. Ladybug, do you want to climb on my ball? Mr. Ladybug are you listening to me?
Lily: I can't believe I live here!
Mommy: Lily, please do not lick...insert here one of the following: the window, the ball, the chair, the seatbelt, my cousin (I swear I said all of these- it's her new obsession, licking things ewww.)



And a cute conversation we had when we saw a deer in someone's yard :
Lily: Where's her baby?
Mommy: I don't know.
Lily: Maybe he's lost.
Mommy: Oh I don't think he's lost- he's here somewhere.
Lily: Maybe the baby turned into the Momma.
Mommy: Maybe...
Lily: When I grow up I am going to turn into you Mommy.

Oh Lily-you will be so much more! You will be wonderful- the one and only you!

Sneak Peek...

I haven't had time to put together the entire blog posting for our weekend in Ft. Warden but I thought I would put up a few pictures to tide over all you avid readers of my blog....(all 4 of you!)
Lily and I on the Deception Pass Lookout.

And of course the gorgeous view at Deception Pass. Always beautiful and we were blessed with amazing weather all weekend long.

Lily testing objects- float or sink (by the way, rocks sink!) Cute video of this tomorrow...

I took so many pictures I can't possibly put them all up here- so I am going to attempt to put them in a Picassa Web Album- then just put the best ones on the blog...we'll see how that goes. More later!