Princessey Goodness

Bet you didn't know I had royal offspring.


It's true. Violet and Stella have recently been playing princess every morning. Some days they make wands and dance and 'wish' each other, some days they just lounge on the royal steps and look cute.



Or sassy.

But mostly just cute.


Incidentally, that hat Stella is wearing was mine when I was a kid. I think it's come full circle to being fashionable again.

A sad day

This morning we are going to say goodbye to Misty, the therapy horse Violet has been riding for the past year. Misty contracted Lyme disease, and none of the treatments are helping her. She is in a great deal of pain, and we were told yesterday that she needs to be put down. I don't know if it is a good thing or bad thing that we get a last chance to see her. Mostly, I am worried about my reaction. We have been trying to teach Violet that life and death are intertwined and that death isn't a bad or scary thing. My sobbing might just speak louder than any of that carefully thought out discussion.


We are bringing gingersnaps because Misty loves gingersnaps, and we are bringing her pretzels, because Violet is sure she loves pretzels. I don't know what kind of private discussions those two have had, so it would be kind of boorish of me to insist otherwise.


Misty has been such an essential part of our last year. I don't know where we would be now without her. Our gratitude is immense, and our sorrow is sincere. Thank you, Misty, for everything you have done for us, for being the silent friend and patient teacher you have been to Violet.

Through a child's eyes

I just loaded all Violet's pictures onto the computer, and it seems I haven't done so since February. There were still pictures of shrimp on there. Remember the shrimp?

What I love about Violet's pictures is how they give me some insight to how she sees things and how her complex little brain works. Sometimes there will be 18 pictures of the same thing, from the same angle. Most notably the little bear, the toy airplane and various computer games. She has also launched into the art of self portraiture. And she has no qualms about recording life as it really is, whereas I am prone to trying to shoot from an angle that hides the clutter or whatnot. I have a feeling that before long Violet is going to graduate into a real camera. I'm glad digital is now inexpensive enough that we can get her a camera of her own. But that can wait until Stella is ready for the Fisher Price.









This picture was taken this morning at Violet's request. She made wands for herself and Stella, got them both gussied up and had a princess dance. Nice.

Happy Halloween!

I know I said chickens, but I saw this witch and princess crawling out of the dressup box to dance in front of the mirror in my living room, and they were too cute to pass up. Sorry for the cell phone quality picture. May your day be full of adorable tricks and sweet treats.

Come again?

Looking at the photo, I can see how this has been doctored, but it gave me a start the first time I drove past it.

And some random cuteness for you. Did I seriously not post these chicken pictures before? The girls are going to be chickens for Halloween.


The day we picked up the cotton candy machine, Violet twisted my arm so hard we had to come straight home and try it out. Besides which, we needed to make sure the rental place hadn't given us a dud machine, right?

Violet's clay creation. A lilypad with frog, and a little snack for the frog.



Some freaks from the carnival. I'm not sure anyone else really used the freakshow, but I was really proud of it.



On Violet's birthday, the main event was dancing in the way back of the car in the parking lot at Stop and Shop.





I really need to get the hang of putting a couple pictures up every other day instead of throwing them up there in a mass. I'll try harder if you try to check back more often. Okay, you-know-who-you-are?

Birthday Fun

We've all been very busy around here preparing for Violet's carnival birthday party. I won't say much except that I think all the kids had fun (with not even one little 'incident' - not even with the birthday girl!) and I think the parents might have even had an okay time. So with no more ado, in no particular order, here are pictures from the party.

Eva Roy, Stella's godsister, and one of my favorite small people.


Violet playing ring toss. Notice we didn't manage to get our backyard completely junk free!


How cute is this: Emily (l) and Cayden (r) chompin' their dogs, and Eva manning the ticket booth.Kelsie playing the beanbag toss. There were no real rules for the games, and we found the kids kind of spontaneously made up their own rules. See how Kelsie isn't even on top of the ring?

I think this is Colin at the 'freakshow'. The last 'freak' (hairy person, possibly jumping hairy person) was drawn by Violet. She also did the sun and most of the land and sky on the right.


Oh how I wish I could still do things like this.

Brenna (another one of my favorite small people) with her sister Eva in the corn maze.


Go, Emily, Go! I think this was Emily's favorite game. Shoot down the ducks with the hose. Apparently she's pretty good at it, too. See how all the ducks are lying on the ground?



Sadly, the birthday girl is coming down with a virus. Here we see her sitting to take a break with some cocoa and marshmallows. Did I mention it was cold? I mean, brrr, cold. And the sick kid with no jacket. What kind of parents are we?


Violet gave us detailed instructions on what she wanted for a cake. Triangle cake, purple frosting, yellow heart, "Violet Blue Wise" in blue, the number 5 candle and the fancy 'happy birthday' candles. Here it is, exactly to her specifications. That's 3 cake mixes and 4 tubs of frosting you see before you.


And one sparkler. Notice how horrified Sylvia looks.

We managed to time the singing perfectly so just as Violet started to blow, the sparkler finished. We choreographed that and practiced beforehand.


Stella got to do some bonding with her godfather, Steve. I think he might be the only person ever to Ergo Stella besides her parents.


Look at those faces. You've got to love little kids with the presents.



I'm not sure who this kid is, but he's got his prize bag and his hotdog.


My super-cute bouncer. (the kid, not the bounce house)



Stella and her buddy Lukas bouncing. (erm, trying to bounce, maybe.)

Ah, picture heavy. You're done now. Thanks Steve and Nikki for taking all the pictures. I would have totally forgotten to do so.