Island Paradise!

Brenna's walls are pink which lends itself to all sorts of girly themes. We did the princess/ballerina thing for a few years and then added some black and morphed to a "fashion girl" theme. This time we tossed it all out and went tropical!

The new comforter has lots of color - a darker pink looks great with the walls but it also brings in blues and greens. Her desk chair was already painted that fuschia color (can't see it in the pics) and her dresser has baskets with pink liners so they all stayed as is.

We added some new curtains (I had planned to make bedskirt valances here too but these work well enough and required no maternal labor so I'm all in favor of them!) To add to the beachy look, I tacked up a great strand of shells and starfish from Molly's mermaid birthday (no pic of that here) and doctored up some photos that I've taken through the years of Brenna on the beach. I brought in all the colors in the bedspread and scrapped them to look somewhat like postcards or just in keeping with the style on the bed. I stuck these in cheap plastic box frames and collaged them on the wall above her bed (I have a few more to add yet) So again - only the cost of the bedspread and curtains (thanks to Nana our bargain shopper!) and some plastic frames and Brenna has a great new room too. Plus I can show off some fun photos that had been previously closed up in albums.

Now I need to do something with our master bedroom that lacks style on any level!!

Call of the Wild

The girls have been asking about redoing their rooms - nothing major like painting, just updating bedspreads, etc. Molly insisted she wanted a jungle room and since her walls are a cream color and her carpet is celery green, it seemed like we could make that work. She had a sort of spring butterfly thing going on in there but my animal girl really wanted a change. Well, it sounded easy until you try to buy leopard print sheets that aren't satin and designed for *ahem* an adult bedroom!

We finally found an animal print comforter and I used the bedskirt that came with it to make valances. Now I need to get to the fabric store to get from piping or something to edge the rest of it for dresser runners. I also used the frames she had up already by adding animal print scrapbook papers and 5x7 photos of some animals I took at the zoo. We found a monkey set of coat hooks and a zebra shoe bag for the doors and I have some animal print ribbon I can use to update her photo board on another wall. (And I need a poster or two so I can take down that pastel print right above her head!)

So all told, for less that $75 she has a new room and she's thrilled!

Brenna's room has been changed as well. No hints! I'll get pictures in there tomorrow - when it's hopefully a bit tidier!

RAFT NIGHT

On Thursday nights we are allowed to bring any type of float to the pool from 7-8 pm. Most weeks during the summer it's either thundering and stormy by then or we are just too pooped to stay. Tonight was perfect all around so we inflated our tubes and joined the parade of inflatable alligators, rafts and noodles in the pool.

Off to the theatre . . .

Another fabulous thing about living in our area is that we have three amazing children's theatre companies right here. Today we went to Imagination Stage to enjoy their latest production, "The Araboolies of Liberty Street." It was a well-done show in their wonderful and fairly-new theatre and the girls really enjoyed it. Oh and the best part? The theme of the show was about tolerance and respect for differences and we had a great conversation about that on the ride home.

It's nice that both girls are old enough to be able to enjoy these great opportunities right in our own backyard.

This kid knows . . .

Today I took the girls to a movie near Dean's work so we met him for lunch. Somehow our conversation came around to getting married which made Molly comment that she doesn't want to ever get married. We've had this conversation many times so today I added a little twist by telling her that she'll need a husband to buy her pretty things. She looked at me, thought a minute and then turned to Dean, batted those pretty blues and announced "Well, lucky me to have a Daddy who will ALWAYS want to buy me pretty things!" Poor guy didn't know what to say. :)

On Sunday I had taken the girls out for school supplies and while we were driving a conversation developed about women shaving their legs. Brenna was full of questions so I was detailing the logistics of sving, creams. waxing, etc. Evidently Molly wasn't enjoying the conversation because she blurted out "Can you stop talking about all if this because it's CREEPING ME OUT!" She's used the phase a few more times since then too.

She has such funny expressions!

Day at the Pool

This is generally what I see when we're at the pool for any length of time.

Glad to know they enjoy it! (this is all Molly - Brenna brought a friend today and they were off together all afternoon)

Oh wait, here's a head above water!

We have a big problem . . .

I was meant to be the mother of girls. I fully admit it and revel in my luck getting not one but two girly girls. Whenever someone asks if we are considering more children I politely say "No, because it could be a boy and I fear boys." They laugh and slap my back but what they don't know is that I'm completely serious. I don't think I would know what to do with a little guy. Maybe that's why I was so convinced Molly was going to be a boy - I was trying to talk myself into accepting that I would be okay if she was! I love everyone else's boys, mind you. My friends and cousins have some of the most handsome, charming and sweet little guys that I could ever meet. But the whole world of vehicles, sports and tools is overwhelming to me. We don't jump on furniture or race things in my house - We have tea parties and play dollhouse and frankly, all is well in my world. I guess you can say I've been lulled into girl complacency.


I also love all things that come with having girls. I've blogged before about our issue with hair accessories. Maybe someday I'll chronicle the dress collection we've amassed. But today I found another "girl problem" that has been lurking under my nose and I've never really acknowledged. You see - it's because despite being a girl myself, I personally don't have this problem. My sister-in-law Kristin does have this problem however and I'll be looking to her to coach me through this. Here's my discovery . . .


I was in the attic pulling out a box of baby clothes for a friend who is fostering and attempting to adopt her niece. (It's a tough situation all around and this woman's own kids are teenagers so this baby landing on their doorstep has rocked their world. But I digress . . . ) I found a pair of Brenna's old navy blue school shoes that are in good shape and was thinking that they may fit Molly this year. I brought them down, polished them and went to put them in Molly's closet . . .

OH. MY. GOD. Where in God's name did all of these shoes come from???

Granted we had a small issue in the spring with my not being able to find any of Brenna's old sandals. So I had my mother-in-law buy Molly new sandals for her birthday (having forgotten that I told my mother the same thing - whoops!) and then of course I found 2 pairs that were Brenna's after all. But looking at this photo made me think that
A. Molly is a second child and inherits most things,
B. she does wear all of these (well, except the purple flip flops with the tag still on them. She says they pinch), and
C. she needs all of them. (Okay, most of them!)

Here's my justification: Sandals - I give you that there are too many but aside from the double purchase she still would need Crocs/flip flops for the pool, water shoes for the beach, casual sandals for day-to-day and a dressy pair for church/parties. Okay, there are a few extras here but there was that mixup, right? Then there are the slippers, rain boots, and new sneakers for school next year - all necessary. On to the shoes - she needs brown and black ones. Every girl needs brown and black ones. I think some in here are navy too. And of course some need to be casual and some need to be dressy - that's an important distinction! Two in this picture don't count because they are hand-me-downs from a friend (because Molly thinks Grace has cool shoes and Grace's mom thinks it's hysterical to hear Molly describing the shoes to others by saying "These are my Grace Duke's" like Grace Duke is some sort of 6-year-old fashion maven or something!) The pink creek shoes with neon green inside she needed because Brenna needed them for camp and good luck to any mother trying to buy something for just one child when it's the other one with you in the store! Hey, they were only $7 in Marshall's and Molly does like going in the creek at the park so they have been used. On to sneakers - 2 pairs were new to Molly and 2 are hand-me-downs. You know girls need a casual pair for play and "nicer pair" (plain white Keds) to wear with those outfits that are just too nice for ratty sneakers. Admittedly this is my issue - I have a huge pet peeve with girls wearing dresses and clunky ol' cross trainers. Drives me batty!!! One pair that snuck in there is her tap shoes and naturally those are necessary.

So that's about it. See? Everything is explained. No shoe problem in this house! Nope, not here! And it will get much better once school starts because all she'll wear are navy blue Maryjanes with her uniform and sneakers on gym day. Brenna doesn't have many more than that.

Hmmm . . I wonder what Molly had on her feet when I took this photo? I know she hadn't gone out barefoot!

Words of Wisdom

Today was Brenna's last day of camp and it was also the last day for the two women who have been the directors there for well over a decade. One of them gave each girl a card with a verse she had written and a circular piece of a tree branch attached. (This woman came to this camp as a child and remembers it when it was much less developed.)

Learn from the Trees

When I was a child the trees were smaller.
Now I'm grown and they are much taller.

I remember the trees; do they remember me?
What have they been doing while I've been growing?

Each year a new ring is added;

last year's ring moves inward to the heartwood.
Over and over again; each ring making the tree stronger.

I am like that too!
Each year I make new friends and older ones move closer to my heart.
Each year I have new experiences and the past I hold more dear.

What have I learned from the trees?
Every friend I meet, every memory I make,
Becomes a part of my being; forever a part of me.

Eagle Eye - Camp Tuckerman

I thought that was really beautiful. I know it's something that Brenna can't appreciate now, but I'll hold onto it and someday she'll look back at it and realize the wisdom in it.

Health Insurance

I just finished my fifth phone call to Blue Cross in as many days. After they rejected a claim for Molly's recent vaccines saying that she was underage, I finally got someone to tell me what they had listed as her birthdate. Despite the fact that on all paperwork we have it is correct, they had it listed as 7/14/04. Not bad except that that would be two years and 3 months off!!!! Oh, and that it's taken 5 years to discover this! It took a bit but they finally sorted it out.

Today I got a statement and a reimbursement check for one of Dean's office visits and noticed that Molly appears as the "subscriber" and all claims are filed through her employer. So another round of conversations were needed to convince them that not only was Molly not employed, she's technicaly not even officially enrolled in school yet. The woman I talked with wasn't buying it and questioned whether Molly was ever a subscriber by her previous employer (mind you she has Molly's birthdate right in front of her!) It was only when I commented that the child has only been speaking in sentences for 2 and half years did she get the picture!

So I think it's all sorted out now. Except that I have to teach Molly to spell her middle name so she can endorse her father's claim check!

Hardy Campers

The fun and hijinks of camp came to a screeching halt for Brenna.

I drive her and a friend (same school but this girl is a grade behind even though she's older - God bless these school cutoff dates!) home in the afternoon. Yesterday I picked them up all dirty but smiling as usual. They were both talking at once about all the things they did that day when both suddenly dissolved into highpitched squeals (the kind of which only 7 yo girls are capable) of "Ewwww! GROSS! Disgusting!!!!! " that continued for several minutes

It had been their patrol's turn to clean the latrines yesterday.

Mind you I used these latrines (big plastic ones with sinks) at the Open House and I've been in bathrooms of nice restaurants that aren't as well maintained as these!

So the girls continued to sputter and wail until the friend says "But my job wasn't too gross, I just had to hold the door while Brenna swept."

So wait, her disgusting, nasty chore was to basically hold a door open while my Cinderella merely swept a 2'x2' space?! I nearly put the car off the road I was laughing so hard at these little princesses.

My heart simply breaks for them.

Phew!

Another busy week comes to a close. Today was Brenna's last day for swim team. She really enjoyed it but that 4pm practice was killing our daily plans - not to mention how many times it would get cancelled because of thunder. But over the last 10 weeks she went at least 3-4 times a week and really improved all of her skills. Molly had 2 friends come to play this week and since they're reciprocating next week, I'll have a bit of free time to get some errands done that are easier/faster done alone. I'll save Shop Happy (it's near Brenna's camp so we'll go again next week) for a day she's with me though. :)

Brenna's enjoying GS camp and I can't help but laugh at her daily summaries. Because she only knows these counselors by their camp names, she uses them in conversation just as casually as she would their proper names. She told me, "We were practicing our skit when Chocolate Chip got stung by a bee. So Saturn and Paws took her to the nurse. She was okay though so she came back with Fire since it was lunchtime. We ate with the other Brownie group so we saw Candy Corn and Harmony again." She looks at me funny when I laugh but it seems so comical.

No set plans for the weekend yet. I'm sure we'll come up with something!

Shopping Happy!

http://www.shopbloom.com/YourBloom/ShopHappy.aspx

Read no further - click here and watch one of the video clips and then come back.

Molly is obsessed.

Completely obsessed.

One of these tv or radio spots can stop her dead in her tracks. Every store we go in she asks, "Is this Shop Happy?" Anything I comment that I need to get she replies that it can probably be found at Shop Happy. Mind you the store's true name is Bloom but the marketing geniuses of advertising have convinced my child otherwise. I've explained that the salesfolk do not truly dance in the aisles but she will not be deterred from her vision of Shop Happy as being something akin to DisneyLand.


Well lo and behold Bloom has opened near us. I use the term "near" rather loosely because it's way to far for regular shopping, but not too far that it wouldn't make the perfect field trip for a certain little girl today. Yes, our big outing of the day was to a grocery store and my child was estatic!!!
She walked up to every employee we saw and told them "I like this Shop Happy store!"
We signed up for the "Bloom" card (their store customer card) and Molly made it clear that it was HER card for HER store. Thay also offer the self-scan tools so as we made our way around, I bought things I hardly needed because it was such pure joy to watch her scan them for me!
One sweet employee promised that next time we come she'll have a dance routine for us! Molly told her we'd be back tomorrow and the woman laughed her head off!

So you can disregard all of the neat things I've blogged that we did this summer and nothing we will do in the weeks ahead will come close to matching this. What a funny funny kid!!!!!

I even bought her their cloth grocery bag - which she now wants to use as her schoolbag for kindergarten! Talk about the best $1 I've ever spent!!!

Camp Style

Today the campers were to wear these camp shirts for photos. It wasn't so bad when Brenna donned hers this morning. Kinda cute actually - the tie dye just screams "summer camp."

But let me tell you when I pulled up for afternoon dismissal and saw all 159 campers in one huge group . . .

Good thing I was wearing sunglasses!

Happy Camper

Brenna headed off to Girl Scout Camp today sporting boy's cargo shorts (ever try to find shorts that cover the thighs in the 7-14 girls' dept. of any store?), knee socks (no ticks please), 2 bandanas (gotta have a clean one to wipe hands!), a plastic cup with a handle (water breaks), a hat with a brim (crtainly not for sun as they're deep in the woods), water shoes (they go creeking every day), a change of clothes (again, they go creeking every day - clearly with some "incidents"!), a shoebox and a plastic animal (still wondering on that one!), and a backpack full of other random items.

She came home six hours later tired, sweaty and hungry but really, really happy. The highlight of her day though was the thunderstorm and sheets of rain that moved through at 1pm. In true Girl Scout form they had a plan in place to shelter and the girls thought it was fabulous. Brenna's patrol leader is a woman named "Mother Earth." That went over real big with Daddy - HA! (Poor guy, first the Hillary sticker and now this!!) All of the leaders including the teen patrol aides have these "camp names." A wonderful girl who graduated from Brenna's school is Bren's patrol aide. Her camp name is Ghillie as a salute to her Irish Dance training which made Brenna even more enamored with her. Actually Brenna's already trying out ideas for her own camp name - which she wouldn't need for a few years - so I take this as a sign that she's enjoying the experience.

So Day 1 was a big success. Eight more to go and one of them is a late day complete with dinner, a campfire and S'mores. I want to go to camp!

(And Molly thought Day 1 was fabulous too. She brought a friend to the pool for a few hours and then I took them both to McDonald's. That's WAY better than creeking in her book! Check back tomorrow because she and I have a special field trip planned. This one is a Molly classic - stay tuned!)

On the High Seas!

Today we spent the day boating and swimming with one of Dean's co-workers, her husband and their nearly 5 yo son. They have a gorgeous motorboat and took us for a spin and a swim on the Occoquan River. What a great day!! The girls loved every moment and of course now they want a boat.

I must admit that Dean and I would too!

Ahhh . . . maybe someday!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We stayed at home yesterday. Boy did it feel good! I guess I'm getting too old to be running around every single day.

Today we were well rested so we headed to the pool at lunchtime. Seven families we know from Molly's old preschool were there as well so we all had friends to hang out with. Brenna's been going to her swim team practice every night and is doing amazingly well. She was showing me her butterfly stroke which is the only one she can't consistently do for all 25 meters of the of the pool length. You won't hear me criticizing though because I sure know I couldn't do it either and I'm a lot older than she is!

Tomorrow we are meeting up with a coworker of Dean's. She and her family have a boat and are taking us out on it for the afternoon. The girls are really excited! The weather is going to be really hot and humid so I suspect we'll be at the pool again before weekend's end as well. And then on Tuesday Brenna heads off to a Girl Scout day camp for two weeks. I hope the humidity breaks for that!

July 4th

Happy Fourth of July to all of our American family and friends

(and a belated Happy Canada Day to our family and friends north of the border!!)

We celebrated locally again this year attending the neighborhood parade and party in the park. It's such a little slice of hometown America that you really come away feeling good. It's just a big bicycle/scooter/stroller parade followed by homemade floats and local politicians. (Please do not comment on the Hillary sticker on Molly. She was so excited with it that even Daddy's threats that we'd now have to burn her tainted clothes didn't deter her!!) Afterwards they have a giant bbq at the local playground with games for the kids and some moonbounces, etc.

I'm sitting here now watching the Boston Pops concert though and remembering all of the fabulous years I attend that with friends. Now THAT was fun - great memories!! I think that next year we may go downtown here to see the fireworks. We know the girls would enjoy it but we want to make sure that we'd enjoy it after sitting out for several hours with them!! Not to mention that we've had vicious thunderstorms that have caused them to evacuate the Mall area each of the last two years. At least in Boston I had Ed and Chris to stake out the spot early in the day and the rest of us slackers would come strolling down to the Esplanade hours later. Oh to be young again! But for now I'll settle for grilled burgers and sparklers at home with two little girls just enjoying the day!

DC

Once again the weather cooperated and we weren't about to let a July day with minimal humidity go unused! We decided to spend the day downtown - something we just don't get enough time to do during the craziness of the school year. Brenna has had her heart set on visiting the Lincoln Memorial sometime this summer so we made that our highlight today. We started at the Smithsonian (where the Folklife Festival is winding down), headed past the Washington Monument (where the July 4th preparations are heating up), around to the World War II Memorial, through the Korean War Memorial and along the Reflecting Pool to the Lincoln Memorial. It was a good long walk for both little and big legs but we had a great time. Do note though that this weather is highly unusual for July and if you plan to come visit us and do some touring, do it in the spring or fall - or even winter - but summer in DC is definitely not for the faint of heart!

It was also a reminder that there is just so much to do that we really need to make more time to get downtown. Molly wants to get to the Capitol and White House next time, Brenna has her heart set on the National Gallery of Art and the Air and Space Museum (again) and Mom really wants to get to the Museum of the American Indian. Looks like we had better start looking at the calendar for more free days!

Park Day

We set out this morning to go blueberry picking but when we made it to the farm, it was closed. (The website made no mention of closings so we schlepped 35 mins. to get the bad news! Our "usual" farm doesn't grow blueberries so we have to venture further to get them.)

So as not to lose out on a gorgeous day and the picnic lunch we already had packed, we decided to instead dour to a great park near us. It's so rare for us to get a July day with no humidity that we just had to take advantage of it. The girls played on all of the new equipment that has been recently installed and after lunch we rode the minature train around the park.

We finished the day in true summer style as well - the girls applied tons of bug spray and grabbled jars to catch fireflies in the backyard. Next time I'll remember to get chocolate bars and we'll make s'mores. Now THAT would have made the day perfect!

Tomorrow is supposed to be equally nice so we'll decide in the morning where our travels will take us!