Superkiddos

The other day one of Dax's friends came over for a play date.  We had snacks, we played in the playroom, we did chalk coloring outside.  While the little kids were upstairs playing some sort of make-believe game involving Skylanders and princesses, Arden came downstairs and wanted to do some art.  She got out some paper and wanted to use my paper punches.  Soon the littles came down to join her and I had heart and butterfly punch-outs all over the floor.  Eventually they figured out that my big circle puncher makes perfect eye holes.  It wasn't long before they call ended up with....

 

Superhero masks!  Superawesome! 

 

(Or, in Cora's case, a superVILLAIN masks.  I asked her if her mask was upside down since it was the same mask as the Arden's but she just had it flipped over.  She rolled her eyes at me and said, "No!  Dis is how is sposed ta be.  I'm a SUPER BAD GUY!  WoOoOoO!"  Okay, I am afraid. 

They were so funny I had to grab my camera.  I told them to pose like superheros (and/or, super villains, of course).  

Cora is so good at being scary!  Arden looks a little smiley and cutesy for a superhero, though.  I guess she probably hasn't had as much practice at super-hero posing as the little boys have.  Maybe I will have them give her some pointers.  You know, for next time.

Feeling Lucky

Saint Patrick's Day was last weekend.  Truth be told, I have no real idea who Saint Patrick was or why he has his own holiday, but we celebrate it nonetheless.  And how did we celebrate it?  Well, the way we Zauggs celebrate most of our holidays.  Through food!

 

We did other things, of course.  We made shamrock art.  We wore green clothes.  (Dax changed his clothes halfway through St. Paddy's day, and his second outfit had no green.  I gently pinched him and he threw a fit.  It is the RULE!  Anyways...) 

 

We also watched a DVD of "Darby O'Gill and the Little People."  Has anyone out there seen this movie?  I had seen it when I was young, but it had been years and years since I saw it last.  A few days ago I took the kids to the library I noticed it on the shelf and grabbed it, thinking the kids might like it.  I actually enjoyed it as least as much (and probably more) than they did.  The story is fun, the special effects are awesome (especially considering it was made before computers) and the actors are great.  And, of course, in what other movie can you hear a handsome young Sean Connery sing?  Mmmmmm yes, please!

 

 

The only drawback was that I was singing "My pretty Irish girl" all weekend long.  I am sure Preston got pretty sick of it, but Cora liked it.  She even asked for it as a lullaby for a night or two. 

 

"Oh, she is my dear, my darlin' one, 

Her eyes so sparklin' full of fun. 

No other, no other can match the likes of her! 

Yes, she is my dear, my darlin' one,

My smilin' and beguilin' one.

I love the ground she walks upon!

My pretty Ir-ish girl!"

 

That is my Cora....well, all except the part about her being Irish.

 

Anyway, back to the food.  First up we made sugar cookies.  I used a new recipe with cream cheese it it, and it was awesome!  The only problem was that the only shamrock cookie cutter we had was the kind that tries to stamp a picture in the dough, and this dough was way too sticky.  So, we used our Easter cookie cutters (flowers, bunnies, etc.) and just frosted them green.  Easter and St. Paddy's are pretty close together this year, so I declared it legal.  Here are the kids, working on their sprinkles:

 



For breakfast, instead of our usual green pancakes, Preston made green eggs and ham (the ham wasn't green, just the eggs) in honor of Dr. Seuss.  Preston has another tradition of making corned beef and cabbage every year.  It is not my favorite, but since it is only once a year I smile and am just happy someone else is making dinner. 

This year we put the crock pot in the car and drove the corned beef up to Preston's mom's house so she could share with us.  She decorated her table up very fancy and green, and even had a little Leprechaun figure in the middle.  Fresh from Darby O'Gill, the kids were excited to see him AND his little pot of gold.  They were even more excited to find out the gold was actually chocolate coins with gold wrappers.  I am pretty sure they would much rather have had the chocolate than actual gold.

Can you see how excited Preston is for his corned beef?

And here are the kids!

 My littles are carnivores, so they were pretty excited about the meat, but didn't enjoy the cabbage as much.  Can't blame them there.  Luckily there were more familiar vegetables like carrots that they could eat instead.  (sidenote:  I told Dax that if he eats his carrots he will be able to see better because carrots have a vitamin that is good for your eyes.  My mom used to tell me that.  Anyway, the other night Dax left something outside and didn't remember until he was in bed.  Preston went out and found it and brought it to Dax.  It was dark by then, so Dax asked Preston if he had used a flashlight.  "Nope, just my eyes," Preston said.  Dax's eyes opened wide and he said, "You could see it wif your carrots?")

Next year I should really hit wikipedia and look up good ol' St. Patrick and learn some more about him.  I do enjoy his holiday!

Love Note to Spring

Dear Spring -

 

Where have you been all my life?  Thank you, thank you for finally beating winter into submission. I am sure it was hard because that was one coooold, meeeean, seemingly eeeeendless winter.  But Spring? You are a sight for sore eyes.  You are dazzling.  Those blue skies you were rockin' today?  Fab-u-lous!  I wanted to do a dance of joy when I saw that first crocus bloom a few days ago.  It was like a little purple miracle.   

 

Cora and I were so excited to see you today that we had ourselves a little lunchtime pic-a-nic in the front yard.  The deer have left us a lots of little presents over the winter, so it was hard to find a good place to put down our blanket, but we found one eventually.  Cora's little winter-accustomed eyes could barely stand to behold your gloriousness:

We dined sumptuously on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Cora is not used to bugs anymore, and would have a small freakout each time a fly would buzz by, convinced that it meant to eat her whole.  Other than that, we just basked in your glow. 

Unfortunately for Cora, after basking in your glow most of the afternoon (we ate, we walked, we played, we did yard work, we played some more) Cora's little nose and cheeks are also glowing a little.  I guess it is time for mom to get back into the sunscreen-every-morning routine.  It is a small price to pay to have you back in our lives, spring.

I am so happy to see you, I dont' even mind the weeds that are already showing up (well, not much anyway).  I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you.  

My Baby is Seven!

Seven. 

 

Seven sounds serious doesn't it?  Seven sounds like a full-on BIG kid number.  Six still sounds kind of little, but SEVEN?!?!?  There is no getting around it people.  My Arden is growing up so fast it makes my head spin.

 

This year Arden wanted to take her friends to have a "makeover party."  I am not really qualified to host such a party since I have a hard enough time with my own hair and makeup, but luckily our local Cookie Cutters happened to offer just the kind of party my girl was looking for.  I must admit that I wasn't too sad to give up my role as musical chairs and pin-the-tail-on-the-unicorn moderator.  Let someone else do the entertaining?  Wahoo, I am on board! 

 

Arden had a hard time narrowing down her guest list since she could only bring five friends, but she did it.  She had the party favors for each friend all laid out on the couch two full days before the party.  She also set out a clipboard with each girl's name on it so she could check them off as they arrived.  She was juuuuust a little excited.

 

Finally, the day arrived!  Unfortunately, the party didn't start until after lunchtime.  From the second breakfast ended, Arden asked every five minutes if it was lunchtime yet.  Finally (finally, finally!) it was party time!  The girls arrived, dutifully checked off by Arden.  We were finally off to get our makeovers!  Here is Arden getting her hair done:



 

 and her fingernails painted (one hand pink, one hand blue):

 and her makeup on!  If you can't tell, this girl is in makeover heaven.  

All of the little girlies had fun.  I think their favorite part was getting colors and sparkles in their hair.  Arden's friend B had very specific ideas about the colors she wanted in her hair, and wow, she turned out VERY colorful!  Arden is totally jealous:

By the time everyone was all bee-yoo-tee-ful, we had used up most of our party time and had to book it back to the house for cake and ice cream (and to open presents, Arden kept reminding me). 

 

"Happy Birthday to you, cha-cha-cha!  Happy Birthday to you, cha-cha-cha!  Happy Birthday, dear Arden, cha-cha-cha!  Happy Birthday to Yooou, cha-cha-cha!  Ooh-la-la!  Pizza!  Ice Cream!  Presents!  incoherent mumbling!"  I am not sure where this modified version of the birthday song came from, but all the kids sang it that way.

Make a wish!  (And can the wish be that you are 2 years old again?)

Arden quickly opened up all her presents, which contained a lot of makeup.  Not just cute little lip gloss, but serious stuff, like eyeshadow and blush.  Huh?  What happened to the stuffed unicorns?  Apparently, Arden told all of her friends at school that she wanted makeup for her birthday.  Joy.  I had to sit her down and have the "thou-shalt-not-wear-makeup-to-school-until-you-are-in-high-school (okay, maybe just a little lip gloss)" talk already?  Anyway, right about now the battery in my camera died, so Preston had to take these last party pictures with his phone.  Apparently, his phone was all dirty from him letting Cora play "Jetpack Joyride" on it with her jam hands too often.  DANGIT.  Oh well, here are makeover girls, a little blurry but still fab-u-lous!

Then they wanted us to take a picture of their hair, because "you can't tell how fancy it is from the front!"

"Now we want to do one where we do our supermodel poses!"  Um, go for it girlies!

And yes, I still make Arden let me take a picture of her on her birthday with her bunny.  She wanted to wear her princess crown (all the girls got princess crowns, but they were too afraid that their hair would get messed up to wear them much).  Here she is.  Officially a great-big-kid.  Practically a pre-tween! (is that a word?  If it is a word, it applies to my Arden).  She is so dang beautiful!

Man, I miss seeing her face every day while she is gone at school.  It is such a sweet little face:

Oh, how I love this little person.  It is pure joy and sheer torture watching her grow up.  I love seeing her learn new things.  It is amazing watching her succeed at things she thought she never would be good at.  But I HATE the fact that she is getting older every single day.  I loathe that she is going to spend more and more of her time away from me with each year that passes.  I have said it before and I will say it again.  Time is not my friend.  But I am going to enjoy the heck out of seven and soak it up for all it is worth, and try to make sure Arden does the same.

But hopefully I will be the only one wearing makeup.