Cinderella

Isabelle and I had a fabulous time attending Pacific Northwest Ballet's magical production of Cinderella a couple weeks ago. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful artistic venues in our area and, let's face it, getting to dress up every once in a while isn't too bad either. The sets were fantastic, the costumes lovely and the dancing magical - especially with a sprinkling of fairy dust.

Of course we couldn't take pictures during the performance but I borrowed these from the PNB website.

Isabelle's favorite was the Fairy Godmother in her glittery lavender gown.

After sitting mesmerized through the entire show (plus a post-performance discussion with the artistic director, Cinderella and the Prince) Isabelle came home dancing...

...while also trying to figure out what this was.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We just love a good excuse to get crafty and do some baking around here! Isabelle, Madeleine and I grabbed our bows, glitter and scissors last weekend and got to work on our creations.

Maddy was happy to grab a marker and do some coloring,

while Isabelle carefully printed each of her friends' names.

Then came Madeleine's sheer joy and bliss at having discovered an entire basket of lollipops.

"How delightful! And yes, I will take two!"

Isabelle waited to have her lolly until she had stamped, glittered and finished all her cards.

We also thought strawberry scones for some of our favorite people would be nice - the girls didn't mind a quality control test or two either.

Since Valentine's Day falls on a dreaded Monday this year we went out for Valentine breakfast Sunday morning at Cabbage Patch, an old house converted to a restaurant. It's very antiquey (sure, that's a word) and charming. The girls were quite taken with the relics - especially the old-fashioned curling iron in the bathroom that looked more like an instrument of torture than a beautifying device.

Maddy was also quite taken with her daddy.

Happy Valentine's Day from these two sweeties!

Hair

Have you seen Madeleine's beautiful curls? If not, you have to know she has a lot of them! We comb, condition, moisturize and fluff the heck out of them but until this weekend there had only been three styles - headband, barrette's or puffs.

Maddy hasn't seemed to mind...

...and has been perfectly cute and content.

But, after reading a recommendation for the tangle teezer on Happy Girl Hair and heading over to Sally's to pick one up I felt ready to tackle something a bit more challenging. I also picked up a satin pillowcase (Geesh! Somehow it took me forever to find one!) and a new rat tail comb. Now all I needed was a two-year-old willing to sit for an indeterminate amount of time while I detangled, parted and twisted her hair.

Success!...Sort of - the parts are definitely not all straight but I did manage twists all over head and Maddy loved her new 'do. She ran around the house shaking her head back and forth and couldn't stop staring at herself in the mirror. Before she went to bed I gathered the twists into pigtails to try to protect them better while she slept - I'm not sure if this helped or not.

Is it at all ironic that Maddy is wearing her Rapunzel nightgown? We're definitely equal opportunity princess around her!

"Check me out!"

The next morning I just spritzed with moisturizer and added a couple clips. After a few days they stopped looking tidy so I took them out but hopefully I'll get better at this and they'll last longer.

Are you wondering how long this cherub sat while I played with her hair? 2 1/2 hours plus another 30 minutes to take it all back out three days later. What a trooper!

Disney Channel, I couldn't have done it without you.

Cousin Concerto on a Musical Monday

"Where's Winnie-the-Pooh's Vagina?"

Sorry Grandma, I bet that's not the title you expected to see when you logged in today. But, that is what's on the little one's mind these days.

Madeleine, being the inquisitive two-year-old she is, has nothing but questions. Many months ago, in the midst of mastering all the body parts, I discussed this one with Maddy too. Isn't that what the parenting books tell you to do? You know, to avoid embarrassment when they're teenagers? Unfortunately Madeleine was so highly successful in learning this concept that the "v word" pops up quite frequently around our house, much to the dismay of any unsuspecting adult within earshot. For example, on Christmas morning a brand new Mrs. Potato Head was turned over and Maddy was delighted to discover that she too had Maddy's favorite body part - no matter that Mrs. Potato Head's legs were inserted there.

Today, Madeleine was playing with her Winnie-the-Pooh toy and was disgruntled to discover that poor Winnie was lacking in a certain area...hence the title of this post. And then I was tasked with explaining why bears, boys and plastic toys don't have the same body parts as she.

Now, the best part of the story is where this important and embarrassing conversation took place - in the middle of the "Bite Me" cupcake shop. And...scene.

Thus concludes my most off-color and lewd post ever.

A Brand New Year

Even though I headed back to work today my thoughts are still on vacation. The girls and I had a great end to our two weeks off, despite the frigid temperatures. The small dusting of snow, combined with a lot of ice made a few trial runs on our new sled possible.

The girls had fun playing with all their new Christmas toys but quickly resorted to their own invented games. This one is called: "Ballerinas with Grimy-Toes on Mommy's Clean Windows"

Game 2: "Do Maddy's Hair with Play Dough Accessories"

On New Year's Eve we headed to my friend Erica's house for a great party.

Looks like Laney's had too much to drink again. :)

Madeleine was doted on all night by Emersyn. I think I could hire her as a babysitter - Maddy was in Heaven getting to play with the big girls...

...she also spent the evening trying on an array of party hats.

Look #1:

Look #2:

Look #3:

While the kids played the grown-ups practiced embarrassing dance moves.

Thanks for a great time Erica!

Since it's a new year I guess I must make a resolution. After bingeing on holiday yummies for the last two weeks I'm definitely putting the chunky in Chunky Monkey and not in a good Ben and Jerry's sort of way. So, you can guess what my resolution is. The house has been cleared of anything tempting, although I do wish I could rig some sort of aversive therapy in the bakery aisle of the grocery store. A few electric shocks never hurt anyone, right?

P.S. If you're out shopping and see me reaching for a box of donuts feel free to slap me upside the head. I'll thank you.