totally logical

Saturday night I went out with my Tampa bestie, Angela. We donned Halloween costumes, ate, DRANK, laughed, and stayed out until the wee-smalls.

Pin-up and Miss Kitty

Come Sunday afternoon, Emily begged me to buy broccoli because it would be tasty to take to school for lunch.

Let's get this straight.  I go out and party on Saturday and the next day my seven-year-old demands steamed broccoli in her lunch. That's not coincidence.  Cause: hit the town like I'm still in college, Effect: my daughter wants a super food in her lunch.

That right there is science!

How to annoy me

It is about four months later and I am still going through my photos of our trip to Disney World. This one is quite possibly the photo that bothers me the most.

Forget the fact that my kid looks totally distressed by something; there is no way I will ever be able to tell that guy his tag is out. It will just be there, in my photo, forever. Seriously. It is like a small slice of my personal Hell.

Mixed feelings

There is nothing quite like the feeling you get when your baby joyfully calls out "Come on, Mama!" as she rides her bike faster than you can run. Pride, happiness, sadness...

And yes, I said pride. Even though she is wearing this:

On the dietary needs of halloween costumes

Mikey (age 5): I'm gonna be a frog.
Emily: I'm gonna be a peacock!
Mikey: Oh, then you can eat me!

How to charm me

Send me this message:

i miss our kid

with this photo (from 2008):

Seven years

Once upon a July...

...and now...

Happy Birthday, baby!  I love you so much!

Saturday Snap

As you may have noticed, sometimes writing about my life gets supplanted by actual life.  This new series is going to take advantage of the thousand words pictures say and hopefully keep everyone a little more caught up.

First day at Disney World, May 2011

More making of music

Actually, this little ditty isn't all that new.  I found it while looking for a black page in an old notebook.  I believe Em composed this gem in the fall of 2009:

Do you love me or not
Somehow you do
Somehow you don't
You're always changing.

You're not as tall as a wall
You're taller than the cat
You're not tall as love
'cause love goes to space.

Anachronism

Saturday night is family movie night in the Bear household and the feature presentation this past weekend was Swiss Family Robinson. The Disney movie was made in 1960, but the story takes place sometime in the late 1700s or early 1800s.  Why is this important?

Well, at one point in the movie the two eldest sons, Fritz and Ernst, are about to embark on a little boat ride around the deserted island much to the dismay of Mrs. Robinson. As Mother sends the boys off with many warnings and other lovingly expressed reservations Emily furrows her brow at the TV and bursts out with,

"Oh, just get a phone!"

She strikes again!

A few weeks ago, Emily met one of her favorite fairies.

At first she suspected a fraud because "everyone knows the tooth fairy wears pink." But she asked the be-sparkled miss if she was really the tooth fairy and, since fairies never lie, she said yes.

And come Sunday night...

Another tooth gone to be ground into pixie dust!

And the good parenting award goes to...

What kind of mom doesn't take photos of her daughter's first sleep over?

Oh, we went and got "old"

Emily: And today Andrew actually high-fived with me! He used to not even like me, but today he was like "Yeah, I'm kickin' into this girl."

Me: Cooking into this girl? I don't think I am familiar with this phrase.

Emily: No, I said "kicking into." It means like starting to get along with me better.

Ben: Wow. I knew the day would come when I wouldn't understand the cool lingo, but I didn't think it would happen when my kid was six.

Advice - A guest post by Emily!

Fairies and wizards must always remember to mark their wands as soon as they buy and take the tags off of them.  All wands look the same but they do different things.

via Style Me Pretty

 If a fairy doesn't remember to mark her wand, and she sets it next to another unmarked wand, she might pick up the wrong one.

Once a garden wizard and a TV fairy each took their wands to a repair shop.  Because they did not have anyone's name on them in permanent marker, the repair shop got the wands confused.  The garden wizard picked up the TV- fairy's wand and the fairy ended up with the garden wizard's wand. Then, when the fairy was working on a TV instead of being fixed, flowers started to bloom all over it!  And while he was working in the garden  all of the wizard's flowers had tiny TVs blossom inside them!

photo by Farnum Ink Studio

How to charm me

Agree to let our daughter paint your manly toenails a less-than manly shade of bright yellow. I love that man.

On "50 is the new 30"

I'm pretending Rapunzel has a dentist appointment so she'll sit in the slanted chair, but first we have to go shopping. We have to buy a present for her grandmother because she won her gymnastics....um, it is old gymnastics and she got first place.

It's a jungle in here!

You may remember back in November when I made Emily some pretty jazzy pajama pants thanks to a lesson from a woman who is pretty jazzy herself. Well, last month I e-mailed her to set up a second lesson only to discover she doesn't know how to sew clothes! (Okay, this is sort of a lie.  Susan is a fantastic seamstress so she could very well sew clothes, she just hasn't ever done it). I was soooo sad. But, because she is such a doll, Susan referred me to the undeniably fabulous Allison of Sew Be It Clothier.

Allison is a lifestyle ninja (I just coined that phrase). Seven years ago she had a bilateral mastectomy and kicked breast cancer soundly in the rear.   To celebrate she hangs a pink bra - the only one she owns - on her front door for the month of February.  How fab is that?  She works at Costco, teaches sewing, has an Etsy shop, gives her husband a hard time, has a hoppin' social life, and never turns off her coffee pot. This woman seriously knows how to get everything she wants out of life.  I think I love her.

Well, we started talking the second she greeted me at my car door and did not shut up for the next four hours.  It was awesome. And when all was said and done she had shown me how to take this:

Simplicity Pattern 3902

...and turn it into this:

When Emily selected that material I was dubious.  I should have known she'd pick something totally wild based on her past fashion record. But once I started seeing the dress come together, Oh my gosh!

 It came out so well. Just look at that sweetheart neckline! Yeah, I did that!

 It is just perfect for the prowling, posturing, posing, pouncing wildcat that is my Emily!

Stupid Cupid, What does he know?

I have been told I will receive my Valentine's gift tonight. I haven't a clue what it is and I almost don't care. (I said "almost." I have no intention of turning down a present. Ever.) But you see, I already got the best gift ever -

Five Hours To Myself.

Once was when Ben took Emily on a mysterious shopping trip for nearly three hours on Saturday. Then last night I got to snap this handsome couple as they dashed off to the ball.

I had a whole Sunday evening to do things like call my mom, chit chat with my neighbors, and watch a 45 minute interview online. All guilt-free. It was glorious.

But, and I'm going to get disgustingly cute here, the best part was seeing these two excited about their father-daughter dance.

Cupid can keep his stupid heart-o-chocolates and mass marketed roses. I'll take the two pairs of sparkling blue eyes instead. That's love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

How to charm me

Pick up my daughter so you are eye to eye and say "Emily, will you go with me to the Father-Daughter Sweatheart Dance next Sunday?"

Emily!

On the use of similes:
"What!? You keep staring at me like I'm some kind of block of ice."

On giving valid testimony:
"I would know because I was there! I'm the one it didn't happen to!"

On loosely related topics:
"It amuses you? Well I know how to make music with bottles."


On Cynology:
"Did you know there is a dog that looks like a llama? Its called a collie."


Oh Em, I love you.

Gratitude

In which a six-year-old thanks her grandparents for her Christmas gifts.

Best. Thank you. Note. Ever! Don't be jealous.