The Exploding Pineapple

Last November N, Zoe and I went to the great state of Texas to visit our family for Thanksgiving.  Also, not to mention, it was Zoe's and my first time there and we were introduced to Chick-fil-A.  I don't think I really need to say more than that, unless you've never had it.  Almost 365 days later, I still have cravings.  Sometimes they are so strong, the plane ticket to Texas doesn't seem too bad. 

That Chick-fil-A sauce can sure sidetrack me.  While we were there, Aunt DeeDee was gracious enough to drive me to a quilt store in north Austin.  Honey Bee Quilt Store was absolutely darling.  If I had been in town for another couple weeks, I would've definitely signed up for their Mariner Star quilt class.  So hard, but so beautiful. 

While at Honey Bee, I found a fabric that spoke to my heart.  It was Grease fabric.  If you know me, you'll know that has been one of my favorite movies since I was 4.  I know all the lines, know all the songs and even have the soundtrack on record.  When I was younger and my mom would have game nights, they'd usually play Trivial Pursuit.  Because I was too young to play that game, she would change all the questions to Grease questions for me.  Bless her heart.

It was hot pink, black and white.  I had zero idea what I was going to do with Grease fabric, but I knew I had to have it, much like Cha-Cha had to win that dance contest on national television. 

I figured I'd make a table runner and pull it out when I was feeling sassy.  Then I went to the Washington State Quilt Show and saw the Exploding Pineapple quilt.  My Grease fabric began to speak to me.  This is the result:

It's wild, bright and a total departure for me.  I LOVE it.  I have zero idea what I'm going to do with it.  N is a little paranoid that I'm going to want to hang it in our living room or something.  It still needs a couple borders and to be finished, but I think it's super fun.  Just looking at it makes me smile. 

I'm a Chore Chart Novice

A couple months ago grandma bought Zoe a small, dry erase board.  It sticks to the fridge and is the perfect place for Zoe's chore chart.  Each day grandma puts things on there for Zoe to do.  Zoe eats it up.  She's so much like me in that department.  She LOVES lists and LOVES crossing things off.

Because she can't read too well, everything is written and there are pictures so she knows what it says.

A typical day includes:

Feed Toby
Feed Coco
Eat a banana
Do your homework
Set the table for dinner

It's been awesome to see her doing all the things with joy and excitement.  Especially when it involves cleaning or putting things away. 

On Wednesdays both Zoe and Grandma get to sleep in a bit.  That means Zoe doesn't have a chore chart right when she wakes up like she does when grandma is up early for work.  Yesterday Zoe informed me that I needed to make her a chore chart.  She had no less than 609 different ideas of what I could put on there.

This morning that's what I did.  Because it's a school morning, I focused on the things that she'd need to do to get ready for school.  Here's her chart:

Zoe's Chores

Eat breakfast (a picture of a fork, spoon and cup)
Go potty (picture of a toilet - which I'm pretty proud of, it turned out well)
Get dressed (picture of pants and a shirt)
Find your backpack (picture of a backpack)
Go to school (picture of a school/house)

I get a call from Zoe this morning exactly 2.3 minutes after she wakes up.  She's got some problems with her chart.  They are:

1) She doesn't have an "S" on the end of her name.  DUH!  There is apparently only one of her, not several, so you can't put an "S" there.  I didn't have the energy to explain possessives to her since this was obviously the first of many problems.

2) It doesn't mention feeding Toby.  Is he just supposed to starve today?

3) It also doesn't mention feeding Coco the fish either.  She apparently told me all about needing to put that on the chart yesterday.  Is Coco going to starve too?  OR worse, did I feed Coco?  Because that's her chore!

4) She likes the toilet picture.  She's going to do that specific chore first.  It should be at the top!

In terms of Chore Chart 101, I'm flunking out.  If it was Chore Chart Art 101, I'm doing fabulous. 

It Was Like Pixie Hollow in Winter

Halloween in these parts is usually cold.  It's always a good idea to have an outfit that can either provide the same warmth you'd need in Antarctica or one that would fit over your parka.  For our costumed race last Saturday, Zoe picked a costume that would provide her a level of warmth:  a pink m&m.  She was adorable. 

However, that was just her race costume, it was not her Halloween costume.  She wanted to be Tinkerbell.  She had a costume already, so it was just a matter of finding a way to keep her warm.  We put on a long-sleeved shirt, her dance tights that are extra thick and then her costume. 

She got chilled just lighting the pumpkins. 

We had to pull out the coat, mittens and blanket.  We usually grab the stroller because about 1/4 of the block from grandma's house, she prefers to be carried.  This way, we can bundle her up, keep her toasty and still snag some candy.

After exactly 10 houses, she was done.  She no longer wanted to trick-or-treat, she wanted to go home and eat!

She's a fairy after my own heart.

She's Pulling All Her Resources

The new thing in our house is showers.  We recently installed a removable shower head in Zoe's bathroom and the girl can't get enough.  She loves to finger paint the walls and then wash it off with the shower head.  She also loves to wash her own hair. 

Yesterday she took a shower and we were rinsing her hair and she started screaming that she got water in her ears.  Both of them!

She tilted her head to see if it would come out.  When it didn't, she start smacking the side of her face that was facing up hoping that would help.  No such luck.

She asked me if her hands still had soap on them.  I told her no.  She put her finger in her mouth and started to blow, but it didn't do anything but make her ears pop.

She looked at me with all seriousness, "it worked for Dopey in Snow White!" 

Gettin' Dressed Up

Last night was the Harvest Festival at our church.  I was the lucky one who ran the Bounce Castle.  It's amazing to see how kids change as they get older as it relates to the Bounce Castle.  The little ones took their spot, bounced in a general area and most of them were ready to be done after their 5 minutes were up.  There was no going into each other's spaces.  No touching, unless there was a rouge bounce.  It's was all very controlled.

The older girls loved to bounce around, have contests on who can jump the highest and want to show you everything they can do.

The older boys should have some sort of accidental death and dismemberment insurance before entering the Bounce Castle. 

It's funny, in just a few short years those very nice, mannered, young boys who don't like to bounce in each other's space will be having WWF-like battles in the Bounce Castle arena. 

I was a little worried about last night.  We don't let the kids wear anything that is gory, etc.  E was mentioning how she wanted to be a princess vampire.  I'm not too keen on those types of costumes.  I know I sound hypocritical since I love the Twilight novels, but still...

I was elated when she showed up as a butterfly.  Zoe was Tinkerbell.  They were adorable.

Wordless Wednesday: The Best Part of My Day

Sunday Morning Routine

Every Sunday, before church, I run through Starbucks to get N a mocha and something for me.  It's our weekly routine. 

Usually Zoe gets a water because she doesn't drink anything else.  Lately she's been branching out and she likes a chocolate chip frappacino that doesn't contain coffee, but does contain actual chocolate chips.  To a 4-year old, that's heaven in a cup.

Yesterday morning, Zoe woke up, got out of bed, snuggled with me for 1.5 seconds and informed me, "it's a mocha day mommy.  I really need one this morning!"