School boy

Today, Petey started at the same 2-year-old early learning program that his sister attended last year!  Here he is, not really understanding the importance of such a momentous occasion.

His big sister demanded to be included in the modeling session.  Don't you love how Petey decided to accessorize himself by using his new school bag (made by NanaB) as a necklace?  Better than his sister, who on her first day of school decided to put the entire bag over her head.

Wow!  This is exciting!  Now what are we doing again today?  I'm a little confused.

My two school kids, taking their first steps in a long journey.

Petey reportedly did "pretty well" today -- good times and bad times.  He is quite "persistent" in his tantrums (according to the director of the program) and does not want to transition between activities if he's having a good time.  The amazing news is that the teachers were able to distract him out of his freak outs.  They're going to help recommend tools I can use to deal with his raging tantrums, and hopefully we'll all learn a little something this year.

Into uncharted territory

When Charlotte was invited to a "princess tea party" for her classmate's birthday, I panicked.  The invitation specified that Charlotte should wear her favorite princess dress.  We have one hand-me-down princess dress, but it looks more like the dress Cinderella was wearing after the wicked step-sisters ripped apart her handmade initial attempt (you know, the one she sewed with the assistance of various critters before the fairy godmother poofed her a new one).  In other words, it has been ridden hard by Charlotte and several of her playmates.

Luckily, Charlotte's buddy, Odie, in an amazing gesture of selflessness uncharacteristic for a typical four-year-old, happily agreed to lend Charlotte her Belle (from "Beauty and the Beast") dress.  The frock came complete with fingerless gloves and a petticoat.  I have never been able to pull off yellow (thanks to my olive skin), but Charlotte looked very sweet in the dress.  We accessorized it with "jewels" from Charlotte's personal collection, pinned it up in strategic places so it would fit her skinny little torso, and away we went for a great party filled with foam tiaras, pink lemonade (instead of tea), petit fours, and a pink cake.  What more could a little girl want?

Here is Princess Charlotte of Franklin, twirling in her borrowed gown:

Not to be outdone, I declared myself to be a queen and put on a tiara of sorts as well.  It was actually just the rhinestone headband that I wore at my wedding, but it gave me an air of royalty suitable for escorting Princess Charlotte to her affair.

Even mommies need to play dress-up sometimes.  And yes, even though the other moms at the party giggled politely when I explained my bling, I'm pretty sure they thought I was a nutjob.

Great Grandpa Stringer's cornet

Corey says the story is that this cornet (handed down to him by his Grandpa Stringer) is from the 1800s.  Whether true or not, the horn still worked well enough to give Charlotte and Peter another lesson in musical instruments.  [Note to self: Get a woodwind out next time, because if both kids go brass I will never forgive myself.]   Petey actually got a little noise out of it, and Charlotte got a decent blip of a note before she ran off with the lyre (pretending it was a magic musical wand, of course).

Somehow, the kids figured out that their little heads made fabulous mutes.  Peter giggled like a maniac whenever Corey played a note.

After a near-double-tantrum brawl over the lyre, I dug out Corey's old conductor's baton and gave it to Peter to use.  Predictably, Charlotte then threw a fit because SHE wanted it.  Bath and bedtime soon followed, and all controversial implements were safely stowed away for another time when everyone has a little more patience.

Snowy Day

We got our first good snow of the year last week.  By "good", I mean of course that it stayed for just over 12 hours and accumulated to nearly a half of an inch.  (Despite the fact that it was nearly gone by the next morning, the school district decided it was too dangerous and called off school.  Charlie Jo didn't have school that day anyway, but it still annoyed me.)

As soon as Peter woke up from nap that afternoon, I bundled the kids all up and we raced outside to play in the newly-fallen snow before it got too dark out.  The snow never really accumulated on the driveway or streets . . .

. . . but we had fun scooping it up out of the grass.

It's the abominable snowmen!

All we could really do in the snow was walk around to make tracks.

It was hard to scoop up enough to eat because you got grass and dirt on your mittens when you tried.

Once it got dark, I let the kids ride their bikes in the garage (which was still 61 degrees, thanks to the insulated door!).  They had a blast.

Peter likes to pretend he's turning his scooter really fast and makes squealing noises.

This smile turned to tears the next morning when the snow was gone, but I promised her we would be right back outside the next time the snow came back.  No, it didn't soothe her, but now each morning she asks if the snow has come back yet.  Sorry kid -- this is Tennessee.

Rain dancing

While Petey napped one afternoon last week, Charlotte and I seized the opportunity to try out her new umbrella (from Auntie Ernie and Uncle Andrew), coat (from NanaB and GrandDad), and rain boots (from Mommy and Daddy).  She was in heaven.

[And for those of you who may know what I'm talking about, some of her dance moves reminded me of the Del Oro High School I.D. team with their umbrellas spelling out "DEL ORO" marching in front of the band.  I always thought they were so cool, but I still loathed Del Oro, of course.]

The Boogie Monsters

Peter and Charlotte love the Boogie Monster kit that our friends, the Rineharts, gave them for Christmas.  The kit includes a fun book, a CD of funky music, and some furry boogie monster legs for the kids to wear while they rock out and dance.  Here was Peter taking his turn wearing the legs:

And here is the other Boogie Monster, dancing as only she can:

Meanwhile, Petey did his signature moves (shaking his booty and turning around in a circle while bopping his head).

Fred and Ginger, they are not.  They sure do love to dance, though.

The Charlotte and Rocky Cooking Show

Charlotte is back on a kick of wanting to "help" me cook dinner each night.  One evening, I gave her some ice cubes to stir into some water.  Then, I started giving her random things from the pantry to stir into a concoction.  She cackled like an old crone over her cauldron as she carefully stirred her brew.  If only Rocky was a black cat -- then the witchy image would have been complete.  I should have gotten the witch's hat out of the dress-up bin, actually.

Corey got home soon after and actually tasted that nasty mixture.  It was a combination of salty, savory, sweet, and just plan strange.  (And yes, Mom, I sanitized the counter after Rocky put his grubby little paws up there.)

You know what Charlotte DOESN'T need?

Amplification.  Whoever taught her to make a megaphone out of her placemat needs to rethink her parenting technique.

And yes, Peter was reeeeeeally enjoying his pasta in marinara sauce that night.

Questionable technique

Really guys?  This is how you choose to paint when you KNOW your mother is mess-phobic (or, more accurately, too lazy to even attempt projects that she knows will involve lots of cleaning up)?  As usual, Charlotte started the tragedy and Peter "Me Too" Stringer just HAD to follow suit.

Thank goodness for smocks.  But not for Alicia and Dan, who stood by watching this catastrophe and cheered on the little artists instead of finding me some sort of medicinal aid to calm me down.

Swan Lake and Michigan State

While Corey watched his alma mater go to triple overtime in the bowl game, Charlotte had other ideas for entertainment.  She busted out the jewelry box that plays the main theme from "Swan Lake" (a gift from her Great Aunt Sibyl) and held an impromptu ballet.  Peter is never one to let his sister have all the fun, so he joined in the performance.  She looks a little intense in these photos, but she was having a fabulous time.

Corey did a little dance of his own after Michigan State finally clinched the win.  Luckily, I still had my camera out.

It was one crazy afternoon.  I think Corey is still smiling from that win.

The final product

I forgot to post a photo of the final product!  Here are Charlotte and Corey, testing out the new blanket.  Charlotte declared that it worked just fine.

My new love

I am soooooooo not girly.  I don't get pedicures more than once or twice a year, I rarely wear skirts (though do skorts count?  I do love my green skort.), it takes me less than 15 minutes to take a shower and get ready to go to even the fanciest of parties (because the most makeup I ever wear is mascara and I have lost the ability to style my hair in any fancy way), and I haven't worn heels regularly since I quit work to have kids almost four years ago.

I am, however, kind of crafty in some old-fashioned and distinctly feminine ways.  I love to crochet (even though I don't do it much anymore), I used to love to do counted cross stitch when I was younger, and I have a not-so-secret desire to learn to sew.

I can sew straight lines like crazy, and I have sewed almost all of the curtains in my house.  Curtains are easy -- they have lots of straight lines, don't need to withstand going through the washing machine very often, and you can whip up a valance with a minimum amount of material.  I would love to learn how to make more fun things for the home though.  Things that involve scary aspects like -- gasp -- zippers.

My mom taught me some very basic sewing when I was in middle school (we made a super cool crop top), but I haven't attempted anything wearable since then (unless you count aprons).  When I was in my third year of law school, I was bored one day and bought a cheapie sewing machine.  I have used that for the past decade even though it skips stitches and has an almost incomprehensible instruction manual.  What I needed was a new machine that actually worked well so I could embark on new adventures competently.  I was through pining after the sewing skills of my Aunt Janet,  Corey's Granny Kappy, and my sister-in-law, Jessica.  After consultation with Janet and Kappy, I found a great machine on sale.

Check me out sewing with my new machine that Corey and the kids got me for Christmas!

Yes, I had a little help finishing the t-shirt blanket I started for Corey when Charlotte was a baby.  He has a RIDICULOUS number of t-shirts, and the only way he will part with them is if I sew the pictures off of them onto a big piece of fleece and create a memory blanket for him.  I had a horrible time doing this with the old machine because of the stitch-skipping issue.  It was a whole new deal with the new machine!

I do prefer to sew without a toddler on my lap, but we had just found out that Petey Pie had a broken collarbone and I couldn't say no to his requests to sit on my lap while I sewed.  Thank goodness he took a nap soon after and that Corey didn't mind me sewing while he watched Michigan State play in their bowl game.  Yes, I have to sew at the dining room table because there is no other place to set up the machine in this tiny house.

My next projects will have to be featured in a later post, because they're still in need of a little tweaking.  Let's just say that Peter's room will soon no longer have mismatched valances still featuring the nursery colors.