Short

Andrew had a friend spending the night so of course it involved a trip to the pool before bedtime.

Hey, this ain’t my first time at the rodeo people.

I know how to tucker those kiddos out.

No one is staying up late in this house, at least not on my watch.

So, as we were walking to the pool, Caroline kept saying, “Leo, you’re short, like me.”

She said it not just once, probably ten times.

I think she was just thrilled to have someone close in size.

And in fairness to Caroline, he was only about a head taller than her.

I finally had to tell her to stop talking about it since Leo could have been developing a complex with the way she was badgering him, “You’re tiny. You’re little like me.”

All was fine for awhile.

As I was handing the kids their homemade pizza and watermelon slices, Leo walked to our table and said, “This table is dirty. These chairs are dirty.”

I looked at him, looked at the table, looked at the chair…

And said, “Caroline, what were you saying about Leo being small?”

The Socks Debate

After scouring the area for a pair of Wonder Woman boots for Caroline, I finally found some at a consignment store.

Since they are black I will have to paint them but I’m happy since the fit is good.

While I don’t mind shopping at consignment stores, the shoes can give me the willies.

Dried stranger sweat tends to do that to me.

So each time we tried on another pair of boots I would say, “Caroline, leave your socks on.”

She promptly told me, “No, Wonder Woman doesn’t wear socks.”

Breathing deeply I would reiterate each time that she needed to keep her socks on.

We persevered though and finally found the perfect pair.

As we were driving home, Alex asked Caroline what else she needed for her costume.

She must have had our previous conversation on her mind because she said, “Wonder Woman doesn’t need socks.”

And yes, she occasionally refers to herself as Wonder Woman in the first person.

I said, “I think she does wear socks.”

“No she doesn’t.”

Alex asked her, “Does Wonder Woman fly?”

“Yes but she doesn’t need socks.”

I responded, “I think she wears the socks underneath her boots.”

Exasperated she let out a sigh and said, “No. She doesn’t wear socks. It’s not on the super hero show.”

I couldn’t let it rest, “Maybe you just can’t see them.”

“WONDER WOMAN DOESN’T WEAR SOCKS!”

I’m still not convinced.

Can you imagine with all the running around Wonder Woman does how sweaty her feet must get without socks?

Instead of her lasso and cuffs, she could use her stinky feet to fight for justice.

Wonder Woman Crown

So the Wonder Woman crown and cuffs are done.

I’m pretty sure Linda Carter would be impressed.

So far they have made an appearance at the grocery store, the shopping mall, and swim practice.

They were quite simple to make so I thought I’d show you.

First, draw the crown shape you desire on a folded piece of paper.

Once you are happy with the shape, cut it out and you have the front shape of the crown.

Measure your child’s head and figure out how much more paper you need to add to the sides. It’s important that you leave about 2-3 inches in the back free (you will be putting elastic back there eventually).

Cut out 2 crown shapes – one a little bit larger than the other.

Find an old red t-shirt and cut out one star from the fabric.

Sew the red star onto the crown that you would like to be in the front.

Sew the crowns together inside out first. Remember to leave a little opening to pull your fabric through.

Pull the fabric through so that the outside fabric is now on the outside.

Place a little bit of stuffing into the crown.

Sew on a large piece of elastic on the back of the crown.

(In the picture you can see that I used 2 smaller elastic pieces. If I make another crown like this I will use thicker elastic – less things for little hands to pull on).

Connect the 2 sides of the crown by hand sewing the elastic to the second side.

Have your very own Wonder Woman model the final product.

(I forgot to take a picture of the cuffs but trust me when I say there is lots of posing going on when they are worn).

Caroline loved her crown so much she insisted on putting it in her bed the first night.

Now onto finding some Wonder Woman boots – in a teeny tiny size.

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Sleeping in a Fort

Summer time around here means lots of fort building.

The last one they built with their Dad. He added some great modifications which kept the tent up through a few wrestling episodes.

They have loved it!

For the past 3 nights all three kids have slept in the fort together.

They love having books read to them in there and being together.

One of my favorite parts of them sleeping in the fort is the giggling and conversations that come from there.

The only negative has been that they tend to fall asleep a little later than normal and all get up at the same time.

But to me there’s no bigger comfort in knowing they are all together.

And sleeping on top of each other and not on me 🙂

 

***Update: The kids have added a trench to their fort. They created it from toy boxes and chairs. They are now officially pretending to be in the French Resistance Army. They are wearing winter hats and mittens – I guess this happens when you have a 10 year old who loves reading about World Wars***

Look Here!

Things intelligent adults say to try and make kids smile in a picture:

Look here!

Hey! Hey!! Hey!

 La la la la la la la la la

 

Grown up people yelling, flailing body parts, making faces, all to get a child to look at them.

Really foolish but for some reason it’s parenting skill #1,542 that you must have.

 

Taking pictures with one child can be challenging.

Throw in a few more kids and you’ve got yourself a real party.

We attempted this impossible feat when we were in Florida a few weeks ago.

 

I now present to you, “The Cousin Pictures: A Contrast in Feelings.”

The following two pictures are an ode to their love of animals.

Ahhhhhhh! So close. Three children looking, two children pointing out passing adults who might be willing to rescue them and take them away from these awful adults who keep yelling at them.

Oh no, the tables have turned, now it’s only two who are looking and the littlest one thinks everyone is crazy.

I think these are my favorites.

I call them, “A Portrait of Misery Meets Joy.”

A mercy peek to see if there’s been a change.

Is his misery making her happy? We might have some issues in a few years.

And sadly this is the best of them…

Two kids smiling at the camera, one smiling at the other, a happy baby, and a gorilla.

 

***Free Slurpee Day is tomorrow (Wed) at 7 – Eleven from 11 am – 7 am ******

All About Me!

I just added a new All About Me form for kids to fill out in my etsy shop.

This form is great because your child can document all kinds of fun information about themselves.

Even better, you can see how their answers change year after year.

The form comes in three different colors: blue, yellow, and pink.

I loved seeing how much Andrew dislikes sloppy joes, that Alex loved learning about Texas History in 4th grade, and that my 3 year old wants to enter the very noble profession of “being a princess when I grow up.”

This would be such a fun form for students to fill out at school, in Sunday school class, in Girl Scouts, as new birthday tradition, or just a way to spend a little time this summer.

If your interested in the All About Me form, visit my etsy shop here.

 

Backpack

For our recent trip to Indiana, I packed each of our boys a backpack full of activities and books. I expected the boys to be responsible for their backpacks but thought I would carry everything for my 3 year old in a big bag.

That was not the case.

Caroline insisted on having a “pack pack” while we were getting ready and continued to insist on one throughout the trip.

She adores her two older brothers.

Whatever these big guys do…

she wants to be a part of it.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rain

When you are three, there is nothing better than playing in the rain and getting to hold the umbrella.

Hope your skies are sunny today!

Actually

It’s always both startling and exciting when your little one uses new grown up words.

Yesterday as I was trying to get everyone into their respective rooms for quiet time my 3 year old and I had this conversation.

‘Caroline, it’s time to go to your room for some quiet time.’

‘Well, actually, I’m playing now.’

‘Yes, I can see you’re playing but right now it’s time to go to your room.’

‘Well, actually, I have five more minutes to play.’

‘No, it’s time to go to your room. Where’s your underwear?’

‘I took them off.’

‘We need to find them and put them on.’

‘Well, actually, I don’t need them.’

‘Yes, you do need them to cover up your little bum.’

‘Well, actually I have a big bum.’

‘You have a big bum?’

‘Yes. I have a big bum just like you.’

I pondered her statement for a moment and decided,

Well, actually, I’ll take that comparison as a compliment. You get 5 more minutes of playtime.