Animal lovers with animal-loving kiddos, check this out!

My daughter, Rachel’s 7th birthday party is this Friday.  To get ready for it, we did some research online and found a really neat idea.

She wants a puppy birthday.  She also wants a puppy FOR her birthday, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen.  We decided to have the girls work together to make a fleece tie blanket for an animal in need at the local shelter.  I’m so glad someone shared this great idea!

The woman who shared this idea went on to say that each guest was asked to bring their favorite stuffed animal.  Each of the girls then made a tiny tie blanket for that stuffed animal.  Since our party is a sleepover, we decided to make tie sleepingbags for the girls’ animals.

I cannot wait to take THAT picture!  We’ll take a picture of the girls with the blanket they created for the shelter and send a copy along with the blanket when we drop it off.  Rach will also give a copy to each of the girls in their thank you cards, along with a picture of her with each girl holding their tiny sleepingbags and one with all of the girls in their sleeping bags (half-circle) with all of their stuffed animals in their sleeping bags next to them.

I love taking cool pictures.  There’s no better gift than a quality picture, if you ask me.  If all of the girls who were invited to the party can make it, we’ll have a total of 12.

I know, what was I thinking?!

The woman who shared the party idea did say, though, that the girls were so engrossed in what they were doing that the party was very…quiet.

I’m counting on that!

But I’m no fool.  After we finish projects and picture-taking we’re moving on to a small bite of hot fudge banana split cake and then going out to the nearby park.

If the cake stays down, we’ll jump on the trampoline when we get back.  Gotta wear those sweeties out before bedtime

To check out many more puppy party ideas and tons of other birthday party ideas, go to:

http://www.birthdaypartyideas.com/

Someone ELSE’s kid :)

(this will move to the “Kids are Awesome” page later)

This is my first post about someone else’s child.  I guess I should have asked my mom to submit this (it’s about my “middle” brother) but I’m the one who was involved, so here goes.

When Middle Brother was about 5 or so (?) he had a quite an impressive patch of poison ivy.  It didn’t start out that way – one day there was a little bit and by mid-afternoon the next day it was all over the place.  I was babysitting so I was in charge of reapplying the Calamine lotion that day. Little people can’t seem to stop from scratching & spreading that stuff all over the place.

Cotton ball in hand, I started applying the meds to the spot between his knees where the rash had started.  Looking around, I realized that it had really spread.  It had now spread to the other leg and covered most of the area between his legs up beyond the hem of his shorts.

“This is getting really bad!  You’re just falling apart at the seams,” I said.

Middle brother looked carefully at the seams in his shorts closest to the area where I had been dabbing on meds and said, “Where?”

Ba-dum-bum.

Kids are awesome!

McDonalds vs. Dairy Queen

Today Joey and I went to the DQ for lunch.  Before you can understand what I’m about to tell you, you need to know this:

Last week we had a garage sale.  Like every year before, the kids complained about the toys I was selling.  Joey (almost 4) was having an especially hard time giving up the stuffed animals (even though they had been in a bag hidden in the closet for the last 6 months).  Finally, we came to an agreement: I would price the animal and she would kiss it goodbye and put it into the “sell” pile.  It gave her closure.  It gave me a helper!

Now back to the DQ:

First, I invited Joey to taste my onion rings.  I picked out one that was nice and crispy because I knew she didn’t like the onion’s texture.  She said it was too big, and picked out one that was about an inch and a half in diameter.  I explained why she should try the other one, but she didn’t buy it.

So, trying to prove a point, I set the crispy one down by her and proceeded to take a bite of the small one, crispy on the outside and filled with a fat, delicious bit of onion on the inside.  She looked at me as I bit into “her” onion ring, asked me if I was saying goodbye to it, and held out her hand with a confused look on her face.

Then she proceeded to take her own bite of the same, juicy onion ring.  The look on her face prompted me to quickly pull all visible onion away from her immediately.

After seeming like she would toss her cookies because there was a piece of onion in her onion ring that made it through customs (me), she then became distressed about other things that bothered her about her meal.  The worst of these problems seemed to be the presence of sesame seeds on her bun.  I tried to convince her that they were tasteless and were only there for looks.  I added that if she were to take a bite of her burger she probably wouldn’t even notice they were there at all.

To no avail.

So I began picking them off.  You know, top layer of the bun and all.  You know what they say about beggars – can’t be choosers and all.  This also upset her so I told her to pick them off by herself.  After about 30 seconds she stopped, announcing that they are probably just there to look cool, but made a point to say that the people at McDonald’s don’t put them on there because they know she doesn’t like them.

Never a dull moment!

On a side note, about Star Kisses:

1. Theyr’e too big for young people with small bellies and who are lacking licking skills
2. In Rogers, they come in Cherry or Red, White and Blue
3. Red tastes like wild cherry
4. White tastes like cantaloupe.  I think.  Pretty sure.
5. Blue tastes like blue raspberry
6. Red, White & Blue Star Kisses may not be for kids who don’t like cantaloupe or who have small bellies and no licking skills.
7. A Red, White & Blue Star Kiss which a young person who lacks licking skills has attempted to eat and which has subsequently been removed from its stick and has been placed into a bowl turns a pretty shade of purple when allowed to melt and is stirred up well.

Good times, good times…

(This will move to Kids are Awesome later)

Joey, in her tiny collection of only 3 1/2 years has really become quite witty for a little soul.

Story #1 from this morning:

“I love you so much I could eat you all up!  (pause)  But then I wouldn’t have a mama, and that wouldn’t be good. (pause)  But then we could sell your computer.”  (can you tell I’ve been on it all morning?)

Story #2 from this morning:

She loves to stand beneath me while I blow-dry my hair (those of you who know me can attest to the fact that there is plenty of it, so this takes a while).  Today, while dancing from one side of me to the other to catch the warm air she said, with a big grin: 

“I just love when you dry your hair, Mommy.  Mmmmm…Good times, good times…”

She’s something else