A party for turning 2

I spent some time thinking about how we wanted to celebrate Lily's second birthday. We decided that we just wanted to have family because those of you who know and love Lily know that she does much better with a small group. We had Mickey Mouse Clubhouse decorations, which Lily loved.

I made this really cool garland out of tissue paper pom poms that I learned how to make from this tutorial. It turned out really pretty. I like it so much I may leave it up for a while!

We updated our kitchen chalkboard to reflect the occasion...

(oops, crooked picture)

I whipped up some cupcakes. The first time that I caved and made Funfetti, I must admit. I really wanted to make Chocolate Salted Caramel with crushed Heath on top, but I WAS making it for Lily's second birthday, so I went for the more kid-friendly. (sigh)

And, ah, the Pièce de résistance, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse 3 tier cupcake display.

Too cool for school, right?

Abby made Lily a birthday crown to wear. Very cool. I love that you can see Abby in the background looking very proud.

And, it would be fair to say that Lily totally understands how to open a present by the age of 2.

Happy Birthday Lil!

Two

Happy Birthday Lily Noelle!

How did you get to be so big?

More about her birthday to come this week...

Wordless Wednesday

(Just getting comfy in bed to watch cartoons while Mommy showers- She hates it, can you tell?)

New Music

I downloaded some new music yesterday that I wanted to recommend to you-

Matt and I already have JJ Heller's album, "Painted Red," and love it, and I happend upon this one. She released it last fall and I didn't realize it. I also found out that she is married and has a little girl who I think is 2 years old. I'm guessing that this album was written during the time that she had her daughter, based on the lyrics. I'm loving it.

She also keeps up a blog called Lovely Little Things in case you want to check it out. I don't know why I'm so surprised to see that she is so normal and not so different from me. Small world, I guess. We're not all that different, are we?

Beautiful

He has made everything beautiful in its time.

~Ecclesiastes 3:11a

One Week From Today...

We've been practicing, can you tell?

A day in the life, if you will

Yesterday, I spent most of the day recovering from the stomach bug. I was feeling a lot better, but wasn't all there, which meant that I needed some help with childcare. Meaning, Lily got to watch her favorite... one of the Toy Story movies! Is it weird that an almost 2 year old loves Toy Story? She does. I laid on the couch and we pulled out some of the toys, which she showed off for the camera....

... and then got too distracted by the movie...

And, then it was lunch time. Lately, she gets SUPER fussy at lunchtime and cries A LOT until there is food in front of her. However, we do not live like the Jetsons, and most food requires preparation. This day we were having Macaroni and Cheese and it does not take long to make, but it isn't instant. I finally found a perfect thing to distract her. I was sweeping the floor and pulled out this little broom and she was silent until the food was ready. I am so using this next time that happens. (By the way, my new trick to make her smile is to tell her to show me her teeth, works like a charm. Actually telling her to smile gets no change in expression- She literally looks mean when I tell her to smile.)

And last, but certainly not least, I mentioned in my last post about Abby's 100 Day Celebration? Well, here is her lovely hat and necklace.... Bea.u.ti.ful, right? and, quite the model? Uh. huh.

Brrrrrr

It is COLD outside as you can tell from the screen shot above. What it doesn't tell is that the wind chill is -17. Brrrr. Abby's school is on a 2 hour delay and even with that it is going to be miserable at the bus stop. Once the delays and cancelations get that high, you can usually bet that it affects the city schools. We're always the last ones to do anything.

I love a 2 hour delay. When I taught, my school district NEVER had delays, and we were the absolute last district to close. Delays are the best because you don't have to make them up, but you get a lazy morning. They are the best.

As for other stuff, I lost the battle of the stomach bug in our family. I spend yesterday sick. No fun. Today I am quite a bit better, but still recovering. Definitely over the worst of it, thank you God. Yesterday was miserable.

Today is Abby's 100th Day of School and she is very excited. They are going to have 100 snacks, wear their 100-bead necklaces and 100 Day hats. I am anxious to see these creations that she has made. Apparently the necklace is beautiful. :)

Lily has bumped her head twice during the time it has taken me to type this blog entry and cried most of the time. More fun times. She does this new thing, I'm noticing, when she cries, where she claws at her eyes. Maybe because of the tears? I don't know. Weird.

Anyway, have a great Friday everyone!

Declared All Better!

I have finally declared Lily "All Better!" She was the one that just couldn't get all the way rid of the bug that she caught. Every time we thought she was over it, we'd have another go around. We were pretty sure that yesterday she was better, but she was still just not quite right. She was really needy and clingy in the morning, so I stayed home from my Mom's Group, which was quite a sacrifice. Seriously. I was bummed.

So, late in the morning, she started to show signs of rebound... Handy Mandy to the rescue. She got her tools, showed me Pat the Hammer (she now says "Pat"- actually it sounds more like "Pa") and was excited for her show! I'm so glad to be back to the world of the living!

Ballerina Girl

I finally remembered to take the Flip Cam to Abby's dance class yesterday, however, the biggest problem was that she saw me when I was filming her. That meant that she hammed it up a bit. You know, really big turns (you'll see!), losing track of her steps, and making eye contact with the camera. You family members will probably still enjoy it.

She's been funny at dance lately because it seems to be her place to let loose after a long day of being good at school. She is never naughty, but she is definitely very silly and it is sometimes very hard for her to be still and serious like a "proper ballerina". :) She's always good for a laugh. Good thing we don't go to one of "those" studios- though I don't think that would be the place for us anyway.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Get Me Out of Here!!!!!

Seriously! I have been in a sick-house for over 3 days now. I thought we were on the mend and then Lily had a relapse. All I can talk about is fever, snot, throw up and diarrhea. Gross! I need out of here!

Thinking Warm

So, is anyone else like me and thinking warm? Seriously, enough with this snow.

All I can think of is going on vacation. I know, that takes money and vacation time, right? Well, a girl (and her husband) can dream. And we have been. We seriously already want to go back to Disney. Is that terrible? We keep tossing around the idea of the Disney Cruise, because then you get some of the whole beach vacation thrown in too, but then I just found out that it may be easier if we wait until Lily is 3. Just a few logistical things will be smoother if she is 3. It's only a year.

So, we begin dreaming of another Disney vacation.... What would we do different, what would we do the same, and so on and so on.... Here is my request of you my friend (and surely, if you are reading this, you are my friend): If you have been recently, and I know some of you have, tell me your most favorite character meals and any other favoritest things (resorts, etc.- though I think we have it narrowed down where we may stay). Just leave it as a comment if you want.

Anyhoo, on to dreaming of warm things...

• Matt and I are also celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary this year and in a perfect world would like to get away just the two of us to a beach somewhere. Not sure how that will work... lottery, maybe? :)
• I am also in desperate need of a hot shower- does that count as "thinking warm"? Ha. Just had to see if you were still with me. Didn't want to bore you to death. Seriously, I am low on blog topics recently.

What are you doing to get through this cold, snowy time?

Storytime Wednesday

This is for the grandparents...

Snow seems to be the word

Everyone seems to be getting snow. Even people who don't usually get it. Weird. All of Matt's family in Tennessee is snowed in (Hi, Guys!), which is very unusual. My mother-in-law e-mailed us yesterday that they had 9 inches and counting and that she had washed curtains. I informed her that I needed to teach her the lost art of sitting on the couch, watching crap TV. I'm not convinced it is completely lost, but if she is washing curtains, maybe we need to revisit that one. :)

Here, we are in the middle of a big snowfall. Nothing revolutionary. Just really inconvenient. The news channel I watch the most for weather is predicting an average of 4-5 inches, with some spotty areas getting up to 7. The bad part is that it is mostly coming between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m, which is crummy timing. By tomorrow, it will be old news, but for today it really messes things up. Abby's school was on schedule but I'm sure that the bus ride home with be a mess. Lily and I were supposed to have a Gymboree class today, but I'm not in the mood to deal with snowy roads so I don't think we're going to venture out. Snow is coming down at a pretty good clip and Gymboree isn't a necessity today. It sounds like the roads on our side of town are pretty bad and on a good day it takes me 20 minutes to get over there. Nah. Not worth it. I think I'll hang out inside, and make it up some other day.

I tried to take some pictures of how fast it is coming down, but it is pretty hard to capture. Not sure you can tell. (Plus I'm taking pictures without actually stepping outside because I'm a big wienie.) I'm sure Abby will want to play outside when she gets home and I'll probably give in....

Tidbits

Saturday, I attempted to put Lily's hair in full pigtails. She is officially a Dickerson little girl. Oh, how I love a little girl in piggies. I think she liked how it looked too. :)

This morning I woke up with a headache, that got progressively worse. After I got Abby on the bus, I realized I was headed for the town of "migraine-ville", so I popped "the serious" migraine meds and I think I'm going to be okay. The downside is I feel hungover from the side effects. No fun. All I want to do is sleep. Shower and be productive, not so much. I can't believe I'm sitting at the computer doing this, to be honest, but I'm trying...

I usually avoid getting into big political, heated debates, but this shooting in Arizona is really upsetting. It isn't okay to speak about violence against someone just because you disagree with their politics. I'm not say that this is what caused the shooting, but it needs to stop. It isn't okay. We can disagree without being hateful.

Moving on to something lighter...

I am looking forward to watching "Off the Map" this week. It is by the same writer as "Grey's Anatomy" and "Private Practice," which I watch. I wonder if it will be good... It has been nice to have new shows back on this month. December was booorrrring on TV with all the repeats.

Lily is going to be 2 in less than 3 weeks! Yikes! How did that happen? Unbelievable. She is becoming such a little person. You never realize how different they will be from your first (even though everyone warns you), but she certainly is!

I am trying to read a new book that I got for Christmas that I am anxious to get into. It is titled "Outlander" and is supposed to be really good. If only I could find time that I am not super tired to read it! My Mom's Group is also starting "Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible," which is the third book in the series that we've read. We are all really looking forward to it. The author does an amazing job of crafting a modern version of a biblical story and then uses it to teach the story of that woman and what we can learn from her. I highly recommend the books.

We are supposed to get a bunch of snow tomorrow, luckily we are already pretty stocked on groceries and such. Not sure it will be enough to shut things down, though. It really all depends on what time of day it hits, I think, and how fast it comes down. It seems like snow here is different than where I grew up with all the of the lake effect snow from Lake Michigan. We get a lot more ice... it just seems different. I don't know, maybe it's because I'm not a kid.

I'm out of Tidbits for now.... Have a great Monday everyone!

~

I updated my "About Me" page today in case you want to check it out while you're perusing the blog. :)

Tangled

Have I recommended Tangled to you yet?

I think I took Abby to see it in the midst of the computer crash, and so I never blogged about it. But, no time like the present! Seriously. So. Good.

(and the whole frying pan as a weapon thing was really funny)

Can you tell I had a hard time choosing a movie poster, so I just chose basically all of them? Yup, liked it that much.

I do have to say that that much hair is just not practical. Seriously. And that Flynn Ryder? Very handsome for an animated character. :)

Thank you for bearing with me on this very juvenile post about a cartoon movie (Abby will love it). At least it wasn't about Twilight, right?

An artwork update

Abby and I decided that our kitchen chalkboard needed an update since our Christmas design was a now a little out of season. However, with it still being winter, we thought a snowman would be appropriate and a good way for Abby to be the artist. She wanted a little help with some of the coloring in, and I was more than willing to help because she tends to make the chalk squeak when she draws and colors, if you know what I mean. You know that expression, Nails down a chalkboard? Yeah. That. I am getting shivers down my spine just remembering.

Anyway, she did a great job. I wish you could see a couple of the details better. For example, she drew little brown lines on the carrot to make it look real. So cute. I did the hat and trees, but she did the stars. Great job, right?

bleck.

Could I feel any worse? Probably not. I shouldn't say that, because something else will happen. I have a crummy head cold, along with some other issues I won't go into in mixed company (I'm assuming). Seriously. No fun.

My closest partner has been the dear box of Puffs Plus with Lotion, and my nose is still a wreck. I was supposed to serve communion at church yesterday with Matt, but we figured that people probably wouldn't appreciate the nastiness everywhere as they get their bread and juice.

Today is Abby's last day before heading back to school and her only request was to stay in jammies all day. I can't promise all day, but it is 11:30 and we're still going strong. We have a busy, busy day tomorrow, so I'm hoping that I'm a little on the mend by then. Pray, pray pray.

Lunch is calling our name.... Have a great Monday everyone!

Wicked, Happy New Year, and Stuff

Boy, I feel like I have been really behind on the blogging thing lately. Lack of routine with the holidays and vacation, I think. It is starting to hit Abby that her Christmas vacation is about up. At first, she was a little sad to miss school for 2 weeks, and now I think she's a little sad for vacation to be over. Her school actually doesn't go back until Tuesday. The teachers have a work day on Monday, I believe. Matt heads back to work on Monday, so it will be "Girls Only" on Monday, which might be kind of fun.

Did everyone have a good New Year's Eve? I happen to hate New Year's Eve. I know that makes me a Scrooge. But, it's just not my thing. I don't even try to stay up anymore. What's even better is that I woke up sick this morning. I have what looks like a the beginning of a really good head cold. I fear the girls have passed it on to me. Lily is just finishing up a round of antibiotics for what started out as a cold and turned into an ear infection and minor bronchitis. I'm hoping mine passes quickly, but I'm feeling pretty crummy. It's been a while since I've been sick.

Around here, we've been trying to catch up on laundry....

I swear, every time I turn around the baskets are full again. :)

Also, on Thursday, Matt and I had a date night to go see Wicked. It was awesome. We got tickets through our friends at church again and had A.MAZ.ING. seats. Fifth row, center. Just as an illustration, in the first number, "No One Mourns the Wicked", they shoot streamers out into the audience and guess what landed in my lap? We were so close we got pelted (in a good way). I'm the dork who shoved them in her purse to bring home. I know. Dork.

You see things so differently when you sit so close. You can see emotion so much better on the actors faces. Very cool. Matt swore they were looking right at him when they sang. He was so funny.

I found this picture online*. It is from the number "Defying Gravity." One of the best numbers in the show, by far.

Well, I'm going to go be pitiful again with my sniffly nose. I'll be back next week!

*Cool Wicked site, if you're a fan.