Cheap, Easy, & Sweet little Valentine Crafts

Dear Em,
I often feel a little bad & then overwhelmed about how so often the crafts I choose for the two of us end up being crafts mostly done by me. Last year's Valentines, this year's Christmas craft, & even this year's Valentines (I'll post more about them tomorrow)- there were components you helped me with, but a significant part of each project I had to do on my own. When we scheduled a double sleepover for you & your best friend this weekend (one night at our house & one night at hers), I really wanted to give you a craft the two of you could do independently (you both love crafts).

I was in the midst of another project, when I spotted the crafting aisles of Michaels. I felt like I hit the "Em can do these crafts" jackpot. I probably spent less than $10. I bought pink foam picture frames, foam hearts with sticky backs, glittery foam flowers with sticky backs, & glue.

We've never really been glue people in our house. For the life of me, I can't really remember my mom ever giving me a bottle of glue & letting me glue away either. It always seemed to invite the possibility of a really big mess & a lot of sticky to me. The fact that you enjoy using half the bottle to glue a piece of paper the size of a dime to a larger piece of paper was deterrent enough, but then I noticed you & your classmates using glue at school. I also noticed a lot of your friends creating crafts with glue at home. It was Mommy guilt/peer pressure at it's finest. So, I sucked up my fear of a sticky disaster, & bought the glue.

Daddy helped me by cutting out ten larger hearts I had traced on white card stock. I used our heart punch to punch out hearts in a variety of different papers. Then I cut out squares of different colors of tissue paper (I was originally going to punch out hearts, but it turns out the heart punch doesn't work well with tissue paper). We took out our markers too.

I gave you & S your large hearts (five each), put bowls of decoration supplies in front of you, handed you the glue, and told you to have fun (after I showed you really quickly how little glue you need to glue a piece of paper the size of a dime to another piece of paper).

I have to admit, it wasn't easy giving you a mess in a bottle glue & walking away. I thought you would be thrilled to have the glue in your hands. Instead (& to my wild delight), you & S mostly used the foam hearts, foam flowers, & markers.

The best part? You both spent over an hour creating such sweet little masterpieces...all by yourselves.

I love you so,
Mommy

"Buh or Duh?"

Dear Em,
It's amazing to me how much a little person can develop in four short years. It's so exciting to watch you learn and grow, but sometimes it's not. Each stage you grow out of, is a stage we won't see ever again. That's a little hard for me sometimes. It's bittersweet to watch you grow out of some of your precious Emma-isms.

For instance, I will never forget how you pronounced Super Why when you were one. "Wa-Why? Wa-Why?" you would ask us so sweetly & innocently when you wanted us to turn on your very favorite show for you. How could we say no to that? We watched a lot of "Wa-Why" during those days until one day I noticed that you clearly articulated "Super Why." I'm not going to lie. I felt a little crushed. I mean, I knew developmentally it wouldn't be appropriate for you to say "Wa-Why" for the rest of your life, but was that phase of our life already over? So quickly?

It is with a heavy heart & tear-filled eyes that I tell you the "Buh or Duh?" phase is over as well. When you first started reading, sounding letters out was a new thing. Daddy & I would sit with you as you read us a Bob Book each night, & we noticed you would do the most adorable & endearing thing. When you would get to a lower case "b" or "d," you would have a hard time deciphering between the two. So, instead of making one sound you would look up at Daddy or I & say "Buh or Duh?" If you were reading the word "bed" it would go a little something like this:

Em: "Buh or Duh?"
Daddy or I: "Buh"
Em: "Buh...Ehh...Buh or Duh?"
Daddy or I: "Duh"
Em: "Buh...Ehh...Duh...Bed"

Daddy & I sometimes chuckled to each other over how adorable your "Buh or Duhs?" were, but Daddy wondered when that precious phase would end. I hoped it wouldn't be for a long, long time. And then one day I noticed it. It was after we returned home from the holidays. We were reading one of the new Bob Books you had been gifted, when I first noticed the disappearance of "Buh or Duh?". I think I struggled not to cry as you provided a lone "Buh" or a single "Duh," sometimes getting the letter sounds right & sometimes not.

I chalked it up to a one time fluke. Surely "Buh or Duh?" would return, but it hasn't. "Buh or Duh?" has become a thing of the past- a phase you've grown out of. I know I should be happy. It means you're learning & growing & developing, but I can't help missing the precious way you looked up at me with earnest eyes as you adorably said "Buh or Duh?".

At least we still have "breaf-kast." You have sweetly juxtaposed your f sound & k sound when you talk about your morning meal, & I'm never going to tell you it's not the correct pronunciation. I know that like endearing "Buh or Duh," cute "breaf-kast" will likely be short lived, but I'll hold on to it & your fleeting childhood moments for as long as you'll let me.

I love you so,
Mommy

Throwback Thursday: Olympics 1993

Dear Em,
With the Winter Olympics beginning today, I thought I would share the first Olympics I can remember- the Awana Olympics 1993. Awana was a church youth program I participated in from 4th grade to 6th grade. There were songs, athletic activities, stories, bible verse memorization, & hanging out with other fun girls my age. It was one of my favorite after school activities growing up, & the Awana Olympics were the highlight.

My Olympic events in sixth grade were tug of war & the three-legged-race. We probably won't see those events in this year's Winter Olympics, but if they do have them & need an alternate, I was a pretty great competitor. I mean, my hair alone was award winning.

I love you so,
Mommy

Your First Big-Girl Bike Ride

Dear Em,
We've certainly had a quintessential New England winter thus far. It's been frigid, & it's been snowy. We've been cooped up, & we've been sick. Last week I couldn't take it anymore. I knew that the temperatures were in the teens & we were both sick, but I had to get out.

There have been a lot of videos posted about what happens to boiling water when it's thrown into freezing air.

It's fascinating to watch, but I heard it can also be kind of dangerous. I wanted to go a safer route but also try to do something magical with the below freezing temperatures that I was starting to loathe. I saw somewhere online that if it's cold enough, you can make bubbles freeze in the air. So, we grabbed your bubble mix, bundled up & headed outside.

Although it felt plenty freezing to you & I, apparently it wasn't cold enough for our bubble experiment to work. All of our bubbles were just regular bubbles. Still, you had fun getting some fresh air & blowing bubbles outside.

After about fifteen minutes, we were both too cold to stay outside any longer. It's possible it took us longer to bundle up than we even spent outside, but I didn't care. We got some fresh air & a little bit of sunshine. I can't tell you how much my body & my soul needed that.

And then this past weekend something magical happened: the temperatures rose above freezing! I realized I am a true New Englander when it's February & temperatures are in the 40s & it feels like summer. We were so happy to soak up some outside time. You took the opportunity to take a drive with the top down.

I think the "warm" weather made me so giddy, I started to get carried away & began pulling all of your outside toys out of the garage- including your new big-girl bike. And so it was a "warm" day in February that you rode a big-girl bike for the very first time.

Once you got the hang of it, your American Girl Doll, Emma Rose, went for a ride too. I put a jacket & a bike helmet on her too before strapping her into the doll seat. Safety first!

It's a good thing we took advantage of the unseasonal weather & were able to enjoy your first magical bike riding moments when we did, because of course snow covered the ground again the very next morning. Sigh. Is it too early to start dreaming about Spring & Summer trips on the bike path? It looks like this year instead of being towed, our sweet little love will be riding a bike of her own.

I love you so,

Mommy

Sails or Sales

Dear Em,
Remember last week when I wrote about the plaguelike sicknesses that have filled our house? I was exhausted but happy that we were all on the road to recovery. Little did I know, my exhaustion hadn't even started. Daddy & I woke up to the sound of your cries again that night. You had thrown up again. At that point I was convinced your stomach bug was never going away & I would be forced to do four loads of laundry everyday for the rest of my life.

So, it was back into bed for you, my bed to be exact. Daddy got kicked out into the guest room again. Your next few days were filled with more TV, a lot of movies, the Frozen soundtrack, American Girl dolls, & barbies. There was a lot of Barbies. I quickly learned that playing Barbies with you means that you will dictate the clothing choices & activities of a large group of Barbies & I was mostly there to help you change their clothes. Shortly after I finally finished dressing the Barbies in the options you chose, it was time for the next activity-which really meant it was time for me to dress them all in new outfits. Sigh.

In your Barbie World, it is essential to be wearing exactly the right outfit for each occasion. Even when sleeping.

There are a lot of balls, fancy gowns, & dancing.

When the Barbies get bored of all the ballroom dancing, they decide they need a change of scenery & travel to North Carolina. They never travel anywhere other than North Carolina, & they travel by car, carriage, & horse.

Everyone has great jobs.

Top Row (from left to right): Nonnie "the sailor," Emma the Sofia the First, & Grandma the ninja.

Bottom Row (from left to right): Miss Julie the astronaut, Savanna the princess, Mommy the "people doctor," Aunt Jayme the "puppy doctor" holding her baby & your cousin Trey (who is naked because we don't have any little boy clothes), & Aunt Jayme's puppy.

As tedious as it can sometimes be to spend hours & hours changing Barbie clothes, it made me smile to listen to your imagination at work. First you announced that your best friend Savanna lives with us in your Barbie World. When I asked about her family, you told me that we were her only family. You had kind of a weird look on your face that suggested that given the chance, you would deviously kidnap the real-life Savanna so that she could live with us forever. After much discussion, I finally convinced you to include Miss Julie, Savanna's mom, but you would only do so on the condition that Savanna still lived with us (perhaps we need to schedule sleepover soon?).

When it came time for everyone to take a break from ballroom dancing & go to work, I listed possible careers based on the Barbie clothing options you have. You wanted to dress Nonnie first. I told you we had outfits for doctors, vets, Mommy's, sales people (like me), astronauts, ninjas...it's a pretty long list. You have a lot of Barbie clothes. "I want Nonnie to be a sailor." A sailor? I looked around at the clothes spread all over the bed & explained to you that we don't have any sailor suits. "Yes, we do. I want her to sail boats like you, Mommy." 

So, we dressed Nonnie in a top, skirt, suit jacket, & she went sailing. I had to laugh to myself. Apparently you think my job involves SAILS instead of SALES. What an exciting work-life you must imagine I have. Maybe I could get used to your Barbie World.

I love you so,

Mommy

a little bit of color & a little bit of sparkle

Dear Em,
While there are positive aspects of every season, winter is for sure my least favorite. I think that's because we spend so much of it cooped up inside. It's so grey & cold, & it gets dark before 5pm. I need fresh air. I need sunshine. I need color.

At least there are fun winter holidays to bring pops of color & a little bit of sparkle back into our lives. We mostly decorated for Valentine's Day a few weeks ago. I think it was the week after we took down the Christmas decorations & I couldn't take the dreariness anymore. This weekend, we added a few more things to our Valentine's Day decor. I love reusing what we have & adding a little something new each year.

First, we created a new door hang. I didn't start making them for the holidays until St. Patrick's Day last year. So, we didn't have one for Valentine's Day. Since you are four, this is your fifth Valentine's Day. We used five photos- one for each year that you've celebrated the holiday. To add a little bit of extra sparkle, I picked up some sparkly scrapbook paper & ribbon for the heart backgrounds.

I made three door hangs- one for Nonnie & Papi, one for Grandma & Papa, & one for us. Your Daddy's eyes lit up when I showed him the finished product. It's so fun to look at how you've grown & developed through the years in such a festive (& sparkly way).

Of course, we had to hold a mini photo shoot (it perhaps wasn't as mini as you would have liked) in order to have pictures from this year to choose from for our new door hanger (and let's just face it, I use any holiday as an excuse to stage a photo shoot). For that I borrowed a wicked fun idea from Hank & Hunt & made a floating heart backdrop for our Valentine's Day photo shoot. It was free for me to make, because I used leftover material from other crafts. I used a heart punch, paper (sparkly gold, sparkly pink, & red), clear fishing line, tape, & scissors.

It was time consuming. First you helped me punch out hearts. We punched out 120. Once you went to bed, I taped 20 pieces of 7 foot fishing line in straight lines across our dining room table. Then I taped six hearts, spaced evenly, to each piece of fishing line.

In the end, I kinda felt like it took forever to make, & those lines very easily get massively tangled (as I learned by carrying them upstairs to where we were taking the photos). But after taping them up, I loved the effect.

Plus, once we were done with our photo shoot, I cut each line in half & hung them up over your bed & our dining room table to add a little fun & whimsy to our existing decor.

In fact, the dining area looks so Fancy Nancy fancy, you decided to hold a tea party for your American Girl dolls, princesses, & baby dolls.

There were candles & real china plates for ambiance. There were cookies & cake to eat & pretend "pink chocolate milk" to drink. You even made sure that each girl had a magazine to read. You were the perfect tea party host. It was ridiculously adorable.

Mid-way through the tea party, you decided you needed a list of your guests with checkmarks to signify that they were there. You plopped yourself on the floor with a pen & paper & began sounding out their names & writing them down on your own. The first name on the left is Rapunzel (I think you confused your z's with your v's). I love how you sounded out Eral (Ariel). It took you a few tries to write your best friend Savanna's name, & you were so proud of yourself once you did. I was over the moon proud of you too. We've been doing a lot of rainbow writing, but other than you writing your name on your own, we haven't done much independent sounding out & writing.

I can't believe how much you're growing & learning & developing. You amaze me every day. We may have hung up decorations for Valentine's day, but I think it's truly you who brings a little bit of color & a little bit of sparkle to our home each & every day.

I love you so,

Mommy

Throwback Thursday: Little Mani/Pedis

Dear Em,
The first time I went to a salon to get a real manicure or pedicure, I was in my mid-twenties. You, on the other hand, had your first salon pedicure at age 3. While I may not have gone out for mani/pedis, I did get the full pampering experience from my Mom at home.

I think this TBT photo comes from when I was in first grade.

You've also loved having spa nights at home with Mommy (& sometimes Nonnie). Then your Aunt Jennie & Uncle Nick gifted you a spa set for littles. We have the professional the foam flip flops, the things to put between your toes, special soaps & a tub to soak your little feet in, & even a hand drier. You loved the pampering.

It makes my heart happy to know that I'm passing down the home spa tradition to my little girl, & maybe someday you'll have a little girl to pass the tradition down to as well.

I love you so,

Mommy

Life Changing Eggs

Dear Em,
I've always liked eggs. Sunny side up has been my favorite for as long as I can remember, but I am a horrible egg frier. I hardly ever seem to be able to flip the egg without breaking the yolk. Scrambled eggs have long been my go-to when I'm cooking (Daddy is much better at mastering drippy yolks). I can make a complete mess of things, & the food still tastes good. For years I would add a quarter cup of milk to two eggs, sprinkle in some cheese, mix, cook, & enjoy light & fluffy scrambled eggs.

Then one of my best friends taught me about clear-out-your-leftovers scrambled eggs. It is so easy & ingenious, it's kinda crazy I never thought of it myself. It's pretty much the same scrambled egg recipe, except you also add leftover food from the refrigerator. Do you have veggies that will soon go bad? Chop them up & make a healthy, vegetable scrambled egg. Do you have black beans & tomatoes & salsa? Make spicy, Mexican inspired scrambled eggs. Sometimes I use spinach & mushrooms from a leftover salad. There are endless ingredients that work quite nicely.

While Daddy will sometimes make my first love- sunny side up eggs (& cheesy egg sandwiches), clear-out-your-left-over scrambled eggs had become my new favorite to make. UNTIL this past weekend- when my life was changed by eggs.

I was looking through the long list of online recipes that I have bookmarked but never gave a second though to. I've felt like we've been in a little bit of the same food rut & wanted to try something new. It was breakfast time. So, I scrolled to a baked eggs recipe from Minimalist Baker I had bookmarked.

Except for a few things...
1) I'm not opposed to using things that are ready made, & since I hadn't planned to make this recipe I didn't have all of the ingredients anyways. So, instead of making my own sauce using crushed tomatoes, I used pre-made pasta sauce while still adding the other ingredients.
2) In the spirit of clearing out the leftovers in our refrigerator, I added ingredients that I thought would work like fresh basil, chopped peppers, & goat cheese (because everything tastes better with goat cheese).
3) True to from, I didn't thoroughly read the directions & started mixing ingredients together without really paying attention to how & when the recipe called for it. Whoops. So, instead of having baked eggs with drippy yolks on top of all the other ingredients, I had more of a scrambled mess. I actually tried the drippy yolk version the next day, but I think I liked how the the scrambled mess came together a little better. It was just a little more difficult to be able to tell when the eggs were cooked through.

So, with that I give you a slightly modified, mind-blowing recipe...

Messy but Life Changing

Baked Eggs Recipe

Modified from Minimalist Baker

Ingredients

- 1/4 white onion, diced

- 1 large clove of garlic, diced

- 1/2 tsp sea salt

- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1/4 cup pre-made pasta sauce

- 1-2 eggs

- OPTIONAL: several fresh basil leaves, diced green & red peppers, goat cheese, & other left-over-in-the-refrigerator ingredients that might work.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees & lightly grease an oven safe baking dish.

2. In separate bowl add onion, garlic, sea salt, red pepper flakes, paprika, pasta sauce, & any optional ingredients (If you want more of a scrambled dish, add the eggs as well). Stir together.

3. Place mixture in a shallow oven safe baking dish. For drippy yolks, crack egg on top of mixture.

4. Bake for 10-20 minutes or until desired doneness. For drippy yolks, egg whites should be cooked through but yolks still soft.

5. Add toast if you like for dipping.

Seriously, my mind was blown. This was fancy restaurant quality yumminess. It was so savory & hearty, a perfectly comfy breakfast to warm you up on a blustery winter day. Unfortunately, I don't really see you sharing in my egg happiness. You don't really like eggs or pasta sauce or onion or garlic...really any of it. Lucky for me, that means I won't have to share.

I love you so,
Mommy

"Good bye, D_____"

Dear Em,
I would like to thank our love of reading, & Fancy Nancy in particular, for your growing vocabulary. It makes Daddy & I smirk to hear some of the big words you insert into conversation- perhaps because some of the time you are using the big words in a totally inappropriate context. It's sometimes comical, but it also makes my heart happy to see how you're learning & growing.

Except that sometimes instead of using big words (appropriately or inappropriately), you make up your own words. It wouldn't be that big of a deal except sometimes the words you are making up sound very close to real words that shouldn't be said by sweet, little four year olds. There are times when your made up words are quite small & sound very similar to words like "sh_t" & "f_ck"- words that we don't say in our house.

Daddy & I talked about it a long time ago, & we decided not to make a big deal when you say words that could sound somewhat like swears. We figured that the bigger the deal we made about it, the more you would continue to repeat the sounds. We hoped that by acting like you had just said gibberish, you would move on from the gibberish to real words, & I think that has mostly held true.

But then we were saying goodbye to my parents. Papi had scooped you up in his arms to give you a hug. He said his goodbyes & you looked at him & said "Goodbye...doosh." It was one of those things that was so horrifying it felt like it was happening in slow motion. You could not have just called my Dad a douche! Daddy & I exchanged horrifying glances as we tried to exit ourselves from the extremely uncomfortable situation.

You, we could tell, had no idea what you had just said. It's true that "douche" is a word that Daddy & I have used often. This is probably going to sound really bad, but douche is kind of our go-to pet name for people who do unkind or aggravating things. But I swear we would never say it in your presence. You were just making up your own words again, & you love to make up nicknames. You clearly didn't understand that "doosh" is really not a great nickname for your grandfather.

It was then that Daddy & I started to rethink our previous policy of not reacting. This time it had gone too far. So, we've started to talk to you about only using real words. We remind you that there are so many real words to choose from & ask you to use the words you know instead of making up your own. We explained that sometimes when you make up words they sound like words that hurt people's feelings, & we don't want to hurt people.

Is it the correct way to handle the situation? I don't know. I haven't exactly read a manual on this. I'm hoping that we're not somehow stunting your growth & creativity by trying to limit your vocabulary to real words, but I really don't want you to call my dad (or anyone else really) a douche ever again.

I love you so,
Mommy

Weak stomachs make for poor nurses

Dear Em,
I don't have much to report from last week- except that we spent most of it sick. Last weekend I started to feel signs of a head cold. I wasn't all that surprised about it. You had had a head cold the week before, & since we pretty much share everything, it seemed only fitting that we would share this cold as well.

Unfortunately, the head cold seemed to hit me a little harder than it hit you. Maybe it was the lack of sleep from the few nights prior. Maybe it's because you have been faithfully taking your vitamins & I have not. Everything in my body hurt, & I couldn't wait for your quiet time on that Sunday so that I could nap too. I napped through most of the AFC Championship Game (which it's probably better that I did...poor Patriots). For the rest of the day I filled myself up with cough drops & cold remedies, and when you went to bed at 8pm, I went to bed too.

I woke up on Monday (which was luckily a holiday for me), & everything hurt. I asked Daddy if it would be OK if I just stayed in bed, & I wished my Mommy was there to take care of me. Your Daddy does his best, but there really is nothing like my Mommy when I'm sick.

But then you came to the rescue. You checked on me throughout the day & rubbed Vicks on my chest, opened my mouth to stick in cough drops, gave me tissues, & made sure I was all tucked in. It was crazy cute- even when you woke me up from napping. You are not a quiet caretaker. You announce your visits starting from the bottom of the stairs.

"MOOOOO-OOOOOM! I'M COMING TO CHECK ON YOU! I"M GOING TO SEE IF YOU NEED ANYTHING! <Walks up to the side of the bed.> Oh, hey, Mommy. Were you sleeping? Did I wake you up? Oh no! I just had to check on you & see if you needed some Vicks or some cough drops or a tissue. No? Ok, well, I love you Mommy (giving me hugs). I'll come to check on you again later. If you need Vicks or a cough drop or a tissue, you can just call me. <Goes down the hall & down the stairs.> DAD! SHE WAS SLEEPING! AUGH! YOU LET ME WAKE HER UP!"

You are such a sweet little bug. It's amazing to me, at such a young age, the kindness & compassion you show. Unfortunately, I had the chance to repay the favor a few days later. "Mom!" You called out to me just as I was starting to fall asleep for the night. I walked into your bedroom to find you covered in vomit, & it became one of those up all night sick nights.

For the next two days I tried to be just like my Mommy was for me- caring & strong & always knowing exactly what to do in times of sickness. Unfortunately, unlike my Mommy, there were times that I could barely hold back my own tears & my own vomit while holding a bowl that you were throwing up into. I was trying to rub your back & ask you if you were OK, like I remember my Mommy doing, but I just couldn't get the words out without throwing up myself. Weak stomachs make for poor nurses.

I didn't feel like my Mommy at all. I felt like a Mommy failure. It seemed like all I could do was fight not to throw up myself, find the strength to do seven loads of laundry (it's incredible how much laundry there is after a stomach bug comes into your house), withhold food from you (when your stomach is upset, you assume it is because you're hungry & not because you are sick, & there is no rationalizing with you that you need to reintroduce food & drink slowly), & demanding that you rest (how do you still have so much energy for bouncing & twirling even when you're sick?). Kids are supposed to want their moms when their sick, but what if their mom is terrible at taking care of sick kids?

But then we also watched a lot movies, did a lot of snuggling, & kicked Daddy into the guest room- which means you had a rare night of getting to sleep in Mommy & Daddy's bed (you never want to sleep in your own bed again). After two days of quarantining ourselves into my room, you looked at me with the kindest eyes. "Thanks for taking such good care of me, Mom. I love you."

Well, I guess maybe I'm not a total Mommy failure after all...at least not in your eyes.

I love you so,
Mommy