Pumkin Painting Party Pix

Princess Pumpkin Painting Party

HAPPY HALLOWEEN
Yesterday we had our first annual pumpkin painting party we invited the regulars and all the members of princess pie's class. It was a lovely turnout around 10 or 12. All together the children had a blast they bounced themselves silly on the trampoline. Then proceeded to paint their pumpkins in a festive array of colors. They ran all around the yard playing together and getting to know each other. It was a nice opportunity for the moms to get together to chat and to get to know each other as well. A few festive snacks were provided and a second activity of decorating loot bags with a few little things inside. Ok the truth is we weren't quite ready when the guests started arriving which was a little uncomfortable for me. God bless the tollerant guests who seemed completely undaunted and about 15 or 20 min behind schedule we got off to a running start. All things considered I think everyone had a cold but lovely time. thanks to all who came!

Just An Aside

OK, yeah, I guess I am granddaughter obsessed and yes I realize this is an understatement but it was just so cute. In the clearing and cleaning process of princess pie's new room I found an old favorite CD. The Jerry Garcia Not for kids only CD he and an other fellow play guitar and mandolin and sing all these old folk songs intended for children. examples Ain't no bugs on me, Teddy bears picnic etc. The words and music are so calming and comforting. So I put it in princess pie's CD player she loves it she keeps taking it out of its sleeve and playing it all the while saying this is my favorite one she puts it on and spins my little budding hippie! So sweet!!

A Room Fit For Our Princess

Well it seemed to take forever but at long last Princess pie's bedroom is complete. The graffiti is finally covered and the project room has been transformed to a most delicious little girls room accented by faeries. We only spent cash on paint and had to buy new sheets as her watch me grow toddler bed grew into a twin bed. As it happens Chantmeister works for Marshall's so we found sheets and a comforter on clearance $8 for the sheets and $10 for the comforter set and then got an additional 10% employee discount!!! She loves her new room! the wardrobe that I found at a yard sale for $10 works beautifully all her furniture is painted white the room is 2 tones of pale green. The carpet, which was not practical to replace at this time, was shampooed and can you believe it we found a valance for her little window that matches the carpet exactly. We found a faerie border that incorporated the wall and floor colors. Inspiration really came when I saw the delightful playroom that our friends had created for their girls. Their house is much larger than ours and they have a separate playroom from their girls bedrooms. I was particularly impressed with their storage solution for dress up clothes a beautiful custom made open armoire. Our space and budget did not allow for so marvelous a piece. Because princess pie's new room was once the project room the closet had been converted to food storage, with a great length of shelves on one side that renders the hanging rod unusable. On the opposite wall are clothes hooks the kind meant for coats. So, we decided to hang the dress up clothes from these hooks on hangers it works great. We placed some cup hooks for crowns and pirate hats. The most clever organization solution was for the wands it is clearly low budget but nevertheless effective. I cut the bottom off of a plastic cup the kind in which they sell fountain drinks at Cumby's and screwed it to the wall it holds all the wands and swords so now I never have to trip on them. The little closet does appear to be magical and everything is readily accessible. Little princess pie loves her new big girl room!! Right now it is everyone's favorite room in the house.

THE KING OF TOLERANCE

As is clear, it is the whim of Princess pie that gives us cause to proceed each day she is like a little sponge that just absorbs anything and everything that occurs in her earshot. She is so strong willed that getting her to mind and be obedient is sometimes a moment by moment challenge. When one is three and striving with great effort to do everything independently occasionally some frustration emerges. One of the real challenges is helping Princess pie understand that kitties are in fact more than animated stuffies and that they are not subject to direction to say sit on command. As such if you would like to have a kitty to snuggle into your lap then you must allow it when the cat is so inclined. Now Daddy kitty is just so attention starved that it is his perception that any and all available laps are in fact at his disposal. He is a bit older around 12 or so, so when he is reminded the of the meaning of play time, he runs away. Not a tremendous surprise. Well, yesterday the stars aligned and in spite of the fact that Princess pie is as likely to try to dance upright with daddy kitty as she is to let him snuggle up in her lap. For a brief time she did allow daddy kitty to stay with her she was so delighted to have him sitting there and it appeared from his expression that he was enjoying that the owner of this lap was after much training understanding the laps true purpose.

accomplishments

WOW!!! Today was the day for accomplishments Princess pie made Two new achievements. First she was able to figure out how to maneuver her tricycle!! We tried to manage it earlier this summer but coordinating hands, feet and vision proved to be too much, so we left the trikes in the yard and ignored them. From time to time she would try and get frustrated and allow herself to be redirected elsewhere. However, today, she kept going from trike to trike until she got one to work the way she wanted. My yard is less than flat and the lawn grows in thatches so it is very bumpy and therefor very difficult to negotiate. Today was determination day!! Upon discussing it with Chantmeister we are agreed that since we added the trampoline to the yard toys she has had a marked increase in strength and coordination. At the play ground there is this cork screw like ride you climb up it or board from the platform and then spiral down. Up until today she has always been afraid to get on it herself from the platform. however she has grown in strength and in length so she's stronger and has better reach. So today she climbed up to the platform and hopped onto the corkscrew and spiraled down all by herself all the while calling out "look at me besta I did it" She was so filled with delight at her accomplishments for the day it was such a treat to be with her feeling all smart and confident. Her mom and I decided that we really want to do whatever it takes for her to hang on to that delicious self confidence that is so rare in young girls today.

Painting out this Orange is proving to be a chore

well here we are at the middle of our restful, relaxing staycation, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. The whether is not to cooperative but the house is looking better than it has in a while, in spite of the fact that the project room has moved into my bedroom.
Princess pie is growing so fast she is now the length of the whole bathtub. It's time to open the toddler bed so that it is a twin bed. Right now her feet touch one end and her head touches the other and she is only three. As such the project room is now in process of being converted to a little girls room to afford her a place to play and store her too much stuff.

I reluctantly admit that I have a tendency toward excess but some how manage to convince myself that I am a minimalist. The human ability for self deceit is truly amazing. I will often times muse at others as I observe how their self perception varies so widely from who they present. All the time thinking At Least I KNOW Who I AM. It is never long before I find another incongruant behavior of my own. It is alleged that if you know about behaviors they can be corrected. I have not yet devised how to do that successfully. Well enough of my seemingly endless flaws. Back to the story at hand. When I saw the Johnson family's blog illustrating their marvelous playroom I was inspired to improve the play area in our house. Princess pie's room is truly tiny, ideal for a baby, but wholly insufficient for a little girl. So the reorganizing process has begun it is a huge task but will be well worth it when it's completed

The things we do

You know every so often I look at my finances and say I should be doing so much better than this and resolve to be more frugal. However it always seems to be temporary correction like the alcoholic who after a bender vows to never do it again... Until the next time.
Here's what happens I get an idea in my head and the I don't just want to bring it to fruition it seems to become a compulsion or even an obsession it could even develop a life of it's own. Home depot and Walmart see me coming and $$ light up their eyes. Perhaps Frankenstein was not an inappropriate nick name that I suffered as a youth. Perhaps it was a self fulfilling prophesy. Anyway one time I had a storage issue. I have 2 cats and had no good place for a cat box in the apartment I was in. As such it was at the far end of the hall next to the bathroom. I got it in my head that I wanted to build a castle to house the cat box and its sundry supplies. So it was it turned out to be a really fun thing I put some packets of charcoal to absorb odors and the thing had 4 turrets 2 windows and a draw bridge.It stood about 5 feet tall. The cat box was on the bottom and there was an appropriate storage shelf above sufficient to house all the necessary supplies. Chantmeister, always the clever one suggested that spray paint that looks like granite I had a piece of flannel that was sky blue with clouds on it it looked so cute at the end of the hall. However it was really standing in obscurity. When we moved from pleasentville to snufifufu town our apartment was much smaller and the kitty castle was right in the corner of the living room people would ask why do you have a castle in your corner? well, me being me, I would have to explain my little royal kitties needed a throne and where better to house one than a castle. Terrible, I know, I can't help it.
There are a myriad of other stories that follow the same pattern sadly in varying states of completion. So, the resolution: Use an empty journal to write in new ideas and plans and complete all current projects prior to beginning new ones.
Isn't it amusing that the tasks that are often the most daunting can be communicated in a simple sentence

FAERIE PRINCESS PIRATE PARTY

The birthday party went off without a hitch and for the little muffins who came it was a blast. For the first hour all the faeries and pirates played in the pool and sprinkler it was so hot out.
The kiddos all played well together given that they were 2, 3, 4 and 6 there were minimal discrepancies. for whatever reason I didn't take any pictures of them in the pool, but trust me they were cute. After about an hour of free play it was time for cake and ice cream. The pirate and faerie cupcakes were a big hit the kids loved them. Z-man was so cute he stated very clearly he would like a pirate and one was offered to him he responded no besta "I want a PIRATE" then I understood real pirates have eye patches. So Z-man got his patched pirate and was thrilled. For the next half hour or so it was dress up time and the little boys and girls were dressed as faeries and pirates. The faeries commandeered the pirate ship and pirates stormed the ship and took it back. Then came the time to open gifts the guests were hugely generous. All in all it was a wonderful day for all the sweet muffins who came to Princesspie's party

What a week

So last week i got in some trouble at work where I was reprimanded for tardiness this right before the holiday weekend so what happens on the 5th at 1pm princess pie hops off the couch and yes you guessed it broke her right big toe the poor little muffin. So it was off to the ER 2 hours before I was supposed be at work and not late. ARRRGH!!! An interesting thing happened when we got there and were triaged. I explained I was a nurse Scheduled to work that day at 3pm. The triage nurse responded oh well in that case I'll have the order for an x-ray put in now so when she's seen the films will be ready. Naturally I was very grateful but I couldn't help thinking wouldn't it be more time and therefore more cost effective to do that as a rule. However, with the brain editor in full working mode, I managed not to say that, lest she change her mind. When Princess pie was eventually seen indeed she had fractured her R big toe and got a temporary cast and a lolly pop for she was a very brave and good Little girl. I had updated Riah who God bless her still took Princess pie broken toe and all. And I got to work @4:15. Of coarse I brought with me appropriate documentation to protect my job. The next costly mini crisis this week was the loss of my cell phone I had it Tuesday night to show pix of PP in her temp cast now it is gone It's not at work or in the car or at the house it's not in the parking lot at work a replacement was $130 with insurance so irritating!!! I am currently waiting for that to arrive any minute but that is why there is no pic of PP at the ER in her temp cast. Because God Blesses us so much it was only her toe that was broken not her foot so no cast was required. Here in New England we have had record temps around 100 degrees Fahrenheit no cast in this heat means that it is still okay to play in the pool. Most importantly her Faerie Princess Pirate Party is saved and she wont be in a cast for that.

Party pending

Well I have pulled out all the stops for Princesspie's 3rd birthday party the theme this year is Faerie Princess Pirate Party. Chantmeister and I made all the invitations, so cute, they had pirate ships and princess castles on them really adorable but surprisingly it is costing really only the ingredients for cupcakes and their decoration and the loot. The venue is free and the loot was such a deal. The boys will be getting pirate dress up including hats, swords, hooks, eye patches and even earrings. The girls will get tutus, wings, and crowns in other words faerie princess outfits. Too adorable. I am learning new things for this party how to boil sugar and am trying to drizzle out faerie wings for for the faerie cupcakes we will be having. It is proving to be very difficult secondary to the record heat and humidity. Faerie princess cupcakes and pirates sitting on treasure chests are pictured alongside with a wilted pic of me trying to generate all this stuff. The party is tomorrow we are all very excited princesspie is so looking forward to her party and playing with her little friends. The whether is supposed to be sunny and hot so we will be utilizing the wading pool and sprinkler together. I really hope the kids will have a blast

Life has been cruising along at a good clip with only wrinkles in the path as opposed to mountains. The loot for princess pie's birthday party arrived it is so cute for the boys they will get pirate outfits including swords, hooks, eye patches, earrings and pirate hats and the girls will get tutus fairy wings wreaths for their heads and wands.
As always God has blessed me with truly magnificent folk in my life. My neighbors trimmed my hedges while I was out one day. It looks great.

CAUGHT AGAIN

What is it about Fabulous Trainer Dude is he psychic. I Had a stress full day racing all around the state, fortunately it is a small state, before I went to work. Starting off at the Kettles where I was the recipient of still another mean spirited yet heartfelt berating. Went to work discovered that I was unprepared for mother nature's reminder that I am a girl. well what is the natural solution? Ice cream of course. So I help myself to one, scoop some out and shovel it into my mouth but who should arrive with home grown spinach for me. Yes you guessed it. Mr FTD. I can tell you this, a boiled lobster is not more red than I was. Was he critical? no he says enjoy your ice cream you look like a girl who has had a long day. How blessed am I

ON FUMES

Well you know how I explained that money is like water in my open flat hands.Yeah, well, I had a little budgeting SNAFU a few weeks ago and am still trying to recover. So yesterday I cleaned out my active checking account of $2.00 raided my piggy bank and my penny jar for another 2.50 and armed with four dollars and fifty cents went to gas up my SUV where the needle was already below the empty line. Surprisingly, this was enough cash to raise the needle to the first line. I was pretty sure this was not enough gas since getting to the Castle in Resortport is 65 or so miles away. However I keep an account out there that I am not supposed to touch. It is deliberately far away to stave of too much misappropriation of funds and for the most part it works. Because God loves me, even though the gas light came on just past plastic ville approximately 15 miles from my home, I was able to get all the way to Resortport to steal cash (from myself) for the gassing of my car. We got safely to the Kettles and enjoyed some time with them before I had to work.

PRINCESS PUDDLEJUMPER AND MOMMY

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, we went to the Kettles and sunbathed on the deck. On Saturday afternoon there was a brief but intense rain shower that left the street riddled with puddles. Chantmeister, Princess pie and I decided to go for some ice cream on the jutty of the little resort town that we were in. princess pie who can't seem to go anywhere without her faerie wings and tutu naturally had to wear them. While we were walking to the ice cream shop princess pie was careful not to miss jumping in a single puddle. She was soaked to the skin fortunately the weather was warm enough so we got ice cream anyway. On the return trip to the castle princess pie found a place to sit where she and mommy could enjoy their ice cream. As is my nature i could not miss the photo op so cute

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THE BELL TOLLS FOR YOU

Well if you have kids then you know that they can drive crazy and from time to time my patience wears a bit thin and while i can no longer remember the action that generated such intense frustration I will relay the MOM you could be over reacting scenario anyway. Child, AKA Chantmeister, commits crazy action. AGAIN! Mom, that's me,flips into a just barely controlled raging and in the rant state "It is as though there is a giant bell that descends on your head and all the people on the planet have clackers and are banging this bell as a wake up call just for you!!! and you stand there with a contemplative look saying hmmm what's that tinkling I hear in the distance. Well that did it, I couldn't even take me seriously! and we both fell into peels of relieving laughter.we laughed about that for days. In retrospect i suppose the reason it was so funny was that of the 2 of us I am the terminally flaky one. The greatest blessing God has bestowed on me is my wonderful dysfunctional mixed up insane ridiculous family to which I pretend not to be well suited but who are of course ideal for me.

this was one of those truly magical days!
A little while before we went to pick up mom princess pie wanted to play faeries.
she went and got the faerie wings and tutu that she received as loot at her little friends birthday party. Then so excited she could not contain herself she was crying let's fly to pixie hollow and ran out the door and down the hill. At that point princess pie "flew" all around the yard yelling "I a faerie, I a faerie besta". naturally pictures were required.


From time to time we all have to face painful and burdensome challenges demanding we wake from our complacency forcing us to take action or worse inaction. It is during these times that it is most important to remember our blessings. I had a conversation with ma Kettle once where she stated "Someone told me to count my blessings so I sat on the chair in the kitchen (overlooking the ocean) and found I couldn't think of a single one". Naturally I felt compelled to start listing her blessings. House on the ocean, enough food , family etc. The response was "oh, those are my blessings. I take those things for granted". It is easy enough to do! I have to work at it myself when I start to forget I think of ma Kettle.


well so that the blog doesn't become redundant I can't list all the blessings which have been bestowed on me every day. However, when all else fails there is always a faerie princess pie.
God's never ending ability to make everything right as His will dictates lines my bones with iron such that each day becomes manageable




So Riah thinks the pirate and princess pie should be married and she suggested this would be the ideal engagement photo and while i am all for it when they make this choice they might want a more recent pic

there is a little problem with the electrical system in my car, so the lights that should automatically turn off don't consistently do so. More importantly turning them off manually doesn't guarantee that they turn off either. As such i am frequently a midnight damsel in distress. most irritating!!! I do try to remember to check if the lights are off but have suffered with terminal flakiness a long time. And it is a condition that impedes rational behavior and thought. So again last night leaving work I go out, get in the car, turn the key and instead of roaring to life. Silence. Nothing. But as always God has blessed me with kind and loving coworkers who are only to willing to help me AGAIN revive my self indulgent persnickity vehicle.

I got an email from the hunky hulk my ex hubby always good to hear from him tales from his journey are most often a treat and the manner by which he tells them keeps me in stitches for days. Definately on the blessing list

The blessing for today I was so tired i could barely keep my eyes open princess pie fell asleep on the way home from the kettles. (Truly a boon since she woke up at 4:30 am). further she did not awaken upon transfer into her bed so I got a three hour nap before work today. So i was a little late. however i was very energetic and upbeat.
When i got to work i was training not really my favorite thing to do because it is pretty boring but the trainee was great at the end of her orientation and in a good place was ready to be fairly autonomous and we were spoiled with red cross students so an excellent night at work. God is so good to us and i can't help feeling He is particularly good to me. Does life get better than a 3 hour nap? i doubt it!

went out to see Ma and Pa kettle today. affectionately known as the kettles. Today was like most other trips out there LOOOONNNGGG but relatively benign. You put me and ma in a room and it is like oil and water each vieing for the top spot. It's like impulse shopping, you know that the items are strategically placed there but suddenly remember i 'NEED' that . so to is it with me and ma. i know the snide belittling comments are strategically designed to trigger a reaction but the longer i hold off the sharper the needling gets. So what, you don't get to pick your family.
well the blessings for today a long list so just a few to list
Princess pie behaved herself at church today better than she has for a long time!!!
had a blast with CM and PP in the car to and from the kettles
Best of all everyone was less stressed than usual !
proof enough for me that there is Divine intervention all the time

well Chantmeister, princess pie and i went to a mall for a mother daughter shopping day neat trick three people two moms and two daughters we had a blast. We walked all over decided to have lunch I saw a sign for texas b-b-q and thought hooray! pulled pork. IT WAS CHINESE FOOD sweet and sour, honey, and terriaki chicken fried veggies etc. I know some Texans. I do not think that they would be the least bit amused. However, everything else was so completely carbolisious we ate there anyway not horrible and way cheap all three of us 8 bucks.
We did some more shopping around got a couple of little things and came home.
Ever have one of those caught in the act moments. yeah, well me too. for nurses day the hospice people gave a gargantuan bag of lindt truffles to our unit/shift and in spite of my current and successful dieting one of those tantalizing little treats found it's way into my mouth. Completely by accident!!! at that pricise moment, who should come in to visit mom? Mr. Fabulous Trainer Dude (who will from here on out be referred to as Mr.FTD) who quietly asks with an accusitory stare, what's in your mouth? well those lindt balls are good and they are big and i put the whole thing in my mouth I could bearly choke out the word chocolate. If you remember he is mad nice so he rolled his eyes shook his head and moved along. A little while later i was able to explain that i am a girl and do from time to time really need chocolate he appeared amused I am pretty sure I was not the first to justify chocolate

life continues to be unpredictable yet blessings flow from all around
My friend fixit dude dropped by this am and fixed my kitchen faucett now it doesn't drip! YES!
After I got on the horn with the Chantmeister to see if she and Honeybun wanted to create an adventure for this afternoon will update upon our return

difficult day today having trouble recognizing any blessing so the best thing to do is list them
Princess pie my exuberant granddaughter who is darling andbossy and sweet and demanding and wants to be the pirate as often as she wants to be the fairy, Riah and her whole clan who babysit while i work and tolerate, correction, appriciate me and my terminal flakeyness. my brother who just shakes his head in amusement and does his best to intervene since managing cash for me is like holding water in your hands with your fingers spread appart. My job with my delightfull residents who by their being do as much for me as i do for them. My work partner HayHay who understands that the manipulation of cosmic energy dictates the degree of success of our shift amd harmonizes nicely
see you list your blessings and feel better right away

so today got up went to pickup some stuff. On my way home I wanted to go out to eat. Called the Chantmeister and her Honey Bun to see if they wanted to come, we got take out at KFC. ,honey bun mowed my lawn! soo nice! I hate mowing!!!
Everyone should have an alaura borialis. she's the best! I got tons of hand-me-downs from her neice all the way up to size 12. Today in the mealea I found 2 huge bags of summer clothes for my fairy princess pirate all just the right size and style so fab
More proof that without devine intervention I'd never make it

It's my plan to list daily any blessings that befall me on a daily basis. Today i had a really fun day with my family some trivial shopping but a blast being silly in the car. It is a wonder they tolerate me.

The Chantmeister's honey saved me a boatload of cash by priming and restarting the furnace, so cool, the oil co's charge big for the 5min job I should earn so much an hour!

Bad diet day today I wonder if I am a carbaholic. I feel really good without them on board but crave them all the same. When i am a good girl and stick to eggs beans chicken and spinich i feel good have energy avoid joint swelling and pain yet sweets chips and pizza tempt me like a bellydancer at a labourer's convention.

Brag time i have lost nearly 70 pounds since last year this time just a few pounds away from halfway!!! feel so much better. My friend is helping me. He is Mr. Fabulous trainer dude so cute totally nonjudgemental and mad nice.

I won the biggest loser contest at work, cleaned up over $500 in the kitty. Mine all mine, I hope they have another one soon. Cash is a great incentive ;)