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