We did a lot of super fun things on our trip. At Hershey park Princess pie stood nose to nose with a bear and what was I doing fumbling to get out my camera. At Myrtle beach Princess pie was the only one to get a whole in one in Mini golf in the pink princess castle of course. In Texas Princess pie braved the bayou in a boat, and in Disney found fellow Tomboy princesses to commune with. In legoland struck an awesome super model pose

Hello all long time no post!!! Well, there is so much to say we, that is Princess pie Chantmeister and I have just returned from a whirlwind road trip that brought us from Mass to Hershey park to myrtle Beach to Texas to Disney and then Home. Whew wears me out just listing the places we went.

Christmas party 2011

I could not control myself, I know you're shocked, especially since the Halloween party was snowed out I had to have a little Christmas Party. Princesspie had a few little friends from School, Livvie, Zman and two older friends from church. They did a manger scene of paper dolls and animals it was super cute and the kiddos loved it followed by a cocao party the kids had a blast. Unfortunately some of the kiddos were on a bit of a sugar buzz the rest of the day.

CHRISTMAS 2011

Christmas was really mellow this year so laid back. Princess pie didn't really want much all she asked for was a table and chairs for her dollies and she reluctantly mentioned that only a couple of days before Christmas. So the hunt was on I found all kinds of stuff but no table and chairs sets. Of course, I could have gone out Natic to the official AG store but it takes half a day round trip and they are uber expensive the event would have been over $150 in time gas and cash. So I went to the unfinished furniture place, near my former home, where I had obtained this item for Princesspie's mom when she was little. They stopped making them years ago so I started poking around the store looking for items to use to put together something to make my little muffin happy. Well the exceptionally kind woodworker man offered to custom make a proper table and chairs for $30 to be ready on the 24th!! He made this offer on the afternoon of the 23rd a perfect little Christmas miracle just for Princesspie.

Thanksgiving 2011

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year and the kettles came to celebrate it with us, it was lovely. I have the good fortune that both my folks are still independent and in fairly good health. We enjoy having them for the holidays and get out to see them as close to weekly as we can. Princess pie loves to go to Bessemollen's

THE ADVENT OF THE HOLIDAYS

Well, up here in new England the advent of the holiday season begins with Halloween. each year my friend lala and her sis throw a great Halloween party. This year was no exception Princess pie got gussied up and off we went. I got a few pics so cute!!

BALLET CAMP SO CUTE

Ok this was really cute mom signed Princesspie up for Ballet camp. So for one week from 9am to 11:30 she attended camp. They really worked those little muffins hard she was wiped out and resumed taking naps. Attending that ballet camp was a lot like taking a tubby difficult to get the child to go and difficult to get the child to leave. On the last day to get her to go I had to bribe her with wearing her tinkerbell dress and when I came to see the little show she kept calling out I want to leave Besta just a little embarrassing but some how still quite endearing.

PRINCESS PIE'S PARTY PIX

Pa the ever ready shutterbug was able to take some additional pix of the party. These were the cutest ones!!

FABULOUS FUN FIASCO

There was a time when I was,at least in my opinion,the hostess with the mostess. Perhaps I have just gotten old. It used to be when I set a time everything was ready and I could be gracious,welcoming and unhurried. WHAT HAPPENED!!! I have no idea. This year for Princesspie's 4th birthday I took a week of vacation both before and after but nothing worked as intended. First and foremost Chantmeister couldn't get out of working some irritating mandatory thing. I had purchased a couple paper iridescent tablecloths that I had intended to use as the canopy of my sun shelter but too small so the old canvas canopy was used effective but not festive. I tried to make an amazing cake in the shape of Rapunzel's tower but it collapsed upon itself I stayed up till 3am trying to resuscitate this unfortunate confection all to no avail. So as a result I ended up having to go buy a sheet cake lovely but not impressive. I spent the better part of the week trying to find the ever elusive Ink jet printer shrink film because there were these great Tangled shrinky dinks I had downloaded from Disney family.com 2 days before the party I found it and went home and made a bunch of these little suckers so the little princesses and knights could make some crafts with them unfortunately during the shrinking process the holes into which you put the jump rings, so little ones can string them easily, became too small for the jump rings and last but not least I bought 24 balloons three of which popped before I even got them home and the other 21 were so hopelessly tangled none of the kiddos could have any of them. Once the party was over the entire bunch was given to a delightful girl who accompanied her little brother. Well hat was a tiresome list of things that ran amok.
Now to get to the good parts.
The theme of the party was Tangled a recent Disney movie and to entertain the munchkins I thought that it would be great fun for all the little girls to get princess dresses and crowns and all the little boys swords shields ans suits of armor OMG OMG !!! It was sooooo cute !!! Not all the kiddos knew each other for the first hour they just ran around the yard playing and getting to know each other. After an hour or so they were all invited to come and play dress up the little girls put on their dresses and crowns and pranced around for a few minutes all the little boys had these felt gladiator hats and I made chest plates out of craft foam for there suits of armor. After a few minutes the girls realised they did not have weapons like the boys did and as such were unarmed. A couple of them were able "obtain" some as a couple of boys were really good at sharing. The ever balanced princesspie was seen bolting about the yard in a princess gown and armed with a sword and shield there was little or no real fighting the kiddos really played hard and got on really well.
Everyone was very generous and the gifts were very thoughtful.
Ma and Pa Kettle came this year at my insistence One of the really fun parts of this was three little knights attacking Pa him fending them off and them regrouping and back on the attack I couldn't tell who enjoyed it more Pa or the kiddos it was all in fun and no "accidentally" too hard attacks when pa did finally say enough all the kiddos found new dragons to conquer I had some difficulty with my camera so I only got a couple of pictures but they are included

Christmas 2010

Well here are the best pictures I got for Christmas this year. Some of them are sweet and as always princess pie is adorable. I really love the one with Princesspie and ma Kettle. We started a new tradition this year. Normally we have a traditional Norwegian Christmas. We celebrate on Christmas eve, have a big dinner and fabulous traditional desserts and we are done and can relax on Christmas Day. This year So that PP would continue to believe in Santa, we put a couple of gifts under the tree Christmas morning and her mom put some lipstick on a ball and stuck it to Princesspie's cheek While she was still sleeping. She got up at 5ish and ma Kettle was already up. ma Kettle looks at PP and says what is on your face? I think one of Santa's Reindeer kissed you while Santa was delivering your gifts. Well that was it Princess pie was over the moon In the mirror looking at her kiss then to the window calling Rudolf to return so she could kiss him back. It really made everyone's Christmas

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a lovely holiday. The kettles came out to join us for dinner Princess pie was so excited. The dinner was delicious and as is the tradition of Turkey day we all ate too much. We really only use the dining room for holidays. I think that that makes it festive. My dad, Pa Kettle, is a very even keel kind of guy and not prone to show emotion. However, when I showed him how I had made over the dining room, he looked around the room and gushed, yes I said GUSHED, WOW! This is GREAT!!! The dining room is my second favorite room. After princess pie's bedroom.

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.