Bean's Birthday Art

Here are some pictures of Bean creating her birthday masterpiece.









At one point our horse had 5 legs.  I had to do an amputation but everything turned out okay.





We took a break for presents.







Bean took this picture herself:

School Pictures - Christmas Edition

Bean's school is really great about the number of photo ops they have each year.  I say that as I look at the pictures, not as I write the checks.

Today is Christmas picture day at school and here is Bean in her holiday best.  As I look at these, I am shocked at how grown up she looks.  I am not ready for this realization this early in the day.

I will try to upload the finished product once we get them back.

She did what???

Everyday Bean comes home from her pre-PreK class with a note on how she behaved that day, if she ate well, and if she took a nap.  Yesterday when I picked her up, she gave me those puppy dog eyes and said "Mommy, I have to show you sumpfing."

This sentence is always a toss up on how it will end.  But it wasn't looking too good at that moment.

She opens her folder and hands me her sheet and says "I got a yellow today".

This is what the sheet said.

If you have wonky eyesight, here's a transcript:

"Bean had a fun day on our water slide today but after when she was changing with a friend she got upset with her and put her hairbow in the toilet."

Uh huh.

What, pray-tell oh parenting gods, am I supposed to do with that???

I clarified that it was another little girl's hairbow that was put in the toilet and it was.  Whew.  I'm sorry, don't mean to offend anyone but...ick.

Then she gave me more info.  "Mommy there was pee pee in the toilet too."

Oh goody.  Real nice, kid.

I asked what the other little girl had done to her to cause this reaction.  She said the other little girl slapped her.  This was not substantiated by the teacher this morning so I'll have to talk to her more about that.  The teacher did say that once Bean had realized what she did and that the hairbow was floating in with the pee, that she could tell she felt really badly and apologized to the little girl.

So now Bean and I have decided that this weekend we will get the little girl a new hairbow - pee free.

The Ear Piercing

Bean asked a couple of weeks ago if she could get her ears pierced.  I never did it when she was a baby because I was afraid she would have problems with allergic reactions like I always did  and I also wanted it to be her own decision.  So once when she was smaller and asked about earrings, I told her that she could have them when she decided she wanted to do it.

When she first brought it up, I wasn't ready.  I said that she would have to hold off until after the big family to-do at the lake for the Fourth of July.  She was fine with that and frankly I thought maybe by the time that was over, she would forget about it.

Nope.

On our way into the grocery store one evening, she said "this weekend I can get my earrings".  Hold up.  What?  You remember that?  She did.

I said that we would have to see because getting earrings meant she would have to take care of them and I wasn't sure she would do that.

On Friday morning, she talked about it again.  I explained to her exactly what would happen and how she would probably feel.  She wasn't bothered.  She was ready.  I told her about having to take care of them and not being able to take them out for a few weeks.  She didn't care.  She wanted them.

So Saturday, along with my cousin Crispy, we set off to get some earrings.  She wanted the Hello Kitty pair. (I have no idea where she gets that from.)  But the salesgirl at Claire's told her that some others would be better for her because of allergic reactions.  I'm not sure if that's true because funnily enough, those pairs that were better against reactions also happened to be the more expensive.  I think that was a toss up but I didn't put up a fight.  So Bean picked out some pink sparkly flowers and climbed into the chair.

Look at that kid right there!  That looks like a happy and interested kid, right?  Well she was for a minute.

Then the piercers got to work.

Uh oh, it's starting.

And it's happened.  The ears were pierced and the crying began.

Thankfully, it didn't last very long and with Mommy feeling bad and caving in to a few other items at Claire's, the sobbing soon stopped.

So my baby is now my baby with pierced ears.  I know what you're going to say.  She isn't a baby any more.  That's what she says.

But you all are wrong.  She is my baby with pierced ears.  But they are cute ears.

She is doing really well with taking care of them.  She is supposed to clean and twist the earrings 3 times a day.  She has assigned the job of twisting to herself and I've been assigned the cleaning bit.  She loves to count and twist.  She once twisted four times and looked at me and said "is that okay or do we have to start over?"

"It's okay, Baby.  It will be fine."

Christmas Wrap Up

Our Christmas was hectic as most are.  I didn't get everything done before that I wanted to.  But I thought I'd share some pictures of it all with you.

Bean took part in her very first Christmas pageant.  Well, she KINDA took part.  Her preschool held the pageant in their school gym and it was packed out with adoring parents and family and friends.  Bean made it down the aisle and to her seat with the rest of her classmates but that was about it.  As soon as the music started for the first song, I hear Hubz say "Oh crap, she's losing it."  I couldn't see her but the next thing I knew there she was at our row crying her eyes out.  I guess she got scared with everyone looking at them.  I was a little embarrassed because we had invited Nano and Nanny R. to see Bean sing and there was no singing Bean.    But then the second song started and one by one her classmates followed suit and ran to their own parents.  So I guess Bean was just a trendsetter.  Oh well, there will be other Christmas programs that we'll have and I'm sure half of them won't be as entertaining as this one.

We made a few homemade gifts.  We made snowman crayons for Bean's classmates.  These were a huge hit.  We made teacup candles for her teachers and a few family and friends.  We also made some candy dishes for family.

We went to the Callaway Gardens Festival of Lights and Bean got to meet Santa.  He was a very nice Santa and took a lot of time with her.  The only thing that was strange was that he had a deep Southern accent.  Now, who doesn't in this house but you just don't expect Santa to sound like us hillbillies!

Bean was a huge help to Mommy with all the decorating, cooking, cleaning, and even the wrapping.

Christmas morning was evidently an ode to the Disney Princesses at our house.  Bean got an Disney Princess Ultimate Castle along with a set of Princess dolls.  I think ole Walt Disney needs to send me a kickback or something for all the Princess promoting we've done.

I think she really enjoyed all of her presents from Santa and family and friends.  She plays with all of her toys and still loves to tell us what each one does on a daily basis.  I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as our little one did hers.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow.

We shared awhile back that Bean had decided to entertain herself by cutting her own hair.  I've been trying to let the side grow where she decided to chop a chunk off.  The waiting has been so long.  I've also tried and tried to get this haircut for awhile but the schedules never matched up.  (Sorry!)

So this past Black Friday, I stopped by my SIL's shop and she did the honors.

We went from this:

To this:

And the result is this:

And the only one that cried was me.

Etsy Share update and randomness.

Etsy Share will be back tomorrow. The theme will be costumes. I am starting to wonder if I should turn Etsy Share into just a weekly blog post showcasing what I'm finding online since I haven't been able to garner up much participation. We'll see.

Don't forget to enter my Kidsfresh giveaway. It ends Friday night.

I have a couple of new craft projects I've done and even a craft fail to share. Trust me, it's hideous. But for a laugh, I'll share it with you all.

I have fallen behind on so many things lately. I'm behind on my Bible in 90 Days challenge, my store opening, my blogging, MY HOUSEWORK, my work, and laundry. LOL

I blame all the new tv shows. And Facebook. It's the devil!

It's that time of year again...Halloween Store!!!

This weekend we stopped by our newly opened Halloween Store. I love the Halloween Store. There are so many things you can do when you're there.

Like see a friend's new baby.

Or run into an ex-boyfriend.

Pick up some cold cuts.

Realize that in this economy some people have really fallen down on their luck.

Drool over the latest fall fashions.

Or you could run into some folks that are just hanging around.

You can even see some celebrities.

Hey Homer!

Hey Willie Nelson!

Is Mario with you?

Let's not forget to say hello to our elders.

But whatever you do, don't forget to put on your makeup before you leave the house.  You'd hate to be caught out looking like SOME people.

Founder's Day 2011

2011 marked the 100th birthday for our hometown. Every year in September the town puts on a Founder's Day celebration. Just to impress you all, my great-grandfather was one of the founding fathers of the town. He ran a small general store and had his own farm. The home I grew up in was the one he built the same year the town was established. Sadly, it is now gone but I remember it well.

On Saturday, we went to watch the parade. I have to say that the pre-parade events will make this parade go down in my own history books as one of the most memorable and one of the strangest I have ever attended. Just know this one thing, my little chickadees - crazy is out there and it will rise up and bite you on the butt whenever it can.

Bean was excited about the parade. She racked up on candy. And now she keeps asking every morning "is there a parade today?" No. Thank God.

That evening we went back for the fair.  Thankfully, no run ins with crazy this time.

Here's Bean and the carousel.

This was Bean last year on the same carousel.  Hard to believe.

Next was the train.  She was the conductor again.

This was the first time she could ride the swings and she loved it.

Let's not forget the four wheelers.

And Daddy was so nice to take her down the fun slide.  Thank you Daddy!

And the evening wouldn't be complete without another ride or five on the carousel again.