Monday, February 28, 2011

Thank You Uncle Charles

Madeline made her selection - Hello Kitty
Waiting in line...
Picking out the kitty sound
Madeline was officially introduced to the world of Build-A-Bear.  Lately, when Madeline and I have been to the mall she has been begging me to go into the Build-A-Bear store.  I have been able to successfully walk out of the store without purchasing but I know Madeline was dying to experience the Build-A-Bear experience.  She loved window shopping all the stuffed animal choices and the huge selection of clothing and accessories for the animals.  David's Uncle Charles has been so thoughtful in remembering his great-niece, Madeline, for her birthday and Christmas. When sending a note of thanks to Uncle Charles we mentioned that we planned to put the monetary gift into Madeline's savings account until it was decided how to spend it.  Initially I figured we would wait until spring/summer time.  With a November birthday and Christmas following quickly afterward, Madeline is often in need (or want) of summer toys.  However, instead, we decided that the Build-A-Bear experience would be a real treat and something that Madeline would absolutely love.

Papa in charge of holding all the accessories
Hello Kitty coming to life!
Madeline chose a Hello Kitty to build.  Despite her wacky parents with our wacky sense of humor trying to talk her into equipping Hello Kitty with a dog sound or lion roar, Madeline picked out a kitty meow to be included in her Hello Kitty.  Madeline got a kick out of seeing her Hello Kitty come to life.  After a stuffed heart was placed inside the kitty and the stuffing was blown inside, Hello Kitty was stitched up and ready to go home.  Of course, Madeline also picked out PJ's slippers, blanket, pillow, shorts & shirt too.  Yep, Sunday, a Build-A-Bear junkie was created and Hello Kitty has not left Madeline's side since. 

Thanks again, Uncle Charles!
Hello Kitty's "bathtime" before she goes home.












Hello Kitty & Madeline in their PJs

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Junior Fashion Designer

Madeline - Fashion Designer
David and I have this antique rocker in our family room.  The rocker itself is gorgeous.  The rocker and its chair's frame are a nice wood.  The upholstery, however, is in horrid condition and so I have just been hiding the "yuck factor" by covering it with a throw.  It doesn't sound pretty that way....because it is not.  Yet, it looks a lot better than exposing the true condition of the rocker.  For years, I have been meaning to take the rocker into get reupholstered but I just never seem to have that couple extra hundred dollars lying around the house.  There always seems to be more pressing issues for that "extra" money.  Since I successfully tackled recovering the chairs to my dining room set, I have become a bit more brave.  However, this rocker will certainly be much more difficult to revamp than those chairs were.  It will no doubt, be tricky!  Nonetheless, my thought is that I can't possibly make the rocker look anything worse than it already does.  And so, after a few yards of fabric are purchased and some time and muscle are invested, my goal is to have a "new" piece of furniture that I can (hopefully) be proud to show off.

Today, after picking Madeline up from school, we headed over to the local Jo-Ann Fabric to browse the home decorating fabrics.  Unfortunately, I didn't find anything I liked.  Not even the special order materials offered me a choice in which I was interested.  (It looks like finding the right fabric will be a bigger challenge than I anticipated)  Before entering Jo-Ann's I wondered how Madeline would do with occupying herself as I browsed.  What a boring shopping trip for a 5 year old!  Madeline, however, held her own.  She was fascinated by the free fabric samples tucked into a plastic sleeve at the end of each roll.  I didn't want her taking the samples from the sleeves because those were "for the grown-ups", yet, I let her keep any samples that had already fallen out of the sleeves and onto the carpet.  My time at Jo-Ann's became a scavenger hunt for Madeline.  By the time I was ready to leave, Madeline gathered a good handful of stray fabric samples.

Madeline's Pony Fashions
When we got home, I set out to finish what I had started while Madeline was at school - tearing apart and cleaning my family room.  As I worked, Madeline kept herself extremely busy with those fabric samples.  She sat the kitchen table with scissors, Elmer's glue and scotch tape and she created the most impressive dress collection for her My Little Pony toys.  Madeline was quite proud of her work (and so was Mama)!  Personally, I am glad this all worked out so well because with the rocker material still not found, I see many more trips to fabric stores in our future!!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Human Again

BEFORE - ugh!
I was long, long, long overdue for a hair dye.  In fact, I think I have been complaining about my hair since Christmas time yet for various reasons I wasn't able to get to a hair appointment until today.  I tried to book an appointment during the time that Madeline would be at school but I could only get an appointment for late afternoon. I wasn't sure how I was going to have Madeline occupy herself for a minimum of two hours at a salon while the stylist made miracles on me but I wasn't about to wait any longer to get myself put back together.  Despite NOT being an advocate of this, I was ready to stoop to the idea of bringing our portable DVD player and a movie for this period of time.  Thankfully, my friend, Kym, offered to watch Madeline while I went to the salon.  I was thrilled to have a peaceful salon experience and Madeline was thrilled to play with Kym's daughter Dani.

BEFORE - Close-up of my gray roots
BEFORE - Me trying to look presentable on date night
AFTER - A much happier Mama-Dirtyfoot
My cousins, Judy & Maryann, have been light-heartedly harassing me on Facebook about showing the world before and after photos.  This is quite a stretch considering that for the past week or so I didn't even like the idea of going out in public as a result of my gray roots and faded brassy ends.  But, I have given in and have decided to post some shots.  So, after a color (with a couple highlights), cut and waxing, I feel human again.  BUT...the absolute BEST part was the price.  I got ALL of that for $50 (plus tip)!!!  For you ladies, you know that it is not uncommon to spend $50 just for a cut!  I actually thought the lady was charging me wrong and so I reviewed the services that I got.  Nope, the price was not wrong.....which made my experience that much more enjoyable!

AFTER -Side View (please ignore triple chins & bags under eyes. Those weren't included in make over)

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day!

David kicked off the Valentine's Day weekend by coming home from work with two separate bouquets of flowers, one for me and one for Madeline.  David has accomplished two things with this spontaneous gesture of love.  First, David successfully spoiled his girls....once again.  Secondly, David officially turned Madeline into a full-blown mushy girl.  I don't know what I enjoyed more, the surprise of the flowers or watching Madeline's reaction to receiving her own flowers.  When she realized that we were both getting flowers, the estrogen kicked in and Madeline began squealing and jumping up and down.  Instead of combining the flowers into one vase, we decided to keep Mama's and Madeline's flowers in two separate vases.  Mama's flowers were placed on the kitchen table.  We let Madeline decide where she wanted her flowers and she decided to put them on the dresser in her bedroom.  Yep, David knows how to make his girls all mushy.  Yet, more important, he is inadvertently setting the bar high for any man in Madeline's future.  Some men might read this, roll their eyes, and think, "Madeline will undoubtedly grow up to be a 'high maintenance' woman."  However, I think, "Girl, don't settle for less than you deserve.  Papa set that bar high....don't go below it."
Thanks for your endless spoiling, David.  I couldn't ask for a better Valentine!

Friday, February 4, 2011

Dinning With The Elderly

Ahhhh.....kids say the darnedest things and there is certainly no exception to this rule at our house.  I usually plan something casual and fun for dinner on Friday nights.  Tonight, Madeline, David and I got out the making for pizza and we created our own individual pizzas.  As we sat together for dinner tonight, I see that Madeline is examining me as she is eating.  Yes, I am in terrible need of a hair dye and Madeline obviously caught onto this as she nibbled on her pizza.  A snippet of tonight's dinner conversation follows:

Madeline: Mama, you have some black in your hair.
Mama: I do? You mean brown?
Madeline: Uh-huh. And a little bit of black.....and gray.
Mama: (with resignation) MMmmmmm....
Madeline: Mama, are you getting grey hair like Grandma?
Mama: (trying to hold back laughter....and probably some tears too) Eventually
Madeline: Papa, when you go to Heaven will you have hair?
Mama: (practically rolling on floor)
Papa: I doubt it
Madeline: Is there more than one Heaven?
Papa: Nope, there's just one.
Madeline: Is it far away?
Papa: Yes, it is far away
Madeline: Far away, like Aunt Margaret's house?

Yep, kids say the darnedest things. I love this age!