Mother's Day 2016 and a Scrumptious Sunday!

This year we celebrated Mother's Day for two days.  On Saturday, after Amalia's tee ball game ...

... we went to my parents' house to celebrate with my parents, sister, and grandparents.  The kids had fun reading.

Mollie, in particular, needed to rest a bit; she played first base during her game and chased after the ball A LOT.

It was such a beautiful day to be with family.

Baylor and Bryson played Code Master for a while ...

... then Baylor helped Oma make popsicles in her new popsicle molds.

Christine made an amazing cake for the occasion: four layers of vanilla cake with a layer of raspberry preserves, a layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting, and a layer of lemon curd, topped off with another layer of cream cheese buttercream frosting and raspberries.

Seriously, just look how beautiful this thing was!

And yes, it tasted as good as it sounds.

Sooooo many layers of goodness!

Then we played euchre.  I had a great hand, a GREAT hand, but my dad called diamonds and spoiled my loner.  That's the way the cards fall sometimes, though, right?

Before GG and GGpa left, Amalia showed off her new-found skip it skills!  Look at those moves!

Great food, great weather, and great company made for a really wonderful day.

Today - actual Mother's Day - I woke up early to have some alone time and get a few things started before everyone else woke up.  I did some laundry, sorted through the paper a bit, and worked on the dishes a bit, then Baylor woke up a little before 7:30.  He and I had snuggle time on the couch before he started work on his Snap Circuits.

Once everyone was up, I opened my Mother's Day gifts.  Amalia gave me a marigold and some treats she made at school, as well as a card she made the day before at my parents' house.  That's me in the picture holding my marigold and treats.

Baylor gave me a card as well, along with a magnet he made at school; the heart is made with his finger prints, and it's beyond adorable.

Bryson got me an electric pencil sharpener ... just what I wanted!  (Seriously, I really wanted an electric pencil sharpener; we use pencils a lot at our house, and my manual sharpener just isn't cutting it anymore.)

For dinner, I asked Bryson to make a replica of a salad I had while we were on spring break.  (The Honey Sesame Chicken Salad from Mangos Dockside Bistro in Marco Island, Florida, in case anyone is interested.)  I had already made it once, and since everyone seemed to like it well enough I thought it'd be okay to ask for it again.  I even helped make it a little easier to make by suggesting we get some frozen pre-breaded chicken strips to use instead of trying to do that ourselves; it really didn't come out as well last time when I tried.

So he chopped and peeled and tossed.

And weren't the results beautiful?!

Seriously, it was delicious, too!  Even the kids ate it without much hesitation.

So here's the Scrumptious Sunday part of the post ...

The Florida Salad  (based on the Honey Sesame Chicken Salad at Mangos Dockside Bistro)

~ serves two adults and two children ~

1 ripe mango, cut julienne-style
1 lb. of strawberries, sliced
1 24.5 oz. container of mandarin oranges
about 2.5 oz. of spring mix salad
about 15 Tyson Lightly Breaded Chicken Breast Strips, cooked
1/3 cup honey
sesame seeds
tortilla strips
cashews

Directions:
1. Lay down a bed of the spring mix salad in each salad bowl.  Add mango, strawberries, and mandarin oranges.  Set aside.

2.  Coat the chicken breast strips with honey, then sprinkle with sesame seeds to taste.  Slice into bite-sized pieces.

3. Sprinkle tortilla strips and cashews over salad, then top with sliced chicken.  Enjoy!

Also:  You can also add some sweet onion salad dressing (like this one) or drizzle a little honey over the top.  (I highly recommend the Michigan Bee Co. honey, found at Meijer and D&W in Grand Rapids.)

After picking up the living room, getting ready for bed, and reading a little bit, the kids took a picture with me!  I am so proud to be their mom!

All in all, it was a great couple days, full of love and warmth and laughter.  Motherhood isn't always the easiest job, but I wouldn't trade it for anything on this earth.  A and b, I love you so much!

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

That's What They Said: Special days

(As I was hugging her after an "it's a snow day" revelation when I went to get her up for the day ...)
Amalia:  Mooooom!  I am uncomfortable!
Me:  Oh, sorry.
Amalia:  Mooooom, I am fragile!
Me:  (chuckling)  Oh you are?
Amalia:  Yes, I am fragile.  Everyone is fragile, Mom, because there is only one of each person.



Amalia:  Mom!  Did you know that we might see (classmate)?!
Me:  You mean while we are in Florida?
Amalia:  Yes!
Me:  (Classmate) is going to Florida for spring break, too?
Amalia:  Yes!
Me:  Is (classmate) going to Marco Island?
Amalia:  (indignant)  I don't know!  He is going to regular Florida!
Me:  (smiling)  Regular Florida?
Amalia:  (exasperated)  Yes, regular Florida.  I asked him which Florida he was going to and he said, "Regular Florida".
Me:  (smiling)  Okay.  Well, maybe we'll see him.



(After getting a tooth pulled at 9:00 p.m. on a school night ...)
Baylor:  (tearfully)  Guys, I am sad.  That tooth was my favorite.
Bryson and I:  Aww, buddy!
Baylor:  (still a bit upset)  And, wait ... which one is your sweet tooth?  Do you just have one tooth that is sweet?



(The morning of the first day of spring break ...)
Baylor:  I am as excited as a guinea pig on the first day of school!!!

Rainbow Hair

After watching a video on one of our favorite You Tube channels, I felt a little inspired and asked Amalia if she'd let me completely redo one of her Barbie's hair.  Usually she balks at any permanent change of her dolls, but after showing her the video, letting her peruse my yarn collection, and showing her which doll I was thinking of, she actually said, "Yes!"

I think the selection of the doll was what really got her on board.  You see, her doll Honey Lemon (named after one of the characters in Big Hero 6) - seen here on the right - has some unfortunate hair.

From the outside it looks okay.

But once you start brushing it and pull the top layer aside, you find the under layer is disgusting.  Apparently they were a little heavy-handed with the glue when they initially rooted her hair, and some of the glue they put inside her head has seeped out through her "scalp holes".  It is a sticky, greasy-looking mess.  Or, at least, it was.

But then Mollie let me take over and try to fix the problem.  First, I had to remove the hair.

Cutting her hair off was fun, but it was also insanely sticky and I was really happy with our doll selection for this project.

Next I had to pull out all the tiny little hairs from the inside.  And, as it so happened and as I figured it would be, I also pulled out a TON of glue.

This is just part of the pile I removed from her head.

Now, with a wonderfully blank canvas ...

... it was time to start the reroot.  Amalia picked a multicolored yarn to use, as I has suspected she would, and I was excited to get going.  Each strand is put into the scalp using a doll needle (found at our local Field's Fabrics and then knotted before it is pulled back into the head and snipped at the other end.  (The aforementioned You Tube video does a great job showing how to do all this.)

I'll admit, the whole process was a bit morbid, and Mollie eventually requested that I stop making screaming noises every time I pushed the needle into Honey Lemon's head.  I agreed that it was probably a good idea.

I didn't reroot every "scalp hole" because the yarn is much, MUCH thicker than the regular hair and would have given her an unmanageable head of hair.  As it was, her new 'do was pretty full!

Once I had all the strands in, I gave her a trim.

Then I cleaned off the neck post (it, too, was covered in glue) and reattached her head.  Voila!

Mollie is super excited about the results, and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with them as well.  It's certainly different, but she's got a ton of blonde Barbies so this is certainly a nice change of pace.

Mollie wanted to style her hair like the one in the video, so we found a clip and pinned it back.

Then Mollie added another one for safe keeping/fashion.

It was a little tough, especially taking out all the old hair, but it was also a lot of fun and I'm glad we tried it!

That's What They Said: Fashion and Science Confound

This is just one long conversation this morning, and spacing it like I usually do was quite difficult to read, hence the extra spacing.

(While trying to pick out clothes on a particularly cold morning ...)
Me:  Baylor, did you pick out a blue sweatshirt?

Baylor:  Um, hmm.  (his current "yes" response)

Me:  (thinking he was going to be wearing blue pants with it)  Oh, Baylor, you're going to be a vision in blue!  Now, Amalia, I like this combination.  I think the long underwear are going to keep you warm enough today.

Amalia:  Mooooom, but I want to wear all one color like Baylor!  It's like being a spy!

Me:  Okay, well let's see what you've got.

(searches pant drawer and closet the little result)

Me:  Well, Amalia, did you know that not all spies dress up all in one color?

Amalia:  They don't?

Me:  No.  Sometimes they actually wear disguises.  Do you know what a disguise is?

Amalia:  What is it?

Me:  It's where you dress up like someone or something else.  You could do that today!  (she looks at me quizzically)  Do you know who you could dress up like?

Amalia:  (slightly pouting)  Who?

Me:  You could dress up like me!  I wear long underwear and jeans almost every day, and today I am going to wear an undershirt, a CuddlDud top, and a sweatshirt just like we picked out for you!

Amalia: But what is going to be on the outside?  You know, that everyone will see?

Me:  Jeans and my Michigan State sweatshirt.  (seeing that she was unhappy about the MSU sweatshirt)  And while I know YOU don't have an MSU sweatshirt, I know your brother does.  I bet he'd be willing to lend it to you.  Plus, my sweatshirt is a little big on me and his would be a little big on you!  What do you say?

Amalia: (looks at me even more skeptically)  Well, ...

Me:  AND, Mollie, did you know that people actually think you look a lot like me?

Amalia:  (surprised and skeptical)  They do?

Me:  Yes!  I get that all the time.  And I even have proof online.  I posted a picture of you wearing that red jumper online - because you looked so cute - and I had SO MANY people say how much you looked like me!  I had friends from when I was little say, "Oh, Nicole, she looks JUST like you!"  (seeing her doubting all this)  And, I had a friend from college, college, say, "Nicole, she is like a little mini you!"

Amalia: (clearly unhappy)  But people will look at you and see you are an adult and see that I am a kid!  And how do I look like you?

Me:  Well, maybe they'll think I got shrunken down or something.  And as for you looking like me, well genes are a funny thing.

Amalia:  (quite perturbed)  Mooooom, I don't like jeans!  (explaining it to me)  I just don't see them in my drawer.  I look and look, and on gym days or even not gym days I wear the other things in my drawer.  Not anything from this (the jeans) pile!

Me:  (smiling)  I know, and it boggles the mind, my dear.  I wear jeans every day!

Amalia:  Well, I don't.

Me:  Okay, well, I am going to let you make the decision.  I think Grandma will really like the outfit we have picked out here, but if you want to change it that is fine.  Just make sure whatever you choose is warm enough.  And please bring it down when you guys come down for breakfast.  Oh, and if you do want to wear your brother's MSU sweatshirt, it is already downstairs and it's clean.

Amalia:  Okay.

Amalia's First Fancy Tea Party!

Amalia was recently invited to her first fancy tea party with her school friends, and from the moment she heard about it she was excited to go.  After looking at her wardrobe, we figured out she doesn't exactly have any "fancy" (a 'la Fancy Nancy) clothes, but Oma and I were able to take care of that the day before.

We probably should have talked about how to do her hair sooner, but we didn't and it ended up that she had something particular in mind.  Taking all her directions, this is what I helped her do.

Yup, not gonna lie, it was a little wonky.  After a quick talk, Bryson and I convinced her that I could do something even fancier for her.  Unfortunately, I had zero ideas, no curling iron, and she wouldn't let me flat iron her hair.  But after a few minutes and a little trial and error, I came up with this easy updo.

It was a smidge on the wispy side, but she loved it and that's all that matters.  Plus, it was a little extra special since the ribbons were from the favors at our wedding!

After that, it was time to do her nails, and at this point I was reminded of why I never paint my nails.  Ughhhh.  But she was thrilled to have pretty purple nails; I could tell it made her feel extra fancy.

She played for a little bit, and then it was time to get dressed.  Here is the ensemble we came up with!  Fancy, eclectic, fun ... and all Mollie.

She was so excited she didn't even want to stand still for a second picture!

I dropped her off at her friend's house at the appointed time, and though she had been excited and confident at home, she got a bit nervous once we got there and asked if I'd stay.  None of the other parents were staying, though, and I knew she'd be fine once the party started up.  So we hugged, she waved an ASL "I love you" goodbye, and off I went.

The two hours of the party passed quickly, and soon it was time for me to pick her up.  She was thrilled to see me but not because she'd had a bad time; on the contrary, she and her little friends had had a blast, and she couldn't wait to tell me about it.  They drank hot chocolate out of little tea cups (that they got to paint and keep), decorated tiaras and gloves, ate dinner, and generally had a wonderfully fancy time.  

I am so happy this first foray into visiting a friends' house went well.  Hopefully it will pave the way for more such visits in the future.  Either way, our girl had a fabulously fancy time at her first tea party!

That's What They Said: Oh, Amalia!

Me:  Mollie, I know you were upset that you didn't get to come shopping with Aunt Christine, Oma, and me yesterday, but I am actually glad you didn't come.  I don't think you would have had much fun.
Amalia:  (very serious)  Why?  Did you guys get in a fight?!  (puts up her fists and puts on her angry voice)  "No, I don't want to!"  "But I DO!"  "Agrgghrhrh!"



Amalia:  (to Bryson)  Hot Daddy!  Hot Daddy!  Hot Daddy!
Bryson:  (a bit mortified and yet a little amused)  Amalia, why are you saying that?
Amalia:  Because you're hot!
Bryson:  (skeptical silence)
Amalia:  (as if we should already know)  You drank your hot coffee, Daddy, and now you are hot inside!
Bryson and I:  (relief)  Ahh.



Amalia:  Mom, did you know that (classmate 1) and (classmate 2) are half person, half Polish?
Me:  (smiling)  Bryson, did you hear that?  (he shook his head)  Amalia, Daddy didn't hear.
Amalia:  (Classmate 1) and (classmate 2) are half person, half Polish.
Me:  Yeah?  Half person, half Polish?
Amalia:  Yup, they told us that at school today.

That's What They Said: Starring Baylor

Bryson:  Did guys know that this year is an important historical anniversary?  800 years ago?
Me:  (whispers to Bryson)  The Magna Carta?
Bryson:  (whispers back)  Yeah.
Kids:  Um.  Uh.
Bryson:  It was an important document written 800 years ago?
Baylor:  Microsoft Word!
(Then most of the applesauce I was eating shot into my nose.)


Baylor:  (in his sweetest voice)  Mom?  You know, (garbled) you're pretty smart.  (smiles)
Me: (smiles back then wonders)  Baylor, did you say, "For a mom, you're pretty smart."?
Baylor:  (smiles)  Yeah.  You know, you and Dad are actually pretty equally smart.
Me:  Thanks, b.


Baylor:  Happy birthday, Mom!  Hey, what time were you born?
Me:  Oh, buddy, I don't know for sure, but I think the time has already passed.  I want to say that I was born at, like, 7:23 (a.m.) or something.
Baylor:  Aww, so at this time 34 years ago you were just born!
Me:  (smiling)  Yup.
Baylor:  (putting his hands on my shoulders and looking right at me, smiling)  Mom, you are getting SO old!
Me:  (smiling)  Aw, thanks, buddy.
Baylor:  (smiling almost wistfully)  And mom, the older you get the better mom you are.
Me:  (smiling)  Aww, buddy.  (hugs all around)



(One morning right after they got downstairs ...)
Amalia:  (snuggling up to Baylor)  Mmmmm!  How are you so warm?!
Me:  Well, you see, your daddy and your brother have this thing inside them for some reason that makes them hot boxes.
Baylor:  (laughs)
Amalia:  (snuggling in more)  Mmmmmmm!
Baylor:  (gets up to get a Lego catalog)
Amalia:  Uhhhhhh!  Baylor!  I need my little hot box!!!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa E!

Today is my dad's birthday, and since he is so far away, the kids and I thought we'd make him a little video greeting before we headed off to school today.




For those of you who don't know, not only is this super cute (I'm biased, I know), but it's also a huge accomplishment for Baylor; he hasn't liked the Happy Birthday song in any form since his second birthday, and for the longest time would dart out of the room (often crying) whenever he heard it.

So happy birthday, Dad!  We can't wait to celebrate with you when you get home!!  Love you!!