I got your merry...

On Thanksgiving night Gregg had the idea that we could decorate the house for Christmas after putting Scarlett to bed. We normally do it each year on the day after Thanksgiving. Gregg has to work this Saturday and Sunday which is when we would normally get our Christmas tree so this plan would free up our Friday to handle the tree festivities. I was pretty tired and looking forward to unwinding but I decided it was a great plan. So we merried up the place right quick - it only took an hour and a half! A new record!

We can't wait to see Scarlett's face when she walks into her little Christmas-town! We set out our Elf on the Shelf on Thanksgiving night and she saw him right away - and was pretty excited... "Mama, wook! The elf is here!" (I had been mentioning him over the past few weeks so she sort of knew what to expect).

She named him "snoozy" and is going to have a ball finding him each day! What a fun little tradition.

Looking forward to our tree farm trip this morning in the c-c-c-c-olllllllld temps. Hoping it is a fun day decorating the tree for the first time with our sweet girl. Last year she watched from the play-yard, drooling over the sparkly ornaments. This year should be a heap of glittery chaos! FUN!

scenes from a playroom...

The playroom (which used to be called "the media room" and I always found that super obnoxious but for some reason we just couldn't seem to call it a "den") has become Scarlett's favorite place to play each night before bedtime. Mostly because that's where we take her each night before bedtime. She pretty much has no choice. This playroom has had many a facelift since her birth. In the beginning there were Baby Einstein entertainers in which she would jump and spin, blankets on the floor to protect her (from the carpet?) and various plush toys and play mats. We moved on to lots of rattles and squeaky toys and board books galore. We added a Leapfrog table. And two activity cubes. And a Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Home. And puzzles. And a Cookie Monster kitchen. And a big ole playhouse tent. You get the picture. While I do take the time to send the older toys to the "big closet" when adding new toys it's still a playroom chuck full of playthings.

Each night spent in the playroom is filled with laughter and tears. Fun and drama. Cheers and boo-boos. I have to admit, though, we have at least one good belly laugh each night.

Typical Playroom Scenarios...

Scarlett climbs onto the couch to point out ABC's on our Iwo Jima print and to bounce freely until we decide she has taken things too far and demand her descent.

Figaro (a two inch small Disney cat figure) goes missing. Normally he turns up under the couch (after we belly-crawl underneath the reclining footrest to rescue him) or crammed into the Cookie Monster kitchen food-catching basket. {He is currently M.I.A.}

The ABC puzzle is in high demand. We play with it together, she plays alone and then flings the little letters all over the room out of frustration. The puzzle is then gathered and put away but not without a lesson explained. 

Scarlett stands on anything and everything exclaiming, "I'm TALL!" (I haven't yet told her that she doesn't need to stand on anything, she is in fact very tall).

Wooden blocks are stacked up and demolished. As the tower gets higher with each block I hear, "Mama, I made!" to which I respond, "Oh my goodness, that's such a tall tower, great job!" over and over and over. Smile.

A request for bubbles is enthusiastically made. We give in and blow some bubbles all over the room. Sixty percent of the time Scarlett completely ignores them. The other forty percent is spent begging to "ho-it ho-it ho-it" (hold it - "it" being the bubble wand). She takes control of the wand, gets her hands as wet as possible, licks her fingers and is done.

We are very fortunate to have a spare room that Scarlett can utilize solely for play. Occasionally we watch a DVD, (A Charlie Brown Christmas was in heavy rotation for a few months) or play in her collapsible tunnel. We tumble around and run back and forth down the hall chasing each other. She basically owns the second floor of our house. She even has her own bathroom. I'll be sure to remind her of how grateful she should be for all of these things at every chance I get. She'll be sure to ignore me, figuring it out someday when she's in her thirties.

No, chef.

Once in a while I wake up just knowing what I'd like to make for lunch. Luckily, it's normally something that is Scarlett-friendly as well. So, today I felt like having an egg-white omelet with peppers and onions in a tortilla with cheddar cheese and cherry tomatoes on the side. Perfect! All morning I felt like I had this big surprise coming for Scarlett (she'd never tried peppers or tomatoes) and I couldn't wait for lunch. Little did I know, Miss Priss had her own surprise in the works...

watch what you say

"You are deaf, dumb and non-beautiful." These are the words spoken by my third grade teacher, Sister Lucien. Though they've stuck with me over the years they weren't exactly meant for me, they were said to one of my best friends, "K". 

Can you imagine telling an eight year old child these terrible things?? Never mind the fact that these unspeakable insults came straight from our Catholic school's trusted NUN teacher (that every kid was terrified of).