Happy Solstice….

Moon, that is….

What happens when….?

two girls get loose with my camera?

Well, see for yourself….

Dance Your Cares Away.

The Daddy Daughter Dance was this last week. Here are a few pre-dance shots for your enjoyment… Glitter Glue Princess decided that the boutonnière didn’t look good with her dad’s polo shirt, so we used it as a hair adornment.

“Say Hello to My Lee-tle Freend”

When Glitter Glue Princess goes away to Grandma’s house, I work on fun stuff…

This is my little friend, my version of a sock monkey. He was created using Little MissMatched knee socks. Now, knee socks are just a wee bit big for making little sock monkeys, so we had a bit extra to make the hat… I used the standard sock monkey directions from red heel, but left off the tail - it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. I also left off the embroidered mouth line - he is so much more mysterious without it.

Of course, as soon as she saw him, she wanted him immediately… She wasn’t feeling good after her trip to Grandma’s, so I relented and shared.

I will *allow* her to borrow him for a day or two, but then he is coming back to reside on my computer table with me…

A Big Foundation For A Small Plantation…

That statement is what my father used to call me, and well, now it appropriate for the Glitter Glue Princess.

We were looking at the Hushpuppy outlet at the Merrell shoes for her yesterday, not finding any that she was happy with. Her feet were getting a bit big for her size 3’s, so it was time to find new shoes. The 4’s were o.k, but we could not agree on any that were acceptable. I looked in the womens 5’s and found a pair she liked - they were *too small*! Finally, we found a similar pair in size 6 that she could get her foot into -I’ll say it again - size 6. I’m totally freaking out here - is it normal for 9-year-olds to have this big a foot?!?!?!

Of course, after she realized that she could fit in women’s shoes, she decides to try on heels. I warned her - “Oh mom, they are only kitty heels, they will be o.k” she says as she rolls her ankles around and can barely stand. Umm, me thinks the child has seen too much “What Not to Wear”. Then she tries on some harley davidson wedge sandals with fire embroidered on them, laughing the whole time. I’m still freaking out.

She settles on some of the most boring gray Merrells I’ve ever seen. They look like work shoes to me. At least they fit, have a nice wide toebox and they make her happy, as they look more “grown up”. The world of shoe possibilities has now cracked open and my daughter is not looking back.

I’m still freaking out.

Webkinz, webkinz, and more webkinz…

Introducing the Glitter Glue Princess’s Webkinz Kollection… (She made me do this….) :)  She took all these photos and insisted on sharing:

The crew:

Honey:

Cosmo:

Blue Berry:

Dancer:

Fairy Magic:

oreo:

Vanilla:

She was very specific on the spelling of each one’s name, just so you know.

This concludes our presentation. Thank you…

George Rickey and Kinetic Motion

Glitter Glue Princess and I are in awe of the George Rickey exhibit at Meijer Gardens, so much so that the security people were afraid to leave us alone. We weren’t told we were too close, but I could see that they thought so when we were leaning over (and not touching!) the sculptures, trying to figure out how they were assembled. It does make for a great lesson in geometry and balance that would fascinate anyone over the age of 4.

They have a HUGE exhibit, with pieces inside and outside on loan from multiple sources. Of course, no photography of the inside ones. I did manage to get some shots of the external sculptures. Mind you they are not with any nice soundtrack like the polished things on youtube about George Rickey, but they do give you a better example of the movement involved with the sculpture that enamoured us… It is just hypnotic…

I apologize for Glitter Glue Princess’s having to be in all the shots…. It does make for fun video though….

Fore more information:

George Rickey on Wikipedia

George Rickey on Artcyclopedia

Meijer Gardens

Back from Chicago and tuckered out…

First a kitty photo montage of Glitter Glue Princess with assorted kittehs at R&M’s house - gotta love the kittehs….

With Petey:

With Finnster:

And the cast of others who were perpetually hiding from her or the dogs who were staying the weekend - this was under the bed - Bucky, Katie, Finnster and Petey:

Now that the requisite kitty shots are done, on to our trip.

We drove to Chicago on Friday. I was allowed a visit to Vogue fabrics following a meal at Cheesecake Factory (yes, I bribed her, so sue me!).

After a night filled with visits from all the kittehs living at R & M’s home, we drove downtown. When we arrived at American Girl Place (we were 15 minutes early, having parked at Bloomingdales and me assuming I could get a shot of her in front of the windows), the line was already beginning to creep down the block. When we were let in, it was well around the corner.

I need to preface this that GGPrincess had donated 2 bags of toys and and a box of books to Goodwill (S and I call it “give a little to get a little, give a lot to get a lot). By the time we were in Chicago, she was up to $285 for this shopping spree.

First place we went, the hair salon. We were 12th in line, but already had a half hour wait. GGPrincess was adamant that we not go too far, as she wasn’t prepared to leave her Emma in the hands of strangers. So we mill about and she finds a good chunk of stuff to purchase… Here is Emma with her hair being done up in a ponytail veil:

Glitter Glue Princess had me take shots of all the Molly/Emily displays so that she could see them later. These were taken sans flash due to the display case - forgive the fuzziness:

She was really torn and wanted to get this, but opted for a dress instead (hint, hint, hint to grandmas!):

She basically got all her purchasing done in the morning, and we took everything back to the car before our luncheon. Her haul included a new Nicki doll (the girl of the year), matchy outfits for her, her doll and her coconut puppy, and 4 dresses.

A comment from me - the whole shopping experience reminded me of the day after christmas sales - women battling for merchandise, but this time it was women and girls…  I was glad we went early to avoid alot of the crush of people, but it still had a manic air to the place at times, the way a place gets when all the kids need a nap and all the parents are pushing to keep going.  This whole thing was disconcerting to me - what kind of impression are we making on the girls - maybe we wouldn’t have seen it if we hadn’t gone on a weekend, but still…   GGPrincess recognized it too.  She said it reminded her of Disneyworld in the afternoons.

Following the haul to the car, switching the Emily doll for the new Nicki doll (she only has enough hands for two dolls, of course! ), we went to a lovely birthday lunch at the cafe.  GGPrincess had pizza (for the 2nd time in 2 days), and I had the holiday quiche.  We were seated at the only table next to the Christmas tree, which was sooo nice - the other 2-seaters were at the columns near the windows, but you couldn’t see anything.

This happy shot here sums up the lunch nicely.

They brought her dessert and sang her happy birthday - just one waiter.  The girl at the table next to her had a HUGE cake and a whole bunch of waiters come over and sing before her dessert came - her eyes got real wide and asked me if she was getting that too.  I didn’t know - I didn’t request it so I didn’t think so.  She got a wave of relief to see only one waiter, but still kept asking her to stop. 

Following the lunch, we went to the play.  It was good, but I cry too much - that would be GGPrincess’s review.

All in all a very good weekend for her.

Now that this week is over…

This has been one of those crazy weeks that I am glad only happen on a rare occasion. This is really the first chance I’ve had to update.

Saturday we flew to PA to go to the hillbilly pirate ball… Uneventful, except I really liked the “watch for falling rock” signs as we drove…. I wasn’t quick enough with my camera, though they should have put a few more of those signs, as the rocks looked more precarious in other places…

We ate in full gear at a little cafe called “Through the Looking Glass Cafe” - with an Alice in Wonderland theme… They had the world’s smallest public bathroom, and I attempted to put on my corset in there - not a *wise* thing to attempt.

On to the party.

The theatre was just cool. Fully Adorned. Kris and Kim manned the sound and video (they were showing old treasure island, lil abner and others on a back screen). Someone made a sock monkey version of the band that I just had to have a picture of:

I have a secret thing for sock monkeys - I just love the little guys. Not just these, but sock monkeys in general…

Shots of the band:

Some people had the most wonderfully cool ideas for costumes for this show. One family came as “the band”

One fellow came as the coffee guy, but I didn’t see a shot in the pictures S took.

It was great fun, and we will be doing it again next year. I’ve already decided what I will be. I’m just going to need a mountain of long glow sticks to do it…. He he he…

Glitter Glue Princess’s halloween party was another event of this week. Here are a few pictures of kidlets from her class…

Yes, her teacher is an ice cream cone…

This fella came as a grumpy old man. He even powdered his hair to be gray, but as soon as he stepped out in the wind, all the powder blew out of his hair. Regardless, it was still cute - he played it well as evidenced in the pic…

Now that these events are all behind us, I had a chance to sew a new fleece jacket - mine was only a year old, but I question the quality of the fabric as the sleeves look like ratty cats now. More on that, and other sewing things, later.

A mini Minnie… with a side of canned ham.

Glitter Glue Princess was in true form today, and I have the pictures to prove it!

I asked her to model her shirt for the Minnie costume and I got this in return.

After a bit of persuasion, I got a couple of “normal” photos.

Still can’t find those blasted ears.  At least if we have trouble locating them she still has her trusty ballcap.