Kids Clothes Week: Day 1

I have a lot of fabric, and many patterns. So when I saw the "Kids Clothes Week" challenge on Elsie Marley's blog I figured, why not? Most of this stuff is just sitting around, and maybe this will keep me motivated and help me finish a few projects.

Up...

This is Boo.

Ten

Boo's tenth birthday is today. She's TEN. Double digits. I can barely believe it...

Here's lesson one about ten year old girls. They like to shriek. They shriek when they are happy. They shriek when they are excited. They shriek about pretty much anything. And the more of them you have, the more they shriek. We're in for an ear-splitting year.

Anyways, to celebrate this momentous age she had an epic party. Lots of her friends and family joined us for a great time playing at the Redmond Gymnastics Academy. We all bounced, tumbled, ran, and laughed. The kids ate cupcakes and she opened a small mountain of gifts.

Then came the sleepover. Boo and seven of her friends spent the night (with me and QP) at the Ameritel in the Old Mill District. We were steps away from a 24-hour swimming pool and Red Robin... in a pretty nice suite with a full kitchen and a separate bedroom for my sanity.

They played Twister and giggled. They went swimming. We made pizzas. They giggled. They did makeovers on each other, and showed off their outfits to friends that stopped by. They giggled some more. We went down to Red Robin for desserts (which they inhaled the moment they were set on the table). We walked around and around the Old Mill District, stopping at the open fire pits to warm up. They giggled a LOT, and the shrieking began. They swam off their sugar rush... while giggling and shrieking. Finally, upstairs in pajamas they started to wind down. A few of them watched TV while others played board games. Out came the sleeping bags and they started to drift off to sleep.

And then Boo came into my room, and asked if she could cuddle and watch a show with me. Just the two of us. She was pretty pooped, so I laid down with her and we watched TV for a bit. It felt good that even though her friends were there, she still wanted to spend time with me.

After she went back out to sleep with the gang, I had the girls put away the games and turn the TV down. Slowly their voices got quieter, and someone turned the TV off. A few whispers later all of them were fast asleep. They were out by midnight!

This morning the girls had sparkling cider with their cinnamon rolls, and then it was time to go home. All the girls seemed tired but happy... and Boo had a blast with her friends.

Today is bittersweet for me. I am so glad that she had a wonderful, practically perfect 10th birthday party. (Especially after last year's fiasco.) And I am glad that she wanted me to be a big part of it. But despite my feelings that she will always be my "baby girl" she is moving past being a little girl. Those double digits are a big deal to her, and she's getting more independent every day. Boo has a great spirit and is a really upbeat, positive kiddo. I am starting to really cherish every moment that she wants to spend with me, because I know when she's a teen it will happen less frequently... or not at all. I wish she could stay little forever, but I am excited to watch and see what kind of young woman she is growing into.

Mow

Remember when mowing the lawn was fun?? Yeah... I know it's hard. But it was a little easier to remember, watching Scott teach Boo the other night.





Going up hill is a little hard for her, but she got it. What a tough little cookie!!

Skool

Where the heck did summer go?? Time flies whether you are having fun or working your tail off, apparently.

So... can you tell who is excited, and who isn't? Happy back-to-school!

Meant

I've meant to blog about several things lately, but I haven't. If I had found the time to post you might have enjoyed reading about...

...My trip to Ignite Portland 3. Kate and I had a fun time. Afterwards we went to dessert at Rimsky's with Ana's mommy and daddy. But hey, at least you can look at my photos from the event.

...Eating dinner at the new Flatbread Community Oven in the Old Mill District. While the gelato was worth going back for, the pizza was a little "meh!" Oh well...

...Boo's ballet recital. The one that lasted three hours, in a non-air conditioned auditorium. That also featured tap dancers. Which proves that I love Boo. A LOT!

...Hiking the McKenzie Trail to Tamolitch Pool. With Divot and a friend. To see a waterfall that happens once in a lifetime. It was worth the drive.

...Eating Chicken & Waffles in Downtown Bend. But they were a little too classy for my taste. I bet I know who can do better. (And I'll let you know as soon I hear whether they give it a twirl!)

...Going to a Bend Elks baseball game with Occidental Girl and her family. RHPB bought OC a sno-cone which quite possibly made him a new best friend, but might also have made her head spin around from the sugar rush. Oops!

...Our family trip to da beach. It was windy but still fun. We hiked, played in the sand, and found geocaches. Oh yeah, and I got older while we were there too.

...How sore I was after walking (at 6:30 in the morning) with Chubby Mommy and Speedy Kate.

Sorry folks, I meant to do better. Where the heck is this summer going, and would someone please hit the pause button?!

'Za

Boo takes classes at a gymnastics facility up in Redmond. It's right up her alley... she's a bouncy, bendy little gal. Not like me, since I never could do the splits even during my younger and bendier days.

One of the best parts is between school and gymastics class we get to have a little "girls' time". There isn't enough time to come all the way home, we'd just have to turn around and come straight back. We usually go to a coffee shop but today Boo wanted pizza. So we went to Geno's.

I really like Geno's. It's probably my favorite pizza, period. (I haven't tried Paizano's yet, though... sorry Kina!) I wish they had a store in Bend. Instead, every once in a while the stars align and we make it to the one in Redmond. Yumm...

Eggs

Happy Easter, all! Hope you and yours found many eggs filled with goodies.

Abyss

The Safeway at 3rd and Franklin had the Abyss today, so if you are still looking that would be a good start. I picked up a few bottles - at $9.50 each this is something that I will save for a special occasion to savor!

As long as I'm on the subject of beer... Scott's first batch was ready for tasting last week. It's a little flat but otherwise very good. Brewing is quite an adventure and a lot of work - but I think he had a good time with it and is looking forward to starting another batch soon.

Don't forget to stop by the library book sale today, anytime before 4pm! The girls and I escaped with a large box of mostly kids' titles for ten bucks.

Cookies

Mmm... cookies!

Boo helped me make several batches of cookies and candy over the last few days. We tried some new recipes (Peanut Butter Blossoms and Divinity) as well as some traditional family favorites (Snickerdoodles, Christmas Tress "Spritz", and Mom's Blue Ribbon Fudge). Some didn't go so well. (Divinity shouldn't be rock hard, right?) Some baked slightly longer than they should have. (But Stinky likes crunchy Snickerdoodles, anyways.) The rest came out great! Santa's belly should be very full and happy.

Amazingly, these little Christmas Tree "Spritz" cookies are disappearing the fastest. They are really simple to make, but you have to have a cookie press to get that extra-special shape. This year Boo has been calling them "Shrek Trees". That probably has something to do with the fact that we were watching "Shrek the Halls" while we made them. Anyhoo... they are really light, sweet, and buttery. They are really good with coffee. And we will probably have to make another batch by the end of the week so that we can share with family!

Boots

Tragedy struck when Boo recently discovered that she outgrew her favorite boots from last year. Luckily we recently got a decent coupon for a local shoe store, so we were able to go boot shopping. Poor kid takes after me and has feet that vaguely resemble skis, so it was a challenge. After some trial and error Boo found those perfect boots, just in time for her school's Winter Music concert!

Aren't they nice? They looked great with her dress, and also look super cute with jeans. I think she'll be living in these for a few months.

Elise, do you approve? ;)

Handy

Boo was excited on Monday when I picked her up after school. I could tell through the car window that she had something to tell me. And from her expression, I figured it was good.

"What's up?" I said as she hopped in, stashed her backpack, and leaned over the center console to give me a quick hug. (Yeah, one kid isn't too cool to hug me in public. At least, for the moment...)

"Mama, I got a helping hand!" She giggled, and bounced a little. "Want to see it?"

"Sure!" I thought, could it be a certificate or Tornado Ticket for helping around class? Whatever it was, she was sure happy about it.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out...

A little rubber hand
It is about an inch tall, and made of some rubbery stretchy material. When Boo saw my expression she giggled harder - and then the peals of laughter started bubbling out. I couldn't help but start to giggle too, as she waved "Helping Hand" at me. It was absurd... and silly... and just plain weird. She reached out to shake my hand, but with her own hand tucked into her sleeve and "Helping Hand" peeking out. Later that night she figured out a tough homework problem and answered my call for a high five with (you guessed it) a high five from "Helping Hand".

"Helping Hand" has gone everywhere with Boo for the last few days. She's a pretty smart kid... figuring everyone needs a little helping hand every once in a while!

Lofty

Miss Julie, I am soooo stealing today's post title from you. I know it's your word, I said you could have it. But I'm taking it back. It's mine, I used it first, so there! ;) But I just can't help it because it describes, perfectly...

Our seats at the Hannah Montana concert.

Yeup, we were way up there. But it was fun anyways!

Tim

Stinky and Boo are in Salem visiting my mom for the week. Every summer she hosts players from the local baseball team. They are always very nice "boys". Even though the kids only get to know them for a day or two, they still talk about them for years, and we keep an eye on their progress with the Giants farm system.

Here they are at Sunday's game with Tim!

iPhone

Yeup, that's Boo. With an iPhone.


This is our "girls' weekend". For her special time, she asked to go shopping in Portland. So we just happened to be here for the release of the new iPhones.

At first it was a real drag. We are staying across the street from Washington Square Mall. One of the attractive things to me was the fact that there is and Apple Store. Mecca? Nah... I am all about the Genius Bar. Unfortunately the release of the iPhone meant that the Apple Store was closed until the release time of 6pm... and the queue wound through the mall and we didn't ever make it in.

So after a lovely breakfast with Carrie, Sim, and Ana... we all went to the mall together to play at the Apple Store this morning.

Boo was pretty skeptical. We had already been to the Lego Store and the Disney Store. The Apple Store really wasn't on HER agenda. But she ended up having a good time test driving those iPhones, and really enjoyed the kids' area too! So I have another Mac addict in the making now!

By the way, the iPhone is cool. REALLY cool. But no, I didn't get one.

Wow

Boo... while we were enjoying lunch at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery.

Hunt

This morning we made our way down to the Old Mill District for their Easter Egg Hunt. The weather was cool and a little drizzly. Being good Oregonians this didn't slow us down, we figured if it really started to rain then there were plenty of shops where we could hide from a passing storm. We arrived a bit before 10am and were among the first to arrive. We passed the time walking along the river watching geese, ducks and otter.





As time passed there was more activity related to the hunt. The kids were happy to see the Oregon Ducks mascot in the main plaza; Boo also liked meeting "DC" (the Deschutes County Fair mascot), Red Robin, and of course the Easter Bunny.

Finally it was time for the hunt. The kids were divided by age. Boo headed to the area for kids aged 7-9; J.J. and Stinky were at an adjacent area for kids aged 10-12. If not for Boo I would have been hesitant to take J.J. and Stinky as I think they are getting a little old for Easter Egg hunting - but the age limit was 12 and all the kids are still in that range!

Most of the kids seemed extremely well behaved in the crowd - it was a very pleasant group! Everyone - parents and kids - seemed very laid back and like they were just there to have a good time.

There were a lot of kids in Boo's age group. At the "ready, set, go!" a swarm of kids swept across the grass, scooping up plastic eggs filled with goodies. It took less than a minute for them to clear the area. Boo collected about 20 eggs.



A short distance away, in the big kids' area, there weren't nearly as many kids. J.J. and Stinky scooped eggs and each collected two bags full - almost 80 eggs each!



Once the little kids in Boo's group caught on that the big kids were still hunting, they swarmed into the area and made short work collecting any leftover eggs.

Stinky compared it to the scene in The Bear Circus when the grasshoppers appear and swarm through the area, eating every bit of food in sight and left nothing for the koalas and kangaroos. It was amazing to watch that herd of little kids sweep across the grass!

I was really surprised how large the big kid area was, in proportion to how many kids were there. I guess I think of Easter Egg Hunts as an event for the little ones. But... our kids went to the event knowing that whatever they collected was to be shared with the family. When we got home everyone helped "crack" the eggs open and sort through their loot.

They netted a large bowl of chocolate eggs, two passes to the Working Wonders museum, lots of stickers, and about $50 in "Bird Bucks" (Red Robin coupons).

Happy Easter, everyone!

Limo

On Thursday (which also happened to be Moogy's birthday... Happy B-Day Moogy!) Boo got to go on a field trip that involved riding in a limo (a stretch Hummer, to be specific) to Pappy's for lunch. It was a reward for selling a crapload of cookie dough and other assorted food items for a school fundraiser. (Since I took the order form to work and my co-worker's bought MOST of the crapload of cookie dough, shouldn't I get to go in the limo too?)



She's the one closest to the door, just as she was landing from jumping out. The thing was frakkin' HUGE!!

(Thanks to the Sherpa for buying a lot of the crapload of cookie dough. There. Do you feel better now?!)

Baseball

It's a sign of the season to come...

Boo and Butthead are off to the parks & rec baseball camp for the afternoon. (Stinky has been sick, but also didn't seem interested this year, so wasn't registered anyways.)

It was an adventure, finding everyone's gear! Where is your glove? Does it still fit? Where are your pants? Do they still fit? Shoes? Hats? Shirts? Socks?

Neither of the girls found their batting gloves. We had to rearrange the shoe situation to accommodate growing feet. Butthead is actually wearing Stinky's football cleats from two summers ago (it was a very short-lived football career)... hopefully they won't make her feet fall off from the cooties.

As they went out the door their differences in personality was reflected by their appearance. Butthead looked ready to play baseball - shirt untucked, hat slightly askew, no two pieces of clothing quite matching. Boo looked ready to pose for a baseball catalog - pigtails poking out above visor, shirt neatly tucked in, hoodie & pigtail holders selected to match the stripes on her socks.

But I am sure they will both have equal fun!

Updated at 5pm: They did!

Toys

"I have yet to see a single hot item ever come back, after 27 years" says Duncan over at best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had.

Sorry, Dunc... I disagree. Here's why!

Let's go waaay back in time to the early 80's. ;) My sister and I had a Cabbage Patch Kid, a couple of My Little Ponies, Strawberry Shortcake dolls, and a Rainbow Brite. Then we outgrew them, or some other toy came along that we liked better. Or boys might have suddenly become interesting... at that age who knows?

After that they lived in my mother's attic, in a box. She put them in a garage sale and even tried donating them to charity a couple of times. But charities and garage saler's didn't want outdated, old-fashioned 80's toys, so back in the box they went. They spent most of the late 80's and the 90's in that box.

Then something happened. Right about the time Boo turned five, these new toys came out. They were called... My Little Pony, Cabbage Patch Kid, and Strawberry Shortcake. But they were slightly updated and redesigned, for the "new generation".

That Christmas or Birthday or Arbor Day... I don't know which holiday... my mom wrapped up the big box from the attic and gave it to my daughter. She was a hero.

Boo still loves those toys, especially the My Little Ponies. They look a little different from her friends, but she doesn't care. In fact, that makes it easier to weed out what belongs to who!

I wonder if someone bought what was supposed to be a big empty warehouse and found a stash of 80's toys instead? If so they are marketing genuises, for bringing those toys back.

Except for Rainbow Brite. We finally found a charity to take that one, because she gave my daughter nightmares!