Haute Coututu

I made another tutu tonight - this time by request...

She said, "purple, 6 years old, do whatever you want!" It's dangerous to tell me to do whatever I want when I hear "purple" and "6 years old" in the same sentence.

I recently saw this brilliant idea to just throw a bunch of embellishments onto a tutu and watch little girls prance around like princesses, and I have wanted to try it since then. It sort of goes against my nature to flout balance (not symmetry...just balance), but I did it anyway :)

I hope she wears it with boots...

Passover

The best part about reading the Easter story to Sadie was listening to her sing "Mighty to Save" when we got to the part about Jesus being risen...

Oh...and then when her little Bible fell on Eric's leg and he told her that she "Bible thumped" him...that was pretty good too.

Passover starts tomorrow evening. I love the Old and New Testament parallels of atonement. When Israel disobeyed, God sent 10 plagues. The tenth (because the Israelites didn't get it the first 9 times) was to kill the first born of every home. Every home except those who marked their doorposts with the blood of a spotless lamb. Passover commemorates the spirit of the Lord "passing over" homes that chose to display the blood of the spotless lamb on their doorposts. His judgement (death) passed over these homes. Maybe there were Jews who didn't mark their doorposts. Maybe there were Gentiles who heard about God's pending judgement and marked theirs in preparation (they had, after all, seen the other 9 plagues).

I believe that Jesus is the revelation of the meaning of Passover. He is the spotless lamb, and God's judgement still passes over those who "mark their doorposts" with the blood of the Lamb. Just as in the Old Testament, we have the free will not to "mark our doorposts", but for those who do, well, "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1). Same Bible...better Lamb.

As Augustine put it: “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed. The New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.” The Old Testament hasn't been rendered useless, it has been perfected.

Happy Passover!

Today was my 5th day with no Coke.

Today, I hosted a major event for my division.

Today, my track record (Kendra + event planning = blizzard) was broken! (yay!)

Today, my husband cleaned the entire house while I was at work. He's my favorite.

Welcome to Pennsylvania

Me: "Do you also need my registration?"

Officer: "Yes, and your insurance. Did you know your registration is expired?"

Me: {hand over the info the nice officer requested} "Oh no - by a lot?"

Officer: "Yes...2009"

Me (lying): "I had no idea!"

Officer: "Thanks, I'll be right back"

Guy in the car beside me (stopped at a light...yelling out his window):"Don't worry - you're too pretty, he'll definitely let you go!" (is it wrong to be smiling and/or flattered while awaiting a citation?)

Me: (smiling and flattered) "I highly doubt it!"

Officer (back again...with a yellow paper): "Ok - have you ever received a ticket in Pennsylvania before?"

Me (with my very best, most charming southern accent...too little, too late): "No sir, I never have."

Officer: "Well let me explain how this works..."

I knew I should have pulled out the accent at "I had no idea!"

Piggy

{at the pottery studio}

me: ok, we're going to leave your piggy bank here with these nice ladies and come back and get her later!

Sadie: {looks at me disapprovingly}

me: They're going to put her in the {frantically search for a toddler word for a kiln...} OVEN, and when she comes out, she'll be beautiful!

Sadie: She'll be FOOD!

me: {oops...wrong word choice} no, she won't be food...she'll still be a piggy bank.

Sadie: Mmmmmm

The studio called today! Piggy made it safely out of the oven. And she's still ceramic...not food.

Meet Piggy:

Half a piggy:

Piggy Profile:

Lovely little addition to Sadie's growing art collection...she was very proud :)

Coke Addiction

It's true...I have a Coke problem.

I haven't had one in 2 days...I haven't had any soda in 2 days. Prayers would be appreciated.

Look at that hussy trying to break my resolve.

I'll keep you posted.

Calligraphy...

No, no...not that...

I just took up calligraphy for a combination of reasons:

1. Because you can make money on the side if you're any good at it

2. Because I took some calligraphy in high school and wanted to see if I could still do it

3. Because my mom had this awesome calligraphy set when I was growing up, and I used to snatch it from her and write stuff I thought looked pretty and swirly

4. Because when I was a kid I heard about people from bygone days practicing their penmanship for hours on end. I was a strange kid in a lot of ways (you're shocked, I know), and one of those ways was that I decided if it was good enough for the bygone folk, it was good enough for me. I practiced writing for hours sometimes. My cursive is still kind of pretty. My print is crap, but my cursive is ok. Guys used to ask me to write love letters for them. Seriously? I was stupid enough to do that?

So in the example below, you'll notice that I decided to send some mail to The King...

This is not his real address...also, he's dead.

The Intihars

A monogram...my dear friends Haley and William Yount.

I just started...I need practice, but I can practice and watch New Moon at the same time!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fuh-un

Today was Mommy Sadie play day - I'm pretty sure being a girl is the most awesome thing ever...

First stop - Pottery Studio

Sadie decided she would paint a new piggy bank. She's a penny pincher (wonder where she gets that?), so her other piggy bank is full...instead of emptying it, better to just get a new one, right?

She went with a "polka-dotted pig" theme...it's fabulous.

Then we went to Moe's for lunch, Sweet 'n' Sassy so that Mommy could steal some ideas to check out the awesome new girlie things that are out right now, Target for fingernail polish, and home for nap time :)

After nap - the playground...Sadie made a new friend named Simmani. {"Hey!! Hey!! MY name is SAAAADIIIEEE!"} Simmani did not, however, make a new friend named Sadie. It's really fascinating to me to watch the relationship dynamic between toddlers...I wish I could be a fly on the wall at her school all day...

And there could be only one reason to sit like this...

I did *not* show her how to sit when I painted her nails...she knew exactly what to do - like it's some sort of innate response. Love it :)

And after all that - she still had time for a little floral (re)arranging afterwards. She's so creative - who would have thought to put the floral foam OUTSIDE of the container? Artistic. Genius.

Tulle Tututorial

A couple of years ago, we went to Oktoberfest in downtown Hickory, NC. In one of the booths, a woman had these gorgeous little tutus. I talked to her politely while I carefully manipulated her tutus until I found out how to make them. Because I'm super sneaky. And now I'm going to share the secret with you!

Get several (60-100) yards of tulle (in any color your princess chooses)

Cut lengths of tulle exactly twice the length of the skirt you intend to make (ours were just over a yard)

Great window, right?

Sew a band of elastic together for the waist (helps to measure...)

Knot tulle pieces around the waistband...

...continue until band is completely covered

Ta da! (yes - seems nightmarishly difficult, doesn't it?)

You can add some accoutrements if the spirit moves ya...we added girlie little rosettes to this one

When a real-life princess models the tutu - it'll look something like this:

And this:

Glass slippers will, of course, complete the look...

I have seriously considered selling these...they're super easy and super cheap painstakingly difficult and cost a fortune ;)

Errant Thought Roundup

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I forgot to say it yesterday...I tend to get a little too serious on my rant days.

I wrote a poem today while I was chasing down errant thoughts:

I love, I love, I hate, I hate

I like, I wish, for goodness sake

I hope, I hope, I pray, I pray

I will, I won't, and for today...

I love this song:

I love getting comments on a post

I hate the way my kitchen smells when I refuse to do the dishes (like last night)

I hate olives

I like when my house is totally quiet at the end of the day and all I can hear is the refrigerator humming

I wish I could find the motivation to exercise

For goodness sake, please don't give a new mommy unwanted advice. You have your own kids...do what you want with them.

I hope our two (100% paid for!) cars last for 4 more years

I hope I don't have to wait until after Lent to have a beer

I pray that my mom will step out in faith and recognize her talents

I pray that my baby girl's checkup will go perfect next month

I will go to bed early tonight

I won't think about my mountainous to-do list tonight

And for today, I'm just trying very hard not to hide it under a bushel...sometimes it sneaks under the bushel before I realize it. And then I have to get it out again. And that's just awkward.

Wacky Wednesday (or..."A Treatise on Children's Literature")

Last year, I posted a rant about a book called "The Rainbow Fish" reproduced here in its entirety:

I just re-read Sadie's copy of "The Rainbow Fish" book while I was sorting things for the yard sale. It's supposed to be about sharing. The little fish is covered in shiny scales and all of the other fish want his shiny scales because they don't have any. At first he doesn't give them away, but then he realizes he's all alone and doesn't have any friends. A wise old octopus tells him, "Give away your shiny scales. You won't be as beautiful, but you will have friends." So the rainbow fish gives away all but one of his shiny scales so that EVERY fish has exactly one shiny scale.

Several Morals
1. Redistribution of wealth is good.
2. Individuality is bad.
3. Personal property? How selfish of you!

Is there a sharing and vanity component? Sure, but if the author didn't intend to promote the aformentioned ideals, he certainly did a great job of stupidly stumbling upon them...LOTS of people love this book. I'm sure it's the sharing and vanity component...

In stark contrast, Sadie and I watched the movie "The Incredibles" together tonight while folding clothes...complain about it if you want, but it's probably my favorite kids movie of the last decade. My very favorite theme can be summed up in a couple of key quotes:

(Talking about Dash's particular gifts...he's a superhero)
Helen Parr (to her son): "Everyone's special, Dash."
Dash: "Which is another way of saying no one is."

Later...(talking about Dash's promotion ceremony from 4th grade to 5th grade)
Bob: "They keep creating new ways to celebrate mediocrity."

Yes, yes, we're all unique. Yes, yes, I believe everyone is created with gifts and talents...but not everyone uses them. Not to start a debate here, but I want Sadie to know it usually takes hard work to be "special," and that you can't just be conferred the title because you exist. DO something, MAKE something, BE something...don't just sit around and expect people to swoon over your specialness (well...I'll probably swoon over her 'specialness' regardless of what she does, but that's because I'm a mommy). People should succeed because they have done something to deserve success, not...well...just because. I don't want my sweet baby girl to have an advantage just because she's a girl, I want her to show all those boys how it's done...and with class.

The Incredibles - staying in the video library 'til we wear it out...then we're buying a new copy
"The Rainbow Fish" - relegated to the yard sale pile - $0.50 - barely used - any takers? :)

---

"The Rainbow Fish" is, of course, long gone - it hit the yard sale the next month (though I'm sad that some other child has to hear the nonsense it contains). We're continuing to wear out "The Incredibles" on a fairly regular basis.

Almost a year later, I still find myself pretty cautious about what goes into my daughter's impressionable little head. I'm not opposed to her seeing or hearing things that I disagree with, but while she's little, her brain is my responsibility. I'm not going to be careless with it.

Tonight, while reading "Wacky Wednesday" (on an otherwise normal Wednesday), I remembered that there are a couple of books that I "alter" a little so that they will more closely align with how I want to raise her.

One, in particular, called "Rock-a-Baby Band" is an annoying little rhyming book that she finds fascinating. She has almost the entire book memorized! We read it all except for the very purposeful subtraction of one word...

I know the author put this word in fairly innocently...I'm sure it wasn't to keep the rhythm of the rhymes in the book (because there's no rhythm in the rest of it), but I'm guessing that "rocker babies" are supposed to be at least a little rebellious. Not my kid. Sure, she'll rebel, but I want her to figure out how to do that without my assistance. I can just picture putting her down for a nap one day and hearing her sweet little voice say, "but, Mommy, 'rockers don't take naps!'" HA! I'm keen to just avoid that day all together.

Another book, "What is a Princess?," is one of those Disney early reader books. It's a great little book. She's learned to recognize quite a few words because of it. So...what is a princess?

A princess is kind

A princess is smart

A princess is caring

A princess likes to dress up

A princess is brave

A princess is ready for fun

A princess loves to see new things

A princess is a dreamer

A princess is polite

A princess loves to sing and dance

A princess always lives happily ever after

Ok - not all of these are entirely virtuous, and I don't really have a problem with any of them as they are written, per se...I think they're all ok things to aspire to (especially kindness, intelligence, bravery, politeness...). It's just that "A princess is ready for fun," a seemingly innocuous phrase, becomes whatever the opposite of innocuous is when it's paired with this fantastic picture:

(I added the extra text, of course).

I don't know what it is about the image paired with the words in this book...I'm totally fine with the entire movie scene. I'm fine with Sadie watching that entire movie scene - it really is quite innocent. There's just something about Jasmine escaping with Aladdin to have fun without the context of the movie that seems a little...well...slutty. I'm sure I'm reading too much into it (tee hee), but what if I'm not? If it's my responsibility to send her the right messages now, is this one I want to send?

We just skip this page completely.

In other news, I finished Sadie's alphabet book...a book I'm perfectly happy to have her read every page of.

...and shopping is virtuous when you do it with Nana. Just in case you were wondering.

As for our fun read of the night, "Wacky Wednesday" (a book in which no words or pages are skipped at our house)...Can you find all 20 Wacky things wrong in this picture? Patrolman McGann says when you do, you can go to bed. I found them all...guess where I'm headed?

Sadie Practices Photography

Eric's Theme Song?

In honor of my boyfriend Edward slight preoccupation with Twilight...

Awesome Un-Fishy Fish

We've decided to start eating healthier as a family. We already cook almost every night, but it's typically quick-prep semi-homemade stuff (casseroles, crock pot meals, or something boxed mixed with something fresh)...and it's very rarely healthy.

I have never made fish in my life. Fish is apparently good for you. I don't particularly like fish. Tonight I tried my hand at tilapia. It turns out that I am really good at making fish! Tonight, I (me!!) made the best fish I've ever eaten. Granted, I haven't eaten much fish, so this isn't speaking volumes, but I was pretty excited. I hope it's not beginner's luck!

Recipe for what I would like to refer to as "Awesome Un-Fishy Fish" (even though the Food Network refers to it as "Chili-Rubbed Tilapia with Asparagus and Lemon"). Pshh...c'mon Food Network...let's call a spade a spade. It's awesome un-fishy fish.

Ingredients:

2 lbs asparagus - tough ends trimmed, cut in half (recipe calls for 1" pieces...I guess that was too much effort for me)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder (Recipe calls for 1/2, but we really like garlic)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 lb Tilapia (or other white fish fillets)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice (Recipe calls for 3 tablespoons. This was WAY too much lemon for us)

1 bag of steam-in-bag corn on the cob (obviously you can use whatever you want...Our family is perpetually short on time, so steam-in-bag veggies are our friends. Also delicious and not as scary as they sound...)

Directions:

Steam asparagus until tender-crisp (my trick for awesome steamed fresh veggies). Transfer to a plate. Spread out to cool.

Combine chili powder, garlic powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt on a plate. Dredge fillets in the spice mixture to coat. heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook 5-7 minutes turning once. Remove fillets from pan (we went ahead and put them on the plates to serve).

Immediately add lemon juice, salt, and asparagus to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the asparagus is heated through (about 2 minutes). Serve with the fish.

Follow microwave instructions for steam-in-bag corn.

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This is what it looked like. DELICIOUS!