storybook dress-up

Sweet Remi had storybook dress-up today.

She dressed as

"The Princess and the Pea"

Do you love the

pea necklace?

We made it!

And the dress???

Emma wore this dress

at a wedding.

She was the flower-girl.

She was 2 1/2!

So you can guess it's

kinda tight

on Remi.

But she said

not to worry,

she didn't need to breath...

knock-knock

Last night we got home and were greeted by

Emma and Scott

who were

excited

to see Sweet P walking!

That's right, first steps

at 11 months!

Emma walked at 7 1/2 months.

Charlee and Remi at 8.

But none of us around here

wanted Parker to

grow up

so fast.

No one really

encouraged walking.

But yesterday she did it!

On her own.

(with Charlee's help ;))

Here's some video:

(...loves her Uncle Chris!)

So last night when we got home and the

walking excitement

subsided,

we were hanging out in the kitchen...

doing dishes...

nursing the crock pot...

shopping the pantry...

when we hear a light knock on the door.

"Is that the door?"

Scott says yes

and goes to answer it.

He opens the door and announces: "You gotta see this!"

We all ran to the door.

AVA!

Yes, the dog was at the door.

With all the

baby-walking-excitement

 she must have slipped out.

So she paw-ed the screen

to

knock-knock-knock

on the door.

I think she was mad.

She wouldn't look us in the eye.

And she pouted.

For a while.



cy-woods homecoming 2011

Emma was bEaUtFuL!!!

Simple dress, simple jewelry, glamour-y eyes...

Loved the look.

And don't be fooled,

the messy bun

takes longer than ya'd think.

But she was very happy with how it turned out!

It takes about 2 hours.

To dry the hair.

Apply make-up.

Style the hair...

I figure by the time Charlee

starts attending

homecoming dances

we'll have to start getting ready at 8 in the morning!

;)

bitter-sweet endings

Remington was a fairy this weekend

in a very funny

rendition

of the classic

Red Riding Hood.

Auditions and rehearsals began

way back in May.
Remi knew she would be cast as Red Riding Hood herself.
Instead she was cast as 'Elf #6'...
a Fairy!
The littlest fairy!

The cast and crew have practiced all summer.

It's a big deal.

Scott and I took turns

attending

rehearsals.

And boy have there been

a lot.

I mean a really lot!

Especially in this last month of preparation.
On one such night
actors were to come to rehearsal
in costume.
Only I forgot our
fairy wings
at home.
Remi was quietly disappointed.
But when we got home, she said that
Red Riding Hood
told her that
she was
a beautiful fairy,
even without her wings.

The production came off beautifully.

Without a hitch.

Two amazing performances!

Remi had 3 lines.

#1:

"We're a pack of woodland elves!"

#2:

"This (is) may be the news you're dreading..."

('is' was added by Remi...totally not in the script.  And a summer of practice couldn't kill it either; just made it a bit sweeter)

#3:

"...as we..."

Other than that she had a buncha dancin.

And singin.

Both of which she's

obviously able.

She was born for it!

When it was over,

while Ms Candice was

sharing her thanks,

Remi couldn't stop

cleaning up

all the kitty

'furballs'.

Too cute!

In spite of the long hours spent in practice,

it was kinda sad at the end.

Especially when the director told me that

Remi

was the first love of the

entire

cast and crew.

I hope she wants to participate again next year.

Cause the day after the last performance

I'm all ready to do it again!

mum-ified

How appropriate for October!

eMmA mum-ified:

Yes! She made it!

Details:

whatever!

This morning:

"Mommy, yesterday I couldn't find a water bottle in my backpack for after recess."

"It should have been in there, Remi."

"It wasn't. So I gotta drink at the water fountain."

"Ewww, don't do that.  Get a water bottle. There are lots of germs on water fountains and you'll get sick."

"But I like water fountains."

"Whatever, don't come complaining to me when you get sick."

Quick as a snap:

"K, I'll con-plain to Daddy."

crunch time

The night of ghosts and goblins is soon upon us

(though we've never actually had a kid dress as a ghost OR a goblin).

Remi thought about being a princess.

Which means Disney Store.

$40 costume and $100 in accessories???

No thanks!

Besides that they're all pretty much the same, just with different

princesses on the picture.

I think she should go as a fairy

because

this costume is just too cute

(for her play this weekend):

We have, though, nailed down

two

costumes

(we think).

Parker's gonna be Jessie from Toy Story

(how cute is this):

And we're thinkin Charlee's gonna go as her trusty sidekick, Woody:

We'll see how that goes.

No clue on Emma...but I'm likin' the Toy Story theme...Remi could be Little Bo Peep and Emma could be Hamm the pig...

 Letcha know when we figure it out.

Cause October is all about the costume hunt!

knowing me...

I love this.

My girls know...

if I see a lunchbox

or a binder

or a jacket...

I'll panic.

And run it by the school.

So I smiled really big when I opened the pantry saw this:

The note on her lunchbox says:

I'm buying my lunch, don't worry. I have money!

Heart, Charlee

homecoming hair

It's all about the dress.

Until you get the dress.

Then it's all about the accessories.

Until you figure out the accessories.

Then it's all about the mum.

Until you've got the mum situated.

And finally it's all about the make-up.

And the hair.

We did Emma's.

It turned out very pretty.

She loved the dress.

(borrowed)

And the accessories.

And the mum.

And the make-up.

But mostly she loved the hair.

Simple.

Elegant.

Beautiful.

Understated.

Kind of like Emma...

homecoming mums

Remember corsages?

'Mums' for corsages???

Well mums have come a long way!

At least here in Texas, I'm told.

Friends from out of state are

amazed

when the season pops up and

mums are everywhere.

In all the stores.

"Tell me about the mums,"

they say.

But the new thing is makin your own.

Emma went to Homecoming with a dear friend

a couple of weeks ago.

To his school.

She made his garter and had a lot of fun doing it.

Time's a crunchin now, though,

on her school's

Homecoming.

She's gonna have to get started soon.

Here's a pic of the garter she made for Ian.

Another of Ian and Emma

(notice her modest mum...exactly what she wanted)

In case your not from Texas.

Or the south.

Here's an example of some of the

typical mums

you'll see around these parts:

This is one you can order online.

Not sure how much this one is.

But they run

online

for up to about $200.

Kind of a lotta money for a corsage.

We'll post pics of Emma's current project when it gets going.

temptation

Ahhh HEB...you've gotta stop with the good stuff.

I discovered, in the Produce section, by the strawberries,

fresh whipped cream.

Amazing whipped cream!

The kind you're tempted to eat off a spoon

rather than a strawberry.

Got an HEB?

Go get it.

But be careful.

sad day

Well Parker didn't win the contest.

Although she did come in at a fightin' #19!

But that's not why we're sad today.

We're sad for a much more significant reason...

Grampy has a turtle sanctuary at the shop.

Box turtles

Russian Tortoises

Sulcata Tortoises

A Red Foot Tortoise

A Leopard Tortoise.

A couple of months ago he found baby box turtles.

Oh the excitement!

Everyday he found a couple more.

Charlee would scour every inch of the turtle pen searching

for more babies.

Fourteen!

Fourteen baby turtles we found!

So much fun!

We'd all sit around a plastic tub watching them eat.

Watching them soak.

When the kiddoes had a bad day

they'd come in

and grab a turtle to play with.

They were doing great.

They were eating so well!

They'd munch on mealworms like nobody's business.

And boy were they growing!

Everyone enjoyed them.

Even Parker, who said a sound like "turtle"

a time or two while watching them.

But this weekend the

stupid, stinkin'

ants

got into the office and

killed all of the baby turtles.

Everyone's feeling the sadness.

Beyond sadness!

So Parker's loosing out to 18 other babies

is so inconsequential this morning.

last day to vote

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO VOTE

FOR PARKER!

SHE'S #23 AND NEEDS ALL THE VOTES SHE CAN GET!

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!!!

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/23

still campaigning

So once I was sure Sweet P was up for the day

and there was no hope she might fall asleep

for a little bit more...

I got on up and checked our standings.

And it looks to me like they don't update the

spots

on weekends.

Parker's still at #36.

But it says "yesterday she was at #88".

Which was actually

Thursday.

So KEEP VOTING!!!

PLEEEEZE!

No matter where it says she's at, voting goes through

Sunday

at 11:59pm.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/36

voting...

SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS,

"GO VOTE FOR PARKER!!!"

We're number THIRTY-SIX.

A long way gone

but a long way to go.

And it only gets harder near the top.

Please please please go here and vote for my sweet Parker!

(and don't look at the other babies cuz they're all pretty adorable)

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/36

look-alikes

Have you seen The Help?

Do you remember my post about Mae Mobley?

I still haven't seen the movie, but Amanda did.

She called to report the uncanny resemblance of

Mae Mobley

to

Remington.

So I googled it.

The very first image was this one,

Mae Mobley:

And here's Remi:

aMaZiNg!!!

Remi saw the pic of Mae Mobley and asked,

"Where was I in that picture?"

Funny thing is, part of the reason I fell in love with the book was because

 Mae Mobley

is so much,

completely

and totally

like

 My Remi.

Great casting!

(but they shoulda called me, Remi was available!)

daily vote...now!!!

NOW we're up to number EIGHTY-EIGHT!

But only number ONE counts...

So PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...

VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Danke Schoen!!!

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/88

trend-setting

Remi tends to be in the hottest gear, which is not really so of your average

Kindergartner.

But Remi has 2 big sisters.

That keeps her on top.

It's why she was the first 4-year old to

sport the hair feather:

She has the hippest sunglasses:

The newest tutus:

And the cutest headbands:

Everyone's wearing this stuff now.

Wondering how long it'll take for these adorable tights to catch on:

election link

HERE'S THE LINK TO VOTE FOR PARKER

TODAY!

We moved from #314 to #205!

GO, GO GO!!!

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/205

parker for president!

Okay...or maybe just cute baby of the week!

Elizabeth emailed me to submit photos of Remi and Parker for this contest.

And the wise people at Parents.com picked a pic of

Parker!

Do you think she's the cutest baby ever?

We do!

But right now she's #314

and

NEEDS YOUR VOTE!

If you could take about a minute she'll save a kiss for you!

You don't even have to watch the whole advertisement; click play and after a few seconds you can click 'skip' and get your vote code.

THANK YOU!...from Election Central!

CLICK HERE:

http://photos.parents.com/american-baby-cover-contest-1/40/2011/314

(and if you really love us, you can vote DAILY!)

missing out.

Last week, 3 of the 6 of us were sick.

Really sick.

Remi fell first.

Then me.

Followed by my sweet Charlee.

;(

But what really sucks is the dreaded fever blister.

Because it means I'm now missing out on this:

Open-mouthed

slobbery

biting-my-lip

wet kisses

from my baby!