and the winner is...

the house we live in is usually a happy house. there is not a whole lot that gets us down. if there is a chore that is not on the top of our fun list, we just add a little music and just like that, it becomes a game. on a side note, recently e's creative lyrics sure made my week. we love love love marry poppins. e has a hard time remembering all the lyrics, but that does not hold her back from belting them out. last week when cleaning her room, i heard her sing "just a cup full of sugar helps the medicine go doooown..." well ok then, spoon...cup, eh. close enough. either amount of the sweet stuff would certainly get that room cleaned MUCH faster.

so as i was saying, the Ee house is a merry place to be...most of the time. in the 5 1/2 years that i have been blessed to be e's mama, i know that any time her belly nears emptiness or her sleep pile is not stocked up, the ornery meter sky rockets and before you know it, you will be knee deep in a mess of a meltdown. as you know e started kindergarten last week. overall it has been awesome. the biggest adjustment by far is the lack of sleep and lack of snacks. she is used to sleeping in late, occasional naps and three snacks plus regular meals each day. she's in the big leagues now. they don't get the perks of preschool. even though e fought afternoon naps, her body needed it.

this past monday i picked up e from the after-school program, just i like i did the prior two school days. she was quietly coloring with another little girl. how precious. little did i know hurricane e was just about ready to hit land. on our walk to the car i noticed she got a yellow card from the teacher. if a student receives a yellow card, it means they did not make very good choices that day. on the card it was noted that e would not stop talking during learning time and did not follow the rules. instead of scolding e, i asked her why she received a yellow card. seems like an easy question that should warrent a simple response. wrong-o buck-o! this started the 45 minute tirade of crying, flailing arms, name calling, screeching, and just down right naughtiness. in the midst of her nonsense, numerous times i told her to calm down (and i'm sure i said it in a very calm manner). this earned me an award. i was told i was the worst mom EVER!!!!!

now some would take offense or even be mad to get this award, i was honored. yes it would have been easier to just ignore her, bribe her with candy or spank her booty. i chose to call her out on her shenanaigns and when we arrived home, sent her to her room until we could respect each other and talk it out. being a mom can be very challenging at times. because i earned the illustrious title of worst mom EVER, i know i am doing my job. i have so much respect for my mom. she had to cope with two girls only 18 months apart. some how we all survived our teenage years. and we still like each other a lot. i can remember many a times when i sulked off to my room. claiming "it's not fair!" i look back at those moments and don't recall what had me so upset, but i do recall that no matter what, my mom never gave up on me. i just hope i can be the same rock for e.

my newly appointed award does not come with shiny gold trophy. it comes with something better. as i tucked e in for bed monday night, she gave me a giant hug and kiss and said she was sorry for being a bit crabby. that's all i need. it erased a crabtastic night. and i was able to go to bed with a smile on my face and a song in my heart. plus, who needs a shiny trophy anyway. that's just one more thing to dust.

twas the night before kindergarten...

well it's kindergarten eve and there is just as much if not more excitement in our house as the night before chirstmas. we spent the evening doing fancy things like dinner at our favorite italian restaurant.

followed by a big girl shower, not a bath. and topped the night off with lots of questions about what tomorrow will be like.

man 5 1/2 years has flown by fast. although i am super jazzed about e starting "real" school, i can't help but get all sentimental. the many nights i rocked my baby to sleep singing "take me out to the ballgame..." (i'm not good at lyrics, that's all i got). her first wobbly steps. the many impromptu dance parties in the kitchen. the songs i had to make up to her to get her to do every day things in a timely manner "jama-lama-ding-dong...DING DONG!"

e is the most amazing girl. yes, i am totally biased. but trust me, spend 10 minutes with the girl and you too will be her biggest fan. the strength she has in her pinkie finger alone is phenomenal. you should see all the grown men she has wrapped around it (poppy, big don and the godfather just to name a few). don't get me wrong, she has her moments that try my patience, but i wouldn't want her any other way. sass and all, God blessed me with a keeper.

so tomorrow morning we start a new chapter in our adventure book. the first big task at hand is not being tardy on the first day. e and i share the same feelings about mornings. we would love them much better if they weren't so early. i know e will do just fine and i will try my best to not let her see the tears in my eyes. because really, they're not sad tears but rather just the liquid form of love, pride and adoration. it's hard to hold that in...i've been collecting it for 5 1/2 years.

"happy kindergarten to all, and to all a goodnight..."

brain dump

***we take a break from our regularly scheduled programming so i can purge some of the randomness from my brain. bear with me. my baby starts kindergarten this week. there is no rhyme to my reason***

~spending a day in a cabana even if the scenery around you is mainly concrete, is a marvelous way to spend a day with a great group of girls

~i have very funny friends

~i never thought the sight of a box of crayons and glue sticks would make me all weepy

~if you work for a major AMERICAN company and your job is customer service, please speak clearly and be nice

~i love the way a floor lamp changes the mood of a room

~i asked K to get me a diet caffeine free pepsi from the gas station tonight and he laughed and said "so you just want brown water then?"

~it does seem like a silly request now that i think about it

~if you missed the fair, the next best place to people watch is adventureland. trust me, you won't be disappointed

~my fantasy football team is up and running and i couldn't be happier

~e asked to go to bed at 8:00 tonight because she needs to practice for the first day of school

~i love my family and feel very blessed to have them in my life

~rumor has it we may dip to 58 degrees in the evening this week

~secretly a bit excited about chili, lounge pants and sleeping with the window open

~despite our best efforts we did not finish the scavenger hunt at the state fair so we will need to find a different way to score a free plasma tv

~i see nothing wrong with eating dill pickles for breakfast

~do you ever wonder how that one shoe ended up on the side of the road?

~i'm still convinced it is a port key to another world

~just to be safe, i refuse to touch it

adventures in french cafes

so this morning before e headed to drama class at the dm playhouse i treated her to breakfast at a local french cafe. since it was a special morning e wore high heels which may i add are not the stiletto type but rather a sensible kid-friendly shoe with a slight wedge. they still sound great on hardwood floors and add extra sparkle to any outfit they are paired with. upon walking in the door we discovered we were immediately surrounded by snooty people on both sides of the counter. i was not aware that in order to dine at this establishment we were supposed to bring our pretentious attitude and down-turned nose. even the pastries looked annoyed with our presence. as i dealt with the employee-of-the-month e danced off to find the perfect table.

as we shared our overpriced pastry i glanced around the room. everyone looked cranky. yet again i was so happy that my breakfast buddy was a very bubbly 5 1/2 half year old who was beyond excited to have the biggest cup EVER of warm coco (she doesn't like it hot). even though she spilled the warm coco at least five times during her half hour impromptu dance routine, i loved every minute of it. my advice to you, the only way to truly enjoy an french cafe is to bring a bubbly girl with high heels. otherwise you just might catch a case of the crabbies, and that certainly is not the way to start your day. bonjour!

and...ACTION!!

welcome to the adventures of big E (that's me) and my sidekick little e (my 5 1/2 year old daughter). no two days are the same, and just when i have e figured out, she changes it up a bit. i love her independence and unique sense of style, however these two traits when combined can have an interesting outcome, kinda like mixing ranch and mustard, first thought is: strange combo. use it as dip with pretzels and you instantly fall in love.

that being said, yesterday we were getting ready to head out for an afternoon of furniture shopping. i told e to run upstairs and get dressed. easy enough. this is what she came up with.

i've learned my lesson. do not laugh at her costume...i mean outfit choice. her feelings get hurt. instead we just go with it. she informed me it was a "fancy" day.

a boring day of couch shopping turned into a fun adventure. e received many compliments on her ensemble. i noticed many crabby people instantly smile when they saw her galloping across the showroom floor. moments like this make my heart swell. for only being 5 1/2 she sure does make a big impact on those around her.

welcome to our adventure!