BEAUTIFUL day!

For a quick family trip to the Arboretum .... along with about 3/4 of the Dallas population.   But we waited until about an hour before they closed so at least we were able to park in the parking lot (which officially filled up and was closed from about 9:30AM to 4PM so people had to park off-site and be bussed in).  It is absolutely gorgeous there now (and already hot at 4:30)!  And yes, my little diva was using her umbrella (at her request) to shield herself from the sun.  

Bunny Pictures - 2012

Princess phase in full swing.

With Easter being 2 weeks away, the time for the annual "torture my kid with live bunnies" picture was upon me.  Bunny pictures (which turned out GREAT, by the way!) are coming in a later post.  It's pretty smart of this photographer to set up right next to the Disney store (he does the same thing at Christmas with Santa).  And I'm sure the store appreciates the extra traffic it receives at these times.  I do have to wonder, though, if I fall into the majority of parents in my compulsion to actually buy something after letting my kid play in there for a little over an hour?  Or is it okay, in the future, just to treat the Disney store as a fancy indoor playground and leave empty-handed?  

The first thing Kendall had her eye on was a pair of $12 Minnie pajamas.  Cool!  

Then she found the princess dresses.  Ugh.

And the castle.  That has a magic mirror on the wall, activated by a magic wand.

But she didn't just want the dresses (one of which was $150).   

Or the wand.

Or the tiara.

Oh no.  MY kid wanted the CASTLE, magic mirrors included.  But then (thankfully???) she discovered the tutus!  Kendall is ALL about dance these days.

So, despite myself, and with a sigh of relief that she had stopped dragging the $150 dress around the floor and had finally accepted the fact that the castle was not for sale, I purchased the tutu.

Aaaaand, on the way out, a particularly talented salesman stopped us to tell me that a stuffed Minnie Mouse in an Easter bunny costume is "only $7.50" for customers who have spent over $25 (which we definitely had done).  Then he handed her the bunny.  That (quite literally) smells like chocolate. 

Aaaaand two trips through the checkout line later, we left as proud new owners of a super fluffy pink tutu (which has princesses on it, a fact that somehow I had missed prior to the purchase) and another stuffed Minnie Mouse (with cocoa beans in its belly).  

These next two pictures were actually taken prior to all of the previous pictures, but I thought they were good "end of post" pictures!  :)

Cutest. Pigtails. Ever.

Photos I shall entitle, "?????"

Maybe Pippin taught her how to "couch perch?"  

Of all the places in this house to play ....

She told me this was a "train."  Okaaaay ...

Actually, the next two pictures will be called "whatever it takes to get her in the tub!"

"Fish gotta swim ...."

Hamentashen for Purim

Kendall has been learning about the Jewish holiday of Purim at school and wanted to celebrate it at home.  The dressing up in costume part has been practiced for some time now and it's safe to say that we will excel at that part of Purim in this household.  The cooking part of any holiday, however, causes me some angst.  Hamentashen are triangle shaped cookies with jelly or preserves filling.  Should be easy enough.  Should be even easier given the fact that Nana made the dough.  Kendall did have fun rolling out the dough.  In her princess costume.  

But the end result kind of resembled a crime scene on a plate.  They taste ok, though.  Kendall, however, won't even try them.  Next year we'll stick with the dressing up part of Purim and leave the cooking to the professionals.  

Little Things I want to Remember - 10

It's been so long since I've done a "Little Things" post that I had to look back to see what number I was on!  Turns out it's 10.

1.  Recent conversation:
Kendall (in a sing-songy voice, coming down the stairs):  "Here I go to get a chiiiii-iiiiip!"
Me:  "Sorry - you didn't eat your dinner.  No dinner, no chips."
Kendall (in the same sing-songy voice, turning around to head back up the stairs):  "Here I go to NOT get a chiiii-iiip!"

2.  The past two mornings, upon hearing my wake-up call ("Moooommmmy!  Time to wake Uuu-uup!"), I have gone into Kendall's room to find her out of her jammies and either completely dressed, or in the process of getting dressed.  She's even picking out appropriate (although not always perfectly matched) outfits and putting them on correctly!

3.  After listening to music with her daddy, Kendall said to me, "Mommy!  I'm a dead dead!"  I said, "You mean a dead HEAD?"  She said, "That's what I said!  A dead DEAD!"  LOL!

4.  While playing with her "friends" (used to be "hi-hi's" ... sniff) upstairs, I overheard her say to them, "Ok, I'll be back soon.  I have to go to book club and get more wine!"  Ooops.  It appears that I have inadvertently shown her the true meaning of "book club" a bit early in her life.

5.  "Mommy, when our doggies are gone, we can get a CAT!"  Not sure what's more disturbing.  The fact that she's already planning for the demise of my fur children, or the fact that she wants a cat.

6.  Kendall now spends a lot of her time sitting on the potty pondering what her poopies are going to look like.  Then, before I can put the toilet paper in the toilet, she has to inspect the poopies and classify them according to shape and size.  The other day she asked me if I thought she'd ever have "a big poopie that looks like a raspberry?"  I truly hope not.

7.  After a particularly brutal day at work, I picked Kendall up from school and got her McDonalds for dinner (I really do try not to do that often!).  She refused to eat her burger - seriously... what kid doesn't eat McDonalds cheeseburgers??  So I refused to let her have a cookie.  Here is the ensuing conversation:

Kendall:  "I need a cookie."
Me:  "No.  You didn't eat your dinner."
Kendall:  "I NEEEEED a cookie!"
Me (losing patience):  "I said no.  If you ask again, you're going to bed." (at 6:30)
Kendall:  "Mommy, where is your wine?"
Me:  hmmmmm
Kendall:  "Mommy, you NEEEED some wine."

Long story short:  30 minutes later I was sitting on the couch with a glass of wine and Kendall was sitting next to me with a Twix bar.  I like to think of it as a win-win outcome!