Here's how I made amends...

I ended up asking Ella what would make her feel better about the situation (thanks for the suggestion to the person who made it). She said "You could buy me a new Marie....or you could make a dress for this Marie to make her feel pretty again." Soooooo I spent a couple hours making a dress for Marie and made a quick trip to the store to buy special buttons for Marie's dress. After I made the dress, she decided that everyone needed party hats (why not?) so we all got some party hats to celebrate Marie's new-found beauty. Here are the results...

If the hat and the dress were all white, I'd say she looks more like "KKK Marie" than "Party Marie."

Docile, beautiful Marie. Check out the button.

From a distance...

The Partiers
Yes, there's even a little spot cut out of the dress for Marie's tail to go thru.Non-party going Marie.

The Marie Chronicles

She's still willing to pose with Marie despite her less than desired look.

Poor Marie--her hair used to have such volume...kinda like a Troll Doll...
Up close of poor Marie


The other night, Ella threw up a little in her bed. I don't think she had the flu or anything but she was coughing quite a bit and threw up from coughing. So I stripped her bed and everything that was in the bed went in the washer, too. I put it on the long cycle in the washer because I wanted to make sure it was extra clean and then threw it all in the dryer. I didn't think much of the fact that there were a couple stuffed animals in the mix. I took all the bedding out of the dryer and put it in a basket. I took the basket in the living room. I saw Marie sitting on top and tossed her to Ella while continuing to fold the sheets, etc.

Folding...folding...folding..."MARIE. WHAT HAPPENED TO MARIE?!?! MARIEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

Me: "Huh? What's wrong with Marie, Sweetie?"

Ella: "Her hair! Her hair! Look at it!!"

Me: "Huh. Looks like it shrunk a little in the dryer." Crap. Looks like it shrunk A LOT in the dryer. I'm in a heap of trouble.

Ella: "I used to stroke her hair up into a little tiny point and now I caaaaan't. Her hair looks like GRAMMIE'S!!" (Grammie has a short, permed 'do that she's been sporting (and I've been trying to get her to get rid of) since the early 80's.). Insert lots of crying here.

I tried to joke around about it to lighten the mood so I played the melodrama card.

Me to Marie: "Oh POOOR Marie! I am soooo sorry, Marie! Your beautiful hair! Oh Marie what will you dooooooo?"

Ella (laughing) to me: "Don't be silly. You're just being goofy now."

Me to Ella: "I really am sorry about Marie."

Ella to me: "It's ok."

Ella exits the room and I sigh in a moment of relief....until she returns one minute later.

Ella to me: "Mommy, I really....am.....upset....about MARIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" Insert hysterical crying and many hugs here.

I feel about this big now.

I went to work and made all my coworkers listen to the story so they could give their advice because I didn't know what to do. There were many schools of thought. Here they are in no particular order:
1.) Tell her you're sorry and that's the end of it.
2.) Buy her a replacement Marie because if you had ruined something of your friends, you would replace whatever you ruined for your friend.
3.) Explain to Ella that Marie is still the same Marie on the inside even though she is now ugly on the outside. We love Marie for what's on the inside.
4.) Buy her a bigger, better Marie and beg for forgiveness.
5.) Fix old Marie with new hair/fur.
6.) Have the Easter Bunny bring a new one.
7.) Tell her you're sorry with no replacement because really it's just a small part of Marie that doesn't look good. She remains intact (minus the puff of her previously loved fur).
8.) Ask Ella what would make her feel better. A new Marie or the same existing Marie or a new toy to sub for the now unattractive Marie.

What did I decide to do? Stay tuned.

Another voting opportunity

Aron and I are trying to plan a vacation with the kids this summer. He never went on vacation when he was little and I only had bad vacation experiences (they were heinous. Think visiting every single Civil War battle field on a 2 week vacation while getting car sick riding in the back of my parents 1986 Buick Century--Ah the days.). We are having a hard time settling in on one particular place/thing to do.

Among our ideas are Disneyland, Yellowstone, getting a cabin in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and a train ride somewhere.

I'll put these options along the side for you to vote on but if you have a better idea, just leave it in the comments section. We want something really memorable for the kids since this will be our last summer together before Ella starts school in the fall.

Tell me about the most memorable vacations you guys had as kids!

Who wants to help? Anyone? Anyone? Buehller? Buehller?

See that pile of fur? It's only the beginning my friend.
That's a whole lotta fluff.

Some of you may recall that we gave our beloved KiKi a collar for Christmas. Although it seemed like a good idea at the time, it turns out it was not. KiKi has remained an outdoor/indoor kitty much to my dismay. I've sat her down and tried to explain to her that kitties with long hair, such as herself, are not meant to be outdoor kitties. Alas, she has resisted my plea for her to be an indoor only kitty. She goes out for long enough periods that she comes in a wet, yucky mess because her fur is so long. Since the addition of the collar, the fur around her neck has become one big furry, matted mess. She now has big wads of matted fur like a necklace around her neck. Although not ideal, this wouldn't be too big of a deal but when she scratches her neck, her nails get caught in the matted fur and she has started tearing the skin. I tried calling our vet and she wants me to try trimming the matts with scissors or (eek) shaving them off with clippers. I've already started trimming the outer layers of fur/surrounding area and am down to the hardcore tangles.

So who wants to come over and help? Anyone? Anyone? Tori? Amy?

This is a true story

I was upstairs putting away laundry when I heard a scream and then the sounds of crying. I went downstairs where I found Ella crying and Luke standing beside her. I asked what happened. Ella sobbed that Luke had stabbed her with a pencil. I then turned to Luke who was holding a pencil and said "Is this true?" He said it was true because he had wanted to play on the computer and Ella wasn't giving him a turn.

Angry. Very angry.

I gave him a pretty severe tongue lashing (read into this that I was yelling about how his watching Tom and Jerry cartoons have turned him into a complete savage and that he will never be allowed to watch them as long as he lives under my roof, etc, etc.). Then there were tears and a fun little activity we call "time out." He stood in the corner for time out for probably 15 minutes (the usual rule of thumb is one minute for every year old they are but this was a pretty severe violation). There was a lot of weight shifting back and forth on each of his feet because they had started to (presumably) hurt from standing on our wood floors in his bare feet. After his time was paid, he came out of the corner and started crying. I asked him what was wrong. He started crying really hard and asked if Ella would still be his friend.

I told him I didn't know because that was up to Ella. Feeeeel the tough love, baby.

He went up to Ella and said "Ella are you still going to be my friend" and then cried really hard again. She answered "Yes, Luke, I will always be your friend even when you stab me in the back with a pencil. Even if you stab me again."

We won't have to worry about a re-stabbing, will we, Luke?

10 random things

In the spirit of Facebook (this is a popular item on the site), I will now supply you with 10 random things about each of my children.

Ella

1.) She has a freckle on the bottom of her foot that just showed up one day. I spent quite a few baths trying to wash it off before I realized it was a permanent addition.

2.) She answers to a variety of names: Ellie Mae, Ella Kabella, Sunshine, Stink Pot, Sweetie Pie, Butternut. You name it and she'll at least kind of answer to it.

3.) She is a TV junkie. She can tell you what show is on by the position of the sun. Seriously.

4.) Second to her passion for the tube is her passion for all things computer. She whizzes around this thing like she's got an IT degree.

5.) When she's happy, she lights up. She nearly exploded the day that I made those dresses for her.

6.) Sometimes I punish her by not letting her wear a dress and making her wear jeans instead. Truly.

7.) She thinks everything is hilarious. She has an infectious spirit that makes everyone around her want to smile.

8.) When given the option, she tends to hang out with boys more often than girls. I think because Myles and Luke are her typical companions she's just used to doing that. She definitely enjoys hanging around girls, too, because she has 2 best girl friends at pre-school.

9.) She loves to make people feel special. She made Grammie and Lindy special Valentine Love Pillows (her title not mine).

10.) She has a photographic memory. She can tell you exactly where something is in her room even if she hasn't played with it in months.

Luke

1.) He has a lot to say. I dropped him off at pre-school the other day and the instant we were in the door, he stopped his teacher to tell her a whole bunch of stuff (like that he wouldn't be taking a nap there today, he wouldn't be eating lunch today, today was a Mommy Day, and that we might go to Grammie's library after school). I tried to smooth over the intense talking by saying "He's got a lot to say today!" His teacher replied "Oh this isn't too bad. He's usually got a lot more to tell me about." Crap. So you know that I drank juice straight from the container the other day, don't you.

2.) This kids a competitor. He wants to win at everything (eating his dinner first, playing Wii first, going to the bathroom first, getting in the tub first). You name it...he wants the title to show he can do it.

3.) He can sleep with his eyes open. My Mom finds it creepy but I find it funny especially when he snores with his eyes open.

4.) He's investigatory. He gets into things I would never even think about him getting into (like the time I was in the shower and came out to find him busting eggs on my kitchen floor).

5.) He's going to be that kid that wants to be a super hero when he grows up. You can frequently find him running around my house with a cape tied around his shoulders.

6.) This kid is the first one who realized that when Mommy says no more TV but you can play on the computer that he could just get into video links on PBS kids or Noggin. Techinically, he's not violating the No TV rule because he's using the computer.

7.) When he's quiet and you don't know where he is, be afraid. Be very afraid.

8.) I kind of like it when his hair gets a little long and moppy.

9.) He wants to be a helper. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad. Most times it is an adventure.

10.) He loves to call people on the phone (see also above photo). Sometimes I feel bad for the people he calls because there's no way they know what he's trying to tell them. Everyone's usually a good sport about it, though.

Sew easy...try this at home

I went shopping at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday. I like going there sometimes just to check out the goods without the pressure of children or husband hanging out and asking me when I'll be ready to go every five minutes. While I was there, I stumbled upon some material labeled "Garden Party." It was priced at 35 cents an inch (doesn't sound like a lot but this ends up being $12/yard which is expensive BUT I had a coupon.). The one end had a bunch of elastic in it and the other end was just free.

This is what it looks like when you buy it and wash/dry it.

Here's an up close of the material after you buy it.

So basically, you can buy however many inches you need and can easily make a tube top type dress for your youngster. I estimated that I would need 21 inches to make a dress for Ella. I bought two different types of material: One pink with green frogs and one green with pastel colored lady bugs.

Aside from the material you need:

One willing volunteer.

Your sewing machine and coordinating thread.

A spool of ribbon (bought on clearance for 25 cents. Yeah, that's right. I said 25 cents)

An iron and ironing board.

Now, take your material and sew the edges together.

Have your child put the newly constructed dress on (yes it was constructed with only one straight line of stitching plus I zigzag stitched the edges because I don't have a serger). Next measure out some ribbon to use as straps (see also below).

Sew on the straps. I left a little bit of extra strap on the ends so that if she grew over the summer, I could easily adjust them later.

Have your child try on the dress again to mark the hem.

Beg your kitty to get off the ironing board so you can iron the hem where you want it.

Iron the hem with your kitty still laying onthe ironing board because you can't force her to get off.

Take the dress back to ye old sewing machine and sew the hem on.

Have your child try the dress on.

Total price: 21 inches X 35 cents an inch=7.35 BUT I had a coupon for 40% off a cut of fabric so $7.35 X .6 =$4.41

Plus the cost of ribbon and thread--maybe 50 cents total but that's probably overestimating the cost. So $4.91 total

How long did it take? About an hour including the time it took me to try and get my cat off the ironing board and a ten minute phone call.

The end.

I choo- choo- chooooose you.

Ella's finally to that age that she is getting into doing Valentine cards. She had a little party at her Monday School yesterday and had a great time. Once she got home I listened to her talk about each one of the Valentine's she received and about how each person just knew that she would like this type of Valentine for this reason. She sat at the kitchen table for-ev-er trying to figure out who would want what Valentine card. She analyzed which type of Disney Princess she thought each of her friends would like ("Mommy, do you think that Beth would like the Belle Valentine because Beth and Belle both start with B or do you think she'd like Ariel better because they both have red hair?") I had somehow managed to purge memories of a young Annie doing this, too.

Battle of the Titans

Loser

(I'm not labeling him a "loser" I'm just making sure you know it's my Dad in the video. My Dad who lost. Lost to me. The Winner.)

I love how he rolls it, dances, and completely doesn't pay attn to where it goes.

My Dad can't stand to lose. There. I said it. Now it's out there. He hasn't bowled in like 20 years (at least...maybe more) but he used to be fairly decent at it from what I hear. He even took a bowling class in college, I believe.

Because he can't stand to lose, it's that much more fun to rub it in his face. I mean, yeah, I could've been the bigger person and let it go, but what fun is that? I mean, did I have to get right in front of him and point in his face and scream "LOSER!" like 5 times in a row? No, probably not. Did I have to chant "Who is the winning team? I am the winning team! Is he not the losing team? Yes, he is the losing team! Winning team! Losing team! Winning team! Losing team!" No, I guess not. I mean, did I take the above video with the intention of posting it on the blog after I beat him? Well, quite frankly yes, but that's beside the point.

(Winning team! Winning team!)

He's how old?

Myles, had his 5th birthday party over the weekend. He had a choice of a pool party or a bowling party.

What do you think he chose? I'll let the shoes do the talkin'.

Who doesn't want to rent a pair of shoes to sweat in for an hour??

Someone certainly likes her rental shoes...

Kiss me...I'm wearing rental shoes.

Chase watched a lotta the action via Grammie's lap.He even posed for the camera once or twice.

Everyone had a lot of fun bowling. Aron and I tried to practice a little by going bowling with our friends last weekend but, alas, we still we not good. Aron bowled an 80 and I bowled an 83.

The kids all bowled, too. Their scores were not the best and they were a little (read into that A LOT) overconfident from playing Wii bowling. Sometimes, Luke was a little hard to find so that he could take his turn. Mostly, because he was continuously at the buffet of food that Robin had set up. I guess he stole quite a few peoples bowls of chips and pretzels. My kid the thief!

Fool me once...

I was all ready to send Ella off to some sort of school for genius children (surely they have these, right?) because the other day she walked right up to her chalkboard and wrote the words "cat" "dog" and "rabbit" without my spelling the words to her. I even took her picture standing next to her genius-ness.

She had me going until I realized that the words were written above the chalkboard beside the pictures of said animals.

Damn. There goes the trip to Oprah.

Girl, You Know Its True

We all have songs in our i-pod that we would rather not let people know that we listen to. I got my Mom an i-pod for Christmas and helped my Dad set up the songs on it. I realized that I was helping him pick out the most lame songs ever to put on her i-pod because she has horrendous taste in music (need I even say the name "Sandy Patty," Mom?). She and my brother vy for the most lame music on my i-pod award (need I even mention that he's a Fan-ilow?).

So in the spirit of providing you all with TMI, I listed the most lame songs I have on my i-pod (these are few and far between the regular stuff, I promise, but yes, they are actually in there).

Vote for your favorite (or non-favorite if you will).


******Update: I just called my Mom to see which one she thought was the most lame (given her stellar taste in music) and she said to me "You've got all those in your i-pod? Do I have those 'cause I'd really like them. All but Michael Jackson. I don't like him."********

Welcome!

I recently joined Facebook and posted this blogsite in my background information. For those of you who are new here, Welcome.

Just in case you are confused: Myles and Chase are my brother's children. I only have 2 (Ella, 5 and Luke, 3). If you write a comment, that's awesome, but please do not use our last name or give any identifying information about where we are located. I try to keep that out of the blog so just in case some crazy stalker stumbles upon it they (hopefully) would not be able to locate us.

Chase: The Expose

I've decided that Chase is the most surly, crabby baby I've ever met. He's Mr. Fussy Pants...nothing ever makes him happy...I mean, look at all the pix if you need proof.

Exhibit A: See? Crabby. He won't even give a full smile for the camera. Probably thinks he's too good to give a whole smile for Aunt Annie.

Exhibit B: See? He's putting his hand up to shield my camera. You too good for Aunt Annie the Paparazzi? Snob.

Exhibit C: See how menacing he is? Yeah, he's scary. Thoughts of him coming after me keep me up at night. He haunts my dreams!

Exhibit D: See how he's trying to make Ella's baby doll come and sit in his lap? I think she's too scared to move.

Exhibit E: See how he's pushing Ella? He could just get up and walk away but no, he's gotta push and exert his physical superiority. One word: Bully.

Exhibit F: Need I even mention that he's slapping baby doll? It's all fun and games til Baby Doll gets slapped in the face... then it's just a future in crime for this guy.

Fantastic 4

Ella's spaz interpretative dance of Wow, Wow Wubzy (Wubzy, Wubzy, Wow, Wow)

Look at how cute he is!

Chase, Myles, Ella and Luke (what do you mean, not everyone has their own set of Superman pj's complete with cape??)

Their latest love...Tom and Jerry.

Chase and Myles came over a few days ago while Jeff and Robin went on a mini-date. The night was filled with Tom and Jerry, rice krispie treats that somehow I made too marshmallowy and they never quite set up (see also top picture with the kids eating them with a spoon), and spazy fun.