Let's Try This Again

Well, it's only taken me four months to come back to blogging.  I started teaching again, which tends to cut down on free time (read: eliminate it completely), and life has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Also, we started streaming netflix throught our Wii, which has sucked me into marathon Lost watching with my husband.  I still am not sure my brain has switched to summer mode yet, but Sissy and Sassy are fully in the swing of summer:

Life is good.  I'm hoping to do some sewing, crafting, cooking this summer that I can share. 

  

My Kid Could (and did!) Paint That

please 'scuse the flash in the above picture. thank you.

Sissy's artwork.  For an almost eight year-old, I'd say she's pretty awesome.  I want to go sit on that island and drink a margarita, staring at the sunset.

Tiny Tates

We made cupcakes this weekend ("tiny tates", according to Sassy).  Very non-nutritious, cake-mix-from-a-box, pastel-hydrogenated-oil-frosting-in-a-can cupcakes.  They were fun & also delish. 

Chocolate, lemon, and cherry frosting--the cherry was pretty gross, actually--don't ever buy it.

Sissy got right down to business...

lickety-split!

Sassy, however, was quite intent upon creating a frosting masterpiece.

Not yet...

closer...

what?  You didn't tell me there were sprinkles!

Ahh...at last.  And it only took 30 minutes to frost one cupcake!  Perfection takes time. 

Checking In With the Chillun

Sassy smelling a leaf--what do leaves smell like, anyway?  I'll have to ask.

Just wanted to do a quick update on Sissy and Sassy, for whom this little blog is named.  We are having sleeping issues around the S & S household.  Sassy has graduated to a "big-girl" bed and has lost her mind in the process.  She used to be this baby:

Day or night, you could put this baby in her crib with a binky and her blanket, and she would drift right off to dreamland.  Maybe a cry or two here and there, but mostly such a great sleeper I got VERY spoiled--I did crazy things like take a shower, fold laundry, check the mail.  It was such a welcome change from this baby:

This beautiful child is the worst sleeper the sweet Lord ever made.  We finally drove her out of our bed when she was 5.  She still wakes up EVERY SINGLE NIGHT at least once, and she's about to turn 8.  I doubt she's ever experienced a single REM cycle in her life.  I know I've gone 8 years without one.  Somehow, she has stealthily communicated to her sister that it would be a great idea if they satggered their late-night awakenings.  It goes a little something like this:

8:00--Daddy gets Sassy to sleep; takes about 15 minutes

8:30--Sissy gets into bed, sternly warned not to read any books

10:00--after much drama (and book-reading), Sissy falls asleep

11:00--Daddy & Mommy turn in for the night

11:30--Sassy wakes up & Daddy goes & gets her back to sleep

2:00--Sissy comes in to use our bathroom, though there's one right next door to her room

3:30--Sassy wakes up & is brought into our bed out of desperation

5:30--Daddy hits alarm and nearly weeps from pure exhaustion

6:30--Mommy hits alarm and does same.

Sometimes, not one of us wakes up in the same place we started out the night before.  Often, actually.  And when I go in to wake up Sissy for school, I get this look:

 

Actually, that is a much nicer look than the one I usually get.  I refuse to take a picture of her devil-possessed look.

Oh, well.  One day I'll  back on these times and wish they still wanted nothing more than to snuggle in my bed.  But that time will probably coincide with me waiting up to see if they make curfew.  Sigh.

Sisters

My girls are starting to argue.  I imagined that having my girls 5 years apart would cut down on that sort of rivalry, but it looks like I was waaay off base.  Gone are the days when Sissy would look at her little sister lovingly and sigh, "Oh, Mama, isn't she cute?  She's cuter than all the other babies in the world!"  Now there's a lot of "Mom, she's in my room!  Get her out!"  Not to say that Sissy doesn't still cuddle Sassy and mommy her, but the bloom is off the rose, so to speak. 

Sassy is now almost 2 1/2, and her little (or should I say BIG) personality is emerging.  She is sweet-natured and loving, but has a hot temper and knows exactly what she wants.  Sometimes when Sissy wants to snuggle, she gets an emphatic "NO!" and sometimes even a push.  Of course, Sissy is outraged, and proceeds to huff away to her room.  She's no slouch in the "knowing-what-you-want" department either, I might add.  I keep telling myself that one day God will use these strong personalities in an amazing way.  Right now, their primary function seems to be to make me tired.

I know in my heart that all of this stuff is normal.  I know siblings fight, and it's all part of the deal.  It's still hard sometimes to let that idealized notion of sisters go.  I just need to go ahead and embrace the noisy, fussy, sweet, messy business of sisterhood.   

Friday Faves--Favorite Kids' Toys

So, favorite kids' toys?  We are NOT video game folks around here, but we broke down and bought a Wii a couple of weeks ago and every one of us loves it.  I can wholeheartedly say it offers exactly what it promises:  interactive family fun.  It's been a great way for Sissy to spend some fun time with her daddy, who is most grateful not to have to play Barbies anymore.

Anything and everything by Melissa and Doug.  Sassy got the Slice and Bake Cookie Set for her birthday, and all 4 of us play with it.  We've asked Santa for the Bake and Decorate Cupcake Set, so we'll see.  A tried and true toy for around the 9-18 month range is the Playskool Ball Popper, which is loads of fun.  Sassy played with it so much she lost all the balls and we had to find new ones.

Sissy has mostly outgrown the toy stage, so this year we've had to branch out.  I don't have a link, but we picked up some great art supplies at Michael's last week, and each was under $5.  So for the price of a cheap piece of $20 plastic junk, we were able to buy her a set of pastels, real drawing pencils, real watercolors, and watercolor pencils.  If I can find a cheap easel, we're on the way.

Since I'm a little bit crafty, I've made some felt food for the girls as well.  It's so much more fun than plastic food, and even Sissy (who's 7 1/2) loves to play with it.  I'm hoping to post some tutorials soon, but there's adorable stuff like this and this if you don't have the inclination to make your own.  Go get your Christmas shopping done so you can actually enjoy this year, OK?!  Go see Missy to get more toy tips!

Tiny Dancer

*Sigh* I think I'm in love. For the millionth time with this one...

Works for Me Wednesday: Toys Worth Buying

With Sissy, our first daughter, we didn't know anything about toys. We bought practically everything Fisher-Price put on the market between 2002 and 2005, and if we didn't buy it, the grandparents did. Both of us come from single-parent homes where money was tight, so when we had Sissy I think we subconsciously decided that she woud never have to "do without" something that other kids had. Unfortunately, that mindset resulted in an overwhelming amount of toys, most of which never got played with. With that in mind, here's a list of toys that actually worked for us:

Fisher-Price Ball Popper -- I can't find anyone, adult or child, who doesn't love this thing.

Stuffed Animals -- depending on the child, these can lead to hours of imaginary play

Puzzles -- wooden puzzles are educational, long-lasting, and fun

Play Food -- the wooden variety is sturdiest, but check around the web to find felt food patterns

Blocks -- for younger kids, the bigger the block, the better!

Art Supplies -- a no-brainer

Fisher-Price Piggy Bank -- my 2 year-old is still going strong with this; good manipulative toy

Add a baby doll & stroller if you've got girls, or a cars and trucks with a road-map rug for boys, and you're set!

It's really hard for parents not to buy into the hype of the latest "developmental" toys being marketed today (& don't even get me started on video games!), but the basic toys are always the best. Fundamentally, what young kids like to play hasn't changed in generations. Head on over to We Are THAT Family for more tips and inspiration!

And, why do we homeschool, again?

I love lapbooking. I love the theory behind combining craftiness and learning, though I'll admit to being a little, shall we say, OCD about making everything perfect (I'm working on this, I swear). Sadly, I often take the fun out of it for Sissy, because I tend to hover to make sure she's doing everything "right". Today, inspiration struck and she wanted to make her own book about fairies. I vowed to leave her alone until she asked for help, and things went swimmingly. She needed help binding the pages, which is when I finally got a look at the book. Nice.

Not sure where 'Queen Caca' got her name, but see? It's so much more fun for both of us if I let her do it by herself.

PS--I didn't bother posting the picture of the fairy named 'Tata'. What's the point?

Meet Sissy

Behold the two faces of Sissy, my 7 year-old. She is a beautiful, intelligent, sweet gift from God. She is also a lesson from God made flesh, because Sissy is just like me. She is headstrong, bossy as the day is long, and possessed of the sure knowledge that she is ALWAYS right. Ouch.

I'm not sure I believe in "generational curses" in quite the way that others do, but I do believe some of the characteristics handed down in the old DNA can shock you in their, ahem, familiarity. It's one thing to recognize your own faults and battle them in yourself every day, but to turn around and battle them again in a smaller (but much cuter) package can be overwhelming, to say the least.

But Sissy is unlike me in many wonderful ways. She possesses an astounding imagination that I completely lack; she acts out elaborate stories, sings her own songs, choreographs her own dances. She has a natural physical grace that is amazing (my husband's nickname for me is "Stumbleina") and a curiosity about knowing everything there is to know in the whole, wide world. She loves nature, animals, and bugs. Me, not so much.

That God. If he didn't wrap up some of our hardest lessons in such beautiful packages, what would we do?