Great Quote

I came across this quote recently and have to share. Appropriate for me lately...

"We are like tea bags - we don't know our own strength until we're in hot water."

~ Sister Buche

(I miss this silly little blog and hope to return on a more regular basis once the party is over!)

Breathe in, Breathe out.....

Look what I just found on Etsy. Oh my! They're ALL sold out.....maybe you can make some more, Sweet Little Etsy Seller.....pretty please.....wrapped in beautiful paper and topped with bows and ribbons.....

I personally LOVE the lemon yellow one because that's the one I grew up with but look at these colors....

Some even have little custom license plates.....oh my.

Images courtesy of "Strictly For The Birds" shop on Etsy.

School Application

Hmmm.....so today I am completing a school application. We would like for Sophie to attend a lovely school close to our home and we're currently going through the steps of the application process. We attended the parent interview yesterday ~ check. Next step....actual paper application. Easy enough. Except for this question:

WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO DISCIPLINE?

Um, come again.

WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH TO DISCIPLINE?

Okay, so I've been mulling this one over for quite some time and I've come up with the below responses. Which do you think is best? Or maybe most appropriate?

*** Could you define discipline?

*** Discipline? What's that?

*** Would welcome your suggestions.

*** Don't you handle that at school?

*** SCREAM AS LOUD AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

*** Dad leaves it to Mom. Mom leaves it to Dad.

*** I don't understand English.

*** FEAR

*** Red Wine

*** I break a toy each time she misbehaves.

*** I am pretending like I don't see this question.

I guess I've never spent much time dwelling on my approach to discipline, or rather how to describe to someone else my approach to discipline. You see, my secret confession is that I don't really buy into all that "Time Out" silliness or "talking down to their level" business. I'm sure it works for other people (and maybe well) but it's just not my gig. I do what I do and I guess I have no idea what it's called or how to put it into words. Some days I do a good job of disciplining my daughter. Other days I am sure I fail miserably. SO, at the end of the day, all I do know is this......

I do what I have to do in order to survive each day without completely ruining my daughter. I try not to call her names. I don't tell her she's a brat or that she's acting like a baby. I try to focus on how she should be acting rather than concentrating on what she did wrong. I try to provide structure but also fun, joy, independence and creativity. I talk to her like a person. I AM NEVER CONDESCENDING. I don't use baby voices. Do I threaten? Well yes, sometimes, but any parent would be lying if they say they don't. I'm trying my best to teach her about consequences.....you know, "if you can't act properly in a restaurant, we won't be able to go out for breakfast", etc. I could go on and on.....is there an actual name or term for this approach to discipline?

So I'll have to keep thinking this one over and come up with a reasonable "answer" to this question. There's a lot hinging on my response after all.....

Farm Inspiration

Life On The Farm

For Halloween, we decided to visit a local farm. I am BIG on farms...period. Local is even better. This particular farm has been encroached on by suburban sprawl to a ridiculous point. Still, what better place to spend an afternoon.....taking a hay ride, picking out some pumpkins and, BEST OF ALL, visiting the animals. Does Sophie get excited? Of course. Breathlessly so. But Mom might even get more excited. To say that I love animals would be the silliest understatement of the century. So I took a gazillion photos of their heavenly faces. Here are a few... Their eyes are so soulful. Really....amazing creatures.

A baby calf? Seriously, what could be sweeter than this.....?

We also had the opportunity to watch a cow being milked. That was the first time Sophie has witnessed that. I think it captured her attention. And I think it's wicked cool that she now REALLY knows where milk comes from.

I guess you could say that I really like sheep. When I went back through today's photos, they had the most pictures by far. But you can hopefully see why I couldn't stop taking shots of them....

My favorite animal of the day was probably this beast. She really took a liking to me. As I'd walk around and by her pen, she'd follow me and let out a sweet little "MOO" here and there. She was precious. Alain said she liked me because she knew I was a vegetarian (she's a beef cow). To think that someone might actually eat her one day in the future hurts my heart.

Who would eat this face? I'm just happy it's not me.

I kept trying to get a photo of these cute little turkeys (?) that were hanging out in her pen and she kept creeping into the shot....as below here....adorable!!!

Sidenote: I had to get a few shots of the McMansions that surround this farm. This is the view on all sides. I really admire the family for keeping the farm operational. Who knows what kind of offers they've received from developers! I'm going to make it a point to go there at least a few times a year to support them in my own little way.

Postscript: Being on the farm today reminded me of one of my most favorite quotes, for many reasons:

"You have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything".

I'm turning into a Carnie....!!!

I am already hard at work on my next party. I am STOKED about this one. Just starting to collect all the props, paper, fabric, etc.... This party is a big one and it's only a little over three weeks away so forgive me if my presence here is a little spotty until then. Bet you can't guess the theme.....

The little birthday boy is turning one and he is SO ADORABLE!! Can't wait to share those photos...

Blue Man's Exciting Day Out

Sophie and I love to go to IKEA. She loves the play room. I love the products, ideas, inspiration and reasonable prices. We love to eat lunch in the cafe. When we go there, we're happy and content for at least a good few hours. So we made an excursion to IKEA yesterday, at Soph's request. Sophie also decided to bring Blue Man along.

Background: Blue Man is a legit member of our family. I adopted (purchased) him a couple of years before Sophie was even born. My favorite color is blue and my favorite animals are elephants. I saw Blue Man lying in a basket at Anthropologie and I was smitten. Much to my surprise, when Sophie was old enough to choose a favorite "buddy" out of the hundreds she had, she chose Blue Man. I could not have been happier. Since then, he's been EVERYWHERE. All over the U.S., Canada, Europe. He's fairly adventurous.

Yesterday, Blue Man ventured with Sophie and I to IKEA. Below are some photos showing some of his adventures....

While Sophie played in the play room (Smaland), Blue Man rode quietly in the cart while I browsed around. He's such a good elephant.

Later, while Sophie and I took a potty break, Blue Man quietly sat in the infant seat....

We were so thrilled to find an elephant friend for Blue Man but, for some reason, Blue Man was intimidated....

I am pretty sure Blue Man liked the kids section best. He tried out a slide....

wwoooooaaaaaahhhhh.....

He pulled a "Goldilocks" and tried out some of the beds....

He was not fond of the egg chair that spins around and around. This is an "after" shot.

Soon after, he sat down to have a "tea" and recover from all the dizziness.

When we lost Blue Man for a few minutes, we discovered that someone had thrown him into a bin with a bunch of rabbits thinking he was just another animal for sale. Ahem.

He did not like that.

Soon after, we caught him sneaking a cat nap in the cafe.

The best part of all? Blue Man met some pretty cool friends, one with wicked cool socks, while we were there. They've agreed to meet up again soon for more IKEA fun....