Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Happy Father's Day 2011
I read something the other day that made me think: "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" I thought about this question and decided I would be 33 years old. I asked Jim the same question and he said, "I'd be 10". Hmm. This year for Father's Day I thought about that and looked for things for a ten year old. The whole family seemed pleased with this strategy.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Margaret's Fifth Birthday
Ten days before Margaret's birthday, she fell off the couch and smacked her chin on our tile floor. She split the chin and needed six stitches. The whole affair was quite traumatic for a four year old and she cried frantically throughout the stitching. For the next 10 days, we tended the wound as best we could and tried to clean up little spills of food that would soak through the bandages. Two days before her birthday, the doctor told me the wound looked good, the stitches had all been removed and we could take off the bandage in two days-on her birthday. "Hooray", I thought, "just in time for summer swimming."
On the night of Margaret's birthday, at 11:45 p.m., I was awakened by her screaming. I ran to her room and found her on the floor next to the bed, with blood all over her and her new flamingo bathrobe. "Oh, no!" I thought. "She's split her chin, again."
She had fallen off her bed. We rushed her back over to the emergency room. This time she knew exactly what she was in for and she was hysterical and refused to be seen by the health care workers. After many tears, she was finally sedated so that the doctor could stitch her chin. Unfortunatley, the whole ordeal was much worse this time. The doctor said that the bone of her chin was exposed and the muscles of the chin had to be reconstructed. The scar was much bigger and deeper.
On the bright side-
What's to love about Margaret? Just a few....
1. Margaret is loveable and affectionate. She loves to kiss and hug. She loves "romantic" parts to movies, like kissing. She likes boys.
2. Margaret is dramatic. She sings and dances and loves to perform.
3. Margaret loves toy animals. She can play with toy animals for hours. She feeds them and loves them. Some of her favorite animals are a monkey named, Swing; a dog named, Jingle; and a bunny.
4. Margaret loves pink and pretty. She is feminine.
5. Margaret loves sweet. She has two capped teeth to prove it.
6. One of Margaret's favorite snacks is rice mixed with scrambled egg and wrapped in seaweed or Kim.
7. Margaret's favorite food is fruit crepes with lots of cream and sugar.
8. Margaret's favorite song is "I Know That My Savior Loves Me"
9. Margaret's favorite book is, The Big Book of Little.
10. Margaret's favorite game is Store Front Bingo, but she just so happens to be very good at Memory Match (my favorite game).
11. Margaret is the perfect combination of saucy and soft, which means, she most of the time gets her way.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
A Royal Celebration
We celebrated Margaret's 5th birthday by having our traditional "Princess Party". This celebration was an even bigger treat for me because I had all of the help of my three older daughters. Last summer, Anna stumbled across a book called, Fancy Nancy's Tea Party. Then and there she decided that she would use the ideas in that book when Margaret's birthday party came around. Anna followed through with her plans and worked hard. She made lollipop centerpieces, butterfly placemats, and lovely place settings. Miriam put all of her creative energy to work and made 18 pair of jingle socks (an idea from my dear friend, Trudy in Chicago). She also made 18 pink beanbags and we did the traditional "Bean Bag Song" by Hap Palmer. Gracie made princess crowns out of plastic tubing from Home Depot, glitter pipe cleaner, and silk flowers (another great idea of my dear friend, Trudy). Thanks to my friend, Sooyeun, we added face painting to the celebration this time.
A Working Dog
Kipboom got big fast. Before we knew it, we had a big, strong dog on our hands. What now? We've tried all sorts of things to manage our dog. A concerned neighbor gave us a series of DVDs called, "The Dog Whisper". We watched those, and then bought a backpack to strap to him so that it would give him more weight to carry and a sense of a job to do. Another concerned neighbor generously gave us a leash called, "The Gentle Leader". This has been very helpful. It keeps him from pulling. Walking the dog can be stressful because he barks and pulls fiercely when he sees another dog.Another dilemma we encountered is his barking. He barked all day long. Eventually, we had many neighbors complaining.What to do? He kept barking. The police came to our home three times. I finally called the breeder and told him we were going to have to bring him back. The breeder suggested we use a bark collar. As a desperate measure we tried the bark collar and it worked.
Honestly, I didn't know if I should be relieved or disappointed.
Remember, rule #1: Never get a dog. Even if you do love your daughter.
Strawberry Picking
The day before Easter we went strawberry picking out in the country.
The strawberry farm also had a few animals to pet and feed. There was a donkey, turkey, goose, and a few rabbits. After we were finished picking th
e strawberries we made strawberry jam using long wooden spoons and large cast iron pots.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
My Favorite M&M
I love peanut M&Ms. Last summer in New York City I visited the M&M store in Times Square. They had every color of M&M imaginable.
I love to put peanut M&Ms in the freezer and eat a handful while they are still frozen. Peanut M&Ms are the best, with the exception of this M&M (Margaret and Miriam).
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
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