Horsin' Around

Little Bit and I had a little girl's trip this weekend. I got my thrills walking through IKEA. I can't WAIT to go back! I was a little overwhelmed. Soph wanted to be checked into the play area while my aunt and I shopped. AWESOME! Every shopping place in America should have a "check your kid in while you shop" option!

Next up, my aunt's house. Where from the minute we walked into the door Sophia wanted to ride a horse. Can we ride Angel? How about now? Now? When? Soon? If given the opportunity I think she could be a totally obsessed horse girl. The same as my cousins. They wore horse sweat shirts. Had horse necklaces. Horse toys. Horse notebooks. Anything you could slap a horse on, you name it, they had it!

I've mentioned before that I am deathly allergic to horses. I'm talking throat closes up, can't breath, allergic! But the way she lights up around them is the cutest thing. My aunt bought her her first pair of real cowgirl boots on Friday. They haven't left her feet since. The girl can shovel horse poop like it's her job. She says that you "have" to take care of them and they obviously can't stand around in poop mom, duh! So true. I say, grow up, marry rich, and pay someone to shovel shiat! So who knows what the future holds. I don't see us EVER owning a horse. Like I said, see the first sentence of this paragraph! Riding lessons aren't cheap either that's for sure. Maybe she can go to "horse camp" at my aunts every summer for her horse fix! She could be a 4th generation Tennessee Walker girl!

Kisses from Junior. Never would you see me getting this close to a 1500 pound animal. And not just because of the allergies, hello, he could kick her too the moon if he wanted! The kid has zero fear.

Got a little freaked out up there by herself. Junior is BIG!

Angel is definitely more her speed. Small and sweet.

10 on Tuesday

1. Discussion on the way home from school:

Me: What should we get Gi for Christmas?

Little Bit: Poop, ha!

Me: Soph that is not nice. You shouldn't say that.

Little Bit: I know what i can do, i can poop in my hand, put it in a box, wrap it up and put a bow on it! Then give it to her and she'll open it and say, "SOPHIE!"

So does poop and 4 year olds go together like peanut butter and jelly?

2. Little Bit and I are taking a little road trip. Tomorrow we are heading to Grammy and PapPaps for the night. Then on to Pittsburgh to meet cousins and my aunt where we are going to hit Ikea. Confession: I have never been inside an Ikea!

After that little jaunt we are heading on up to my aunt's house where Sophie will bee begging to ride horses and I'll be downing benadryl like it's my job!

3. The date is set for the 2nd annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. A karaoke machine has been located and rented. I.Am.Pumped!

4. My big girl gymnastics class has been cancelled. I'm heart broken. Never have I had more fun doing a type of exercise. And as an added bonus to my class I got to hang out with gay men. I didn't realize how much I missed hanging out with gay guys until I started that class. And now it's gone, and now I'm in a depression.

5. We decided not to do gifts or a gift exchange with all of the cousins this year. Instead we are going to do something fun with the 7 of them. Like bowling, or swimming, or bouncing. Such a good idea! Good idea aunt Lawa!

6. Bed time has become a horrendous venture at our house. The problem, napping at school. Although, I have discussed this problem with her teacher all I hear is that her school is a "napping" facility and that they can't make an arrangements for kids who don't need and/or want to nap. Of course the kids don't "have" to nap but they do have to lay quietly on their map. Well of course they are going to fall asleep due to sheer boredom! Makes for long evening here and a grumpy kid in the morning!

7. Saturday is a big day for Miss. Sophia. She's going to have her first sleep-over at a friend's house. And you'll never guess with you. HA! Big surprise, Gracie! And Stephanie is crazy enough to let this go down. Bets on whether or not we get a call at 10:30 pm to pick her up!?

8. I plan on getting a jump start on decorating for Christmas during this time. Sweet!

9. So I'm thinking about rounding up a bunch of neighborhood kids and forcing them to go door to door Christmas caroling. Sounds fab doesn't it? We'll see if I can bribe them into doing it with promises of cookies and hot chocolate. I'm thinking that I might be able to talk these 3 into it!

10. I'm out!

Right now...

Her favorite show is I Dream of Jeannie.

She wants a violin for Christmas.

We told her she can't have a violin because she doesn't know how to play a violin. She insists that she does in fact know how to play a violin.

She is happy that soccer is over. She says that getting a trophy was the best part.

She likes to tell people to "break a leg." She doesn't understand what context to use such a phrase.

She loves to play school.

All of the sudden she loves to color.

The number of hard boiled eggs she can down is disgusting.

She has handled Stella's passing better than I ever dreamed.

All of the sudden she has hit an "I want stage!" If she keeps it up, I'm thinking she can be Veruca Salt for Halloween! I would actually make a good one of these!

She still loves Gracie more than any other four year old on the planet. Next year, when I drop her off on her first day of kindergarten it's going to break my heart that they aren't there together.

Right now she's closer to 5 than 4. I don't want a five year old! 5 is big. But 5 she will be and we've already got big plans for 5.

Halloween Baby!

I don't know why I love Halloween so much. I truly enjoy it more than Christmas. Maybe it's because with holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter you have all of the headaches of "who's house" you are going to and all of the stress of making your rounds. Halloween is just all about fun and lets your creativity fly! The hard part with a kid is steering her away from commercial stuff. It takes a lot of child psychology to convince a four year old that a 50's poodle skirt is more fun than a princess.

Complete with Ebay saddle oxfords!

But one costume isn't enough. Not when there's a great Halloween party just down the street. Family costumes require more thought. So without further, adu...

The Three Amigos!!

Steve Martin as "Lucky Day". Martin "Short" as Ned Nederlander. Chevy Chase, as "Dusty Bottoms."

And you know we won this:

Little Bit thought being an Amigo was cooler than cool. Expecially after I showed her a few clips on youtube. I only wish i would have caught our salute on film! Props to Steven for wearing that get-up! He walked down to the neighbor's house by himself. And you know that EVERYONE just happened to be outside as he strutted his stuff down the street! Bwhahaha! I'm puffy heart PROUD of the fact that I whipped up the three amigos costumes myself. My mom helped me with the ties and cumberbuns and a friend at work helped me to draw on the hat designs. Homemade costumes ROCK!

Now the big question, what to do next year! Only 365 more days to plan!

Soph's Top Ten

Wow! It's about time that I changed things up around here! I don't think Little Bit was even 2 years old in those header pictures! I missed her monthly birthday, again. I really need to make more of an effort to AT LEAST blog once a month around the 16th! Four and a half is a really fun age and I should be documenting more of it. So we don't forget. Steven and I constantly look at her and want to bottle her up just the way she is right now. Speech impediment and all! She's a total handful. She's get by with A LOT from A LOT of people. And she sings. Oh how she sings! The two of us have Broadway performances on a weekly basis. She still makes up songs like she's writing for Celine Dion on crack. If Celine wanted to sing songs about cats in Mexico. And the two of us drive Steven crazy on road trips singing at the tops of our lungs in the car.

As we were trucking up 79 a few weeks ago, I flipped through the ipod attached to my car. It's one strange collection of songs. Anyway, as I flipped through, a little voice in the back seat would pipe up, "oh I like that one!" So without further adu, in no particular order, my child's top 10 iphone songs.

1. Live and Let Die- by Paul Mccartney

Frogs sang this one in Shrek the 3rd, when the king frog daddy died. I'm guessing that's why she's a fan.

2. Leaving on a Jet Plane- John Denver

Classic and folksy. Easy words for a kid to remember. When she sings it sounds like this "weaving, on a jet plane."

3. No Woman No Cry tied with Three Little Birds- Bob Marley

She actually sounds exactly like Bob Marley when she sings. "Every-tangs gonna be alright." And really, shouldn't every four year old know every song from Legends? She'll probably end up selling sea shell necklaces on a beach somewhere anyway.

4. Fox on the Run

Because why not go from listening to a Rastafarian to a blue grass band? Seems perfectly logical to me! And I actually love Bluegrass music. Betcha didn't know that about me!

5. Hail West Virginia

No words, just the Pride of WV playing and us singing the words at full blast. This is a favorite b/c at the end she can scream, "Sock 'em, Bust 'em, that's our Custom. West by GOD Virginia.

6. A Pirate Looks a Forty- Jimmy Buffet

I cringe when he sings "I made enough money to by Miami, but I pissed it away so fast." But I do not believe in censoring songs ever. So we're pissing away in the car.

7. Part of that World- Ariel the Little Mermaid

We sing this one like it's our job. Ariel ain't got nothing on us! We usually say we're "practicing" when this one comes on. Practicing for what i haven't quite figured out.

8. Hard Knock Life tied with Tomorrow- Annie and the Orphans

If I had a dream for her, it would be to play Annie on Broadway. I'd settle for the Alban in St. Albans. HA!

9. Angel- Jack Johnson

Daddy brainwashed her on this one.

10. Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison

Because she's just that. :)

Seesh...what a mix! Wonder what song choice says about a person? Of course it's subject to change like the wind.

And another one from the ole Pumpkin Patch!

Gone Too Soon

It's true that you never know just what exactly a child is going to do. I cringe every time she goes over to someone's house. I'm afraid of what she's going to let fly out of her mouth. Stella left us on Friday. Sooner than what I had imagined but it was time. Actually, the ending was easier than all of the grief and sorrow we had faced over the last 9 months. I had heard that when the time came it would be easier. Over the past nine months though, anytime we thought about the end, we thought about Little Bit. Over and over again I would say, "this wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for Sophie." How many times I said, "how am I going to tell Sophie that yet again, something she loves is gone." I was ready to put her on a plane and send her to Disney World when the time came. Whatever it took, for her not to feel the pain of loss.

And in the end, she kissed Stella on the head that morning, looked her in the eyes and said in that 4 year old voice of hers, the one that can't pronounce her "r's" or her 'th's" very well, and said, "Stella, it's gonna be ok, you are going to get to go to Heaven and play with Oscar, and I'll see you again one day."

And it was ok. And it has been ok. And it will be ok. She misses her, yes. But I've overhead her tell neighbors and family about what happened to her Stella and it's almost with joy in her voice.

Kids are tough. I forget that. All of us forget that. We shelter our kids way too much and turn them into big giant puss-pots and wimps. We think that they can't handle rejection or sadness. Why is that? I was a tough kid. I turned out all right, in my humble opinion. In the beginning I had considered lying to Little Bit about Stella. I'm so glad that I didn't. I want her to to know that life isn't always rainbows and sunshine. Oh how I wish that she hadn't had to loose two pets within a year of each other. But she did. Nothing can change that. She is a tough kid. And when she let a balloon go up in the air in remembrance of her puppy who was with her for too short of an amount of time, it was with a smile on her face and not tears in her eyes. Maybe we can all learn something from a four year old.

Miss Hollywood

I guess it's a gift. One that I certainly don't have. My friend and co-worker, Missy, can throw together the most awesome b-day parties for her girls. Through the years I've helped her out with Wizard of Oz parties, a 50's party, a 30's party, and an unbelievable carnival. She's a sucker for the details. I'm usually the designated photographer, although, I got roped into being a clown at the carnival party. This year, her oldest turned 12 and wanted a smaller party with a Hollywood theme. Once again, it was fabulous. The girl can decorate a table like something out of a magazine. Sophie of course got to so she could hang out with little 5 year old sister, Emmy . Girlfriend TOTALLY got into the Hollywood theme. She was in total heaven being around 12 year old girls. As they were sitting at the table eating and drinking out of champagne glasses with their pinkies in the air, I noticed Sophie hanging on their every world. Occasionally, she would look over at me, giggle and repeat everything that came out of their mouths. "I just think it's fabulous" or "ohmygod, he is sooooo cute."

The Birthday Girl- Miss Harley