a big (little) family: When the days are hard.

a big (little) family: When the days are hard.

A good read from a good friend.

Smile!

I can't get a picture

of this one

 with a genuine smile

 even when she's hanging with Daddy

or compliantly posing for me

unless she is engaging in shenanigans

for which I will happily be the victim.

For that smile.

Unlike this one

who will give me her best smile

for any chance

to be immortalized

on film.

Midol

The girls have rediscovered their stuffed bunnies that Ginka made.

They are huge, about half the size of My Littlest Girl.

This morning, she was looking for a bottle for her bunny.  She ran upstairs looking for it, telling her bunny, "Come on, my doll.  Let's go find it."

I couldn't help but notice....

Leather

After many, many years of trying to tan, I realized I just wasn't a tanning kind of gal.

I could burn, tan, burn, tan, burn, then tan, and at the end of the summer, if I had spent enough time outside, my overall color was a jaundice yellow.

Not something to flaunt.

But as I got older, I realized I was okay with using the tanless stuff.  It protected my skin and turned me a few hundred shades darker than I ever could have gotten naturally.

Until last year.

I think the elevation has finally gotten to me.  We live a few thousand feet higher here than anywhere else I've ever lived.

And my skin gave up.

Because now I tan.  A kind of tan I had always seen on my dad and grandma.  And now I know.

The answer to tanning isn't a lot of melanin.  It's complete and utter defeat on behalf of my skin.

Although I am tan, my freckles are multiplying.  And my wrinkles now rival those of a baby elephant.

My 15 year old self is ecstatic, my 40 something year old self is panicking and wondering if the spackle they sell in the makeup aisle really works.  And if they have it in tan.

A Big Weekend for My Littlest Girl

Last week My Littlest Girl went to dance camp.

The first day, she was anxious.

She said she would miss us.

It took a couple of tries to help her realize dance camp wasn't an all-nighter.

Just a couple of hours a day.

Once she figured that out she was all in.

At the end of camp, the dancers got to perform in a local art fair.

This was My Littlest Girl before her performance.

She might have been a little nervous.

But once the music started, she couldn't be stopped.

(It was a scarf dance.  She was a Sprout.

Yes.  People infinitely more creative than me come up with these things.)

She loved the experience and couldn't stop talking about ballet the rest of the weekend.  

And then some.

But on Monday, she had more to talk about.

Can anyone figure out what this is?

(Without looking at the answer at the bottom?)

Nope.  It's not a doll hand...

It's her tooth! 

It seems her teeth come out a pair at a time.

But this was the strangest tooth I had ever seen.

I had never noticed it when it was in her mouth.

I might have to ask the Tooth Fairy to give it back. 

This week we are back to our normal schedule.

No driving to the next town for dance lessons, 

or lunches out, 

or really, really good naps.

But I'm okay with that.

Teeth

She lost one.

We can see hers now.

(Braces came off!)

Life with Minnie

Now that she's home, here's what she's doing:

Licking the water from the dishwasher.

She almost climbed inside at one point.

I was comparing her to the size of my foot.

I have GINORMOUS feet, but she's still pretty small.

4 pounds, to be exact.

(I wonder if that means my feet are 4 pounds, too...)

Belly scratchin time.

After bath.

(On a side note, does anyone have advice for teaching a dog not to eat her own feces?

Thanks in advance.)

Ahem.

Making new friends.

Prince Eric lost a few fingers in the encounter.

Minnie thought they were making out.

On the plus side, the girls have never been so vigilant about putting their toys away.