SPF 0

The second half of our vacation was spent in Bremerton at my in-law's.

They have a boat.

So...

We saw sailboats,


a bridge,


and a beloved mountain.


Cinderella innertubed,


Sleeping Beauty floated,


the Little Prince looked cute,


and Prince Charming kneeboarded.


And I? I got sunburned.

Oh, yes. After thirty-*mumble, mumble* years, I still haven't learned my lesson.

My arms look like lobster claws, and my chest looks just as bad. My face and scalp were protected by my hat, and, for some reason, I had decided to wear pants on a scorching hot day.

Have you ever tried nursing a baby with flailing arms and dragon claws while sunburned? It's not pretty, my friends, not pretty at all.

And, of course, it was too hot and humid to wear long sleeves.

If I'd had any with me, that is.

The Battle of Wills Is Over!

And she's finally finished! Just in time for lunch.

Typical.

On Being a Mom

My five year-old has been in her room crying for the last fifteen minutes.

She has been told to stay there until she's ready to eat, even though she's barely eaten anything since six o'clock last night, and is now complaining of a headache.

Why?

Because I made a difficult parenting decision.

Cinderella didn't like last night's dinner. After an hour of ignoring her complaints, after an hour of forcing her to sit at the table until her food was gone, I finally sent her off to bed early. The only condition we set on her not finishing her dinner was that she'd end up eating it for breakfast.

Breakfast came. And breakfast went.

She ate a few bites, declared her "dinner" was still yucky, and put it back in the fridge.

That was over two hours ago.

It has currently been fifteen hours since my daughter has eaten anything. And while it breaks my heart, I know I need to stick with my decision.

It's not unusual for Cinderella not to say she doesn't like her dinner. We still make her eat it.

It's happened several times before that she eats her dinner for breakfast the next day.

This, however, is the longest stretch.

She knows I'm not going to cave in. I know I'm not going to cave in.

Part of me wants to, though. Part of me wants to fill her tummy and send her outside to play.

The other part of me, the larger part, wants to ensure that she learns her lessons. Lessons she needs. Lessons she knows, but that, apparently, she still needs to be reminded of.

Lessons in obedience, consequence, and gratefulness.

It's a hard road, growing up.

It's an even harder road, parenting.

Am I a mean mom? Yes. Am I a loving mom? Yes. Do I want the best for my children? Most definitely, yes.

Am I going to make her eat her dinner? Yes. Because I'm mean? No.

Because I'm a mom.

Here she comes...

The Graduate

My firstborn graduated from preschool today.

I am officially the mom of a kindergartner.

*sigh*

I Don't Want to Blog!

I've (obviously) been ignoring this little corner of my life lately. I think I'm just going through a "phase" right now.

That, and I'm busy.

Always busy.

Though, who isn't?

Most of my day is spent entertaining my kids. And keeping all three of them alive, and in one piece, and un-squished, and fed, and happy, and polite, and...

and...and...and...

And there is no end in sight.

May 1st marks the beginning of another term at school for me. May 28th marks the end of preschool for Cinderella. After that comes summer break for Prince Charming, potty training for Sleeping Beauty, a trip to Texas, a visit to Bremerton, one to Seattle, shifting of bedrooms and belongings, and back-to-school shopping.

Always, always busy.

While I'm going through my "phase," I'll leave you with a little update:

Cinderella: officially registered for kindergarten.
Sleeping Beauty: officially sleeping in a big girl bed.
The Little Prince: sick with his first head cold.
Prince Charming: wondering where he's going to have a job next year (stupid funding cut!).
Me: 10 more pounds to go.

Thanks for sticking around! You guys are the best!

The Tattletale, or Why Being the Oldest Sucks Sometimes

Cinderella is a tattletale.

It's like she turned 5, and all of a sudden felt the need to report every.little.thing Sleeping Beauty does "wrong."

I can be standing right there, watching them play, and Cinderella will still feel the need to tell me every.little.thing Sleeping Beauty is doing "wrong."

It's obnoxious, to say the least.

"Is she in danger?" I ask. "Is she bleeding?" I inquire.

"No, but, Mom!" Cinderella replies. "Sleeping Beauty is..."

Grr!

Last night I asked Cinderella if she wants Sleeping Beauty to get in trouble. Is that why she's telling me every.little.thing Sleeping Beauty does wrong?

"No." Pause. "Well, yeah."

Prince Charming told me later that he and Cinderella had a talk about why Sleeping Beauty doesn't get in trouble as often as her big sister. Cinderella knows why; she understands. She just doesn't quite get it yet.

Being a big sister totally sucks sometimes!

I should know; I was the older sister.

It's not fair. The younger kids DO get away with things.

Which means, I should understand Cinderella's plight, right?

I should be able to empathize, console, explain.

Instead? Instead I just get really annoyed.

*deep breath* *deep breath*

I think I need to channel my childhood again before I go certifiably crazy.

And Cinderella? Well, she's only five; she'll learn.

I just hope she does so before Kindergarten starts in the fall. I really don't want my child to be the class tattletale.

WW--Looking Forward To (and Back At) Summer

These were taken three summers ago, when Cinderella was only 2.











































The 70+ degrees we've been enjoying the last three days has really got me wishing this weather wasn't just a fluke.

Stick around, nice weather! We won't hurt you!

**********
For more WW, visit 5 Minutes for Mom or PMKU.

By 8:45 am

By 6:45 am, all the kids were wide awake. Therefore, so was I.

By 7:00 am, Sleeping Beauty and the Little Prince had had their diapers changed and had clean clothes on; Cinderella was still in her pajamas.

By 7:30 am, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty had eaten breakfast (a bowl of oatmeal and half a doughnut each).

By 7:45 am, the Little Prince had spit up the entire contents of his stomach three times.

By 8:00 am, the Little Prince had spit up again, then nursed. Cinderella finally had her clothes on.

By 8:10 am, the Little Prince had spit up yet again, and had his onesie changed because it was soaked through.

By 8:15 am, the Little Prince had a major blowout.

By 8:30 am, the Little Prince was sitting naked on his changing table after 10 wipes had been used to clean up him and his changing table.

By 8:35 am, the Little Prince was in the bathtub while I fended off help from his sisters.

By 8:45 am, the Little Prince was once again clean and nice-smelling. He nursed well (again) and was as happy as could be.

Until about 9:45 am when he proceeded to spit up once more.

5

Cinderella turned 5 on Sunday.

As much as I was hyperventilating at the thought of my firstborn turning 5, on Sunday I was completely at peace about it.

I realized that I have actually been looking forward to 5 for two years now.















5 means kindergarten, and reading, and adding. 5 means taking responsibility, and making friends, and writing stories. 5 means independence, and understanding, and maturity.















5 means my motherly pride has never been greater.

This year, 5 also meant my mad baking skilz failed me:















I swear this wasn't my fault! The cake was completely cooled.

I think it was the frosting. Cinderella insisted on the party frosting with the little candy bits in it. Obviously, it was a little runny.

I even tried scooping it back up and re-spreading it. That frosting was having nothing to do with that cake.

Oh well. I have another birthday coming up in May to prove I can frost a cake.

For now? I still have 5.

Partying Like It's 2009

Cinderella had her group birthday party this morning.

27 kids. 3 batches of cupcakes. 40+ balloons.

Silly songs. Crowns galore.

Princesses everywhere!

It was a blast!

Only one more day before my little girl "officially" grows up.

*sniff*

Cinderella as, well, Cinderella.

Sleeping Beauty as...only cuteness knows what.

(Like the boots? Yes, I made her take them off before we left the house; don't worry.)

Prince Charming and Sleeping Beauty after a cupcake; well, maybe just after the frosting.

Just Two Days Left

Cinderella turns 5 on Sunday.

Five years old.

Oh.my.goodness!!!

*panicking*

*breathing*

*calming down*

*focusing*

Yes. So, Cinderella turns 5 on Sunday. Tomorrow, is her big birthday party.

Anyone care to guess the theme?

Princess! Duh!

It's a group party with two other girls from church, one whose birthday was earlier this week, and one whose birthday is later next week.

It just didn't make sense to us moms to have 3 birthday parties over 2 weeks, so we joined forces. Besides, they all would have been princess parties, anyway.

My firstborn is turning 5!!! Five, people! 5!!!

*panicking, again*

I only have two more days of her being 4. Two more. That's it. Where have the last five years gone?

Ultimate Blog Party, 2009

Welcome! Thank you for partying with me!

If you stick around long enough (just until the end of this post), I'll have a game for you to play. There will definitely be a winner, and a prize, but we'll talk about this more in just a minute. Let me introduce myself first.






Hi! I'm Hillary, aka H.K., aka Not the Queen.






I live in Washington State, have been a SAHM for 2 years now, and was a teacher (though I didn't have my certificate). I am currently working on getting my certification in math education. I am a math nerd and a grammar snob. I love to make cards, cook/bake, and camp. I went to an all-girls' school in high school, then on to WWU to major in Sociology and minor in French.

Was that random enough for you?

This is my family.



Prince Charming. Not the most dashing picture, but he's hunky, trust me.










Cinderella. She's a cheese. She turns 5 on Sunday.












Sleeping Beauty. She is the biggest goof, and not very photogenic at times. That's her brother's hat on her head. Sleeping Beauty will be 2 in May.









The Little Prince. He is my big chunk-of-love. He was 10 pounds 11 ounces when he was born. He'll be 4 months old at the end of the month.





Well, shall we play a game now?

This is an extended version of Two Truths and a Lie. Each section (in the block quotes) has two truths and one lie. If you've read my blog before, some of these are gimmes. But, since my blog is teeny tiny, I'm not too worried about that, and neither should you be.

If you want to play along, just leave your guesses in the comments section. Let me know which one of each group you think is the lie.

That's it!

For the prize, well, I mentioned above that I like to make cards. I will make the winner an entire year's worth of cards. Holidays, birthdays, anniversary, etc.

How does that sound?

Are you ready to play? Okay. Here we go!


Starting with dentistry and orthodonture:

I had braces twice.

I've never had a cavity.

I wore my retainer in college.

Moving on to travel:

I have never been to Mexico.

I won a trip to Disneyland.

I went to the Caribbean for my honeymoon.

Heading into haircare:

I have never colored my hair.

I have never permed my hair.

I have never plucked my eyebrows.

Detouring towards education:

I have taught English.

I have taught music.

I have taught science.

And ending with musicality:

I have taken singing lessons.

I have taken piano lessons.

I have taken guitar lessons.

Okay! That's it! If you want to know the answers, check back in at the end of the party. I'll get a hold of the winner when the blog party is over, so make sure I have a way to contact you if you don't have a blog.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit here! Come back again sometime; I love to entertain!

Party Hearty!

Oh! And the prizes! These are my faves: USC 58, 41, 28, 76, USC 11, USC 45, USC 16, 106, 71, USC 2, 75, 19, 21, 22, 75, 122, and 65.

By George, I Think She's Got It!

I have mentioned before Cinderella's love/hate relationship with swimming: she loves water; she hates putting her head in it.

That last part has finally changed.

For the past five weeks, Cinderella has been taking swimming lessons at the newer indoor pool at the high school. These lessons are so much better organized than the ones over the summer. There are fewer kids per class, the pool is deeper, and there is more wall space.

Cinderella has gotten so much more one-on-one time with her instructor. She has been forced to either stay on the wall or trust her instructor, since she can't touch bottom. The kids can finally all spread out on the wall, meaning the instructor actually has an eye on all of them at one time.

It's been wonderful! I'm not sure we'll ever do swim lessons at the Aquatic Center again, once Sleeping Beauty and the Little Prince are older (the Aquatic Center is the only place to do a parent-child class to introduce kids to the water).

The best part? Cinderella is finally comfortable enough to put her head under the water! Yes! She did it! She does it often! She even does it without being asked!

Yay!

Of course, she'll only do it with goggles on, but I don't blame her one bit. She's got my sensitive eyes. (Fortunately, she doesn't seem to have my propensity for green swimmers hair. Yet.)

She'll "swim" out to her teacher, too. Sort of. She mostly flails around and sinks, then has the instructor "save" her. Poor thing can't float! At all.

She'll even jump into the water from the edge of the pool. Well, she'll jump as long as she can twist in the air and grab the wall immediately. Still, I'm not complaining. It's way more than she was willing to do last summer.

Cinderella, you go, girl!

May I Get a Set of Dentures for My Four-Year-Old, Please?

We just got back from Cinderella's dentist appointment about an hour ago, and OH MY GOSH, PEOPLE!!!! Her mouth is a mess!

We've always known our kids would need braces. I had braces. Prince Charming had braces. Shoot, I've even had jaw surgery.

Cinderella is not even 5 yet, and she's already lost 2 teeth on the bottom. The dentist said she'll probably lose another 2 teeth on the bottom within 6 months to a year.

Her baby teeth are so crowded that her new, permanent teeth are already coming in way more crooked than mine ever were.

The only positive thing the girl has going for her teeth is that she is actually missing her entire second set of bicuspids. They've never formed. Seriously, this is a blessing.

After seeing the x-rays, I wouldn't be surprised if Cinderella lost 2 baby teeth for each permanent tooth that comes in. Her mouth is just that bad. Her big teeth are so big, and her baby teeth are so small.

Poor kid!

Guess we'd better start saving for the orthodontist soon.

Some Cuteness To Get You Through the Long Weekend

Information Processing: Christmas

Yes, I know Christmas is done and gone. Yes, I know it's been over for almost two weeks. However, I am just now processing everything, so bear with me.

We spent our first Christmas at home this year. We had told our families that we wouldn't be coming back over before we even found out we were pregnant again. Of course, when we knew we were expecting the Little Prince, it just solidified our decision.

Christmas with our families is always a very busy affair. It includes a minimum of four present-opening sessions, lots of driving, and an exhausted royal court by the time we come home.

We really wanted to simplify this year.

And we did.

Almost too much for our first Christmas at home.

Of course, there wasn't really anything else we could have added.

We had lots of snow, which is always nice.

The decorations were simple (we don't have many), the tree was a hand-me-down artificial (we had no money left in the budget for anything else), and it was just the five of us.

We went to church Christmas Eve where we spent most of our time wrangling bored kids in fluffy dresses (there was no children's church).



















Christmas morning, the girls woke up around 7:30 (yay!) and everyone congregated in our bed.















The girls checked out what Santa had left in their stockings while I made breakfast. Then, we opened presents. Well, the girls opened presents. Prince Charming and I rarely exchange gifts. Instead, we just ordered a Wii Fit the other day.

The "Belle dress" was Cinderella's favorite, hands down.















Sleeping Beauty got a new pull toy. It's a dog. She didn't quite get it, though.



















And The Little Prince? He slept through it all, smart boy.















That's it. That was our Christmas. No busyness, no driving, no family.

We saved all of that for New Year's. Stay tuned...

Wordless Wednesday--A 4 1/2 Year Old + Photo Booth

Question: What do you get when you let your 4 1/2 year old play around with Photo Booth?

Answer #1:

Answer #2:

Answer #3:

**********
For more photos, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

International Babywearing Week

It's International Babywearing Week. There's a wonderful giveaway going on over at Adventures in Babywearing to celebrate. The prize? A brand new sling from Nonny and Boo! Who couldn't use a new sling? I could. I like variety.

**********

I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't wear Sleeping Beauty nearly as often as I did Cinderella. The Little Prince, however, will be worn all the time. It'll be a necessity with 3 kids in the house, the two youngest being only 18 months apart.















On Grandma and Grandpa's boat, snuggled up with momma.

Sadly, this is the only picture I can find of wearing Sleeping Beauty. I remember wearing her on many other occasions, but I tend to be the "photographer" in this family.















In Texas, snuggled up with daddy.

I do, however, have a picture of Prince Charming wearing Sleeping Beauty. He is wearing her, I swear! See! You can just see her little leg sticking out.

I do have some darling pictures of Cinderella in the sling, somewhere. I'm too pregnant to go find the CD's, though. My favorite one is of my mom and I walking on the beach together, and Cinderella is comfy cozy in the kangaroo hold. I'm not sure how she ever managed that hold; her feet inevitably ended up by her face. It was her favorite position, though. Sleeping Beauty? Not so much.

If you'd like to celebrate International Babywearing Week with me, head on over to Adventures in Babywearing. There are already quite a few links up filled with tips and pictures. Go check it out!

Wordless Wednesday--Soccer Star

My soccer star had her last game tonight.

**********
For more pictures, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Itchy, Itchy Shake

The inevitable has finally happened:

There is a lice outbreak at Cinderella's preschool. *shudder*

I have no idea who the offender is. I don't think I want to know.

Cinderella, of course, is fine; she doesn't even know what a louse is.

I, of course, itch all over. It's a mental thing.

So, after preschool today we headed on down to the local health food store to get some tea tree oil (recommended by a hair dresser friend). The lady at the store told me to mix 2 cap-fulls of oil with every 8-ounces of shampoo (and conditioner, but I rarely use conditioner on Cinderella's hair), and we'd be all set.

Tea tree oil won't kill lice, but it will help prevent Cinderella from getting it. It creates a nice lice barrier.

Needless to say, both girls have already had a bath today. Right after lunch, in fact. I would have done it sooner, but if I didn't feed them first, they would have revolved.

The only downsides to this are 1. the cost of the oil ($12 for an ounce!!!), 2. the fact that I now have to wash Cinderella's hair EVERY DAY (which I don't already do; don't judge me too harshly), and 3. the EWWW factor I am currently experiencing.

I feel like I need to wash and/or burn everything in the house. I know I'm panicking, but EWWW! Lice are nasty.

I had lice. Once. It was not a pleasant experience. Especially the part where I had to lie down in the bathtub surrounded by dead lice bodies while my mom washed the lice shampoo out of my hair. *shudder*

Excuse me while I go freak out over every piece of lint in Cinderella's hair.

And scratch my head for the next week.