Early Snow

Although it took us two hours to get home on Thursday, we did get home in time to play in the snow.



Bree is an outdoors girl. Loves to be outside in any kind of weather. While we were playing, a light rain was falling. Now, me? I don't like being outside quite as much as Bree. Being allergic to almost every type of tree & grass makes playing outside a bit miserable for me. But I do like to play with Bree, so often I just suck it up and have fun with my girl. And this was just rain - my allergies were going to be fine.

Bree wanted to make a snowman until she realized just how much it work it was to build a snowman. I don't know if she thought it would just magically appear, or if she really expected me to do all the work. We got as far as a small mound of snow before she lost interest.

Bree decided that snow balls would be much more fun! So we had a small snow ball fight.

Bree has also started to play "hide and seek." Except that she takes the phrase "hiding in plain sight" quite literally. So it's a quick game. :) I am trying to get her to actually find places to hide. But 9 time out 0f 10 she'll "hide" in the same spot, time after time. It's hilarious.

We're supposed to get more snow tonight. We'll see how much we actually get. While it's rare to get snow in this part of the country, it's even rarer to have it occur in December. This could be an interesting winter!

The Diva

So I don't think it will come as a suprise to anyone that I had a smart mouth when I was a kid. I don't think it really started until I was around the ages of 11/12/13.

Bree is about 10 years ahead of schedule.

Last night we were at a Christmas party hosted by a co-worker. My co-worker was very thoughtful to give Bree a gift. When Bree saw what it was, she actually said, (and I wish I were making this up) "Oh, but I already have one of those." "One of those" being a Disney Princess camera. It was a stocking stuffer for her last year at Christmas.

Apparently I have been lax on teaching her about proper gift ettiquette. Because I was absolutely mortified. Fortunately for me, my co-worker just laughed and actually was gracious enough to offer Bree a second choice. Which Bree absolutely adored - princess jewelry. Which she wore with pride and I can't even count the number of times I heard, "Look at me!" last night.

Bree also commandeered the use of my co-worker's son's scooter. Which she rode all over the house with reckless abandon, throwing out an "excuse me!" if someone was in her way. We had a fantastic time at the party, and aside from the present faux pas, Bree was a very good girl.

However, we are at a standoff on how to get her to clean her room. "But my arms are too tired" is the excuse used most often. So I told her this morning, no more McDonald's until she cleans her room. And by cleaning her room, I am asking her to put her toys in the toy trunk. It's not like I'm asking her to vacuum, dust and wash the windows. And for crying out loud you'd think she was Cinderella by the way she reacts to my request.

I have also mentioned that Santa might just pass our house by if he thinks she doesn't know how to take care of her toys. She doesn't really seem to care. But when I've mentioned that it might be time to give her toys away (to other kids who will take care of them) the only thing she says is, "Not my Bearies!"

Drastic action might have to be taken. But as with most things concerning disciplining Bree, it's going to suck worse for me than it will for her. :)

Bree At Age 3

So, we haven't had "official" pictures taken since July of 2009. Since it takes two people to successfully do this (one to freak out and one to carry through with the order) I waited until my Mom was here in October.

If the pictures didn't turn out so well, I would seriously consider stop going there. We were made to wait 20 minutes - and 20 minutes in Toddler Time might as well be 20 hours. I knew this was not going to go well. Oh, I will leave it to you to guess which party freaks out, and which one carries through with the order.

The poses that turned out the best were taken in the first minute. Then Bree was asking, "Can I go play? Can I go play?" I was saying, "Just smile a few more times and then we'll go." By the time we were able to review the pictures and decide on which ones to buy, we had been there almost TWO HOURS. That place makes me insane. Like I said, if the pictures didn't turn out so well, I'd never go there again.

The pose above is actually my favorite. But we got a good six poses to choose from before we got to the ones where she was clearly clenching her teeth saying "cheeeeessssse."

Also, Bree had two pictures taken at Halloween when we were at the ZooBoo. The photographers were there last year, too, but those pictures didn't turn out very well at all. This year, though, I was very pleased by how well the photos turned out. So I ended up getting that package of photos, too! Although it was just the one pose, it turned out really well.

I'll try not to let so much time to go by before getting her pictures taken again, but that's not an edeavor I'll ever do alone. Not until she can bring a book to read or I get a prescription for Xanax. :)

Yes, She Went Trick Or Treating

Well, she made it - barely. I had been telling her that I wasn't taking her trick or treating unless she had a nap. We had a busy day of grocery shopping and yard work. Bree was invited for some tramoline jumping at the neighbor's house, so she got to go play. Before I knew it, she had dinner over at the neighbor's house, too!


I went to get her about 20 minutes before trick or treating time so she could get into her costume and still have time for some pictures. As you can see from the first picture, the lack of nap was quite telling.

Bree was invited to trick or treat with the "big kids" from next door. She was so excited. As we started out in the group, we were bringing up the rear. Then Bree would yell, "hey guys, wait up!" and she'd sprint ahead.

With each passing house Bree got more and more tired, and her walk got slower and slower. Her bucket got "too heavy" for her to carry so I ended up carrying it for most of the evening.

We will likely get another year out of this costume, that is if Bree doesn't wear it out before next Halloween. :)

With Halloween over, I have lost that bit of leverage. Now I have to use Santa's Naughty and Nice list as incentive to be a good girl!

Boo At The Zoo 2010

Although Bree remains at #3, we did go to Boo at the Zoo today. We got there kind of late - we had a very busy morning. After lunch we went to the zoo! It was packed, and there was less than 2 hours remaining by the time we got in, but there was just enough time to walk around, do some trick or treating, and enjoy being outside.

Bree was Thumbelina this year. Because of the chillier weather (mid-60s) we had some "heartier" clothes on underneath the costume.

I swear to God, Bree said, "Hey! I see Buzz Lightyear over there!" It was like she was at a hollywood premier, seeing all of her favorite stars. We also saw Elmo. Anyone dressed in black was "a bad guy."

Bree loves to be buckethead.

Bree was eyeing the team of ninjas with a healthy dose of suspicion.

Ah well, the closest to a smile that I could get. :)

Will She or Won't She? The Great Halloween Question

So, Bree has had a very naughty bone lately. Here's part of the e-mail that got sent to her Daddy, describing what was the Naughtiest Day In The History of Bree's Life, October 20, 2010:

Hey Cutie - so, I don't even know where to start with this e-mail. Other than that my mom was very cryptic when I called her this afternoon to see how the day was going. She said, "Oh, Bree is going to tell you about it herself." When I got home and asked Bree what happened today, at first she said, "nothing." Then she said, "I can't tell you, it's a secret." So finally I said, "well, I'll go see for myself." That's when she threw herself in front of me saying, "No! Mommy, No! Stay in here!" Ho boy.

Let me set the stage. My mom sent Bree to the bedroom to take a nap. To which Bree just screamed "NO! NO! NO!" to my mom. But my mom sent her to the bedroom, heard Bree get quiet, and then assumed that Bree was sleeping. When my mom heard a weird noise, she went to the bedroom to find out what was going on. Well, she saw that Bree had taken my clothes out of the closet and she was breaking the hangers. Then my mom saw her left hand. Which was bright pink from wrist to fingertip. She asked Bree what that was and Bree said, "finger nail polish." My mom got Bree out of the bedroom.

Here's what my mom didn't see:
1). The clumps of hair on the carpet, from where Bree cut her hair.
2). The big spot on the wall where Bree painted with nail polish.
3). The big spots on the floor where Bree painted with nail polish.
4). Bree's left foot, painted from ankle to her tippy toes with nail polish.
5). My shoes, which Bree painted with nail polish.

Wednesday night Bree was presented with the following: when I counted to 5, she didn't get to go Trick or Treating for Halloween. She was at #1 after her shenanigans on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Bree got #2 for being mean to the dog and not listening to me when I told her to stop.

We were doing okay until Sunday, when we were grocery shopping. Bree kept touching all the produce and poking at the meat packages. After being told several time to stop touching things, I issued the ultimatum: the next time she touched something, that was #3 and she was going out to the car. So what does Bree do? She walked down to the end of the aisle, put her hand on the shelf, looked at me, and in a sing-song voice said, "ha ha ha ha ha ha!" shaking her behind while doing it.

I temporarily turned into a cartoon character where my face turned beet red and steam came out of my ears. My head almost exploded at what a little stinker she was. I grabbed my purse and Bree, threw a "I'm really sorry, Mom" over my shoulder and headed for the parking lot. I don't know what Bree expected, but she wasn't expecting the reaction she got out of me. She screamed, "I WANT MY HALLOWEEN!" over and over and over. She sat in her seat in the car while I stood outside and cooled down.

Bree has been especially difficult this week, but she's not at 4 yet. I will say that it's looking good for her, because it is Friday night and she's still at 3. She's almost there! But can she make it? I don't know.

She stayed home with my mom on Wednesday and the only way my mom got her to take a nap was to threaten her with #4 and to sit on a chair in the doorway of her room until she fell asleep.

My leverage ends on November 1st. Then it will be all about being on Santa's "Naughty" list.

But stay tuned - I'll post pictures to let you know if Bree gets her Halloween or not. :)

Fall Havest Fair

As Woody from Toy Story would say, "Well pull my string! It's October already?" We got Toy Story from the library and we've seen it well over a hundred times already. Okay, maybe not. But at least twice a day since last Saturday. Hmm, guess that makes it only 16 times. Well, it seems like a hundred. Bree likes to quote dialoge from the movie. She gets this trait directly from her Daddy. However, Scott knows better than to expect me to respond with dialoge from the same movie. Bree expects me to know every word and will correct me if I get it wrong. I will never belong to SAG, that's for sure. Bree, though . . . . only time will tell!

Today we went to a local farm that hosts seasonal events. This is the first time we've been to their Fall Havest Fair. There was a pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, bouncy houses & slides, pony rides, a hayride and carnival rides. The weather was beautiful - a great day to be outside. We met our friends Miss Andi & Sophie there, too.


Bree was most excited about the hay. Of course she was! It was like she had been dying to get out her inner barnyard animal.

In a pure stroke of genius, the organizers had put a huge hay pile in the middle of a field. Just bales of hay. Stacked about 5 bales high, and maybe 10 bales wide. It was seriously the thing for all the kids to play on. Bree was no exception.

Since Bree loves horses so much, I decided to spring for the pony ride. Bree's pony was named "Blue." I asked the trainer/walker what Blue did when Blue wasn't giving pony rides, and the answer was "hanging out in the field and eating grass." That's a nice enough existence, I guess. :)

And of course I coudn't get Bree to smile while she was on the pony. At least not when I had the camera turned her way. She was all smiles when the camera was put away. The pony ride was actually a big hit.

Bree gave Blue some nice pats before we moved on to another activity.

There was a hayride and you'd have thought that we were taking Bree & Sophie to prison by their expressions. They actually liked it quite a bit.

There was also a petting zoo with baby goats. They were actually calmer than our dog, Sly. They were just hanging out, munching on twigs & tree stumps, letting little kids rough them up. Ha, just kidding - the kids were in awe of how calm the baby goats were.

Bree had a lot of fun wtih the baby goats.

We had a great afternoon. We'll probably go back next year. They have an event at Christmastime, but we'll see what's happening when that rolls around later this year.

Muddy Puddles Redux

So today was a rainy day. It was very nice, actually, After so many hot days with thunderstorms, it was a nice change to have a cool, rainy day.


And Bree was ready for it. We've had rainboots for months and I think they've only been worn a handful of times.

Today she elected to jump in the puddles in the front yard. Which is actually just one small puddle but it runs the whole length of the curb in front of the house. It does get deep, though. Deep enough to really get some good splashes going.

And what's a little puddle splashing without dancing? Bree proves that just because you're jumping in a puddle, that doesn't mean you can't still get your groove on.

Our neighbor did some tree trimming this weekend. Bree was fascinated by the ladders, the chainsaws and the falling branches. Although this makes things safer for the power lines, I am under no illusion that this means I will have fewer leaves to rake in a few weeks. However much I wish that were the case, I am certain that I will have the same amount of leaves to rake up - if not more.

I am sure there will come a time when Bree will get sick from playing out in the rain, but for now, it makes her happy to play outside when it's wet. It wasn't too cold, so I didn't think it was a big deal.

Bree did put up a fight when I had her come inside when the mist turned to a steady rain. She had bath #2 for the day. If only Sly liked to play in the rain as much as Bree! I won't even list all of the things he got into today or the things he ate. (That he wasn't supposed to eat, that is.)

It is so rare to get a genuine smile out of Bree these days. Usually it's posed or she turns away when she sees the camera.

In other news - we started our new session of swimming lessons yesterday. Bree is the only child in the class, so she gets one-on-one time with the instructor for the whole 30 minutes. The instructor is also a girl, so Bree loves that. I think she'll be swimming in no time! It will be very hard for her to listen for 30 minutes straight, though. We'll see how this goes. :)

Backyard Streaker

Today we went to a local water park and had a great time. I thought that I had done a fairly good job of wearing her out. We played at the water park for about 4 hours. We even tried a big kid water slide - we weren't sure if the girls would like it or not (we were there with Miss Andi and Sophia) so we went in this order: Miss Andi, Sophie, Bree and me. I thought for sure that I'd hear Bree screaming all the way down - but Andi said that both girls came shotting out of the water slide with huge grins on their faces.

Of course they wanted to do it over and over and over again. Andi & I were the one who had to haul two innertubes up the stairs - the girls' and ours. I'm going to be sore tomorrow! But it was worth it - the girls had a blast. I'm still surprised that Bree loved it so much - that slide was fast.

Anyway, we got home and Bree wanted to play outside. I hear "Look at me, Mommy!" and when I look outside, I see my girl running around naked!

I couldn't figure out why she had shucked her clothes off to run around naked, but there is a history of this happening in the family. *coughherdaddycough*

As it turns out, Bree got herself wet in the process of, uh, well, I'm not sure what she was pretending to do, but she was mopping the deck with her bearies.

I was surprised that Bree got her bearies wet, because I've been trying to get them into their "special bath" for a few days now. (They smelled pretty bad.) So once Bree got them all wet, it was pretty much a done deal that they were going to go into the wash today. I considered this a win for my side, actually. I would have preferred for her to keep her clothes on, but I guess sometimes a girl's gotta be free.

Luckily, it's a beautiful day here so it was as good a day as any to be running around the backyard naked. Although I did talk her into putting her underwear on at least.

Bree came back up for some more water. Since the damage had already been done, I gave her some more so she could play some more outside.

Well, I got her inside the house, but I still haven't been able to put any clothes on her. At this point, it's almost worth just keeping her in her undies until it's time to go to bed. One less outfit to wash! :)