First day-

Her lunch box looks so huge!

And showcasing her big 3 yr old attitude-

When I picked Daphne up from class, I asked her teacher how she did. “Um… ok.” Oh crap. That’s not the response you want. She was very wiggly at naptime and I’m sure didn’t always listen to instructions. But considering she’s never been in daycare or any other preschool setting, I guess there’s going to be an adjustment period. When I asked Daphne about her day all she would talk about was her lunch box. Then she crashed in the car on the way home.

Why am I so stressed out about this?

We held Daphne’s birthday party a week before her actual birth date. Which means Daphne has been eating cake and receiving gifts for at least a week now. She got a Dora karaoke microphone from a friend and has been singing Happy Birthday to Me for days. Sometimes she throws in a Happy Birthday to Mommy in there for good measure! She loves an excuse to party.

Here are a few (really bad) snapshots of the b-day girl having a good time with her little friends.

We decorated paper ice cream shoppe hats as a craft

And they played games

Part of the ice cream sundae bar. I really wanted to build a backdrop and I wish I had had the time to do that. I had forgotten how crazy harvest gold the walls were in the hall we rented. It doesn’t look bad in real life, but in pics… ACK!

Ice cream cone cupcakes. My mom had to pipe the frosting on these since I only had one good hand. Thank you Mom!!

And I’m so irritated I didn’t get pics of the treat bag contents. They had ice cream cone shaped bubbles, ice cream cone lipgloss, the melted crayons and ice cream themed candy.

And her favorite toy. Woody! She’s slept with this thing every night.

This was my first big party for Daphne. The previous years have all been parties at home with family and maybe a friend or two. Wow! Little kid parties are exhausting. We might just rent out a gymnastics/inflatable place next year and make it easy on everyone. Big thanks to my family for pitching in at the last minute and helping me pull this off. And happy 3rd birthday to my darling Daphne!

I got a 4 hour nap today! Amazing. I really can’t remember the last time I napped so long. After Daphne’s party Saturday and a busy Sunday morning, I looked at my husband after lunch and told him I was going to rest and that he was in charge of the girl. I should do that more often.

So, Daphne’s party… Didn’t turn out like I planned, but that’s okay. I completely ran out of time. Didn’t get to make all the food or decorations I wanted, couldn’t find the candles, didn’t finish all the treat bags, didn’t take pictures of everything (including the birthday girl before she became covered in chocolate icing), and no joke, didn’t even have Daphne dressed as her party guests began to arrive. I looked at the clock, said “Oh crap! Is it 3 already?” and had to hunt down the birthday girl. I was holding her dress in my hand, greeting guests. And it wasn’t until we were almost ready to eat that I thought to take pictures of the sundae bar before everyone started to dig in. This is just so unlike me. Normally I’m completely on top of things.

Daphne was thrilled, got some great presents and had a fun time with her friends. And I realize that’s all that matters. The food was great! I did homemade ice cream for the first time (a dark chocolate espresso bean and a key lime pie) and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was with an electric ice cream machine. Still cheaper to buy a half gallon of Blue Bell. Brownie pops were a hit, as well as the cupcake cones. I’ll post pics soon.

This week shouldn’t be as crazy as last week, thank goodness. I’ll wrap up my remodel project manager thing soon, and then will just have my 4 day a week job. I’m looking forward to a celebration dinner with our Children’s Director!! I think both of us are ready to have our lives back!

The other big thing this week… getting ready for preschool. We have Meet the Teacher night this week. Actually, we already know her teacher. In fact, I talked with her this morning about a plan of attack for D’s potty training regression. She was doing so well a few months ago and then had a UTI and started to have accidents again. I’m sure that it won’t be long before she’s on track again. I hope. Also, Daphne needs to practice with her lunchbox, and I need to go school supply shopping. I used to laugh at people who were in Wal-Mart at 10pm the night before school started getting supplies. I’m sure that will be ME this year. And I still need to figure out how to label everything.

Oh yes, and there’s always Daphne’s actual birthday this week too. I was so busy last week that I didn’t even have time to buy her a birthday gift to unwrap at her party yesterday.

Next post will be pics! Until then…

What a month I’ve had. Nothing has been easy. Everything that should go together without much effort has taken twice the amount of time I thought.

For example- I ordered all new bulletin boards for the classroom remodel I’m in charge of. I won’t even go into the number of phone calls it took to place a basic furniture/shelving/bulletin board order. It might be a story for another post. Anyway, we were getting concerned that we would not receive the bulletin boards before the teachers had to start setting up their rooms, since the shipping estimate was 4-6 weeks. So, we called, confirmed they had not shipped our boards, canceled the order and ordered similar (non-returnable) boards from Office Depot. The next day we get a call from the first company saying, “Whoops, they shipped after all. But you can either refuse the shipment or call for a pickup.” The next day half of the bulletin boards arrived. Too late to cancel the 2nd order. A few days later, the other half of the boards show up. I refuse the shipment. Signed the bill of lading- Refused, order canceled, return to sender. Are you following this? Ha!

Later the same week the shipment from Office Depot was due to arrive. I walk into the office Thursday and there are my boards. Rock on! Now we can get them hung and the teachers can decorate them and be ready for preschool. Awesome. We open the boxes and get to it. Then a trucking company pulls up and begins to deliver more bulletin boards. Um, yeah. The first company had redelivered the refused boards Wednesday night and this was our Office Depot order. Sigh. So the first bulletin boards go back in their boxes until we can arrange another pickup.

All this drama just for bulletin boards. And this is just one of dozens of examples I could give you.

Last night Daphne slammed my hand in a door. (Happy birthday to Mommy!) The hinged side. Childbirth was less painful. Pitocin contractions were less painful. I now have 3 purple, swollen fingers and black nails on my left hand. And they still really, really, really hurt. I can’t use them. And I’m throwing a party tomorrow. I’m not sure how I’m going to dry my own hair. And darn it, I really wanted a birthday mani/pedi.

So I’m making homemade ice cream, brownie pops, cupcakes, little paper ice cream trucks… all one handed. You just have to laugh.

Here are my mini brownie “cake” pops, put into kiddie cones and dipped to look like ice cream scoops. Inspired mainly by Bakerella. By best one handed effort. Should have thinned out the chocolate melts on top.

And to give you an idea of the scale. The Cherry Berries from Michael’s worked out great!

And an oopsie. I think I like this one better.

Not my best, but I hope the kids are impressed. I’m sure Daphne will be.

Any Shark Week fans out there? I don’t know why I even watch those Discovery Channel programs. I have a completely irrational fear of sharks.

I blame Jaws.

Jaws is the reason why I don’t like to swim in anything other than a nice chlorinated pool. I’m a wimp. And Open Water is the reason why I will never, ever go scuba diving.

So what better way to celebrate Shark Week than to head to the beach! Ha! We took advantage of a nice, work-free Friday by packing up and driving to Galveston. Funny, my husband didn’t realize they had ever had a shark attack in Galveston. And of course I took great delight in filling him in on the recent attacks in July and the attack that took place the very first time I visited the island back in the 80’s.

From what I understand, we don’t have many shark attacks near Galveston, but just the thought of a bull shark chomping off a hand or foot is scary enough to keep me in mid-calf deep water. Told you I was a wimp. And I didn’t realize this until we were already home, but the two people that were attacked by a bull shark in July were swimming at the exact same beach that we were today.

We had a nice time. The scariest thing we saw in the water today was a little jellyfish that was a few feet away from Daphne. And a whole bunch of tiny crab parts that kept washing up on the beach around us. As usual, Daphne enjoyed chasing the birds, playing in the sand and collecting shells.

And unlike her momma, Daphne is not afraid to get completely filthy.

”

Her mouth was full of Nutter Butters.

”

The really sad thing is that Daphne has been asking to go to the beach since January and today was our first opportunity to go all year. It’s only an hour and a half down the road! And it’s doubtful we will have another opportunity to go until later this fall. Seriously, what happened to this summer?

Next year- long weekend road trip to Port Aransas (outside of Corpus). I hear they have better beaches. I’m sure Daphne can’t wait!

At almost 3:

Do they make a sleeping pill that only knocks you out for about 4 or 5 hours? Because I need one! Nothing worse than being up until 2am and knowing that you can’t take anything because you know you’ll be groggy the next day. That wasn’t as important during my SAHM days, but employers want you to be alert when you are filing important tax forms and fixing payroll problems.

Blergh.

Yesterday, Daphne turned 35 months. Yep, she’s almost 3. If you ignore all the tantrums and power struggles, 2 going on 3 is a pretty magical age. I love hearing her interpretation of what’s going on around her. She comes up with some funny stuff.

Daphne is in full Toy Story 3 mode. Top on her birthday list… Woody and Buzz. Not Jessie, not retro Barbie. She wants Woody. And maybe another Mr. Toe Head (not Potato, mind you). Not that I should be making fun of her, I keep calling them Buddy and Wooz.

We haven’t talked much about preschool, which is just weeks away. I think it will be a very easy transition. I hope. The preschool is at our church and her class is just across the building from my office. The only downside might be that she’ll know I’m 30 seconds away and she might see me in the halls. Daphne is a really independent kid, so I’m not too concerned with her crying and wanting to be with Mommy. We’ll see.

I’m in full party prep mode, especially since the end of August is going to be ridiculous. We are still in the middle of the remodel/design project of the preschool which will have to be finished in the next 3 weeks. I’ve been working on the printables and spent tonight melting crayons into ice cream cone shapes. Surprisingly easy, even without a hard candy mold (I used a chocolate mold)! I’ll take pics soon. I still need to design and print the invitations this week. If we can’t get a decent pic of Daphne (which is usually the case), I plan on using this clip art.

I think it looks a lot like D.

Next year I think I’m just going to rent out a gymnastics place and keep it simple. It’s amazing how the little things like food and decor add up, especially when you have 13 kids plus parents on the invite list. I am looking forward to her party. My longtime readers will be very happy to know that I’m not making a cake this year. You won’t have to put up with any complaining about how cakes suck! Maybe about how cupcakes suck, but not a full blown cake. If I can’t pull off ice cream cone cupcakes then I should be ashamed of myself. After some deliberation, we are going with the Nordicware cone cupcake pan.

Hopefully we will get a chance to slow down and do something fun before school. Maybe go to the beach? That probably won’t happen. What a crazy summer we’ve had!

Excuse me while I go back to tossing and turning.

Until next time…

Hope you are enjoying your Father’s Day weekend!  Yesterday, we spent 5 hours at the pool with my dad.  Thank goodness for MAC Studio Fix liquid foundation, otherwise I’d have gone to church today with the worst sunburn lines on my face.  My forehead is roasted.  The area covered by my huge Jackie O sunglasses is white.  Then my cheeks and chin are a little red.  Really attractive!

Today we spent time with the rest of the family.  Steaks and burgers on the grill.  And for dessert?  Bakerella’s burger basket.  Cute, huh?

Cupcake bun, brownie patty and sugar cookie fries.  Daphne and her cousins loved them, after Daphne realized it was dessert, since she won’t eat bread or red meat.  Yeah.

Everyone had their own basket.

The fries were a bit of a pain, as was putting together the red and white baskets.  But it was worth it!

I even got a quick shot of Daddy and Daphne.  I’m waiting to get D’s hair cut before doing a real photoshoot.  She’s my mini-me in this pic.  Hilarious.

Happy Father’s Day!

I got Daphne’s birthday party dress today.  Yes, it’s a bit early.  But as I explained to my husband, if I try to shop for ice cream-themed items in August I won’t find anything.  Now’s the time, especially since Crazy 8 is having a big sale.   She looks adorable in it.  Just like her momma, pink is her color.  Did I mention the dress was on sale for $10?  Woot!

The fact that I bought her dress isn’t a big deal.  The big deal is that for the first time I bought her a kid girl size, and not a baby/toddler girl.  Awwwww….  And I enrolled her in 4 day/week preschool.  Then I thought about back to school shopping and backpacks and lunch boxes.   Wow, where has the time gone?

And back to the color pink… Daphne doesn’t say pink, she says paink- like paint with a k.  Reminds me of Bruce Springsteen’s Pink Cadillac song.  She sounds like such a hick.  I guess you can take the girl out of Alabama…

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I’m a psycho party planner and that I’ve been excited about an Alice in Wonderland tea party for one of Daphne’s birthdays. I didn’t think the theme fit for her 1st or 2nd party, so I’ve been researching and planning for her 3rd birthday, which is now less than 3 months away. Ack!

According to my spreadsheet (what, doesn’t everyone have a party planning spreadsheet? lol!) I should be in full party mode… stalking thrift stores for mismatched china, sewing costumes, designing invitations and centerpieces. Basically getting the handmade stuff out of the way, so I can focus on edibles, favors, paper goods, flowers as we get closer to the big day.

Just a few problems- I just haven’t felt like myself lately and have no desire to make anything. Sad but true. I’m like that little blob/pea in the old Zoloft commercials. Sigh. Also our guest list is growing. Daphne has more little friends to invite. And I know it’s going to be 100 degrees in August and the idea of making costumes and wearing hats and all that makes me hot just thinking about it. We’re going with Plan B. A big ice cream social party. More on that later.

So, instead of wasting months of Alice in Wonderland research, I thought I’d pass it along. Especially since it’s a popular party theme this year. Hope it helps someone!

Invitations- Love these from Etsy seller Viva La Violette.

And the best part? The text can be flipped so it’s only viewable through the “looking glass.” Awesome. A few more ideas… Print your own custom playing cards with the party info from mpix.com. Any leftover cards can be part of your decor. Free Alice in Wonderland Photoshop brushes are available here, if you want to design your own card.

Decor- Here’s the easy part… thrift store mismatched china cups (and if they break, who cares?!), paper lanterns, cards, croquet sets, “painted flowers.” Love this pic with the teacup wands.  And this one with the card house.  I had planned on doing my giant teacup in the center of the table with red and white roses (either real or felt) and maybe a playing card tucked in here and there.   This giant teacup:

And completely off topic, but why didn’t I pull that giant weed before I took this pic?   I need to clone that out in Photoshop.

Party hats and masks- I planned on doing a variety… Alice headbands, White rabbit ears (bunny ears from the Target $1 at Easter), Cheshire cat smile masks.  And I loved this Threadbanger tutorial for the Mad Hatter’s hat.

The birthday girl’s outfit- There are lots of options on Etsy.  I was going to do a blue peasant top and white apron/shorts set.  Or something like this from Lil Blue Boo with some Japanese fabric.

Activities- Since I knew it would be horribly hot, I purchased an indoor foam croquet set at Tuesday Morning for $7.  I had also thought about decorating foam teapot frames.

Cakes and cupcakes- I didn’t think too much about cakes, since I hate make them, but I did have a few cupcake ideas.  The latest What’s New Cupcake? book has instructions for a skunk/squirrel cupcake using the s shaped breakfast cookies as tails that I thought would be perfect for a Cheshire cat cupcake.   And these cupcakes from Flickr are amazing.

Treat bags- flamingo suckers from Oriental Trading, Alice stickers from Etsy, cheapy playing cards, Alice sticker book from Amazon.

I’m sure there more ideas in my Flickr faves and my Etsy faves, so feel free to browse around.

Happy party planning!