Down the Rabbit Hole

For months, Adjoa has been telling everyone she wants Alice in Wonderland for her birthday - the movie.  We decided to have an Alice in Wonderland party, only natural, right?

This was my first kid party.  I was pretty nervous.  Even deciding on Alice in Wonderland wasn't really that easy.  I went back and forth between Alice and Ariel {at the local aquarium} for about 2 weeks.  Finally, I decided on Alice.  I'd have to do everything on my own, but I thought it could be really fun.  Besides, Adjoa consistently loves Ariel, and I'm betting we can do that party later.  Alice has a more recent, movie based, appeal to her.

Adjoa came up with a list of friends she wanted to invite, and I made up the party announcements.  We delivered them, came home, opened our mail, and discovered that another little boy the same age as Adjoa {also invited to her party} was having a birthday party on the same day, at the same time.  Awesome.  We quickly moved ours up.

The party was really fun.  I dressed up as the Mad Hatter.  {In case you were wondering, I did not have to buy one thing for my costume...AND it was comprised of things I wear on a fairly regular basis!  I'm only a chemical imbalance away from crazy.  Robert maintains I'm not even THAT far away!}  I curled and 'ratted' my hair, added some purple glitter gel, and went heavy on the eye makeup.  I put some baby powder on my face to pale-up my skin, and bushified my eyebrows.  Adjoa has a finger puppet mouse, and I pinned him to my shoulder.  I introduced all the kids to my mouse and warned them NOT to say C-A-T or the doormouse would go crazy and we'd have to put jam on his nose!  Luckily, all the children complied, and it saved the mouse, and me, from a sticky predicament.   

The day {and night} before the party I made "Eat Me," "Try Me," and "Take Me" sugar cookies, a pretty awesome 6- Layer Rainbow Birthday Cake, and I bought Jones soda and made new "Drink Me" labels.

All the kids made paper bag hats.  We had a Mad Hatter Fashion show, and the Mad Hatter judged the hats.  the Thank You cards are awards for their hats, and pictures of each of the kids, doing their "Mad Pose", modeling their hats.  There was a Rabbit Race {aka potato sack race} that the kids loved.  They raced back and forth at least 10 times.  It was so funny to watch them hopping around in the pillowcases.  We ended the party with a pink flamingo pinata. 

I was really wishing we had a croquet set.  I think it would have been fun to use the mallet as the pinata stick - and even better if I could have found a hedgehog pinata!  I really wanted to have a dragon pinata and use a wooden sword for the stick, and let the kids "slay the jabberwok" but Robert said that the kids were too little and wouldn't be familiar with the newer Alice in Wonderland.  So we kept it "cuter".

Just before the party, I was vowing I'd never do another birthday party again, but it ended up being pretty fun.  I had a great time with the kids and dressing up made a big difference.  I don't know how I would have felt going to the aquarium and letting someone else do everything for me.  Less stressed prior to the party, for sure, but I doubt I would have had as much fun. 

Happy Birthday, Adjoa!

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Peter

I showed Adjoa how to play "Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater" on the piano yesterday.  She got the basic idea of it, but didn't really have it down.

Today, she sat down at the piano and just busted it out - words and all.

"Peter, Peter" Lyrics {according to Adjoa}
Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Peter,
Had a wife and couldn't keep her
Put her in a pumpkin shell
and really kept her really well.

She's a hoot.

Anyway, enjoy!

I Loved Being Three

It's my girl's birthday today!  We kept it pretty low key today - she is having a big party on Wednesday.  i still wanted to say Happy Birthday, though.  And share these cute pics.

Auntie Chambra sent Adjoa some flowers and an adorable sock cat named "Binky" for her birthday.  Adjoa loved them.  I promised Chambra I would post and send some pictures.

When I reminded Adjoa it was her birthday today and that she was now 4 years old, she sighed, "But mom! I looved being three!"

I loved her being three, too.

This Land is Your Land, This Land is Adjoa's Land....

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!

Adjoa has a song she'd like to share:

I remember learning this song in preschool, too.  I think there might even be a tape of me singing it.  Wouldn't that be fun?

p.s. sorry the video quality is so yucky :( I don't really know what happened to my camera...

I WON!

Hey look!  I WON!

I even won the T-Shirt!  {which I have been totally pining over for weeks and weeks!}

I'm so excited!

I will be spending Wednesday and Saturday immersed in Chicken Week happenings - don't worry, I'll post pictures, etc.  I know you are all just dying to hear more about urban chickening :)

What Do Your Color Preferences Say About You?

I took this fun quiz today.  You select the colors you like and don't like, and then all kinds of fun {and maybe even useful} info about your personality will be revealed.

Probably more than the average joe wants to know about me, but here are my results:

Your Profile :

You are able to listen to others, you show a good emotional intelligence, you know how to bring your support to others.  You are also strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled for yourself, and by your need to act and to move forward.  Finally you are creative, you always have new ideas, and your inspiration comes from the inside.


Your understanding of your environment :

At first, at 38%, you are focused on the facts and on the reality, and your decisions are determined by your perception of facts.

Then, at a ratio of 36%, you are attached to moral values and feelings, and you have an emotional relation with the environment.

Finally, at 25%, you are centered on your thoughts and your actions are determined by your knowledge and your experience.

How you assert yourself :

In your relations with others, your actions and behaviour are determined by your sensibility and that of your partner at a ratio of 51%. Then you are driven at 48% by own will and personal goals.

Also, your inspiration and your creativity, your artistic or spiritual impulse have an influence of 51%.  Your family and personal ties interfere at 48%.

Finally, your point of view and your decision-making are motivated by your inner conviction at 52%. Dialogue and exchange of views with others are taken into account at 47%.

The qualities that characterize your personality at this time :

Your thinking at 20%. You are attuned to others and you show a good emotional intelligence, which allow you to give support to people.

Your emotional intelligence at 20%. You are thoughtful and capable of listening to others, you take into account the needs of others before setting up the defined objectives.

Your energy at 19%. You are strong-willed and active, your actions are determined by your own will, by the goals you settled to yourself, and by your need to act and move ahead.

Your creativity at 19%. You are creative, you know how to see beauty, you are intuitive and your inspiration comes from the inside.

Your insights at 19%. You are thoughtful and deep, you think before getting into action and you know how to communicate your knowledge.

Finally, you are a manager and a structured person, you know how to take into account the needs of each person while leading them to the fixed goals, you are a creative person, with always new ideas, and you know how to apply them.


If it's on the internets, it must be true.

Even a 3 Year Old can Appreciate a Good Bubble Bath

Adjoa has been having a rough day. She is tired and missing Nana. I decided to have her take a nice warm bubble bath this afternoon. I filled the tub with toasty-warm water and put my yummy smelling bubbles in the tub for her.


As she eased herself into the tub she sighed, "oooh. This is nice."

She's a girl after my own heart!

Orange Banana Bread

Orange Banana Bread

I love this banana bread.  I've been tweaking the recipe for 2 years now, and I think I finally have something I will stick with.  The orange gives the banana bread a unique taste, without overpowering the banana; it also makes the bread really moist.

Over the years I've also added extras like walnuts, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, etc. and they have all been yummy.  Anyway, I made it last night and Robert said it was the best yet.  Here's what I did:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 tablespoons applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 3-4 medium ripe bananas, halved
• 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 - 2 teaspoons cinnamon, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 

Cinnamon Sugar Mixture

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons flour, optional

Directions
In a bowl, combine sugar, applesauce, and eggs; mix well.  Stir in orange juice concentrate, orange juice, and banana halves.  Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and whisk; add to banana mixture, beating just until moistened.  Mixture will be lumpy and you will have chinks of banana.  Do Not over beat mixture.  Flour will get overworked if you mix it too long and the bread will be tough and dense.

Stir in any optional ingredients: walnuts, strawberries, cranberries, blueberries, etc.

In a small bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, and flour together.  Grease 2  8x4 loaf pans, sprinkle Cinnamon Sugar mixture in pans; evenly coat bottom and sides of pans.  Pour banana mixture into pans.

Bake at 325* for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Fairy Garden

So this nursery near our house is one of my favorite places this season.  About once a month they have these really fun kids activities. Last week Adjoa and I went to learn how to construct a Fairy Garden.  It was fun, and the different gardens were so cute.

As we were walking to the car, Adjoa says, "Mommy. I have a good idea."
Me: What's that, Adjoa?
Adjoa: When we go to the ail-port to pick up Nana I will say, Nana, do you want to make a Fairy Larden with me? And Nana will say, Of course I do, Sweetie!

And then she went on to detail about how they would go to the store to get some plants and they would find some sticks and some "pen-cones" and they would make a Fairy Garden.  Daddy was then commissioned to construct a house for the Fairies.  Because, you know, they do need a house so the squirrels cannot get them.  She talked about how the Fairies could scold the pestering squirrels and then go inside their house and shut the door.

It was hysterical.

Adjoa talked about the Fairy Garden constantly.  The day Nana was coming into town, we called so Adjoa could share her plan.

Being the great nana that Nana is, she followed Adjoa's pre-scripted conversation nearly perfectly.

We went to the nursery to get a few plants the first morning we could.  Nana and Adjoa went on a walk around the neighborhood looking for sticks, rocks, bark, and any other treasure a fairy may need.  They totally scored bug and found a couple walnuts.

We stayed up late the other night putting it all together - we even found a cute little fairy to add.

Adjoa is quite proud of her Fairy Garden.  We put the finishing touches on it today and she was so eager to show Daddy as soon as he got home from work.

My only regret is that we weren't able to finish it in time to do the Fairy Walk at the nursery on Saturday.  Everyone got to display their fairy gardens and the kids could dress up and do some fun activities. Oh well.  The opportunity to make it with Nana was compensation enough for Adjoa!

Wasatch Community Garden Giveaway

Wasatch Community Gardens is doing a giveaway this week!

I'm hoping to win a T-Shirt!