Goodwill Couture

Every week I go on an exhilerating little treasure hunt . . . 

 . . . to the thrift store

while the girls are down the street at ballet.

I love buying $1.49 goodies at Goodwill.

Here is Kensington modeling our latest find:

Thrifted Dress: $1.49

White Leggings: Hand-me-ups from Lue Lue (because Kensington is just so dern skinny, she can still wear a size 2T in bottoms and call them "capri-length")

Backpack: Hand-me-down from Raleigh

(remember the roller backpacks??)

Shoes: Handmade with Love by Dallas 

Let's get a closer look at those champagne-leather ballet flats:

Shin Injury: No tellin'

Good Cooker Day

 Let's celebrate!

It's "Good Cooker Day" according to Raleigh.

Well, it was a couple of weeks ago when she left this for me on the kitchen counter.  I was cracking up, as usual. 

That's my girl.  

Why is she up so high on a swing?  Because she made it into a double-decker.

That's my girl.

P.S. - Enjoy the picture of Madeline dressed up in my old dance costume.  It's the one I used to make my brother (won't mention which one) wear when I coerced him and the others into putting on plays for our parents on Sunday afternoons.  Glad we can use it for the next generation.  :)

The Innate Nurturer

Kensington has a koala.

He is a little bear.

He sleeps in an Easter basket

Upon a reclining chair.

If you dare to shout and wake him

You'll ne'er hear a groan nor growl.

But Kensington, his mother dear 

Will raise a cry of foul.

For she has placed him neatly

Wrapped up in her "tankie,"

(At least that's what she calls

Her tattered old white blankie.)

She's left him there to slumber

For the remainder of the day

While she and her little "TEM-ery"

Have gone outside to play.

-Anonymous :)

P.S. - Kensington has an affinity for adding certain consonants to the beginning every word she says.  Last year it was the letter "P".  The past six months it's been "T".  She'll also do an "F".  This past week she's called me "Tommy" and Dallas "Faddy."  I like his name better.  :)

Parenting Tip #1

Here we go.  I'm going to post parenting tips for myself to remember and for our daughters to look back on and save themselves a wholelotta trouble.

This is how we turned a little hellion to our little "heelion".

Parenting Tip #1 at our house is this:

Presentation.

That's it.  Presentation.

In a house full of artists and designers and crafters, we recognize this as our #1 need.

If you can't figure out what to do to motivate a kid after an hour-long temper tantrum with all kinds of threats and consequences, etc., just pull out your highest heels . . . 

(breath deeply . . . )

and watch those teary-eyes become a little more sparkly

and that frowny, sulking face

begin smiling.

Because she sure feels happier to help when she feels cute.

 

It's magic.

And I'm being totally serious.

I wish I knew the heel trick a LONG time ago.

(It works best on Madeline.)

My Mom's Cooler Than Your Mom

I'm sorry for the mean-spirited, braggy-sounding title.

But it's true.

Just look at what my mom does at family Easter celebrations (and notice the awe and wonder in the eyes of Grammy's oldest granddaughter.)  Priceless.

And then watch how quickly this one jumps up to try:

Had to change into better shorts for the occasion:

Realized that handstands, not headstands, are actually her forte.

And then she had to throw in some more tricks of her own:

And then her littlest sister came to join in: 

Bravissimo!

Thanks for the great entertainment, Mom and Raleigh!

Emery Matisse (Pronounced Ahm-REE)

Seriously, what it the world could be cuter than this?

And seriously, can you even tell which coloring was hers and which was mine?

Hee hee

Carlo

Meet Carlo, a horse for all occasions.

Our Clever, Clever Girl

In the movie "Anne of Green Gables" there is a part where Anne (with an "E") asks Matthew which is better: to be beautiful, smart, or (what is it? "dazzlingly") clever.  

I pick clever.

And that's what this one is:

I have thought many times about devoting a blog just to the creative mind of this-here girl.  (And how did she get so big???  She's doing homework after ballet on the kitchen floor.  Familiar anyone?)  She leaves her mark wherever she goes.  She is constantly writing songs, plays, and little-diddies.  She plays music and makes up dances.  But more often than that, she is making "sign-up sheets" for who-knows-what.  It depends on the day.  Each day after school, she needs to come home and unload her creative energy by herself.  She is very productive in a short amount of time.  It is amazing.  And she is always "decorating" something. 

Mom, does this sound familiar?

Let's name the blog Planet Krogsworth: Inside the World of a Creatively Gifted Child.  She is seriously on her own planet sometimes.  In a good way.

I was having a hard time looking up and down from my recipe recently, and here is what she invented for me in a matter of minutes:

It was seriously so helpful!

These next four are from a family newspaper she created without stopping to think.

A picture she made:

A design for an iMac desktop setup

One of the many clubs you can join if you live at our house :)

She cracked me up with this one when I was trying to get the girls to quit complaining and just do their chores:

Note how many "Acts" Dallas and I sat through (Each LINE was an act):

We just love this girl!

Easter 2013

Ahhh . . . Easter.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.  FYI - I can't get my photos to crop - don't know why it's not working.  So enjoy these uneven/far-away pictures anyway.  I sure do!  

This Easter-Egg Wreath was made with love by Kensington in preschool.  And it was hung with love by Mom.  :)

The older girls (and our wonderful neighbor-friend, Priscilla) made a fabulous egg hunt for Emery.  They were dying for her to wake up from her nap.  I had to follow close behind with the camera to capture all of the cuteness.

And let's not forget what happened earlier that morning: 

We weren't sure if we'd be on the Saturday or Sunday hopping-schedule.  Luckily, he came on Saturday.  He always seems to do that . . .