Six

Dear Alexis,

So. Six.

SIX.

It's such a big number. You're far, far away from being a preschooler now. Instead, you are a full-blown Kid. You're a full-blown Kid who loves reading books, controlling Barbie's universe, watching movies, and skipping through life with your arms wide open as you look for happy things to embrace. I can take a bit of responsibility for teaching you to stop and smell the roses, but you've taken that lesson so seriously that lately you've become the teacher. Now it's you who reminds me that there is happy in everything. Absolutely EVERYTHING. Remind me to someday tell you about the light the police officer gave you when we were in the car accident. It's a perfect example of how you manage to cherish and share the silver lining in every cloud.

In the past year, so much about you has changed. Some of it everyone can see. For example, much to your glee, your hair finally started to grow.  Most of the changes, however, lie below the surface. You understand how the world works so much more now than you did a year ago. We have deep conversations about all kinds of difficult topics and you always come out of them with a mind-blowing level of understanding. To be honest, sometimes it's a bit annoying that you understand your world so well. While I used to be able to give you a pseudo answer to a difficult question and leave you satisfied, now I have to pull out the Real Answer or risk having you call me out on my illogical response. I expect that you'll be smarter than me any second now.

Of course, you going to school isn't helping my quest to stay one step ahead. You're an exceptional reader and kindergarten has certainly pushed that along even faster than you were pushing it on your own. You still get frustrated with reading from time-to-time, but mostly you walk around absorbing every word you see. You have even made it a habit to read the words I've written in this space. I wasn't expecting THAT to happen for at least two more years.

The next year is shaping up to be one full of monumental changes for you. I know that you'll handle all of the changes with grace and joy. It's just who you are. Never stop that, OK? No matter what, don't ever stop finding happy in your day.

I love you, Alexis, and I always will.

Love,

The Mom Who Still Wishes You Would Sleep In Your Own Bed

 

(Photo is from one year ago today. Oh, how time flies...)

Miniature Snowmen at a Winter Wonderland Birthday Party

Hi, internet. Allow me to introduce you to someone. This is my new friend Jorge.

How magical is he?

Well, I'll tell you. Jorge is so magical that he was able to calm The Beasts at Alexis' birthday party this weekend.

Let me just set the stage for you. There were half as many kids at the party this year as there were last year, but there was DEFINITELY twice as much chaos and noise. In fact, when my husband got home from work about halfway through the party, he walked into the family room, stood silent and dumb-founded for a minute or two, and then promptly walked downstairs and hid in his Man Cave for an hour.

He's a very smart man.

But Jorge and his friends managed to quiet The Beasts for a solid ten minutes.

Even better, I heard more than one party guest blurt out, "Mom! We had little snowmen!" the second their mom showed up at the door to pick them up. I think that's a sign of a project that was absolutely worth every minute of my time.

These little guys were a very essential part of the Winter Wonderland party theme that Alexis requested. It took me about an hour total to put them together (I made 25), but SO WORTH IT. See also: The Beasts were quiet for ten minutes AND were very impressed by them.

Miniature Snowmen

Small Clear Cups (I used 9oz disposable cups)
Hot Fudge
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Pretzel Sticks
Orange Triangle Sprinkles (or whatever orange candy you can find to use as a nose)
Mini Chocolate Chips

1. Heat the hot fudge.

2. Scoop one teaspoonful of hot fudge into the bottom of each cup. This helps keep the snowman from sliding around later.

3. Place one small scoop of ice cream on top of the hot fudge.

4. Put the cups in the freezer until the hot fudge is no longer hot.

5. Use a teaspoon to scoop a little round ball of ice cream and place it on top of the snowman base. I ended up using a second teaspoon to pat and shape and generally force the ice cream to form into a little ball. (I wish I had video of this because it was super easy once I figured it out. Alas, there wasn't time for video shenanigans.)

6. Do the teaspoon-round-ball-ice-cream-thing again for the head. If things start to get a little too melty at any point, just pop the cups back into the freezer.

7. Break a pretzel stick in half and shove both pieces into the snowman's body for his arms.

8. Add a nose. I happened to have triangle-shaped sprinkles, but you could also use a cut-up Starburst, an orange Tic Tac, an orange jelly bean, or whatever else you can find.

9. Add mini chocolate chips for his eyes.

10. TAH-DAH!

Jorge rules.

Jorge and his friends were just one part of the fun, though. I also put together a fruit tray, a veggie tray, a bunch of chips and crackers, and made a bunch of my favorite recipes that I've posted in the past. Here's the list with links:

Fruit Dip (I used blueberry cream cheese in place of strawberry so that the dip would match the party theme. Why, yes, I do know how to beat a party theme until it's dead. Why do you ask?)

Nutella Nut Roll

Birthday Cake Dip

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip

Puppy Chow

Birthday Parties Are Serious Business