Random Diva

I often refer to Hailey as a little diva - she got that name from a teacher she used to have for dance. Hailey is a steal the show kind of gal (when she wants to be), she has a tendency to light up a room (when she wants to) and one friend of mine has often said "I find it hard not to look at her". Hailey is a lucky little girl - she did not get many of her external genetics from me - (more on that another day)


Today I bring you a little bit of our random diva (all photos courtesy of my blackberry - the only way to catch all the random moments)


Hailey can't leave a store without wearing at least one of the new items purchased (notice grams in the back with the "old" shoes) and will always stop and pose for the blackberry.

Below is Hailey after a recent haircut - blown dry and loving it - she is a amazing at the salon! I think she would go daily - anyone know where I could one of those sinks and chairs for cheap?

And here you will see her outside playing in one of her best dresses and loving every minute of it. The girls LOVES her dresses!

This lovely photo is brought to you by "stop rocking so hard or you will fall)

I can't ever pass up a cute little rump view

This was the day she put on a whole new outfit before we left Old Navy - and got the shoes going in the back of my car!

This photo brought to you courtesy of sidewalk chalk and a high jumping game of hopscotch

who could forget Rock? Hailey hasn't forgotten Rock - he is still around and HE even had a baby - there is a baby rock now. Maybe it was adoption? Anyway - here she is giving Rock his bath.

This is Hailey being goofy, but I liked her hair in this photo so I had to include it.

And the final thoughts on Hailey are below. Hailey has some SERIOUS skin sensitivities and although that is a whole nother Oprah - Below you will see what happens to some of her cutest outfits.

Notice the black leggings under the cute capris and the green tinsle t-shirt under the adorable top? The pants and shirt were scratchy (fancy boutique store itch mind you)

So that was Hailey's solution - she wanted to wear the outfit but couldn't bear it on her bare skin and she went all around town with me like that...and I was ok with it.

Until she added the tap shoes and broke out her tool set and pretended to be Mrs. Handy Manny on my chair.

Diva in the making? I don't know - her sense of style is a bit off some times but she sure is needy and she does pick out most of her own clothes (because if she didn't she would go naked)

Perhaps.

TPT? or just resourceful...

Yes, we are blessed to get to spend time at Grandma and Grandpas mountain home...Most of the time the girls "swim" in the hot tub...but with summer approaching and dreams of diving boards in their heads we had to make some changes.

In comes the pool in the truck...

And the lawn chairs seated near the car with music blaring for entertainment

And the pool on the driveway

and the Size 3 Kate Mack that is STILL being made for diaper wearers

thus creating a very attractive sags in the rump

Hey at least we clean up well...

Brain Noodles

Do you have pipe cleaners? Is that what everyone calls them? Well, in case you don't they are those fuzzy things on a metal strip that bend and curve and make all kinds of crafty things!

When we arrived in the mountains for our weekend with Grams the girls were greated by a box of these Brain Noodles




I swear they are nothing more than Pipe Cleaners on Steroids! But they have enormous playing power!

If you have a little Diva in the making she might make jewelry out them

Lauren quickly served up a Cheeseburger then got busy making a fishing rod and fish...

The girls were enjoying them SO much we picked up an extra box so there were enough to go around with all the creative things they were doing.

For only $14.00 I highly recommend these Brain Noodles - Great fun for a rainy day or any day!
My mom finds the coolest stuff! Way to go mom!

Back to the present

Easter was wonderful! The girls had a great day! We hunted eggs at our house and the infamous Hide em and Find em eggs (plus) at Grams house! A lovely dinner with family and early bedtime for Hailey! It doesn't get better than that!

The Hide em and Find em eggs were worth the hunt. They had us all laughing. Grandpa filled the theater with them (it was raining out) and they taunted "I'm over here ha ha ha" and other sayings complete with contagious laughter-

and once you found them and opend them they said SURPRISE you found me and again with the contagious laughter - what a hoot. Oh and Grams and Gramps filled these gems with dollars so it was double the fun for the girls!

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter too!

Paas-itively Beautiful

Thanks Cheryl for the Pass word play inspiration! (always give credit where credit is due)

Tonight we embarked upon Egg Dyeing...Emerson Girls style.

That means we strip the table down to the felt pad

make seperate sets of everything for each girl

get out the jar of wet wipes for one girl

and get busy!

Not hard to guess who made which eggs eh?

Do you eat your eggs after they have been dyed? I have awful food aversions and can't - But Lauren wants to...YUCKY says I!

Jingle all the way

Jingle Bells
Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Oh what fun it is to ride

In a Snow Cat driven Sleigh.....

We were off to Beanos Cabin for dinner on the mountain (this is also where "he" and I had our wedding reception 10.5 years ago)

We, didn't - but we have before! Porcupines as big an excersize ball, deer oh and have I mentioned the bears?

Hailey - Fever at 101.6 - on Tylenol - enjoying the view

Lauren getting ready for a yummy meal!

Grandpa teaching Lauren what "that" is and her hanging onto every word

The view while we were riding (there is a storm a comin)

Hide 'Em & Find 'Em Eggs (updated)

First of all, I have spent countless hours researching SEO for Tales from the Nightstand and can't seem to master it. At the same time, I have spent a grand total of 0 minutes trying to optimize this little family blog of mine. Yet, if you google "Hide em and find em eggs" Guess what? This little blog o mine shows up number 4 in the search! HA HA. Cracked me up when my mom told me that!

Anyway, The nice ladies on The View told my mom about these eggs (along with the rest of the viewing audience!) and my mom got all excited which in turn got me all excited and I blogged about them and got at least one other person all excited about them too!

Problem is they are harder than Wii to find. Seriously. Techno Source did such a great job Creating the Hide em and Find em eggs that they hide themselves and no one can find them at the stores.

They are supposed to be at Rite Aid, Walmart and Target except where I live none of these store managers had heard of them. Rite Aid keeps putting them in their weekly circular...but not in their stores? GO figure.

So my mom went on a mission - actually drove 20 minutes away and came home with these!

Wait? What on Earth are those? Mom, can you please send a better picture?

MUCH BETTER Thanks Mom (even though you called me "Picky Picky Picky" -Forgive me for wanting to give my readers the best picture possible and THANK YOU For hunting these down for me!)

Now we have eggs that talk...I can't wait till Easter!!!

Not for the Kiddos

Every year the Easter Bunny visits our house while we are sleeping. He is such a great bunny, he fills the girls baskets with candies, bubbles, a stuffed bunny, new crayons, sandbox toys, swim toys and playdough. The Easter Bunny always seems to know just what we need to kickstart late spring/early summer and brings those items right to us!

The one thing I had noticed is the Easter Bunny is always so annonymous. He nevers leaves a note or a letter or anything like that. Well I think this year might be different! My sources tell me the Easter Bunny is planning to leave notes in LOTS of Easter Baskets this year!

If you don't believe me or want to check it out forself click on Easter Bunny anywhere in this post and you can "see" for yourself!

Blaine says check this out

Yes he did. Apparently.

Today I got an email from my brother and it simply said:

SUBJECT: Blaine says check this out

BODY: http://www.kideoplayer.com/

Now, I don't really know Blaine all that well, though we have met a few times, and we do have children very close in age and he and my brother are good friends; I do know Blaine to be a great man/father and so of course I clicked.

I was so glad I clicked!

After you click make sure you go check out POKE for the story behind the kideoplayer and then share it with your friends if you are so inclined!

Hailey and I sat in front of kideoplayer.com "slapping" the space bar for nearly an hour (should I admit that?)

GO AHEAD - CLICK then Slap the night away!

Hide 'Em & Find 'Em Eggs

I can not wait to get my hands on some of these! Available in March at Walmart, RiteAid and Target! They look super fun and will add a great new twist the "easter egg hunt" nothing beats being taunted the whole time your hunting!

Hide 'Em & Find 'Em Eggs™ puts a twist on the standard egg hunt game. Featuring advanced electronics and a surprise inside, it is great fun for kids and families!

Hide the eggs to start the egg hunt fun. The eggs then begin talking, laughing, and making noises as you try to find them. Open them up to see the cute bunny or baby chick say, "You found me!"

The eggs come in 6 colors: violet, pink, green, yellow, orange and blue and have 5 different speech lines and 3 different sound effects including: "I'm hiding," and "I'm over here!"
Featuring Auto shutoff after 30 minutes and a Try-Me feature for retailers. Batteries included.

Credit where Credit is Due: Thanks mom for telling me about these - and I am planning a trip to Walmart tomorrow!

Hailey Bowling

If you are here for Meal Planning Click here - I did post Part Two tonight

Part One
Part Two

I am feeling fine, got on medicine quick enough and besides a bit of cough and other junk I am doing fine. Lauren however was back at the Dr. today - She finished her antibiotics on Wed and by today she was all full in the head again and running a fever...I swear -I am a germophobe - I have wiped, scrubbed and washed - I have opened windows to air the house out yet...this years crud is really taking its toll...all of our Dr's have said that is it just plain crazy and they don't have time to breath they are soooo busy...ARGH.

ANYWAY...

Hailey spent an afternoon, last week, bowling in the backyard.

She ran back and forth setting the pins up and rolling the bowl for more 30 minutes. She rarely set the pins up "right"

and she rarely knocked them over

and she often threw the ball right over the top of them but she had fun, and I got to sit and watch and that was fun for me!

DON'T FORGET - First review and GIVEAWAY Monday over at Tales from the Nightstand! Come one, come all and bring your friends!!!

(thanks again to all those helping to advertise the site, if you missed I gave you props just below the meal planning posts)