Making Me Happy Monday!

It has been QUITE a while since I've done a Making Me Happy Monday post (or any posts, but I've been working on that), and I can think of no better way to start my week!

So, without further adieu, I give you the list of things making me happy on this gorgeous Monday morning:

1) It is, indeed, a GORGEOUS Monday morning! The sun is shining for the 3rd consecutive day in a row after weeks and weeks of rain!

2) Due to the aforementioned sun, The Mad Hatter and I will be heading for the beach club for the 3rd consecutive day in a row!

3) The MH has her first swim lesson this afternoon!

4) I had a WONDERFUL holiday weekend filled with family, friends, great food, and fun. I'm sad it's over.

5) Did I mention that the sun is out???

6) I'm feeling positive that we have turned a corner on the icky weather front and that summer has finally arrived.

7) July is my birthday month! And the birthday month of many people I love and care about - time to celebrate!

8) Even though I neglected this poor blog for over two months (yikes!), when I made the decision to come back and re-commit to posting, I got such a warm welcome back to Bloggywood! Thank you to my awesome friends who "get it", and made me even more excited to be back. Your comments made me do a little happy dance :)

9) We took MH to her first baseball game (minor league) on Thursday night. I don't think she watched one bit of the game. She did, however, manage to consume more sugar and junk food than I ever thought her little belly was capable of holding. Which, if you ask me, is exactly as it should be. And there was nothing better than watching her face as she watched the post-game fireworks display. Watching the world through her eyes is something that never gets old.

10) MH and I met up with some friends and went strawberry picking last week. The best part was MH's "Is this a good one?" after each one she picked before she popped it into her mouth. Perhaps one of the reasons we didn't bring home nearly as many berries as I'd been hoping for - I think that of all she picked, about 4 found their way into our basket while the rest ended up in her belly. Which is exactly as it should be, at least based on my own awesome memories of berry picking with my mom when I was a little girl.


What's making YOU happy today? I hope you'll join me in jotting down a few on your own blog, or by leaving me a comment. Either way, I'm sure there is something in your life making you smile!

Happy 4th!

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!

With love,

Little Miss Firecracker

The Firecracker Family

Thank You Mother Nature

For TWO consecutive days of this:

We're all sporting smiles that big too.

Off to the beach for the second day in a row !!! (it's only July 5th, and yesterday was the FIRST day we got there!)

Now, pretty please, could you keep up the great work?

Back, Back, Back!

Phew!

I was slightly afraid I'd try to log on to blogger and my screen would flash "DENIED" and then my computer would spontaneously combust.

Seriously.

Over 2 months since my last post.

Clearly my priorities are out of whack.

Well, actually, I hit a bit of a personal rut and just didn't have the drive for a while.

And then other stuff took over.

BUT, I'm back!

And I'm ready to blog!

I've missed all my great bloggy friends, and of course, writing about my favorite subject, The Mad Hatter!

One more reason I'm the Mom

In our house, we play a fun little game I like to call one million 20 questions.

I'm sure you're quite familiar.

You know, the one where your child asks questions.

Lots of them.

Questions that make sense. Questions that don't make sense. Questions you can't answer. Questions you don't want to answer. Questions about questions.

Questions, questions, questions.

Once a minute in a while, I feel like one more question might just put me over the edge.

On these occasions, I've found that humor can go a long way in keeping me away from the bottle helping me stay sane.

I play a little game of role reversal and answer every question with a question.

Or, on days like today, spend the entire ride home from preschool asking the Mad Hatter non-stop questions, in the exact tone of voice she uses with me.

Since I'm usually so full of patience I only play this "game" once in a while, I always get a kick out of her reaction.

First, she gets all flustered and tries to answer the questions. Then she realizes I'm playing with her and gets a silly grin on her face.

And today, she says something like this:

"Hey! Why are you asking me a million questions? I'm not the mommy!"

Well. At least my role is still well-defined.

Not Quite WW - Putting it on Paper

Lately everything she does blows my mind.

"Mommy!" she called, filled with pride. "Look! I drew a mitten! It's orange with a nice purple thumb!"

"See?" she asked, showing me how her hand fit right into the beautiful mitten she had drawn.

And I stood there with my jaw dropped, nodding in agreement.

Yes, she had drawn a mitten.

And it looked just like a mitten.

When does this happen? This ability to think it, and make it come to life on paper?

To really make it come to life - not just in her eyes, but in the eyes of everyone around her.

The most wonderful (and sometimes scariest) part of being her Mom is that this is just the beginning.

There is so much more to come.

Recipe for a Fabulous School Vacation

Take one EXTREMELY well-behaved four-year old Mad Hatter who is an absolute joy to be around for over one week straight. (we're talking great listening, minimal whining, the kind of behavior that rejuvenates a Mom and reminds her that this is the exact reason she could not imagine her life any other way).

Add in a few tea parties with some of our closest "friends". (thanks GiGi, for the bear on the right, who MH adores, and who also happens to love hanging out with the bear on the left - a birth gift to MH. Who would have known? Their pearls and hats are just the perfect attire for tea parties and the like, and the songs they sing definitely add a festive touch!)



Mix in some playdates with both new and old friends . . .

Add a good helping of sunny weather and some trips to our favorite playground to burn off some energy and socialize with other moms and kids.

Stir together and proceed with . . .

Finally getting together with this mom and her girls (after being introduced via blog by a mutual friend over a year ago, getting to know each other online, meeting once several months ago at a RI Blogger girls' night out, having precious daughters very close in age with very similar personalities who attend the same preschool on opposite days, living 10 minutes apart - in other words long overdue) and having a wonderful time together.

Such a wonderful time, in fact, that after a playdate at our favorite playground (which also happens to be the same) that turned into a playdate in the car when the weather turned cold, we decided to roadtrip to CT for the day at the end of the week!

Armed with enough gear for an overnight stay, 5 ladies (one of them newly four, one three and a half, and one just two months old) set out on a day-long adventure that involved Dunkin' Donuts, Diet Coke, iced coffee, numerous potty trips, getting to meet her (and 2 of her chickadees), an outstanding children's museum, pizza to-die-for, and a lot of laughs. And yes, we were all still talking (and talking, and talking) at the end of the day! After 4 hours in the car! (I must say I wish Boo could have showm MH how easy it is to just close your eyes and sack out while someone else is driving)

Could Boo and MH (and Tiney) be any more adorable?

Finish it off with Daddy and a friend putting together this beauty for the backyard . . .

This recipe resulted in perfection!

We can't wait for summer!