8/52

Posted on February 23, 2015 by Kristen Page

Toothless!

Tied in Knots

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl and I celebrated Presidents Day by hanging out in sweat pants, watching an extra episode (or two) of Curious George, and just goofing off. It was perfect! We didn’t goof off the whole day, though. I decided that I must teach her something!!! Every six year old needs to be able to blow spit bubbles! So, we set to work.

Just as she started getting the hang of it, she got distracted…this happens a lot when you’re six! She noticed a “new” pair of hand-me-down sneakers and decided that I should teach her to tie shoes instead of how to blow spit bubbles (always the practical child). And that’s just what I did.

She caught on pretty quickly, and she was more than determined to learn!

There were a few setbacks…

The dog bragged that he could tie a shoe, no sweat!

The girl never gave up!

Her persistence paid off!!

Success!!!

After dinner, we put her knot tying to another use…it was time to address the “dangly, gray tooth”

We tied some dental floss around that tooth and….

A quick tug, and…success!!!

7/52

Posted on February 16, 2015 by Kristen Page

Snaggle-toothed girl

New And Improved Tooth Fairy

Posted on February 12, 2015 by Kristen Page

I think I got ripped off as a kid. I don’t remember getting any more than a dollar from the tooth fairy. I’m pretty sure that teeth are the same now as they were then. Just enamel, dentin, and pulp. Well, something has changed because the girl informed me that the tooth fairy was bringing her $5000! She then went on to explain how she hoped the tooth fairy would bring her “one thousand hundred dollars that she could spend, share and keep.”

After I got over the shock of the sudden rise in the value of baby teeth (Dad, if you still have my teeth in that pill bottle, we could make a fortune!), I asked the girl what she would do with the money.

I was dreaming of the philanthropic uses she would describe, but instead…
She said that she would buy a whole pack of Pokemon or baseball cards. Then she would share by giving away five cards. I then asked what she would save for, and she replied
“a pack of football cards”

I’m not really sure what to think of all of this, but I do know she’s awful cute without that tooth.

6/52

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Kristen Page

Groundhog day (aka the Girl’s birthday) – shadow seen, but we will make the best of 6 more weeks of winter!

Six ….

Posted on February 7, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl is

1. Ambitious

2. Inquisitive

3. Musical

4. Thoughtful

5. Imaginative

6. Loving

The Girl is 6…and so much more!!!

Just like Penguins

Posted on February 3, 2015 by Kristen Page

The girl is 6! Just like that! I blinked and she became an amazingly creative, kind, funny and energetic kid! Her dream birthday celebration this year involved penguins.

She told me that she wanted to have a penguin party where she could “slide down snow hills on her belly like a penguin.” The “Blizzard of 2015” ensured that her dream would come true!

We had a lot of fun planning her party. We learned all about penguins so that we could make fun games and spend the day pretending to be these flightless birds. The biggest challenge was getting to the party, and we were sad that some of our friends couldn’t make it…but we wanted them to be safe and not risk the driving conditions. It felt more like we were driving on a snowy country road rather than Roosevelt Road!

We had the party at Cantigny – Robert McCormick’s estate. It’s one of our favorite places, and it was absolutely beautiful!

Surprisingly, a lot of our friends made it, and we had a terrific time.

We started inside where the kids all made “snow” globes:

We also played some games like “Scare the Skua”. (Skuas are birds that eat penguin eggs and baby penguins). I don’t have a great picture of the entire game, but there was a skua target above the Chinstrap Penguins. The kids threw pom-poms at the skua and saved the day!

Leopard Seals also eat Penguins, so we played “Leopard Launch”. This was a big hit because of the Penguin popper. The kids knocked down leopard seals with balls “shot” out of the penguin.

It’s hard to protect baby penguins. The kids raced while protecting their eggs (nerf footballs). It turns out that the girl’s daddy was the best penguin. He was the fastest waddler at the party (sadly, there is no photographic evidence – you will have to trust me on this)!

Have you ever wondered how tall an Emperor Penguin is? Are you as tall as an Emperor Penguin?

We wanted to celebrate penguins, but the girl wasn’t too excited about the idea of anchovy cupcakes, so we stuck with more traditional flavors…I think that they were a hit.