The Gingerbread House: Momma Lets It All Go!

Ainsley at work and Xander
at, well, eating.

Now that the semester is over, I can dedicate some time to serious chilling. Part of that is making some hard core memories with the chilluns.  Tonight's episode: the gingerbread house. 

For those of you unaware of my FB commentary, a friend Karly posted pictures of the gingerbread house she made with her kids. I decided that one of my rewards would be trying this with the kids. I was nervous because of my hard core perfection issues. But I decided to do it. If nothing else, I can use it as a "hey, I'm trying to work through my issues" moment with my therapist.

I had to threaten her to get
her to look at the camera.

I put the house together and made one major mistake: I cut the icing bag hole too large. This began the icing apocalypse...it was everywhere and it was nasty thick. 

I had the candies in a jar (I bought some extra M&Ms and Hershey's Kisses to supplement the nasty candy that came with the kit). In the minutes it took me to get things together, Xander assaulted the candy bowls. After a while, I had to hold him away from the dishes. Candy is awesome--no doy.

Bossing her little brother.
Yes, that's candy in his mouth.

I started just showing her how to put the candies on the icing and let her go. Of course, her first action was to follow my lead and use the same kinds of candies in the same places I had. Then she moved onto dividing the candies into their own piles. Candy segregation is important to Ainsley.

 A was pretty serious about the decorating, but X was more interested in flitting about the living room being all hopped up on sugar.

The mini-tripod Sean got me
for Christmas last year is
coming in handy.

As we worked on the house, I just kept thinking about what a hot mess it was turning out to be. Then out of nowhere, Ainsley says, "This is bad." I said, "No! It's wonderful!" Then we both laughed a while. It was one of those transcendent moments where I felt like when she's an adult A and I will have similar laughs like these. Plus, you have to give credit to A's aesthetic. The girl knows when a gingerbread house looks like a train wreck. If I'd just bought the gingerbread train kit, the metaphor would have been complete.

Deigning to decorate.

I didn't stress out as much as I thought I would. It was sticky and gooey and the candy is likely gross (save the M&Ms and Hershey's Kisses, natch), but we had fun. Sean was downstairs playing Star Wars Old Republic (or whatever the new one is called), and when he came up the first thing that Ainsley said was, "Daddy!! Look at my house!"  

Testing out her handiwork

"It's great!" says Sean.

"It's bad!" says, Ainsley. 

JUST like the one on the box!

Putting up the Christmas Tree

This year while Xander took his nap, Ainsley helped me put up the Christmas tree. She was moderately excited to get going. As Sean brought in the Christmas bins, she was indifferent.

"Licking" the lights. Weirdo.

As I put the tree and lights up and Sean shopped Black Friday, she was moderately more interested, but still pretty indifferent. She'd take moments to help me by getting branches out of the bin...or pretending to eat the lights.

FROSTY BREAK!

Break Time!

Sean made a lunch run and returned with Frostys for Momma and child. We had a yummy time eating our treats and taking the break. However, after the Frosty break, once the ornament bins opened up, it. Was. ON. She couldn't stop digging around.

Special Ornaments

Deciding what to hang up

Last year after Christmas, Sean and I went ornament shopping. I'm all about creating a tree that has ornaments that mean something to us on it. So, Sean has a ton of Star Wars, Star Trek, and Indiana Jones ornaments.

I have ornaments with pictures of the kids on them and a set of golden bulbs that hung on my Grandma McGhee's Christmas tree since I was a little girl (I used to lie under her tree and just touch them...the reminded me of gold coconuts. She gave them to me last year.).

Loving the Yum Yum.

For Ainsley, I grabbed some M&M ornaments, as she has an undying love for Yum Yums. This year, I think she needs a Little Mermaid ornament.

At this point, all of Xander's ornaments are Baby's 1st. Not sure yet what to get for Xander beyond that. Probably Sesame Street. Or grapes maybe.



Lessons The Kids Teach Us

Showing her the ropes
Feel free to covet my Christmas PJs

As I've expressed to many of you, one of the biggest lessons that my daughter is teaching me is to let go of my ideas about control. I spent a lot of time talking to Ainsley about the ornaments we were hanging up, and why we put certain ornaments in certain places. Of course, I have a system for ornament hanging and general tree decorating. I thought it'd be helpful to teach her my way...but she was too excited to listen, of course.

The red icicle branch
OK, I Get. It

So I let her go and do her thing. We have these icicle ornaments red shiny, red glittery, green shiny, and green glittery...about 12 each. Ainsley's "thing" was to put all the red shiny icicles on one branch. It took everything in me to not tell her she was doing it "wrong." Instead, I decorated the rest of the tree and secretly rearranged the branches later.

These are not the princesses
you're looking for...

As I opened the ornaments we purchased last year, we discovered some Disney Princess ornaments that Grandma and Grandpa Stewart picked up for her. I put the hooks on the ornaments, turned my back, and she was GONE.

She'd grabbed all the princesses, climbed into an empty basket, and pretended she had NO idea what I was talking about when I asked her what happened to the princesses. She still hasn't put the princesses on the tree.

And Then Xander Woke Up

WTF?

I was really excited to show Xander our handiwork. He was pretty nervous about the tree at first. He approached it as if it may have jumped out an bit him.

After a while, he became more interested in the sparkly, dangly things that he could pull off the tree. Very exciting indeed.

Bossy McBosserson

Ainsley's reaction to Xander's attempts at helping to hang ornaments was pretty hilarious. She got her serious boss on if he did anything she felt was inappropriate.  Xander, per usual, ignored her bossing. This picture here of her bossing him has to be in my top 10 pictures of Ainsley. So. Funny.

What?! I love this tree.

It took us a while, but we finally got everything put up and started to get a little Christmas tree enjoyment in.

Mostly enjoyment manifested in taking ornaments off the tree, running around, then putting them back on...or making me put them back on. Then the under the tree shenanigans began.

The best way to touch ornaments
is with your feet, natch.

I both love and hate the Christmas tree. I love to see it and I love the mood it sets in the house (which is why it goes up immediately after Thanksgiving). I hate that my hardcore OCD manifests when I put the tree up.

I admit I was better this year...more willing to chill. Maybe in the next year or two, I'll be able to just enjoy it. *fingers crossed*

Happy Holidays!

Cute-lette: Oh really?

Trying to scale the crib.

Every morning when the kids get up, invariably, one kiddo will sleep longer than the other. There is no rhyme or reason to who sleeps longer when. Regardless, when whoever is second wakes up, the early riser must assist me in getting his/her sibling.


It seems that when Ainsley wakes Xander, cute slapstick stuff happens.  When Xander wakes Ainsley, it's normally just plain funny. 


Example: this morning.  


Me: Good morning, Ainsley.
Ainsley: I WAKE UP!


[Xander walks into Ainsley's room.]

Ainsley: Xander's trying to kill me!!

And then, for those of you that remember this, you'll understand why the Velociraptor of Irony came in and ate her.

My Puzzle Pieces!

Action shot

So, for those of you wondering where the blog has been, you should know that I'm taking a daily class in Muncie over the next few weeks while I'm teaching for IPFW.  So, ya know, pressed for time.

We spent this weekend—what I've dubbed Pajama Weekend—recharging. Sean ran a bunch of errands, one of which was a trip to Target that resulted in a new puzzle holder.  Ainsley's gotten VERY into puzzles lately, and in an effort to keep her stuff together, we got her an organizer.

Now, mind you, these puzzles and the organizer are for Ainsley and Xander. But if you were to ask Ainsley, it is hers.

When Sean came home, this exchange occurred:

Sean:  This is for you and Xander to hold your puzzles.

MY PUZZLE PIECES!

Ainsley: It's MINE.

Sean: Yours and Xander's. You have to share it with Xander.

Ainsley: Yeah, MINE.

Rinse and repeat for about 2-3 minutes.

Cut to our post-pool hangin' out session.  Ainsley is playing with the puzzles, and Xander has just woke up.

Because everything Ainsley does is awesome, Xander makes a bee-line for her.  Of course, that results in Ainsley screaming "MY PUZZLE PIECES!" at the top of her lungs in that weird dolphin-decibel squeal.

How Xander plays puzzle

We convinced her to share a couple puzzles with Xander. At first she gave him the boring shapes puzzle until we convinced her that she'd have a better shot at his not bothering her if she gave him a more interesting one.

So she gave him the farm.  To the right is Xander's answer to "playing puzzle." NOM NOM NOM NOM

Ainsley Rediscovers Her Tent

I had to promise her candy to
get her to peek her head out for a pic.

Now that Xander is mobile, Ainsley finds herself in a constant state of alert.  If he actually catches her, she goes insane and hits and punches him.  At one point, she hit him with a Strawberry Shortcake lunch box.

So, in attempt to protect him and prevent her from spending the next six months in the chair being punished with a tanned bottom, I've pulled out the tent that Aunt Jill and Uncle Joe bought her for Christmas last year.

This tent sat out for months after Christmas last year, and Ainsley showed little interest in it.  Now, however, it is the most awesome thing in the world.  I've positioned it in the basement behind my chair and put up a wall of chairs and toys to keep Xander out.  Miss A now spends her evenings playing in the tent.

The first night that I got it out for her, upon seeing her tent: *GASP* "TENT!"

She grabbed her picnic basket and stayed inside until it was bedtime.  Right after going inside, Xander started throwing a fit because he wanted a toy he couldn't get.  From the tent, I heard, "What's going on out there?"

"Xander is angry," I replied.

"OK. I in my tent."

Things Heard from the Tent

• Awww what's wrong? Want hugs and kisses? (Presumably to an upset baby...)
• That's gross! (I have no idea what that one's about.)

Ainsley: "I Done Bed."

I've mentioned Ainsley's meticulous nature before...her kiddie OCD.  She likes to line things up, put things in groups, and organize things in general.

Kate and A in January 2009

Lately, she's been stepping up her game.  The hat that Xander is wearing is actually Ainsley's.  My girlfriend Kate Freeland made it for her. Ainsley loved to wear that hat. She wore it and wore it until the spirally tassels on it fell off. I tied them back on a gazillion times.  Finally she grew enough that it didn't fit her head anymore.  So, being a good Momma, I commissioned another funky hat from Grandma Parker.

"Match"

The arrival of the new hat was very exciting for Ms. A. What I didn't expect was that she'd still need the old had to be used.  The other day, Xander was in his chair eating puffs.  She put on her new hat, brought me the old one and said, "Xander. On."  When I asked her if she wanted them to match, she smiled and said, "MATCH!'  I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the two of them...but here you go. Ainsley and Xander: Lined Up.

This Tuesday while I was working on a project for one of my classes, Ainsley and Xander were playing in Ainsley's room.  Well, Ainsley was lining things up--ponies and popit people, to be specific.  What I find interesting is how she's pulled the shelving boxes out of the shelf to create a storage unit for the lined up ponies. Notice how proud she is of the lined up stuff.

Of course, no bout of playing is complete without Xander RUINING IT! Another toy that Ms. A loves is her Pooh puzzle--my mom brought this for her a while ago, and she just can't get enough of it.  She's actually big into puzzles right now as a whole. Of course by looking at the picture, you can see that she's not too keen on an actual picture.  She just likes putting the pieces together.  Xander, by the mere act of crawling toward the pieces, destroyed everything!

Today, however, is what made me realize that the blog needed a posting.  Ainsley fought nap today--as she does most days.  According to Ainsley, napping is for suckers and losers.  She'll fight nap with her DYING BREATH.  We often have to go in there and put her clothes back on her (NAKED is awesome, btw) or settle her down.  As much as she hates bed and nap, she also must be encased in babies--and she knows each and every one--if one is missing, she'll scream nonstop, the Rocky to whatever toy's Stella: "PPPPEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGUUUUIIIIINNNN!!!!"

As I was saying, today, she started getting adamant about being done with bed.  I went into her room to find that she'd started cleaning up her bed...and lining up her babies.  Please to enjoy "Ainsley: I Done Bed."

Also, apparently, Sean had told her that after her nap, she could have ice cream.  Guess who didn't forget that little nugget?

For those of you without sound or if the sound is bad (this was taken with my phone, which is old and not the best quality), the transcript is below:

Me: What are you?

Ainsley: Over there?

M: You put the Christmas book over there, I see that. What else?

A: I put these down there.

M: Are you done?

A: I done bed. I done bed! I DONE BED! I done bed! I DONE! BED! I done bed! I done bed! I hungee now! I hungry! Want some ice cream! There's my Christmas book.

I Wanna Feed Him

Hamming it up behind little bro...

Xander's started eating solid food--mostly just oatmeal mixed with baby food.  But he's also gotten into Puffs. Puffs remain awesome. I let Ainsley try some of the oatmeal/squash meal--she rejected that pretty soundly:  "No, thank you."

Ainsley is slightly jealous of X's Puffs. She remembers them and still asks to eat them.  We actually had a Puffs emergency the other day. I was on Facebook and she was quiet...quietly hiding and eating all of Xander's Puffs! She's gotten better though--now she's all about giving him the Puffs: "I wanna feed him."

Being Thankful

Had I thought about this blog post before 10:00 tonight, I'd have taken more pictures to document the day.  As it stands, I figure I'll just toss out some of the random memories I have from today.  Background: my sister Jill and her boyfriend Joe came to have Thanksgiving with Sean, the kids, and me.  Ainsley and Xander dressed for the occasion.  Ainsley's shirt says:  I'm thankful for 1. Mom and Dad 2. Yummy Turkey 3. Football.  Xander's onesie says:  Daddy loves me more than football.  So, yeah, football is integral to our holiday.

Two Green Beans
I made two different green bean dishes today.  Jill and I love the classic green bean casserole.  Joe and Sean do not.  Beyond the green beans, our menu consisted of turkey, Stove Top, yams, mashed potatoes, crescent rolls, cranberry jelly, and gravy. Sean requested another vegetable beyond potato/potato.  Can't say I blame him.  So, I made all-day green beans and green bean casserole.  However, I forgot to pick up the all-day green beans fixins--all of them.  Even the beans. So, I sent Sean to the store to get the fixins while I worked on turkey prep.  When Sean goes to the store, we generally exchange several texts.  His text to me today: "Ah, Thanksgiving. The only day of the year you see this many men shopping for groceries."  Hee! To the right is the meal that my daughter ate.  Or should I say didn't eat.  She was so excited by the visit, all she wanted to do was show Jill and Joe her toys.  See commentary below.

Smurfs and Snoopy
While I was getting the food together, Xander slept in his swing and Ainsley watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  She was particularly drawn to Snoopy.  I tried to get her to check out the Smurfs, but she didn't really care.  She did keep pointing out the "chickens" every time a turkey appeared on screen.

JOE!  JILL!  Come on, guys!
When Ainsley has company (and make no mistake if you come to my house, you're Ainsley's company), her main objective is to boss her company around.  Because she's cute, she gets away with this.  But I find it particularly charming when it works on people who I normally wouldn't expect it to--like Jill's boyfriend Joe.  First, it must be known that Joe is an awesome guy.  He's kind, polite, funny, and, most importantly, loves my sister and treats her well.  Ainsley loves Joe.  When he's around, she'll make him play, read, rough house, whatever she wants.  And Joe's a willing participant.  It was sweet to watch her give him hugs.  It was hilarious to watch her discover his cartilage piercing.  She was fascinated that he had one ear pierced and the other not.  She just kept running her fingers along his ear back and forth from ear to ear.  He let her do this for about 5 minutes.

Mmmm cookies!

When we were decorating our Thanksgiving sugar cookies (turkeys, owls [Ainsley's choice], and acorns), Ainsley sat in Joe's lap...where she proceeded to sneak bites of cookie.  I'm no fool; I knew that she'd get a cookie in the decorating endeavor.  She snuck two for sure.  Also, Ainsley "decorating" cookies entails her dumping the small bowl of sprinkles onto one cookie.  I like to think of it as the Super Cookie.  Joe deemed it necessary that the Super Cookie be eaten right away.

Jill brought Ainsley some books that she'd gotten from a friend.  The most valuable of these books was a magnetic Barbie doll set thingy.  Basically it's modern paper dolls set but in magnet form.  Ainsley deemed this AWESOME.  Notice how she's holding the book away from Xander.  She does not want him near it!  Xander, of course, doesn't care.  Mr. X spent most of this holiday giggling, MMMMMMMmmmming, and nomming.  He had his first bite of non-rice-cereal food: mashed potatoes. He ate two or three small bites, but he wasn't really into them.

After Jill and Joe left to go home, I put Xander into his Thanksgiving p-jammers.  At this point, Ainsley decided it was time to play Tickle Tickle with Xander.  Of course, anytime A gives X attention, he goes C-R-A-Z-Y!  He'll giggle and giggle.  I was able to catch some of it.  Her method was to take her Lorax (Ax) and Seabee and tickle Xander's belly.  He would then laugh hysterically.  It was genius.



The visit really tuckered the kids out.  They had such a good time with Aunt Jill and Uncle Joe.  The playing and the laughing and the tickling and the couple bites of turkey we could convince A to eat should make for a wonderfully restful night.