Now, isn’t that the sweetest smile you’ve ever seen? Don’t let her fool you….Malory is lots of awesome things, but sweet is an adjective that would be further down on my list, below spunky, funny, smart, challenging some days.
The purpose of the picture was that she asked me to document her new hairdo for school. MJ has pretty curly hair, so getting it combed out and braided like that was an exercise in Mom’s patience and as you can see took a little Monsters University for sitting still purposes. She loved it, and I’m happy to report it mostly made it home looking just as nice:)
I don’t have much to report for the month of February. Not much is happening, unless you count Valentine’s Day, which 3/5 of our family does. For the kiddos, Valentine’s Day ranks right up there with Christmas, Halloween, and their birthdays. They start thinking about their Halloween costumes in August, write their Santa letters in October, and plan their school Valentines in early January.
In a moment of pure stupidity, I had signed up to be the class mom in charge of parties for both 3rd and 5th grade. And, I volunteered to bring drinks to preschool. I started gearing up for this day a full week ahead of time and made countless trips to King Soopers, Target, and the mecca of all crafting, Hobby Lobby. I had to buy ample glue gun sticks, every heart sticker ever made and every shade of pink, purple and red glitter. We take these things seriously around here.
On the 13th, this is what my staging area looked like. You can see the sticky notes attached to the windowsill and the hot glue gun plugged in and ready for action. The big kids mostly want to do their own Valentine’s now, and I’m (mostly) happy to let them. It’s hard for me to let go sometimes, but Reese did a great job on those cute pencils.
For the 5th straight year, we made these awesome robots for all 3 parties. My fingers are burned to a crisp afterward, but they’re a real hit during the parties. All of the best stuff….an “organic” juice box to please the moms, and Nerds, Starburst, and chocolate for the kids. Win/Win.
Malory’s preschool hosted a Valentine’s breakfast put on by the teachers. My little lady was happy that she got a reprieve from her usual pancake on a stick in the car AND that mom was there to eat with her. Look how happy she is. Truth be told, it might be less about me and more about the Froot Loops.
Reese has always been my most social child. She makes friends easily, is kind to everyone, and is constantly surrounded by little people. When she came home after school on Valentine’s Day, her loot was proof of her popularity. She received multiple “offerings” from both boys and girls….several silk flowers, two BFF buttons, and a full tin of trinkets from one particular girl in her class. My hope for Reese as she grows is that she is as good a friend to all of these people in return as they are to her. I won’t ever let there be a scene out of Mean Girls on my watch…I tell her she doesn’t have to play with everyone, but she MUST be kind. No exceptions.
After the madness of V-Day, I was in desperate need of some girl time. Sadly, I haven’t made too many friends in the new neighborhood, but knew I could count on my Fort Collins girls for a little painting, wine, food and laughter. We try to celebrate birthdays in groups a few times throughout the year, and this time the ladies were happy to come to “the big city” for our excursion. We hit up Canvas and Cocktails for a little painting and then had dinner at Matsuhisa. If you love sushi and have never eaten at a Nobu or Matsuhisa, you’re missing out. It’s soooooo good.
I love these girls and miss them so much.
And, because I was just not done with my girl time, the next day I headed off by myself for a mani/pedi. The balance of alone/fun time in our household is tilted pretty heavily to Mr. Harris’s side, so when he offers me a chance for a few hours to myself, I jump on it. I love grabbing a magazine and a Starbucks, and having a relaxing pedicure. This particular day though, I stumbled across my new favorite thing….dipped gel manicure. I’ve been doing Shellac manicures for years and love the fact that it lasts a couple of weeks, but this is even better. Your fingers are dipped into colored gel powder, which lasts for A FULL MONTH. And, there’s no UV light to make more age spots on my hands. Bonus! Of course I was skeptical that it would last as long as they said, but it has….and it doesn’t start to peel off on the sides. I am sold.
It’s also Girl Scout Cookie season around here, and I’m nothing if not supportive. Samoas and Sauvignon Blanc make for a good quality dinner, right? They do in my book, and that’s the only one I’m reading!!!
