Why I Oughta...

I've been hearing - virtually - ALL summer from The Babe that she desperately, desperately wants to run a Lemonade Stand.  Over the weekend, we finally caved and helped her fulfill her vision.  We only had a few stipulations: 1.  She had to give the lemonade away for free but ask for donations to a charity of her choice. 2.  When we were out of lemonade, that was it.  No whining about wanting more. Well...I'm happy to report that The Babe picked " Give Kids The World " as her charity of choice and we set up on the corner of 3rd and Indiana where there was a bit more traffic than out front of our house.  We listen to a lot of Disney podcasts in the car and the guys on The Dis UnPlugged talk a lot about "Give Kids the World" and after asking Nat and me about it, that's the one she picked.  We wrote up a little sign on the money jug that said 'Donations for Give Kids The World Accepted'.   For those of you who don't know, Give Ki

The girls are really into 'blind bags'.  You know...those toys that come in little packages and are part of a series but you don't know which one you'll get until you open it.  Between Shopkins ( which I've talked about here ) and My Little Pony, they like to open the little bags and get surprised.  Kind of like toddler gambling or toddler toy roulette. Recently, we were at the Toy Store in Elmhurst and they spotted these Simpson mini figure Lego blindbags .  The Bird got Hans Moleman.  The Babe got Groundskeeper Willie. They've quickly fallen out of grace in favor of ponies and unicorns with both girls.  Too bad for them.  Good for me I guess, as they're now adorning my desk. I was saying "Boo-urns....".

Let's get after it with some egg dying, outdoor egg huts, and potato salad, right?

 When the shoveling is done (or mostly done...), the girls wanted to play.  Don't mind if we do.

We now have 2 'change jars' that sit on my desk at home every day.  One for the Babe.  One for the Bird.  This is made up of what I pull out of my pockets most every day.  Sometimes it is change.  Sometimes it is cash.  Some of it in the form of $2 bills from holidays like Easter.  $52.12 for the Babe.  $46.92 for the Bird.  Interesting how it worked out.  I tried to put even amounts of coins in each jar each day.  Guess I was off a bit.  The Bird is younger, so she has time on her side for the interest to catch up! Here's the history: 2012 Total:  $74.02 2011 Total:  $181.15 2010 Total:  $19.60 2009 Total: $53.51 Across those five years, the new average is $85.46.  This year, we were above the average.  Last year, we were below. 

Our trip this year really cramped our Jack-O-Lantern style this year.  We made it out to Sonny Acres just this week and had some slim pickings of the pumpkins. In year's past, I've gone crazy.   See the Owl Pumpkins here .  This year, it was all about the Babe.  She wanted to carve her pumpkin with a very specific pattern.  That's what you see here.  She had her heart set on the star eyes, so Nat was able to help make those happen. The Babe couldn't be more proud!

A few weeks ago, I took the girls to the local "My Favorite Toy Store" in the Elmhurst City Centre where we picked up a few things including a butterfly project.  For twenty-ish bucks, you get a mesh cage and a coupon that you send away for caterpillars.  This was going to be a project for me and the Babe, my oldest daughter. We dutifully filled out the coupon and send it away.  This weekend, the Babe received a box in the mail and when she opened it, she found a sealed cup with five or six tiny caterpillars in it with some peanut-butter-looking stuff at the bottom. Once we opened up the box, the instructions said to set the cup upright in a place that is 68 to 75 degrees out of direct sunlight.  At first, these little guys didn't move at all.  They seemed to be stuck in place.  They must be kept in some setting that keeps in a place close to hibernation which ends after the box arrives, I would think.  A few hours of sitting on our counter, they started to move.

At this year's annual Google I/O Conference, the team at +Google   announced a bunch of things, but the first one that I *experienced* first-hand was the "extra Awesome Somethings"  in Google+ photos. Using some programatic intelligence, the team at Google has started to 'drop' little surprises into your photo collection on Google+ when you take bunches of photos at once. As an example, Google+ 'gifted' me these two neat things.  First, an animated GIF (JIF?!?!)  of the Babe and then this composite of the Bird. Pretty neat stuff.  Thanks  +Google+  !

All it took was an electric light parade to keep both of these ladies up way past their bedtime.

We went to Sonny Acres with both girls this week.  I can't believe how big The Babe looks these days.  

The Babe behind the wheel at The Farm at the Museum of Science and Industry.

Momma and her first born who LOVED the St. Joe's fireworks.

While we're not filling bushels of Strawberries, our little plant is throwing off enough fruit to have the Babe eat fresh off the plant berries for breakfast three mornings this week.  When I asked her if she knew where food comes from, she responded how any two year old who pals around with her mother every day would:  "Trader Joe's". Well...that's *kinda* right, but with each picking of these berries in the mornings, she's hopefully starting to understand that with some care (and no pesticides!), food can come from the earth - right in your backyard.

Just 36 hours after her arrival, we got the thumbs up to pack up The Bird and head home.  No time like the present to get going and start being a family of four plus a dog back in Elmhurst.  Love her already!

My mom has begun cleaning out her attic and has started to deliver a lot of my personal effects to our house over the past few weeks.  The timing is great because we're having a garage (really...a "yard") sale next week.  At the bottom of one of the boxes that contained a bunch of childhood items were these three vintage Matchbox Disney cars.  Guess who I didn't really love?  Looking at you, Minnie.  Compare the paint job on Jiminy Cricket - and how banged up he is - compared to the relatively untouched Minnie.  Also, see that "TJ" on the front hood of Jiminy's Rolls Royce?  That's what I was called for a few years when I was a little one.  I actually don't remember that period, but I'm reminded every once in a while when one of my Aunt's calls me that at a family gathering. Don't worry.  These cars aren't going in the garage sale.  The Babe had asked recently for some 'cars' - after playing with them at her friend Mic

The Babe channeled her inner Elton John with these glasses (which Nat tells me she picked out herself!) when she came into my office yesterday.

Today is "Take Your Child to Work Day" at Google and elsewhere around the country.  This was the first year that the Babe was old enough to come along and participate.  Google had - as one would expect - a pretty great day set up that included art projects, bloxes construction playtime, computer science lessons, cooking demos, a special lunch, and a bubble guy. After an hour or so of shyness, the Babe (who wore her self-made crown) made herself at home and got comfortable.  She built herself a little home out of Bloxes - which she deemed to be fit for a princess  - Cinderella's Castle.

I was able to spend a lot of time with the Babe today, so we needed some activities.  We went looking for some Easter presents and came across the bubble machine.  It was just $5, so I figured it wouldn't do much.  Boy, was I wrong.  It churns out a VERY stead stream of bubbles and just keeps going.  It operates on four double-A batteries.  

A few weeks back we went to the Happiest Place on Earth down in Orlando and the Babe met Mickey the Mouse and all of her favorites.  Including the Princesses.  All of the Princesses!

Hide your kids, hide your wife.  There's big news afoot!  Attention Chicago and Suburban folks:  Shamrock Shakes are NOW available at area McDonald's.  The Babe had her first one EVER yesterday and loved every drop of it. Stop what you are doing and get out to McDonald's RIGHT NOW. What's that?  Giving our daughter a milkshake while she mindlessly watches tv?  Sweet parenting! P.S.  Hide your husband, too!