N and E have been really enjoying each other's company lately.  It warms my heart to watch them growing to be good friends.  Jason and I were pretty skeptical when they asked if they could nap together.  We thought there was no way they would actually get any sleep.  But, they proved us wrong by sacking out in less than 10 minutes, with nary a peep!

 In other news of note...Eli recently decided that he didn't like sleeping in diapers (he's been going without them in the daytime for almost a year, but I'd been nervous about letting him go overnight), so we've been diaper (and accident) free for a little over a week now.  Free at last!! 

With his new-found transition into "big boy-dom", he has also begun trying to dress himself...

He still has a little bit of trouble telling the front from the back on his shorts...but I have to give him an "E" for effort.

(And please note his new "high and tight" corps cut.  Norah wasn't sure how she felt about his "almost bald in the back" hair cut...but after I showed her how soft it felt, she was sold.

N: "Buddy, I like your fuzzy bunny haircut!"
E: "Sank you, Norah."

Side note: Almost any time she compliments him, Eli will reply with a solemn and serious, "Sank you Norah.", coupled with a single nod of approval.  It is so cute.  I can already tell how much he values her opinion.

Another side note--the pillows in the background of the first photo of E are some the fruits of my latest sewing efforts.  I cranked out 10 new throw pillows for the couch, recliner and love seat last week using black and white fabrics, with a little bit of green as an accent.  The silhouette shown is Eli, and Norah's is on the other end of the couch.  The kids are pretty proud of them, and think they are "their" pillows.  I hope to finally banish the aqua vertical blinds (that came with the house) in favor of some damask drapes sometime in the near future.

Big Girl Day

Jason and I were a unified front from early-on that there would be no holes in Norah's ears until she requested them.  (No judgment on anyone who chooses to do otherwise, that was just our decision)

Even when she started asking us about 8 months ago, we did our best to dissuade her.  It's not that we have anything against pierced ears (mine have been since I was a baby), we both just agreed that we wanted it to be her own decision, and we wanted to make sure she understood the repercussions of her choice. (ie- it WILL hurt, but only for a second, it is permanent, and you MUST take care of them.)

So, after 6 months of politely requesting and a mature display on patience on her part, we decided to give her our blessing.

We chose Fathers' Day weekend for this rite of passage, so that AA could join us for the occasion.  We started our day with our "Big Girl Breakfast" (a tradition we have each time AA comes to town) at Madden's in downtown Bryan.  (For those who aren't locals, Madden's is classified as "Casual Gourmet", although we  and most other patrons usually dress up to eat there)  These special breakfasts are a great place for Norah to practice etiquette in a social setting (we also try to do a good job of that at home, but there is something extra fun about dressing up and being a "little lady" at a special restaurant with the "big girls")

After breakfast, we headed to mall and got right down to business.  We chose "The Icing", because after inspecting the other piecing venues, it looked the cleanest, and the girl working there had the most experience in piercing ears.

After explaining (again) to N that she would have to keep the same earrings on for 6-8 weeks, she carefully selected her favorite studs.  (She chose tiny, opalescent flowers, which I loved because they would match everything!)

Next, her ears were marked...

Norah leaned forward for us to examine the marks, to be sure they were even.

Last chance to back out...

And...done.  Sad tears...but the good news is, they were short-lived.

As soon as she saw her shiny, new ear bling, she was completely happy....well, almost...

The sucker pushed her over the top.  The girl offered her two (one for each ear) and Norah politely declined, saying that "One is enough, thank you."  (I was floored!)

Smiling and posing with the sweet girl who pierced her ears, just 30 seconds ago. 

More smiles with with AA.  We were all so proud of what a trooper she was!

I will say, the new earrings might have made her a little bit vain.  Every time we passed a mirror in the mall, she had to stop and admire them.

She even asked AA for her compact mirror on the ride home.

As soon as she got home, she burst through the doors and couldn't wait to show her daddy.  Jason, of course did a great job of telling her how pretty they looked (and how pretty she was even before she had them pierced).  Then he asked her how long she had to keep them in and she confidantly replied, "68 years".

It was a special day, and one I hope she will fondly remember...especially since Jason and I don't plan on signing off for anymore piercings for a LONG time.

Cow Appreciation Day 2010

Cow Appreciation Day 2010

I've heard the commercials for Chick-fil-a's annual "Cow Appreciation Day" for the past few years and always been slightly intrigued.

Does anyone actually show up dressed like a cow?  I wondered.  So, this year, we decided to give it a try, and I must say it lived up to all the hype.

We all donned our white t-shirts, then added our "spots" (black construction paper held on with some trusty duct tape).  The cow head hats we actually had...we're weird like that.  

Norah smiles, while Eli revels in his ice cream

Actually, they were generously donated by Chick-fil-a to Children's Story Time at the library a couple weeks before, and since I'd heard that Cow Appreciation Day was just around the corner, we held on to them for the occassion.  (They also had free hats available at Chick-fil-a on Cow day, for anyone who happened into the restaurant without a costume.)

Now, if you aren't familiar with Cow Appreciation Day, you might be wondering, "Why in the world would anyone want to embarrass themselves by dressing up like a cow?"

"Moooooooooo!"

The answer, dear blog friends is simple: Free food!
The more decked out you were, the more free food you were rewarded with.  For example, if you showed up with no cow gear and just picked up a free cow hat on the way in, you got a free entree.  If you were completely cow-ified, you could pretty much have anything you wanted off the menu.  In our case, we went all out--at least by Chick-fil-a's standards (I wish I would have taken full-length shots of the kids...we all had on black shorts, and N was wearing white converse sneakers, and E was wearing black ones.)

2 kids meals, 1 adult meal, and ice cream...$0.00!

As a result, 3 free combo meals for us!  (Plus ice cream) Now, you may notice from the receipt, we only saved  $10.42.  A small token for dressing like a cow in public.  But honestly, how often does a restaurant chain feed an entire family for free?

Would I do it again?  Absolutely!  We had so much fun!  There were some really creative costumes.  Our personal favorite was a table of high schoolers who all came in together.  They were all cowed-up (face paint, tails, ears, etc.), and 2 of them dressed up as a 2-man cow, each providing 2 legs, the rear person being the body (he was bent over at the waist, holding on to the guy in front) and the front person being the head and chest.  They walked everywhere in unison, and even wore a cow bell.  So funny!  (I know, I totally slacked on taking their photo...sorry!)

And, in case you were wondering, 95% of the people who came in the restaurant while we were eating were decked out in cow gear.  And the looks on that rare 5% of street-clothed folk  were priceless!  (A mixture of  confusion, annoyance that they had to pay and everyone else didn't, a small bit of remorse at being "left out" of the fun, and of course amusement at how funny the "black and white" restaurant looked) Most people who weren't dressed up took their food to go...I think they felt a little awkward/out of place.  Probably wished they had just used the drive through.

It really wasn't the least bit embarrassing because "everyone was doing it" and it was good, clean (free!) family fun.  I think we'll make it an annual tradition, and maybe even try to get a group of our friends together next year!

A Little Privacy...

Hey friends/family/lurkers, after some thought, deliberation, and prayer, I have decided to take this blog private.  As the kids get older, I think more and more about their safety, and I just don't like the idea of not knowing who is reading our life story.  I'm more than happy to share our story, I just want to know with whom I'm sharing it, if that makes sense.

So, all of this to say, if you like keeping up with our little family via this blog, please send me an email (happilymarriedrobinsons at gmail dot com) and I'll add you to my list of "invited readers" (blogger's term, not mine...you're all invited...I just want you to identify yourself).  After I hit the button to go private, all "uninvited readers" will be unable to read blog posts (future or past), so if you stop back by and can't get in, just shoot me an email and I'll add you to the list.

I apologize in advance for the inconvenience this will cause you.  (Such as not receiving notifications via google reader when new posts go up, and having to login/enter a password to visit my blog) I hate it too.  And I am guessing it will lessen the traffic I get, as well as the amount of comments I receive (which, by the way are one of my favorite parts of having a blog)...but I'm guessing that if you read this blog, then you probably care about my kids on some level (otherwise, it's probably pretty boring and you wouldn't' keep coming back), so I hope you will understand my sentiment in wanting to keep them safe.