To have a new best friend every week. To eat popsicles for breakfast. And wear princess dresses wherever and whenever you wanted.
To wish for toys. And crawl up onto your mama's lap whenever you felt unsure or afraid.
I'm preparing to work at a camp for pre-schoolers in a little over a week. I ordered craft supplies today. And magnifying glasses. And color paddles.
I am excited. And already exhausted. But most of all, I think, I am remembering how much fun and how much work it is to be 4. Or 5. Or 3. When so much is still new and everything is an opportunity. When the littlest thing can make you laugh and someone looking at you the wrong way can hurt your feelings.
I need that reminder sometimes. When I get tired and my kids get whiny. When I don't want my clothes pulled on or my face touched - just for a minute.
I am an instructions reader. I had the booklet in front of me as I prepared to cut. I had the length-gauge-guide-thingy on the clippers. I took the guide off to oil the blades as instructed. And then I started to cut. Without putting the guide back on. Yup, clippers to scalp. Ummm, whoops.
E sprinkled the clumps of hair around the yard for the birds to collect and add to their nests. It's all about recycling, right?
Art Star Craft Bazaar is done, but it really feels like a beginning. Not only did I have a fabulous time, it was also a huge success. I exceeded my sales goal, ran out of business cards, and found a couple new places to consign my dresses. I also perused the booths of some amazing artists and crafters and was able to spend the weekend hanging out with my youngest sister who traveled here all the way from LA to help me out. Thanks!!
We celebrated E's 5th birthday yesterday with a Wizard of Oz themed party.
A table decked out with three yards of this fabric as the table cloth, matching cups, napkins, and plates from Birthday Express, some repurposed yellow brick road pieces, and some fun jingly rainbow trees.
I made my first, somewhat sorry, attempt at a doll cake. Can you see that the layers were slowly sliding to the side?
And the much promised Dorothy Dress. Which she is wearing for the second day in a row and has already requested to wear again tomorrow. Made a size or two too big so that it will fit for a long, long while.
"Am I really 5 now?", she said to me last night after the lights were out.
Today is Day 3 of The Dad's 17-day vacation between jobs.
Tomorrow we head out of town for a couple days. To an island without cars or cell phone service.
To play on the beach and eat crab cakes.
Have a fabulous week.
We went to a little family field day yesterday and someone brought along face paints. Knowing exactly what she wanted, E gave the painter detailed instructions. She wanted a mermaid on her face - not a little mermaid on her cheek, but a painted face to make her look like a mermaid. A blue crown like the ocean, pink round cheeks with stars, red hair like Ariel, and red lips.
Home, later that afternoon, we heard the dumping of blocks coming from the playroom. I went to check on her and saw that she had gotten out the Lincoln Logs and set up her own pretend face painting station. 
I have to admit, I've been trying to get The Dad to let me get rid of the Lincoln Logs because the kids don't build with them. But after today? Seeing how they do use them? I think they'll stick around for a while.
Ahhh, my snap press. My reward to myself after the holiday fairs I did last fall. It weighs at least 20 pounds and looks so positively industrial. So, so, SO much easier and more efficient than the plastic snap setter and hammer I was using before.
