It's Date Night!

Dearest Sisters,

Husband and I are pretty good lately about dubbing every Friday night date night. I mean, it’s not hard. We’re both more than ready to spoil ourselves after a busy and exhausting week. I’m definitely happy to not cook, and dodging the dinner dishes is a must! Anyway, we take turns deciding what we're going to do.

But while we're consistent, our date nights are not perfect…no, no, not at all perfect. You see, most of the time they are family date nights…if you don’t understand how having all three of your kids along qualifies, well, that makes two of us! But really, it’s better than nothing, and that’s the price you pay when your cheap. Actually, I think we’re just spoiled. Often my mother-in-law will watch them so we can go on a date, but she recently broke her ankle, so that’s out! Okay, so we’re spoiled and cheap.

Here’s how our date night went down the other night:

I fed the kids something out of the microwave, and then we all went out to eat. And yes, what you’re thinking right now is accurate. It was a nightmare. When was the last time you went out to dinner with a baby who just discovered her inner piercing scream will get her just about anything she wants in .2 seconds? Especially in public. Oh, and baby is wearing her jammies, which is cool because you’re ahead in the bedtime drill, but it kind of feels like white trash now that you’re sitting at the restaurant drawing all kinds of attention to yourself.

Next up, I’ve got my three-year-old pirate doing ninja moves any chance he can, usually topping off his karate chop with a spin on the floor. Along with his costume, he’s wearing mis-matched sandals because he’s become a bit attached to his airplane flip flops and doesn't care if one is lost--he's still gonna wear it. And honestly, I don’t care, either, because it’s Friday night and there’s a rule on Friday nights that the only person that must look decent is me.

So anyway, Husband’s eating his yummy burger as his french fries disappear into little hands. I’m trying to enjoy my Chicken Caesar Salad as tiny fingers also find my croutons. Before long, the french fries and croutons have completely vanished (my chicken, too), and the fork is going into my mouth about oh, every third bite. They’re even eating my lettuce? So much for feeding them beforehand, right?

Husband and I actually managed to get some great laughs out of this evening. It was hysterical to be calling the above episode a date! On our way home we picked up a Redbox movie, which is something we do A LOT. Redbox, baby. If I pick the movie, then I might manage to stay awake for it, but if he picks the movie then there’s a 100 percent chance I’ll fall asleep in his lap. And that’s the way the night usually goes down.

I think we have a little room for improvement, no?

So, I googled some date night ideas for inspiration:

Here is the first (bad) recommendation I found:

1. Go out for pizza. Ask for the pie to be cut up in the shape of a heart.

Uh, seriously? I don’t think so. Not doing that.

Another winner:

2. Bring home your favorite fast food and serve it on your best china.

Isn’t the point of fast food to NOT have to do dishes? That’s just not gonna cut it. We don't have china and we don't do dishes on Friday night.

Ultimate winner:

3. Give each other haircuts.

Uh, no thank you. I’ve done that before.

Okay, but for real. I need some good ideas, so on we go...

4. Take turns singing cheesy out-of-tune songs at SingSnap.

Oooh, we’d be such naturals!

5. Make yourselves the biggest/craziest ice cream sundae ever.

Yum, yes?

6. Take a tour of the house you someday want to own.

We used to do this all the time--super fun.

7. Shop for the perfect frame for your favorite picture of the two of you.

Thank goodness I'm in charge every other week or this would never fly!

8. Stop at a fancy bakery and pick out a treat for each other.

This might require a trip to Europe to accomplish, darn. :)

K, girls, so it's obvious I need some help. What have your date nights looked like lately?

XOXO,

Marie

Bibbity Bobbity Boo!

Hey Hey Yo!

Emma really got me thinking about the relationship my sewing machine and I have, and I don't think it's a healthy one. I only dust if off in dire situations. I can't even remember how to talk to it half the time. Bobbin, what bobbin!? Bobbin needs thread? How? What the blastin' bobbin'? I hate you bobbin'! Yeah. :)

But with it being baby season and all (have you noticed all the newborn baby boys lately!?), I decided it was time to make my one-and-only bandana bibs, so that I could stick them in all the gift bags I have going out. I wish I could say I invented these, but my awesome mother-in-law showed me how to make them about five years ago. They were all the rage when she was young, and now they're making a comeback because they're so easy to make, cute to look at, and best of all, they are just great bibs! So, what you'll need is your sewing machine, of course...

Next you'll need some washcloths...girly ones and boyish ones:

Next up, you'll want to cut some bandanas in half diagonally. I buy my bandanas at Wal-mart, but please let me know if you have somewhere better you'd buy them because these ones all have "Made in China" printed down one corner, and I've noticed they're a bit unsymmetrical. But Wal-mart does have some really cute ones for only a buck!

Pin the bandana to the washcloth like so...

Starting at the corner, sew the bandana to the washcloth, and then turn each corner to form a triangle.

Now go hem the top of the bandana. This is the yucky part that I haven't done yet because I hate it so much and just wish I had a stinkin' serger. Waaaah.

Put it on cute baby.

Baby loves it!

And coincidentally, one of my most talented and generous friends from high school just posted a tutorial on how to make these! I'm pretty sure it's ten times better than mine, so go check it out at Sew Like My Mom. :)

XOXO,

Marie

Say What??

I thought I'd get my Katie Couric on and interview my sisters about random childhood stuff...

(Do you like how I'm using my pencil as a nose-picker? I learned that move as a wee babe. Had to go to the ER a few times for getting erasers stuck up there. I'm way more careful these days. :))

Lulu, Tell us what you'd do when Emma would sleepwalk/talk.

What did I do?! Hmm, I pretty much just sat back and watched, and got some good laughs out of it. :) Well, actually Emma had an intense six-month "sleepwalking/talking" phase of her life at about 10 years old.

Once she started running around the house, sobbing and saying "There's a balloon in my head!!!!!!!" And another time it was "I need a man!!!!!!" And then she would wake up in Dad's arms and wonder, "How did I get here?!"

But the craziest time Emma slept walked, I couldn't "just sit back." Late one night, I heard her get out of bed and saw her start to climb her dresser drawers. On the other side of this dresser it dropped down forever far to the flight of stairs below. So, of course, I got up to see what she was doing, knowing she was probably sleep walking.

She started walking across the top of our dresser like it was a tight rope!! I held on to her tight and guided her back down because if she had fallen off the other side, she could have DIED!!!! I want to say it dropped down like 15 feet! Seriously. I pretty much saved Emma's life. Emma, you owe me. ;)

Lulu, you and Emma were roommates pretty much your whole lives--even in college; what's Emma like when she first wakes up in the morning?


Uh, what's Emma like when she first wakes up? If only you could experience it first hand. Let's just say that when Emma has to wake up earlier than she's ready, it's almost as if she's forgotten that you're her sister. In fact, she's forgotten that you're a human being altogether. She hates your guts and will send death glares your way. She hates the world and how everyone is out to get her and ruin her life. Her half-conscious brain imagines zipping up your mouth with a real zipper (Yep, zippers. I know this, she admitted it to me once) to shut you up so she can PLEASE just sleep!

To sum it up, she's charming in the morning--an absolute gem. I wouldn't change those happy-go-lucky, early-morning memories of me and my sweet lil sis for the world! I love you in the morning, sweet, adorable, loving little sister of mine!

Lissie, when you were about nine years old, I remember you stole and hid Emma's guitar so that she couldn't play her number for the annual Christmas Eve music night...can you tell us why?


Haha, no. I can't remember! She probably wouldn't let me come in her room or something. But whatever. That was my weapon of attack for anyone who made me mad. I'd hide their stuff! Everyone makes fun of me for it now. What's up with that? It works!

Emma, remember that mouse that crawled up Lulu's pants?

So, we're outside our new house cleaning up sticks, and weeding, in the midst of big mounds of dirt. We're all just chatting when Lu suddenly starts SCREAMING her lungs out.

"It's in my pants! Ahhhh. It's on my leg!!"

I immediately assume it's a bee, and tell her to shake her leg - GET IT OUT! (Right?) Now she's shaking, and crying, and totally shutting down, when all of a sudden a MOUSE crawls out of her pant leg. A MOUSE!!

That mouse did WHAT to my sister? Oh no he didn't. I was furious. She was just on the ground sobbing and shaking; I hated that mouse!!! So, I went and grabbed a shovel, found the little demon, and went after it. That mouse would die!

Unfortunately, our sweet mother told me I shouldn't be killing little animals, and reminded me of the hamster I once loved and adored. So, I let the ugly thing go...

Emma, What's one of your favorite memories of Lissie?


Well, besides her hiding my guitar (cute wittle Wissie-Bear), my next fav memory is of when she'd recite every.single.line of Lilo & Stitch back to me. I'm not kidding. Tiny five-year-old princess knew that movie like her favorite dress.

It was seriously the cutest thing!

Lissie, How does it feel to be the only sister still living at home?

Well...there are pros and cons. Let me tell you.

Some Cons:

-I have to rely on just wearing my clothes.

-Whenever the family picks a movie to watch, it's never a chick flick anymore.

-I tell Mom about boys and stuff, instead of you guys, and I don't really get the same reactions. :P

-I have to do the dishes more frequently.

-Now, Mom thinks my phone calls are long, even though they're way shorter than any of the phone calls you guys ever made. (Especially yours, Emma dear) My phone calls are just longer than the boys'. But that should be a given!

-My shopping buddies are now the boys, which is sorta good and bad. Christian tells me everything looks good on me. Bryant is too opinionated. And when they're together they're just goofy and embarrass me in front of all the Germans. But we have fun.

-I'm constantly missing you guys.

Some Pros:

-I'm truly "Daddy's Little Girl." I can get him to do pretty much anything. Right now, I'm working on trying to get him to dress up for the new Harry Potter movie with me.

-I get more allowance.

-I get to look forward to seeing you guys again.

-But let's be honest. Being the only girl is mostly just bad.

Lulu, have you always been such a fashionista?


Fashionista?! Haha, I wouldn't call myself that. But yeah, I was even less of a fashionista when I was younger. One time our Aunt Jaymi (very hip lady) sent me some capris in the mail. I didn't know what they were and thought she must think I was very short, so I gave them to Emma.

Lissie, Marie is 13 years older than you--do you have any memories of her?

Just of her and Emma using my feet as a microphone. :)

Just kidding. Of course I have memories of her! I remember all the sleepovers we'd have in my little bedroom every time she came to visit from college. We would talk about every single person in my elementary class. She must've been soo bored...until I got to the boys I liked, of course. I always saved those for last. :)

But probably my favorite, and one of my earliest memories of her is when I was at kindergarten playing at the little playground in the back, waiting for mom to pick me up. I was super surprised when I saw Marie walking up to the playground, instead! I had no idea she was back in Germany! I ran up to her and gave her a big hug, and we walked home together. :)


Intervew----CUT!

I think we'll end on that sweet little note. The perks of being the interviewer. It kind of redeems that super embarrassing picture of me singing into her feet. Sort of. :)

XOXO,

Marie

Dun Dun Dun Dun...

Wearing hoodies and wrapped in blankets, everyone is huddled close as they anxiously wait for the show to begin.

Finally, it is dark enough!

A chorus of "ooohs" and "aaahs" can be heard as the very first fireworks sparkle

and twist

and fly

and bounce

and soar

At last, the grand finale!

Boom. Boom! Boom! BOOM! BOOM!

Betcha didn't know I sometimes like to play Human Firework, did ya? It's super fun. You should try it. :)

Happy Fourth, everybody!

XOXO,
Marie