Wednesday, February 18, 2015

The Great Ear Piercing Adventure(s)

I'm blogging about this one, because BOY does it need to be documented!  I'm pretty certain I will never forget it though :)  For about a year now, Berkley has periodically been begging to get her ears pierced!  Kenadie got hers done at 3 1/2, so in my book, she was plenty old enough {she turned 4 in Jan.} I just wasn't quite ready for the 6 week, 3 times a day, cleaning regimen commitment...  And not because I'm lazy, but because little girl here is SO dramatic about such!  Trust me, you'll see as this story goes on :)

Well, last Thursday I got this wild idea that THAT was going to be THE day to get her ears pierced!  When I asked her about it, you would have thought I told her we were going to Disney World!!!  I WISH I had a picture of her reaction!  My plan was going to work out perfectly, or so I thought!  We would drop Kenadie off for art and Stage Struck, and that would give us two hours to get her pretty little ears all bling-a-fied!  And, even have plenty of time for an ice cream treat after this grand event!

Here is my angel baby, so excited to FINALLY be headed to the ear piercing destination!  I mentioned it about an hour prior, so in her mind that was pretty much forever ago!  I must have heard at least 800 times "Are we going to get my ears pierced yet?" :-)  'Feelin' fine' in her light-up shoes :)
And here we are in the big girl ear piercing chair!  "Foo Foo", her trusty companion, came along for moral support!
This is the part I was dreading most!  When you are as OCD about such things as I am of this matter, it's just plain torture-some to tell the sweet Claire's associate "yes, looks good" when asked if her pen marks for where the earrings are going look good.  Still feeling good, being a little silly and I can tell, somewhat nervous.
And then she got one done...
 And there was NO way I was convincing her to do the other one! After 3 failed attempts on the second ear, we called it a day!  I just knew I was going to have a piercing right in the middle of my chin or something if we had attempted to follow through with it!  I only have so much strength to hold a little girl still, ya know :) {Oh, yes, at 32 yrs. old I got braces, insert monkey covering eyes emoji.} 
Here is where I, in the middle of the mall,  beg and plead for her to get the other ear done, but it is NOT going to happen!  I really was okay with the fact that she only had one earring.  However, I was dreading the associate having to pen in again for where to put the other earring when she finally decided to get the other one done!  Remember, I had "okay'd" these pen marks, and I liked right where they were, sigh!  And so, we leave the mall with ONE ear pierced!  Something I'm sure I would have NEVER let child #1 get away with!  Must we be so tough on those first-borns?!?  (It's purple around her earring because the ink from the pen dot ran when her ear was cleaned.)
And here we are, four days later!  This time we have Daddy with us to make sure we get the job done :)  When I texted Aaron on Thursday that we were going to get Berkley's ears pierced, his response was "Are you sure you can do that by yourself?  Don't you remember that I had to go with you when Kenadie got hers done!"  Oops... Sometimes I forget how needy I am, ha!  Oh well...
 He 'may' have had to restrain her arms, legs, head and any other wiggling body part!  Thanks to Daddy for coming in and cleaning up my mess :)  And she may have told us when he put her down "No! (gasp) I can't walk!" To which she proceeds to hobble along like a little old lady until Aaron picks her up, ha!  So dramatic!

She totally earned her Dippin' Dots :)  I asked her now that it was all over, did it really hurt that bad, to which she answered "Oh yes!  It feeled like a dwagon sneezed on me!" said about as animated as one could possibly be!
And to anyone out there reading this that may think Aaron and I are cruel parents, REMEMBER, she had been begging for a year to get them pierced.  She knew that when we left that first time, that her other ear was getting pierced sooner or later :)  We didn't even have to drag her into the store on trip #2, ha!  Her whole disposition from the four days prior completely changed when it was all over!  Like a BIG load had been lifted, ha! 

Proud of you, Berkley!  And happy that we are on this side of this event!  Your little ears sure do look pretty :)  And you are oh so cutely proud of them :)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

1 Little, 2 Little, 3 Little Indians...

 We had the best time feasting with all of our homeschool friends just before Thanksgiving!
 Luckily we were able to borrow our costumes, so I splurged on these adorable boots :)  Ya know...we HAD to complete the look :)
All of our Indian and Pilgrim, Classical Conversations friends!  (K4-6th graders)
And this is Kenadie's class and her sweet tutor, Mrs. Jill.  She happens to be one of my good friends, so we especially love spending our Monday's with her!
Let the feast begin!!!
 And a feast it was :)
 Pocahontas or Kenadie...it's a pretty close call :)
Thankful that even through homeschooling, we can participate in fun things like this :)  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Can't believe it will be December tomorrow!  Currently decorating our Christmas tree!  I took a little break a bit ago to let my heart stop racing just a bit!  We get a live tree every year, and as I was putting the lights on it, I stumbled upon Mr. Lizard who had apparently made himself a happy little home in our tree and completely scared me off my ladder, shriek included!!!!!  

And these two just thought it was hilarious...

Have a great week everybody!!! 

Monday, November 24, 2014

Our Disney Top 10 (cont'd)

Okay, picking up with where I last left off :)

#4 All that Disney loot :)

Stuffed animals they wanted... Stuffed animals they got :)  Joining the Zumwalt family this trip were: Stitch, Bambi, Lady, Marie, Rapunzel, Belle, and Nala!!!
"Marie" and "Nala" were added to the collection after these pics were taken, literally minutes before getting on the road to head home!  Something about the trip coming to a close prompts more spending.  Happens every time :)  

#3 Autograph Books

And these are not your average autograph book!  More like a work of art :)  We may or may not have spent a few months making them... :)  And hats off to Kay Kay for the great idea!!!  As I mentioned earlier, ALL of our sit-down meals were with characters, so we knew of 24 characters we would definitely be seeing with just our meals alone.  Kenadie did all of the drawings in hers and Berkley colored hers :) We added a few extras that we hoped to see, threw in some blank pages for the ones we unexpectedly saw and WA-LA...our own custom-made autograph books :)  
Currently these are "Mama's books" and they may have them upon getting married :) Lol!  I'm just a little bit attached to them myself, and DEFINITELY feel as if it was a family project :)  However, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat :)

#2 Dressing like princesses

I love that they're still little enough to want to do this!  I'm foreseeing that by our next trip though, I will likely have lost a participant, sniff, sniff :(  I do realize they have to grow at some point, it just happens all too quickly! But, let's face it, my 32-year-old self wouldn't at all be any form or fashion of CUTE parading around Disney dressed as a princess!!! You are welcome for that hilarious visual!!!
 Jasmine and Jasmine :)
 Snow White!  "Who wore it better?"  I say the little one :)
 He's a gem!  A one-of-a-kind for sure!!!
 And so is the one on the far left :)
 Two tired princesses...
 Waiting for the Electrical Lights Parade, another top fav!

Drum roll... And the number 1 MOST FAVORITE memory is..............

#1 Spending ALL that time with all the people I love most, my family!

Disney World just wouldn't be the same without 'em!  SO many wonderful memories made that I will forever treasure!  When we got home and life returned to "normal", I was a bit blue to not have everyone together 24/7, the way it had been for a solid seven days.  We are THAT family that pretty much just can't get too much of one another, ha! 

 And here is where I unload the "odds-n-ends" pics that just needed to be included in this post :)
 What a Disney nap looks like!
 And this is what Berkley looks like when she isn't smiling!  It's a good thing her dramatics are typically comical!  She is often times not happy or easy-going!  Fancy that!
We also celebrated Halloween while we were gone :)
 They thought they needed to be tigers!  We were at Animal Kingdom!  Makes perfect sense to me :)
 So, for the remainder of the day, this is how all of our pictures looked, lol!
 A little "snow day" at Hollywood Studios!
 Epcot!
 I had to capture at least one unmagical moment :)
 We were just a smidge starstruck! 
 Breakfast at O'hanas before we head home.
 And the very last picture from our very magical trip :)  Happy Birthday to Kay Kay!!!  
We had too much fun!!!  I can hardly wait to go back!!!