It's Fancy Nancy Time!

So this past weekend at the Twin Sale in Columbus I picked up this Johnny Jumper for Elijah. We had always wanted one for the girls but never lived in a house that had door frames that could support one. Well now with this big old Victorian we have plenty of wood work to hold a Johnny Jumper. I wasn't sure if he would like it or was on the edge of being too old for it, but he has taken right to it. The first couple of times he was in it he kinda just acted like he was in a walker or seat of some kind. I'm not sure how he figured out he can bounce with it, but now he is a bouncing machine. The past couple of days we have literally just sat in the floor watching him and laughing (yeah the entertainment of parents) because he really gets into it. He is Tigger-type bouncing in it and gets way down before he pounces again and of course giggles. I'm really thinking now that I totally missed out on this for the first three!

This past weekend the girls and I did a bit of projects in the kitchen for school. Okay those who know me are know picking themselves back up off the floor at Mandi doing anything semi creative in the kitchen. Don't worry the house stayed intact...they were both box kits with EASY directions. I had wanted to do caramel apples with the girls this fall so we picked up these neat caramel sheets that you simply wrap around the apples and then back for a few minutes to get them to melt. When we picked up the caramel sheets in the produce aisle Maddelyn saw the chocolate banana kits thought they just had to try them out so we did. They too were simple by just warming the bag of chocolate in a bowl of water and then pouring it into a cup and dipping the bananas. We decided they needed a bit more so we added some sprinkles. I was frustrated thought at how long they were taking to dry to they got wrapped in plastic wrap and went into the freezer before being totally dry to they don't look quite as nice as the ice cream shop ones do.

I also wanted to share our latest Muffin Tin Monday lunch. We didn't do a theme lunch this week since we are working on our Little House in the Big Woods unit and I want to wait to do a Muffin Tin Monday when we can have the girls try out some of the Little House recipes and include some of those in the tins. this week was just too crazy to try any of them. In these tins we have: Honey rice cakes covered in peanut butter, cheese cubes, out frozen bananas, apple slices, some gluten free snack?, and grapes. I guess it was good because all the trays were empty when they came back from the table.

So Emma got her first present today from my parents and grandparents. My mom had picked up for her the prized "Fancy Nancy Doll" as well as a few outfits and she figured since Emma is having her Fancy Nancy Tea Party this weekend that it would be nice to let her have it early. Emma while opening it said...I hope it's a doll, an American Girl. Well by the time the box was open there were no thoughts of any 18 inch $95.00 dolls. You can see by the light in her eyes that this was exactly what she wanted. You can also tell by the fact that it is sitting in her nightstand now as she sleeps...of course in her Fancy Nancy Bath Robe! Silly me forgot to get a picture of the actual doll so here it is at Target. What's hilarious is that my mom had purchased both the doll and one outfit even though I was like $55 for a doll and one outfit is silly for a 5 year old. Well she said she knows what it's like to be a 2nd child and wanted her to have something special of her own so she got it. So this weekend at the twin sale I am digging through the toys on a hunt for a second Dumbo for Caroline (always nice to have a back-up of a lovey just in case one needs a spin in the washer) and stumbled upon a like new Fancy Nancy doll with 3 outfits for only $20.00. I was like uh.... she's 5 and will have no clue it's from a garage sale if it's in a pretty wrapped box! This frugal momma is not ashamed! So as I had thought pulling her out of a shiny wrapped box today left her no second thoughts on if she had a previous owner or not and now it left room for more Fancy Nancy accessories in the budget! I'm so excited to see what she does with all the other Fancy Nancy items that I've heard other family memebers are picking up for her as well.

I'm really hoping that this weekend will be a special memory for Emma. We started with Maddelyn the tradition of doing a 5th birthday tea for each (girl) child and making it a big deal. It's kinda like their rite of passage into being a little girl instead of a toddler. Emma chose to add the theme of Fancy Nancy (a book series that might as well have been written about my daughter Emma and how she lives to be fancy!) I of course will be posting pictures of the party later on but after starting to decorate tonight we have place settings for 17 little girls (10 of them family), boas and tutu hair bows on each chair, 17 real tea settings, paper fans, beads and rings for everyone, and of course a chandelier draped in boas, beads, and pink paper lanterns. Hey even if that light does prove to be a 1900's Tiffany light...even it can use a bit of being "Fancy like Nancy???" We also have planned having etiquette lessons on fan communications, curtsy lessons, and trying to walk in both high heals and with a book on their heads. We also will be having an ice cream parfaits (because as Fancy Nancy says that the fancy way of saying ice cream Sunday.) I guess it might seem a bit much for 1 of 4 children, but I figure they are only a little girl for such a short time...why not treasure it and make them feel like a true princess for that one day.