Just two years ago I was starting my oldest daughter down the road of being a girlie-girl by getting her ears pierced. Since then she has grown to love anything prefaced with the word “pre-tty”. That includes allowing me to comb her curly (often matted) hair without much complaint, picking a wardrobe which is primarily pink, and making scented lotions available to her. She lets me change her earrings and seeks out lip gloss whenever mom’s purse isn’t put up high. Today was a new right of passage however as she got her first manicure, complete with butterfly and flower decals.

Yes, we are talking about a two year old here, but she sat through it like the potential princess that she works hard to mimic daily.

Today was also the littlest one’s initiation into the girlie world as she got her first pearls. Before you know it they will both be on their way to the shoe department and perfume counter.

(Shoot over to Boho Rhap for more AWESOME Thursday Thirteen Banners)

They say that life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. This should actually be the theme of my existence since most of the big events in my life, including my husband and two of my children, have happened on a whim without much planning. It occurred to me when trying to think of a Thursday Thirteen that before Summer begins next year many exciting events are on their way. So as Summer is coming to an end I am dedicating this post to the most exciting events that I’m planning on. It remains to be seen which events didn’t make the list.

1. Halloween- I love dressing my kids in ridiculous outfits and walking blocks in the windy outdoors til’ our noses are red and runny and we come home to hand out candy to the miniature ghost’s and princesses.

2. Becoming the parent of only ONE child in diapers as the aging two year old is finally reaching a milestone.

3. Getting my tubes tied (no more birth control, condoms, or calender watching…yippeee)!

4. Going to Las Vegas to celebrate my 5 year anniversary (which is where we tied the knot).

5. Celebrating all of the major first holidays for our newest addition (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter).

6. Traveling through all of the above mentioned holidays not having to serve the miserable grumpy guests who seem offended by holiday cheer (as it would seem I am definitely through waiting tables :) )

7. Hubby has recently taught me 3 chords on the guitar, so with all hope in less than a year I will actually be able to play a recognizable tune.

8. Christmas- need I say more?

9. Finishing my BA (after taking 12 years, it is about time),

10. Trading in this:

for this:

(probably more like wishful thinking, but surely with in a year it should be possible)

11. Taking leaps and bounds toward fixing little man’s crooked teeth

12. Starting my credential Program in June

13. Last but not least…if my schedule permits, I will be teaching in a class of my own by August 2008

A friend of mine came up with a great idea to have those of us in our mom’s group get together with clothes and toys our kids had outgrown and swap them. She had seen this on a show, and thought it would work well for our group. The idea was to have snacks, chit chat, and swap out our kids boring stuff for new stuff. Then anything that was left over would be donated to charity. Needless to say it was rather brilliant.

We had nine mom’s who gathered items their children were no longer interested in or could no longer fit, which left a large selection to pick through. It was ideal for the moms and kids as we were given an opportunity to get rid of the unused collections gathering dust, and the kids felt like they had all new toys to play with. The true beauty of it being a swap, is that you were not adding to an already crowded toy box or closet, simple trading it. I believe just about everyone walked away with some cute picks for there little one’s or family members, and the enormous bundle of left overs was taken to the local homeless shelter.

I wanted to blog about this because when I tried looking up ideas before hosting, I came up empty handed. Personally this event saved me a bundle since my daughter gathered a small wardrobe for the winter. Plus I was able to get some stuff out of the house and organize the toy box which was packed to the top. The entire event was a win win as about ten enormous bags of suitable children’s clothes and toys were taken to children in need. Hopefully this will be an idea which spreads.

For any of you wondering why I have been MIA, I have just been completely overwhelmed with school, family, multiple state exams coming back to back, and house stuff. Oddly enough I don’t think I excel at any of the above, which has left me questioning the following…”if a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear, does it still make a sound?”or likewise “if you clean your house but no one visits to witness it, was it ever really so?” Here is a photo of my kitchen & living room before and after cleaning this weekend:

Now here is a photo today:

It baffles me how quickly this happens, but even more puzzling is how I fail to notice the tornado until it has passed. I have stopped to blog once or twice amongst the storms, however it ceases to seem entertaining. Therefore if I continue to go MIA, it is truly an attempt on my part to spare you of the less-than-entertaining aspects of a mediocre housewives monotonous day.