Bunnies Broke Up

Chad secretly recorded Ilsa singing this extemporaneous song about bunnies breaking up. It is a bit long, but watch until the end. We can't stop laughing.

so what do YOU do when there's a tornado watch?

You play with bubbles, of course. The humidity was really high, so the bubbles lasted forever. For your information, here is a great bubble solution recipe that I found on the giant bubble wand package:

24 ounces (3 cups) dishwashing liquid (original blue Dawn works best)

3/4 cup corn syrup

12 cups water

Mix and play!

There were tornadoes very close to us, but none in our immediate area. Still under a watch until 8:00 am this morning, with severe thunderstorm warning for the day.

Ilsa sings and plays music from Doctor Who

I guess my love of all things Who has rubbed off on Ilsa...

It's hard to recognize, but she is singing the Doctor Who theme song, and playing a song from the 5th season of Doctor Who.

very sophisticated humor

Ilsa found out she can stuff her "stuffy" pillow into her pants. Nothing has ever made her laugh so hard. Ever. I don't know that I've ever seen Chad laugh so hard, either. Definitely not the most sophisticated humor... but very, very funny.

recycling

What do you do when your favorite tights get holes in the knees? You take them to Daddy of course, for garment modification.

"Daddy, how do I tape them back together?"

"You don't, Ilsa. But look! Now you have a pair of bike shorts, socks or wait! You could even wear them as arm warmers!"

And then with further modification, you get slippers.

epic bed head - wordless wednesday

DSC01678, originally uploaded by BikeBookBread.

ilsa's hot new wheels

It became very apparent yesterday that Ilsa has outgrown her cute, pink bike. So a trip to the bike shop was in order...

Ilsa is very proud of her big girl bike with REAL BLACK TIRES, because "only little girl bikes have white tires."

She had also outgrown her helmet, which was a hand-me-down from a 2 year old Ingrid if you can believe it. We found one with....LADYBUGS!

"Thank you Mommy and Daddy, I ADORE my new bike!" - Ilsa

disney princessification

Yesterday I took the girls to see Disney on Ice, Princess Dreams. It was a bunch of hoo-haa about "if you wish it, it can come true". Truly don't think they caught onto the silly storyline about wishing and dreams, etc...they just wanted to see Ariel and the gang spin and jump on the ice -- and they ate it up. It was a pretty great show, especially the portions with The Little Mermaid...none of those pictures turned out though.

Belle, Lumiere and the cutlery.

Ilsa and her uber-expensive Tinkerbell spinner.

Ingrid is A LOT happier than she looks. She just hates having her picture taken.

Ditto the comment above.

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Chronicle Books)

I posted this on my blog a while back, but it's just so cute, that I just had to re-post.

ilsaism - coffee fountain

I had to take Ilsa into the ER this morning for high fever, headache and dehydration. We left home around 6:15. It was cold, dark and the automatic coffeemaker doesn't turn on until 6:45. I needed coffee. Badly. I was moaning a bit about it in the car, and Ilsa said, "Mommy, I wish the hospital had a coffee fountain for you."

a doctor who quiz...

Okay, I think Ilsa is officially a Doctor Who FanGirl. Ilsa's new booster seat for the car arrived yesterday. How many Doctor Who references can you find? Ilsa came up with these all on her own. Honestly, this is not what I was thinking when I bought this booster for her!

Answers below...

3-D glasses from Doomsday

Space suit from The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit

Brainy specs worn by the 10th Doctor

Bow tie as worn by the 11th Doctor

Stetson cowboy hat worn by the 11th Doctor

in the sneak peak coming attractions for Season 6

happy 5th birthday, little ladybug girl!

My baby is 5 today! She's an inquisitive, excitable, active, wonderful 5 year old, and we are very happy and thankful she is part of our family!

Five years ago today...Mr. BikeMan was preparing to deploy just two days after our Little Ladybug Lady was born.

Ilsa woke Mr. BikeMan and me up around 6:30 this morning, ready for her special day to start.

Yes, Ingrid is as moody today as she looks in this picture. She's having a hard time yielding the spotlight to the birthday girl.

Ilsa got her wish of a new dollhouse for her birthday, and a Baby Stella baby basket for her favorite dolly.

Ingrid found every ladybug item that Ilsa owns, and created a ladybug display to help her celebrate her birthday.

10 things for which I am thankful

I haven't made one of these lists in a while. It's about time I did. In no particular order:

1. Mr. BikeMan is done with his month-long road trip. He came home last night!*
2. Christmastime is here (queue Charlie Brown music...)
3. I actually had the forethought to buy hats, mittens and scarves before the cold weather hit on Thursday.
4. My girls are happily coloring together. In the same room. From the same box of crayons and pens. Wow.
5. I have a hair appointment today -- mmmmm, the smell of an Aveda salon.
6. Ingrid actually likes math now that we have pulled her out of the Spanish immersion program.
7. Ilsa has been making her own books -- she just made her own counting book with the following pages: 1 Doctor (Who) with 1 TARDIS, 2 bad guys (a Cyberman and a Dalek) 3 ladybugs; 1 Ilsa, 2 flowers, 1 flower, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 and a Slitheen. LOL!!!!!
8. I found the Christmas version of Cadbury Mini Eggs at the PX yesterday. Screeeee!
9. When I put up the Christmas tree on Tuesday night, there was only 1 string of mysteriously dead tree lights in the box.
10. I participated in my first NaNoWriMo and actually did it! 50,282 words in 30 days. The story is totally crud, and it's mine, and no one will EVER read it but me!

*See post "Heart Attack" for the whole story

lego creations

Here are some cute Lego creations that Ilsa made this morning:

make your own fun and then give it a name

My sweet Ilsa has a knack for making the most mundane items into an afternoon of fun. Today she found the big old package of TP from Costco and turned the wrapper into a sleeping bag, and the TP into a pillow. She actually started to cry when Daddy, Mr. BikeMan, said it was time to put the wrapper into the garbage. (I was kind of afraid she would want to sleep with it tonight...) Her slightly weepy reply, "You mean I have to throw Sleepy* away?" Yes, she named the wrapper.

*Ilsa has a tendency to name inanimate objects. Took us a long time to figure out what "Fluffies" were... anything "cute" per Ilsa is a Fluffy. "Mommy, I just love Fluffy trees. They are so cute they make me want to cry." What is a Fluffy tree? It's a PINE tree, the kind with long needles. But why do they make her want to cry? Out of joy? Nostalgia for Charlie Brown's pine-Christmas tree? They do look sort of fluffy in the distance, I suppose. But this one had me scratching my head: we were watching Doctor Who on Netflix this week (yeah, yeah, yeah, I know she's only 4 and watching Doctor Who). When she saw a Dalek inside of the "flying garbage can" for the first time, she cooed, "Oh Mommy, it's a Fluffy!!!" Now THAT THING is not cute -- it looks like a slimy Octopus. Last night, she asked for her Story Napkins. She wanted to sleep with them. (Hence my concern about wanting to have Sleepy, the Costco toilet paper plastic wrapper with her in bed...definitely a case of "This Plastic Bag Is Not A Toy!") Story napkins, it turns out were some pretty paper cocktail napkins with butterflies and flowers on them... she had played with them yesterday. She was using them to tell a story about the butterfly in the flowers.

I may never have to buy her another toy again.

ilsa got her first tat...

....kidding...

But she DID earn a "Read!" temporary tattoo for her participation in our local library summer reading program. We recorded 6 hours of read-alouds (before the move, this is all we could muster).

And of course, because it was I who was applying the tattoos, I goobered-up Ingrid's. She is not happy. I forgot to take the protective plastic sheet off of the front, and I moistened the back. So of course, the tatoo has adhered to the plastic sheeting. However, she needs to be satisfied, as she completed the entire "reading path", plus the bonus 6 hours and earned a book. She chose a neat Usborne Look and Find book about sea creatures. She's still looking for a mermaid within the pages, even though I told her there were only real creatures within the book...

what a way to start the day...

Mr. BikeMan got up earlier than usual this morning, around 5:00 am. He went in to check on the girls before his shower, because he had heard a suspicious "thump". Ingy was sound asleep in the top bunk, but Ilsa was GONE -- her bedsheets were messy. He came running back into our room, woke me up and said firmly, "Get your clothes on, Ilsa is not in her bed and I can't find her anywhere." Our home is only 1700 square feet, and there just aren't many places to hide. We know them all.

Panic mode. We start calling everywhere. No answer. I look under the bed, but don't see her. Garage. Backyard. No Ilsa.... we looked at least 5 minutes.

Finally, Ingrid calls out, "I hear her..." We hear this very muffled, "yes....." from deep, deep, deep under her bottom bunk. She's cuddled up in the farthest corner back behind a sleeping bag that is stuffed a stuff sack (she's in a tiny ball in the corner), using a flashlight trying to find something under the bed.

I just held her for 5 minutes once we coaxed her out.Oh, sweet Ilsa, NEVER do this again. My mind is racing, going places I don't want it to go. Parents tell you you'll laugh about this sort of thing later...it's going to be a long time before I laugh about this one, if ever.

We don't know why she wouldn't answer, and why she wouldn't come out. DH wasn't happy, but we were relieved. This is the second time she's done in this in 6 months, but we had forgotten about the first time (also under the bed). She got a firm, but loving lecture.

Good grief, what a start to the day.

unauthorized use of government property

The girls got their hands on my stash of free Priority Mail boxes which I use for eBay sales.

softie

Softie is gone. Toll the bells. Play a dirge. Hopefully Ingrid's thumb-sucking habit has disappeared along with it. My hope, now, is that I find the lost remnant of her beloved blankie before SHE does. Sweet Ilsa was so concerned about her big sissy's well-being that she offered Ingrid her baby mini-blanket to which she never became attached (she uses it as a dolly blanket).

lollipop the turtle

Lollipop the Turtle aka, "Turtlie", celebrated her 5th birthday today. She received a gift from her Mommy wrapped up just for her.

Lollipop loved her book. Well, it's appropriate as Ilsa wants Chicka Chicka Boom Boom read to her every. single. night. She also takes CCBB with her to bed.