Notes from Friday night

So Friday night we went to the consignment sale (or, as it is known more casually, the "twin sale"). I have no idea why I like this sale so much, except that it appeals to me on many levels. First, the obvious, there are great deals. Second, at other sales, it is difficult to locate two items that are the same, a must at this point or arguments happen. Third, the value on toy-type items is just phenomenal. I really have a hard time buying toys because essentially all of them are brightly colored plastic with some type of sticker ornamentation, and they usually have a $20+ price tag. That seems like a lot for plastic.

Our mission Friday night was to find dresses for Gracie (Lauren can wear Gracie's dresses from last year), toys (anything Disney Princess) and books.

Key quotes from Friday night (all from Skip):

1) From Skip to me as we were standing in line for 1.5 hours: "So this is like the Super Bowl for you, right?"

2) From Skip to the president of the organization: "See, if men planned this, there would be no items inside for sale -- it would be absolute chaos and disorganization, but there would be a grill going outside, with food and beer to serve this crowd."

3) From Skip to the couple in line behind us: "That's the best part of getting here early.... laughing at the people who arrive late and ask where the line starts!"

Favorite purchases: 1) Easy Bake oven and 2) oversized Cookie Monster.

Pretty in pink

Consignment sale

For locals, the semi-annual consignment sale is this weekend. Click here for invitation to shop Friday night.

Ready for spring

Easter dress rehearsal

Yesterday we tried on the dresses we purchased for Easter (and these will also be used for a couple of upcoming wedding-related events).

Here's the dress:



Gracie likes the dress. Lauren immediately said, "Don't want it. Take it off?"

Total rejection. She says the dress isn't pink. We discussed the colors... the pink... the brown. When I point to the pink bodice and ask what color it is, she says, "pink." But then when I say, so, then, the dress is pink. She argues that the dress is brown.

Just as my patience was running out, I remembered the upcoming weddings. As I was putting the dress away, I said, "Well, I thought you might wear this to Sarah's party in June...."

Her head snapped up. You could see the wheels turning.

"Sarah? Did she say SARAH????"

She ran toward the dress and began chattering about the dress... wear to Sarah's party... "Wan' see Sarah? See Sarah tomorrow. Sarah's party tomorrow?"

Naturally, June is many months away, and a lot can transpire with Lauren's logic between now and then. For now, though, I am counting this as a win.

Weekend update

Saturday morning we saw "Billy Goats Gruff," a production of our local Children's Theatre. We loved the show, although Lauren 1) felt the troll was too convincing, and therefore, too scary, and 2) kept asking when Barney would appear. Gracie was not frightened by the production, but she did provide a rather loud narrative, e.g., announcing when the billy goats left the stage, when they returned, and when she thought they were silly ("Where billy goats go?" "Here come billy goats!" "Billy goats silllllyyyyyyy!")

Eyewear

We gave the girls a few treats for Valentine's Day. The Disney Sleeping Beauty sunglasses are getting daily wear, and we haven't seen much of their eyes since then.

Driving Miss Gracie

Santa Claus delivered the first cars. They initially occupied the dining room for the first few weeks after Christmas, and we transitioned them to the basement about a month or so ago. Due to the weather, driving has been limited to the basement for the most part. Yesterday it was warm enough to venture outdoors. Lauren immediately embraced the larger track space. Gracie was a little less sure and spent much of her time as a passenger in Lauren's car. Once she got behind the wheel of her own car, though, she loved the driving experience.

Pinktacular

I think I may have mentioned previously that Lauren loves the color pink. We lay out clothes each night, and she always previews the next day's outfit (expressing either approval or disproval). Of course, if she likes Gracie's outfit better, she tries to swap out some of the clothes. We also have an organizer in the closet where we sometimes lay out clothes for the week. (This was especially helpful when I worked, as I was not always the person who dressed the girls, but clothes were selected and ready.)

Anyrate, I occasionally catch Lauren in the closet, reviewing the week's clothing. When she doesn't have the luxury of wearing a pink shirt on a given day, she says, "No pink shirt today," in the same tone you might use to say "they need to do some tests to further diagnose the condition." However, when she knows a pink shirt is in the works for tomorrow, she can be heard randomly saying "pink shirt tomorrow!" throughout the day in an overly excited sing-song voice. Skip says he imagines her being that overly caffeinated girl at work who is always, ALWAYS excited about developments, i.e., "conference call tomorrow!" or "sales meeting tomorrow!!!"

Needless to say, this product review may as well be her personal wish list.

The next American Idols

Gracie has developed quite a reputation for being bashful at times. It is always odd to reconcile the rambunctious Gracie that we know with the shy girl she becomes around others.

Below is a glimpse of Grace-bug when she is in her home environment. Last November, I picked up two new Christmas CD's -- Sarah McLachlan's and Faith Hill's. I preferred the former; the girls preferred the latter. Faith Hill's approach was to belt out the songs as loudly as possible, in more of a "big band" style. I think the CD notes included a reference that her style involves singing the songs as loudly as possible. When a country singer tells you she is going to sing loudly, you can take that to the bank. We have listened to her album ad nauseum, with no end in sight, because Gracie likes to sing loudly as well. Of course, the minute I began filming, she scaled back considerably, but this is the glimpse of her nightly performances.

As for Lauren, her approach is more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get type thing. She is a ham in public, and only more so at home.

Untitled from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Duet from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Miss Gracie

Nature

Happy Valentine's Day!

Winter games

Today we hit the slopes -- er, front yard -- in full force, armed with Skip, a master snowball maker. The girls had a good time taking snowballs and smashing them on the pavement.