Quirks and Creativity

la·gniappe n. Chiefly Southern Louisiana & Mississippi

1. A small gift presented by a storeowner to a customer with the customer's purchase.

2. An extra or unexpected gift or benefit.

Welcome to a special edition of the bunnysauce blog. My gift to you this evening is an inside look at the ridiculousness (as well as the hilariousness) of my children. Up first?


Calamity Jane -- AKA Danger Girl

Jane is hilarious. And dangerous. On a regular basis she can be found climbing on anything and everything -- the kitchen table, the couch, the computer chair, the stairs -- you name it. She is one busy little bug. And her propensity for risky business has earned her the affectionate nickname of "Danger Girl" in our house. The climbing on the kitchen table is what make me most nervous of all. She is also a tornado of destruction. And a wanderer. She spends her days wandering the house from upstairs to downstairs to basement and back again. It's kind of hilarious except for when she gets into stuff and leaves messes in her wake. Her favorite playthings are the kid dishes located for her convenience in a bottom drawer in the kitchen. Nothing makes her happier than taking everything out and scattering the contents all over the kitchen and family room.

Here I caught her climbing on a kitchen chair to eat the mushy remains of a bowl of cereal the older kids left behind. So gross.

She has also decided that she loves to look at "her" books and is content to have me read the same nursery rhyme board books over and over and over and over. Although she's been on the slower to speak track, she has finally achieved a breakthrough in being able to sign to me when she wants her milk. And this girl wants her milk bottle ALL DAY LONG. She's a bit of an addict, and I think I'm probably an enabler.

Jane has a new face she likes to make whenever she's mad or wants to defy me. It is hilarious. Hahahaha. This little pouty lips face is just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. It is especially hilarious in conjunction with our newest little bit. You see I've been trying to teach her animal sounds and this is as far as we get:

ME: Jane, what does a monster say?

JANE: [a growling sound is her response]

ME: What does the puppy dog say?

JANE: [panting like a dog -- I think this is her favorite sound to make]

and finally, ME: What does the kitty cat say?

JANE: [silence, stare-down, and finally her pouty lips face]



Hahahahahaha. She's so funny. I know that she can't meow like a cat and SHE knows that I know she can't meow like a cat and yet I ask her all the time anyway. This is her way of letting me know what she thinks about that. Hahahahaha.

And then all is forgiven. I am her favorite person after all.

Perhaps NOT her favorite person these days? Hmmmmm. Perhaps that would be the Barber -- or rather the Butcher -- of Seville: Sophie. That little rat went on a cutting spree in the basement the other day and chopped up Jane's hair. It's hard to see in the pictures (and luckily Jane's hair has enough texture that it hides a bit of the butchering) but Sophie gave her a side mullet. Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!

Side View

And Front View -- Her hair used to be equally fluffy on both sides of her head.

Sophieluxe

Well, at least she was an equal opportunity Butcher. Here is Sophie's new haircut that she gave herself. Luckily she only cut bangs -- and even more luckily they're actual bang-length and not chopped to the scalp. But still, I was so mad that she did this when I thought for sure she was already passed the age where it would be a temptation for her. ESPECIALLY since she's so vain about her hair. In case you're wondering what her consequences are, believe me when I say that these hurt. First of all -- no more scissors. Second? I refused to do her hair for a week -- no braids, no pigtails, no nothing. And finally -- her consequence for cutting Jane's hair -- I took away her sparkly Ruby Red Slippers for good. Not only are they a size and a half too small for her anyway, but they're so old at this point that there is no tread left whatsoever and she was slipping all over the house in them. And she wore them EVERY SINGLE DAY with EVERY SINGLE OUTFIT. She was NOT happy when I told her.

Working out her penitence by cleaning the kitchen table.

Funny phrases from Sophie:

"This outfit looks horrible."
"I hate pants."
"I hate pimples." {she is currently sporting a random one on the side of her nose}


Hahahahaha. She is a trip and a half. Our budding fashionista will ONLY wear skirts or dresses and she takes her outfit planning VERY seriously. Just about every night she lays out her outfits for the next day from hair accessories down to her shoes. And don't think for a moment that she wastes a fashion opportunity at bedtime. 9 times out of 10 she refuses to take out her hair accessories (or pigtails or braids) and insists on looking cute even in her sleep. She's even taken to sleeping with slippers on. And every now and then she'll refuse pajamas altogether and will pick out an actual outfit to sleep in. I have decided it's much easier to choose my battles with her. Hence the following outfit choices of the past week or so... (Heidiluxe these pics are for you -- hahahaha).

"Sleeping Beauty"

Christmas Jammies -- Gymboree
Slippers -- Thrifted
Hairbow -- Bowdaciousbaby.com



"A Sailor's Life for Me"

Hairbow -- Bowdaciousbaby.com
Necklace -- Handcrafted by Sophieluxe herself
Dress -- Gymboree
Tights -- Walmart
Sequined Leopard print Shoes -- hand-selected and thrifted by Sophieluxe



"Les Miserables"

Long-sleeve Tee -- a Hannah-down (hand-me-down from her cousin Hannah)
Dress -- thrifted
Tights -- a Hannah-down
(same) Sequined Leopard print Shoes -- thrifted



And finally -- "The Harajuku Girl"

Hairbow -- Bowdaciousbaby.com
Shirt -- thrifted
Skirt -- Gymboree
Christmas Tights -- Gymboree
Shoes -- same ones

And there you have it.

Cute Little Grace with Her Pretty Little Face

More like poor little Grace with her bad little luck. As Grace has said on SEVERAL occasions over the past couple of weeks -- "Why do all the bad things happen to me?" Why indeed. Yesterday morning I took Grace to the doctor to confirm a violent case of strep throat. The doctor took one look in her mouth and said "wow -- that's quite a sight." She also said "that's a bit concerning" in reference to the "spit up rag" that Grace was carrying to discharge of all the spit that she couldn't swallow with her swollen little throat. Ewwwwww. Let's just say that in my current "delicate" condition I had to block that sight and smell out in order to keep from tossing my cookies. We got her prescription, picked up some frozen treats, and went on home to help make her a little more comfortable.

Let's just say that Grace is possibly the WORST possible patient EVER. Not to mention she was legitimately miserable. Mostly because she refused any type of pain reliever -- like children's Advil -- because it was "disgusting" and too hard to swallow. She lolled about the house moving from couch to chair to basement while drooling and spitting into her washcloth and looking absolutely terrible. I mean REALLY terrible. I don't think she managed to eat a single thing all day long and by dinner time Scott was semi-concerned that she was hallucinating. It was quite a sight to see. I should have tried to snap a picture of her but the image would have been too disturbing. Trust me. She sat at the table glassy-eyed and remote, rocking slightly while drooling into her "spit up rag" as she called it, and singing/humming some unrecognizable song while refusing to eat. Poor little Grace.

Thank heavens when she woke up this morning the antibiotics had kicked in enough that she was more lucid, sane, and pleasant. And most importantly she is able to swallow, so that washcloth can now be burned at the stake. Hahaha.

On a completely separate and unrelated note, Grace is quite the budding artist. Here is a picture she drew at nap time the other day when the kids had a Snow Day and I informed them that they had to have quiet reading time for an hour while the baby was sleeping. Ethan threw a fit for most of that time, Sophie fell asleep, and Grace read this book and produced this work of art.

Not too shabby, eh?

(the original)

Easy E(than)

And finally we come to Ethan. My firstborn in the wilderness. Hahahahaha. Isn't he so cute? For the last several weeks, nay MONTHS, Ethan has been practicing for his performance in "Commotion in the Ocean." And by practicing I mean belting out songs at the top of his lungs almost every night in his room at bedtime. When he does something, he does it 100%. Hahahaha. His grade along with the first grade and the 4th and 5th grade Girls Honor Choir put on a musical performance based on a book by the same name. It was an hour long and highly entertaining.




Each kid had the opportunity to play some kind of instrument for one of the songs. Below is a video of Ethan playing the Xylophone or the Glockenspiel -- he's not quite sure which. Hahaha.





Other than his dabbles in the musical, Ethan has been keeping busy by earning time to play Poptropica on the computer and NBA Jam on the Wii by doing his chores. It's a nice little system we've worked out. Now if only I can get him to start making dinner for me as well, then I'd say we're all set! Hahahaha.


And there you have it. A little (or a lot) of lagniappe for your enjoyment. Happy Sabbath!