Miss "A"-cam

Last night might have been the single best time of Miss A's third year. I know...I KNOW. How could I proclaim such a thing and essentially discount every other day and night so far? Well, I'm not saying all of the other times were bad just that last night was THE. BEST. EVER!!!!  Why? Because I found an old point-and-shoot digital camera (my first one ever that I got for college graduation), figured out that it still worked and gave it to Miss A to take however many pictures she wanted.

Below are some of Miss A's best shots over probably 30 total. I'd say she did pretty well overall considering this was her first time taking pictures independently.

This first picture of the dog was one I assisted her with taking just so she understood how to hold the camera and which button to push.

This next one was all Miss A. It's a picture of our dishes in the dishwasher racks. She really likes the bright red mug/cup.

This next one is one that was all Miss A. I am pretty excited that she managed to get both me and the dog in the frame of the picture AND that she used negative space within the frame to help boost the composition though I'm pretty certain that was serendipitous more than anything.

At this point Miss A was feeling a little left out because she was doing all of the picture taking instead of being in the pictures so she turned the camera on herself and produced her very first self-portrait. We'll work on getting this a little better in the future.

At one point Miss A got a little adventurous and took her picture taking into her playroom. She chose to photograph her princess crown. (Of course.)

And eventually she decided to come back to the kitchen (where she started) and get back on the high stool she was sitting on in the first place. She took this gem of her Hello Kitty socks while sitting down.

At one point she becoming the creative director of all of this photographer and ordered me to take HER picture. Look at her being all jaded as if to say, "Take the picture already!"

When she finally took the camera back, she ended up having a really hard time getting any more good ones but I take the blame for that.  While we were taking the pictures I was doing my best to do silly things that would thus produce more fun pictures and I got her laughing so hard she could barely hold the camera upright much less take a picture. She just about cut off the top of my head in this one and the dog can just barely be seen but for one last picture before the batteries died? I'd say it's a good last hurrah of sorts.

So that's the Miss "A"-cam. And I will surely have more pictures to share with you when I get more batteries for the camera. ;)

Leaving her mark

Sunday morning when I went in to get Miss A up at wake-up time I found her scribbled head to toe with purple marker.

????????????

Turns out she had somehow smuggled a PERMANENT purple marker in the night before and had proceeded to decorate herself AND some her buddies...

o_O

*sigh*

It would have been a little more entertaining and amusing to me if it had occurred on Saturday instead because then I wouldn't have had to rush to try and clean it off of her so that we could get to church on time and I could look a little less negligent as a mom.

Miss A and her antics are becoming more and more entertaining these days however challenging. :)  Last evening before I was able to go to bed early (and log a full 11 hours of sleep! WOO!!!) I had some serious "girl" bonding time with her and we looked at the American Girl catalog together and then pretended to be driving to the beach (and she was the mama) in her room with her bed as the vehicle.  It was so much fun seeing her imagination reeling away the way it did and voice what is fast becoming a lengthy wishlist of American Girl doll items. I'm getting so excited for Christmas morning when we reveal that a fair amount of her Christmas "wishes" will be given to her.

D and I are honestly loving this stage that she is in despite the fact that everyday she announces that she is NOT friends with boys, we are working hard to convince her that though D is a boy, he is also a Papa and that negates being a boy which means he can indeed be her friend on any given day.

All sorts of stuff

Took this picture last evening.

Miss A can hardly stand doing anything these days without it being an obvious echo of whatever it is she is doing in preschool at the time. Nevermind what she is NOT to be doing which is standing on her table! What I'm really trying to show you are the items on her table top that she has gathered only to sort them in groups. She spent almost a half hour occupying herself just with this activity! I'm thinking it's time she start helping sort clean laundry and letting her think it's just another fun game.

1 Chronicles16:8

We are in such a good place these days. Last Friday D received word that he is officially DONE with his all of the requirements for his Masters degree, tomorrow is Miss A's last day at her preschool and I continue to have steady work in all of my business ventures.

We had a wonderfully fun weekend with Miss A discovering the joy that is a warm cup of hot chocolate. She calls it her "coffee" and loved partaking in the Saturday morning ritual that I believe we will keep as a mainstay at our house. These days she just wants to do things as close to what grown-ups are doing and anything else more that she can do to be "twinsies" with me she is up for.

She's also getting so much more into role-playing/playing pretend. Somehow she found her way into some of our holiday/Christmas decor and discovered that some lovely placemats make very nice personal rugs for each of her dolls and stuffies to do "circle time" with her.  I suppose we could have taken the placemats away from her but my thinking is that we can always wash them when it's time to use them and if she is treating them nicely anyway what's the big deal? She's making some seriously good memories for herself and her childhood and I am all for that.

With tomorrow being her last day at her daycare center and also the school's mini Thanksgiving feast for the kids, we are preparing for a way to give thanks to the staff and friends she has made while she's been there.  I have ordered a big tray of her favorite main course (Chicken nuggets in the most deluxe way they can get - from Chik-fil-a!) and I will be finishing up these tokens of friendship for her friends to have tomorrow when she says good-bye to them...

Before you go giving me credit for my creativity and ingenuity, I got the idea from Pinterest. I like the idea so much though that I will probably recycle it for her Valentine's day exchanges. It's so easy to take a picture of her and then throw some graphic lettering on there to make it fun.  Cutting the picture just right so that the lollipop holds well is tricky but that's the worst part of it and if that's all I have to complain about? I'd say I have it pretty good.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all if I don't get a chance to tell you in a more timely manner! Hope you are receiving the Lord's richest blessings in your own lives.

No BOYS allowed!!!

Two nights ago I came home from being away for most of the weekend because I was having some "girl time" with one of my BFFs as well as doing a family portrait shoot in Baltimore and an engagement shoot  in downtown DC.  Miss A was SO happy to see me and I almost couldn't sit down fast enough in order for her to sit next to me and/or on my lap.

Once we were both comfortably on the couch together she promptly told me,"Papa is not my friend" (referring to Dave) and that it was because "He's a boy." Then she rattled off other individuals her were also boys (including the dog) and who were also not her friends. After that she told me all of the individuals that were girls (the cat and I were on the list *phew*) and confirmed their friendship status. The whole time, D and I sat in the most composed way we could muster - meaning NOT laughing and appearing to take the conversation seriously - and at one point D put his fist in the air as a declaration of his solidarity for Miss A's refusal to be friends with boys even if it excluded him.  Miss A is at such a fun age and stage right now and we can't even help ourselves to do anything other than marvel at her and be amused with it all.

Last night I had to run a last minute errand right before bedtime and Miss A happily rode along with me. She was having such a good time that when it was time for us to return home she made a fuss and started arguing with me. I finally convinced her that she was wrong with the argument that there was ice cream at home and so it was a pretty good place to go to. The tables turned and all of a sudden she wanted to rush home as quickly as possible and she told me, "You can share MY ice cream, Mama. I will share my ice cream with you!"

It's truly amazing to see Miss A's personality come out in the funny and fun things she says. She's such a tiny little person but her personality is just so big sometimes.