Today my baby girl is turning fourteen. No wait. FOUR. She’s turning four. But sometimes it sure feels like she’s turning fourteen, with the sass and the attitude and the confidence and the hilarious things that come out of her mouth. She wants a pink unicorn for Christmas – a REAL unicorn, not an imaginary unicorn. And not a purple one. A PINK one. I told her maybe Santa didn’t have room in the sleigh for a unicorn so she could maybe ask for something smaller and she agreed toy ponies would be OK for now. She’s accommodating like that.

She has asked to take tap dancing lessons now that she is four. I’m not really looking forward to all the tap dancing practice that is sure to follow, but since she stomps around “tap dancing” in her sneakers anyway it really matters very little if she’s signed up or not. Caroline loves to perform and if you ask her she will sing you a completely improvised song about a mermaid who looses her baby and then finds her again and lives happily ever after, complete with an interpretive dance, since everything includes an interpretive dance. Getting her coat on involves an interpretive dance. Brushing her teeth involves an interpretive dance. Screaming about how I ruined her life involves an interpretive dance.

Caroline is VERY excited about her birthday  plans. Tonight she and I are going to see The Nutcracker at Mohegan Sun. It looks fancy, with an orchestra and a chance to meet the dancers. I’m just as excited as she is, since I really really want her to love it. I have a very magical memory of going to see The Nutcracker when I was little and I’m hoping this can be a tradition for us on her birthday. Then Saturday we have her mermaid party. I feel less prepared than I have been in previous years (being trapped inside by the cold limits my water-based games and activities) but between a zillion different kinds of sugar to feed the kids and plans to fill the house with balloons I think the kids will have a good time. And if not Caroline can do some more interpretive dances for them.

Happy Birthday to the craziest, happiest, sweetest, bravest, most adorable little pixie mermaid ginger I know, Caroline Noelle!

Please enjoy Caroline’s 4 year old interview. Last year’s interview is here. I let her watch it just before this year, so she answered some of the questions the same to be funny, not because they’re true. She’s too stubborn to argue with though.

I asked her this morning how she liked being four, and she said “How about I try on all my shoes and see which ones fit me. Cause I’m four and four is BIG BIG BIGGER.” Sounds like a plan.

The kids had a dentist appointment on Monday at 11:20 (our dentist is awesome and the hygienists do their appointments simultaneously in adjoining rooms so no one has to wait). Instead of taking Evan back to school afterward, like a responsible parent would, we got cheeseburgers for lunch and went to Foxwoods to go ice skating. I figured it wouldn’t be crowded on a weekday afternoon and I was right – when we got there just before they opened at 2 pm there wasn’t even anyone to rent skates from. A few minutes after 2 the employees showed up and we had the whole rink to ourselves for 30 minutes before anyone else realized it was a gorgeous day for outdoor skating and found the rink hidden behind the building.

I don’t even feel bad about Evan missing another afternoon of school. I am one hundred percent sure that he will learn to read and write and ‘rithmetic and all that good stuff. I am not sure he’s yet learned that his parents are fun and the holidays are magical and that skating is super cool.

Unfortunately, both children are terrible skaters. They’ve only been once or twice before and there weren’t any cones or chairs or anything for them to hold on to, so there was a lot of falling down. Luckily they both learned to get back up and didn’t cry or give up. I was very proud, even if they were still falling down after an hour on the ice. They both asked to go back again every day, so maybe by the end of January they’ll figure it out.

Big girl camera and iPhone photos below, so I can prove Linc and I were there too.

I extended my AeroGarden giveaway so it ends TONIGHT! Quick, go enter! And if you’re still looking for an awesome Christmas gift for someone hard to buy for, you can use the code Digital20 for 20% off your order from the AeroGarden website. And a huge thanks to AeroGarden for working with me over the past few months and for sponsoring this post!

A few months ago when Linc was still super new and I wasn’t feeling much like leaving the house, my crazy babywearing friends (spoken with the utmost affection) agreed to have a meet-up at my house to show me how to use my new woven wrap. Since then, Friday morning playdates have been a regular thing. One of my friend’s 6 year old daughter described it as “All they do is drink tea and talk about wraps. It’s a total MomFest.” So obviously we call it MomFest now.

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I took a nap today, because I felt like I might actually die if I didn’t. I’m not even crazy sleep deprived or anything, I had just hit the wall of touched-out and busy and mentally tired of staying on top of everything. Caroline’s party is this Saturday and Christmas is next week and then we have one more visit to finish up 2014…and then I am never leaving the house again. 2015 will be the year ALL THE THINGS get organized and clean using only supplies I can order through Amazon Prime so I don’t have to wear pants.

Sunday:

The toys in Ohio are more fun than any of the toys in Connecticut

SHUT UP WITH THOSE EYELASHES

Thank you Aunt Sara and Uncle Sean!

Monday:

I’m keeping this monstrosity on the DVR FOREVER

This is how he feels about the 12 hours we spent driving back from Ohio

THE GARDEN OF THE FUTURE did great without me here

Tuesday:

It’s weird that the post office is open in the dark

Still loves it. Judge me.

Cutest stomach tumor ever

Wednesday:

Grocery shopping is boring for him but excited for me because this wrap is super pretty

I told him about Santa

SWEATER PANTS!!!

Thursday:

Snow! On a day we didn’t have a delay. Unlike the day where we had a delay for rain.

Doesn’t care about the cold.

Helping me make dinner

Friday:

Less organized than the last time I posted a picture of our playdate stash

Olde Mystickee Villageeeee was decorated for Christmas

The aquarium was NOT FUN amounts of crowded, but at least we weren’t cold

Saturday (with extra pictures, because it was really fun!):

Why yes, I do look adorable in this sweater outfit and rainbow

The Florence Griswold Museum was like all my historic home dreams come true

AND WE FOUND ELSA

Fascinated by football at lunch

Pretending to be cold while we wait for Santa

He really likes the lights

I spent 30 minutes today gluing googly eyes to toothpicks for Caroline’s party (you’ll have to guess what for) and my plans for the evening include moving everything from my dining room to the basement so I can turn it into an under the sea wonderland. I am very far behind compared to previous party years. I’m refusing to worry though, because I will have LOTS of help with all the family in town, and I am sure they will be more than willing to hang up 100 green streamers and blow up 200 balloons. Or at least they will pretend to be happy to do it while wondering why I am insane.

If I posted a picture of my house right now, I’m pretty sure Wayfair would throw me out of their Homemakers program. But since they totally understand my aspirations to one day have a catalog perfect home, they’ve kindly sponsored a post so I can at least DREAM about getting organized. 

We’re hosting a bunch of people this year, not for Christmas exactly but for Caroline’s birthday party the weekend before. Don’t ask how party planning is going, the answer is AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. But even if I’m running around like a crazy person writing a menu 12 hours before the guests show up we’ll have a house full with more company staying at hotels. No matter how behind I get, I am committed to the house being MAGICAL and FESTIVE and WELCOMING, so here’s a look at how I’m getting my home ready for the holidays.

Linc is totally ready for the holidays with those jammies

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