The 5-foot tall, thin-as-a-rail Pixie has decided she needs to gain strength.
I have no idea how this thought entered her head but she has proceeded to go about obtaining her goal. I have always admired this quality in her. She has demonstrated decision-making and determination from a young age. I remember offering a choice of vitamin to her siblings (because that is what good parents are supposed to do- ha!) and they would have an awful time making up their minds. They’d take one and then throw a fit because now they decided they should have taken the other one. But not Pixie. She’d look at the choices, grab one and be off. Happy. She knows what she wants and she’s shown strong ideas about what to wear. There have been times when something has been hard for her but she has stuck with it. There are other times things have become hard and she has walked away from it seemingly because she has the attention span of a gnat.
So when she mentioned she wanted to gain strength I figured it would be a passing thing. We searched through what was here at home and most of the exercise things were on video tape and our tape player is not working. The next time we were at the library we checked out the exercise DVD section. We looked through the meager selection and picked an “African Beat- Latin Heat” video. It’s mainly aerobic and has a pretty quick pace. Since we brought it home, she has done it at least once every day but one. Jaw dropping. Okay. so it was only five days, but still….
Today she decided she wanted to try something else. I was able to find our DVD of a resistance band workout which is more strength training and probably more of what she wants anyway. She worked her way through it like a champ. I had to do it after her (we only have one set of resistance bands) because I was feeling sloth-like just watching her.
Then she decided to make a lasagna-type thing for lunch with noodles, pasta sauce, cheese and ham. She did it all with minimal supervision and no recipe.
I am amazed.
The eggs were cleaned, blow dried (What? Doesn’t everyone blow dry their eggs?) and being placed in the carton as we hurried to finish up before leaving for church. One pretty blue egg was left over so I delicately placed it into a carton for us to keep. I somehow managed to fumble the poor, pretty egg and it broke on the floor.
“Oh! It broke!” Said Miss Sunshine.
Pixie runs into the kitchen to see what happened. “Did you break it? Why did you do that?”
“Yea, why did you do that?” Her ever helpful Father teased. He had seen the whole thing.
“You did it on purpose?” asked Miss Sunshine.
“Why did you break it on purpose?” asked Pixie
Yes, I threw it on the floor in order to see our last, only remaining egg smashed. (The Hens really need to be getting busy out there! They been slacking.) My heart’s desire was that The Dog get it so I devised this deviant scheme and carried it out.
In the process of explaining that no, I had not broken it on purpose; The Boy enters the scene and proclaims, “You broke it on purpose?!”
Yes, there it is folks, the process of how rumors get started. I am now a purposeful Blue Egg Smasher. Beware.
“Mom, where is the ag basket?” Pixie asked as she came into my bedroom.
Umm, “ag” basket? Agricultural basket? Is that like the Bread Basket of the United States? No! Couldn’t be.
“What “ag” basket? What do you mean?”
“You know, the ag basket we put the eggs in.”
The Children helped me decorate the tree. We have a system down now where I unwrap the ornaments and they hang them on the tree. Then, in an exercise of fortitude, I leave them where they were placed by little, loving hands.
Here is the area where the silver balls ended up.
Over here, not too far to the right, is where the silver bells pile onto one branch. Don’t want them to be alone. (The second bell is hard to see.)
Then all the gold ornaments apparently needed to be grouped together, away from the silver items (you know how they are.)
Last, but not least, the red balls had there own place of honor on the tree.
Overall, the tree looks lovely. It was decorated with love and excitement- so fun to see.
Merry Christmas!
Going down the trail.
Peeking to see if we’re coming.
Having a good time.
You have to see this one to believe it.
Yes, Miss Pixie is wearing sandals (jellies) with socks, her nightgown, heavy jacket and mittens.
It’s June.
I will say that our mornings can be rather chilly sometimes but I do think this is a little extreme.
Then she gives me that Otter smile….
Pixie and I were walking along, hand in hand when she said “Papa is thinking of getting me a horse.”
Oh really?
I later asked him about this and he can’t remember the conversation but leave it to Miss Literal to not miss anything.
“Yes, so I can ride in the parade.”
I see.
“I want to be a bear in the parade.”
My mind pictures a cute little brown bear costumed Pixie on top of a horse in a parade. Why does she need a horse for that? She could just walk. Her little voice interrupts my vision of her in a bear costume walking the parade route.
“I don’t mean a costume…”
Can she read minds?
“I want to have a flag and be a flag bear on a horse.”
I was rushing to get dinner cooked and trying to think of a side dish while talking to a friend of mine on the phone. She commented that she was making tortillas for dinner. Aha! thought I. I had some tortilla mix that I had bought awhile back at a store but hadn’t made any yet because there were not instructions (it was a bulk item) as to how much water to put in. I decided to just start adding some until it seemed the right consistency. I was feeling a bit stressed as The Girls crowded into the kitchen telling me vitally important stuff. Pixie asked to help.
No, I’m in a hurry.
She pulled up a chair to watch me anyway. You know, a little girl on a chair can sure impede the traffic flow but I held my tongue and tried to keep moving. She watched me take a bit of dough, put a bit of flour on the tortilla press, push down on the lever and peel off the tortilla before throwing it into a pan to cook. She asked if she could push down on it.
Oh, all right! I reluctantly said. But hurry!
She did that fine and we put the tortilla on the skillet. I rolled another ball and put it in the press then went off to tend something else. She pressed it.
Then peeled it off. I rolled the dough into the right sized balls for her and she took over. She put flour on the press, put in the ball of dough, pressed it and peeled it off.
I felt bad for being grumpy. Pixie ended up being a big help and was pleased that she was able to make the tortillas for dinner. They may not have been perfectly round, I wasn’t getting them that way either, but they tasted good.
We’ll have to make more sometime.
It’s a new show! Catch it right here! Here is a sneak preview of the new sport- Extreme Hairstyles!!!!
First you brush the hair.
Notice the Hairstylist already has her hair in an Extreme Style.
Then the clips are put in.
And even MORE clips! How far will she go? How many clips can one head hold?
The finished Extreme Style.
Side view, to get the full effect.
Then the Extreme Hairstylist can rejoice in her creation.
And that ends another sneak preview of the exciting new show Extreme Hairstyles! Tune in next time to see even more wild and crazy styles!
Sometimes it’s hard carrying your friends.
One needs to improvise.
