Give Back with Barbie Cares

Mark your calendars for November 8. Then, take your daughters (or your sons) to Wal-Mart to donate a Barbie. Yes, it can be a used Barbie. Yes, you can donate all of them if you would like to.

What happens to the Barbies? I don't know exactly what happens to the used Barbies, but for each donated Barbie, Mattel will donate a new doll to a local children’s hospital (up to 100,000 dolls.)

What you get for your donation? You can snap a picture of your daughter (or son) with Barbie (at participating stores) and receive a coupon to print a free 4x6” photo from the Kodak Picture Maker that same day. Other Barbie-themed gifts will be given away while supplies last.

Why does napmom promote this event?

1. It's a great way to get rid of the Barbies that your daughter doesn't play with anymore. You don't have to give ALL of them away but I know that you can sacrifice one.

2. New Barbies for a local children's hospital sounds like a wonderful service.

3. This provides a great opportunity to talk to my children about the needs of others.

4. This is a Free and fun event for our little princesses.

Sounds like a no-brainer. Am I missing something here?

What are you hiding up there?

Yes, Bro has been sick for nearly a week now... a hacking cough that won't go away. When he's not snuggling with us on the couch, he finds time to explore new areas of the house. Most recently he discovered that there are things up on our tables.

Could he get any higher up on his tippy toes? That takes real talent!

more Breast Cancer Awareness

Check out the happenings at work. Yes, those are bras and NO I don’t work at a lingerie store.

It’s a great day to be a State employee. The American Cancer Society circled the Governor’s mansion with bras to demonstrate the need the protect funding (but I am not exactly certain what the funding is for). Nonetheless, the event made for some great pic opportunities.

Here are my favorites!


Thurgood Marshall watches over the bras.




A policeman guards the collection.

Bras... here and there and everywhere.

"I think we're not in Kanses anymore, Toto."

And this doozy, not part of the day's pics, submitted by a co-worker.

Don't forget to schedule your annual breast cancer screening.

Toodles!

Breast Cancer Awareness month

Do a self breast exam today. Your kids will thank you!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I know, I know, I am a little late pointing this out.

To keep in the spirit of breast cancer awareness, I have changed my blog colors to pink. Very cool!

Check out these resources on breast cancer awareness:

Susan G. Komen for the Cure

All about National Breast Cancer Awareness month

National Breast Cancer Foundation Inc.

Avon Breast Cancer Crusade

Bloggers sharing their journey with breast cancer:

Can I Be Pretty in Pink

Laura has breast cancer

PJ Hamel - Breast Cancer

Cancer Vixen - Breast Cancer

Make your contribution today.

Check out these adorable lunch totes from Lean Cuisine. They are only $9.95 each and $5.00 of each purchase will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. My co-worker has one (so I have seen these in person) and it is a great lunch tote. Would make a perfect Christmas gift as well.

It's like eating an oatmeal cookie for breakfast

I made the Amish Baked Oatmeal from Blissfully Domestic.


Why? I am a lover of baked goods. Plus, it seems like a reasonably healthy breakfast option for my little Lulu who has tired of waffles and cereal (cold and hot) and won't eat eggs. Also, the claim is that it can be mixed a night ahead of time and then baked in the morning OR you can bake ahead of time and reheat in the morning.

Review: Delicious! I highly, highly recommend that you make this easy recipe for your family at least once.

Check out the recipe on Blissful's site.

Pay attention and follow the directions closely. I originally scooped out 1/2 cup of oatmeal instead of the 1 and 1/2 that the recipe called for and almost had a disaster.

Other ideas for this recipe...
1. Try adding raisins.
2. Substitute apple sauce for the butter (probably won't change the taste but will make for a healthier breakfast).

If you try this recipe, any of the variations, or have a similar recipe to share then please let us know all about it!

What We Did This Weekend

Friday night was cheer practice. Lulu was wearing a brace to keep this bruise from getting worse. (Welcome to life as a stunt base).

Lulu woke up at Fairy Grandmother and Luvs2Boat’s house on Saturday so that she could celebrate Fairy Grandmother’s b-day with her and go get this year’s crop of oysters for Oyster Gardening.

Saturday evening was filled with cookie sales at the local grocery store. It was raining and Lulu decided that she was in charge of drive-thru sales. Who knew that so many people go to the grocery store on Saturday nights.

Lulu had a cheer competition on Sunday. Let’s see. I left the house at 9:30 in the morning. Got to the arena at 10:15. Stood outside ‘til 11:00.


We were later joined by Daddy Warbucks, sporting the only red, black, and white attire that he owns.


Got into my seat at 11:15. Watched my daughter perform for 2 1/2 minutes at 12:35. (She is front row, third from the right in this picture.)

Saw her team get a 3rd place trophy at 2:30. Took pictures until 2:45. Landed at home at 3:30.


Lulu’s cheer competition was at the local college. She didn’t realize that a college campus was that large. We drove through the neighborhood that I lived in when I went to school there. Then, we had lunch at my college hangout. It was (and is) a popular place for the college kids to eat. I don’t know how anybody in college can afford to eat there though. It was too much for my pocketbook and unlike most of the college customers I actually have a job.


Lulu fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was an exhausting, but fun, weekend.

{{picture deleted per the request of Fairy Grandmother}}

We did get the Guitar Hero, thanks to Dear Husband. And, Lulu and I played it, but Dear Husband announced that he refuses to play until Christmas. Lulu just stared him square in the face and laughed, “Bah Humbug.” He cleaned while we jammed, which is a win-win situation for me. I think that he thought that he was punishing us or something.

Not much to report about Bro. He was sick all weekend long. He is still gagging on his food and just miserable over all.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear Fairy Grandmother.

Happy Birthday to you.

Words can not express how much you mean to me. Thank you for being a great mom. Here's to another wonderful year!

Love,
Napmom, Dear Husband, Lulu, and baby Bro

Doctor Visit

Bro went to the doctor today to get a check-up. Overall, he is very healthy. Our only concern is that he has been gagging on his food for the past 3 days, I'd say. Seriously, he has been gagging on some fairly mushy food as well as the Gerber stars which he mastered months ago. Also, he does this thing that she calls 'chipmunking' where he stores his food in his cheeks instead of swallowing. She is not too concerned because he is still taking pureed foods and milk (formula/nursing) without any problems and, according to the doctor, it is more difficult to swallow thin things than thicker ones. She says that people who have swallowing issues are told to stay away from thin foods and to eat chunkier foods.

The doctor told us to keep an eye on his gagging issue for the next 10 days. Interestingly enough, it was the 'chipmunking' issue that seemed to cause the greatest concern. If it doesn't clear up then we are supposed to take him in for a swallowing test. For this test, they will watch him drink and eat a variety of foods via an x-ray type thing (yes, that's a technical term).

Also, I did opt for the flu shot since he will be going to daycare in a few months. As usual, he did very well with his shots.

As a reward, the doctor gave him this 'stick' to chew on.

And here are his stats:

Weight: 19.5 pounds (25th percentile)

Height: 29.25 inches (88th percentile)

Point of observation - he's long and lean like his sister is.

Now he is sleeping so I am going to go tackle the dishes!

Toodles!

Cradleboard

I was very excited when Lulu learned how to crawl. However, every time I would sit her on the floor, she would cry to be picked up. Not a little whine, but a full-out cry. I had thought that this was unique to Lulu (being that we are still seemingly attached at the hip). Baby Bro does the same thing, for no good reason. I could hold him for 3 hours and if I put him down then he will cry, not to be fed, not to be played with, just to be held.

I find this very frustrating. Similarly, it is extremely difficult to get anything done around the house because he wants to be held all of the time. I love my little prince and I spend enough time at work, that I feel like I can meet his little request.

Recently, we have been very busy at home. Admittedly, Dear Husband has taken over much of the housework, since the little prince was born. However, I feel like I need to be doing more of my share and it is so hard to do, again, while holding an infant.

I had been feeling like the Native Americans had the ultimate solution by carrying their babies in cradleboards. The cradleboard provided a safe place for baby while allowing mom to travel and work. Not having a cradleboard at home, this will have to do. Here I am doing the dishes and Bro is peeking over my shoulder watching my every move.

Are all babies like this or just mine? Help!

Dilemma - Respone Requested

Have you ever purchased a Christmas gift for the kids but then NOT been able to hide it until Christmas. This is our dilemma this year. You see, we Emily wants a Guitar Hero for Christmas. Admittedly, I don’t know who the biggest Guitar Hero fan is in our house: Lulu, Dear Husband, or Napmom. Guitar Hero comes out this weekend. I found a playlist online and e-mailed it to Dear Husband. Read the exchange that followed:

Napmom: Complete playlist - I can't wait 'til Christmas – Napmom {{insert playlist}}

Dear Husband: Wow, are we going to be able to wait until Christmas. There are a lot of great songs on here.

Napmom: No. Seriously, I can't wait til Christmas. Can you?

Dear Husband: Hell no! We are playing as soon as we bring it home. We can rewrap it and put it under the tree at Christmas time. What a solution! Sorry for the delayed response, I've had to restart my computer 4 times since this morning. By the way, I sold a box of thin mints and a box of tagalongs.

I don’t make this up folks. Our only saving grace is that Bro is not old enough to tell on us.

Oh - and Kudos to Dear Husband for selling cookies at the office.

Help me out here. What should we do?

Buy the Guitar Hero and leave it unopened until Christmas?
Buy the Guitar Hero and play it and rewrap it at Christmas time?
Buy the Guitar Hero and tell Lulu that Santa came early, so that we can all play it NOW?

What would you do?

Unlock your inner rock star. Buy your Guitar Hero today.

Hamburger Helper or a Hamburger - You Decide

You know Dear Husband makes all sorts of concoctions at the house. Recently, we were looking for something to eat and Dear Husband mentioned that we had Hamburger Helper in the refrigerator. I didn’t want Hamburger Helper. He proceeded to heat up the Hamburger Helper (it was the Cheeseburger Macaroni variety) and then put it on a hot dog bun. Then, he added ketchup. I’m not kidding. He insisted that it tasted just like a Hamburger. How could it taste just like a hamburger? “Try it. Try it,” he said to me. Finally I tried it, to prove to him that it was, in fact, gross and disgusting.

Mmmmm… tasted just like a hamburger!



How do you prefer your Hamburger Helper? On or off the bun?


On another note, Lulu had this to say about all of my pictures:

"Mom, you'd better stop taking all of these pictures because ONE DAY something exciting REALLY IS going to happen to us and you'll be out of space on your memory card."

Little brat!

The latest cookie related news

Here is the latest cookie-related news, straight from our home.

Last night, Lulu delivered cookies.

Dear Husband found a place to store them in his our garage.

Lulu helped us finish off a box of Dulce de Leche cookies…

before starting the Thin Mints.

Daddy showed us what we will all look like of we keep eating these cookies.

Lulu caught Daddy digging into his secret stash of cookies… albeit in the liquor cabinet.

Football Standings

When you don't have a favorite

I live in the midst of Raven and Redskin territory? Everyone around me is either a Ravens fan or a Redskins fan. And, if they like one team then they hate the other. Why is this? The teams are not in the same conference so they never play against each other, unless they were to go to the Super Bowl, as I understand it. I just don’t understand why we can’t root for the Ravens during their games and the Redskins during their games and then worry about actually taking sides, if the need arises.

What I really don’t understand is the folks around me who grew up being Redskins fans, because that’s all that there was, and are now die-hard Ravens fans? What’s up with that?

Lulu and I came across a t-shirt craft in a recent magazine. For the craft, the parent (of a multi-team family) took two different team t-shirts and cut them down the middle. Then, she took the left side of one shirt and sewed it to the right side of the other shirt. Thus, she created a shirt that showed allegiance to both teams. The shirt was for a child.

I was just thinking, how funny would it be to make a similar shirt for Lulu: McCain on one side and Obama on the other. Then, let her wear it to the polls too. How confusing would that be? She would love the shirt because she would get so many comments. Hah! I should have thought of this ahead of time and made them and sold them on a website somewhere. Oh well, I’ll revisit that idea in another 4 years.

Are you a Redskins fan, Ravens fan, or both?

In my family, the fans line up like this:

Dear Husband - Redskins
Lulu - Both
Napmom - Both (see Dear Husband and Fairy Grandmother and you'll understand why)
Bro - Redskins (judging by his most recent gameday attire)
Fairy Grandmother - Ravens
Luvs2Boat - I'm not really sure. He might fall into the category of someone who WAS a Redskins fan but now is a Ravens fan. hmmm...
Grand Matriarch - As far as I can tell it's Cowboys all the way for her. She loves to go to the Ravens game with Fairy Grandmother, so maybe she has a soft spot in her heart for the 'Purple and Black.' Definitely NOT a Redskins fan.

Better yet, how does your family deal with multiple team faves in one house?

Good deals

Went shopping today. Yes, I actually do go shopping on a quarterly basis from time to time. I went to the outlet malls to get a present that I need to buy for someone. I knew exactly what I wanted. I made one mistake though – I took my husband with me. Let us all not forget the time that I took him to BabiesRUs with me to get bottles and he gave me the third degree about why we needed a whopping 4 bottles instead of 2 of them. You remember, right?

Today's adventure started when I decided to ask Dear Husband to go to the outlets with me so that he could watch Bro (while I looked around) we could just spend some time getting out of the house – together. I went into the one store where I was buying the gift. Oh, excuse me while I am being so cryptic but the person who I was getting the gift for reads my blog.

So, I got into the store and I found my gift – easy. Then, I kinda just started to walk around and look at stuff. I mean, we were in the outlet malls and I needed to know if there was anything there that I couldn’t leave without. Right? I was kinda browsing the store when I noticed that Dear Husband was right on my heels. I mean he was following closer than an aggressive driver. So, I kept walking and wondering what was wrong with him when I realized that I had, once again, made a fatal error; I invited Dear Husband to come shopping with me. Yeow!

This meant that I was not going to be able to buy a cool discount sweater. I was not going to be able to get shoes for Bro. I was not going to be walking away with miscellaneous Christmas gifts. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Then, what to my wondering eyes should appear, but this great shirt for only $4.99. And he let me buy it!!!!!!

Then, he let me go to Stride Rite and get the shoes that I wanted to get for Bro. They we marked down and then 30% off of that.

In turn, I let him walk over to the Adidas store and pick out some new tennis shoes. This alone is monumental because I learned, long ago, not to shop for tennis shoes with Dear Husband. Okay – my tennis shoes are the Sports Authority special. Nothing more than $20 and they last me for years. The process for me to buy tennis shoes is the same evey time: go to Sports Authority, but $20 pair of shoes, repeat every three years. When we are shopping for shoes for him, we could go to every store within a reasonable distance and spend all day, literally all day, looking for shoes and still not come home with a pair. To his credit, he wears a size 11.5 or 12 shoe and those are fairly hard to come by. But, we just can’t shoe shop together. Dear Husband has some affinity to Adidas shoes that stems from his days as a soccer player. Thus, it took him no time at all to find a pair that he would settle for in the Adidas store. Here they are:

All in all, I would consider this to be a very successful trip. Both of my boys got new shoes. I got just the birthday present that I was looking for. Plus, I got a new top – for 5 bucks – now THAT’S what I call a steal!

I almost forgot... we got Bro a shirt for game day. Can't wait to see him in it!


By the way, I discovered, on the way home, the reason why Dear Husband was so amiable about all of my purchases today. He wants to go on an all-day motorcycle ride with the boys next weekend. After his performance today, I think he deserves it. What do you think?

Cookies

Girl Scout cookie season is here. Seriously, I thought that I had more time before I had to get out there and help Lulu start selling these cookies. The moment that I realized that the cookies come in no Sunday, I thought of this quote from the Grinch.

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

I feel like that this is how I feel about cookie season. That is, nothing will stop cookie season from coming.

Do you know that I still have boxes (plural) of cookies, from LAST YEAR, people???!!!!!

I do this because Lulu loves to sell cookies. Bless her little heart, she would sell them in a house, she would sell them with a mouse, and in a box and WITH A FOX. She would sell them here or there. She would sell them anywhere. And in the rain, and in the snow, and during the Redskins game, and on the side of the road with a 7 month prego mom who is freezing her tush off (no hostility here), and at the craft store, and at the grocery store, and at the gas station, and to every neighbor within a 1 mile radius.

The things that we do for our children. Please stop the madness. See I am virtually on the floor kicking, screaming, and crying. Now my hair is in a virtual knot and I am pushing it out of my face while it gets caught in my virtual tears. Now to wipe the virtual snot from underneath my nose and to pick myself up and get myself together.

Okay - I'm over it now.

The good news is that your cookie orders are in and will be delivered very soon!

Omniscient or Omnipotent

Recently, I overheard a discussion between a group of moms. I admit that I just jumped into a conversation that I was NOT part of, but I couldn't help myself. The two moms were discussing something and next thing I know, Mom K was telling Mom T something about (I am assuming) God being omnipotent. (Not to be confused with impotent, which is a Bob Dole issue.) Nonetheless, I always thought that He was omniscient.

The questions was, is He omniscient or omnipotent? We were looking for the word that means, "all knowing" as I remember it. For those of you who think that He might be one or the other or both, here is the answer.

Omniscient, in its simplest form, means "all knowing."

Omnipotent, in its simplest form, means "all powerful."

I have a dictionary with me at work and on every floor of my home, to help me with questions just like these. Does anyone else keep a dictionary at home? Maybe eveyone is just using the internet now.

Laid versus Lied

I have a degree in English, but I still find that I need a grammar refresher course from time to time; that is, I'm not really as bad as my blog might suggest. There are just basic rules of English that I have forgotten over the years. Most recently, I couldn’t remember when to use “laid” and when to use “lied.” You remember my post on the canoeing trip. Remember that Scout Friend K “lied” down in the canoe? Apparently, I got it wrong (and Grand Matriarch didn't point it out to me - why?)

I am wondering if you ever forget these simple rules of grammar, hence today’s blog is a grammar lesson titled, “laid vs. lied.”

For the most part, the rules are complicated keeping in mind intransitive verbs and direct objects and other complicated such terms. There are some basic rules.

In the present tense
Lie is something you do to yourself.
Lay is something that you do to something or someone else.

Lie down and take a nap.
Lay the baby down on the changing table.

This gets a bit more complicated in the past tense.

The past tense of 'lie' is 'lay' and the past tense of 'lay' is 'laid'. Gulp.

Thus, Scout Friend lay down in the canoe.
I laid down the camera before I fell in the water.

The nightmare continues when using a past participle (have/has).

Bro has lain in his crib for 2 hours now.
I laid the file on your desk for review.

Unfortunately there isn’t an easy way to remember these differences, as far as I can tell. For now, commit these conjugations to memory or print this out and put it next to your computer.

Lie/lay/have or has lain.
Lay/laid/have or has laid.

You might not remember these right away and you still may have to look them up from time to time. I know that looking up these rules helps me to be a better writer. My apologies to Grand Matriarch for the mistake - I am trying to be better.

Do you have another grammar rule that stumps you? What is it?

Pink Floyd

Those of you who knew me before I was a napmom blogger, remember that I attended a Several Species (Pink Floyd cover band) concert with Dear Husband in the Spring of 2007. Recently, I also attended the Australian Pink Floyd concert as well. Once I got over my fear/paranoia of pyrotechnics setting the theatre on fire (they were using lasers not real fire but I was still a nervous Nelly), I was able to relax and enjoy the show. Not being a Pink Floyd fan myself (I am more of a hip-hop girl) I am continually amazed at these great shows and I am developing a liking to the music for sure. Next on my list of things to do is to brush up on my Pink Floyd lyrics so that I can sing along whilst bopping my head at concerts.

If you even remotely like Pink Floyd then you should try to attend a show sometime. There are, apparently, three main Pink Floyd cover bands out there (in the world). They are: Several Species, Australian Pink Floyd, and The Machine. We still need to see The Machine.

Top 4 Reasons to see a Pink Floyd Cover Band:

1. If you even have the slightest appreciation for live rock music or instrumental music, then you will enjoy the show.

2. The female back-up vocals and their song Great Gig in the Sky are worth the price of admission all on their own. (See the video below - she really starts going about 1 min into the video.)




3. The laser show and accompanying videos are unusual and thought provoking, to say the least.

4. Where else can you see you local librarian totally jamming out to Pink Floyd? Seriously, these concerts make for great people watching.

I would have taken my own pictures at the show, but when I got my camera out of my bag I realized that the battery was still on the charger at home. Thus, these pics will have to do.

Thanks again to Fairy Grandmother and Luvs2Boat for getting the tickets for us. Luvs2Boat won them on a radio contest actually. We had a fabulous time!

Can you do this?

So, dear husband is sick. I'm not talking a little bit under the weather. I mean, he is now on the way to the doctor - and it takes the power of a higher being to get him to do that.

Here's my question? How do you put toothpaste onto your toothbrush?

I only ask because I suggested to dear husband that he use another tube of toothpaste, while he is so sick, so that he doesn't get me sick because of his germs on the toothbrush. He looks at me like I'm crazy (nothing new) and announces (so proudly) that the tube of toothpaste does not touch his toothbrush when he puts the toothpaste on the toothbrush. OK - so I'm a little confused, but fine. Then Dear Husband kinda does a little mock demo, using imaginary pieces, of how to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush without touching the toothpaste tube to the bristles of the brush.

All of this sounded reasonable enough until I tried his method myself. Uh, I ended up with toothpaste on the brush bristles, the handle of the brush, the tube, my hands, and my shirt.

Do you think that he can really put the toothpaste on the toothbrush without touching the tube to the bristles?????

Canoe Trip

Ahhh… I went canoeing with the Girl Scouts this weekend. I have to say that I had a lovely time, even though it was an adventure.

Let me set the scene by saying that we had 8 chaperones and 15 girls. For the most part, each canoe had an adult chaperone paddling from the back, a scout paddling from the front, and a scout sitting/relaxing in the middle of the boat. The goal was to paddle to a meeting place, stop for lunch, and then the two girls would switch places before we headed back to our main dock. So, the scout who paddled on the way to lunch would relax in the middle of the canoe on the way back.

Lucky for us, we had a mom with us who was a rather experienced canoer (Mom T). I got a little nervous when I saw the look on Mom T’s face as she was asking our guide some of the details of our trip. After they were finished talking she turned to the rest of us and said, “Save your best paddler for the ride back.” Gulp – what did I get myself into?

After a little lesson from our tour guide, as well as Mom T, it became very evident that there is one main rule for canoeing. That is, stay seated at all times. As my girls were getting into the canoe, we played a game called ‘repeat after me.” It goes like this. I say, “Repeat after me.” They say, “okay.” I say, “I will not stand up in the boat.” They say, “I will not stand up in the boat.” Repeat 100 more times.

Not to be discouraged I climbed into my canoe with Lulu and her friend K. Lulu and Friend K paired up at the start of the trip. Having to select the stronger paddler between the two (which is like the proverbial test of choosing between a rock and a hard place), I selected Lulu as my strongest paddler. After all, Lulu is a cheerleader and she is a stunt base which means she spends the better part of her practices lifting other girls, throwing them into the air, and catching them. Thinking that this takes a bit of upper-body strength, I select Lulu as my best paddler and heeded Mom T’s warning and saved Lulu for the way back. Thus, Friend K and I headed out into the river as Lulu relaxed in the middle of the canoe.

I need to stop here to give props to Friend K who turned out to be the best paddler of the group. We were one of the last canoes let into the water and we were one of the first to arrive to our lunch destination. And, she didn’t even complain one little bit – she was awesome! Friend K – you can canoe with me anyday!

So, we stopped to have a nice lunch!

Then, we got back into our canoes and headed back to the main dock. Remember the ‘main rule’ as it will come into play shortly. We got about 20 strokes into the water and Lulu announced that her arms hurt already. Oh yeah, that’s my girl. NOT! This continued for quite some time and then Friend K suggested that Lulu and Friend K switch places. They proceeded to sit in the boat in front of me and actually strategize on how they are going to do this… without standing up! The whole time I was informing them that Ms. Napmom is not going to entertain the idea of allowing them to switch places so they need to stop talking and Lulu needs to keep paddling.

Meanwhile, Mom T was in a canoe with her two daughters: a bitty 1st grader and then her 5th grader. Apparently, she did not heed her own warning as her bitty first grader was paddling back and the 5th grader was relaxing in the middle. Mom T asks what all the commotion is about in my boat. I inform her that Lulu’s arms are tired and that the girls want to trade places. She quickly responds, “Oh no.” Ok – so there you have it. If Mom T (experienced canoer) says that we can’t do it then we aren’t doing it. Period. The end.

No sooner do we get past this discussion then I look back to check on Mom T and low and behold I see that Scout 1st grader has switched places with Scout 5th grader. Traitors!

This got Lulu and Friend K all excited. “See,” they tell me, “We can do it. Pleeeeeeeeeease?” Somehow the word “FINE” came out of my mouth and then the girls put their plan into action.

If you ever need to switch places in a canoe then this is how it’s done. Read carefully. Friend K lied down flat in the boat and Lulu inched her way back to the middle of the boat (essentially sitting on Friend K) while Friend K inched her way to the front of the boat. Next thing I knew, everyone was back in their preferred seating location and we were headed towards dry land. Whew! Voila!

When I got home, Fairy Grandmother actually had the guts to ask me if I took a picture of this exchange. What are you crazy? I had to remind her that I have been using her camera, since mine is in the shop, and I didn’t need to fall in the water with her camera in my hand. Admittedly, I do wish that I had a picture because those girls were so cute!

Three Things I Needed to Know About Life I Learned While Canoeing with Girl Scouts
- 5th graders are very smart people.
- Don’t judge a book by its cover (Friend K was the better paddler, by far).
- The great outdoors can be a very cool place.

And let me leave you with this little Lulu ha-ha.

So, she was wearing her shorts and tank and started to pretend like she was running. She asked me, “Mom, who do I look like?”

“I don’t know,” I replied.

“Ms. Amy,” she said, so matter of factly. (Note: Ms. Amy is our neighbor who is always about to run, running, or coming back from a run.)

Then, Lulu put on a life jacket (while still pretending to run) and said, “Mom, who am I now?”

“Um, Ms. Amy with a life jacket on???” I replied.

“No,” she says, “David Hasselhoff.”

Ba dum-bum ching!