Julia “Butterfly” Hill lived in her beautiful tree Luna for 738 days.  Eventually a deal was cut (haha!) with the lumber company and Butterfly vacated her nest.

Jump forward to this summer, 2008 when a stand off at CSU Berkeley with another protesting character hippie who decided to take up residence in a tree that CSU Berkeley was planning to remove to make way for an athletic facility. (hmm, sound familiar??)

Anyway, this protester, Amanda Tierney, dubbed herself, “Dumpster Muffin.”

Dumpster Muffin.  Um, OK?

She should have really taken her cue from her predecessor, Julia “Butterfly” and picked a more becoming name.

But whatever.  Dumpster Muffin it was.

Ms. Muffin would become hysterical when anyone would approach her perch. She’d flap her arms and go into convulsions threatening to martyr herself for the cause.

Sadly, Dumpster and a few of her friends were eventually starved out of her sweet tree and promptly escorted away from Berkeley’s campus.

Poor Dumpster Muffin…

Anyhoo, after viewing my recent video, many have asked why, oh why, our daughter’s sweet Strawberry Shortcake doll has been named, “Dumpster Muffin.”

Well, it’s a copycat story, I’m afraid to say.  One day we came home and noticed Strawberry was looking a bit haggard and was in need of a bath.

It appeared to have been weeks, if not months, since the last time she’d bathed.

And her hair.  Y.U.C.K.  it was matted mess.  My husband swears that if you look close enough you can see things moving around just below the surface…

As we were escorting Strawberry to the washing machine her bath, we noticed a note attached to her back just between her shoulders.  It said, “Surface wash only.”

Finding this horrible note was our final straw.  We were disappointed.  Strawberry was not living up to our expectations.

Knowing that Strawberry Shortcake would never be the doll we’d hoped she would, we decide do embrace her dirtiness, Hepatitis C, lice, and all, and love her for the doll she aspired to be.

That very day, we built Strawberry Shortcake a perch in the only tree we had and set her free.

Today Strawberry “Dumpster Muffin” Shortcake can be seen staging daily protests when she doesn’t get what she wants.  Sadly for her, tantrums in this house fall on deaf ears.

How we named our daughter’s doll Dumpster Muffin

So, we’ve resorted to buying a nasty tasting nail polish for our daughter.  She just won’t stop sucking her thumb.  Don’t judge me. I tried, I mean really tried to do this using only intrinsic, and sometimes extrinsic motivation.  We’ve tried band aids on the thumbs… We’ve tried dolls, with strings attached.  We’ve tried talking to her about being a ‘big girl’.  To read more head on over!

The Placebo Effect

Makeup time

NOooo, I’m more like thinking, “Oh my gosh.  This is the BEST leverage EVER!!  My son will KILL me for this in 12 years time.”  Heh!

I’m a horrible, horrible mom. Really, I am.

Today you turned 32.  And although you’ve already had a chance to see this podcast, pictures and all, I wanted to post it here so you can come back when you might be doubting the impact you have on our children, or when you are feeling down.

The time you spend with us is profound.  The extra effort you put into getting eClaire to giggle is so wonderful.  The special attention you give BC when you teach him about science, earth, or just how to fix things around the house are forming lasting memories.

When you read to our children in the evenings, you solidify your presence in their lives.

The man you are comes through in the daily actions of your children.  Your daughter is meticulous.  Your son is a gentleman.  Your daughter a so very bright.  Your son is helpful and kind.  Your children reflect you.

I’ve added the video to this post for you to come back to every time you begin to wonder what you really mean to our kids.

You are the best man I know.

Happy Birthday.

Love,

Me

Happy Birthday Hubby!

It’s just too easy to get a good picture.

Face Painting by a 2 1/2 year old

Wordless Wednesday

And her personality has totally blossomed this year.  She’s funny, adorable, and about the best 2 1/2 year old I’ve ever seen.  (Oh, and please don’t be fooled into thinking that I believe this will last forever!!  She’s a girl.  I’ll probably need daily anti-anxiety pills by the time she turns 14!)

Anyhow, she just had her first haircut.  Eek.  I know.  Cutting her curls ranks right up there with pulling my toenails out one at a time.  It’s an activity that have not been looking forward to.  But it was time.  Her baby hair had to go.

BEFORE

Notice the super long curl in the center of her back.  We called it her tail.

At about this point eClaire said, “Look Mommy, only big girls get haircuts!!”

So proud of herself!

All done!  CRAZY Difference, right!!  Right?  Seriously, can you tell a difference?

After, before, after.  Difference?  Well as her mom, I feel like I all but shaved her head.  She’s so thrilled about her new do that she called both her Dad and Nonnie to tell them,”  You’ll never guess what I just got!!!  A HAIRCUT!!”

So… it was a success.  I’ve got some adorable curls stashed in an envelope to prove it.

Oh hi! I have two kids…did I mention that?

Since this blog has basically turned into a photo journal lately…I thought I’d just continue the theme for one more post.

“Yes Mom.  I will rise to the occasion.”

The challenge: Five naps and bedtimes without sucking her thumb.

The result?: Success!!  eClaire successfully put herself to sleep 10 different times without sucking her thumb.  Unfortunately for us, her going to sleep routine which use to take less that 2.5 seconds extended itself to a little more than an hour each night.  Sigh.  All good things must come to an end.

eClaire’s End of Thumb Sucking Ceremony

“Look at me, Mommy, I did it!!  I don’t suck my thumb anymore. AND I can ‘fake smile’ with the best of them!”

The anticipation is killing her as Daddy takes the new doll out of it’s box.

Sweet success.

A proud Daddy with his daughter and her doll.  (Notice the real smile that’s now on eClaire’s face?  Precious..)

I’d like to say that this has been 100% successful, but in all honesty it has not.  eClaire still often sneaks her thumb at night,  Old habits die slowly.  This daughter of mine created a blister on her finger in utero because she was sucking on it even then.

But the success?  Both we and eClaire now know she’s not completely dependant on her thumb for sleep.  Armed with this knowledge, I hope that quitting the thumb once and for all is just around the corner!

Dolls with strings attached

My daughter does.

In the car going over a bumpy road: My ba-gina is ti-i-i-i-ckling meee meee mee eeeee!

Sitting with a glass of water between her legs:  Ohh, ohh, ohh it is cold, cold, cold.  My ba-gin-a is cold, cold, cold.

And that’s only my daughter.  Let’s not even talk about all the new things my son has learned about himself.…

Son:  giggle giggle, look Mom, my wiener (new favorite word) is sticking out of my undies!!  That’s funny!!

Yes, Son, that’s funny.

Not.

Sing a song, sing it loud