All I Want For My Birthday Is……..

Our Colombiana princessa turned nine this week.  Here she is with her new Mermaid beach towel.

Several weeks ago, Nora and I were eating lunch and I mentioned that she should make a list of ideas for birthday gifts that she may like to receive.  At first she replied, “I can’t really think of anything,”  but I got a pad of paper and a pen and sat ready to transcribe her hopes for her upcoming ninth birthday.  I knew the family members would ask what she would like… and the kids always seem to come up with gift ideas that I never would dream of… so I sat…. ready.  It seems with a bit of prodding and suggesting, she actually DID have some ideas that I found amusing and HIGHLY particular.  Here is a short list from the long list:

• Pink girl Lego’s
• The DVD of Parent Trap
• Dive sticks for the swimming pool FOR GIRLS
• Purple piggy bank
• Sleeping bag for a girl
• Liquid paint: gold, light green, light pink, lavender, turquoise and black
• Ruffly socks for her dolly
• Turquoise church dress with sparkles that is tight on the top and goes big on the bottom, size 7
• Mermaid beach towel
• White high heels with 1 flower or 1 bow on each shoe, size 1
• “N” necklace with blue sparkles

See?!?  She knows what she likes!  So cute!  And my sister-in-law FOUND the exact dress that Nora explained from her visions of beautifulness!

Princess Album! (love!)

It’s finally done!  Nora’s Princess Crown acrylic album!  That only took me three years!  Here’s the original story from the scrapbook convention class that I took…. and was thoroughly disgusted with:  https://mysistersjar.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/pathetic-princess-crown-albums/

I went away for the past four days to a little cabin in the woods, way up in the mountains of Prescott, AZ to scrapbook with some friends.  There was snow on the ground and laughter on our lips.  We had a GREAT relaxing time.  We go twice a year and enjoy every minute of the freedom from being moms for one weekend.  We haul all of our scrapbooking materials in suburbans to the tiny cabin and create works of art for our family and friends.  This was my first time leaving Nora, so I called every day and got the report on how Papi was doing taking care of his little girl.  He passed. 

I only worked on two projects: Nora’s princess crown album and her “baby” book.  I scrapped all of the pictures that we have of her from when she was five years old.  I loved every minute of it and she beamed with delight as I showed her my masterpieces.  She did ask why I didn’t get more done.  Sheesh.  I didn’t tell her that I was busy watching movies without kids…. or eating without kids…. or sleeping the night through without kids…..  some day I will finish!

Feeding the Colombian Princess

When I read the report of Nora’s eating habits and favorite foods I had to look up the names on google to find out what they were!  One was arepa… it’s a thick corn bread pancake that sometimes has soft white cheese in the center.  We had them for breakfast at the first hotel and they were quite tasty, if I do say so myself!  Then we found them in the grocery store yesterday and I bought them…. but I need to translate the cooking instructions.  We’ll get there, sweetheart!

Nora loves many foods that are “normal” to us: fried chicken, popcorn (those two were her first mommy-cooked meal!), banana, pineapple, chicken noodle soup, cheese balls (totally a Crosby deal right there!), milk, oranges, pasta and ice cream. But there are some habits that seem strange to us Americans: cold coffee, warm milk, dipping crackers in warm milk, eating pizza upside down from the crust forward, putting salt on limes and sucking the living day lights out of them, and (trying… asking everyone) to put sugar on sliced oranges.  “No, honey, that ain’t happening anymore!”  She likes sugar in coffee, milk, juice, strawberry juice, on oranges, bananas and pineapple.  That is one habit that will die-hard at our house.  And lime juice on bananas.  It’s not bad, but not my favorite.  She has tried but didn’t fully appreciate: Sprite, spaghetti sauce, toast, maple/brown sugar oatmeal and cheese.

Big Daddy bought ice cream for all of us today.  Well, except me.  I was busy trying to buy foods that I wasn’t recognizing.  Anyway, Nora talked about getting strawberry ice cream all the way to the shop.  She chose the strawberry ice cream cone, satisfied with her choice, until she saw this other white mystery popsicle.  We could not understand the Spanish description, but in her little mind it obviously outranked the strawberry cone.  We sat outside the shop in patio chairs thoroughly relishing the warm 82 degree weather and cloudy skies, eating our ice cream. Well, except me.  I did get a bite of Austin’s and finally Nora’s after much pleading.  Nora’s had these weird white squiggle things sticking out of the ice cream…. that grew longer with each lick.  Austin was grossed out by this… totally!  I finally inspected it and pulled one out.  Coconut!  That is when I asked if I could taste it.  Oh my word.  THE best ice cream I’ve ever tasted.  Next time, I’m getting the white mystery ice cream!

Eligible Son-In-Law Requirements

Our daughter was asked to be Cinderella for a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat at a local church.  She sat on a throne and waved the princess wave at all the little princesses that passed by.  Anyone could get their picture taken with Cinderella too!  It was fantasmical, so I’m told by a reliable source.  (My dad got his picture taken with Cinderella!)

After all the fanfare, our daughter who has her heart set on a college in Costa Mesa, California, has decided that she would like to be a Disney Princess as a part-time job.  This led  to a google search on Disney Princess salaries…. A N D….. (little did she know)….. Son-In-Law requirements!!!  We now have a bona fide list for the Crosby Son-In-Law Look.  It’s called the Disney Look…  here it is:

The Disney Look may include, but is not limited to, the following requirements:

Any candidate with intentional body alteration or modification for the purpose of achieving a visible, physical effect that disfigures, deforms or similarly detracts from a professional image is prohibited. Examples: visible tattoos, brands, body piercing (other than traditional ear piercing for women), earlobe expansion, tongue piercing or splitting, tooth filing and acquiring visible, disfiguring skin implants.

For males, hair must be cut above the ear and off the back of the collar with no defined cut or lines and must be a natural color. Males should be clean-shaven and may have a mustache that should not extend past the corners of the lip. No earrings, necklaces or bracelets may be worn. One ring on each hand and a wristwatch are acceptable.

See?!?  Perfect.  I’ll have to type it up on little cards so our daughter can hand it out in case anyone is interested in becoming a Crosby son-in-law.  :o)  Thank you, Disney!

My Baby Girl is 16!

This has been the week of the 16th birthday that will go down in the Crosby Hall of Phame.   I hope the boys don’t remember all that we did this week when they turn 16!  It started with birthday shopping for the right outfit!  Check!  (as seen above….. thanks, Dad and Mom!)  Then as all good homeschooling families, we tied four field trips into two days including two shows in Vegas.  I’m still exhausted, but it was fabulous!

We started early Wed. morning with a tour of the Hoover Dam (just what all 16 year old girls have on their birthday lists!)  It was highly entertaining due to the company we kept.  (See the video on FB)  The dam tour was closely followed in cultural importance by the tour of Ethel M Chocolate factory!  Whoooo Hooooo!  THAT was yummy.  Not to mention the botanical gardens right out the door from the chocolates.  See how much Larisa enjoyed it:

(Special guest appearance by Mary.)

Then the FUN began.  We checked into our hotel and prepared for the evening’s festivities…. Phantom of the Opera.  Back in the day, when I was 15, Larry was our music minister at our church in California.  Well, today, much to Larisa’s joy and thrill, Larry is Ubaldi Piangi in Phantom.  He royally hooked up Larisa with the make-up artist of the show and she got to go backstage and sit with the Phantom while he got purtied up for the performance.  AMAZING!

The costumes for Phantom were totally over the top!  That’s Larry in his $8K fat suit.  He was hilarious.  Every time he came on stage I laughed before he even sang or acted…. he’s so perfect for that part! If that wasn’t enough…. Larry found us after the show and took us up on the stage and explained all the fancy shmancy props hanging everywhere above the sides of the stage.  (It probably has a theatrical name that he told us, but I was busy looking around for frayed ropes.)  Amazing show!

Day #2:  (Larisa’s actual 16th birthday.)  Rick, the boys and I went to tour the Shelby manufacturing plant while Larisa slept in.  She refused to go to a car factory on her birthday.  :o)  Whatever, little princess!  Then the boys went swimming before they dropped off Larisa and I at the Belagio to see the fabulous sights and window shop at the exorbitant shops.  WOW!  Larisa chose the Hard Rock Cafe for her birthday dinner and we were seated on the balcony overlooking the strip.  (And can I just make a thumbs up comment for Las Vegas cleaning up their billboards and taxi signs.  We haven’t been there for 6 years and it is WAY more family friendly now.)

The evening wrapped up with The Lion King show.  And can I just say that their costume designers are some of the most creative people!  If you can go see Lion King…. GO!  And pay more to sit in the front so you can really see all the details in their amazing costumes. 

The evening ended at 11:00 p.m. with McDonald’s ice cream, a birthday song and a gift unwrapping in the Albertson’s parking lot.  WOW.  We arrived home at 4:00 a.m. and I actually drove the last three hours!  Thankfully I uncovered my Lakewood CD and sang two times all the way through it.  I love that album.  And why do we still call them albums?

Friday night, we had a sleep over/tie dye/birthday party for Larisa…. see why I’m exhausted?  What a GREAT week.  And please, no one mention all this to my boys from 2011 on.