Cover Model

It will have no effect on whether or not Violet 'wins' but she does have a gallery at Parents.com and has been entered in their 'cover model' search contest. If you would like to give her your recommendation, visit www.parents.com and click on "Cover Contest" and then search photos for Violet. Today she was the first picture on the second page of Violets--who know there were that many Violet's in the world?!?

Anyway, we're not betting the house or our retirement on Violet's chances, but it's kind of fun, and gives us a chance to show off our little girl to people outside of our friends and family circle.

Thanks!

Yankee Doodle

If this works, here is a video of Violet 'singing' Yankee Doodle'. And no, we did not teach her this through rote memorization...it's just what she has picked up through listening to the story.

And yes, she is convinced that Yankee called it macaroni...and cheese. Hope you enjoyed this video!

Slacking into Summer

"hi. order two sausage pizzas peas"

My apologies for slacking the last few weeks; it seemed like the end of the school year would never come, and then it was here and there was so much stuff to do! Add that to a little bit of stress concerning job status due to the budget issues Michigan as a whole is experiencing, and I think you can understand why blogging ended up on the bottom of the list of things to do.

That's not to say that things haven't been happening at Possibility Manor--quite the opposite in fact. Violet seriously becomes smarter (and consequently, a little scarier) EVERY day, wowing us with her ability to speak in sentences, her polite manners (not sure where that one came from...), and her ability to be uncannily quiet when she's drawing on her carseat with the markers I let her take with her to to the store. oops. She's also become quite the helper; this week she helped me plant flowers by putting them in the holes I dug, and carrying them to me from the patio. Not sure if the flowers actually lived through that ordeal yet, but it's definitely a time of great memories.

Now that summer is finally here, it is going to be incredibly fun. Violet is a little daredevil, but a little princess as well, and it's fun to see both Ben and I coming through her little personality. I really need to figure out how to put movies on this thing, so there's a project for the upcoming weeks.

To end this post, some of the 'accomplishments' we've had in the last month or so:

1. Reciting alphabet through G
2. Speaking sentences with a subject, verb, and direct object...example: there was sock that got left behind in the last day of school clean up process and Violet says: "Sock fall on the ground". or "Violet ride in Andy's stroller."
3. Semi-mastered jumping.
4. 'reads' "The Hungry Caterpillar"
5. 'sang' parts of Yankee Doodle this morning...I REALLY wish I had the camera for that...it was so cute.
6. Identifies the letters X, V, T, O, and F in print. (don't ask me why those letters...),
7. Loves to COLOR and WRITE. (YAY!)
8. An amazing ability to imitate and copy things that Ben and I do...and unfortunately, they're not always so cute!

I'm sure there's more, but those are the ones I could think of right now. To end, here are some recent pictures:

Smelling the tulips--a true Dutch girl


our lovely "Ogurt face"


Our author and illustrator in the making


The world's two biggest Cubs fans


Mommy's shoes


Cubs and Iowa...two of Violet's favorite things!

Violet in the Violet's

Last spring, I came home from school one day and we had this amazing patch of violets in our yard, and I dropped everything and plopped Violet in the middle of them for a photo shoot. You can't get anything sweeter than Violet in the violets. So, I decided that would have to become a yearly tradition.

Violet, Spring 2007

Well, it seems that violets the plants don't always cooperate (much like Violet the daughter on some occasions). Instead of huge patches of violets, we had violets sprinkled throughout our lawn, a result, I believe of a grub issue we seem to be having, and the amount of snow and subsequently, salt that we received in greater Big Rapids this year. However, I was not going to be defeated by the whims of nature--no, no, no--we were going to have a picture of Violet in the violets...even if I only had one! So, I marched her out...and....

well, it seems that Violet the daughter and violet the plants, are conspiring against me this year. I managed to get one decent shot of Violet with a few Violet's, and some lovely pictures that are no doubt going to come out at one of her graduations or future visits from boyfriends, just so they know what they are really getting into! And of course, they will always be on this blog, so hopefully, it won't affect her run for public office in future years. But, enjoy them anyway...these are pre-haircut, so her eyes are a little hidden...darn wind! But, isn't it amazing how grown up she is, in just a scant 365 days?!!

Mother's Day

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating Mother's Day; if you don't count Sunday. Saturday was a beautiful day, and my mom (Grandma Fynaardt) was up visiting to allow my sister Cali and I to go to my future sister-in-law Laura's bachelorette party/bridal shower. Grandma and Violet enjoyed their time at the mall while Cali and I mini-golfed with the party goers, and we then met back up with Grandma and Violet after we finished mini-golfing. It was nice to be able to interact with Laura a little more before the wedding, but still work it out to be able to spend some quality time with my mom.

Sunday wasn't the best day--part of it was the weather, and part of it was Violet got sick! So, I spent most of my mother's day snuggling with a little girl who just didn't feel good at all. The tylenol did seem to perk her up a bit in the afternoon, but it still wasn't the most 'relaxing' of days. That being said, I can't complain too much because I did recieve a beautiful butterfly necklace and earring set from my darling daughter, complete with violet-colored crystal/zirconia accents. I also received two of my favorite indugences from my husband--Mountain Dew and a snickers candy bar.

So, despite the illness, it was nice to be appreciated in 'special' ways. I know that I'm always appreciated, but it's really great to be reminded of that!

Bye Bye Hair, Hello Bangs!

Violet had her first 'trim' last evening. Grandma Fynaardt had tried to convince me to cut bangs since Christmas and I refused--I just didn't have the heart to cut her fabulous blond hair, and I wasn't about to spend money to take her into a beauty shop. But, it finally got to the point where she wouldn't wear ponytails and her hair was just always in her eyes, so I took the plunge and cut her bangs last night. Violet did very well, considering she had scissors next to her eyes, and dad trying to capture the event on film. When all was said and done, she still looks cute, and I now have the tiniest lock of hair imanginable. It sure seemed like a lot more hair when I was cutting it. So, here's the before, during and after pictures:

Shaggy haired Violet

Sitting for the trimming

Dancing after it's all done!

Growing Up

Besides Violet constantly going through growth spurts, we have yet another development that shows that our baby is not really a baby anymore. The big news is that we now have a lovely pink cushy potty chair in our bathroom for our 'baby' girl. And yes, this was entirely her initiative, and yes she has done both kinds of potty on it without much difficulty. The only challenge we're finding is that we as parents aren't quite ready for the time and effort needed to do the complete potty training. But, we figure, as long as the interest is there, we'll encourage it, and then when summer comes, we'll be all ready!