Peanut, Peanut Butter and Pine Cone!

Eliza picked up a pine cone on our walk today, which reminded me of a favorite crafty activity from my kidd-o days!

Cover the pine cone in peanut butter then roll it in bird seed, and you have a homemade bird feeder!

Eliza mostly just ate the peanut butter but helped spread it on the pine cone a little bit and otherwise encouraged me as well!

She's a girl of great extremes-- she's definitely not a "laid back" personality. She's either running around singing at the top of her lungs talking about how much she loves everybody and kissing everyone she meets OR she's in total melt down mode, flipping out sobbing and making threats at me, kicking/screaming sort of stuff. (A bit of exaggeration, obviously, but it does happen.)

I love her passion, and I love that she seems so strong-willed... to a certain extent. However, when her strong will edges into stubbornness, it's such a struggle to deal with. I love her dearly, and I see so much of myself in her, so it's hard to blame her for her personality. However, I also need to give her boundaries. Trouble with that is, though, is that it appears that she does not receive consistent boundaries at her other abode.

As Eliza/Madeline would say, "Poo-Poo."

So Eliza usually has to have at least one big break down and subsequent time out (3 minutes and then see if she's ready to say sorry) /removal of privileges (no movie today or no Disney Scene-It game) when she comes back to my place after spending a longer than usual amount of time with her dad... like a long MLK weekend, for example. Welcome Home, Eliza.

I'm glad kids are resilient.

Thankfully, after the huge tantrum, and her finally saying sorry, she seems to chill out and do much better respecting the rules without having a fit every time.

On a happier note, Eliza and I had a blast at our friends' house today celebrating J.'s bday with their family and friends!



Eliza is just SO in love with H., even though she's almost 2 years older than her. She's a sweetheart. I also love that when we hang out with H's younger brother and Nicole's son, Eliza gets some boy friend time too! It's funny to think of how these four cuties will be like ten years from now!!!

Have a good weekend everyone!