The Candy Fairy cometh

The Candy Fairy has been hitting our house pretty regularly these days.

What does she do? Well, she searches for bags of candy that have been acquired at birthday or holiday parties, and pilfers them, replacing them with other desirable and less tooth-decay-inflicting treats. The Candy Fairy is a frequent patron of places like the Dollar Tree and the dollar spot at Target.

Just this morning, in fact, Eliza discovered that the Candy Fairy had exchanged her ziploc baggie of candy for a sheet of Strawberry Shortcake temporary tattoos -- just what Eliza had hoped for. (Which proves, you know, that the CF cannot be Mom, because Mom doesn't spend her money on stuff like that. ;-))

We've created a few things in the past couple weeks that I haven't shared on here.

First, a tutu for a friend's birthday present. No-sew instructions here (scroll down to 12/23/08).

Second, a hopscotch on the hallway carpet crafted from turquoise duct tape.

I have learned that my daughters are always happy when we are making things together, especially if I can sit on my hands, hum songs about patience to myself, and let them proceed at their own adorably messy, slow pace. See also, "cooking with kids."

Tomorrow we will be rising at some ungodly hour to proceed far south for the AWANA Games tournament. We have to check in at 8:40, and it's about 40 minutes from here -- past Cabela's, in fact. We will then enjoy a morning of much sitting around and waiting, and about three minutes of our two older children running around and snatching up beanbags. It's a parenting ritual, this spectating thing, through which all American moms and dads must pass. We've escaped relatively unscathed thus far, javascript:void(0)but methinks I hear the piper piping.