dark caves and Allison Krauss

I have succeeded in making Elisabeth's room a dark cave even in the middle of the day with the sun beating in the windows. The shades she has in there have blackout material sewed to the back of them. But, light just poured in around the edges making the room very bright. This led to Elisabeth not being able to go to sleep at night until 8:30-9:00 for the past few weeks. After a fabulous suggestion from my dear friend Melissa, I went out to Michael's and bought stick on velcro.

Many of you will remember my adventures with Michael's, and how I am essentially a fish out of water in craft stores. Yesterday's extravaganza was no different, although there are far fewer options for stick on velcro than for ribbon. We wandered aimlessly for what seemed like 30 minutes, cursing the two aisles of green molded foam stuff (seriously? do people really need this much green molded foam stuff?), three aisles of beads, 4 aisles of silk flowers, 4 aisles of picture frames and 53 aisles of other random crafty crap. Finally I asked someone and wouldn't you know it? That velcro was at the very back corner of the store, just past the playdough. Duh.

Anyway, I stuck about 4 feet of velcro on each side of each window - the actual frame of the window. Then I stuck the corresponding fuzzy part on the inside of the shade. Of course it wouldn't stick to the fabric so well. Melissa warned me about this. And part of the reason I love Melissa so much is that never in a million years would she suggest to me taking down the curtains, getting out my sewing machine (yes, I actually have one) and sewing the velcro to the curtain. Instead, I followed her tried and true method and safety pinned the bejeezus out of those suckers. My sister would be horrified. Martha Stewart would not approve. I'm not going to be in any home decorating magazines. But, by gosh, there will be darkness.

Of course, I eagerly anticipated awakening at 7:30 this morning to find Elisabeth still sound asleep in her new cave. "7-0-0," as she calls it, arrived and with it came a 3 year old bursting into our room. She actually said, "I BURST into your room!" And, today, she seems like she might actually be more tired than yesterday. The best laid plans.

Earlier yesterday, we were watching a bit of Sesame Street as I got dressed. Allison Krauss came on to sing something about letters. I said, "Elisabeth - that's Allison Krauss!" She didn't understand what I meant, out of context. In the car, she can actually tell when a song by Allison Krauss comes on, but on tv - she was confused. So I said, "She's the one who sings mommy and daddy's favorite songs." And with that I walked back to the mirror to put my face on. She "burst" in and looked at me very seriously. "Mommy? Allison Krauss? She sings give it your best shot?" I don't know where she got the idea that Hit Me With Your Best Shot is one of my favorite songs...