Be still, my queen of hearts.

Recently I found Beth's blog The Stories of A to Z. She is a crafty mom, and though she has boys, our kids have some striking similarities which makes me feel like we are at least on the same planet. For the record, I don't always feel that way with other parents.

Beth, in turn, led me to Kathleen's blog Grosgrain. Kathleen is also crafty, and she has two adorable little girls. I am eager to read more of her blog because she is WAY more crafty than me. In fact, it might not be doing her justice to call her 'crafty'. The woman is obviously a genius. But I came to a screeching halt at the end of her post because I had to enter her giveaway. Not just any giveaway, but the most perfect giveaway ever. The Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

These costumes are to die for. Can you believe she didn't use any patterns? Oh, yeah, the bodice of Alice's dress she had a pattern for. That's like me saying I had a pattern for a buttonhole. Sheer genius, people. And no, she didn't say the one who gushes most wins the prize.

Blue has had a thing about cards lately. She and Jason started with one card poker. Then they moved on to two card poker. Now they're up to five cards which speeds things up since when they sit down to play, they have to play until the deck is gone. Solitaire? Yup. Clock? Yup. She asked me to teach her to play Spider the other day. I didn't even know there was a game called Spider. She was happy enough to play Go Fish with me (though I had to teach her - what kid plays poker before Go Fish). But the point here is, Blue loves cards. In fact, if you give her the chance, she will tell you all about her favorite card. Yeah. Her favorite card. Ever met a kid with Asperger's*? She will tell you till all about her favorite card. Again. And again. Her favorite card is the Ace of Spades. She hides it on the bottom of the deck so she can always have it for herself. I caught her sleeping with it one night. The kid loves the Ace of Spades. But then, I don't think she realized that she could be a card. And a tempermental card at that! How can this have escaped me? She will be absolutely thrilled when I tell her. Even if she doesn't win the costume, this is an 'in' to Alice in Wonderland. I can get out the book, we can read it together, and there will be a compelling reason for her to listen. Ivy and I have been reading a short version of Alice for some time, but Ivy is a kid who sits for books. Blue, not so much. Not unless it has good pictures anyway.

So go take a look-see over at Grosgrain. I don't think you will be disappointed. In fact, I'm headed over there myself right now. See you there.



* We're not actually sure of Blue's diagnosis. It is a difficult one to make. At ages 3 & 4 she was followed by a neurologist who gave her a diagnosis of autistic disorder. More recently she has been going through extensive evaluations with occupational and speech therapists as well as a neuropsychologist and a developmental pediatrician. I am not sure they agree with her current diagnosis. So I don't know if she has Asperger's or if she's autistic or if she falls under the broad category of PDD-NOS. She started the evaluations in May and we should hear their conclusions by November or so. In truth? I'm sort of terrified. I just don't know what to expect.