Sunday, April 25, 2010

A Real Princess

Abigail is of the age where she is obsessed with princesses.  When she thinks of them, she envisions the dresses, hair and jewels.  This weekend she learned a valuable lesson.  Real princesses are generous people.  They think of others whilst giving of themselves.  Today, Abby was a real princess. 
Some lucky kiddo will be wearing Abby's beautiful golden hair because their disease has made them lose their own - this gift was made possible through Locks of Love and our own princess.  Way to go, little one.  We are so proud of you.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Sometimes It's Just Not Your Day to Twirl

So, in case you have not surmised this on your own, Abigail is a bit of a princess.  A lot of a princess, actually.  She loves all things girly.  The more fluff and glitter, the better.  Kinda funny to see her next to Juli, who is her daddy in a cute little blond toddler girl's body, but I digress.  The other day, I dropped Abby off at school.  She was wearing sparkly blue jeans and a cute purple shirt with ruffles on the shoulders.  This, for her, is a very "plain" outfit, but as there was some glitter and ruffling, it was (barely) passable.  When I came back at the end of the day to pick her up, she was visibly upset.  This is how the ensuing conversation went:

Me: Hi, chickydoodle!
Ab: Hi, mom (lower lip a little droopy, but not officially a pout yet)
M: How was school today?
A: I didn't like it today, mom.
M: Why not?  What happened?
A: Look at Lilly's outfit, mom.
I look at Lilly, who is the picture of cuteness with a little grey dress on that has pink tulle peeking out from the hem of a very twirly skirt.
M: Wow!  That is a cute outfit, Lilly!
Lilly looks at me with a coquettish grin and does a twirl, for which I smile and clap.
A: Mom! (sounding very betrayed and wounded)
M: Whassa matter, hon?
A: How come I did not wear a twirly dress today?
M: You wore one yesterday.
A: I wanna wear one everyday so I can twirl, too.
M: Well, honey, sometimes it's just not your day to twirl.

Mrs. Brooke, who shall henceforth be known as the queen of all preschool teachers, laughed out loud and said that she was "writing this one down".  She thinks it is a saying that could apply to all of us at one time or another.  Sometimes, it is just not your day to twirl.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Abby and the New Preschool

Abby is four years old and attends a preschool that she loves.  This particular preschool had spring break last week, which meant that we had to find someone or someplace that could take its place for five days.  After some checking around, we chose to put her in Juli's daycare/preschool for the week.  I was worried that it would stress Abby out - going to a new place for such a short period of time, having to make new friends and get to know new teachers...I should have known better.

On Monday, I drove the girls to the school and we dropped Juli off at her classroom first - she is in the Frog room, which is a room of seven children who range in age from 17 months (ours) to 27 months.  She has a lot of fun in this room and loves her teachers, but more on that in another blog.

Then, down the hall we went to Abby's room- the Penguinflies.  (Pardon me while the inner English teacher cringes at this name.)  This room is a combination of two rooms, the Penguins and the Fireflies.  I am not sure what the story is behind the combination of the room or the names.

Let me back up a second...Abby put great thought into what she was going to wear this first day of school right down to the accessories.  Once it was all said and done, she had on a pink and grey dress, grey tights, pink shoes, a ponytail with a pink hairbow, a pink necklace and lip gloss (thanks for the gloss, Auntie Jenny!).

Back to the new room.  So we walk in and I show her the pets (gulp).  This room has guinea pigs, frogs and fish, as far as I can tell.  I did not get very close to the guinea pigs or frogs...but I looked at the fish for Abby's sake.  Those of you who know me know that I am not a fan of guinea pigs or things that jump or fly.  Sorry, but that's just how it is.

Anyway, we go in there and the teacher has had the forethought to label Abby's cubby ahead of time, which makes her feel right at home.  One of her teachers (there are three of them) is male and when he enters the room, he immediately dons a Dr. Seuss hat and proceeds to bellow "Good Morning!" at each child as they enter the room.  Although I am initially startled by his vigor and volume, the kids seem to enjoy this immensly.  All the while, Abby is quite nervous and hiding behind me.  Then a little boy, whose name I do not know, runs into the room, tosses his coat into his cubby, says a breezy hello to the man-teacher and heads for the guinea pig cage.  On his way there, he stops short.  He sees my daughter.  What is this?? he is thinking.    Who is this vision of pink fluffiness that stands before me?  I must meet her.  And in all of his four year old bravado asks the only obvious question that there is to ask when he likes a girl.  "Wanna see my spaceship?"

And the sad part is, she did.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Booger

Ok, so Juliana is sick AGAIN - she just finished her amoxicillin on Monday - it is Wednesday and we are back at the doctor because daycare called and thought she might have pink-eye.  Turns out that the ear infection she took ten days of antibiotics for is still there and (urp!) leaking out of her eye.  Poor thing.  But this is not really what I am writing about.  What I am writing about is the booger that will ultimately cause me to abandon my family (for their own good) and move to a small corner of the world to become a hermit.

I was sitting in the drive-thru part of the pharmacy.  This is not a drive-thru window, mind you, but a satellite booth across the parking lot from the pharmacy.  I am a big fan of this drive-thru because it means I can have a sick kid in the car watching movies calmly in the backseat rather than running rampant through the grocery store in an effort to infect everyone they come within 50 feet of.  And it feels more private to me.  I just like it. But I digress...

Ok, so back to sitting at the drive-thru.  Kiddos in the backseat watching Barney (do I hear collective groans???  Let me tell you that when it is eight o'clock at night and you have a sick kid in the car who is up an hour past her bedtime with an ear infection and a fever, Barney is your best freakin friend!!) and I am hanging out up front with the window down (finally!  nice weather for a change!).  Then I feel it - the booger.  It is in the left side of my nose and feels huge!  I think about it for a moment and then realize that I gotta go after it.  And this is not a kleenex booger either - this one will require serious excavation.  Fingers only, my friend.  Any of you who are pretending that you never pick your nose can stop reading here - I don't need no stinkin' liars reading my blog! (wink)  You all know you have picked your nose before, so stop with the fake horror at my actions.

So, I am knuckle deep and really focusing on the task at hand when I look up and there it is...the pharmacy camera.  Staring. Right. At. Me.  Yep - about 12 inches from my face.  Great.  So I jerk my finger from my nose and feel myself turning bright red with embarassment.  What the heck am I going to do now?  I do what comes naturally, of course.  I call my husband.  This is how the conversation went.

Me: Honey?
Dan: Yep.
M: I have a story to tell you.  You ready?
D: Yep.
M: Ok, I am sitting at the drive-thru pharmacy waiting for Juli's medicine and I had a booger.
D: Oh, boy.
M: Yep.  I had to try to get it out honey (in a whiney voice).  It was really bothering me!
D: Ok...
M: So I picked my nose for like a really long time.
D: Oh jeez, hon.
M: And then I looked up and saw the video camera!
D: Oh, no! (giggling hysterically)
M: I know!  What am I supposed to do?  I just know that they are in there laughing at me!!  I am so embarassed!
D: Yep.  I can see that.
M: Oh my god.
D: Hey babe?
M: Yes?
D: They have audio, too.  They can hear you right now.

Well, there it is.  My grand Mindi-moment for the day.  I have to go start packing...

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Toilet Paper

For some odd reason, Juliana loves to unwind the toilet paper off of the roll.  (Does anybody else's kid do this??)  If she gets enough of it, she will then grab the end and run wildly through the house, thus "TP'ing" our humble home on the inside, rather than the traditional outside method.  This does not bode well for us 15 years down the road.  One of my big fears is that we are going to be the parents that every other kid's parents hate because we can't control our child(ren). 

In a heroic and paternal effort to prevent our family members from becoming social outcasts, Dan recently intervened in such an adventure...

This is Dan holding Juli while trying to teach her that unrolling the toilet paper is a completely unproductive and inefficient activity.  See how Daddy put it back on the roll, honey?  She is obviously a captive participant.

See, Juli?  This is Daddy rerolling the toilet paper - and it is not as pretty as it once was is it?

After he releases her, Dan feels like he has taught his captive pupil a valuable lesson.  Yes, the wise and patient man continues to roll the toilet paper back onto the roll.  The bemused father of three feels that he may have headed this potential problem off at the pass and taught his youngest child a valuable lesson...

If only he could have seen her devilish grin as he let her go...she hasn't learned a darn thing except maybe that Daddy will fix whatever she messes up because she is his baby girl.  Gotta love it.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Chicken Pot Pie

Ok, so I tried a new recipe the other day.  It was from this book.
This book is one of my favorite cookbooks for several reasons...one is that it is geared towards children.  My girls enjoy using this book to provide the family with tasty treats.  Another reason is that the ingredient list for each recipe is done with pictures (so if you need two eggs, there is a picture of two eggs) to insure that even the most basic cook can get it right.  The third reason I like this book so much is that it helped me make this for dinner.
That's right, folks - a home made chicken pot pie.  Aaaand, it was good!

I heartily recommend both this book and the pot pie recipe - although I do have to state that it took me about three hours from start to finish, so little ones may have left the kitchen long before you finish making the dinner.  But again, it was really tasty!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Snowy Days and Make-Your-Own Pizza Night

Winter is full upon us here in Bloomington.  We have between four and five inches of snow on the ground and more is supposed to be coming this weekend.  One would think that we would get a lot of snow here in the midwest (at least that is what I thought when we moved here), but we really don't in southern Indiana.  It was well-timed though, because Samara was here for a little of it and Dan took the girls outside to enjoy it.

Then we hosted "Make-Your-Own-Pizza" night for the girls.  They had a blast, except for Juliana, who I am pretty sure was pissed that she did not get one of her own.  She could only be placated by being given every last black olive off of everyone's pizza. 


The girls really enjoyed each others' company this weekend - we were glad to have them all together.  Can't wait to have them all here under one roof again come Memorial Day.


Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Snow Day

We are currently experiencing a snow day here in Bloomington - really pretty much all of Indiana - so the girls and I are at home. Here is a snow pic from this morning from the front door.











And one from the back door. So, not a lot of snow, but enough to enjoy.









As expected, the girls are growing at a rapid rate. Juli is 16 months old now, and a whopping 17 lbs! Despite her diminutive size, she is asserting her "big girl" attitude and insisting on feeding herself and is drinking from a sippy during the day. We are a little behind on this, I know. Sometimes I think, since she will be our last one, I just want to keep her as a baby forever. One of her favorite pasttimes is talking on the phone to Ya Ya. Here are some pics from her most recent conversation.



Like her mother and the mother before her, Juliana paces when she talks on the phone.






Sometimes, though, she will just relax in her blue Care Bear chair.





And, finally, our littlest big girl feeding herself some yogurt. Messy, but a necessary skill that she must hone before she gets married.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

January 2009

I thought it would be fun to post some of our favorite pictures from last year. Every once in awhile, I will throw one out there. We are enjoying life here in Bloomington and would like to share it with you.



January: Abigail got a new raincoat and umbrella from YaYa. She has taken to walking around the house in full regalia, hoping it will rain.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

It Has Been Too Long



Well, I could offer lots of reasons why I have not written in quite awhile. I should. But I won't. Much has happened in the last few years - most of it good - and I suppose it will all come to light through these entries. For now, I want to talk about the girls.





Samara is seven years old now and in the first grade. Hard to believe that she is reading chapter books, riding two-wheelers, swimming on her own, dancing in the Charleston Ballet and learning gymnastics. We do not get to see her nearly as much as we would like to, but we treasure the time that we have with her and enjoy every moment of the warmth she projects.









Abigail is four and in preschool. She is learning to break the written word down into it's individual phonetic sounds - I think reading is right around the corner. Her hair is almost down to the small of her back and she is proud to tell people that she is going to get it cut and give it to "sick little girls who lost all their hair". This will be a bittersweet day for sure, as we will miss her long locks, but that she is learning to be selfless is a point of pride for us.





Last, but certainly not least, our little pixie. Juliana is the light of our lives. At 15 months and only weighing in at 17 pounds, this Daddy's girl is a peanut, but she is mighty! More than once, I have watched as our four year old runs from her, lest she get caught and there be a smackdown. Juli, I fear, would win. She is steady on her feet, running from one delight to another, and has a sparkle in her eye that makes us a little nervous when considering the years to come.



Sorry we have been gone for so long, but it is good to be back.






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