What is Appropriate?

I tend to use the word appropriate far too much. For some reason I think my 4-year-old and 6-year-old should know what this word means. I'm not sure if they have figured it out yet, but they sure like to use this word as often as possible. For example...Lauren came in the bathroom the other day while Adam was in the shower. A minute later she told Adam that "tails" are not appropriate. I'll let you figure out what she was talking about. We have now explained to Lauren that it is not appropriate for her to come in the bathroom when dad is in the shower.

Yep, not appropriate.

The Case of the Missing Cough Drop

A conversation between Lauren and I:

Lauren: Mom, I lost my cough drop!
Me: Where? How? Wasn't it in your mouth?
Lauren: Yes mom, and then it was gone. I didn't swallow it!
Me: Okay, let's look for it. It must have fallen out.

After looking all over the floor, no cough drop was found.

Later that night, (like 2 hours later) Lauren was wrestling with Adam and ran to jump on him...and Adam exclaimed, "Lauren, what is on your shirt!" Lo and behold, we found the missing cough drop. "Oh! There it is!" Lauren shouted...as she pulled it off, fuzz and all, and popped it in her mouth. Mmmm.

All The World Must Know

I was informed by my husband today that "all the world must know" how funny our kids are. While I'm sure everyone's kids do hilarious things every day, I have been charged with the duty of documenting these things. I suppose I will try to do that here, because I can't think of a better place...besides my journal. Which I'm worse at writing in than I am about updating the blog. So...we shall see how this goes.

Today Adam took the girls to Home Depot...their favorite place to go with him besides the gas station...and on the way home, Dynamite by Taio Cruz came on the radio. Those of you who know Adam know that this is NOT his kind of music. The girls went crazy...they know every word. He was laughing his guts out. I may or may not secretly like this song...sorry Adam. I think this might be all my fault. Oh Well. This is the kind of stuff I need to be writing down...and so I am. Lauren knows every word of this song, and she sings it with her hands up in the air the whole time. They love so many other songs, but we'll save those for another day.

A Day of Firsts

Well, well, well. Today was a day of firsts for our little family:

• Audrey finished her FIRST day of 1st grade. Let the record show that her most favorite part of the day was...Recess! Followed shortly by eating lunch in the cafeteria. They had a math test and a spelling test. I was then chastised to never send crackers and cheese for snack again because they get soggy. But, never fear, her peanut butter and jelly sandwich was delicious. Tomorrow we will be trying out school lunch...it's teriyaki beef strip day, and I have it on good authority that these are amazing. We shall see. We shall see.

• Lauren discovered for the FIRST time that she really does love her sister. I think she only told me 5 times throughout the day that it was time to go get Audrey. She couldn't understand WHY she wasn't waiting for her in the car when preschool got out. Seriously, Mom...did you forget her? Tomorrow she doesn't have preschool for a distraction, so it should be a fun day, just me and Lauren.
  

• I realized for the FIRST time, I am going to be really lonely when both my girls leave me for a whole day of school. I sure love those little bugs. Guess I should have another one, if only the husband can be convinced it's okay to be outnumbered...

Audrey and her cute friend from Kindergarten, Karlie.
They were so happy to see each other,
and find out that they are in the same class!
There are only 2 kids from from her Kindergarten class
that made it into her 1st grade class...
because there are 6 first grade teachers! Crazy.

February 6th 2011

The day Adam's dreams were crushed, was the day Audrey and Lauren shouted from the back seat to leave the radio station on a Taylor Swift song. "I LOVE this song! I LOVE Taylor Swift!", they shouted. And Adam hung his head in defeat and said, "I've lost them already."

And, I laughed all the way home...

Don't worry dad, they still LOVE Weezer.

P.S. I don't LOVE Taylor, so who knows where this is coming from?

A Canner For Me

Look at my cute helper in the kitchen today:



Miss Lauren faithfully stood by my side today
as I peeled and bottled tomatoes,
1 lone bottle of pickled peppers,
(peppers are not so pleasant to pickle)
flash froze carrots,
and shredded and froze all the zucchini you could ever want.
And she did it with a smile on her face...as you can plainly see.



Today I'm grateful for my little helper!
(Audrey would have been there too, but she was helping Dad...)
And, I will be grateful this winter,
when we enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Shopping Carts

Do you know what I think is great?

Those little mini-shopping carts at the grocery store.
Not the ones with the cars on the front.
I HATE those ones.
But, these little mini's.



They really come in quite handy when you have ONE
child with you at the store.
(and you're only getting a few things)
It makes them feel quite helpful,
and they want to do all the driving by themselves.
Like today when I took Lauren with me to the store,
and she was waving at the little boy we passed,
pushing his own mini.
They were so proud.
And it was so awesomely funny to watch.
Thank you mini-shopping cart,
for making my run to the store a more pleasant one today.

What do you do with a three year old?

When they don't listen to a thing you say. Literally. It's been this way for a few weeks now. I have been so frustrated by her lack of listening skills.
(And yes, I do realize she is only three)

For instance:
Every day when it's time to leave,
I give everyone a 5-10 minute head up.
I wander the house gathering things,
and telling people to put shoes on.
I even bring them their shoes (usually flip flops)
and lay them at their feet.
Then, when I'm ready to walk out the door, I shout,

"Is everyone ready?"
"No."
"Why?"
"My shoes aren't on."
"Okay, where are they?"
"Right here."
"Put them on."
"Right now?"
"Right now."

Audrey is ready. But, what does Lauren say?

"Just a minute mom."

Every time.

And I say, "I'll give you a minute."
(In my mean grimacing voice, you know you have one too.)

But, usually I have to drop everything, go find her, drag her to the door, and put her shoes on...you know, the one's that were sitting right next to her on the couch? Ya, those ones. All the while she is kicking and screaming. Not because she doesn't want her shoes on, but because she wants to do what she wants to do, no matter what.

I've tried everything:
Threats of punishment.
Threats of rewards.
Swats on the bum.
Pretending I'm leaving her behind.
Time Out.
Triple-back-flips.
(Those didn't really do much)
And, I've reached the bottom of my patience barrel.

Would someone that knows more than me please help me figure out how to stop this madness? Because I feel like I'm saying and doing the same things over and over and over and nothing is working, and I know it's not working, but I don't know anything else.

Like in the car...why does it bother me that they (mostly Lauren) can't keep their shoes on for a 2 minute car ride, let alone a 30 minute one? And, I can't help put them back on, that is a crime punishable by death in my car. No, I have to wait 5 minutes for them to be put back on, by themselves...IN SLOW MOTION!

Or, when they are sassing back, or being loud and I'm trying to get their attention to stop them...and they won't stop for even one second, so I keep getting louder and louder and louder. Then I'm yelling before they stop and stare at me like a deer in the headlights. And, then they give me that look again that says, "Oh great, mom's yelling again." And, 5 minutes later they are just doing the same thing they were before.

And, why can't they help clean up? For real.

I'm pretty sure I missed the basic training course for How To Be A Good Mom. Has anyone else made it to this course? Because I'd really like to copy your notes.

The ONLY thing that has kept me from hanging signs from their necks that read, "Free," and standing them in front of the house...is that they look so sweet and peaceful at night, in bed, asleep. (And no, I really wouldn't do that)

Can you please tell me how you can love something so much, and yet all you want to do some days is run away? And, why am I so grateful for these little stink bugs, when they cause me so much heartburn? Plus, they are only 3 and 5! What will I do when they are 15 and 17?

Splish Splash

Wanna see who we went to the splash park with the other day?

Sophie Bean!

You should get a Sophie Bean to go with you to the splash park,

because she's the funniest Bean on the planet!
"A Sophie Bean for fun
is very good.
Have you a Sophie Bean for fun?
You should."
(Guess that book?)

Really.

P.S. I bet you can't tell that we're grateful Sophie Bean's in our family?
Just a little.

And Here's Why...

Yesterday was Lauren's first day of Pre-School!

Lauren in her new school duds:

Lauren seeing dad coming up the street...

But, since she is going to the same fabulous teacher that Audrey had,
and she's been there 100 times,
and she knows the teacher.

There was absolutely NO drama when she got there.
I actually got a, "See ya later Mom!"

It was great! And, I am grateful that she is happy there!

That's why I was grateful for Lauren yesterday...

Now today, on the other hand...
let's just say there was a marker incident.
But don't worry, I'm still grateful for her.

Glad For This

I woke up this morning with Lauren at my bedside saying these words, "Mom, I have a 'pider' on me." And what did I find? Not a spider, but a little, black ant. "Uh, oh." There's always more than one when it comes to ants. And, sure enough...there was a small colony taking up residence in Lauren's room. Feeding on the pieces of cold cereal that were in the corners of the room. (I really do clean)

I'm grateful someone smart invented this stuff:

No more ants, and I can sleep better at night knowing there are no more 'piders' on Lauren.

This Past Weekend...

...I was grateful for many things.

A safe journey to and from our camping adventure.

The beauty of our surroundings.

That Mother Nature FINALLY decided to grace us
with her wonderfully warm presence.

Good laughs with the one's we love.

But, I was most grateful for my Lauren.
We celebrated her 3rd birthday on Sunday.
She has been a blessing in our lives,
since the day she was born.
She fills our days with smiles,
laughter, and sweet kisses.
Happy Birthday Lauren!
We love you!