Box Tops

Every month at Audrey's school they have a box top contest. Each class competes to see who can collect the most tops and they announce a winner. That winning class gets a pizza party! WooHoo! They must be drilling this into the kids heads right now because Audrey has been talking NONSTOP about it. This is how our latest conversation went:

Audrey: "Dad, if our class doesn't win the box top contest this month then it was a complete WASTE of box tops!"

Adam: "It isn't a complete waste of box tops, all that money still goes to the school! What do you get if you win?"

Audrey: "Well...we get a pizza party!"

Adam: "What kind of pizza is it?" (as in, where are they getting it from)

Audrey: "It's pizza from the servants."

Adam: "Servants? What do you mean servants?"

Audrey: "You know dad, the ladies that give it to you in the lunch room."

Adam: "Um, you mean SERVERS. Or better yet, lunch ladies. And, I hope you haven't been calling them servants at school!"

Audrey: "I don't remember dad. But, okay."

Nice.

All I Want For Christmas

On the top of Audrey's list for Santa this year...A Roller Coaster.

You read that right folks. She would like it to take off from the front porch, have several loops and be really fast. It would be very handy to have out front because all her friends could come over and ride it. It could go over the street, no need to worry about the cars running into it in the street. And, it could also go around the house.

We told her that this is probably not a very good gift to ask for, because it's not very possible. But, she still thinks Santa could do it. Hmmm...hope she's not too disappointed on Christmas morning.

Toenails Can Be Dangerous

After dance today, Audrey climbed in the car and announced, "Mom! I cut my wrist at dance today!" "How?" I asked. "With my toenail!", she said. Well. That is something I never thought I would ever hear. Watch out for those toenails. They can be a killer.

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.

Audrey

Bet you couldn't guess who my favorite #2 would be. Since we spend almost every waking moment together, it's easy to see why my girls are my favorites. #2 is also a bit sassy, but she's also a tender hearted girl. She seems to get her feel bads hurt quite often, because she takes everything WAY too seriously. She wouldn't hurt a fly, usually, so she doesn't understand "why people are mean". She asked me this just the other day, "Why are people so mean mom?" I wish I had a good answer to that. She's a lot like her mother in this way...at least I think I'm nice. Am I nice? I sure hope so.

Audrey has had a busy, busy week. We like to refer to it as Audrey's week o' fun.

Last Wednesday, praise heaven, we finally lost our first tooth! She's been asking me for a year now when she is going to lose her first tooth...and the day finally came. We had to call almost everyone we knew...grandma's, grandpa's, aunt's, uncle's, cousins. I've never seen a girl so excited. Especially when, nestled under our pillow the next morning, we found TWO whole gold dollars. It was a joyous occasion.

This same week a letter came home from school. "Your daughter Audrey has been awarded Principle's Pride for Patience." Really? Patience? Now, this is not exactly Audrey's strong point at home. But, we're pretty glad she has no problem with this at school! Way to go Audrey. Yesterday we attended an assembly to recognize all the other students that received Principle's Pride in February. It was great...as part of the assembly they had a group perform called Opera Works. They presented the students the basic principle's of Opera, and they performed a small show...The 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf. Audrey was chosen to help with make up for one of the pigs...perfect for Audrey. She loves makeup and all things girly!

Upon arriving home after school that same day, Audrey announced that she was also Student of the Day! Life couldn't be any better! All her classmates drew a picture of Audrey and the teacher assembled it in a book. We spent a while looking at it, definitely saving that one in the memory book.

Holy cow! Best week ever! I love that favorite #2! She's such a hard worker, always wanting to do her best, and cute as a button to boot! Who'll be #3? Just you wait and see.

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 Conversation With Audrey

Audrey: "Mom, did you know there is only one boy that I like in my class at school?"
Me: "No, I didn't. What is his name?"
Audrey: "Tyson."
Me: "Why do you like Tyson, and not the other boys."
Audrey: "Because he has his manners on. All the time."
Me: (stifling a laugh) "That is a good reason to like Tyson."
Audrey: "Yeah, I wish the other boys had their manners on all the time, but they can be pretty naughty."

What a riot! I loved every second of this conversation. And then, when Adam arrived home from work, we had the same conversation with him. At school, her teacher is really focusing on having your "manners on" when you are in class. I really love the things she is learning, and the teacher she has this year. Now, let's hope she always looks for "good manners" in the boys she will one day date!

Circus, Circus

Would you like free tickets to the circus?

Why thank you, don't mind if I do!

That was the conversation I had with my friend on Friday afternoon.
An hour later we were headed to the ESA to see the Circus.
It was my first time seeing the wonder of the Circus,
and I'll be honest, it kind of gave me some weird vibes...
But, the girls were pretty mesmerized by everything that was happening,
and they loved the Elephants...and the motorcycles in the metal globe thing.
(that was my favorite part too)
I snapped a few favorite moments.
And, yes, I was going for the blurry effect in some of these.
They kind of turned out cool.

The elephants in all their glory. They are the stars of the circus you know...


Audrey informed me that she wants to be this girl for Halloween:


These cool trampoline, acrobat guys:


Miss Audrey


The Girls

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.

They Twirl and They Tumble

On Saturday we were treated to a special tumbling revue,

featuring the amazing Audrey!
We had such a great time seeing her progress over the last year!
The highlight was the jumping jacks during warm-up,
but no one caught that on tape!
Audrey is full of energy,
and it shows...
I am so proud of her mad tumbling skills!

Audrey waiting to begin warm up


Check out her feature performance below.
We would like to point out her
back-walk-over at the end...
it was a surprise for us
because we didn't know she could do it!
Audrey is the one in the black leggings...
with the long, brown hair.
Enjoy!

The Revue

Receiving her award of accomplishment

Lauren enjoying the performance

Christa and Sophie


Christa and Audrey


A proud mama and her girl


Audrey and her teacher Mrs. Teresa

Audrey's Birth Day

At this very moment,

5 years ago,
I was pushing with all my might,
to give birth to my first daughter.
It took TWO hours of pushing,
and extreme exhaustion,
to get her here!
But, I wouldn't change it for the world...



Audrey is a joy to have around.
She loves to love you.
Truly.
She is a mighty tumbler,
a great helper,
an aspiring artist,
an alphabet know-it-all,
bike riding,
donut loving,
beautiful little girl.



We are so blessed to have here in our family!!
Love you for always little one!