Reason number one that I get to take the girls shopping first next year

I took the girls out shopping the other day to get a few last minute things for The Big Kid- and I stop to look at some emergency rain poncho's - they look at me and say - no, no, no - we already brought those with Daddy the other day. We don't need them.

Sadly, this isn't the first time they've told me what he's brought....

Living, Loving, Laughing

Whew, it's August already. One month and the girls go back to school. One year and Husband is finished with school (hopefully)!

We've been enjoying the overly hot summer so far. Hiking. Loving. Laughing. Except when we're busy getting stung by bees. On different occasions. Last week, husband and I BOTH stepped on the same underground nest, three hours apart. He suffered 15 stings. I took between 12-14. Only 10-12 of them were to the same spot on my bottom. Oh the joys! But where was I? Oh, the laughing.

If you follow me on facebook, you know my kids have been keeping me (and everyone else) in stitches. Without further adieu, here is the best of their world:


Moe to a friend: Can we borrow your baby?
Friend: Yes, I thought you'd never ask.
Me: Um, no.

(Moe is a tad baby obsessed)

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Moe to Meenie: You just farted.
Meenie: No, it was Roxie.
Moe: No, it was you.
Meenie: I only fart in my sleep.
Moe: That's impossible.

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Moe at 9:30 am handing me a beer - "here mom, want a beer?" Um thanks but not yet...

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Meenie: "Daddy, are you going to take a picture of my butt?"
Me: Um, why would Daddy take a picture of your butt?
Meenie: I don;t know, but he's always taking a picture of yours.

Ahhh??????

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Moe: Mom, I just saw a little snake. It was this big (indicating it was over 2 feet long)...

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Me: Get a spoon please, your eating Jello.
Moe: But mom, I'm practicing for Oliver.
Me: Because eating applesauce with your hands requires practice ????

Oh the joys of theater....
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Those are some of the best lately. Tomorrow we'll talk coffee and how I've been fired......

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I was informed that yesterday was Ask a Nosy Question Day.

Is there anything you've ever wanted to ask but haven't? Anything you want to know? Anything you just feel like asking? Unless your Meenie, then please stop whining and asking the same thing over and over.

20 Questions

Husband taught the girls how to play 20 questions. So now when we're in the car, they deviate from their normal ABC game and Simon Says to play 20 questions.

Taking a 15 minute ride down the road today illicited this game.

Me: I'm thinking of something...
Husband: Is it Alive?
Me: Yes
Meenie: Is it an animal?
Me: No
Einey: Is it a plant.
Me: No.
Husband interjecting - how can that be?
Me: It's a person.
Husband: A person is an animal.
Me: Whatever.
Husband: Mom's cheating already.
Moe: Is it a poop factory?
Everyone - laugh, no it's not a poop factory.
Husband: Do we see this person every day?
Me: No
Meenie: Is it a dentist?
Me: No.
Einey: Is it a doctor?
Me: No
Moe: Oh, oh, I know! Is it a poop factory worker?
Me: No.
Meenie: IS it a building?
Me: um, no, we already established that it was a person.
Husband: Is it real?
Me: Yes
Einey: Is it a nuclear power plant worker?
Me: No.

The answer was in fact, Santa Claus.

Yet, then, 20 minutes later, he started to argue when I tried to guess Einey's person when I asked if it was an elf when she said it was a real person. Elves aren't real. I shot back with "well you didn't argue with Santa being real". He shut up then. Einey's answer was, a nuclear power plant worker.

No one guessed poop factory when it was husband's turn and that was the actual answer.

Also, I may or may not have shot coffee out of my nose when Moe answered something later. She did however, win that game with a correct guess of coffee.

And for the record, 20 questions is more like 40 questions, because inevitably one of them will start guessing a type of plant or man-made object while after the fact of it being an animal is established. And I totally screwed everyone up with the whole a person isn't an animal thing when in fact yes, they are. And I repeatedly got scolded on that.

The moral of this story is, if you teach a kid a new game, you'll never hear the end of it. Also, make sure mom knows the rules as not to un-teach the kids how to play.

Christmas Conundrum

This year, Meenie happily announced that she would like and American Girl Doll for Christmas. And since she asked for it last year and Santa didn't bring it, that he HAS to bring it this year. She is happy in her belief that she is, in fact getting this overpriced doll. Moe decided that Meenie's getting a American Girl, then she wants one too. Today, Einey , who has never played with dools, announced the she want a Kit doll. It probably has something to do with the fact that despite steering very clear of their store, they still flood my mailbox with catalogs. And the girls get the mail. Meenie and Moe tend to take turns sleeping with the catalog when they come in.

Today I said, well Santa might not bring them, they are very, very expensive. Einey replied "but I thought Santa MADE all the toys. It shouldn't cost anything". Shit.

Then I tried to remind them that they don't even LIKE to play with dolls. The in turn, proceeded to pick out accessories.

So, do I tell them Santa doesn't exist and thus they're not getting an American Girl Doll? Break their hearts by not having Santa bring them a doll? Or shell out the $100 per doll for three? And if we do get them the darn dolls, how do we explain that Santa brought the dolls, but not much else?

We don't want to break their disbelief just yet. So, what would you do?

Christmas Lists

The girls wrote their Christmas Lists last night. So grandma, no worries, here's what they want. Of course, you need mad deciphering skillz to figure it out, but you can't ask for everything :)


Here's Moe's list:
Meenie's list:
She also added SolpesesGog to the bottom.

Einey's list:
Also added: Donute faktery


Good luck!

How to skip making dinners

Step 1. Give each kid a slab of pizza dough.

Step 2. Roll it out.

Step 3. Put a spoonful of sauce on each and tell them to spread it.

See the puppy face?

Step 4. Hand over the cheese.


Step 5. Allow them to have any toppings they want with the instructions that they need to eat it later.

Step 6. Put it into the oven for 15- 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

I am the queen of the morning

alternately titled: I need to buy a freakin' alarm clock because my kids are broken.

I have never needed an alarm clock because I can always count on my kids waking up at the ass crack of dawn, otherwise known as 6:15. For the last week and a half, they've been broken. First it was 6:45, then 7:15 until this week, it's reached 8:00 am that we've been rousing from slumber. School, for the record, starts at 8:30 am.

Here is synopsis of our morning today:

8:00 am - Me, rolls over, looks bleary eyed at the alarm clock. Crap! Yells- girls, time to wake up.

8:01 am - Hears the bus stop across the street (totally irrelevant information, BTW)

8:02 am - Walks into Einey's room and pulls to covers off her

8:02:45 am -Walks into Meenie and Moe's room, pulls to covers off Moe. Start to hand Meenie a long sleeve polo from the closet and pants I grabbed from the top of the hamper as I walked by. She announces she wants to wear a jumper. Puts shirt back in closet and attempts to grab a long sleeve dress shirt, only to find none.

8:04 am - Tosses pants back into hamper, tells Moe to grab pants and a long sleeve shirt and walks to the laundry basket in my room. Asks Einey what she's wearing on the way by. She wants the same as Meenie.

8:04 am - Pull out two jumpers. Search for long sleeve shirt. None, nada, zilch.

8:05 am - Checks Einey closet - none

8:06 am - Runs down to the basement and looks in washer (not that it would help) and finds no long sleeve shirts, mostly polos and short sleeve dress shirts. Quick check of the dryer - adult dark clothes. Basket on he floor? Adult dark clothes. Runs back up(2 sets of)stairs carrying basket because she can see it's a laundry day.

8:07 am - Finds one long sleeve shirt in basket of laundry.

8:09 am - Tells Einey she has to wear a short sleeve dress shirt with a sweater. Looks into closet- only school sweat shirts. CRAP!

8:10 am - Miraculously finds a blue cardigan AND matching knee socks (yes, I know, how hard can that be? But, for some reason, they have THREE different types of blue knee socks). Makes mental note to find out where the other FIVE long sleeve shirts have dissappeared to. I can account for all of their laundry and they're not there.

8:11 am - See's Moe still standing around undressed with no clothes in sight. Moe says her belly hurts. I tell her she probably has to poop and to get dressed. She says "no it hurts right here _ pointing to her mid right side). I feel it, feels find tells her she probably has to poop and to get dressed. She shoots me the stink eye and stomps out the room.

8:12 am - Sees Moe trying to put on size 2-3 tights. I throw those away and hands her a new pair. She puts on her magenta skirt. As I'm looking for a shirt, she asks for her purple owl Halloween shirt. I toss it to her and attempt to herd the cats kids downstairs. Stopping only to help Meenie with her tie. * Start wondering if 8:12 am is too late to transfer them to public school?

8:15 am - Grab signed progress reports AND fundraiser form with money. Walk to kitchen and start shoving them in backpacks (hope I got the right one's!). Fill three water bottles.

8:16 am - Pull down snack box with one hand and grab winter-ish coats with another. Drop snack box on floor, instruction them to only take TWO snacks from the bucket today and some fruit/yogurt/cheese sticks. Also grab plastic spoons in anticipation of them grabbing applesauce. And pull out three earmuffs and deposit on the floor.

8:18 am - Instruct kids to put on shoes while getting snacks and putting them in their lunchboxes while I make their sandwiches. Einey asks for egg salad. I tell her fat chance, takes way to long to boil the eggs. Promise to boil eggs today while I make three bologna and cheese sandwiches.

8:20 am - Zip up lunchboxes and tell the kids to start putting them in their bags. I start combing their hair, finish and see two lunch boxes still on the table. Put those in bags, see kids with coats, shoes (AMAZINGLY because for some reason, this ALWAYS takes Moe 10 minutes, not because she can't do it, but because she's the queen of procrastination and indecision!). Also see kids grabbed BTG** (A nutrigrain bar, a Granola bar and a Rice Crispie treat - ignoring the fact that the last doesn't really fall under a breakfast category)

8:23 am - Walk of the door. Looks at the van and declares the universe hates me. Einey laughs at this declaration. Turn on the van, tell the kids to buckle up or I shut the van off taking away their only source of heat. Start scrapping windows.

8:24 am - Get in, and backs out of driveway. Can't see to well, but the windows will clear soon. I hope.

8:29 am - Pulls into school parking lot. Even remarking how we hit all three red lights between our house and the school. Walk up to school and catch the end of the line. Notice that we can count on others to be running later then us.

8:31 am - Realizes when I see another child in Moe's class walk in, that I sent Moe into school in a skirt and dress shoes. Today is Wednesday. Wednesday is gym day. Shrug it off and say either a) the gym teacher won't come in today or b) it's not like they actually do anything in gym anyway.

8: 52 am *** - Walk back in the door and grab a bowl of cookie crisp not available for public consumption and pour myself a bowl. Vow to start folding laundry once I'm finished checking email and playing around on FaceBook.

* Notice that somehow, I have managed, not only to get dressed, with all clean clothes, but also comb my hair and brush my teeth

** Breakfast To Go - something we've excelled at the past few years....

*** Yes, I realize that's a big time difference, but I was catching up with friends...

~~~Note, normally, we take out uniforms, pack bags and make lunches the night before. We've I've been lazy since returning home from Maine.

Trained bears to he rescue!

I remember when my kids were small, dreaming of the days they would be potty trained. When Moe was born, all three were in diapers. It didn't take long for that to change, but then I wished they were still in diapers. No one ever tells you that when you have a child who is potty trained, they become potty obsessed. They will demand to use EVERY. DAMN. POTTY. at EVERY. DAMN. PLACE you go. It doesn't matter if you go from Target to Lowes to Micheals to the grocery store and your 10 minutes out from home. They will have to go. Baaaaaad. I'm gonna go right now if you don't take me. So tasks that normally take 45 minutes with diaper clad wee ones now take twice as long.

And then there are the places that don't have flush toilets. You know what I'm talking about, the dreaded port-a-potties. Most people cringe at the thought of using one. Not toddlers. They love them. They're fascinated by them. And while most adults worry about the cleanliness, the germs and the smell, I have a different fear. A slight fear that one of my wee one will lock themselves in, because you know, they need their priiiiiivacyyyy. (As they get older I am less fearful of this). My biggest fear was that they'd fall in (and of course, the door would be locked). I know, you can go ahead and laugh at me now.

Last night, the kiddos school had their annual bazaar - you know, church fair in the school parking lot with carny rides and plenty of games. Husband was gracious enough to walk us to the car after dark to which he beat a hasty goodbye. Nature was calling and he hoped that he could sneak inside the school and use the bathroom. Alas, all that was available was the pitch dark port-a-potty - seriously, they need a light in there! As I drove us, I told him not to drink so much soda later. This prompted the following conversation.

Einey: Why can't daddy drink alot of soda?
Me: Because then he'll need to use the bathroom.
Meenie: And he doesn't want to use the port-a-potty?
Me: Nope, he doesn't like them.
Meenie: Just like me, I don't like them.
Me: I know sweetie, I know.
Meenie: I'm afraid that the port a potty people will come to clean them and start sucking it up while I'm in there.
Me: Is that what your afraid of? That can't happen bub, they need to open the door to suck it out, and if your in there the door will be locked. Plus I won't let them in.
Meenie: So, they have to wait.
Me: Yup.
Meenie: What if someone gets locked in?
Me: You know, I've always wondered the same thing. I guess you'd call the fire department or the police department and they'd come cut the door off.
Moe: No, that's no what happens. They use bears.
Me: Bears?
Moe: yes, bears. The bears scratch a hole in the door.
Me: So the port-a-potty people have trained bears that they bring to the potties when people are stuck so the bears can scratch a hole in them to get out?
Moe: Yup!
Me: Um...
Meenie: Phew, cause the fire department always causes problems.
Einey: Meee-nieeeeeee, the fire department doesn't make problems, they help.
Meenie: You don't like port-a-potties mom either, right?
Me: Um, if I have to go, I have to go, I don't care.
Moe: Then they tape the doors on and it's fixed.

Me recounting the story to Husband later on.
Husband: You have to blog that you know.
Me: Uh, yeah.

So have no fear, if you suddenly find yourself trapped in a port-a-potty, trained bears will come to your rescue!

Just Say No

There comes a time in your life when you have to say "no". The topic came up today because Einey's getting older, she'll be a teenager before we know it. We want to make sure she can talk to us about anything and that she knows it's okay to say no.

Meenie was with us, she was the only one out of school at the time. And in her class, there has been alot of attempted lip-locking going on. Between girls and between one particular boy and any girl he can. The mom of the boy is aware of it and kind of laugh's it off "he's gonna be a handful". Meenie has mentioned that he's tried to kiss her before. We talked and we told her that she needs to say no. And if he doesn't listen, to punch him (husband also continued in the nose). Of course, we also told her that she'd probably get in trouble a bit at school, but that we'd rather she'd defend herself if she wasn't comfortable in a situation and we'd take care of it after.

Of course, this afternoon, Moe was making this insanely annoying noise and Meenie told her no twice then got up and punched her. "But mom, you said that if I said no and hey didn't stop, to punch them". Oy vey.

Plugged in

Two of my kids now own DS's. The third has an ancient Gameboy Advance. Husband has a DS. Usually all four of them are plugged in.

Today, we brought Meenie a game since she's been doing a tremendous job cleaning up around the house (while her sister's add to the mess and make excuses for not cleaning). We're hoping that it teaches them to help clean up. The downfall to buying games that we've never played* (i.e. Pampered Pets) is that I can't answer every whine "how do I do this?" and "I can't do it". And of course, since it's not an insanely popular gamesuch as Super Paper Mario, I can't look up a walkthrough for the game.

*Or in the case of Pokemon which I haven't played in a bazillion year.... "Sorry Einey, but I don't remember something that happened in a game I played millions of years ago. Stop asking me those questions every 5 seconds!"

What's in a name?

The other day, I thought that I'd like to change my name. At that point, the name "Dad" sounded very good. The girls, since starting spring break, have thought that 6:00 am is a fantastic time to start the day. And how do you start the day? With lots of squabbling, running around, playing with the loudest toys possible, yelling and walking in my room every 2.5 seconds to ask a question. I thought I was lucky though, when Husband volunteered to go downstairs with them so I could sleep in. That lasted about 10 minutes before they were back upstairs. I shooed them down while still trying to rest a million four times before one of them came in to tell me they were hungry.

"Go tell your dad, he's downstairs".
Klump, klump, klump downstairs. Klump, klump, klump upstairs.
"Dad's sleeping, can you get me something?"
"#%^@ @%* !&(+?"

This happens anytime I want a bit of privacy. For some reason, dad gets tons of room and tons of time to do what he needs to in peace. I think they're afraid of him :P

But then I hear "I love you mom" and "your the best mom in the whole wide why-orld" and remember how much I love being the mom.

The Art of Language

The other day, we were playing the Wii and I was helping Moe with Mario Kart. I must get frustrated with her because before I could say anything, she looked up and said "I'm pressing the damn button".

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Another night, Husband was playing another game on the Wii and we hear F.. and then nothing. Just F. Then we hear Einey say, "you mean fuccen, or however that's spelled, right dad". A few minutes later, he gives the game the one fingered salute and she's right there pointing her finger (a different finger) right along side of him.

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Last night, coming home from a meeting, the car infront of me got out of our left turn lane, and then proceeded to turn left from the right turn lane anyway. I may have muttered "Jackass" but I swear it was under my breath. Needless to say, I hear Meenie ask from two rows back "you need gas"? Uh no. "Well why did you say that then?". To which Einey replied, "she didn't say gas, she said jackass". And then she proceeded to tell them how jackass is just another word for a donkey and thus, not bad to say.

Oy vey!

Girly girls

There is changes afoot.

Last week, Moe had a play date at a friends house. When I went to pick her up, I could see they did their own makeup. Which was fine. their kids. Even the resulting rash because she has sensitive skin didn't bother me. A few days later, she came downstairs with glitter glue all around her lips. That was a fun one to clean up.

And then it moved to the school bathroom. There is a group of little girls who huddle by the mirrors and share lip gloss. Lip gloss, that's not supposed to be brought to school. This week, Meenie came home and said I kept my lip gloss in my pocket at school except for the one time I put some on in the bathroom. Even after we talked about not bringing it to school, it went anyway. The next day she came home and said "I shared my lip gloss with Girl #1 and Girl #2. Okkaaaaaaaaaaayyyy. Into the trash went the lip gloss. But apparently there's a stash. Because now Meenie and Moe have at least TWO lip glosses on them every time I turn around.

Yesterday, I took Einey for a haircut. She choose her style -it's a cute little bob. And today after admiring herself in a mirror for a million years, she proclaimed "I like my hair. It makes me look older. I look like I'm ten!".

Gah - I thought I had a few more years!

What a weekend!

It's been a busy weekend. Our weekend started Friday as the girls did not have school. In true fashion, we invited some friends over for our annual cookie decorating party. We supply the cookies and usually the frosting, and they all bring toppings. This year, I realized too late, that we were out of some ingredients to make frosting and the frosting I had hanging around was old. Very, very old. So I asked a friend who was coming to bring some. No problem. Only, it started to get late, so just as I was sending another friend out to get some, he arrived. The kids, I think, had a blast. And of the 5- 6 dozen cookies I made, we had only a handful left that didn't get decorated. And true to fashion, my younger two girls put frosting on their cookies and then dumped heaping piles of toppings on top. Even Einey was stuffing handfuls of sugar into her mouth.

After that, we had to head over to school for parent teacher conferences. Einey is doing great. Her test schools for her first standardized tests surprised us. Her language skills are just way up there. Her math skills are normal for her age, but it's something we need to work on. Overall, she's doing great in school.

Next came Meenie. She's doing as well as she should be doing. She had some issues adjusting to kindergarten at first and took her teacher a little bit to figure it out. You see, while Meenie is very outgoing, when it comes to new situations, she withdraws. She watches and observes and once she reaches her comfort level, she starts to come out of her shell. Now that she's comfortable, she isn't as nervous in the class anymore. Her biggest issue is speed. She races through things just to be done and move onto the next task. So, we need to work on getting her to slow down.

Moe is doing okay as well. Her evaluation was done in October, right after she turned four, so there were some things she didn't know. In just a few short months, we've watched transformations. She went from hieroglyphics with writing her name, to actually writing her name so you can understand it. It's still rough, but it's getting better. She never wanted to write before and even now, it's hard to get her to pick up a pencil and do her homework.


Saturday, was, by Einey's opinion, the best day ever. We had her seventh birthday party and she didn't stop smiling the whole time. The house, while a bit crowded, didn't feel overwhelming. We had her friends arrive an hour before the entertainment. We did cake and presents, and as she was opening the last presents, the entertainment arrived in the form of a man and his reptiles. So we all went down to the basement, which was a little more crowded then I expected, but not overly. Einey got to be the helper with every reptile and invertebrate he had, holding it first and then bringing them around to her friends. Every time she was asked to reach into a bag to pull something out, she didn't hesitate at all. Seriously, she just reached into bags of snakes to pull them out. Even when she was told, "Our next creature is a carnivore, and do you know what carnivores eat? meat. Yeah your made of meat, so just put your hand out like this" she didn't flinch. We had everything from geckos to an alligator. From the sounds of it and the looks on the girls faces, they had a blast!

And this morning, we woke up to a slight covering of snow. Einey has her first cheer leading game this afternoon (she missed yesterdays game) and then hopefully, if the weather holds out, we'll be able to go to the light parade tonight.

I hope everyone else is having as great of a weekend as we are. I don't remember the last time I've been so relaxed on a weekend so full of activity!

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Congratulations to Lauren and Karen who were winners of my blog giveaway.

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I posted a review of the party over here.

Looking to the future...

Do you know what I am looking forward to when school starts? Doing a big, full scale frontal attack on the playroom. I cannot wait to organize, clean out and toss old toys. I walk in there and see the mess - not messy per say, as the girls have been doing a helluva job keeping it picked up - if you've seen the playroom, you know what I'm saying! - but since I've taken a step back and let them clean up - things aren't always put back in their proper place . Anyway, I walk in and have to force myself not to start organizing. I've learned the hard way not to even try to attempt when they (or Husband- he seems to want to keep everything as well) are home. So I'm waiting and keeping myself busy - in the garden, making school clothes, playing with the girls - until after Labor Day when all three girls will be in school.

Until school starts - I'm not even going to bother. Heh we'll see what it looks like come the end of August....

I know Husband expects me to try and pick up some morning hours subbing while Moe is in school, but I've got my priorities. And that's tackling the playroom. And then the girls' rooms (Einey's room still has some of Moe's toys and the other room has toys that should come downstairs, etc).

Week one (the good, the bad and the ugly)

So far, this vacation hasn't quite been what we planned. We planned on getting some work around the house done (that parts working out) and doing some daytrips (that's not working out). Today marks day 8 out of 20.

Not only did we start off with two kids vomiting, I was sick for a day and then Moe started vomiting again. Then, we got a call yesterday from summer camp, saying one of the kids there this week has hand, foot and mouth. Last night, Einey spiked a fever. So far, it's just a fever and I hope it stays that way. Now, I'd rather deal with all three kids, myself and Husband having the stomach bug then having Hand, Foot, and Mouth again. Four years ago, when I was hugely pregnant, Einey caught H, F & M at a playgroup (8 out of 10 kids there caught it and it spread like wildfire through our MOMS Club). Husband also caught it and unlike what they say about it not affecting adults as severely, he had it bad. Much worse than I've ever seen. It was gross. Then two years ago, Meenie and Moe caught it (and I think Einey as well - apparently, against the myths once you catch it, you can't catch it again - there are different strands of it, so you can catch a different strand...). All was well. Until Meenie ended up hospitalized. Yeah not fun.

So here's what we've accomplished so far:

• Sent the kids to summer camp
• Caught a stomach bug
• Finished sheetrocking the hallway
• Mudded the sheetrock (next stop - sanding - today probably)
• Planted some flowers
• Trimmed the bushes
• Pulled weeds from three flower gardens (just have the raised beds left)
• Exposed to Hand, Foot and Mouth
• Went to see Wall-E ($10 for all five of us!)
• Went to a kids concert (T-Bone) and had a picnic dinner
• Went letterboxing (found one out of the three we were searching for :( )
• Missed a wedding (see #3)
• Played lots of Wii Sport and Wii Play (as a family)
• Played a bunch of board games
• Repaired a screen door to the deck (thanks Mom!)

Things we wanted to do (or have left to do):

• Finish Pergola on deck
• Chip/mulch pile of brush
• Mulch gardens
• Powerwash the house
• blueberry picking
• Cape Cod
• Peabody Museam
• Boston Museam of Science
• Howe Caverns
• Make window stops (to hold the windows up - stupid old windows)
• Trim bushes back on edge of property
• mini golf
• bowling (and not the Wii variety)
• Meet friends for dinner
  

So looks like we've gotten most of the to-do items accomplished.

The good thing is, if we don't get to do some of the things we wanted to do this vacation, we've got another two weeks in August!

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A quick funny:

The other night while I was working on getting some plants into the ground and Husband was trimming the bushes (to which the neighbor told him "it's about time I see you out here working in the yard, I see your finally giving your wife a break - she's done a tremendous amount this year, heh) we told the girls to get their bathing suits on and they could use the sprinkler.

Meenie comes running up and asks :

"Can I wear my zucchini?"

????????

"My pink polka dot zucchini?

Ahh, your bikini? If you can find it.

(They were given bikini's as hand me downs and are only allowed to wear them at home).

Saving Grace

Moe's been trying my patience today.

Just now she came downstairs after changing for the 6 billionth time. I looked at her and said:

"Moe, I'm ready to find some new family for you to go live with".

Einey : "No, I like Moe, she's so cute" (yeah thats been her saving grace for the last three and a half years - she way too darn cute)

Meenie: "No, she's wearing my tank top. I don't want to get rid of my shirt" (Obviously she's got her priorities in line)

Spring Break Recap

Today the girls went back to school. While I really enjoyed spending unhurried time with them this past week, they were more than ready to go back. Well, maybe I was more than ready for them to go back, but they didn't put up a fuss this morning, so I take that as a good sign.

The weekend that their vacation started, we had two birthday parties. Einey was dropped of at one Friday night and picked up later in the evening. Very Easy! Saturday (which did not dawn rainy and cool like fore casted) found us at McDonald's for another party.

Monday morning, we made plans to meet some friends at a local park for some bike riding and to play on the playground. I managed to bring the bikes, despite the jungle gym still sitting in the rear of my van. But then, the seat of Meenie's bike broke off. Broke broke as in there is no fixing it (I still need to call about a replacement). She was not happy to settle with a scooter. Once her sister finished with the other bike though, Meenie spent the remainder of the time riding around and around the track. Oh and we finished Husband's cake for his birthday.


Tuesday found us at the roller skating rink. I was a little apprehensive about getting all three o them skates,but didn't know what else to do with Moe. Einey did okay, she seemed a bit nervous, despite not having any problems zooming around previously. Meenie did remarkably well. Sure, she hugged the walls, but she was able to actually do a short distance unassisted by the time we left. And she was on the rink. Alone. That was a huge improvement over the last time where she stayed on the carpet. Moe did great back and forth on the carpet and even went around the rink once with me, but wasn't comfortable with it. With my first child, I never would have dreamed of putting roller skates on her at three. In fact, she was six before she ever slipped a pair on, it just wasn't anything I ever thought of!

They come in ever smaller sizes. But seriously, how cute is that?

Wednesday found us at the zoo. Normally we stay away during school break weeks, but now that we have a school age child, it make outing like that during the off times harder. But we met friends there (coincidentally in the parking lot!) and had a blast. It was a tad more nerve racking trying to keep track of six kids, but it worked out well. After the zoo (which we've been to a zillion times, but still manage to see new things) we went to Build-A-Bear. But I've already posted about that trip and the fiasco afterwards so you'll have to click the link to read more.

Trying to think outside the box and not add to our bazillion pictures of giraffes. Do you ever find that you have all the same pictures?

I just love the way this came out.

The aforementioned new friends

Thursday dawned and Husband had his one day off of the week that day. We had made plans to go to the aquarium. But like any outing with Husband, the kids had eaten and gotten dressed when he finally started to make his breakfast (he can never deal with a granola bar or bowl of cereal like anyone else). THEN he got on the computer to research other possible ideas/places to go (ALWAYS happens when we involve him). Finally he went to play video games get ready. And much later than we liked, we were on the way to go. We spent a few hours at the aquarium and then had lunch at Olive Garden. Luckily, there wasn't a long wait as the kids were h-u-n-g-r-y. The great thing, that whole trip only cost us $10 plus whatever we used in gas (thanks guys for the gift cards!)!

Husband found the aquarium feature on our camera

Friday we were supposed to go bowling but I decided we needed a day to recharge. SO we hung out and just relaxed! Oh and went for ice cream!

Of course, I didn't list the hour each day Tuesday through Friday that we had soccer practice. Or games as the girls had their first games this week. Neither of them scored a goal, but they tried hard.


Saturday was another birthday party and then dinner at our church.

Sunday, Meenie and I had alone time, just the two of us. The in-laws took the other two girls to church while I took Meenie to her soccer game. They were supposed to drop them off after lunch, but I never went to get them until 5:00pm! So we had lunch together, worked in the garden, sang songs, talked and played games. We both had alot of fun and I enjoyed spending time with her. I often feel that she gets the short end of the stick most of the time.

Whew!

Anyway, that was spring break in a nutshell. Today, Moe and I went for our weekly coffee and then ran some errands we put off last week.

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Oh and did I mention the ants? Just like their cousins the ladybugs, they've appeared in the house this past week. And yup, you guessed it, just like with the ladybugs, Moe stands and screams. Or if she's got shoes on, stomps. But it has made her have two accidents while she's stood outside the bathroom crying about the ants. The girls seriously needs to learn to deal with bugs. Its almost summer. Ey Ey yi.

Whose with me?

Let's skip April and go right to May. Is anybody with me?

It starts today, which isn't technically April yet, with double birthday parties - one for Einey's friend, one for Meenie's friend. Tomorrow Husband starts a horrendous schedule where he has four (yes FOUR) days off the whole month.

The birthday parties, oh the birthday parties. Rumor has it the there are SEVEN children in Meenie's class celebrating their birthdays in April. We have already heard from four of them. Eieny's class has two, but I think only one of them is having a party. I think we will definitely have to politely decline a few.

Did I mention soccer starts any day now? I haven't heard from either coach, but being soccer VP, I already have the low down on uniforms, coaches, and oh yeah, schedules. Einey has practice Tuesday and Thursday nights. Meenie has practice Wednesday and Friday nights (of course they couldn't have them the same nights, what fun would that be?). Games start on the 19th and are both Saturday mornings with Einey's at 9 and Meenie's anywhere from 10 to 12. Which at least works out, because last season, they had numerous games scheduled at the same time and I found myself running all across the park trying to see both games! I am no looking forward to next season when all three girls can play and of course, be in three different age divisions. At least it's not three hour tee-ball games.

Our Brownies schedule is pretty tame - we have just two events- one meeting and one scouting day at the zoo. Five and a half hours at the zoo. That one, I've already declined, I'm sending Einey of course, with a friend, but I am not taking the other girls and trying to keep them occupied for that long.

I've already volunteered to go into Einey's class and do a project with them once this month. We are going to plant grass seed heads that the kids can take care of. Once the grass grows long enough, they can cut and style it.

Did I also mention that the girls have a week off of school? Yeah I'm thinking we may have to go rollerskating or bowling and spend alot of time at the park. I hope it doesn't rain.

With that schedule, I'm not sure how much yard work I'll get done. I know I can't really plant much until May, but there is still much to be done before hand. Luckily, I've already called a landscaper. And for those who know my yard, he's taking on much of the crap down below. Once it's cleared, I'll just have to bring up the big pieces (which I've already enlisted help for) and I have a friend whose agreed to take that wood. And then, we just need to reseed that area. Then, all that's left is that great hulking pine that's bisecting the yard. I think I'm going to need to call the tree guy and see if he can come cut it into smaller pieces. Hopefully, that will end the yard issues and the kids will have plenty of room to roam!

Oh and Husband just reminded me (as if I'd forget) that his birthday is in 15 days. Luckily I've already got it covered. I've placed the requisite orders with Amazon and Reaper, and will soon be placing one with Vallejo, once he can decide which paints he wants. I've planned time for Moe and I to bake his carrot cake. And he "casually mentioned" he wanted pizza, so that morning, I'll pick up all the ingredients for his favorite pizza's.

Throw in a dentist appointment and I think that's the month in a nutshell.

Cross posted at New England Mama's.

Whon-Horns and other small tales

The origins of Whon-Horns

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who liked Whon-Horns. It took her parents many moons to figure out just what a whon-horn was. They even took her to the speech therapists because they suspected a problem with her language development. It turns out her speech was fine, she just wasn't supposed to be able to pronounce whon-horns right. Then one day, in the magical toy store, there standing in front of the little girl was a whon-horn. It was then that her parents were able to finally understand that she liked unicorns. Day in and day out, she would carry her whon-horn around and quickly, her siblings adapted to the new found pronunciation of their sisters favorite toy. Now as the little girl grew, she was finally able to pronounce unicorn right. The only problem is her sisters still call it a whon-horn, thus confusing the poor little child. The end.

Puppy Dog Tales

Once there was a puppy with dry skin. She itched and itched and chewed until her owners couldn't stand it anymore. They called the pet groomer and took the cute puppy dog for a trip. The puppy tolerated the bathing and drying and brushing and then found a nice giant bone. That is, after trying to drink the water from the fish tank. Now she weighs about 10 pounds less, left the groomer pretty hairy and has a nice shiny coat and big new bone. The end.

Color Kids Phase

Do you remember the color kids? I had forgotten about the color kid phase until just recently. The color kid phase hits around two and a half to three years old. You'll know your in it when your child wants to wear one color and one color only. Even her "undies" have to match. And your up the creek without a paddle you if you don't have a specific color shoe or coat.


Lessons in Fairness

Einey: "It's not fair, I have four pages of homework and everyone else in my class only has two"

Mom: "Well, if you remembered to bring your homework home yesterday, you wouldn't have had that problem".

Dad: " Yesterday you had no homework and everyone else had two pages".

Einey: "It's still not fair."

Mom: "Life's not fair"

Mardi Gras

It's the beginning of the Catholic season of Lent. And prior to Ash Wednesday is Fat Tuesday. Yesterday Einey came home from school with a set of Mardi Gras beads. They were given to all the kids from the cafeteria ladies. (Throughout the year, they'll come home with trinkets - stickers, chalk, jump ropes, batons, ect given to each child at lunch from the cafeteria ladies). Husband turns to me and says "I don't want to know what she had to do to get those"....

Four little words for you

Airborne is your friend.

and finally, I'll leave you with what I believe is the grossest thing I ever had to say.

Ewwww

To Moe.

"Did you just lick the side of my van?" "Uh-huh"

Yuck double yuck. Do they make disinfection wipes for the mouth? Keep in mind, I live in New England, it's winter, my van hasn't been washed in months (although I've tried a few times, but it seems like when the weather warms up, the car washes are always broken, or not accepting credit cards), and there is all manner of sand and salt and who knows what stuck to the side. Yuck!