Planning for the Future

For as long as they’ve been able to answer the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” the girls’ answers have been consistent, “A vet and a mommy.”

(And that might just make my heart swell every time!)

Over time, the girls have gotten into some serious details when they describe how things will work.

The girls will, of course, share an office.  B will be the vet in the morning, while A stays home with all of their babies.  (B consistently talks about having one baby, while A has recently said she will have twins.)  In the afternoon, A will take her turn as vet, while B takes on the baby duties.

Their vet office will be dedicated to Misha and Sasha (our cats), and there will be a special room for Sasha to come for her checkups.  It’s very important that Sasha be comfortable and not scared.

As for transportation, the girls apparently plan to share a vehicle.  My A talks about how she will drive, and B will be in the passenger seat.  And then B will pipe up and say that some days she’ll drive and A will be the passenger.  “Where will Mommy sit?” I ask.  “In the backseat.  You can relax and be comfortable.”

There is always talk of lunch, too.  The girls love to volunteer how they will take me to lunch.  “Who will pay?” I ask.  “You can pay, or I can,” they both say.  “Well I’d prefer if you paid,” I tell them.  “OK, Mommy!” followed by huge smiles.

Over the past few days, B has been talking about how Granddaddy (who is an architect) will design her office for her.  I thought that was super sweet, to hear her thinking through those details, unprompted.

It never ceases to amaze me how their little minds work.  And how I love to hear their plans for the future – together.

So You Want to Make a Giraffe???

A couple of weeks ago, the girls kept asking to make a giraffe.  It was a rainy afternoon, so I decided to tackle a little craft project.

Until recently, I would plan any craft projects out to the letter...making sure I had all the supplies close by...meticulously plotting out each step, and who could do what by themselves, versus where I would need to insert myself.

Over the last few months, though, I've gotten much more comfortable with figuring things out alongside the girls.  They're (a little bit) more patient these days, and they (usually) follow directions pretty well. 

A quick Pinterest search gave me some giraffe-making ideas.

I dug out a few things I had on hand...yellow card stock, clothespins, brown yarn, and googly eyes.

I cut out shapes for the giraffe's body and head from the yellow card stock.  I had the girls draw brown spots on them with markers.  I then had the girls color the clothespins yellow, also using marker, followed by brown spots.

[Paint still makes me slightly nervous, so I credit my "cool as a cucumber" approach to the use of washable markers for this project.]

We used glue to attach a yarn tail and mane and our googly eyes.

The giraffe head we glued onto the inside of one of the clothespins.  And the last exercise, once everything dried, was to balance the clothespins so our little giraffes would stand up.

This little project satisfied the girls' need to create a giraffe, and it was downright fun for all of us!

Once complete, the girls wanted to build a mommy and a baby giraffe from their blocks (a regular exercise around here), so that their new giraffes would have some friends.

There we have it!  Our own giraffe sanctuary...and two happy babies!!!

Pictures from The Farm and Our Weekend Getaway

Yes, that's "The Farm" in capital letters...the cool little bed and breakfast we visited this weekend.

With all the house stuff we have going on this summer, we haven't taken any trips.  I've been itching to get out of the regular routine and do at least a little something before the school-year routine starts.

Enter "The Farm" idea...a working farm a two hours' drive from here.  I knew the girls would love seeing all the animals, and I knew we'd all enjoy getting away from home for a couple of days.

We left Friday morning and made it to the small little town by lunchtime.  At the recommendation of the folks at The Farm, we ate at a little bistro in their quaint downtown.  The girls had a chicken salad plate with salad and fresh fruit (they seem to be making it their mission to try as many chicken salad recipes as possible...and that's OK by me!).  I had a FGT-BLT...a fried green tomato BLT...and it was goo-ood!

It was a gorgeous day, and we sat on the screened-in porch.  As we waited for our food, B was explaining (in typical fashion) something of great importance. 

"It was this big!"

And here the girls gathered together to check out a delivery truck parked in front of the restaurant.

And there were snuggles with Daddy, too.

After lunch, we rode around downtown for a few minutes, and then headed to The Farm.  Here are Daddy and the girls after check-in, skipping down the steps to begin to explore the property.

We took in a few sights on our own, before the afternoon activities started.

Heading to check out the donkeys...doesn't A look like she's 24???

This sweet guy was very content to stand and be petted with one finger!

Hello, goats!

Mommy and her kids. :)

The first activity of the afternoon was milking a goat.  The girls were skittish at first, but ultimately they both tried, as did Daddy!

With the fruits of our labor, we joined everyone in the kitchen to get the goat's milk ice cream going (made with farm-fresh eggs, of course).  We also got to churn cow's milk into butter.

We churned using two different methods...shaking in a mason jar...

...and using a hand-crank that belonged to the owner's grandfather!

And here's the fresh butter from our jar.  We finished first, and Hubby thought we deserved a certificate.  HA!

Once the butter was rinsed, we enjoyed it on fresh biscuits...what a mid-afternoon snack that was!

Next we toured the rest of the farm.

We milked another goat and then gathered eggs.  B found three eggs, and A, two.

We also enjoyed watching some animals run around the barnyard, including twin goats.  I was trying to get my twins' picture with them, but neither set was very cooperative.  It was super sweet to see the baby goats playing together, though!

We got some up-close-and-personal time with the donkeys, Ricky and Lucy.

And then -- in perhaps the most unique experience I could have imagined -- the girls got to listen for the heartbeat of this expectant miniature horse's foal!

We had some downtime before supper, and the girls took advantage of the huge yard to race each other, and then they caught their breath on the tire swing in front of the house.

Mommy retired her camera for the day, but I have to note the amazing dinner we had.  The girls enjoyed their first-ever fried chicken...it was the real deal!  We had corn on the cob, another first, straight from the garden.  The girls were in love!  There were mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, homemade corn bread, fresh fried apples, local watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

And then, for dessert, we all enjoyed the goat's milk ice cream, atop homemade peach cobbler.

YUM!!!

By that time, it was long past our bedtime, but we stayed up just a few minutes longer for the girls to see the start of the bonfire.  We didn't stick around for s'mores...but I'm not sure I could have eaten another thing, anyway!

Saturday morning we got up to rain, so we didn't get to hike around the farm the way we'd hoped.  We still enjoyed a HUGE breakfast, though.

There was fresh sausage from the farm, scrambled eggs from those we'd gathered the previous day, French toast with awesome maple syrup, the same yummy fresh fruit, and -- of course -- delicious raw milk.

To round out our weekend, we timed our departure to have lunch at an Eastern European restaurant we spied the previous day.  We met some amazing friends from former Yugoslavia...folks with whom we'll definitely keep in touch.  Their hospitality was unparallelled, and -- although we weren't remotely hungry! -- their food was incredible, too.

It was such a fun weekend, full of great food, new friends, and wonderful adventures!

Super Stuff on a Saturday -- with PICTURES!

It’s been another B-U-S-Y week, as evidenced by the sad lack of blog posts…but even amid the busyness, there’s a lot of super to be found!

1)      We’ve had so much fun over the past couple of weeks, keeping tabs on the bunnies in our yard.  One afternoon, we saw two adult bunnies, seeming to play with each other.  One would charge at the other, and the second bunny would hop straight in the air to avoid the collision.  They did this for a good three or four minutes.  All the while, the baby bunny grazed nearby…so sweet!

2)      My very dear friend – M&C’s mom – had her precious Baby A on Monday afternoon.  I got to visit her a couple of times in the hospital, and the girls asked after each visit, “Was A out of Miss Demara’s tummy already?”  I can’t begin to imagine how they were processing everything, but that just made me laugh.

3)      Since Miss A was born, my A&B have been very attentive to their baby dolls.  It’s so sweet to see, since they’ve been more focused on their furry babies over the past six months or so.  They are absolutely chomping at the bit to meet Miss A soon!

4)      Baby A called for me a couple of hours after bedtime one evening, which is rare.  I bounded up the stairs to check on her, and was met with the sweetest, raspy little voice.  “I love you, Mommy,” she said, and then she hugged and kissed my hand.  She just needed a little reassurance, I guess, to settle back to sleep.  It was definitely one of those I-love-being-a-mommy moments.

5)      After a particularly busy afternoon, when I realized there just wasn’t enough time in the day to cook what I’d planned for supper, I made a quick decision to pick up a pizza on the way home.  As we started to drive away, B said, “Mommy, I saw a sign on the door.  It was an advertisement for a large pizza with two toppings, for 10 bucks.”  I probably swerved the car at her deadpan statement.  I didn’t see the advertisement, and I can’t imagine that was quite right – as it doesn’t sound like a very good deal – but her “10 bucks” had me rolling!  I don’t think of myself as saying “bucks” very often…but maybe I do?  She had to have heard it somewhere!

6)      On Thursday morning we went out for breakfast…a rare treat that is almost always reserved for the weekend…and then we headed to Lost River Cave for an early morning hike.  We hadn’t been since April, and it was so nice to see all the trees in their beautiful bright greens.  It was a very hot day – even before lunchtime – but it’s so very shady there we were quite comfortable.  I never tire of enjoying hikes with my sweet babies…and I love how observant they are of some of the neat little things that I would probably miss along the way.

7)      The girls and I have been working on a multi-layered art project over the course of the past few days.  It never fails that they pause at some point and say, “This is fun, Mommy!”  It makes the gluey hands and fabric strings so very worth it.

8)      Seeing the girls working on their silly faces!

9)      I’ve let the girls help me unload the dishwasher the past few days.  I know that’s something that most kids have been doing for a while at their age…but it’s a chore I REALLY dislike…and I am usually so focused on just getting it done that I didn’t want to invite any “helpers” into the mix on a regular basis.  The girls have taken turns – one doing the utensils, while the other stacks dishes on the counter for me to put away.  So far, they’re having a blast with it…and it’s actually made it a bit “fun” for me, not quite as dreaded, actually, as it typically is.

10)   Aunt Alison sent the girls new outfits to mark their first day of preschool last August.  They were a bit big at the time, but they fit perfectly now.  The girls wore them for the first time this week, and they could not get enough of their “twirl dresses”.  I fear they could get used to this!

11)   The girls and I have eaten a couple of times at a new-to-us bakery close to downtown.  This week we had the opportunity to visit there with Daddy for lunch.  The girls were so cute, showing Daddy “our” table and telling him what they like there.  Fortunately, Daddy liked it to, so we’ll definitely be going back!

12)   For a long time the girls have been making up words.  “What does 'alla-bob-kich-a' mean, Mommy?” they’ll ask…and then LAUGH.  Usually their “words” are so conjured it’s almost impossible to transcribe them, but they threw out an easier one a couple of days ago.  I thought I would note it for posterity’s sake.  "'Bop' is another word for 'pillow'. I just made it up," Baby A told me.  That was followed by hysterical giggles, in stereo.

13)   One morning, the girls were planning a trip with their babies, and I asked them where they were going. Baby A stated emphatically, "The Empire State building!" A few seconds later, B reconsidered, "Or maybe the Leaning Tower of Pisa, I'm not sure."  B proceeded to make the tallest tower she could manage, and told me it was, in fact, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

So thankful for lots of super with my baby girls!!!

Super Stuff on a MONDAY!!!

Woo hoo!!!  Look at me, back on track with my weekly “super” highlights! 

1)      I took the girls to my favorite downtown coffee shop last week…I treated myself to a latte, and the girls got (to share) their very first fruit smoothie.  It was a beautiful day and we sat outside in the courtyard.  There was only one other couple outside, and I noticed they had a pack of cigarettes on their table.  I whispered to the girls that we would stay outside unless those people started smoking.  All was well…the girls were enjoying their big-girl drinks…until Baby A got all panicked.  Big tears welled up in her eyes and she started to tremble.  What is it, Baby?  She glanced over at the table next to us, and sure enough, they’d started smoking.  I had to suppress my laughter and my extreme sense of pride at her disgust over that nasty habit.  That’s my girl!!!

Baby A, enjoying her smoothie.

 2)      The girls and I had lunch at a new (to us) bakery in town.  We noticed several people there, picking up lunch to go.  That prompted Baby A…”Mommy, when I’m a vet, I’ll pick up my lunch at a restaurant and take it back to my office to eat it.”  I love how the girls are really getting into this grown-up “vet” scenario…working through so many details!

3)      The girls had their first tumbling class last week.  A full post to come, but I had to note how sweet it was that B got A’s shoes for her when it was time to go.  I love seeing my girls taking care of each other, especially in a new / unfamiliar situation.

4)      Baby A seems to have declared “definitely” her word of the week.  She’s used it to respond to the simplest of statements…”It looks like we got more rain overnight.”  “DEFINITELY!!!”  And she says it with such gusto.

5)      At bedtime we were reading “Guess How Much I Love You”.  The girls always say the last line with me…”I love you to the moon…and back.”  Baby A looked right at me afterwards and said, “But Mommy, the sun is farther than the moon,” like it was a glaring omission in the text.  Hahaha!  I love my babies!

6)      Hubby was telling the girls that, when we move into the new house, he would make breakfast for the girls one day.  I wish I had had a camera to record the look of confusion on A’s face.  It was priceless!!!

7)      One evening after supper, the girls were playing while Daddy and I were cleaning the kitchen.  I overheard B say to A, “Sissy....I think you need to go potty.”  I still remind Baby A to take a potty break occasionally (even more than two years after training), as she sometimes gets too busy to take that time for herself.  I thought it was too funny that B picked up on her body language.

8)      The girls have been playing “Mama chick and baby chick” for the last few days.  It is so stinkin’ adorable.  I don’t think I’ve seen them change roles…Baby B has been the “mama” and A has been the “baby”.  B will say, “Baby Chick…come here!  Baby Chick…do you need help?  Here, Baby Chick…let Mommy Chick help you!”  And A will flap her little “wings” and call out, “Mommy Chick!  Where are you?  Mommy Chick…I looooove you!  Mommy Chick…can you help me?”  So sweet!!!

9)  I loved seeing the girls get so excited over meeting the tiniest of dogs at the downtown square on Saturday.  They always love animals, but they get intimidated pretty easily.  They eventually warmed up to pet sweet Sophia, and they're still talking about her.

10) We attended the "Second Saturdays" fair downtown, and we listened to a band playing a couple of songs, including Andy Grammar's "Fine by Me".  That's one of "our" songs [the songs on the girls' CD I made them last summer] and my little B sung all the words.  Hee hee!

And for these and many, many more super things, I am very grateful!