SURPRISE!

The girls and I each had a couple of surprises up our sleeves recently.  It made for a fun week, for sure!

I had a huge meeting at work on Monday, so the week prior, I’d been working later than average, pushing out our suppertime, and the girls were waking up to my work papers all over the kitchen table.  Tuesday, my meeting behind me, I decided to surprise the girls for lunch.  I’d never surprised them before…and they were shocked to see me!

Baby A had just taken her seat in the lunchroom when I slipped up beside her.  The entire time I was there, she could not keep her sweet little hands off me.  I was showered with nuzzles and hugs and kisses.  And when B got to the lunchroom, I slipped up on her.  She was just as excited.  Since A was almost finished with her lunch, we all went to sit with B’s class.  After A’s class left, B asked if she could sit in my lap.

I know the girls’ public affection probably won’t always be so voracious.  I’m definitely eating it up as long as I can.

And then Wednesday when I got home from work, the girls had a surprise for me.  They love all things “scavenger hunt”, and they’d hidden clues all around the house…upstairs and downstairs…for me to find.  They could hardly wait until after supper to kick things off.

I had the hugest laugh when I saw what was at the end of the hunt…a page-long letter the girls worked together to write.  They each took a turn writing and sentence!  I was majorly impressed with their effort, and their subject matter cracked me up, too.

Apparently the girls witnessed the paper delivery service that afternoon, and the deliveryman was smoking.  A very strong response ensued.

The paper man smokes.  We know that because we saw a smoking pipe in his mouth.  We did not touch the paper because it smelled like smoke.  Daddy put it in the recycling bin.  He did not even take the paper inside because it had the remains of smoke on it. 

Daddy called the paper people because the man who gives us our paper smokes.  We told Daddy right away that the paper man smokes.  We were very surprised that the paper man smoked. 

We love you and we hope you had a wonderful day.  We just wanted to tell you the paper man smokes.

Love,

A and B

Hee hee!  I am thankful the girls were appropriately offended!

Bless It...

Our sweet Baby A is fascinated by weather.  She loves reading books about earthquakes and storms...but apparently she's managed to scare herself.

We were expecting severe weather on Tuesday night, and this is what she journaled -- of her own accord -- that afternoon:

I am scared of earthqwakes and tornatos and thunderstorm because of lightning it scares me because I am afraid it is going to strike me and that was why I am scared of thunderstorms and I am scared of tornatos because I am afraid it will wipe our house up and I am scared of earthqwakes because I am afraid it will brake the windows and wipe my bed out of the window when I am asleep.

When we built our house a couple of years ago, we talked about the main reason being so we would have a basement.  We reinforce with the girls that it's Mommy and Daddy's job to keep abreast of the weather.  If there is any danger, we'll simply go hang out in the basement...not a big deal.

I appreciate that A has a healthy "respect" for the power of weather...but it breaks my heart a little bit to see her thoughts on paper.

Bless this baby girl!!!

A Good Problem to Have

Baby A came home shortly after school started with some news.  “Mommy, we won’t get homework until September.”  How do you feel about that?  I asked her.  “Awwwwww,” she moaned, with a dejected face.  “I don’t want to wait!”  HA!

I later realized the girls were unofficially counting down until the end of August.  September 1^st was on a Tuesday, and they just knew they’d get homework that very day.

As it turns out, their teachers waited until this week to finally bestow upon them their long-anticipated homework.  They were SO excited!!!

They had a story to read and some questions to answer by Friday, and then they are supposed to read to a parent for 10-15 minutes a night.

I had to laugh when I saw the girls after school today.  (Daddy had a faculty meeting so I left work a little early to hang out with them…woo hoo!!!) 

“Mommy, can I read in the car?”

“I can read for 10 minutes in the car and then I can do my homework when we get home!”

“Have I read for 10 minutes?” Baby A asked.  When I told her I thought it was close, she read the blurb on the back of the book.  “Now it’s 10, right?!  Now I can do my homework at home!!!”

Baby A ran in and got right to work.  She waaay over-delivered on writing sentences.  She almost wrote a book herself!

Baby B had done her reading in the car, but she didn’t get to her homework right away.  She was too anxious to read  new library book.  Hee hee!

So much “academia”…so little time!  It’s a great problem to have that the girls just wanna read and work and learn!!!

Love Notes

The girls have been into "love notes" for quite some time now.  My home office has a full garland of post-it notes adorning the full stretch of cabinets.  It's a lot to take in, but I love it.  :)

It's not uncommon for me to come home to the girls having made something for me...some kind of "love note"...notes that are getting more sophisticated as the months go by and the girls learn to spell more and more.

I couldn't help but delight in the note my B handed me as I walked in the door this evening.  She's had a thing for "flaps" lately, as in "lift the flap", and this is exhibited here.

Translation:

Name: _________________________
Email: _________________________

Do you know how much I love you

(Answers right here)

[flap]

And under the flap was written, "I love you!  From: B".

A moment in time...and I love it.

A Sentence Only a Mother Could Love

The girls have been pre-reading for a very long time.  Of course I'm speaking in mommy terms...I'm not educated in the science of teaching reading...but that's how I would best describe their skill set.  

They've known all their letters since they were just more than two, and it wasn't very long after that they learned the sounds all the letters make.

They have been able to write their letters since they were just more than three, and they love-love-love to ask how to spell words so they can write them down.

They have memorized a decent list of how to spell certain words, including their names, the names of our immediate family and our cats, and a handful of other words that are important to them, like love and cat and pizza.  [That they know how to spell pizza cracks me up.]

If they ask how to spell something, I can sound it out very carefully, and they can write it down with a decent degree of accuracy.

The girls have a lot of fun with all these skills, and I've continued to let them lead their learning.  Of course I am anxious for them to fully learn to read...but I hope it's just a matter of time.

This week I was so very surprised when B came to show me the note she wrote.  The girls had been playing with Post-It notes for quite a while, writing little notes back and forth to each other and to me.  Most of them said something like, "[Baby A] loves Mommy so much!" or "[Baby B] and [Baby A] love Sasha."

At first I thought B had just scribbled a bunch of letters...until she read it to me.  It says, "I am only available between two to twelve."

I'd been on the phone for a while that morning, trying to schedule a service appointment for our microwave.  She'd heard me say that I would be available after two, so that's what drove the content of the note, I'm sure.

I most love the spelling of "available" as EVEBUL.  I thought that was pretty good!!!

This may just be chicken scratch to the average person, but to this mama, this is a pretty amazing sentence.

Super Stuff!!!

Super highlights from my super-sweet girls!

1)      My baby girls are early to bed and early to rise, so their bedtime is a couple of hours before sunset.  They understand that the sun is up longer in the summer, although it’s still late.  Still, I know it’s not super comfortable for them to sleep in broad daylight.  My precious A asked me one morning, a sad look in her eyes, “Mommy, when will it be winter?”  In December, I told her, about six months from now.  “Will it be dark then when I go to sleep?”  Bless her heart for thinking ahead!

2)      I took the girls to the local craft store for their summer “craft camp” one morning.  The crafts that day were focused on Europe.  I stood for a few minutes, watching everyone get started.  The teacher held up a beaded structure and asked the kids – most of them school-age – what it was.  My B belted out the answer right away, “The Eiffel Tower!”  And where is the Eiffel tower?  “France!” A answered.  I was so proud of them for knowing the answer, but even more so for volunteering in front of a room full of older kiddos!

3)      I bought the girls some tracing paper this week, and they have been enthralled!  They’re getting better and better at holding the paper still and tracing over an image…usually something from a coloring book.  Then they’re content to color in their drawing.  They love mixing elements from different pages…a puppy from one page, next to a flower from another page.

4)      Baby A traced a picture of a bus one morning.  All by herself, she wrote the word “STOP” on the top of it.  The girls can’t read yet, but they’ve memorized quite a few words!

5)      We had a big family adventure on Saturday.  We loaded up bright and early and drove waaaay out in the country to an old country store that was originally founded in 1869!  It’s now owned by a former colleague of mine and his wife.  We ate a hearty country breakfast…and what a treat all that scenery was!

6)      Daddy has been telling the girls about “the boondocks”.  He has them trained to answer the question, “Where is Mommy from?” with “The boondocks!”  I find it marginally funny. 

7)      I haven’t formally admitted “defeat”, but I will confess that the last week we’ve been doing “quiet time” as opposed to nap time.  Sigh.  Some days, though, that’s been going pretty well…like when B declared she wanted to set up the train tracks to go all the way around the ottoman…and A built a “duck palace” (like at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis), complete with a functional-looking faucet for fresh water.  I love watching my babies play! 

8)      B exclaimed to her daddy one morning, “Daddy!  Want to practice some numbers?”  I love how much fun they find in numbers!!!

9)      From the back seat one day, Baby A said excitedly, "I have so many things I can teach you, Mommy!" Yes, you do, Baby Girl. Little does she know it goes far beyond her swimming prowess and tumbling moves.

10)   We finally bit the bullet and bought BIG GIRL BEDS for my BABIES.  Thank goodness we have another month or so before they’re delivered…I need that additional time to prepare myself.

Very thankful for so much super to report!

Super Stuff on a Monday

Very thankful for another super-filled week!

1)      The girls have been pretty proficient at writing their uppercase letters for a long time now.  This week, they’ve been very intent on practicing their lowercase letters.  They’re doing really well, and I never get enough of seeing their concentration.

2)      As a break from writing, I was working with the girls on some simple drawings.  I would draw something, like a bird, or a turtle, explaining as I went.  It was so fun to erase what I’d done and then see their attempts.  Most were really recognizable!

3)      We used to do this frequently, but we’d gotten out of the habit.  One day, as we were running errands, I re-introduced the idea of “counting syllables” to the girls.  Whereas we used to count words, they’ve been fixated on counting full sentences for the past few days.  They can’t seem to get enough!  It’s a great math exercise, too.

4)      On Thursday I had to meet with the builder at the new house for a few minutes.  I set the girls up in the car (in the driveway) with drawing pads and some magazines.  I was so incredibly proud how patiently they played…and I had to cackle when I opened the door to find all sorts of coupons from the magazines thrown over the front seats.  “Mommy, we found coupons for you!”

5)      I bought the girls some Crayola colored pencils this week, and they are IN LOVE.  They now have the precision of their skinny markers…in a non-messy form…and I think I am IN LOVE, too.  They’ve drawn some really intricate things, and they love to practice writing.

6)      The girls didn’t have school on Thursday, and I told them we’d have a special day.  They wanted to go to lunch at Cambridge Market, my favorite little bakery…and that was fine by me!  It makes me smile at what a grown-up lunch they ordered…a chicken salad sandwich on toasted swirl rye, a bowl of white bean chowder, and a cup of fresh fruit.  And they ate every morsel!

7)      I was completely astonished on Saturday morning…Daddy had run an errand and called on his way home.  We were talking about what we should do, and I said to him, “What do you think about K-I-T-E?” since it was a windy day.  Baby B thought for a moment, and then exclaimed, “K-I-T-E spells ‘kite’!  Mommy, let’s go to the park with our kites!”  Seriously.  I could not believe it!!!  The word ‘kite’ is part of one of their word puzzle sets, but it’s not anything we’ve ever focused on.  These little sponges amaze me!

 8)      On Saturday, blessed with more warm weather, we opted for a family hike at the local state park.  We hadn’t been since the fall, and it was so nice to hit all the trails.

9)      On Sunday, we had such a fun time celebrated St. Patrick’s Day.  The highlight for the girls was helping me make pretzel-M&M shamrocks…and they looked so stinkin’ cute in their aprons!

10)   B was on the verge of making a poor decision, and I gave her a very stern "mama look". I almost could not contain myself when she stared right back with the same expression...yikes!

11)   Baby A is still enjoying her little notebook, and her interest has really been piqued since getting her colored pencils.  This morning while I was making breakfast, she asked me how to write, “There was a very loud thunderstorm last night.”  It took some time…and three pages!...but she did it!

12)   And some of my favorite quotes from the week…

B: "Mommy, what protein are we having for breakfast?"

B: "Sissy, let's have a talk for a sec."

B: "Mommy, did God make Dr. Seuss thousands of years ago?" We have some work to do on the concept of time...and it's funny to see the girls try to synthesize the books we read, including some in Genesis, and a Dr. Seuss dinosaur book.

A: "Mommy, look! Eleven is ten fingers and one toe!"

Looking forward to another super week with my super little ladies!

If You Give a Girl a Pencil...

I'll admit I was a little less than thrilled when our pediatrician gave the girls each a pencil after their four-year old check-up.  Visions of puncture wounds and lead poisoning...and return trips to the pediatrician...began dancing through my head.

They were so excited, though.  I told them we would play with their pencils -- TOGETHER -- at home.  I found a pencil sharpener (I was pretty proud of that find...it's probably been 10 years since I used it, at least!), and the girls watched with rapt attention as the shavings spiraled off and the point grew.

The girls got out their little notebooks that Aunt Alison sent them for their birthday, and they were set.

B wrote her name and drew a few pictures, but she soon wandered back to her crayons and coloring books.  Baby A has been a different story.

 

At times she's been near-obsessed with her pencil and notebook.

And what does she want to do???

She **might** be modeling after her mama, when she gets such a charge out of making lists.  :)

Many days, she asks for her pencil and gets out her notebook as I'm working in the kitchen.  She'll ask me, "How do you spell CABINET?"  I name the letters, one by one, often sounding them out and asking her to guess at what comes next.  She'll go on like this for 20 minutes sometimes!

I just got her notebook out to jot down a few of the words she's listed over the past couple of weeks.

GEORGE
OPEN
ELPHIE
MISHA
CHAIR
SCARF
SKY
RAISIN
CLOUD
HEART
CABINET
MOMMY
DADDY
PILLOW
FRIEND
NAPKIN
MACARONI
CARD
LIGHT
BULB
SASHA
KITTEN
FLOWER

I was amazed 1) that I could read most of them; and 2) at the insight into her stream of consciousness at the variety of words she asked to spell.

So I can only surmise...

...if you give a girl a pencil, she'll ask for a notebook, and then she'll start to make lists...and before you know it, she'll be making spreadsheets to keep track of her publishing prowess...if you give a girl a pencil.

Maybe the pediatrician wasn't so wrong after all.

Super Stuff on a Monday (or Tuesday, as the Case May Be)

So thankful for some super fabulous highlights from the past week!

1)     We kicked off the week with the girls’ four-year old check-ups.  We were of course thankful for a healthy report…and we were also thankful for NO TEARS!  Our big girls took their shots in perfect stride, and we celebrated as a family with a cookie and milk at Panera. 

2)     After our appointment, the pediatrician gave the girls pencils…their first.  They were SO excited to come home and use them!  While we only use them under strict supervision [can you say lead poisoning and puncture wounds???], the girls have had so much fun, mostly making lists…which, incidentally, cracks me up!

3)     Monday afternoon it was nothing short of magical to watch the President take the oath of office with the girls.  I remember four years ago on inauguration day, the girls had been home from the hospital just five days.  What an incredible difference four years makes!!!

4)     One afternoon, the girls were practicing putting each others' hair up in a ponytail.  I kept a very close eye on things…thinking one false [accidental] move could result in hair pulling…but they were so cute together!  They didn’t know how to double-over the ponytail holder [nor did I attempt to teach them!], but they had so much fun getting loose ponytails in place.  I couldn’t help but think, this is one of the sweet joys of sisterhood!

5)     On Wednesday I took the girls to have their pictures made.  After a very successful session, we decided to treat ourselves to lunch.  It was a bit early, though, so the girls and I went to Walmart to pick up some Valentine’s Day craft supplies.  They were such little helpers…picking out fabric…and then they watched so intently as the lady cut it for us.  We then enjoyed an awesome lunch.  It doesn’t hurt that one of my favorite bakeries now tops the list of the girls’ favorite places, too.

6)     The girls have been giving high fives for almost as long as I can remember, but it dawned on me that they haven’t really high-fived each other.  They were practicing this week, and it was pretty hysterical.  There again, I kept in close range, as they came perilously close to hitting each other quite a few times…but it sure was cute!

7)     Baby A has been fixated on “fuzzy socks” since she got a pair for Christmas.  B doesn’t like them very much, so A has twice the number of pairs at her disposal.  She particularly enjoys them for playing hide-and-seek, since it makes her moves even more stealth across the hardwood floors.

8)     If I had it to do over again, I would have mounted a mirror in the den for the girls long ago.  Lately, the girls seem compelled to stop in front of any mirror and dance.  And Baby A has been making the most hilarious faces at herself (and me!) as we do our bedtime routine.  She makes me laugh every time.

9)     Baby B has continued with her awesome shows of affection.  She has been planting so many kisses on this mama…my cheeks, my hands, my arms…so sweet!  And at bedtime, as I’m leaving the girls’ room, I usually rub her back for a second.  One night she found my hand and gave me the biggest hug.  Sigh!

10)  On Friday we enjoyed an impromptu day at home with Daddy, thanks to sleet and ice.  It was such a nice day…the girls were playing hide-and-seek with Daddy before 7am, and we all enjoyed a hearty family breakfast.  Family time is always good…especially when you score some “extra”!

11)  Baby B has also continued to whisper secrets in my ear.  Most of the time they’re so silly…like, “Mommy, kiss my neck,” or, “Mommy, I love books,” or, “Mommy, the sun is shining.”  I think it’s so sweet how she likes to share something so simple with me.

12)  It had been FAR too long since we’d had a family sushi date, and Saturday was the day.  Daddy and I got our raw fish fix, and the girls ate every morsel of their shrimp teriyaki…along with several pieces of the crunchy shrimp roll we got for them.  I’m so thankful that we all love our favorite Japanese restaurant so much…and I can’t wait to start sharing real sushi with the girls in a few years!

13)  One morning Baby A "built" a computer from her blocks. She was "typing" on it intently, when B peered over her shoulder. "Sissy, where's the help button on here?" "There's no help button. Ask me, I can help you."  :)

14)  While they were playing over the weekend, Daddy was mocking the girls.  Baby A told him, "You need to use your big-girl voice!"  And later, poor Daddy got schooled on zoo animals.  “Daddy, that's a lorikeet, not a parrot!"

15)  And the quote of the week?  "Mommy, when are you going to shave your shoulders?"  I realized pretty quickly that B was looking at my razor in my cosmetics drawer.  “Mommy doesn’t shave her shoulders, Sweetie.”  “Well, under your shoulders?”  I couldn’t help but laugh at her description of “armpits”…makes sense!

I wrote this post on Monday morning, but it's somehow taken me through Tuesday afternoon to get it published.  We're off to another super (and bustling!) week!