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!

GREEN!

I'm linking up with Marcia for her monthly photo challenge.  This month's theme is GREEN.

I limited myself to photos taken this month, several of which were taken yesterday.  I haven't been quite as disciplined about getting my camera out and just taking pictures as of late, but I've had a few fun sessions, nonetheless.

This first one is a bit of a stretch, but I love the picture.  The downtown coffee shop had a special on lattes, as they were getting ready for a "pour" competition.  That prompted me to have lattes two days in a row, including on Tuesday afternoon when I introduced the girls to their first smoothie.  The barista asked if she could take a picture of my latte...and I said only if I can take a picture of you.  :)

There's a GREEN sticker for sale in the lower-right corner.

 These next three pictures were taken yesterday, with this challenge in mind.

A very sweet-natured pup in the downtown square, against GREEN grass.

I even let my girls dig in a sand exhibit for a GREEN rock.  (Go, Me!)

The first time these 20 piggies have ever stood in GREEN grass.

And I had to include one of my favorite pictures from our MoMs group picnic last weekend.

Ring Around the Rosie against a GREEN backdrop at the park.

Check out Marcia's blog for some more great photo inspiration!

Surely I Can't Be the Only Mama Who Feels This Way???

I remember summers as a child…long, sunny days with ample time to play outside.  Those first few days of Daylight Savings Time were especially magical.  I can almost hear myself exclaiming to my mom, “Can you believe it’s still light?!!!”

It seemed like such a gift, to have that extra daylight, to be able to play even longer.  And it being during the summer meant that bedtime wasn’t as critical, either.

At least that’s how I remember it.

Now, as a mother myself, I DREAD the time change.  That’s no surprise, though…as schedule-oriented as I have always been with the girls, throwing a 60-minute wrench in the day, twice a year, gives me plenty of anxiety.

[I should note that –KNOCK ON WOOD!!! – I’ve always been pleasantly surprised at how well our girls have done with the time change transition.  I stress about it for at least a full week, but they’ve generally rolled with the punches pretty well.]

What’s struck me this year, though, our girls now four, is that I really don’t like all this extra sunshine.

And that feels decidedly un-American.

Our girls have always gone right to bed, and then right to sleep.  Since Day 1, I’ve been able to put them down in their beds, sing our evening graces, whisper my goodnight wishes, and close the door behind me…and then move on to do something else.

Since April of this year, though, things haven’t gone quite as smoothly.

We have blackout shades in the girls’ bedroom, but they can only do so much against the girls’ westward-facing windows.  At least 50% of the time, I’m still hearing rollovers and sighs – and not the peaceful sounds of slumber – up to an hour after I put the girls to bed.

Thankfully they are relatively content to work themselves to sleep, but I’m still on high alert until I know they’re asleep.

So…this summer…I love the warm weather…the ice cream…the sundresses…the bubbles and sidewalk chalk…the impromptu trips to the park…and so many other things that come with this glorious time of year.

And although once upon a time I never could have imagined feeling this way…I’m ready for the 5pm sunsets of the dead of winter.

Even if it is un-American, surely I can’t be the only mama who feels this way??!!!

Swimming...Then and Now

Last May / June the girls took swimming lessons for the first time.  It wasn't a bad experience...they never fussed or cried...but they didn't truly love it, either.  I'm still thankful they took lessons...they got exposure to the water and some reference point for "swimming"...but I knew I wanted to take a different approach this year.

We started this year's swimming lessons on Tuesday of this week, and it has -- thankfully! -- been a completely different experience so far!

Miss Jeanie is our swim instructor.  We're at a small pool in her backyard.  The pool is probably only 4' deep or so throughout, so the instructors can walk around the pool the entire time.  As opposed to the ginormous Olympic-size indoor pool surrounded by huge bleachers and bellowing echoes, this setting seems to put the girls much more at ease.

Last year we struggled...through BOTH sessions of lessons...to get our faces wet.

This year, the girls have been much more receptive to Miss Jeanie's directions.  I think it's a huge help that going underwater hasn't been the sole focus of the lesson...she's mixed up blowing bubbles and teaching the girls to blink water out of their eyes with kicking and floating.

After two lessons, I'm very proud to report that both girls have put their entire faces in the water, including their eyes, which feels like a major accomplishment.  They are so proud of themselves, too!

Miss Jeanie uses a ton of positive reinforcement, and I LOVE that she plays in the water with the girls for a few minutes after each lesson.  They laugh hysterically and seem to think that's a riot!

Last year, we took lessons as part of a class.  There were usually one or two other children in the pool while we were, and each child got a five-minute turn, for a total of about 15 minutes per child.

This year, we're doing "semi-private" lessons, designed for two children...which is just perfect for our duo.  B has elected to go first for her 20-minute session, and then A has her turn.  That works so well in keeping the girls focused...and also allowing them to watch each other and cheer each other on. 

I'm not interested at this point in the girls learning each of the four competitive swim strokes.  At the age of four, I want them to enjoy being in the water, and to learn the basics of "swimming"...or at least how to work their way to the side of the pool if they needed to.

I think this approach is exactly what we need!  The girls are having a blast...they're excited to go...and they're excited to come home and tell their daddy the new things they learned that day.

And -- of course -- here are a few pictures!

B, practicing floating.

B, with her beloved kick board.

Baby A giggling with Miss Jeanie.

A big smile from Baby A.

And I had to include this one of Baby B...drying out under Mommy's sun hat while A had her lesson.  Swimming is VERY hard work!!!

Woe is B!

We've promised the girls a trip to the water park after they complete their lessons.  I can't wait for some family pool time!!!

Super Stuff Catch-up

I’ve only done it a handful of times, but I just KICK MYSELF when I miss one of my weekly highlight posts.  Ugh!!!  Thank goodness I’ve been keeping some notes, though, so for the past couple of weeks…here ‘goes!

1)      The girls were such good helpers making banana bread!  They mashed the bananas for me, measured and added the ingredients, and stirred in the nuts.  I melted the butter and greased and floured the pans, but they did the majority of the work!

2)      One night at bedtime, Baby A asked B to read the night-night story.  B happily obliged.  She picked a book she knows backwards and forwards, “Vicki the Vet”.  While that’s not a traditional bedtime story in our house, I LOVED seeing B “read”…and I LOVED that Baby A asked her to do it.

3)      The next night, Baby A wanted to “read”.  She needed a little more prompting on the book she chose, but I was SO proud that she wanted to try, and I was SO proud that B sat back and let A have the floor.

4)      We met some new friends at the bouncy house a couple of weeks ago.  I loved seeing my friend C’s girls together with mine, and it was extra-nice to be able to all go out to lunch.

5)      As I was taking the girls to the zoo a few weeks ago, Baby A asked how much longer until we got off the interstate (which seems to be her question of choice).  I told her we had about 15 minutes left, and she said, “15…5-5-5!”  Wow!!!

6)      For their preschool closing ceremony, I put B in a yellow dress, and A in a white dress with blue plaid and yellow trim.  The girls were ecstatic when Daddy came down with a navy plaid shirt with a tiny yellow stripe in it.  Baby A noticed it first, “Daddy!  Your shirt matches my dress!”

7)      One day in the car, Baby A said, out of the blue, “I have the sweetest Daddy in the whole wide world and I love him.”

8)      The girls have long said they want to be vets.  They started working through the details together one day – of their own accord – and here’s what they came up with…Baby A said she would be a vet in the morning and a Mommy in the afternoon…and then B said she would be a Mommy in the morning and the vet in the afternoon…and some days they could switch up.  B said, “If you can’t find me, you can go to A, and if you can’t find A, you can come to me.”  I think it sounds like an awesome set-up!

9)      Since the girls declared that “helping Mommy in the kitchen” was their favorite part of Christmas this past year, I’ve been trying to get them more involved in cooking.  One day they helped me make juvec (which I describe as Hungarian jambalaya).  I taught them to pull the stems from the mushrooms, and they did a fantastic job!  They added all the ingredients and helped me stir the pot.  They were such good helpers!

10)   On Memorial Day, I had my heart set on grilling, and then making S’mores for dessert…what would be the girls’ first introduction.  We had a malfunction with the grill, so we had to do our burgers indoors.  The girls didn’t get the full experience of roasting marshmallows over the grill…but they were enthralled watching the marshmallows expand in the microwave.  And of course they LOVED the ooey-gooey-chocolatey mess!

11)   For their upcoming tumbling class, the girls will need leotards.  They were SO excited to shop for them a couple of weeks ago.  Even more exciting, I learned, though, was finding “exercise shorts” to wear over their leotards.  I hadn’t thought about how often they see their daddy and me in Umbros or Adidas shorts, and they were ecstatic to find shorts like Mommy and Daddy’s!

12)   One day the girls were sitting at the table, coloring.  I couldn’t help but smile as I listened to them “yes, ma’am”-ing each other.  Hee hee!

13)   We were working on a little thank-you project for the girls’ preschool teachers, involving all their classmates.  One of my friends got a kick out of hearing my girls ask straight away, “Mommy, is this washable ink?”  I was reminded of that when I heard the girls playing in the bathtub, “Would you like some hand sanitizer?”  “Yes, thank you!  Would you?”  Hahaha!

14)   And then, a few days later, I asked B to tell me a story…"Once upon a time, Lily [her doll] wanted to change the garbage." And then what happened? "She changed it." [pause] "But she had these little gloves on her hands to keep them from getting dirty." I hope I'm not creating two little [germophobic] monsters!!!

15)   The girls have been pretty focused on my food lately.  Once, out of the blue, Baby A turned to me at supper and said, “I love this, Mommy,” as serious as she could be.  HA!

16)   I overheard Baby B, correcting her sister: "No, Sissy...it's 'I WAS', not 'I were'. You can say, "IF I were a ladybug, I would have black spots,' but otherwise, you say, 'I was.'"

17)   And Baby B again… "Mommy I just wrote it on my calendar. I'm going to behave well today." Learning early, what gets measured, gets done!

18)   Baby A proclaimed one day, in a fit of giggles, "Mommy, I'm as smart as a door!”  I have always heard what they say about doorknobs…but I guess doors themselves are pretty smart.  Who knew???

19)   Baby B’s wisdom…"Unfortunately, mosquitoes are very smart, and they know I am a sweet baby girl."

20)   Baby B’s recap of a shopping trip…”And since we had only a few things today, we went through the self-checkout, because it was much more expeditious than the regular checkout."  I love the commentary...and the vocabulary!

21)   And I could hardly contain myself when the girls were playing with their kitchen and their stuffed animals.  I overheard, "Look, Chicks! Scrambled eggs!!!" and all I could think was, “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?”!!!

Hoping to get back on track...SOON!  I don't want to miss a moment with my sweet baby girls!!!

Neglecting My Children

That's what I feel like I've been doing lately.

And I hate it.

I shared this on Facebook recently, and I guess it's time to make it blog-official, too.  We are building a house!  We are so excited, and so grateful.

That means, of course, that our current house is on the market. 

Ultimately, I'm very thankful to have had such a busy week...

I've been picking out finishes for the new house, so that means we're getting close to completion (within the next 6 weeks or so, anyway).

And I've been tidying and polishing and fluffing our current house, as we've shown it every day but one over the past week.

Again, that's ALL good.  But it's been HARD, too.

I can handle the multi-tasking...in fact, I thrive on that in a lot of ways...but what's hard to handle is what it's meant for the girls.

I've been home, save for a couple of meetings related to the new house, but I haven't spent nearly as much time on the floor with them. The house is in very good shape, but there are always last-minute things to do before a showing.  And about half of the showings we've had have been on pretty short notice.

The worst day was when we got an early-morning email from a family from out of town who'd seen our house a couple of days prior.  They wanted me to send them pictures of our house.  I probably should have had pictures made already, but I hadn't.  So I spent the better part of an hour making pictures...then I had to edit them and put them into a cohesive format...and then it took a few tries before they were able to receive the file via email.  When I finally got confirmation they got the pictures, it was 11:21am.

I had spent THE ENTIRE morning consumed by the house.

The girls had been troopers, spending most of the morning coloring at the table.  They were missing me being with them, though.  It's not that I typically spend every moment engaged with them, but when we're not actively playing together, I'm usually easily accessible.

That day, and quite a few other times, I had to appeal to them.  "Babies, Mommy is doing something very important towards the sale of our house.  I can't sit down to color with you right now.  I promise we will color together in a little bit."

And I hate what it's like for the girls when we are showing the house, too.  I ask them to sit quietly at the table and color.  That's all fine, but it just feels so unnatural...in effect I'm asking them to pretend they're not there, while their daddy and I walk around the house with other people.

We almost always involve our girls in conversations, and it just feels so strange to purposefully cut them out of the scene.

Had these been an isolated incidents, I wouldn't think twice about it.  Stuff happens, and the girls need to understand that.  But it feels like it's morning, and then afternoon, and then again something the next day and the next.

It has been heartbreaking to hear the girls say in their sweet little voices, "Mommy, I just want you to snuggle with me."  Or, "Mommy, we haven't read any books today."

I know this is just a moment in time.  I know this will all pass, and we'll be back to our watercolors and birthday party pretend play.

I'm trying to sneak in time when I can, because I don't know when the next phone call is coming.

[Before 7am this morning, the girls and I built a "bunny stroller" from blocks, laid out a "sidewalk" from blankets and pillows (on which to stroll the bunnies, of course), and they helped me make banana nut muffins.]

I know we'll make it, but, whew...this is hard.