Ardent (if Off-Key) Patriotism

In the morning meeting at the girls’ school, they sing a patriotic song each day.  They’ll stick with one song for a while before rotating on to another one.  The girls started singing bits and pieces of songs last year sometime, and it made me think we hadn’t sung any of those at home.

The girls know scores of kiddie songs from the CDs we’ve been listening to since they were tiny, but I have to credit their school for their knowledge of some [arguably more important] tunes.

The girls know all the words to the Star Spangled Banner, and they love it.  Yankee Doodle, God Bless America, and America, the Beautiful are also among their favorites.

I just have to chuckle sometimes at how much the girls love to sing these songs.  It’s not unusual over the past few months for us to be driving down the road, belting out our national anthem (in terrible harmony, I might add…but that’s part of the chuckle, I guess).  If someone is having a challenging moment, I’ve even used one of these songs to refocus their attention.  In no time, they’re lost in the lyrics, singing their little hearts out.

As I was planning to write this down, it occurred to me that I had similar swells of patriotism when I was a little girl.  I was probably a little older – as I remember I was already pretty good at whistling – but my one of my very favorite songs was Hail to the Chief.

(My mom drove my dad’s truck for a while, and I remember she’d laugh.  “What?  Do you think the president is sitting in the back of the truck?!”  HA!  That always made me chuckle, too.)

Maybe it’s a little kid thing…or maybe it’s just coincidence…but I am grateful to the girls’ school for instilling a love of patriotic songs.  And I’m thankful for recalling such a fun memory from my childhood.  May these be fun memories the girls will one day recall themselves.

Super Stuff on a Saturday!

So thankful to have recorded some of the Super Stuff from around our house the past couple of weeks!

The girls aren’t always in lock-step with each other, but it’s so sweet when they are.  A few nights ago, after supper, Baby A planted a big, spontaneous hug on Baby B as we were heading into the den to play a game.  Made this mama’s heart smile!

On the way to school, Baby A was talking about how old she would be when she can drive.  “I’ll be able to drive when I’m in college…but you’ll still pick me up, right, Mommy?”  Absolutely.

Our kitty Miki is famous for wanting to sit in my lap, specifically during mealtimes.  (He’s really good and doesn’t reach for food…he just likes being there!)  He was all comfy after supper one night, and A asked if I would put him in her lap.  I did, and he sat there for the longest time.  She was in furry baby heaven!

I took the girls for ice cream cones at the Dairy Queen last weekend to celebrate A losing a tooth.  Once upon a time, this would have been major anxiety for me.  I realized most of the way through, though, that the girls were eating their cones WITHOUT MAKING ANY MESS.  Wowza.

On the way to school one morning:
B: "Mommy, what if the earth is just a tiny little spec, like in Horton Hears a Who?"
Me: "Well, it really kind of is, in the scheme of the universe."
A: "Yeah, and it would take a thousand years to reach another galaxy."
...Little minds. Big thoughts. 

Last Saturday the girls wanted to play outside for a few minutes after we got home from some errands.  We messed around with a few different toys, and then B got out a small football she got as a prize at school.  I did my best to show her how to throw it…and she did a really good job!!!  There were even a couple of nice, tight spirals!!!

Serious about football!

We watched a few minutes of the Kentucky Derby last Saturday.  Right before the race, I was caught really off guard that the girls were singing along, word for word, to "My Old Kentucky Home".  At least they can also sing Sweet Home Alabama!

Different-height Twin Problem #17. I laid out the girls' clothes for the day, which happened to include matching sweaters.  Although their jeans were different, the girls happened to put on the wrong pair.  We were running out the door when I noticed A's jeans were high waters, and B's were dragging the floor. Hee hee!  Thank goodness they were conciliatory and agreed to switch.

Outta the mouths of babes, at bedtime last Sunday night: "Mommy, why is the weekend so short? It seems like it just started! I wish it could be 10 days long."  Credit to Baby A for this unadulterated insight.

Playing on Saturday...JOY!!!

The girls were playing with magnets last weekend. They came barreling downstairs to breathlessly tell me what they'd just learned. Then, "C'mon, Sissy!  Let's go see what else we can discover!!!"

So Much Super Stuff!!!

I have been absolutely terrible about carving out time to write over the past few months.  I won’t lament that [here]…but I am very thankful to have jotted down a few gems over the past few weeks.  Super stuff, for sure!

1)    When GG was here for Thanksgiving, we surprised her by having uploaded her picture to JibJab, the video making site.  We were all in hysterics, seeing her dance online to Feliz Navidad, the girls along beside her.  She had never seen anything like it, and just couldn’t quit laughing.

2)    In the fall, a children’s author came to visit the girls’ school.  They were so impressed, and they told me all about what he said.  When we brought out our Christmas books for the season, my A noticed he illustrated one of their books.  “HENRY COLE!!!!!  Mommy, HENRY COLE!!!!!  He came to our school!!!!!  HENRY COLE!!!!!”  I LOVE her enthusiasm…AND that she would read the name of the illustrator by herself!!!!!

3)    One of our first Christmas activities was to make snowflakes.  I got out some coffee filters and showed the girls how to fold and cut them.  The girls were intrigued.  And when B finished hers, she must have said five times, in awe, “Mommy!  It’s just so beautiful!!!”

4)    I took the girls to see Rudolph the Musical at our local performing arts center.  It was our first time to go to a show there, and the girls were in awe.  What a pleasure it was for me to take them...to introduce them to one of my childhood favorites, at that!  And My A, in particular, was sitting on the edge of her seat!  I’d prepped the girls that the Abominable Snow Monster would be a part of the show.  They were nervous, but they both did great, keeping it in perspective.  My A later said that was her favorite part of the program.  HA!

5)    The girls learned (maybe from school? as we didn’t focus much on it during our reading at home?) to name the 8 reindeer.  They are fiercely passionate about doing so, any time they see a drawing of Santa and his reindeer…and then they interrupt whatever story or situation to break into song about “the most famous reindeer of all”.  Hee hee!

An elf and a reindeer...my loves!!!

6)    We had a really crazy day on Friday before Christmas.  It’s a post (or two) in itself, involving numerous X-rays and a potentially broken arm.  When the day finally closed on a high note (with the option for us to just watch B for any signs of distress), I told her we should celebrate at the Dairy Queen.  That baby girl looked like she had a new lease on life…that was definite cause for a celebration!

7)    During our Crazy Day on Friday, I told B at one point (before it was all over), “It’s been a crazy day.”  She tearfully replied, “And I don’t like it!”  Me, either, Baby Girl!!!

8)    On the first weekend of Christmas break, we were having a pretty ordinary day.  We were doing laundry, coloring, cleaning up a bit.  Out of the blue, my precious B said, “Mommy, I just love days like this!”  Me, too!!!  Oh, how I miss our unstructured time!!!

9)    One morning during Christmas, my A asked, “Are we going out today?”  I originally told her no, to which she exclaimed, “YES!!!  I can wear my pajamas ALL DAY LONG!!!”  I later remembered we had an errand to run.  She reluctantly got dressed…but she came home and put her PJs back on!

10) WE GOT KITTENS!!!  The girls have been looking forward to this for months and months…and so have we.  They are the sweet big sisters to those furry babies!

11) We got our kittens on December 21, and of course we had to make stockings for them.  We decided to use the stockings the girls brought home from kindergarten…we cut out the kittens’ initials from felt and glued them on.  The girls were so excited to hang them over the fireplace!

12) A couple of days after we got the kittens, A asked to spend Quiet Time in the basement with them and her daddy.  She “napped” on the couch with them (I CANNOT believe she slept…but she was quiet for a good while!).  Afterwards she said, “This was the best quiet time EVER!”

13) We went to a sandwich shop over the holiday break, one we hadn’t been too in a long time.  I could not believe that B walked in and immediately remembered that her daddy spilled a cup of water the last time we were there – a year ago!  These girlies don’t forget anything!!!

14) Before Christmas, B was taking guesses at what Daddy bought for Mommy.  When she realized she was right, she said, “That’s what you got her for her birthday, and for Mother’s Day!”  (Yes, I love dark chocolate…but Hubby is not very original.)  B’s horror and her accusation just made me laugh!

15) On the topic of presents, A worked hard to wrap up a piece of her artwork for each of us.  I overheard her ask B, “Do you have your gifts made for Mommy and Daddy yet?”  B said, “I don’t need to make anything…they already have the best gifts ever,” referring to herself and her sister.  Hahaha!!!

16) On Christmas Eve, we were buzzing around…doing the last few preparations for the big day.  During Quiet Time, I told the girls that Mommy needed a nap.  My A asked if she could snuggle with me and nap, too.  I’m so thankful I took her up on that…we piled on the love seat, stretched out, and that precious baby slept in my arms.  Merry Christmas to me!!!

17) Baby A has been so affectionate lately (not that that’s a new thing).  One of her favorite things to say is, “I wish I could snuggle with you every single minute of every single day.”  Me, too, Baby Girl!!!

18) I usually go up to check on the girls in their beds before I go to sleep.  As I pulled up the covers around A, she stirred ever so slightly…and then she whispered, “Thank you, Mommy.”  Heart. Melts.

Super Stuff, for sure!!!

Super Stuff!

This was the girls’ first week of four-year old preschool.  Between that and lots of house stuff going on, it’s been a busy one!  Still, I’m so thankful for lots of SUPER stuff to cite!

1)      I loved seeing how giddy the girls were to get their backpacks and lunch boxes ready for school on Monday.  They had to practice opening and closing every little pocket and zipper, and then they had to parade around the house in full gear.  I remember being so proud of getting a new lunch box when I was a little girl…it’s just crazy that I now have my own excitable pair!

2)      As the girls were getting dressed for their first day of preschool on Tuesday, my sweet B said, "Mommy, can we wear the same thing today so people will know we go together?"

3)      I think it was Baby A who started this a few weeks ago, and it’s now become part of our nighttime routine.  The girls take turns choosing a bedtime story each night.  These days, the trick is to hide the book before Mommy and Sissy get back to the bedroom.  Daddy is usually the accomplice, although so far, the book has been hidden in only a couple of places.  It’s so much fun to watch the girls try to “trick” Mommy.

4)      Daddy has been trying to teach the girls the “slap hands” game (I don’t know the name of it…where you try to trick your opponent into pulling her hands back before they get slapped).  The girls are heee-larious!!!  They get the concept of the game, but their reflexes are pretty slow.  Baby A will say, “Mommy, I want you to pull your hands back verrrrry sloooooowly towards your body.”  HA! 

5)      Baby B’s pronunciation is typically very good, and I think she used to say the word “normally” correctly.  She’s turned it into an exaggerated “NERmally”, though, and it never fails to crack me up.

6)      Baby A was looking at a picture from her first birthday party, the girls with their smash cakes. "Mommy, I'd like a whole cake again sometime, OK?"  She is her father’s daughter!

7)      I haven’t written much about it…because I still don’t quite want to believe it’s true…but the girls haven’t been napping over the past month.  But this week – once for Baby B and twice for Baby A – the girls ASKED to nap!  Bliss!  And of course we had to celebrate the double nap with ICE CREAM!

8)      I feel kinda silly admitting I’ve never made a smoothie.  I almost think I’ve never had a smoothie, come to think of it.  The girls got cookbooks for Christmas, and they oogle them from time to time.  As a special treat on the first day of school, I had them pull out their book and find the smoothie recipe.  They helped me make a strawberry-banana smoothie (mixed with vanilla yogurt).  They thought it was the best treat ever!

9)      I took the girls to the yogurt shop one afternoon, and I couldn’t help but sing along to some of the songs they were playing.  A John Mayer tune came on, and I told the girls he is one of the best guitar players in the world.  My A contributed to the conversation, very nonchalantly, "Elton John is one of the best singers."  And then B piped in, "Sissy, it's SIR Elton John."

10)   Few things make me happier than seeing one of my girls walk by the other and plant a sweet kiss on the top of her head or her cheek. (Of course those kisses occasionally evolve into hugs...then tumbles...then brawls...but the initial contact is so very precious.)

11)   The girls were playing one morning with a set of color-coded stacking miniature chairs. Baby A came barreling into the kitchen with a wild look in her eyes, "Mommy! Three six's is 18!" I love seeing the wheels turning in their little minds!

12)   When I walked in their room one morning, B greeted me with the Beatles' "Yesterday." Together, we segued into "Here Comes the Sun"...until Baby A rolled over and growled, "STOP THE SONGS!!!" They're a bit different in the mornings.

So thankful for the SUPER in our week!

Super Stuff!!!

One of the biggest super things about the past week is that our girls made it through the Independence Day holiday largely unscathed by the raucous fireworks displays every evening in our neighborhood.  Baby A woke up in a panic a couple of times, early on, but the girls slept through 99% of the madness.

I attribute this largely to the fact that they haven’t napped (the ONLY silver lining I can find to note in that development!)…the poor babes are EX-HAUS-TED at the end of the day.

So what else made this past week super???

1)      We had a small get-together of preschool friends at the park on Wednesday morning.  It was so sweet to see the girls and their friends (and for me to catch up with their mamas!).

Running to the playground!

 2)      On Thursday we celebrated the 4^th of July by having our dear friends over for dinner.  Among many other highlights, my very favorite was seeing the girls absolutely enamored with precious Baby Girl A, then 2 ½ weeks old.  The girls had never seen a baby that small before, and they could not take their eyes off her.

3)      We celebrated the girls’ half birthday on Friday.  We had such a fun family day, and one of the unanticipated highlights (for me!) was how neatly the girls ate their cupcakes.  I was prepared to wipe them down afterwards, but I hardly needed to!  It was nice…but maybe a bit bittersweet, too.  After all, there’s something pretty adorable about icing-covered babes.

4)      I wish I could have recorded the girls as we sang “Happy Half Birthday” – twice, of course.  Baby A sang right along with us as we serenaded her.  When it was B’s turn, though, she sat so still, with a huge smile on her face, as she listened to the three of us.  It was so sweet to see how differently they soaked it all in.

5)      On Saturday we went to a birthday party for a very sweet two-year old.  The girls were tickled to decorate the wrapping paper for her gifts, and they had such a good time at the bounce house party.  While none of the other parents jumped, the girls absolutely insisted I get in with them.  Eventually I could not deny their repeated requests…and this mama had a blast, too!

6)      At the bounce house, they had a DJ set up, playing kiddie songs and doing karaoke.  B was watching very intently as another couple of kids sang songs.  I asked her if she wanted to sing, and to my surprise, she said YES!  She started with Itsy-Bitsy Spider, and then did a medley of kiddie songs.  The DJ asked if she wanted to continue, and she then did a medley of kiddie church songs, too.  I could not believe how much fun she was having, standing on stage in front of everyone!!!  (Baby A was very content to stand with Mommy and cheer her sister on.)

7)      On Sunday morning, after what seems like day after day after day of rain, we made an impromptu decision to go to the zoo.  We’ve been so busy this summer, I cannot believe this was our first trip since May!  It was so nice to see all our beloved animal friends.

8)      After we made our rounds at the zoo and had lunch at a favorite restaurant, we made another impromptu decision, to travel to the next town over to try to find a former professor / colleague we knew in Alabama.  It took a little detective work, but it was so cool to see him after 13 years, and to see our girlies sitting there chatting it up with his family.

9)      We celebrated Daddy’s and Sasha’s birthdays on Monday.  The girls had a very large time decorating wrapping paper, and they were mesmerized to watch Sasha enjoy her new catnip pillow.

Sasha hugging her pillow, amid the pieces of laundry she's collected this week.

10)   All day, they kept calling Daddy, “Birthday boy.”  As in, “Come here, Birthday Boy, let me give you a kiss.”  Hahaha!

Taking Daddy to lunch for his birthday!

11)   B loves to make up songs, and it always cracks me up to listen to the lyrics.  I was slightly disturbed by one of her most recent medleys, though: "Run, little bunny, run, run...the fox is out in the woods."  I believe that was a take from “Bunny’s Noisy Book”, one of our favorite nighttime stories, but it still seemed so ominous for a four-year old!

12)   And in another installment of Baby B explains the world: "I can think about two things at once, because my brain has two halves."

So thankful for this super stuff!!!

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!