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!

What a Wonderful Surprise!!!

I got home from work yesterday, and immediately I could tell there was a lot of energy in the air.  The girls were beaming.  “We have a surprise!!!”

They were running and jumping and giggling and conspiring.  I had no idea what to expect, but it was obviously something BIG.

Their eyes alight with joy, they could not wait to lead me to the office.  I found a CLEAN WORK TABLE.  Wow.  Seriously.  That is a big accomplishment…one that usually takes pulling some teeth to get done.

Hubby told me, “It was B’s idea.”  She beamed even bigger.

“And it was my idea to clean upstairs!” Baby A added.

While I got supper ready, the girls were still buzzing about.  “Don’t look at the table!!!” they cautioned me.  They set the table completely, and then they exhibited the most amazing manners throughout the meal.  All the while, they were still beaming, and whispering to each other off and on.  They were SO excited, and SO proud.

After supper, I told the girls I wanted to make them a special dessert to celebrate what an amazing job they’d done.  They were excited, but then they looked to each other.  After more whispering, A said, “Can we have about five minutes?”  (She said this in the most grown-up way, too...one that made me chuckle and wish I'd somehow recorded her seriousness.)

While the girls cooked up more surprises, I sauteed some apples, which we had over ice cream.  YUM!

And then it was time for the Grand Tour.

The five minutes they’d asked for went to dusting.  Yes.  Seriously.  It wasn’t great dusting…they used a tissue to wipe the window sills (HA!!!)…but the effort – and the PRIDE – was there.

They proudly showed me how they’d straightened their books in the den, and then they led Hubby and me upstairs.

Although their playroom was in decent shape to begin with, they’d straightened it up…and even organized their toy bins.  (THAT is BIG!!!)

They had everything ready in the bathroom for our night-night routine.  And the last stop was their bedroom, where they’d pulled down their beds AND laid out their pajamas.

Wow.

This was a wonderful surprise, of course, made 1,000 times more wonderful by the girls’ pride and joy in what they’d done.

Let’s hope this is the start of a wonderful trend!  (A mama can hope, right??!!!)

It Finally Happened!!! But These Girlies Can't Keep a Secret for Anything!

Since they were 2 ½ weeks old, I’ve been having the girls’ pictures taken at regular intervals.  Certainly they change so very quickly, and I just don’t want to forget a thing. 

As often as we see our two favorite photographers, you’d think it would be old hat by now, but those occasions tend to make me sweat…there’s just so much pressure!  Once upon a time, the pressure was about trying to anticipate spit-up before it happened on a beautiful smocked dress.  I now know that was nothing in comparison to the pressure to try to make my girls SMILE.

I know my girlies are vibrant and radiant and full of life…and full of giggles and laughs and smiles…but turning on that charm when the camera lights start flashing?  At times it’s felt near-impossible.

Yes, I scheduled the girls to have pictures taken regularly so that I wouldn’t miss anything…and…also…knowing that ONE DAY, we’d finally hit the mark where they would SMILE on request.

Even though we just had two sets of holiday pictures made in November…and we have the girls’ birthday pictures coming up soon (and maybe Easter pictures, too)…I couldn’t resist scheduling a Valentine’s Day mini-session with our favorite family photographer.

We’ve never had professional Valentine’s Day pictures done before, and the backdrops she posted online were so stinkin’ adorable.  And…it has been TWO MONTHS since our last pictures.  Maybe the girls would be ready to SMILE???

On Wednesday morning we got all clean and shiny, dressed in our bright red best, and headed to see Miss Andi.  The girls were thrilled to find her Christmas card before we left.  They were full of conversation about her sweet babies, and about her mom’s dog, whom we saw the last photo session we had with her.

As the girls were getting into position, I told them that I thought we should SURPRISE Daddy with these pictures…what better Valentine’s Day present could he ever ask for???

They were so full of the most adorable, sometimes mischievous grins, every time I reminded them of “surprising Daddy”.

SCORE!!!  It finally happened!!!  The girls SMILED – nicely! – on request!!! 

But what were the very first words out of B’s mouth when her daddy opened the door on Wednesday night?  “Daddy!  SURPRISE!!!  We had Valentine’s Day pictures made with Miss Andi!!!”

Oh, well…you can’t win them all.  I’ll gladly take my SMILING pictures, even minus the element of surprise. 

Or, really…Daddy will probably have forgotten about the pictures in a couple of weeks, so it may actually be a SURPRISE after all!

I Love Surprises!!!

No doubt it started as this mama being afraid the slightest bit of anticipation would disturb the girls’ sleep habits…

Nothing to see here, girls! 

Those suitcases in the hallway???  Oh, just doing a bit of reorganizing. 

The scramble to wash every last stitch of laundry???  Oh, just getting caught up with chores. 

The extra snacks on the counter???  Oh, just cleaning out the pantry.

I have this horrific vision of the girls being too excited about an upcoming trip…a visit to the zoo…friends coming over…such that they wouldn’t eat or sleep (or that they’d ask me 1,759 times, “Is it time yet???”).  I rarely tell them anything until moments before liftoff.

While it wasn’t my original intent, I soon found that the girls L-O-V-E surprises.  And I have grown to really, really love surprising the girls!!!

I believe there’s little that compares to the absolute joy in a little one’s eyes…the squeal of excitement…the breathless anticipation upon learning there’s a surprise in store.  There’s magic in this wonderful age, and the element of surprise is just one way of really capturing it.

The girls’ birthday party is coming up on Saturday…and they don’t know it!!!

Actually, by now, they know they’re having a party, and it’s “in a few days”.

I hope I can keep the rest under tabs until Saturday morning.

I can HARDLY WAIT to wake them up that day with a sly gleam in my eyes.  “Mommy has a surprise for you!!!  Do you want to know what it is???”

They’ve been asking to go to the bounce house for weeks now.  How CrAzY will they go when…bit by bit…I reveal to them that we’re going to the bounce house…for their birthday party…with their friends???!!!

And to top it off, it’s a pajama party…and the girls will be surprised by NEW pajamas!!!

They’re going to flip, I just know…and I can’t wait to see it.