HOORAY FOR SPRING!!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! We've decided this is our family holiday, seeing as we're Irish and all. :) We had green beans and green jell-o for dinner and everything! This is our leprechaun, Pearl, that we made at playgroup a couple of weeks ago. We've been growing her hair for St. Pattie's Day ever since and it came in fabulously.


Analise and Kate have been enthralled with all of the flowers blooming this spring (even though they are driving everyone's allergies insane!) They love picking all of the little weed flowers they find when we go on walks and the clover blossoms are their favorite. And yes, Kate has eaten some. (She also picked a noodle I'd stepped on off the bottom of my shoe and ate that this week also. But that's another story . . .)
This week we rediscovered hopscotch. Aly remembered it from when I taught it to her in North Carolina, but none of the kids in the neighborhood knew what it was. How sad! All we needed was a board drawn on our driveway with sidewalk chalk and a rock for each girl and we were set. The kids loved it! Here's Aly in action with her "lucky hat" that she made at a birthday party.

I love park days! It's the perfect weather right now - not too hot, not too cold. They've started up playgroup in our ward and I didn't realize how much I missed it - kids get to play and be active in the sunshine and I get to socialize with other moms. What could be better? Kate likes to sit on the big kids swings now and will just laugh and laugh and say, "I funny."

Here's the girls coloring - actually on paper. Kate went to church today looking like a Smurf because she got ahold of a blue marker, hid in the closet, and colored herself. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. The markers are now out of everyone's reach and the girls can only use them by coming to me first. But I'm glad Kate likes coloring. It's making sacrament meeting a little easier.

Oh, and a few more updates on Kate - she went to her first birthday party yesterday and was in heaven! There was a bounce house and she loved being knocked off her feet (she started singing "ashes, ashes, we all fall down!"). And finally, Kate is definitely in the temper tantrum stage. But it just cracks me up because after the initial meltdown she'll come to me and say, "eyes crying; eyes sad." I tell her I'm sorry that her eyes are sad and are they ready to be happy? She'll say "mmh-hmm" and we'll move on with our day.

Much Ado About Nothing

The past couple of weeks have been pretty normal, or, as normal as we get. "We act normal, Mom, I want to be normal!" (Lise quoting The Incredibles).

The Grocery Store - Everything was going smoothly until we reached the produce and Kate decided she'd had enough. While I was inspecting tomatoes she somehow managed to wriggle herself free from the securely fastened belt buckle and dive head first into the cart (thank goodness not the floor!) Lucky for her I had bought two dozen hamburger buns for the ward potluck that Sunday to break her fall. And the people at the church potluck wouldn't know that the smooshed buns were from me, right? Also, as I was unloading the groceries when I got home there was a mysterious package of hot dog buns that I hadn't put into the cart. I guess Kate had gotten greedy while we were in the bread aisle (she knew she was going to need some cushioning later). Now I just need to buy some hot dogs next time I go to the store . . .

Analise's (Un)Birthday - Ever since I took cookies into Aly's class in November for her birthday I've heard tales of "when I take cupcakes to my school for my birthday" from Lise. (Her birthday is June 30). So we decided to bring cupcakes to preschool this past week for Lise's unbirthday. They sang to her, gave her a b-day pencil and everything. I always wanted a baby born in March . . . (and no, I'm not planning on getting pregnant this June, so don't even think it!)

Thanks to Dora - Dora is very central in our home. Everytime I tell Lise, "Grab your backpack. Let's Go" (to preschool) "Jump In! Vamanos! You can lead the way-ay, hey, HEY!" inevitably follows (along with the rest of the theme song). We've got Dora shoes, books, umbrellas, even a hand-me-down Dora talking house. Because of her Kate can be heard counting "5, 6, 7, 8" and her vocabulary is huge! I even saw Kate saying "hi, bye, adios (ayios)" to her shadow on the wall! Kate could be bilingual and I'll have Dora to thank for it. Gracias, Dora!

The Chicken Dance - So, they taught Lise's class the chicken dance - with words. When she came home from school she was demonstrating the dance to me and this is how it went: "beak, wings, SHAKE OUT THAT EGG, clap, clap, clap, clap!" (Are they not allowed to say bootie or even tail feathers in that school?!?)

Sparkly Make-up - Aly got some Hannah Montana play make-up as part of her goodie bag from a b-day party this week. Oh boy, that's been an adventure. Aly and Lise have been putting it on to play and it's hilarious to listen to them. After a meal Aly will tell Lise she needs to "touch up" her lipstick. Where did she get that from? (I never reapply make-up after my first go of the day.) Kate, never willing to be left out of ANYTHING, helped herself to the Aloe Vera and toothpaste and was rubbing them on her cheeks before we knew what was happening. And even Chris and I have noticed each other's faces "sparkling" after a brush with the girls. As Aly says, "We're movie stars!"

More Toothpaste Drama - On another occasion, I discovered in a not-so-pleasant way, that Kate had gotten into the toothpaste again and had spilled a glob of it onto the toilet paper in the girl's bathroom. Use your imagination . . . (or don't!)

What is Pizza Made of? - Aly asked me this question and as I'm listing off things like sauce, crust, cheese, etc. she's like, "no, no, no. Molecules! Pizza is made out of molecules." I'm like, "Aly, everything is made out of molecules" and she says, "I know, but I was just trying to think of a good example for you."

New Talents - Lise has started sounding out words using the Starfall website - go Lise! Aly has finally learned how to stay on the road playing Mario Cart (and came in 3rd place once!) And Kate has learned to curl her tongue. Chris has been working with her on it for months. (They sit across from each other at the dinner table, what else can I say?)

A Sense of accomplishment - Okay, so this one is only for me personally to feel good about myself having a productive week. The first of the two weeks I was an absolute slug and got nothing done except talking to people on the phone and my toenails painted. I think I was feeling sorry for myself having my hubby gone that first week. You'd think after all the time we spend apart it wouldn't be such a big deal, but I miss my best friend, ya know? So anyway, after Chris returned home I pepped up and had a great week this past week: I got out, was social, enjoyed the sunny, 80 degree weather in flip-flops, vacuumed out my minivan, had the Gordon kiddos over for a sleepover so mom and dad could celebrate their anniversary, enjoyed the 4-day/50 degree rainstorm that got the pollen off my car by playing U-NO and flashlight tag with the fam, did a recipe swap with my friend, had fun at playgroup, did some visiting teaching, took Aly to a b-day party, spoke in church today, and made some strawberry shortcake. I feel much better. :)

A Teaching Moment - Today when we got home from church our neighbor whose husband is deployed was having some trouble with her car and so Chris changed out of his suit and went over there to help her. Aly said to me, "Is it okay for Dad to help her with her car on Sunday?" This turned into a great opportunity to teach the principle, "it is well to do good on the Sabbath" and about serving others. I am so grateful that I have a husband who lives by example what he believes.

Here and Gone

So, Chris was able to be home . . . for a weekend - before having to attend some meetings in North Carolina and train some reserve guys for their "one weekend a month" in Florida for another week. But hooray for a weekend together! There was wrestling, daddy as a horse, family movie/pizza night and an all out pajama day (on Saturday) where I purposely did not get dressed all day. I haven't had one of those days in forever and it was awesome! (I have had days where I somehow never got around to getting dressed because I was too busy doing laundry or whatever, but that's not the same as a PJ lounge day.) I played UNO with the kids, baked cookies, made yummy chicken salad, and Chris and I got some good time to catch up and talk about Monterey plans and what-not.

In other news, HOORAY KATE HAS HAIR! Holding true to tradition, Kate was mostly bald until about 18 months. I am glad to finally be able to do her hair so that she will no longer be called "the cutest little boy" dressed in pink at the grocery store. We've been trying out different things for Kate's hair (the headband look was just because Aly and Lise were wearing headbands that day and so Kate needed one too.) I am also going to try to let Kate's hair grow out without giving her bangs (Chris doesn't like bangs on little girls - I don't know why.) I tried to do this with Lise and her bangs were down to her eyes when Lise decided to take scissors to her own hair, so we'll see what happens with Kate. Lise is currently growing out her bangs to have a "schwoop like mommy" so maybe she can give Kate emotional support through the hard days.

My favorite words of Kate's lately are "okay", "yeah", "thank you", and "no". It's not the words themselves, it's the fact that she's holding conversations with us. When I tell her to go get her shoes and she says "okay" and runs off I just love it!! And the other day Chris was asking Kate, "Are you Kate?" - "No." "Are you Kater?" - "No." "Are you hungry?" - "yeah!" She's a cutie for sure, but she's also extremely curious, which causes me a lot of grief. This past week Kate took it upon herself to give herself a bubble bath by pouring the remainder of the girl's shampoo into the tub while I wasn't looking. She also pulled out 1/2 a box of kleenex and decorated her play kitchen, her rocking chair, the closet doors, a book, and her body with a marker that was left out. The thing is, when I discover these messes, Kate is just so excited to show them to me and what a good job she did. What can I say to that?

As far as the other two girls . . . I'm really feelin' the lovin' from Aly this week. She had to give a church talk on Fathers and wanted to take the picture of Chris and me and cut me out for her visual. Thanks, Aly. One day I heard Lise giggling her head off. When I went to see what was so funny I found her tickling her own armpit. Also, Lise's favorite thing to do at the grocery store - every week - is to look at herself in the mirrors above the produce and sing her made up songs to herself at the top of her lungs.

And finally, a conversation I overheard by the girls:

Aly - Do you want to know how to spell cookies? C-I-C-something-something

Lise - Aly, "something-something" is not a letter!

I'm so glad they keep each other in check!