Tonight was the Kindergarten Orientation at the school the girls will be attending in the fall. It was just dumb luck that I even found out about it because I would never have thought they would do an orientation 3 1/2 months before school starts. I just happened to find out because I called to see if they required a lead test since the Doctor that gave the girls their shots said that some schools required it so I should ask. When I was asking about this (which they don't require and seemed to think I was crazy for even asking) the lady mentioned the orientation. Of course, hubby is out to sea so I asked if this was strictly a parent thing or if the kids would be allowed and she said that was for parents, but if I couldn't find a sitter the kids were welcome to attend. So I was a little nervous about being the only parent there with kids, but it turns out that no one got the memo about no kids because probably half the people there had their kids with them, along with both parents and several siblings.
To start with the first several speakers (the principal, school nurse, and office manager?) were so soft spoken I could barely hear them. Hellooooo, you work at an elementary school, I would think you would know how to address a crowd. The principal gave her little spiel about working together for the kids, then the office manager pretty much went over everything on the handouts we were given upon arrival. Then the nurse gave us all a refresher course on shot requirements which I feel like you would have to be a dummy not to know about and if you were said dummy you probably were not going to be at this orientation 3 1/2 months prior to school starting, but whatever.
Next up was one of the kindergarten teachers. She knew how speak up! Her whole presentation focused on scaring everyone because "Kindergarten is not what it used to be" she just came out and said that kindergarten is now like first grade was when we were in school. She kept pushing and pushing how it was sooo academic oriented now. She then went through a lot of stuff they would use and do in the classroom, which was kind of interesting.
After they finished up I went up to ask about their policy on twins. They said that they took the parents wishes into consideration and tried to honor them if they could, but that they would prefer them separated and they even separated any cousins and such that attended. For anyone that doesn't have multiples you need to know that this is a hotbed issue. I, myself, am of the opinion that twins should not get special treatment regarding classroom placement, but they shouldn't be discriminated against either. Basically I feel they should put their names in the computer with everyone else's and randomly place them, if they get together fine, if not fine. A lot of multiple moms think their multiples should be placed in the same classroom because they have such a bond and it is cruel to "tear them apart". Most teachers that I've heard of feel that multiples should be separated so that they can find their own "voice" and not always be seen as part of a set and always measured against their twin or in some cases be confused with their twin. Plus a lot of teachers have seen twins be disruptive to the classroom because they feel too comfortable with their twin present and don't take learning seriously when they have their built in playmate from birth there to engage. I have already been prepping the girls and telling them that they might be in separate classrooms when they start school and they seem fine with it, but we will see how it works out when the time comes.
They also told us that there would be an open house about a week before school starts so we could meet our kids teachers and the kids could meet them and see the classes. So as far as I can tell, besides scaring us about how behind our kids probably already are because kindergarten is so academic, and pushing early registration to avoid the crowds at the local doctors office, the point of this little meet and greet was to tell us what our kids "should" know so that we will work our asses off this summer to whip the 5 year olds into shape. Fun.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Kitchen Conversation
This morning while I was making breakfast S & S were playing with their pretend kitchen in the next room. This is the conversation I overheard:
Syd: Oh no, when we add the lemons it will explode!
Sav: Run away! (they run)
Syd: 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1
Sav: Nothing happened.
Syd: Yes it did. (As she says this she runs over to the kitchen counter and sweeps off a bunch of plates and food with her arm.)
Syd: Kerpow!!!
Hope this isn't what they really think cooking is like. Although, they have seen me cursing because I wasn't paying attention and the milk boiled over for the noodles I was making more times than I care to count. So maybe they do think the kitchen is hazardous duty.
Now they are having a food fight with their pretend food. Yikes!
Syd: Oh no, when we add the lemons it will explode!
Sav: Run away! (they run)
Syd: 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1
Sav: Nothing happened.
Syd: Yes it did. (As she says this she runs over to the kitchen counter and sweeps off a bunch of plates and food with her arm.)
Syd: Kerpow!!!
Hope this isn't what they really think cooking is like. Although, they have seen me cursing because I wasn't paying attention and the milk boiled over for the noodles I was making more times than I care to count. So maybe they do think the kitchen is hazardous duty.
Now they are having a food fight with their pretend food. Yikes!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Notice to the Media
Could someone please tell the media to quit using the following two phrases when discussing celebrity children:
1. genetic lottery winner
2. poopie-pantsed tykes
because really, besides the second being a little more graphic than anything I want to read in celebrity gossip they are both just demeaning and rude. Yes, their parents are beautiful and rich and seem to have the perfect lives, but these kids are people too and just hearing these degrading labels thrown about in every other article saddens me. I admit to reading the celebrity gossip and enjoy it to a certain extent, however, it feels like a line is being crossed when the paparazzi and celebrity writers start preying on innocent children. So could you just lay of the rude monikers already?
1. genetic lottery winner
2. poopie-pantsed tykes
because really, besides the second being a little more graphic than anything I want to read in celebrity gossip they are both just demeaning and rude. Yes, their parents are beautiful and rich and seem to have the perfect lives, but these kids are people too and just hearing these degrading labels thrown about in every other article saddens me. I admit to reading the celebrity gossip and enjoy it to a certain extent, however, it feels like a line is being crossed when the paparazzi and celebrity writers start preying on innocent children. So could you just lay of the rude monikers already?
Monday, May 12, 2008
Messy Eaters
I'm sincerely convinced that my children might be the messiest 5 year old eaters on earth.
Seriously.
Today at lunch alone we had 3 spilled drinks, much food was fed to the dog "by accident" and mommy had to scream many times. To make matters worse the 3 spilled drinks weren't even regular cups. They are too big for sippy cups but I got some of those tumblers from Tupperware with the lids that you can put straws into. They aren't leak proof, but in most cases if they get tipped over it is just a few drips versus a whole puddle with a regular cup, however, both of my little sweethearts managed to tip their cups over so forcefully that the lids popped off. Savannah even managed to do it twice.
Recently we purchased a new dining room table set and even though we got the fabric protection warranty I had my husband cover the chairs that the girls use with plastic because they are so horribly messy.
My sister-in-law came to visit me over spring break and brought my 2 1/2 year old niece and she is not as messy as my girls, in fact she is very well mannered and an extremely neat eater. I mean aren't kids supposed to be over the messy phase by now? I feel like a total failure on the whole manners and etiquette front. AGGHHH!
Seriously.
Today at lunch alone we had 3 spilled drinks, much food was fed to the dog "by accident" and mommy had to scream many times. To make matters worse the 3 spilled drinks weren't even regular cups. They are too big for sippy cups but I got some of those tumblers from Tupperware with the lids that you can put straws into. They aren't leak proof, but in most cases if they get tipped over it is just a few drips versus a whole puddle with a regular cup, however, both of my little sweethearts managed to tip their cups over so forcefully that the lids popped off. Savannah even managed to do it twice.
Recently we purchased a new dining room table set and even though we got the fabric protection warranty I had my husband cover the chairs that the girls use with plastic because they are so horribly messy.
My sister-in-law came to visit me over spring break and brought my 2 1/2 year old niece and she is not as messy as my girls, in fact she is very well mannered and an extremely neat eater. I mean aren't kids supposed to be over the messy phase by now? I feel like a total failure on the whole manners and etiquette front. AGGHHH!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
The Dedicated Veterinarian Assistant
Happy Mother's Day to me. Since the hubby was out to sea I was lucky that he at least got to call me today, so that was a nice surprise. I also heard from my mother and we had a nice long chat about pretty much everything under the sun. We talked about my dads health (seems a little better), her plans for putting in a drip system to water the numerous plants surrounding her house, I told her a funny story about S & S, and she told me about her latest cat health issues.
Yes, you read it right, cat health issues. My mother has 3 extremely neurotic house cats, plus a stray tomcat she started leaving food outside for recently. She tried to tell me that the tomcat wasn't hers really but she was just feeding him once in a while so he wouldn't starve, but I had to call her on that little delusion because she had named him. I explained to her that you cannot name a cat and then try to say that it is not yours. As for the neurotic cats here is the breakdown: Sammy is possibly bulimic, Max has potty issues, and Chelsea has some sort of kidney or liver thing that makes her not want to eat.
Chelsea is the one that is seriously sick, although she is still pretty spry, and my mom is constantly trying to get her to eat. She eats a special high protein food that is kept refrigerated and is brought out at the slightest provocation to try and temp her to eat and when she is being really difficult my mom even drains juice from cans of tuna and "dopes" up the food with that. Anyway, mom said that lately she had been having an even harder time than usual getting Chelsea to eat and so she had asked the Vet. assistant when she went in to get some more food if she could think of any other tricks to get her to eat. Turns out that another brand had recently started making a high protein food and this woman suggested she try that. As they were talking the vet assistant said "we tasted them and this one tastes much better than the brand you use". To clarify, we are not talking about hard, dry, cat food, this is the canned, moist stuff. My mom said she didn't really hear the rest of the conversation she had with the woman because she was just flabbergasted by what she had said about tasting the cat food. EEEEEWWWWW!
That is one dedicated veterinarians assistant.
Yes, you read it right, cat health issues. My mother has 3 extremely neurotic house cats, plus a stray tomcat she started leaving food outside for recently. She tried to tell me that the tomcat wasn't hers really but she was just feeding him once in a while so he wouldn't starve, but I had to call her on that little delusion because she had named him. I explained to her that you cannot name a cat and then try to say that it is not yours. As for the neurotic cats here is the breakdown: Sammy is possibly bulimic, Max has potty issues, and Chelsea has some sort of kidney or liver thing that makes her not want to eat.
Chelsea is the one that is seriously sick, although she is still pretty spry, and my mom is constantly trying to get her to eat. She eats a special high protein food that is kept refrigerated and is brought out at the slightest provocation to try and temp her to eat and when she is being really difficult my mom even drains juice from cans of tuna and "dopes" up the food with that. Anyway, mom said that lately she had been having an even harder time than usual getting Chelsea to eat and so she had asked the Vet. assistant when she went in to get some more food if she could think of any other tricks to get her to eat. Turns out that another brand had recently started making a high protein food and this woman suggested she try that. As they were talking the vet assistant said "we tasted them and this one tastes much better than the brand you use". To clarify, we are not talking about hard, dry, cat food, this is the canned, moist stuff. My mom said she didn't really hear the rest of the conversation she had with the woman because she was just flabbergasted by what she had said about tasting the cat food. EEEEEWWWWW!
That is one dedicated veterinarians assistant.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Are we there yet (kids version)
I think every mom and dad in the history of the world dreads the question "Are we there yet?" being yelled from the backseat of their vehicle. Not because the question is so hard to answer, after all it is always "NO!" because by the time you actually get there they have finally given up asking "Are we there yet?" after having asked 5 trillion times, but you dread hearing it because you know it is just the beginning of the end. I have to say that so far my girls haven't been too bad about this even though we have driven half way across the country a few times and really I give most of the credit for surviving these trips to the DVD player we have in our van. Truly, I cannot imagine how parents ever survived without bouncy seats for babies and DVD players for the car for any age. But on to my story.
The other day we packed up to take a trip to Wal-Mart which is approximately 2 miles from our house. Regardless of the fact that it is so close, getting ready to go is a huge undertaking for my two little pack rats. They feel they must pack a drink, a snack, writing instruments, a note pad and at least one doll type toy before we can go. On this particular day Sydney had chosen a small baby doll to bring and Savannah had decided not to bring anything (wonder of wonders). So we get going and are on our way. Halfway there I hear Savannah using her dolly voice (those with girls know that dolls must speak in a high voice using the octave nearest that to breaking glass). She is having the dolly say "Are we there yet?", to which Sydney replies in her mommy voice "Not yet dear", after which she asks again "Are we there yet?" and Sydney again replies "Not yet dear". This continued the rest of the way to the store which was partially annoying and partially so funny I had to call my mom right then to tell her what they were doing and have a good laugh about it.
The other day we packed up to take a trip to Wal-Mart which is approximately 2 miles from our house. Regardless of the fact that it is so close, getting ready to go is a huge undertaking for my two little pack rats. They feel they must pack a drink, a snack, writing instruments, a note pad and at least one doll type toy before we can go. On this particular day Sydney had chosen a small baby doll to bring and Savannah had decided not to bring anything (wonder of wonders). So we get going and are on our way. Halfway there I hear Savannah using her dolly voice (those with girls know that dolls must speak in a high voice using the octave nearest that to breaking glass). She is having the dolly say "Are we there yet?", to which Sydney replies in her mommy voice "Not yet dear", after which she asks again "Are we there yet?" and Sydney again replies "Not yet dear". This continued the rest of the way to the store which was partially annoying and partially so funny I had to call my mom right then to tell her what they were doing and have a good laugh about it.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
After the shopping
These are my beauties trying on their new summer dresses. No I don't usually dress them exactly alike, however, they both wanted this dress.
Stereo Computers
My kids are very strange. Being twins they obviously do a lot of stuff together. I try really hard to help them be their own person so they can have a sense of "self" and not just be "the twins" and blah, blah, blah, psychobabble blah. Of course, they have their differences like all children but they are twins and have that special thing/bond/connection that twins have so regardless of how I try to give them their own space they just end up right next to each other again. Take today for instance.
We have an old desktop computer that we set up for the girls to use. We have links set up on there for PBS Kids and Sprout and Nick Jr., Disney, etc. that they can use and they have all their little games in a basket on the desk. It cracks me up every time I see them playing games and changing discs and stuff because it is so normal for them and I can still remember having one of those old Commodore computers and there was no worldwide web when I was in high school! I know, I'm dating myself, but anyway back to my point. So Savannah decided she wanted to play on the computer with one of the discs and she wanted to do her game all on her own without Sydney's help. I felt sorry for Sydney so I set her up on my laptop computer at the dining room table on one of the websites with games since I had already wasted enough time on the Internet this morning. After a little while Savannah wants to go to the website too, okay fine.
A little bit later I'm in the living room folding laundry (that is already wrinkled like crazy because I forgot it in the dryer for like 2 days) and I hear them counting "1, 2, 3, go!" and then a minute later again "1, 2, 3, go!" So I start listening to what they were up to. Turns out they had gotten to the same web page (Disney's Higglytown Hero's for those of you who are interested) and were in this story type game where it tells a little bit of a story then they get to choose an item that goes in the next part, then it tells a little bit more story and they get to choose another item and so on. They were talking to each other and deciding which item to choose, then counting "1, 2, 3, go" and choosing that item at the same time so the story would go at the same time on both computers in stereo. They trip me out!
We have an old desktop computer that we set up for the girls to use. We have links set up on there for PBS Kids and Sprout and Nick Jr., Disney, etc. that they can use and they have all their little games in a basket on the desk. It cracks me up every time I see them playing games and changing discs and stuff because it is so normal for them and I can still remember having one of those old Commodore computers and there was no worldwide web when I was in high school! I know, I'm dating myself, but anyway back to my point. So Savannah decided she wanted to play on the computer with one of the discs and she wanted to do her game all on her own without Sydney's help. I felt sorry for Sydney so I set her up on my laptop computer at the dining room table on one of the websites with games since I had already wasted enough time on the Internet this morning. After a little while Savannah wants to go to the website too, okay fine.
A little bit later I'm in the living room folding laundry (that is already wrinkled like crazy because I forgot it in the dryer for like 2 days) and I hear them counting "1, 2, 3, go!" and then a minute later again "1, 2, 3, go!" So I start listening to what they were up to. Turns out they had gotten to the same web page (Disney's Higglytown Hero's for those of you who are interested) and were in this story type game where it tells a little bit of a story then they get to choose an item that goes in the next part, then it tells a little bit more story and they get to choose another item and so on. They were talking to each other and deciding which item to choose, then counting "1, 2, 3, go" and choosing that item at the same time so the story would go at the same time on both computers in stereo. They trip me out!
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I mowed my very first lawn today
Today I mowed my very own lawn for the first time. I know, it is pretty amazing that a 30 something wife and mother would either never have done this or admit to never have done this. Let me explain. As a teenager I never mowed the lawn because my family lived in a condo where we had people paid to do this little chore for us. After I married, my husband handled it or we lived in a place where this service was provided.
Last year we finally grew up and bought our own home. Since then my Navy husband has been able to handle the lawn between short deployments. That all ended today. He's been gone 2 1/2 weeks and it was starting to look pretty shabby. Add to this that there is a good chance of rain in our neck of the woods for about the next week and I finally had to break down and do it. He had made me practice starting the lawnmower several weeks ago in preperation for this so at least I wasn't totally clueless, however, when I went to do this on my own it wouldn't work. Finally, after like 15 tries yanking on that thing I realized that I had forgotten to hold onto the handle thingy (very technical talk here) which you have to hold down before it will start as a safety feature.
Once I got it started I have to admit it was sort of relaxing. Who knew? I sort of zoned out into a meditative state or something. It was something about the vibrations in the handle as you push it and the sound (vvvvrrrrmmmmm) that puts you into a trance. Anyway it was good practice for the big deployment coming up in September.
Last year we finally grew up and bought our own home. Since then my Navy husband has been able to handle the lawn between short deployments. That all ended today. He's been gone 2 1/2 weeks and it was starting to look pretty shabby. Add to this that there is a good chance of rain in our neck of the woods for about the next week and I finally had to break down and do it. He had made me practice starting the lawnmower several weeks ago in preperation for this so at least I wasn't totally clueless, however, when I went to do this on my own it wouldn't work. Finally, after like 15 tries yanking on that thing I realized that I had forgotten to hold onto the handle thingy (very technical talk here) which you have to hold down before it will start as a safety feature.
Once I got it started I have to admit it was sort of relaxing. Who knew? I sort of zoned out into a meditative state or something. It was something about the vibrations in the handle as you push it and the sound (vvvvrrrrmmmmm) that puts you into a trance. Anyway it was good practice for the big deployment coming up in September.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
A Good One
Another great Saturday! It didn't start out particularly great. I mean who wants to go to the doctors office on Saturday about an ingrown toenail with their 5 year old twins tagging along because daddy is away again? But the girls were in being little angels and charmed every nurse in the office. One of them even suggested that I should look into having them model. Ha, ha! She said they were so cute and so polite and so well behaved, I told her they have their moments.
Once we made it out of the doctors office the day was beautiful, which reminded me I have no shorts that fit me anymore and the girls have outgrown all theirs too so I decided to do a little shopping. Since I had to try on clothes the girls decided they wanted to try on their clothes too and this is now their new favorite thing to do. I'm sure we provided many, many laughs for the other dressing room patrons as they listened to the dressing room antics of my girls. Between jumping on the benches, singing and humming every song they know (which is a substantial amount) and commenting on how good they and I look I can barely keep a straight face myself.
So after the shopping we tried to stop by the library, but it was already closed. Since our library is right on the ocean we drove by the little beach park and it looked busy and I figured, hey, we just got new bathing suits and the girls are always up for anything to do with water so we detoured to the beach. We changed in the car "incognito" and luckily I keep one of those fold up picnic blankets in the van so we headed to the beach. I sat on my blanket, read my book, and watched the girls play for hours. It was soooo nice. They played in the water, made sand angels, collected shells, played with a little boy, then we walked the beach. Well we had no towels (I wasn't wet, but the girls were) so when we got to the car I dumped our purchases out and used the bags as seat protectors. I was so proud of myself. We were all so happy and I felt like supermom.
Once we made it out of the doctors office the day was beautiful, which reminded me I have no shorts that fit me anymore and the girls have outgrown all theirs too so I decided to do a little shopping. Since I had to try on clothes the girls decided they wanted to try on their clothes too and this is now their new favorite thing to do. I'm sure we provided many, many laughs for the other dressing room patrons as they listened to the dressing room antics of my girls. Between jumping on the benches, singing and humming every song they know (which is a substantial amount) and commenting on how good they and I look I can barely keep a straight face myself.
So after the shopping we tried to stop by the library, but it was already closed. Since our library is right on the ocean we drove by the little beach park and it looked busy and I figured, hey, we just got new bathing suits and the girls are always up for anything to do with water so we detoured to the beach. We changed in the car "incognito" and luckily I keep one of those fold up picnic blankets in the van so we headed to the beach. I sat on my blanket, read my book, and watched the girls play for hours. It was soooo nice. They played in the water, made sand angels, collected shells, played with a little boy, then we walked the beach. Well we had no towels (I wasn't wet, but the girls were) so when we got to the car I dumped our purchases out and used the bags as seat protectors. I was so proud of myself. We were all so happy and I felt like supermom.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
What a weekend!
Let's see; gardening, shopping, playing at the park, and getting locked out of the house, yes it was quite a weekend.
GARDENING is a new thing for me. To say that I am not much of a gardener would be a severe understatement. Every time in my life that I have tried to take care of a plant it has ended badly for the plant. I either have no idea how much to water it and end up drowning or starving it to death (enter my new tool the handy dandy water meter) or I get busy with other projects and totally forget the plant exists until it is no longer a plant and just a bunch of dried up leaves. Now that we own a house (and my kids begged me to plant some flowers "like Nana") I have decided to try my hand at this. First stop the library to find out what types of plants do best in my area, followed by which need the least amount of upkeep, and since I plan to start in our back yard which is mostly shady I needed to find out which plants are best suited to shade or light sun. Then off to Wal-Mart and Lowe's we go to get some tools and plants (this is where the SHOPPING part of the weekend comes in). Get home Friday afternoon and start digging a hole to plant my new Dwarf Gardenia plant and fairly quickly I discover that where I want to plant is already home to several large tree roots from the large shade tree 6 feet away (who thought tree roots would be so close to the surface this far away from the tree, certainly not me) so after digging a 3 inch deep hole and being blocked by roots to large to pull out I decide this is not going to work. Then I get the brilliant idea to just pot the plants and set them in the spot I had chosen. Okay, tomorrow, more SHOPPING.
So Saturday morning we head back to Wal-Mart and get the pots. It is such a nice day we stop on our way home at the PARK and play for a bit. But, alas, the fun ends when the ice cream truck shows up and the girls start whining for ice cream and I have to explain to them that the ice cream man won't take debit cards and that is all I have on me. Then I remember that we have popsicles in the freezer at home and figure this will keep them busy while I start potting the plants so we head home. Two popsicles later I have only potted like half a plant and they are already begging to "help" so I let them "help" (and I use the word help very loosely) me plant the flowers we got and then they swing for a while. Now somewhere in here between them running in the house to wash their hands, let the dog in/out, changing into flip-flops, and going potty the door gets locked and closed but I'll get to that later. About halfway through the potting of the plants they start playing first with their watering cans full of water, then a bucket full of water, then the mud made from the bucket full of water and I realise that it is probably a little too cool for them to be playing in the water but I let them anyway because I figure all kids should get to play in the mud when they really shouldn't once in a while. Okay, who am I kidding, I let them play in the mud and water so they will leave me alone so I can finish this gosh darn potting before my back completely gives out! Finally I am finished. I still need to clean up the mess we have made but they are starting to complain they are cold now (I wonder why) so I hose off their feet and hands and we head in. Or not. We are LOCKED OUT!
At this point I curse a string of profanity that my sailor husband would be proud of, and no 5 year old should really hear and beat my head against the door hoping it will magically pop open. When it doesn't I try to "bump" it open like they showed the criminals do on the evening news the other night but no luck. Of course I haven't got a spare anywhere, my cell phone is in my purse (in the house) and my husband is out to sea for a month. It is truly one of those "Calgon, take me away" moments. So we head over to the neighbors to beg the use of a phone to call a locksmith, and she couldn't be nicer but I feel like such a loser. Luckily the locksmith says he can be over in a half hour so we head back and clean up our tools and sweep up the potting soil mess. Well I should say I clean up the mess while my darling daughters huddle up in the sleeping bags I drag out of the garage for them because they are "freezing". Some days it just doesn't pay to try and be productive.
GARDENING is a new thing for me. To say that I am not much of a gardener would be a severe understatement. Every time in my life that I have tried to take care of a plant it has ended badly for the plant. I either have no idea how much to water it and end up drowning or starving it to death (enter my new tool the handy dandy water meter) or I get busy with other projects and totally forget the plant exists until it is no longer a plant and just a bunch of dried up leaves. Now that we own a house (and my kids begged me to plant some flowers "like Nana") I have decided to try my hand at this. First stop the library to find out what types of plants do best in my area, followed by which need the least amount of upkeep, and since I plan to start in our back yard which is mostly shady I needed to find out which plants are best suited to shade or light sun. Then off to Wal-Mart and Lowe's we go to get some tools and plants (this is where the SHOPPING part of the weekend comes in). Get home Friday afternoon and start digging a hole to plant my new Dwarf Gardenia plant and fairly quickly I discover that where I want to plant is already home to several large tree roots from the large shade tree 6 feet away (who thought tree roots would be so close to the surface this far away from the tree, certainly not me) so after digging a 3 inch deep hole and being blocked by roots to large to pull out I decide this is not going to work. Then I get the brilliant idea to just pot the plants and set them in the spot I had chosen. Okay, tomorrow, more SHOPPING.
So Saturday morning we head back to Wal-Mart and get the pots. It is such a nice day we stop on our way home at the PARK and play for a bit. But, alas, the fun ends when the ice cream truck shows up and the girls start whining for ice cream and I have to explain to them that the ice cream man won't take debit cards and that is all I have on me. Then I remember that we have popsicles in the freezer at home and figure this will keep them busy while I start potting the plants so we head home. Two popsicles later I have only potted like half a plant and they are already begging to "help" so I let them "help" (and I use the word help very loosely) me plant the flowers we got and then they swing for a while. Now somewhere in here between them running in the house to wash their hands, let the dog in/out, changing into flip-flops, and going potty the door gets locked and closed but I'll get to that later. About halfway through the potting of the plants they start playing first with their watering cans full of water, then a bucket full of water, then the mud made from the bucket full of water and I realise that it is probably a little too cool for them to be playing in the water but I let them anyway because I figure all kids should get to play in the mud when they really shouldn't once in a while. Okay, who am I kidding, I let them play in the mud and water so they will leave me alone so I can finish this gosh darn potting before my back completely gives out! Finally I am finished. I still need to clean up the mess we have made but they are starting to complain they are cold now (I wonder why) so I hose off their feet and hands and we head in. Or not. We are LOCKED OUT!
At this point I curse a string of profanity that my sailor husband would be proud of, and no 5 year old should really hear and beat my head against the door hoping it will magically pop open. When it doesn't I try to "bump" it open like they showed the criminals do on the evening news the other night but no luck. Of course I haven't got a spare anywhere, my cell phone is in my purse (in the house) and my husband is out to sea for a month. It is truly one of those "Calgon, take me away" moments. So we head over to the neighbors to beg the use of a phone to call a locksmith, and she couldn't be nicer but I feel like such a loser. Luckily the locksmith says he can be over in a half hour so we head back and clean up our tools and sweep up the potting soil mess. Well I should say I clean up the mess while my darling daughters huddle up in the sleeping bags I drag out of the garage for them because they are "freezing". Some days it just doesn't pay to try and be productive.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Are you a boy or a girl?
It is really a good thing I don't get embarrassed easily because lately the girls have been working overtime with the awkward questions (see previous blog entitled "Are you from France?"). Yesterday as we entered the library a pretty woman in a white dress was walking by who had a shaved head and Savannah just popped right out with the question "Are you a boy or a girl?". Luckily the girl was really nice about it she smiled and said nicely "Well I'm wearing a dress, so what do you think?" and they both said girl and we went on. I mouthed sorry to her but she shook her head and said it was okay. Later inside the library I saw her walking by with a friend and she was pointing at the girls obviously telling him what happened and I heard her say "at least they asked and didn't just stare at me like most kids do".
Are You From France?
So we are at the grocery store and we get the usual question . . . "Are they twins?" from the guy bagging the groceries. He had a heavy accent so the girls didn't really understand him and I sort of "translated" the question to them. So they say yes they are twins and then one of them (I forgot who said it first, but it seemed almost like they did it together) says "Are you from France?". Well it was obvious to me he wasn't French, however, since he had a pretty heavy accent and they haven't been exposed to any accents very much I guess France was just the first place they came up with. They watch several shows in which the characters travel the globe such as Little Einsteins, Wonder Pets, and even Dora and Strawberry Shortcake had world traveling adventures so I can see that they are learning about different cultures sounding different. Now they will know a Filipino accent.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Why do I buy them toys?
Sometimes I question why exactly I buy the girls toys. If I had a better imagination and didn't have toy addiction of my own I don't think I would have to buy them much because a lot of times they entertain themselves with the simplest things. Here are a few of their latest "toys".
"Blackie" - Blackie is the name they have given to my computer wrist rest. It is one of those long gel filled things you put in front of the keyboard to support your wrists when you are typing. They discovered it one day while playing on the computer. Next thing I knew "Blackie" was in the doll cradle being covered with a blanket like a baby. The thing is they have at least 10 baby dolls between them.
"Upside down tv" - This is their favorite lunch time game. In our house we have a breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining room. I have them eat lunch most days at the bar. Since I am always telling them they can't get up when they are eating (and they follow this rule pretty well actually) they have found many ways to amuse themselves (and drive me crazy) while supposedly eating their lunch. There are two versions of upside down tv. The first version is there they both lay on their chairs on their backs with their feet facing each other. They then proceed to basically tickle and kick each other with their feet. In the second version they lay on their backs on their chairs with their faces facing each other. They then tickle each other and grab each others faces. They think it is all very hilarious and it is pretty funny to watch. I still can't figure out why it is called upside down tv. The upside down part I get, but where does tv come into it? I have no idea.
"Blackie" - Blackie is the name they have given to my computer wrist rest. It is one of those long gel filled things you put in front of the keyboard to support your wrists when you are typing. They discovered it one day while playing on the computer. Next thing I knew "Blackie" was in the doll cradle being covered with a blanket like a baby. The thing is they have at least 10 baby dolls between them.
"Upside down tv" - This is their favorite lunch time game. In our house we have a breakfast bar between the kitchen and dining room. I have them eat lunch most days at the bar. Since I am always telling them they can't get up when they are eating (and they follow this rule pretty well actually) they have found many ways to amuse themselves (and drive me crazy) while supposedly eating their lunch. There are two versions of upside down tv. The first version is there they both lay on their chairs on their backs with their feet facing each other. They then proceed to basically tickle and kick each other with their feet. In the second version they lay on their backs on their chairs with their faces facing each other. They then tickle each other and grab each others faces. They think it is all very hilarious and it is pretty funny to watch. I still can't figure out why it is called upside down tv. The upside down part I get, but where does tv come into it? I have no idea.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Got the Wii
We got a Wii game console. Figured it would be something fun to do as a family. So as Joey is setting it up it comes to this screen that asks you to give your Wii a nickname so Joey asks me and I say "whatever you want". He says "Wow" and I'm thinking that is the nickname like "Wow-Wii" and then he starts telling me about some cool thing it does. A few minutes later he asks me again what should the nickname be and I say "I thought you said Wow". He just gives me this dumb stare and so I clarify "wow-wii" and tell him I think it is cute. He burst out laughing because he was saying wow about whatever cool thing it does that he told me about not the nickname, but now he thinks it is cute too, so we use it. Later as Joey and I are testing out the games the girls come in and want to try it. At this point we are doing the boxing game. So we set them up and instruct them on how to play. They got so into it! Joey and I were laughing until we cried watching them box at each other and we had to keep grabbing them by the shirt and pulling them back because we were afraid they were going to punch the tv screen because they kept moving forward they were so excited. The kids are better entertainment than any video game!
That's Freaking Me Out
The other night at dinner after asking the normal dinner time questions (how was your day? what did you do today?) the girls asked Daddy to do a magic trick. I really don't know where they came up with this because Daddy is not really a magic type guy and I can't recall him ever doing magic for them before, but anyhoo . . . Joey does the standard, taking his finger apart and putting it back together trick for them. They are both pretty impressed and ask to see it again. Savannah watches closely, takes a moment to absorb it then states "That is freaking me out."
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Does a 5 year old say "suitable"?
Today Sydney was chattering along, planning some sort of party called a spring festival. She is telling me who will be invited, what kind of food there will be, what kind of presents there will be, etc. Then she informs me that this will take place at Nana and Papa's house because it is more "suitable". So I ask her why their house is more suitable, wondering if she really knows what suitable means, and she says because it is bigger, and has more flowers so it really is more suitable for a spring festival. Okay.
Friday, January 11, 2008
The Sound of a Trumpet
The other day the girls were playing in their room, I popped my head in to see how they were doing and heard a fart. I teasingly asked "What was that?" to which Syndey innocently replied "A trumpet." Where she heard this I have no idea!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Funny things 4 year olds say
My girls are about to turn 5 in a month! Can't believe it! I've been pretty bad lately about the blog so this one is going to be a round up of some things I remember the girls saying this year.
1. "Mommy, when will I get a tattoo?" - Sydney, out of the blue, but since mommy, daddy, and both grandma's have them I guess it is understandable.
2. "That lady has pretty hair, but her eyes are scary" - Savannah about the flight attendant's eye makeup (thankfully whispered). My reply was "I hope you remember this when you are 13".
3. "What about the P Q R?" - Savannah after overhearing me telling another mom that I was going to take them to the Z O O (spelled so they wouldn't hear and start asking "when" every 5 minutes.)
4. "Are there witches in our world?" - Sydney They both ask this type of stuff all the time, which just shows how they are thinking all the time, but it is funny that they also refer to different states and towns as "worlds" since they don't really understand the concept of states, but they know we have moved and family lives in different places. They will say stuff like "that school was in our old world".
5. When they were fooling around tilting their chairs back at dinner one night I said that they should be careful or they would fall and crack open their heads and asked them if they knew what would happen then to which Savannah replied that "candy would come out", when I laughed and said no that candy wouldn't come out Sydney said maybe "rocks" to which I had to answer "maybe". lol
1. "Mommy, when will I get a tattoo?" - Sydney, out of the blue, but since mommy, daddy, and both grandma's have them I guess it is understandable.
2. "That lady has pretty hair, but her eyes are scary" - Savannah about the flight attendant's eye makeup (thankfully whispered). My reply was "I hope you remember this when you are 13".
3. "What about the P Q R?" - Savannah after overhearing me telling another mom that I was going to take them to the Z O O (spelled so they wouldn't hear and start asking "when" every 5 minutes.)
4. "Are there witches in our world?" - Sydney They both ask this type of stuff all the time, which just shows how they are thinking all the time, but it is funny that they also refer to different states and towns as "worlds" since they don't really understand the concept of states, but they know we have moved and family lives in different places. They will say stuff like "that school was in our old world".
5. When they were fooling around tilting their chairs back at dinner one night I said that they should be careful or they would fall and crack open their heads and asked them if they knew what would happen then to which Savannah replied that "candy would come out", when I laughed and said no that candy wouldn't come out Sydney said maybe "rocks" to which I had to answer "maybe". lol
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Fairly Odd Parents!?
There is a cartoon on Nickelodeon called Fairly Odd Parents. The premise is that this 8 year old boy's life sucked so much that he gets two fairy god parents (husband and wife Cosmo and Wanda) who can fulfill his wishes as long as he doesn't tell anyone about them. The catch is that the wishes rarely turn out like he thinks and he usually ends up learning an important life lesson in the process. This show is actually for a little older audience than my 3 1/2 year olds, however, my husband and I enjoy it too so we watch it. Well whenever someone asks the boy (Timmy) where he gets all these things he wishes for he just answers "internet". So, to get to the story the other day my girls were going to a new gymnastics class and I reminded them to tell the teacher who they were if the teacher got them confused. So they started joking around asking each other who they were, then started answering "I'm Savannah, that's what it says on my underwear" and "I'm Sydney, that's what it says on my underwear" and laughing uproariously. I started laughing too, mostly because I know they had no idea what that even meant. So I asked them where they had heard that (although I had an idea) and they answered "internet"! Then I really laughed. When I finished laughing I asked them where they had really heard that and they said "Cosmo" from fairly odd parents. They sure don't miss a thing!
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