I voted!

I've been away from blogging for far too long but its November again so I want to jump into the month of gratitude again.

Today is Election Day 2012. I'm thankful to live in a democracy. I am thankful to have the opportunity to vote and voice my opinion. I am thankful for the freedom I enjoy each day. I am thankful for those past and present who have given so much to ensure that freedom. I am also thankful that today means there will be an end to the political ads on TV and the phone calls that have plagued our number for the last few weeks.

Both of our girls also voted today. Miss A voted at her elementary school where her class voted to reelect President Obama. Miss A knew in advance that they'd be voting today. She was excited to voice her opinion, although I'm not sure what her selection process was. Miss K voted at her preschool where the winner was Mitt Romney (or "Red" as Miss K told me). Miss K didn't know about this event ahead of time but proudly showed me her Weekly Reader when I picked her up. Sure enough, there with a red circle around his headshot was Mitt Romney. While I'm reasonably certain her selection process had something to do with the color a graphic designer (randomly?) put around his head there may be more to it, who knows. In any case she was VERY excited about her choice and probably would have done whatever she could to get others to choose her candidate as well. 

The conversation the rest of the afternoon after picking up each daughter was primarily about the election and the candidates. I was a bit surprised at how involved they each were. They are both tucked into their beds as I type. Mr. M and I are watching election coverage and we may or not make it late enough to hear who wins. The girls will definitely not be awake. So we assured them both that we'll turn on TV or look at the newspaper tomorrow morning to see who wins.

I may have to pull out the video camera because should "Red" lose Miss K will have one worthwhile reaction of pure disappointment/anger/frustration. It may even include an "Oh, Applesauce!", which is her latest phrase of choice when upset about something (picture it with a swing of the fist across her chest). I have no idea where it came from but its probably better than what I just about said today when we were nearly locked out of the house! But I digress....

This prayer was posted on Facebook by a friend today. It really sums up my thoughts this evening.

Father, I pray that no matter who is elected, your will be done.

   

With gratitude,

With gratitude - my monkeys

Day 3

I'm behind...sorry. I vow to catch up though!

Today I'm thankful for my monkeys. I have two of them and they are beautiful, kind, funny and full of life. I can safely say I've smiled and laughed every one of the last 7 years plus about 5 weeks because of one or both of them.

Thank you girls for making life much more fun and interesting and challenging and occasionally frustrating. Even in the most difficult moments, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!


With gratitude,

With gratitude - holiday memories

Day 2

It was just Halloween. Our Can-Can Dancer and Jessie (from Toy Story 2 & 3) had a great time. They traveled the neighborhood with Mr. M and came back with two baskets full of candy and a little excess in a Target bag that also made the trip as "overflow" storage.

Just to clarify, the girls did NOT go trick-or-treating by themselves. They headed across the street just to visit one neighbor, came right back with treats in hand and I watched them the entire time from the front door. I happen to LOVE that they held hands as they headed off. **sigh**

I stayed at our house handing out candy to the ghosts and goblins that visited us. We also enjoyed another tradition which I'm thankful for. All the grandparents and a favorite uncle have been coming in for dinner on Halloween evening the last couple of years. Now that we have a child in school making the trip to visit everyone to trick-or-treat has become challenging. Thankfully they are willing to come to our house on Halloween evening, enjoy dinner together and get a peek at our trick-or-treaters. I hope we can continue this newly formed tradition for years and years to come.

With gratitude,

Back seat conversation of the day

Today the girls and I were heading to a lunch playdate with good friends. On the way, while stopped at a red light, a dog was quietly leaning out a slightly open window to enjoy the sights and, I suppose, smells of summertime. I told the girls to look out Miss K's window and check him out. Here is the conversation that followed.

Miss A: Mom, when I grow up I'm going to have a little dog.

Me: Sure, Miss A. You sure can.

Miss K: I want to have a chicken.

Miss A and Me: What?!?!?!!??? (There were quickly a few chuckles too).

Miss K: A chicken. A little chick to cuddle.

In between chuckles, I did try to explain that while little chicks are cute and cuddly you would have a tough time trying to cuddle or even wrangle a grown-up chicken. Oh well, let her think what she wants. As with many three year-olds I'm sure her dreams will be completely different by tomorrow.

The greatest show on earth

So perhaps it wasn't the greatest show on earth but what spring is complete without a circus. The entire family headed out in a mid-April snow shower a few weeks ago to see the Shrine Circus. Miss A had been talking about it all week. You see, local businesses donate money which allows local school children to see the circus free of charge. I remember the same happening when I was younger. After the circus we'd write a thank you note to the business. So, more than once, Miss K heard, "We're going to the circus because I got a free ticket. I'm sure you can get one too. So that means we only have to buy two tickets for Mom and Dad." How sweet!

Before you can find a seat at the circus you must first try on your clown nose...

...and get at least one big, fresh, pink vanilla-flavored cotton candy on a stick.

Miss K and I heard on the radio Friday morning that there would be dancing pigs. She was very excited by this. So as soon as we got there she was wondering where those dancing pigs were. Thankfully they showed up in the first act. All was well with the world. We also watched a hula-hooper, tightrope walkers, elephants, tigers, funny clowns, dogs and a woman shot out of a cannon across the room (which I later heard was the favorite act according to many kindergartners).

Intermission included a trip to the concession stand for snacks (in the interest of full discloser much...ok...most...of the first cotton candy was enjoyed by mom and dad.). Miss K choose a drumstick (no surprise to anyone who knows of her love of ice cream or her drumstick-habit at hockey games). Miss A wanted Nibs (which she recently called 'Niblets'...That made me chuckle).

The final stop before the 2nd intermission of the show had to be the 'toy stand'. This features several blow-up toys (an alien, a crayon, etc.), swords, wands and other light-up toys and a Dora themed paddle with attached ball for ping-pong practice I guess. We ended up with a wonderful light-up sword, the aforementioned Dora paddle toy and then another stop yielded 2 bubble guns which I think were more a choice of Mr. M than the kids.

A fun night all for a good cause. May you all find the circus when it comes to town. Enjoy!

Missed opportunity

I should have a picture to make this more interesting but I'm just going to write before the memory leaves me.

To set the scene...you are looking at a bedroom wall. On the wall is a wedding portrait of a handsome young man and his beautiful younger bride. (this is all tongue-in-cheek readers!)

Last week I spent some time cleaning and organizing our master bedroom. Miss K (3 1/2 years) was hanging out with me. She stopped to look at a wedding picture of Mr. M and me hanging on the wall. She asked if she was at the wedding (both of our girls love a good wedding!). I tried to explain to her that she was not, in fact, at our wedding because she hadn't been born yet. I think the concept was lost on her.

After hearing my explanation she turned away from me, slumped her shoulders and slowly lumbered a few steps forward. Then a little voiced, saddened by a lost opportunity to party, said, "Ahhhhh, I missed it." I think she probably muttered a few things under her breath too. Her little sometimes gruff, authoritative voice was sad, and perhaps more mad (or frustrated or bewildered or...) that she hadn't been taken to this obviously wonderful event.

I had to keep myself from chuckling.  

Maybe I'm doing alright

So today I spent a couple of hours organizing a very untidy office. We just finished tax preparation (yuck, ick, strong dislike!) so it was time to box up last year's paperwork and prep the file cabinet for this year's bills, invoices and other merriment.

Miss K likes spending some time in the basement in a closet that has become a storage place for toys that are 'rotated' through the second floor bedrooms and the main floor play-zone. At some point I can't take the chaos anymore and bring toys to this nice basement 'toy closet'.

Today my organizing buddy found a doll pack-and-play bed and immediately headed back up the stairs to retrieve her Bitty Baby and a little blanket. Soon it was nap time and baby was rocked back and forth until she quietly nodded off. The mobile even turned and played a little lullaby.

I was struck as Miss K played by how she cared for her doll and sweetly talked with her. Saying, "good night", "love you" and gently tucking her into bed or picking her up. Made me think for a fleeting moment that perhaps I'm doing alright at this mothering thing. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of moments to doubt my abilities, but for my little 3 1/2 year old sweetheart to be kind to her dolly means she learned that somewhere. It may not all have been learned from watching me but today I'm going to take a little bit of credit and plod on.

Little Bo Peep...

has lost her sheep and doesn't know where to find them. Leave them alone and they'll come home, wagging their tales behind them.

I think I got that right. I should have it fresh in my mind. Miss A's kindergarten class studied nursery rhymes in October. They were able to choose their favorite character to dress up as for the day before Halloween. Not surprisingly, Miss A choose Little Bo Peep. I was ready to tackle a costume but thankfully a little break from school and a couple days at the lake made it possible for Grandma to take over and finish the dress. It made a very cute costume paired with a cane from great-grandma's house and a sheep from a fantastic 2nd cousin from California (a gift a couple of Easter's ago). The entire class got to ride the bus to a local retirement home where they all recited several nursery rhymes. It was fun for the kids and the residents seemed to enjoy it as well. I even got to ride along and help out...yeah!

Here are a couple of pictures. The girls both attempted to sleep in curlers (Miss K didn't last very long!).

Drum roll please.....presenting Little Bo Peep!

Thank goodness for Mother Goose!

A few words that said it all

Mr. M was driving us to a hockey game this past Friday night. He was heading down the street and Miss A suddenly starts saying, "Slow down Dad, you're going too fast. Slow down, the police will get you." Not missing a beat we hear another little voice from the back seat, "Faster, faster. I yike faster!" Of course those of us in the front seat laughed.

I was immediately struck by this. I think I even said, "There you have it. That's the personalities of our two girls!" One who is cautious and sticks to the rules and the other who loves speed, some danger and pushing limits. I'm always amazed at how different they are when everything around them is the same. That's what makes it interesting I guess.

A new place for memories

So I've been meaning to post something on this for a long, long time. A combination of laziness and life's adventures has gotten in the way. It seems my days are relatively busy without blogging...go figure?!?!?!!!

There is a new place to make memories in my family. It's a great place on a beautiful lake. It is surrounded by trees that turned all of the wonderful fall colors you can imagine. Said trees also left a carpet of leaves that may take a couple of days to pick up and move somewhere. We'll get to that in a couple of weeks.

It has a wonderful fireplace that will be so fun to curl up in front of as the snowflakes fall this winter. We found a great dining room table that will hold our little family perfectly and will expand to fit family and friends for holidays, weekends and all the fun that comes along with that.

The girls love it there. In fact, every once in awhile Miss K will sadly say, "I miss the yake. Me yake." I'm also pretty sure we'll spend at least part of next summer teaching her that the entire lake is not, in fact, hers. On our one boat ride this summer she seemed to think that everyone else should leave as it was, "me yake."

The fact that both girls love it there is perhaps the best part of all. I am so excited to spend time there with them as they grow up. I hope they continue to love it there and will always return to spend time with us, our family and friends. Maybe they'll even bring their own little ones some day (far, far, far, far into the future!).

The lake is...

 ...funny faces

...awesome sunsets

...all about rock skipping

...a good place for hide-and-seek

...where Miss K finished picking all of the tomatoes left by the previous owners. She insisted Daddy needed them.

  

 ...has great campfires

...the appropriate place to eat a smore (note the extra large marshmallow)

...perfection in the fall

...ideal for hiding in the leaves (there are millions of leaves to rake into piles, thanks mom!)

  

   

...just plain fun!

So many, many memories to make with my family and friends for years to come. Can't wait to get started!

Wedded bliss

August was a big month at our house. Miss A started kindergarten. We found a new place to make memories for years to come (more on this one to come). Plus we got to celebrate a wedding and add a new member to our extended family.

Our girls even got to be part of the big day as flower girls. They were beyond excited to be included in the celebration.

The party started with a morning of pedis. Everyone got to pick their own color. Lots of little toes in warm, bubbly water. Lots of brightly painted toes in perfect shape for dancing the night away. So pretty!

Then it was off to IHOP. Nothing like pancakes to complete a morning of fun.

Practice makes perfect.

Wedding day. A beautiful, very warm, sun-shiny day. Off to the salon...not surprisingly Miss A was ready to jump up and get the curling started.

Miss K, on the other hand, was happy to wait until last and then not so sure she wanted anything to do with that funny looking chair. Fortunately a partly melted Kit Kat saved the day. Chocolate makes everything OK.

The smiling results.

Picture fun.

A beautiful ceremony. A beautiful location. A beautiful couple.

A little dancing. A few props.

Proof of a good night...Miss A's feet when she woke a bit sleepy eyed late the morning after.

Thank you J & D for including us in your celebration. We were all honored to witness a beautiful day. Miss K's flower girl dress still has a few sparkles on it after many days of wear including a few speech sessions. Nothing like a fuchsia flower girl dress to turn heads during a walk across campus.

Kindergarten

My dear Miss A has begun kindergarten. It is so amazing to think she is already old enough especially since I'm still 24 or so (you are free to laugh here!).  She began the countdown to the first day around #25. Each day, usually several times, she would announcement the new number with a smile on her face. She would happily share it with anyone we encountered as well.

Mr. M and I decided to take her out for a special evening of school supply shopping and dinner. Fortunately we had grandparents waiting in the wings to take Miss K for a special evening. Younger sisters are not allowed on these special shopping excursions for kindergartners. Really, they are but it was nice to have some one-on-one time. So we hit Target for the essentials.

4 boxes broad tip Crayola washable markers - check
3 boxes 16 count crayons - check

8 No. 2 pencils - check

1 bottle Elmer's glue (not gel!) - check

1 6 pack dry erase markers - check
school box - check (a cardboard version complete with Ally-applied Toy Story stickers)
tablet/doodle pad, no lines for free time - check
1 box snack or sandwich size zipper bags - check
1 box Kleenex - check
1 bath towel for rest time - check*
backpack - check**

*double check, this item has been purchased since early summer when on a shopping trip with Grandma Miss A decided it was just the right pink polka dot beach towel for Kindergarten rest time.

**surprisingly she decided it was OK to use the backpack we have had for a few years. It made a trip to Disney World with us so its bound to hold good luck!

After shopping we headed to Space Aliens for dinner and lots of game playing. We finished the night and had enough tickets (when added to our stash at home) to get not one but two 'disco ball' light things. They are arcade-fabulous and perfect for a dance party when the mode strikes you!

Someone who had been growing her hair out for a year decided that she was going to cut her hair off 'after two days of school'. Then the weekend before school as we were headed to the salon to get "flower girl ready" she said she wanted to get it done tomorrow. Needless to say before we left the salon the Saturday before school started Ally had arranged an appointment for Monday morning to get her hair cut!

   

Next off to a lunch at Paradiso. Gotta love the statues there.

We packed up all the school supplies and headed out. We found Ally's room, dropped off all of her supplies in her desk and found everything on her teacher's scavenger hunt list. Off to the gym to deposit some lunch money into her account (to which she needed to memorize the 6-digit number so she'll be able to eat!).

Little sister had to help out as well.

We met Mr. M and my brother for dinner following the open house. One last chance for a night out before we all had to start getting up early.

Now onto school. Miss A got out of bed all on her own and got dressed in the outfit she had chosen the evening before. After a breakfast of champions (fruit loops and milk), she got shoes on and we headed to the front porch for the traditional first day of school pictures.

We decided to walk to school the first day. So off we went. A few minutes later we were standing at the doorway. I think she struggled to contain her excitement while I struggled to contain a few tears.

That was that! She happily began to color at her desk (markers, not crayons!) and I headed out the door. Mr. M, Miss K and I walked back home. I kept the few tears I shed in until we were a good 20 feet down the sidewalk. Thankfully Miss K and I had a play date to head off to. It was a great distraction and a good way to get through the morning. After a couple of errands it was time to get home for an early nap.

I have to say while it was quiet at home I knew Miss A was having a wonderful time at school and Miss K seemed to enjoy her alone time with me. I certainly did!

All of a sudden it was time to head back to school so off we went to get Miss A. This picture was taken as Miss A headed over to us in the hallway. She even bent down to give Miss K a hug and squeeze in the stroller. Ahhhhhh...gotta love that!  

Miss A,

May your day be filled with blessings,

like the sun that lights the sky,

and may you always have the courage

to spread your wings and fly.

You've heard that a thousand times from me and while its a bummer our all-day time at home is over you are more than ready to spread those wings. I can't wait to hear your stories and see what you learn. I'm so glad I can be there at the end of the day and look forward to our after-school time together. Enjoy kindergarten! 

Love, Mom

Miss A-isms

So today I'm trying to catch up on a little blogging while watching re-runs of the Rachel Zoe Project on the aforementioned favorite channel, Bravo. here are a few Miss A quotes that I've had waiting to be shared.

Mr. M: So you're going to be a flower girl.
Miss A: Yes. Isn't that exciting???

While swimming/floating in the lake on a sunny, hot day...
Miss A (to Mr. M): We're livin' the life Dad! Living' the life.

Said to her grandparents while Mark was grilling and I was sitting outside with him...
Miss A: What are they doing talking outside? They're married. They don't need to talk.

As Mr. M and I were trying to 'secretly' figure out what to do one afternoon...
Mr. M: Are you thinking R-A-M-O-N-A...?
Me: Yes.
Miss A: What are you talking about?
Me: Never mind.
Miss A: Well, you're saying something. What is it?

Gotta love it, don't ya?!?!!!

Birthday girl

Today was Miss K's birthday. She is already three years old! I'm not sure where the last three years went. Seems like just yesterday we were patiently (and then impatiently) waiting for her to arrive. Then I guess I blinked and suddenly today is upon me.

Now she is walking, running, jumping and dancing. She's talking (after lots of extra work!) and learning new words each and every day. She is singing and has a pretty decent voice too. She has earned the nickname, Sarge, as in Sergeant. I really don't need to say much else, do I? She barks orders, likes, dislikes and sometimes her next move. She will always say such things with confidence and enthusiasm. As in, 'This is the way we're going to do this!' 

  

Miss K is lovable and loving. She likes to cuddle occasionally so you better take what you get. She's always willing to give you a hug and/or kiss though. She is very concerned about her big sister. Dropping Miss A off at her Intro. to Kindergarten class was painful until she realized it was just temporary and we'd pick her up again soon. When its just she and I we have to get treats for Miss A too. She never forgets! She asks about her daddy each morning and nearly each time we arrive back home.
 

She is very, very funny. Miss K says funny things. She does funny things. If you watch closely, I think you can see her wheels spinning. You'll always be entertained at how she plays and the determination with which she does each thing. She also 'cooks' up lots of great treats in her kitchen.

Another note about that determination I mentioned, if you ask Miss K do do something she is not interested in doing, be prepared. She will look at you and sweetly say, "no," complete with smile and maybe even a wink. 

Miss K you are quite a little lady. You make us smile and laugh each day. You also frustrate us (mostly me, I think) on occasion. I know, however, that the independent spirit you have will take you far in this world. Remember to go your own way and do what you love. I can't wait to see what you do with your humor and hard work. I'm sure you'll accomplish great things!

Happy Happy 3rd Birthday Miss K!

May your wishes come true!

Something about a fair

There's just something about a county fair. Each summer we take the girls to this little county fair near by. It's small, full of enough rides to keep them entertained and busting with people Mr. M and I grew up with, stay in touch with or just see once a year as though no time has passed.

Sometimes the pictures are all you need to see. I hope you all find a fun summer fair. Remember its not really a fair without...

...a parade

...a bag for the candy (you have to be prepared)

...a princess...a REAL princess

...a game

...a ride on the choo-choo train (notice the fish)

...a red car that goes fast

...and a snack, of course.