Today we were running WAY late and I was telling the kids to Hurry UP because We Are LATE and You Need To Put The Toys Down and GET MOVING!
Then, I hear Ellie say yell at Gracie: “Come on! Move it!” then, she looks at me and says…
…wait for it…
“See, Mama, I’m talkin’ just like you.”
Jeez, I suck.
Ellie: “She’s coming!! Hurry! Close the door!”
Yup. That’s never a good sign….
so I’ll just write about everything.
Watching a food network show about ‘comfort food’ during a snow day is totally unfair. I want to run to the gorcery store and throw together a fantabulous meal. Instead of the leftovers I was planning on serving today. Man, I love cooking. I wish I had more time to. Have you seen this show? I think she’s a little annoying, but I like her general idea….
Watching Food Network makes me want Le Creuset and an awesome stove.
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Today we went outside on an ‘adventure’ and made a snowman. They’re not really sick anymore, so they could finally play in the snow. Sadly, the snow is covered in a layer of ice so its not packing very well. But we had fun anyway, throwing snowballs at the trees and making footprints. See our pathetic snowman?
Me:Okay, we don’t throw snowballs at people, okay? Especially not at peoples’ faces, okay?
Girls: Okay, Mama.
SPLAT. Ellie throws a snowball that lands directly on top of Grace’s head.
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We had two parties this weekend for Ellie. Saturday we took her and two friends to Chuck E. Cheese. (After that, Mama had to restrain herself from bathing them in undiltued Purell. Ugh.) Then Sunday we had family over for her ‘real’ party, with cake and presents. She had a great time and has been singing “Happy Birthday” to herself all weekend. She baked her own cake and was extremely proud. (It was very yummy. We adapted this recipe into a two-layer cake, substituting a white cake mix.)
Here she is playing air hockey and with her cake. I just realized I should probably take the Christmas trees off the fridge…. Now we have to convince her that her birthday is, in fact, over.
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I’m super depressed because we lost power last night and I missed the Oscars! I love watching stuff like that. Now I’m resigned to surfing the ‘net trying to find out what happened. The bright side is that the power came on again around 1am so we were saved from freezing to death ’cause our house got cold really quickly.
I just got my first speeding ticket. Ever.
I tried to get out of it. I was ever so charming and apologetic to the officer. (Maybe I should have taken off my wedding band and flirted a little. Although I was driving a minivan with kids in it, so he probably wouldn’t have fell for it. Still…..)
No dice. He handed me a ticket. Actually, he claims to have generously not given me a ticket just a ‘citation’. (I was clocked going 42 in a 25, which would have been a zillion dollars and 4 points on my licence. But he put me as going 30 in a 25, which is a ‘citation’ not a ticket, and no points.) Well, this little ‘citation’ is going to cost $117. Well, thank you so much, Officer! Because I thought that tickets were expensive. Thank goodness you only gave me a citation!!
Glad I’ve been working so hard to save money, to be able to spend it on new clothes. our trip to Disney. Dinner out. something fun like this.
GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!
I went to the eye doctor today. I h-a-t-e the eye doctor. I hate anything to do with eyes – Like you know in movies when they have a needle near someone’s eye? That’s when I suddenly have to go to the bathroom. For ten minutes.
Anywho, I survived. Nice doctor, although he seemed a bit too excited about his job. (Dude, they’re just eyes.) And with insurance and a nice little $100 rebate, I got a year’s supply of contacts for a whopping $30. Yup. I rock.
However, I must ask. You know how they give you those drops to dialate your eyes? To see your retnias? The doctor says to me, “Your eyes should return to normal in about 8-10 hours?” Seriously? 8-10 hours so you can do a 2 minute test? That’s the best eye drop you can find – one that dialates my eyes for half a day, making me wear sunglasses inside a la Jessica Simpson? Isn’t there a better drop? Or perhaps some recreational drugs that would be quicker?
Ugh. I hate the eye doctor.
On the bright side, my mom and I went shopping today and I found some really, really, really, cute fabric. For super cheap. Stay tuned for some very cute purses 😉 And some baby quilts made out of this collection.
Me, to the closed bathroom door: What are you doing in there?
Gracie: Nut-thin’……..
Me, to myself: Humm. I should check on this, but I’m in the middle of reading this great blog. I’m sure she’s fine.
cue sound of bathtub being turned on
Gracie: Ut-oh! I all wet, Mom!!
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I met a friend at the mall this morning. I needed to run into the Disney Store to get something for Ellie’s brithday (she really, really wants a stuffed Dumbo for some strange reason. And I also got her this and these cute sunglasses. One for her birthday and one for our trip to Disney. What? That’s a necessity! Sunglasses! Come on!). Anyway, we went to Gap. Since she had to return something! And, her bad influence I mean, she encouraged me to try stuff on just for fun. So I ended up getting this. And I really wanted this and this, but didn’t cave in. Yes, I know I’m not supposed to be spending money. But I had a gift card! Really!
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My mom is coming to visit today, which will make Husband’s trip to Kansas City much less painful. She is, naturally, coming for the ‘event of the decade!’ — Ellie’s birthday tomorrow. What a grandma.
Here’s a quote our conversation this morning: “Now don’t you clean just for me. I don’t care!”
Yeah. Right. Does anyone not clean when their moms are coming for a visit? Where does she think I inherited these obsessive cleaning habits from anyway? Dad?!?!
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By the way, the Children’s NyQuil worked like a charm. Ellie slept all night last night. Which means I slept all night. The world is lookin’ a whole lot more rosy from my window this morning! Well, off to clean! Not that I have to!
to the big day. Ellie’s* 4th birthday is on Thursday. I cannot believe she’s almost four! I’ve been going through old pictures today. And trying not to be too depressed. She’s so big!!!!
First birthday! So sweet. So unaware of how her life was about to change**…
Second birthday. Note the black eye. Classy.
Third birthday. Princess party. 10 little girls. 1 large headache.
How is she four? Already?!!? When? How?
*I’m annoyed using “Big Sister” and Little Sister. Too many letters. My last name isn’t on here, so whatever.
**Just before her first birthday, I found out I was over two months pregnant. We were still in shock.
Overheard this afternoon:
Little Sis: Where’s Daddy?
Me: He’s at work.
Little Sis: Where?
Me: At his office. Daddy works at the office, Mommy works at home.
Little Sis: No! Mommy works at the mall!
Seriously, I rarely go to the mall. I honestly don’t know where that came from!
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Cleaning kids rooms is pointless. Lesson learned.
I wish I had a before and after picture for you. No. A before, after and 15-minutes-later picture. The after picture would be nice. The other two would look exactly the same: like the Disney Store threw up in a violently pink bedroom.
Yet… I still do it! Why oh why do I feel compelled to clean up their rooms when their favorite recreational activity is dumping-things-on-the-ground-and-walking-away?
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Another quote from a phone conversation this afternoon:
Me: And then my mom said…
My little brother: What did you say? Did you just say ‘my mom’?
Me: Yeah. So?
My little brother: So… that would be my mom as well, right?
Me: Yeah. I forgot who I was talking to. Shut up.
My little brother: Go take a nap before the crazy kicks in.
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Today I went to Target to buy Childrens’ NyQuil. They really make it! (And I thought my husband was joking when he suggested it.) I may get sleep tonight. Not that this hasn’t been fun. I slept in Big Sister’s room last night, thinking that at least I could eliminate the walk from my bedroom to hers. No dice. She woke me up last night so many times I lost count. My favorite was around 5am when she woke me up to tell me her toes itched. Or possibly around 1am when she woke me up to tell me that she washed her hands after going to the bathroom.
So I called my father* and step-mom today to find out if they were planning to come to Big Sister’s birthday party. This was the response:
“Yeah. We’ve been meaning to call you about that. We’re not sure we’ll be able to come because your grandma isn’t doing very well and they’re not expecting her to make it through the weekend.”
WTF?!?! So you weren’t planning on calling me to tell me that Grandma will probably die this week, you were going to call me about not coming to the stupid party? (Not that I’d be surprised, since the few parties/events that you have made it to, you always find some excuse to leave early. Although I will forgive you leaving Little Sis’s second birthday party since you passed a kidney stone a day later). How about keeping me updated on how she was doing? About how she took a turn for the worse last week and stopped eating? Why are my aunts and uncles the ones who have told me everything I’ve heard up until this and not my own father? How about actually acting like a real father and keeping in contact with your children? You don’t have to call us every day, but big things like dying grandmothers would certainly qualify as news worthy of sharing. I realize that this would require you taking an interest in someone besides yourself, which would be a stretch for you, but you could at least try.
*You may perhaps recall me writing that my father had died. That was actually my step-dad, who raised me and I will always call ‘dad’. This guy I’m ranting about is my technical dad, who is – and I say this with all due respect – an ass.
This week is Big Sister’s 4th birthday. It may have even been on your local news, because it is the event of the decade. At least until she turns 5 next year.
I just love how excited she is. She has been planning this since Christmas. Every day her choice of cake changes. Today it is: Chocolate! With pink frosting! And sprinkles! And a Ariel candle! And jellybeans! This is going to be some cake. I’ll be sure to post a picture. She keeps telling me things that she wants. Like a Barbie. Please, not Barbies! Not yet! They’re too young!!! And a stuffed Dumbo. And a new Belle dress. And a digital camera. really. And a Lady and the Tramp movie. And paint. And the list keeps growing – its hilarious.
My favorite part is that she thinks that everyone in the world knows that her birthday is coming up. Including the lady bagging our groceries. I mean, how could they not know? This is such a big deal! Its her birthday!!
The only thing we are having trouble with is her party. We’re having a family-only party on Sunday, but on Saturday night we’re taking two of her friends to Chuck-E-Cheese with us. ugh. She keeps telling me all these people she wants to invite to her party: kids from her class at school, kids from Bible Study or church… So I have two questions:
(1) Do you think she has personally invited any of these kids? Will they and she be disappointed not to be at her party?
(2) Are we in the last days of not having to do big parties for our kids? What age did your kids start having ‘friends’ parties?
p.s.
Speaking of birthdays and the like, yesterday Big Sis went to a birthday party for a friend. On the invite it said “No gifts, please. Or something really small.” So I sent Big Sis with a little Disney Princess coloring book. Well, when I came to pick her up, there was this huge pile of gifts from the other kids? What the heck, man! Was I wrong to follow the mom’s wishes for presents since no one else did? Is that one of those things you should always ignore, like when your mother-in-law says she really don’t want anything for her birthday, but you know that you need to get her something? I’m so confused!