Yesterday I was playing dinosaur with the girls. I was Mommy Dinosaur, Kiersten was Baby Dinosaur and Annika was Big Sister Dinosaur. We sat around roaring at each other with Mommy Dinosaur smooching on the little dinosaurs. We've played this game before...Kiersten loves dinosaurs. So when I put Kiersten to bed several hours later she said, "Goodnight Mommy Dinosaur" and I said "Goodnight Baby Dinosaur". We went through the same routine a little later when I went back up to fulfill some need that she had. :) ANYWAY...the cute part is that when I went to get her this morning the FIRST thing she said was "Good morning Mommy Dinosaur!" At least *I* thought it was cute.
A few minutes ago she crawled onto my lap and wanted me to sing Rock-a-bye Baby to her. So I sang (and Annika accompanied me on the drums). Then she said that she wanted to sing to me. "Rock-a-bye Mommy in the tree top..." *So* cute!
Kiersten is into dinosaurs, Oskar is into Space (he wants to be an Oskar-naut) and Annika...I guess she's into princesses. After I typed that sentence I just said, "Annika, Kiersten loves dinosaurs, Oskar loves space...what do you love?" She responded, "I love princesses Mommy." Oskar informs me that he loves "strong rangers that are good" too.
I'm down here in the basement trying to get cleaned up (AGAIN!). Oskar is generously letting me borrow his computer for a sec. :) That boy is OBSESSED with his computer. Seems that he's going to be following in his Daddy's footsteps. Okay...must go take the roof (a.k.a. a blanket) off the fort so that Kiersten can get to the treasure chest (a.k.a. the dress up container).
Tuesday, September 23
Tuesday, September 9
Eggs-actly...
The other day I was cleaning up after breakfast and got distracted. First there was a phone call that lead me into the computer room and then I was IMing back and forth with a friend trying to help her out. When I walked back into the kitchen, this is what I found.
Yep, Kiersten had discovered that eggs can break and it's oh so delightfully messy.
Yep, Kiersten had discovered that eggs can break and it's oh so delightfully messy.
Friday, September 5
Tuesday, September 2
Grandma Van Belle
I've been thinking about things that I wanted to blog about...but with my Facebook addiction to tend to, I never get around to it in a timely matter, and then I forget what I was going to write about. Although...I think my few loyal readers are all on Facebook anyway so I think that's why I haven't worried too much about staying current here. But let me see if I can remember any of the things I wanted to write about.
I got home from Michigan yesterday. I had a really nice visit at Aunt Barb's house. I loved being able to just enjoy the kids and not worry about much else. I played with them on the beach, in the water and took them for a walk around the canal. Although we only went to the playground and then came back because Oskar informed me, "my bottom is worned out".
Other amusing things they said:
When we were walking around one of the sand bars in the lake, Annika was looking at the rippled sand and said, "Mommy, is this a zebra?"
While we were working on our second sand castle, Annika asked me to build some steps. I built some miniature sand castle sized steps and then some Annika sized steps. Oskar said, "Build me a ramp, Mommy so that we can bring a stroller."
I've been remembering Grandma a lot. Mom and I shared a lot of funny anecdotes and memories during our trip together. Grandma was such a character. That's the word I always come back to. We were laughing about how Grandma always had various different cases that she'd lug around with her - several briefcases loaded up with papers of all sorts. She was forever collecting clippings. She'd have a case for jewelry, a case for make-up. Come to think of it, I'm a lot like Grandma.
Grandma used to give us rolls of quarters and then she'd discipline us by taking away a quarter. If Danny and I would run to her with a squabble she'd tell us that if she wanted her to arbitrate, we'd each have to pay a "court fee" and then we'd have to accept whatever decision she came up with. This was usually enough to end our disagreement. We didn't want to put our money where our mouth was!!! :)
I got home from Michigan yesterday. I had a really nice visit at Aunt Barb's house. I loved being able to just enjoy the kids and not worry about much else. I played with them on the beach, in the water and took them for a walk around the canal. Although we only went to the playground and then came back because Oskar informed me, "my bottom is worned out".
Other amusing things they said:
When we were walking around one of the sand bars in the lake, Annika was looking at the rippled sand and said, "Mommy, is this a zebra?"
While we were working on our second sand castle, Annika asked me to build some steps. I built some miniature sand castle sized steps and then some Annika sized steps. Oskar said, "Build me a ramp, Mommy so that we can bring a stroller."
I've been remembering Grandma a lot. Mom and I shared a lot of funny anecdotes and memories during our trip together. Grandma was such a character. That's the word I always come back to. We were laughing about how Grandma always had various different cases that she'd lug around with her - several briefcases loaded up with papers of all sorts. She was forever collecting clippings. She'd have a case for jewelry, a case for make-up. Come to think of it, I'm a lot like Grandma.
Grandma used to give us rolls of quarters and then she'd discipline us by taking away a quarter. If Danny and I would run to her with a squabble she'd tell us that if she wanted her to arbitrate, we'd each have to pay a "court fee" and then we'd have to accept whatever decision she came up with. This was usually enough to end our disagreement. We didn't want to put our money where our mouth was!!! :)
Thursday, August 21
Lala Says...
Annika saw the picture of Bill down below and said, "That's Boppa. He belongs with Grandma."
She's interested in spelling her name all of a sudden.
She's interested in spelling her name all of a sudden.
Wednesday, August 20
A Substantial Update
I have so many things to tell you! Which is a good thing because that means I've been doing better about staying off the computer. (And after I finish this post I'm getting right back off).
For starters I'd like to take a moment to publicly recognize the significance of this date*. It's our "dating anniversary". Before there was August 25, there was August 20. *smile* We've been together 11 years. Wow. I'm 33 years old so that means I've been with Dwight for one third of my life. Wow!
August 20 is actually a totally arbitrary day. After we'd been together a few weeks...even months, perhaps...it occurred to me that I didn't know when we had started dating. Back in those days, that was a date that mattered. So I conferred with Dwight and August 20 was our best guess. Things were a little murky in the first little bit anyway. We were friends. We started hanging out. I asked him on a date (which he declined so clearly *that* wasn't it). He told me he liked me. We kissed. It was hard to pinpoint what event was most significant since there were a couple of milestones along the way. But anyway, like I said, this is the anniversary we claimed. So happy anniversary to my most-est special guy! Who could've guessed that this is where we'd be 11 years later!?! WOW!
----
So let's talk about some of our recent excitements. Kiersten got into nail polish yet again. You would think I would learn my lesson the first time. Nope. The second time? Nope. Third time *will* be the charm.
So now the door *will* be locked at bedtime with no exceptions. I had thought I could put her to bed with the door open and then lock it after she fell asleep but this last time she managed to sneak back downstairs long after we thought she was asleep and while we were still up. The nail polish was on the window sill behind the kitchen sink. She spilled it on the hardwood floor before carrying it up to her room and dumping the rest of it out on her Pottery Barn duvet cover (luckily not on her PB quilted bedspread). It was caked on her toes and fingernails. This was by far the worst incident. And we would never have caught it if she hadn't voluntarily come wandering downstairs telling us that there was a "mess" on her bed. Kiersten, Kiersten, Kiersten. What are we going to do with you?!
She begs to have her door open every night but now I tell her I can't do that because she doesn't stay in bed. I feel bad because I think she's scared of the dark. But I don't know what else to do (aside from giving her a bedside light, which we did). She crawls over gates and eve got herself wedged in between two of them. She wakes up earlier than anyone else AND even in the middle of the night sometimes. She'll sneak around quiet as a mouse and get into stuff. *grr* She's a great problem solver. I'll give her that!
Speaking of the door open thing, the other day she CRACKED us up with that. We were driving back from visiting Auntie Joy at about 8 o'clock at night. I told her to try to go to sleep [in her car seat] and her immediate response was, "I want my door open!"
Oskar is scared of the dark too. He likes to sleep in his sleeping bag with his head halfway into the hall. So last night we hear this loud banging upstairs and realize that he's trying to get his closet closed. He came downstairs and explained that he doesn't like to go to bed with his closet open because that gives him scary dreams. So I said, "Okay, Oskar, do you need a pretend weapon for the pretend scary things?" His eyes lit up and he said, "yes". So have gave him a bottle of 'Eau Minerale' that I had kicking around from way back when the airlines used to give Dad those nice little travel bags. I told him it was scary stuff repellent. He was very pleased with that.
This morning Annika comes running to find me and informs me that a monster with five teeth lives under her bunk bed. Oh my word! So now everyone wants scary stuff repellent. I think I have some Kitchen Spritzers that will do the job. Crazy kids.
Yesterday I was looking at photos on MyFamily.com. Annika saw the thumbnail of a photo of one of Paula's twins and said, "Hey! Dat looks like our baby." Then I clicked on the picture so she could see it big. She said, "Hey dat looks like someone else's baby. Whose name is her name? Whose name is her?" The "dat looks like someone else's baby" was so funny.
Oskar made this observation while playing "Age of Empirates" with Dwight and myself: "Your towns are little but not so much littler as mine." My favorite expression of his (which reminds me a little of Jonny's "incept") is "Is it fine unless..." That's how he asks permission for things.
I bought a new 'superzoom' lens for my camera. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet but I'm excited. AND I signed up for a class at the local camera store to learn all the ins and outs of my camera. I'm excited.
Alrighty, that's all we have time for today folks. I'm outta here!
*Today is also Dad's and Penelope's wedding anniversary. They've been married 8 years.
For starters I'd like to take a moment to publicly recognize the significance of this date*. It's our "dating anniversary". Before there was August 25, there was August 20. *smile* We've been together 11 years. Wow. I'm 33 years old so that means I've been with Dwight for one third of my life. Wow!
August 20 is actually a totally arbitrary day. After we'd been together a few weeks...even months, perhaps...it occurred to me that I didn't know when we had started dating. Back in those days, that was a date that mattered. So I conferred with Dwight and August 20 was our best guess. Things were a little murky in the first little bit anyway. We were friends. We started hanging out. I asked him on a date (which he declined so clearly *that* wasn't it). He told me he liked me. We kissed. It was hard to pinpoint what event was most significant since there were a couple of milestones along the way. But anyway, like I said, this is the anniversary we claimed. So happy anniversary to my most-est special guy! Who could've guessed that this is where we'd be 11 years later!?! WOW!
----
So let's talk about some of our recent excitements. Kiersten got into nail polish yet again. You would think I would learn my lesson the first time. Nope. The second time? Nope. Third time *will* be the charm.
So now the door *will* be locked at bedtime with no exceptions. I had thought I could put her to bed with the door open and then lock it after she fell asleep but this last time she managed to sneak back downstairs long after we thought she was asleep and while we were still up. The nail polish was on the window sill behind the kitchen sink. She spilled it on the hardwood floor before carrying it up to her room and dumping the rest of it out on her Pottery Barn duvet cover (luckily not on her PB quilted bedspread). It was caked on her toes and fingernails. This was by far the worst incident. And we would never have caught it if she hadn't voluntarily come wandering downstairs telling us that there was a "mess" on her bed. Kiersten, Kiersten, Kiersten. What are we going to do with you?!
She begs to have her door open every night but now I tell her I can't do that because she doesn't stay in bed. I feel bad because I think she's scared of the dark. But I don't know what else to do (aside from giving her a bedside light, which we did). She crawls over gates and eve got herself wedged in between two of them. She wakes up earlier than anyone else AND even in the middle of the night sometimes. She'll sneak around quiet as a mouse and get into stuff. *grr* She's a great problem solver. I'll give her that!
Speaking of the door open thing, the other day she CRACKED us up with that. We were driving back from visiting Auntie Joy at about 8 o'clock at night. I told her to try to go to sleep [in her car seat] and her immediate response was, "I want my door open!"
Oskar is scared of the dark too. He likes to sleep in his sleeping bag with his head halfway into the hall. So last night we hear this loud banging upstairs and realize that he's trying to get his closet closed. He came downstairs and explained that he doesn't like to go to bed with his closet open because that gives him scary dreams. So I said, "Okay, Oskar, do you need a pretend weapon for the pretend scary things?" His eyes lit up and he said, "yes". So have gave him a bottle of 'Eau Minerale' that I had kicking around from way back when the airlines used to give Dad those nice little travel bags. I told him it was scary stuff repellent. He was very pleased with that.
This morning Annika comes running to find me and informs me that a monster with five teeth lives under her bunk bed. Oh my word! So now everyone wants scary stuff repellent. I think I have some Kitchen Spritzers that will do the job. Crazy kids.
Yesterday I was looking at photos on MyFamily.com. Annika saw the thumbnail of a photo of one of Paula's twins and said, "Hey! Dat looks like our baby." Then I clicked on the picture so she could see it big. She said, "Hey dat looks like someone else's baby. Whose name is her name? Whose name is her?" The "dat looks like someone else's baby" was so funny.
Oskar made this observation while playing "Age of Empirates" with Dwight and myself: "Your towns are little but not so much littler as mine." My favorite expression of his (which reminds me a little of Jonny's "incept") is "Is it fine unless..." That's how he asks permission for things.
I bought a new 'superzoom' lens for my camera. I haven't had much time to play around with it yet but I'm excited. AND I signed up for a class at the local camera store to learn all the ins and outs of my camera. I'm excited.
Alrighty, that's all we have time for today folks. I'm outta here!
*Today is also Dad's and Penelope's wedding anniversary. They've been married 8 years.
Saturday, August 2
Engen Newsflash
All week I've been meaning to share the HUGE news from our home. Annika has stopped sucking her thumb. Cold turkey. Just like that. I'm so, so proud of her! Of course the unfortunate side effect is that she's also stopped napping (presumably because her sleep aid is gone). But that's okay because next month she starts preschool three afternoons a week so her nap would've been shot anyway. So this is such an exciting summer at our house.
- Kiersten's communication skills have improved by leaps and bounds.
- Oskar learned to ride his bike.
- Annika stopped asking for diapers for #2.
- Kard became a rolling expert.
- Kard met five of her great grandparents.
- Annika stopped sucking her thumb.
- Oskar swam across D&A's pool (without his fins).
Thursday, July 31
Lala Says...
The other day Annika told me that a "bacation" is where you go far away and then drive home.
Oskar has been quantifying his love. He loves me more than Dwight but loves Hunter more than me. He told me that he doesn't love Annika. So I said, "Then why do you want to marry her when you grow up?" He said, "Oh, I'll love her when I'm grown up." He also told me that soon he's going to stop loving me because he doesn't like to love people. Alrighty then!
Oskar has been quantifying his love. He loves me more than Dwight but loves Hunter more than me. He told me that he doesn't love Annika. So I said, "Then why do you want to marry her when you grow up?" He said, "Oh, I'll love her when I'm grown up." He also told me that soon he's going to stop loving me because he doesn't like to love people. Alrighty then!
Thursday, July 17
Kiki says...
Today my friend Jina was at our house with her son Joshua. Kiersten got mixed up and thought her name was Joshua...actually I think she thought they were both named Joshua. She wanted my friend to watch her on her bike so she kept saying, "Joshua, watch me! Look at me!"
Okker Says...
The other day Oskar came running upstairs asking for "Daddy" and teared up when I told him Daddy had already gone to work. He said that he needed help with his computer. So I told him that I would try to help him. He said, "You're not great at that thing. I know you're not." Alrighty then. For the record, I did solve his problem.
Today was cleaning day so I change all the sheets as part of the process (which is perhaps not really necessary since most of the time the kids sleep in their sleeping bags on their floors, but I digress). Annika happened to be hanging around while I was putting on her new sheets so I asked if she wanted to help me. She did. She said, "They're hot!" They had just come out of the dryer so indeed, they were hot. She said, "Why did you wash my sheets, Mom? Did I pee?"
Today was cleaning day so I change all the sheets as part of the process (which is perhaps not really necessary since most of the time the kids sleep in their sleeping bags on their floors, but I digress). Annika happened to be hanging around while I was putting on her new sheets so I asked if she wanted to help me. She did. She said, "They're hot!" They had just come out of the dryer so indeed, they were hot. She said, "Why did you wash my sheets, Mom? Did I pee?"
Wednesday, July 16
Overheard at breakfast
Oskar to Annika: "Congratulations!"
Annika: "Why did you say grad-u-lations?"
Oskar: "Because that's what you say when someone does something great."
Annika: "Why did you say grad-u-lations?"
Oskar: "Because that's what you say when someone does something great."
Thursday, July 10
Keep on Rollin'
I've been forgetting to mention that Kard is rolling like a fiend this week. I put her on her back and immediately she's flipped onto her tummy. She can cover small distances that way.
Friday, July 4
Scrapbooking
I'm reading Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life and it really resonates with me. I think it helped me find my voice. Simple Scrapbooks gurus Stacy Julian and Cathy Zielske both recommended it so I picked it up and am enjoying it. Although I can see that it would not be everyone's cup of tea.
This evening we sat outside and watched the neighbors' fireworks. Oskar and Kardynn slept through it but the other two girls sat outside with us. I was snapping pictures and Dwight was recording with one of his numerous devices. He has some cute audio of the girls.
[sound of mortar explosion]
Annika: "Daddy, hold my hand!"
Kiersten: "Daddy, I not tared."
Dwight and I with our hobbies...it's so wild how you develop a passion for something and then get such enjoyment out of it. Right now I can hear Dwight down in the basement beating away on his drums. I've been sitting here playing around with a scrapbooking layout...tweaking it here and there throughout the day. We're both so into our things. We used to have a lot more overlapping interests but I think now that our free time is such a precious commodity, we both retreat to the hobbies we're most passionate about. So he's delving into his music and I immerse myself in my various "family historian" pursuits - captioning my photos, posting to my blog, et cetera.
Well, it's about two hours past the time when I should have gone to bed.
This evening we sat outside and watched the neighbors' fireworks. Oskar and Kardynn slept through it but the other two girls sat outside with us. I was snapping pictures and Dwight was recording with one of his numerous devices. He has some cute audio of the girls.
[sound of mortar explosion]
Annika: "Daddy, hold my hand!"
Kiersten: "Daddy, I not tared."
Dwight and I with our hobbies...it's so wild how you develop a passion for something and then get such enjoyment out of it. Right now I can hear Dwight down in the basement beating away on his drums. I've been sitting here playing around with a scrapbooking layout...tweaking it here and there throughout the day. We're both so into our things. We used to have a lot more overlapping interests but I think now that our free time is such a precious commodity, we both retreat to the hobbies we're most passionate about. So he's delving into his music and I immerse myself in my various "family historian" pursuits - captioning my photos, posting to my blog, et cetera.
Well, it's about two hours past the time when I should have gone to bed.
Thursday, July 3
Annika's favorite food is macaroni & cheese. She *always* asks for mac & cheese, and is then upset with me when I don't deliver (which is obviously most of the time). Yesterday she asked for the usual and I replied, "Well, how about grilled cheese?" She responded with enthusiasm, "Oh sure, Mom! Not boy cheese!"
Tuesday, July 1
Tuesday, June 24
Of Course
Oskar's favorite word at the moment is "of course". He uses it in every conversation...when he's on a roll, every sentence. And on occasion, multiple times in a sentence.
Oskar: "Mommy! There are some Bob the Builder toys on tv and I want them."
Mommy: "Well, you have some money. Is that how you want to spend your money? I thought you wanted to buy legos."
Oskar: "Well, of course legos are more fun than Bob the Builder toys. So I think we should buy them. Of course let's buy them. Let's go to Target right now and buy them."
[Oskar continues to describe legos and Bob the Builder toys for a minute or two.]
Oskar: "Mommy, would you like me to play with your hair?"
Mommy: "Of course."
Oskar: "Mommy! There are some Bob the Builder toys on tv and I want them."
Mommy: "Well, you have some money. Is that how you want to spend your money? I thought you wanted to buy legos."
Oskar: "Well, of course legos are more fun than Bob the Builder toys. So I think we should buy them. Of course let's buy them. Let's go to Target right now and buy them."
[Oskar continues to describe legos and Bob the Builder toys for a minute or two.]
Oskar: "Mommy, would you like me to play with your hair?"
Mommy: "Of course."
Genius
yesterday i hauled out a kiddie pool (very kiddie) and supervised the little ones while they played. kik was stepping outside the pool and pouring water back into it which prompted annika say, 'kiersten, you're a genius!" it was such a funny thing to hear my little 3 year-old say.
Wednesday, June 18
Granola
The new Kashi granolas are delicious. So far I've tried Orchard Spice and Mountain Medley. Orchard Spice was especially yummy.
Oskar's favorite word these days is "probably". I think I've already mentioned that when he says probably he actually means "definitely".
Annika uses the word "tell" in place of "ask". She'll ask one of us a question and then go report to the other parent that she "telled" the other this and that.
Kiersten calls herself "Hear-ten".
Oskar's favorite word these days is "probably". I think I've already mentioned that when he says probably he actually means "definitely".
Annika uses the word "tell" in place of "ask". She'll ask one of us a question and then go report to the other parent that she "telled" the other this and that.
Kiersten calls herself "Hear-ten".
Monday, June 16
Yesterday when we were driving home from the pool Kiersten said something like, "Mommy, have fun Amy help me froggie" (because Aunt Amy was always at Kiki's side, most of which Kiersten spent in a frog float, the entire time that we were at the pool).
This morning Oskar was interrupting Annika and she said, "I not finished with my words. Let me finish."
This morning Oskar was interrupting Annika and she said, "I not finished with my words. Let me finish."
Tuesday, June 10
Tuesday, June 3
Word
Gradually Kik is getting closer to saying everyone's names correctly. Now we're at "Otter", "Lawdika", "Hear-ten" and of course she's got Kardynn down.
O & A are frequently in fierce competition with each other and forever declaring themselves to be the winner. I think I've already mentioned that O will declare them both to be winners if he can't convince Annika that he was in fact the sole winner. I like that attitude. Coming in second is no problem because you can just declare there to be multiple winners. But I digress. This morning A finished her cereal first and declares herself the winner. So O says that's a winner too because he's almost finished. Then he says, "We're changing it. The one who has some cereal left is the winner and the one who has no cereal is not the winner."
We had a milestone this weekend. O said a bad word...not a majorly bad word but a minorly bad word. It happened when he was out with my sister-in-law's troop. So anyway, when I found out about it...I asked O where he'd heard that...blah, blah, blah. He's definitely NOT a tattle tale - despite my previous concerns - because he'll rarely incriminate anyone (other than his sisters who he's happy to report on). He clams up and says things like, "I just know it." Eventually he said that it was probably someone at school but that was the most I ever got out of him. "Probably" means "definitely" in Oskar's lexicon. So I gave him a speech about that not being a nice word for a little boy and so on an so forth. Anyway, later on I mentioned it to D&A in front of O, so Uncle Danny says, "Oskar, you shouldn't say bad words in front of your mommy, that makes her sad" or something like that. O pipes up, "No, I didn't say it in front of Mommy."
Today I put K2 in the "Jonny Jumper" for the first time (I don't think it's an official "Johnny Jumper" so we'll just call it a "Jonny Jumper" for Uncle J.) I tried out the megasaucer a week or two ago but even though her head is strong, the seating area is still a little loose for her. I'd have to put a blanket behind her, or something, so that she wouldn't flop around.
This weekend I asked Dwight if he ever reads my blog and he said, "no". So I said, "good!". *smile* So I can continue to speak freely... *hehe*
O & A are frequently in fierce competition with each other and forever declaring themselves to be the winner. I think I've already mentioned that O will declare them both to be winners if he can't convince Annika that he was in fact the sole winner. I like that attitude. Coming in second is no problem because you can just declare there to be multiple winners. But I digress. This morning A finished her cereal first and declares herself the winner. So O says that's a winner too because he's almost finished. Then he says, "We're changing it. The one who has some cereal left is the winner and the one who has no cereal is not the winner."
We had a milestone this weekend. O said a bad word...not a majorly bad word but a minorly bad word. It happened when he was out with my sister-in-law's troop. So anyway, when I found out about it...I asked O where he'd heard that...blah, blah, blah. He's definitely NOT a tattle tale - despite my previous concerns - because he'll rarely incriminate anyone (other than his sisters who he's happy to report on). He clams up and says things like, "I just know it." Eventually he said that it was probably someone at school but that was the most I ever got out of him. "Probably" means "definitely" in Oskar's lexicon. So I gave him a speech about that not being a nice word for a little boy and so on an so forth. Anyway, later on I mentioned it to D&A in front of O, so Uncle Danny says, "Oskar, you shouldn't say bad words in front of your mommy, that makes her sad" or something like that. O pipes up, "No, I didn't say it in front of Mommy."
Today I put K2 in the "Jonny Jumper" for the first time (I don't think it's an official "Johnny Jumper" so we'll just call it a "Jonny Jumper" for Uncle J.) I tried out the megasaucer a week or two ago but even though her head is strong, the seating area is still a little loose for her. I'd have to put a blanket behind her, or something, so that she wouldn't flop around.
This weekend I asked Dwight if he ever reads my blog and he said, "no". So I said, "good!". *smile* So I can continue to speak freely... *hehe*
Monday, May 26
Waterlogged
Yesterday afternoon one of the neighbors knocked on the door to find out if my kids could play. I invited her and her brother to come in and play. As I was escorting the two of them downstairs to the basement where my kids were, I discovered that in the 15 minutes since we'd sent them downstairs, they have created an assembly line and are filling up cups in the bathroom that they're proceeding to dump all over various objects in the other room. The tile entry way is completely covered with water. In some areas, the white carpet had turned gray because the pad was showing through from the bottom. It was CRAZY! We immediately sent our kids off to bed and started to clean up while the neighbor kids played around us. The little boy piped up, "I only play with water at the beach or in the bathtub. We never do this. I'll bet you wish we were in your family." At the time I was so focused on the task at hand that I failed to really appreciate the humor. But now the basement is almost dried out (thank you to those same neighbors who loaned us their little green machine...or whatever it's called) I can now appreciate the comedy.
I joked with their mom that it was probably divine intervention that they were with me when I discovered the scene because it prompted me to remain much calmer than I otherwise probably would have.
I joked with their mom that it was probably divine intervention that they were with me when I discovered the scene because it prompted me to remain much calmer than I otherwise probably would have.
Thursday, January 24
The Things Kids Say
Yesterday Kiersten started saying "Okkar".
Today she refuses to keep her diaper on. So I tried a pull-up and that lasted a few minutes. Finally I got some of Annika's padded underwear and gave her a little potty tutorial and told her to fetch me when she needs to pee pee. No doubt this will end in disaster but maybe it will be good in the long run. She's definitely very interested in the potty and when I put her on it this am she definitely seemed to be making an effort to produce something...so Mommy might as well join the potty party, right?!
Other things Kiersten says:
"Inoknow" (I don't know)
"Vimamim" (Vitamin)
"WheresLala?" (or Daddy, or Mommy, etc)
"Eat Mommy, Eat!" (When she's hungry)
"Let" (her blanket)
"Mamie" (Aunt Amy)
"Nanny" (Uncle Danny)
"Cmon Mommy"
"Hand" (and then when you give her your hand, she leads you to whatever she wants)
All three of the kids have had a moment where they spotted Dwight's car in the garage and got so excited because they think he's home. Last night it was Kiersten. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" If you ask Annika where Daddy is, she'll tell you he's on the plane.
Yesterday I went to help Oskar out of the car and he said, "But you can't carry me." The older two are well trained.
"How come Mommy can't carry you?"
"Because you have a baby in your tummy."
Two days ago I was playing around with the kids and I put a doll under Annika's shirt and declared her to be pregnant. They thought that was HILARIOUS. I have a funny picture of Oskar with his arms around Annika lovingly patting the lump under her shirt. Speaking of, last night he tells me that we need to have another boy baby. And I said, "How come?" So he tells me that it needs to be the daddy. I said, "But you're the daddy". And he said, "No, I'm almost all grown up and then I'll live with Annika." I can't remember exactly what I said next but it must have been something like, "You're moving away?!" And he said, "Well, I'll be very close because my house will be in your back 'ard. You can see it from Kiersten's window."
Yesterday I bought Kiersten a sleeping bag so last night we lined up all the sleeping bags in Kiersten's room and they gave that a shot at bedtime. It only lasted about 10 minutes and then I had to split them up because Annika kept turning the light on. Kiersten was devastated. I think Friday night I might have a sleepover in my bedroom and they can all come in there with their sleeping bags. We'll see.
Today she refuses to keep her diaper on. So I tried a pull-up and that lasted a few minutes. Finally I got some of Annika's padded underwear and gave her a little potty tutorial and told her to fetch me when she needs to pee pee. No doubt this will end in disaster but maybe it will be good in the long run. She's definitely very interested in the potty and when I put her on it this am she definitely seemed to be making an effort to produce something...so Mommy might as well join the potty party, right?!
Other things Kiersten says:
"Inoknow" (I don't know)
"Vimamim" (Vitamin)
"WheresLala?" (or Daddy, or Mommy, etc)
"Eat Mommy, Eat!" (When she's hungry)
"Let" (her blanket)
"Mamie" (Aunt Amy)
"Nanny" (Uncle Danny)
"Cmon Mommy"
"Hand" (and then when you give her your hand, she leads you to whatever she wants)
All three of the kids have had a moment where they spotted Dwight's car in the garage and got so excited because they think he's home. Last night it was Kiersten. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" If you ask Annika where Daddy is, she'll tell you he's on the plane.
Yesterday I went to help Oskar out of the car and he said, "But you can't carry me." The older two are well trained.
"How come Mommy can't carry you?"
"Because you have a baby in your tummy."
Two days ago I was playing around with the kids and I put a doll under Annika's shirt and declared her to be pregnant. They thought that was HILARIOUS. I have a funny picture of Oskar with his arms around Annika lovingly patting the lump under her shirt. Speaking of, last night he tells me that we need to have another boy baby. And I said, "How come?" So he tells me that it needs to be the daddy. I said, "But you're the daddy". And he said, "No, I'm almost all grown up and then I'll live with Annika." I can't remember exactly what I said next but it must have been something like, "You're moving away?!" And he said, "Well, I'll be very close because my house will be in your back 'ard. You can see it from Kiersten's window."
Yesterday I bought Kiersten a sleeping bag so last night we lined up all the sleeping bags in Kiersten's room and they gave that a shot at bedtime. It only lasted about 10 minutes and then I had to split them up because Annika kept turning the light on. Kiersten was devastated. I think Friday night I might have a sleepover in my bedroom and they can all come in there with their sleeping bags. We'll see.
Thursday, January 10
Life with the Kids
Right now that baby in the widget...my virtual baby...is spinning in the womb like it's on a merry-go-round. I'm not sure how realistic that is. I'm thinking that if my non-virtaul baby could do that at this point, I would know it! She's taking up a lot of space in there now...and seems to be elbowing for some extra space! :)
I've felt lousy the last couple of days. The weather was gorgeous M-W and I think that might be part of the problem. On Monday I met up with my friend Mockingbird at a park after Oskar got out of school. Then we came home and my kids got together and played with the neighbor kids. We even went over to their house after supper and I hung out with my neighbor while the kids all played. (Annika said, "You come too Mommy and play with *your* friend.") So that was all fine. Nothing too crazy. Tuesday I woke up feeling fine.
That afternoon I took them back outside several times. While they were playing, I started re-arranging the furniture on the screen porch. Keep in mind that we have a stone table for 6 and a stone coffee table...amongst other things. Why do I do this completely unnecessary task at 8 months pregnant? Who knows?
Wednesday I woke up feeling a little light-headed and as the day progressed, nauseous too. But of course it's another beautiful day so I took the car to the car wash and then when I get home I washed all the windows. I finished with that and then hauled around some more furniture (because I had sort of asked Dwight to do it but he never got around to it). Meanwhile I'm also toting bikes and other toys here and there...not to mention children. Then I was tidying up the house too and making supper. By the time Dwight got home (which was a little later than usual) I was pooped and sore. I crashed on the couch. Dwight put all the kids to bed by himself so that was a treat! Then he hung out with me and we watched my beloved Mavericks take it to the Pistons. :) That was nice too. (Finally, the Mavericks were looking really good!)
Today I'm feeling lightheaded again...and still a little nauseous. So I know I ought to take it easy today. Sitting at the computer blogging is taking it easy! Of course I've also done a fair bit of tidying, have some laundry going and gave the kids a bath. :) We also tried to make the gingerbread house that Uncle Jonny and Aunt Laura sent but I guess we were a little too impatient and didn't give the roof enough time to really cement...so the roof slid off...and now it's too heavy to stick it back on there. I suppose I could go plop myself in front of the tv and try to hold it together for a while so it could dry...I don't know if that would work. ?? The kids would be happy though.
Yesterday while I was outside with the kids, I heard a child crying...for like half an hour. No joke. It might have been longer. I eventually heard the child saying, "I want to go home" and "Daddy" and other similar phrases. So finally I decided to go check things out. I kept remembering Danny with his broken arms crawling to our house and neighbors hearing him calling out but thinking it was just a kid at play. So I went poking around in the "woods" behind our house until I could see two kids in the lot behind us on a trampoline. The one (a girl) appeared to be hunched up in the corner while the other one (a boy) jumped away gleefully. So I asked the boy why he didn't help the girl...and so on and so forth. Eventually they seemed to come to some sort of resolution so I mosied on back to my kids. A few minutes later, I heard the boy shouting to the person "in the woods...in the red shirt". I started thinking about it and the possible traumatic effect on a child of having someone speak to you from the woods so I got my kids together and directed them to the gate in our fence to head to the little bit of common area between the two neighborhoods "for a walk". There's a worn down area back there that you could generously call a path. My kids were delighted to be exploring something new...and I had been thinking we ought to inspect the back of our property anyway. As I approached the house with the trampoline, the little girl was now jumping alone and I saw that the boy was in the door with what appearned to be a somewhat elderly adult. The two of them were shouting for the little girl to come in. Perhaps I read too much into things but I thought that maybe the little boy had made a report about a stranger in the woods (in which case, good for him) . After I went by with my troop of three little ones, the trampoline suddenly filled up with kids so perhaps they decided I wasn't a threat after all. Anyway, I'd just like to know where on earth that adult was when the little girl was crying nonstop for half an hour?! What's up with that?
But back to my productive days, I must be going through some sort of nesting thing because I'm just itching to paint various rooms. I keep mulling over the idea of just going for it and painting the main level bathroom one day while Dwight's at work. Plus I'd really love to paint the new baby's bedroom. I'm stalled on that room though. Right now it's our guest bedroom and it makes sense to leave it as a guest bedroom until after my mom comes to help out when I'm scheduled for my induction. We're planning to move that bed down to Dwight's room in the basement, but if Mom's going to be helping out with the kids, it absolutely makes sense for her to be upstairs where the kids are! I suppose she could sleep in our room and Dwight could sleep in the basement...but it's probably just as well that I wait until I'm no longer pregnant to tackle that room. We'll keep the baby in our room for the first couple of weeks anyway. But it does drive me a little crazy to have that task lingering over me. :)
I've felt lousy the last couple of days. The weather was gorgeous M-W and I think that might be part of the problem. On Monday I met up with my friend Mockingbird at a park after Oskar got out of school. Then we came home and my kids got together and played with the neighbor kids. We even went over to their house after supper and I hung out with my neighbor while the kids all played. (Annika said, "You come too Mommy and play with *your* friend.") So that was all fine. Nothing too crazy. Tuesday I woke up feeling fine.
That afternoon I took them back outside several times. While they were playing, I started re-arranging the furniture on the screen porch. Keep in mind that we have a stone table for 6 and a stone coffee table...amongst other things. Why do I do this completely unnecessary task at 8 months pregnant? Who knows?
Wednesday I woke up feeling a little light-headed and as the day progressed, nauseous too. But of course it's another beautiful day so I took the car to the car wash and then when I get home I washed all the windows. I finished with that and then hauled around some more furniture (because I had sort of asked Dwight to do it but he never got around to it). Meanwhile I'm also toting bikes and other toys here and there...not to mention children. Then I was tidying up the house too and making supper. By the time Dwight got home (which was a little later than usual) I was pooped and sore. I crashed on the couch. Dwight put all the kids to bed by himself so that was a treat! Then he hung out with me and we watched my beloved Mavericks take it to the Pistons. :) That was nice too. (Finally, the Mavericks were looking really good!)
Today I'm feeling lightheaded again...and still a little nauseous. So I know I ought to take it easy today. Sitting at the computer blogging is taking it easy! Of course I've also done a fair bit of tidying, have some laundry going and gave the kids a bath. :) We also tried to make the gingerbread house that Uncle Jonny and Aunt Laura sent but I guess we were a little too impatient and didn't give the roof enough time to really cement...so the roof slid off...and now it's too heavy to stick it back on there. I suppose I could go plop myself in front of the tv and try to hold it together for a while so it could dry...I don't know if that would work. ?? The kids would be happy though.
Yesterday while I was outside with the kids, I heard a child crying...for like half an hour. No joke. It might have been longer. I eventually heard the child saying, "I want to go home" and "Daddy" and other similar phrases. So finally I decided to go check things out. I kept remembering Danny with his broken arms crawling to our house and neighbors hearing him calling out but thinking it was just a kid at play. So I went poking around in the "woods" behind our house until I could see two kids in the lot behind us on a trampoline. The one (a girl) appeared to be hunched up in the corner while the other one (a boy) jumped away gleefully. So I asked the boy why he didn't help the girl...and so on and so forth. Eventually they seemed to come to some sort of resolution so I mosied on back to my kids. A few minutes later, I heard the boy shouting to the person "in the woods...in the red shirt". I started thinking about it and the possible traumatic effect on a child of having someone speak to you from the woods so I got my kids together and directed them to the gate in our fence to head to the little bit of common area between the two neighborhoods "for a walk". There's a worn down area back there that you could generously call a path. My kids were delighted to be exploring something new...and I had been thinking we ought to inspect the back of our property anyway. As I approached the house with the trampoline, the little girl was now jumping alone and I saw that the boy was in the door with what appearned to be a somewhat elderly adult. The two of them were shouting for the little girl to come in. Perhaps I read too much into things but I thought that maybe the little boy had made a report about a stranger in the woods (in which case, good for him) . After I went by with my troop of three little ones, the trampoline suddenly filled up with kids so perhaps they decided I wasn't a threat after all. Anyway, I'd just like to know where on earth that adult was when the little girl was crying nonstop for half an hour?! What's up with that?
But back to my productive days, I must be going through some sort of nesting thing because I'm just itching to paint various rooms. I keep mulling over the idea of just going for it and painting the main level bathroom one day while Dwight's at work. Plus I'd really love to paint the new baby's bedroom. I'm stalled on that room though. Right now it's our guest bedroom and it makes sense to leave it as a guest bedroom until after my mom comes to help out when I'm scheduled for my induction. We're planning to move that bed down to Dwight's room in the basement, but if Mom's going to be helping out with the kids, it absolutely makes sense for her to be upstairs where the kids are! I suppose she could sleep in our room and Dwight could sleep in the basement...but it's probably just as well that I wait until I'm no longer pregnant to tackle that room. We'll keep the baby in our room for the first couple of weeks anyway. But it does drive me a little crazy to have that task lingering over me. :)
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