my funny girls

Just wanted to share a few funny stories and sayings from the past few months that I just had to write down.
After reviewing them I have found that Maya is at a very amusing stage!  I'm not sure if it is because she is 4 or because she is the middle child but She is one Funny kid!


Maya was sitting at the counter eating her lunch while simultaneously inspecting her hands and arms.  She then looks at me and says, "If I took all the bones out of my hand it would be a flat tire. Would it be good for it to be a flat tire?"
I reply, "no you need your bones so your body can work."
Maya, "I guess I don't need a flat tired today."


Maya, "Mom, Why can't my name be Twilight Sparkle? I really want my name to be Twilight Sparkle."

Mercy now walking, talking a little, and learning the art of annoying her sisters caused Maya to come up to me and say,  "mom I don't like having a baby.  Can we give her away?  Please?!?!?"
Me, "No, we love Mercy."
Maya, "When is she going to turn into a big kid so she doesn't annoy me so much?"

While Morgan was getting ready to go to school Maya ran up to her and gave her a big long, won't let go hug. Morgan pushed her away to hear Maya say, "Just giving you a hug because I love you and am going to miss you for a long day."  Melted my heart!

Maya: I wish Santa had a pony cuz then it would be more exciting.  

Maya from the back seat of the car, "some of my buggers sneaked out of me all by themselves." 

Later on that same day, but not in the car Maya exclaims, "Look I made a bugger statue!"

Me, "Yucky, you should throw that out."

Maya, "I want to keep it. I promise I won't eat it."

I over hear Maya wondering around her room during nap time:

Me,  "Maya put your head on your pillow now! And keep it there."

A little bit later I hear footsteps again so I go check on her.  I find her walking around her room holding her pillow to her head.  

Maya was teasing Morgan about a boy, who she is friends with at school, whose name so happens to start with the letter F.  Morgan can't take it anymore and says, "Maya, the f word just won't get out of your head will it?"

The girls were playing down stairs and I hear Maya saying "Why are you hitting yourself? why are you hitting yourself? why are you hitting yourself?"
This was soon followed by Morgan in a very mater a fact voice, "Maya, I'm far too busy for that game right now."

Maya, "I want to be just like Morgan! She is a great sister and player... Oh and she's a great comber too."

Maya, "Mom, I found a rubberband so I put it on each of my toes and now it's in a knot."

Here are some pictures of Mercy. She isn't quite talking enough just yet, however she manages to amuse me throughout the day with her crazy personality.

Yummy food!

This past January (2014) My resolution was to cook something new at least once a week.  Well I did not succeed on that particular goal exactly.  What I did accomplish was, learning more about cooking, how to actually properly cook things (not just throwing frozen chicken in the oven and hoping for the best), and that Veggies can actually taste good!  

I started the year out well meal planning and looking through recipes and adding in new fun meals for dinner at least once a week.  I managed until February with pretty good consistency when I started to let life get in the way.  Then it turned into more hit or miss in terms of what we eat. On the good weeks when I took the time to plan out our meals and shopping lists, and actually made it to the store, we would have great meals! I would even know when to start cooking instead of looking at the clock at 5:30 thinking I should probably feed my kids. (Thus ending in chicken nuggets or scrambled eggs for dinner.) It was so great sitting down to dinner with my family to meals that would be new, tasty, and sometimes even look pretty.  

The Big down fall and challenge to the whole cooking thing was and is my kids. The challenge started in the planning process. They would do their very best to distract me, and I would usually end up forgetting half of my thoughts, my lists, or loose my recipes. 

Then they would start with the grumbling over what they saw cooking, and what they thought should be cooking. My oldest was (well is) famous for coming in the kitchen while I'm in the middle of cooking, looking at the food and starting her fake cry. Even over things she's never had before. I'm still not sure what she is trying to accomplish with this since she ends up leaving the kitchen crying and I never change the meals. But it can be very disheartening at the end of the day. 

During dinner we have a "one taste no face" rule courtesy of our pediatrician's great ideas. This helped them at least try their dinner every night. Many times after all the before dinner grumbling they would discover they actually like food. As it turns out Morgan now asks me to cook the sauteed Vegetables that I learned how to make. Both girls like them! 

As the year comes to an end I do for sure consider my cooking somewhat successful! I added a good handful of new meals that my family (at least Ben and I) enjoy. I found great resources for cooking tips and how to sneak veggies into foods I know the girls will eat. I even for the first time started to enjoy cooking! Yeah there, I said it! I now enjoy cooking! 

So here's to a new year and hopefully many more new recipes to try out on my very picky food critics at home.  

The Cleaning War

Oh MY! Cleaning is one of my biggest and fruitless battles.  Some times I wonder if it's even worth fighting. Who exactly am I fighting anyway...
One might say I'm fighting against, dirt and germs, others might add in clutter, or my kids. But really, I'm fighting against myself in order to maintain my sanity.  What am I learning through this war against a messy house? well...

First I am learning that toddlers are not helpful!
As a "good parent" I try to give my kids chores to do. Well first I find at a certain age they love it. Helping mom is the best thing ever. However, when they help, say clear the table, things get spilled, dishes get broken, bigger mess occurs. They help clean up said mess and it just gets smeared all over, smashed into the carpet, "good towel's ruined (why have a good towel? not smart!), and usually tears start flowing. (not always the kids mind you.)
The good parenting thing to do would be to ever so patiently walk them through the steps and teach them how to do things without getting upset or angry. One should maintain calm and always be encouraging. Oh if only I could do all that! I tend to loose my cool. Like when my 1 yr old unrolled an entire new roll of toilet paper all over the just cleaned bathroom and my 3 yr old tries to help clean it up by shoving it all in the toilet. Needless to say I did not exactly handle it with grace and compassion.

Second I'm learning that Older kids are helpful...though you will hear about it.
Again I still give chores even after the toddler battle I don't give up. Morgan age 6, has the job to empty the dish washer.
scenario: "Morgan the dish washer needs to be unloaded."
Morgan, "NO!!!!WAAAA!!!  WHY DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING?!?!?!"
followed by her stomping to dishwasher and taking about an hr to empty it, making sure almost every piece of silverware hits the floor, and well... ok so I want people to keep coming to my house, so I'll stop there.
Yeah they can be helpful but at what cost? The good parent calmly teaches them that this behavior is not acceptable and ever so gently walks them through the process. Yeah, I walk out of the room and pray that germs really can't kill me. Some times I just wish I had ear plugs.  Especially on the "clean your room" days... yikes you would think the world had just ended, and she was being enslaved by an evil mother.

Third I have learned that the best time to clean is after the girls are in bed. Even better if Ben is out of the house as well. I can clean in peace and not have any helpers "helping" or complaining.  I can get things done just they way I want them. All the clutter put away, All the dirt cleaned up, maybe even dust. On an even better day the laundry might even get washed, dried and placed back in our closets.
The only problem with this is that the house is generally only clean while I'm sleeping. Some times I might even get to enjoy it for a whole half hr in the morning before everyone gets out of bed. Before the girls rummage through their closet for the perfect outfit (they probably find hidden at the bottom of the dirty clothes). They come down for breakfast and bring their toys with them in case they want to play or because well, "floppy just wanted to eat breakfast with me".  Mercy age 1 gets up and starts exploring the best way she knows how, dumping and emptying just about everything.  yep Best clean half hr of the day...

Lastly I'm learning I can either have a happy family or a clean house!! on the rare occasion I get both I know God must be behind it. Only a miracle can explain it.
Take for example:
I do take the time to clean the whole house, (HA!) everything is put away, dusted, swept, vacuumed, moped, scrubbed, washed, sparkling... In order to keep it that way I pretty much have to fend off my family from having any fun! No, you can't get a puzzle out I just put it away, stop making a PB&J sandwich I just wiped off the counter tops, please don't you dare take off those socks in this room I don't care if your feet are hot. What? you want to play with Legos??? NOOOOooooooo.............
you get the point.
On the other hand if I just give in to the fun and spend time with my kids playing games, doing puzzles, getting out the Legos, allowing them to paint, use markers (cringe)... Then we have a blast together! Dishes don't always get done, dusting for sure doesn't get done, and laundry piles up, but we have fun!
So one might think can't you have Both?? Just teach your kids to put things away when they are done using them, or clean as you go. Maybe you need more bins to organize their toys or a better chore chart, or maybe more division of labor between you and your spouse... yeah! I have read the articles, heard the "good stories", bought the bins, made the chore charts... We have even had a day or two where everything falls into place. A day where when we are finished with a puzzle and we still have time to put it away before we have to do... something... really you could insert just about anything here...  SO it is possible I suppose, for a while... but I have not found it to last very long, and for some reason I keep on fighting.

I do find some joy in the fight though: take Maya for example!
I went on a 3-4 Day stand off for her to clean the playroom. I finally ended up standing over her as the enforcer mom almost pointing to each toy for her to pick up and put away.

During this she walked around slowly picking up one toy at a time holding a play phone between her shoulder and ear complaining about all the cleaning she has to do.
"yeah, my mom is making me clean up"
 How do I not laugh? At one point (while picking up dress up clothes) she said "I can't clean I have to plan my wedding"
I love that girl! I sometimes think she wants to obey but her imagination gets in the way.

And on that note: I need to go clean my house... again... and then again...

Morgan's 6 1/2

Morgan!
Let's see...
She is a beautiful tall girl! But more than that, she is caring and giving.  She is smart and funny. She is loving to read now that she has figured it out. She makes up jokes that actually make some sense. She enjoys Math and Dancing. But most of all she enjoys playing with her dolls and ponies.
Her current favorite foods are: typical to most first graders: cookies, chips, and chocolate, Pizza, and Pasta.  But, she also gets excited about salad.

My girl! I love her so much.  So to celebrate Morgan's half we got some yummy cupcakes, ones with the whip cream frosting because somewhere between age 5 and now she has decided she doesn't like regular or butter-cream frosting (crazy!).

Library Fun!

Maya loves the Library! 

This year she is going to a drop off story and craft time. She is getting really into it. Every week she brings home her name tag and adds it to her collection. Her teacher always makes cute creative name tags so she has accumulated quite a collection. She also loves to explore the library and find just the right book to bring home. Below are a couple that actually describe Maya almost better than I could.

Maya can be very out going, funny, and lively but when a new situation full of lots of people comes her way she basically curls up into a ball. This book (to the left) is a great one for describing kids and their emotions etc. It is a good fun easy read! 

Ponyella, on the other hand, takes all Maya loves, pony's and princesses, and combines it into one fun story. I had to read and renew this book over and over again. When I finally returned it to the library I told Maya it needed a rest and wanted to go home. Home being the library. To which she replied, "we should give it a blanket and pillow so it can take a nap."

While Maya is at her story time Mercy and I enjoy exploring the toys and learning centers set up around the children's section of the library. It seems like no matter how many times we go there's always something new Mercy gets out of it. A new skill she picks up, a new word she learns from a book, or a new fear she discovers mommy has as she disappears around a corner and it takes 20 minutes to find her.

Where would I be without the library! It is a great place to find adventure and escape the never ending cold weather we have here in Evanston.

Bike the ridge!

Today was a momentous day for our family! 

Morgan rode her bike without training wheels for the first time! She even rode all the way down Ridge and back again! 

Evanston blocks off Ridge (one of our main streets) once a year in the fall for an event called "Bike the Ridge".  Every year we watch families biking with their kids and we are a little jealous. First off we are poor planers and usually forgot to mark our calendars for the event so we realize it's going on with little time to join in. Add to that the fact our oldest has been terrified of bike riding up until this past spring when she finally started showing an interest. Over the summer she concurred her fear using training wheels and a balance bike. Today for the first time she just took off on a normal bike without training wheels and there was no stopping her! Maya and Mercy joined the ride in a trailer behind my bike and we finally had our first real family bike ride. We have gone short (very short) distances before with Morgan using training wheels or just the girls on their balance bikes. Today I think one of Ben's dreams came true. He has been talking about going on family bike rides for a while. 

I am so Proud of Morgan! and excited for our next family bike ride! 

On the first day of first Grade!

Well here we go again! The start of another school year!
We woke up this morning full of anticipation and excitement. For me it was mostly the anticipation of a new fall schedule and having to entrust my daughter to the capable hands of her new teacher. For Morgan it was the excitement of seeing her friends again and getting back into her social circle. For Maya... well she simply was feeding off of Morgan's excitement for the time being.

The Day started off on the right foot. I only hit the snooze button on my alarm once (not 5-6 times as I am sure I will again soon). I was up and able to get dressed and get my self in order before the inevitable sounds of the girls waking up. Morgan requested french toast sticks for breakfast and lucky for me she wanted to store baught freezer kind so that was easy.

After breakfast Morgan and I got her back pack packed with school supplies, water bottle and lunch. (packed the night before! Wow I wonder how long I can keep that up.) I braided her hair and then finally I got COFFEE!!

Then came the seemingly endless wait to leave for school. Really it was only about 15 minutes but I don't remember having 15 minutes to spare ever last year... what did I forget? oh well. Time to go! we headed out the door. Mercy in the stroller, Maya on foot this year and Ben was even joining us today. (he didn't want to miss Morgan's first day send off!) seemed almost too easy getting out the door. again what am I forgetting or missing?

We walked to school with friends and neighbors gathered in front of the school for the traditional first day pictures (to which my daughter refused to smile at first). We took pictures of just Morgan, her with her friends and her sad sisters observing.

Then it was off to find her teacher and line up for school. Oh what excitement as she saw friend after friend. Discovering just who would be in her class this year and who she would have to wait to see at lunch and recess. She was nervous to meet her teacher and whispered to me that she hoped Mrs Spillman would be as nice or nicer than Mr Brhem from last year (a teacher who to Morgan could do no wrong). She shyly refused to take a picture with her teacher or shake her hand but I am sure that will change quickly.

Then the Bell rang. All the kids lined up in messy zigzag lines with full backpacks and grocery bags full of new school supplies. We hugged and kissed Morgan good bye waving and watching her walk into the building. Suddenly I hear Ben talking to Maya who somewhere between the bell ringing and waving good bye to Morgan had started Crying. She just wanted "Morgan to stay with me all day". Poor girl.

We calmed her down and headed home trying to talk about all the fun things she could do with mercy and myself. I had not expected Maya to be quite so sad about her sister's return to school. Especially after a summer of arguing! But we made it through the day.

Ben went off to work and Maya, Mercy and I headed off to our new day with a new fall schedule! We played games, went to the library, eat lunch took naps (well they did) cleaned the house and then it was time for school pick up.

The day went perfectly I had two wide awake girls who had all ready napped well at 3pm so getting ready to go was a little too easy. Maya rode her tricycle this time and Mercy happily back in the stroller. (so nice not using the giant double from last year!) We made it to school and waited. Maya was particularly excited to see Morgan come out the door.

When Morgan finally does exit she gives me a quick hug, throws her back pack in the stroller and runs off to the playground yelling, "I'm going to play for a bit". What??? Maya looked at me as if to say,  "what about us?" After much anticipation poor Maya was a bit taken back by her sister's lack of a hello to her.

We hung out at the play ground for a while. Morgan did eventually acknowledge Maya. I chatted with some other parents and neighbors and then off to home we went. Walking with the same crew from the Morning. Right away Morgan started asking for after school play dates with neighbors to which came a quick, "no, it's a school day... the first school day."

Luckily once home I was able to find out that Morgan thinks her teacher is actually nicer than Mr Brhem from last year. She is sitting next to a good friend or her new best friend as she declared while we were talking. (this will change 50 times this year I'm sure). And she thinks her lunch time is too short. After a snack and the update her and Maya were finally reunited and off playing. They played nicely all the way until dinner! No fighting!! I know Maya was sad but I think the school day did them some good.
phew!

First Day is Done!! now to get threw the rest.....  it's going to be a long year! A good one! but a long one!