The Problem With Expectations

J was trying to convince the girls to go with him yesterday to WalMart so I could get a little peace and quiet.  (I have so enjoyed our long weekend with him with no real plans.  He's filled all his girls' love tanks plumb full.)  My girls don't thrill to the idea of going to WalMart, so he had his work cut out for him.

A was quite the negotiator.  She informed him that Mom could go get the bicycle tire he needed and he could stay home and play with them.  Normally, a win/win accomplishing the same goal of peace and quiet.  However, Mom did not want to go out in the heat or waddle around WalMart.  But that didn't stop her from trying.

She came to the door of the laundry room where I was shuffling baby clothes into the dryer and announced with confidence, "Dad needs a new bicycle tire from WalMart and I expect you to go get it."  See how that's the problem with expectations?  If you expect anything, you should equally expect to be disappointed.

She came home from her trip to WalMart with flowers and chocolates for Mom.  I didn't expect that!

Disneyland

I have resisted the commercial marketing machine that is all things Disney the best I can.  My attempts have proven futile, unfortunately.  We are swimming in Disney princesses around here and we also love Lightning McQueen and his friends.  But I really can't buy into the idea of spending a year's worth of college tuition on a vacation to the family mecca that is a Disney theme park.  Until...

Every morning when A wakes up, we have a little conversation about how she slept, if she had any dreams, what we're doing that day, etc.  Recently, she was telling me about one of her dreams.  (Context: I don't think she has any clue that a Disney park exists.  But we have watched Peter Pan and she talks all the time about magical things that happen in Neverland.)  In her dream, "all my Little Pets were alive and all my Little Ponies and all the Disney princesses were there and they were alive!  And, Mom, it was called...Disneyland!"

The wonder in her eyes was enough to make me contemplate a second mortgage so we could go to this magical place and make her dream come true.  So that's how they hook you!  Help me now.

Works of Art

You may have picked up on a recurring theme around here that my children can sometimes be a bit frustrating.  I always love them, of course, but sometimes they can be a smidge exasperating. That's why things like this are cherished in a mommy's heart:

And I know the little one is really thinking the same thing, she just doesn't have the fine motor skills to write her thoughts yet.  But I know how to translate this...

I love my job!

I Blame You

Alright, some more of you out there started praying for me; I can feel it.  And, THANK YOU!!

I didn't mean to cause any concern with yesterday's post, just wearing my feelings on my sleeve.  Thanks to those of you have sent me encouraging notes and made offers of help.  I really am blessed with so many friends and family who genuinely care about how I am doing.

We've had a great day today.  It probably didn't hurt that I spent a majority of the morning at the doctor's office sans kiddos for my glucose screening.  No results until tomorrow, but I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary.  Heartbeat sounded strong and the doc was pleased with normal progress.  And she made a really sad, empathetic face when I whined about my symptoms.  That's always nice.

J stayed home with the girls and even played phonics bingo with A while I was gone.  Bonus!  Schoolwork done while I was away!

Then there was this little jewel of a bubble-blowing episode.  I don't usually let them blow bubbles with their straws because it causes a huge mess and really, who likes being splashed from someone else's cup while trying to eat?  But, they weren't at the table...

They reveled in the freedom for almost twenty minutes.  I thought one of them would hyperventilate and pass out.  You can't see it very well in the video, but A's face was red from exertion.  C obviously got bored with bubbles and started just dumping her water on the floor, but I'm cool with that because she also likes to wipe it up.  Good clean fun!  (I stopped the video right before A announced that she almost got snot in her cup.  Yum.)

We even broke out the paint and glue and did a little art this afternoon.  And we all enjoyed each other.  That feels really good.  And I blame you, friends.  Thank you.

Shoe Trend

This is the latest trend in footwear at our house.  Be sure to note that daughter shoes only come in various shades of pink.

Have I mentioned lately what an awesome man I married?

Make it Stop!

I've said for a long time that my four-year-old has the mouth of a teenager.  The sass and backtalk that she reserves for her mother keep me awake at night, scared of the potential for venomous growth by the time she is 16.  You don't believe me because she is all smiley and cute to everybody else.  I know this is my payback for all those horrible things I said when I thought my mom couldn't hear.  (I'm so, so sorry, Mom.  But please, is there any way to make it stop?)

She has mastered the art of dramatic over-generalizations.  For example, I will say, "Please put your shoes and socks on so we can leave."  To which she will reply, "Okay.  I'll put my shoes and socks on and never, ever play again for the rest of the year!"  Or I'll suggest, "Don't lean into your sister's seat like that if you don't like her smacking you in the head."  She will counter with, "Do you only always want me to sit up straight like a robot and never, ever move?!"  (To which I will answer, "yes, please" which probably doesn't help.)  Or how about, "You have lots of stuffed animals; there is no need to fight over that particular puppy dog."  "Then I'll never have a turn, and she'll always have it and I'll never see it again ever!"

I kid you not.  I have added no extra "never/ever/always/only" for effect.  I really don't know where she is getting this, but more importantly, I don't know how to make it stop.  It's constant throughout our day, so pervasive that her little sister has started mimicking her to make her angry, "never, ever," with scrunched up nose and forceful voice.  I've started asking her if she is telling the truth, speaking with respect and love.  She always answers no, but I don't know how long it's going to take to break this really nasty habit.  And what kind of consequence do you give for dramatic sarcasm?  Help, Lord Jesus, help!!

Not What I Had Envisioned

This time yesterday, when I was thinking through my weekend, I could not have envisioned what I've been doing.  I turned my light off last night about 10:30 pm.  J came in at 11:30 pm to tell me he was headed up to a local coffee shop to play dominoes.  Count with me...one hour of sleep.  I woke up at 12:30 am to the sound of A crying and coughing in her bed.  She runs to my room to tell me she's throwing up.  Oh, joy.  So concludes hour two of sleep.

Bless her little heart, she was so proud of herself that she only threw up on the ladder of her bunk bed.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we had sickness from a height.  That equals distance.  And contrary to her understanding, ladders do not in and of themselves contain liquids.  However, toy baby cribs situated below the ladder full of Littlest Pet Shop pets do.

It was 2am when J and I finally crawled into bed after cleaning it all up.  About 15 minutes later, she started again.  Fortunately, she was on the floor in our room in a sleeping bag and we were well-armed.  So, we rinsed and repeated for a few hours.  I was wide awake by this point and didn't drift off to sleep until sometime after 5am.  C decided to scare the living daylights out of me by waking up crying and coughing at 6am.  I ran to her room expecting the worse, but she was just ready to get out of bed.  I told her she had to stay in bed until the sun came up, sang her a song and tried to catch a few more winks.  We'll be generous and add another hour to the sleep count.

C really was done sleeping at 7am, so we got up and watched Mary Poppins.  A woke up around 8am and we started the movie over again.  Never enough Poppins.  After the movie, I thought it was a good idea for A to have a bath.  Into the tub they went.  Meanwhile, J was disassembling the top bunk so I could get at the final crevices.  We got that done and I turned to wiping down all the hard surfaces in her bedroom.  I was wiping down a drawer handle when I heard, "There's poo poo in the tub!"  I totally ignored that announcement.  J just froze.  I thought surely if I ignored it, it would cease to be true.  Not so.  I guess C was feeling left out of all the laundry and disinfecting.  Two girls out of the tub, one husband standing in dismay looking at said contaminated tub.  We both look at each other and bust out laughing till we're crying.  (As I'm typing this, he said, "You know it's been a long night when you laugh at the word 'contaminated.'")

I ushered the girls to my shower, praying that C didn't pee along her naked way.  I got to the bathroom behind them and she's standing over a puddle.  Seriously?!  I asked her if she peed on the floor and she said, "No!" like that was the most incredulous thing I could ask.  I realized she was holding a dripping rag from the bathtub and chose to believe she had wrung it out.  While we were waiting for the water to get warm, she squeezed the rag again and says, "I pee-peed again."  Oh, isn't that so funny?!  No wait, there's more...

I wash C's hair and get a big glob of shampoo in my palm to start on A when C starts making moves like she's got business to do.  I whisked her out of the shower and onto the potty and tried to convince her to finish there.  Nothing doing.  I go back to the shower only to discover that A has commandeered the hand-held shower and is creating a lake on the bathroom floor.  Will the mopping up never end?!!!

We are attempting lunch now.  Here's hoping the second half of the day stays drier than the first.

Don't Breathe

Okay, everybody hold your breath, don't move a muscle, and don't read this out loud....we may jinx it....my 4-year-old is playing by herself, in her room, with the door closed, of her own free will.  She's been in there at least ten minutes and I may have just ruined it by turning to my laptop, but I'm looovving it while it lasts!!  Praise God for new toys!

School Progress

We're about ten weeks into the first year of homeschooling.  That includes one intentional week off and several unintentional days off.  Naturally, we are behind on what I had planned for us thus far, but I'm pleased with our progress.  It feels good that I am learning along the way as well...about myself, my daughter, our relationship with each other.

I saw a light bulb moment this week as we practiced skip counting by 2's.  That was so encouraging to see her get it and think through it.  We've been working on counting to 100, and now we're moving into skip counting for math.  We've talked about the color wheel for art and had some practice blending colors. We've begun handwriting a little earlier than I planned, but she's doing well.  We need more free practice, though.

About three weeks ago, we hit a total wall with reading lessons.  I called my sister for advice while A bawled in her room.  I knew I couldn't give up because it would reinforce her giving up.  We were at an impasse.  My sister gave me a very encouraging pep talk and some great advice.  Unfortunately, it was heavy on the "make learning fun" ideas, which are my Achille's heel.

It was true, though.  I was trying to make A learn how to read like I would study for a graduate exam.  Just trudge through the dry workbook, check it off for the day, and be done.  I totally lack in the "fun" department.  So we took a week off, then spent another week just reading through BOB books.  This week, I only have two workbook lessons on the plan plus some phonics bingo, BOB books, and new library books for her to read aloud.

We're using a new chart that shows her what we're doing for school each day and she can stamp it done when we are done.  It also has space for an attitude face at the bottom of each day (another of my sister's great ideas).  She gets three chances (two eyes and a nose) to change a bad attitude before the face ends up frowning.  If we make it to the end of the day with no frown, then it gets a smile.  I printed out a hundred chart and posted that where she can stamp how many books she has read.  We've made it to 12 in a week.

I'm learning to be flexible.  She's learning to talk to me about what she's feeling instead of digging her heels into a nasty attitude.  I'm learning that breaks are good and I have such incredible examples of well-done homeschool.  I still need help, and will always need help, with making learning enjoyable.  I need to take that into account when I choose my curriculum.  My goal is to foster a love for learning and that won't happen if it's no fun.  I'm so glad we started this year, to have this ramp-up time, this learning curve before kindergarten.  I know I'll keep learning about us as the years progress, but I'm grateful for a practice year.

Goodbyes

Today we said goodbye to Peter Mr. Beta Fish.  It became apparent yesterday morning that he was not long for this world when I saw him just lying on the rocks at the bottom of his bowl using all of his energy to gulp big breaths.  I prepared A by letting her know that Peter didn't look well, that he might be sick.  She thought he probably just needed a break.  By late afternoon, I knew he was gone.  She kept coming back to check and see if he had moved.  This morning, she noted that he hadn't moved all night long.

So after naps today we discussed funeral plans.  She suggested putting him in the trash; I countered with flushing him to the ocean.  Really, I knew that we wanted to do a little burial.  As hard as it would be to talk it through, I knew it was a good opportunity to introduce death and temporary goodbyes.  J agreed, so we talked about Peter's body being empty now and how he was with Jesus in heaven (I know...we bent the theology a bit to make it applicable.  I figure we can straighten that out later.)  She colored a pretty picture and wrote "Peter" on it.  Daddy folded it into a little box and we tromped outside in the drizzle to lay Peter to rest.

It wasn't until Daddy was covering the hole that the tears came.  "But what about Peter?!" she bawled.  I immediately followed suit.  It's not the goodbye to the fish that got to me, but the goodbye to a little bit of her innocence.  This was a baby step into the harsh reality that the world is not all fairies, rainbows and ballerinas.  I was so sad to see her sadness.  I am glad that we persevered and took the opportunity to have a tough conversation.  And I don't think she'll be upset for very long.  She was asking for a new fish before we made it back inside.

Again?!

Yes.  Again with the, "When did you do that?! And where was I?!  How on earth?!"

In case you can't tell, that's pencil scribbles all over the wall.  When I first saw it, I made her come and listen to my scolding about how we don't write on the walls, only on paper.  Then she peeked around the corner and showed me the other wall she had scribbled on.  I gasped in shock and she thought that was funny, so she pointed across the hall to yet another example of her artistic license.  I was speechless.

As I was supervising the scrubbing, A asked if she had ever written on the walls when she was little and I told her no, this was the first incident of misdirected art at our house.  (I'm so glad it was pencil.)  But I can say with a smile on my face that the writing's on the wall...baby #2 ain't like baby #1.

Tiny Dancer

Yesterday was our first dance lesson.  It was a fun experience, in spite of the tornado warning that went through town while we were at the studio.

Notice no ballet shoes in that picture?  I'd been scrounging all over town to find a pair in her size that I didn't have to pay full price for.  As I tell A, we "really didn't want to spend extra dollars that way."  Can I just say that God totally provided!  I had all of the other pieces of her outfit and had saved more than half what the studio was charging so far.  But I had resigned myself to paying their price for the shoes.  We went in early so we could do our shopping and God provided a pair in her size that were FREE in the used bin!!  Thank you, God!

All the mommies watching through the one-way window were very impressed that the teacher got the little dancers to all line up on tape spots on the floor on the first day.  I was also amazed at how quickly you can transform a little girl into a prima donna.  Apparently, all you need is wall-to-wall mirrors, head-to-toe pink, a ponytail, some noisy fun tap shoes and her hands on her hips.

As she came out of the room, I asked her if she had fun and she nodded a very approving yes while showing off the lollipop she got.  Nothing like a little sugar to keep 'em coming back for more.

We'll do one 45-minute lesson each week.  Part of the time is spent learning ballet and another part on tap.  It's a real shame we don't have one of those special black floors at our house to practice tap dancing on. 

First Day of School

Today was A's first official day of homeschool!  We've been looking forward to it for a while now.  Here's the excited girl in her first-day-of-school dress.

We did art and reading today.  For art, she practiced drawing rectangles so she could make stick people with "muscles."  We also made a first day of school time capsule and filled it with a sample of her handwriting, her painted handprint, a piece of yarn as tall as she is, and a drawing she made.  If I remember where I put it, we'll take it back out in the spring to marvel at her progress.  Here's our little art student...

And our eager tag-along

C decided today that she wanted to try sitting on the potty.  I was amazed that we managed to accomplish any goals for the day in spite of 3-5 trips to the bathroom so she could sit on the potty and play with the toilet paper.  Hopefully, she'll forget all about it for a few more months.

We've been doing reading all summer, so it was nothing new.  Even though I know A has a big capacity for words, I'm still impressed at her progress and how quickly she is catching on to each new phonics rule.  Today, I introduced the "nch" and "tch" endings.  She read with confidence, "Tex will clench his drink in his left hand.  Tex will crunch his thin chips and sip his soft drink."

Throw in the usual dishes and laundry, some time playing baby turtles on the floor, giving "swimming" lessons in the ball pit, and letting the little mommy put her big kiddo to bed and you have a very full day.

It's no trite thing to say that God gets all the glory for the success of this day.  I absolutely cannot do this in my own strength.  To God be the glory for the things HE has done!!

Photo Backlog

Here's a few photo highlights of our summer so far.  

Sitting in the fire truck during a playgroup tour of the fire station

Playing princess checkers with Great-Granddaddy

Transforming a fridge box into a castle for A's birthday party

A's fourth birthday party

Hanging out with cousins

Looking for planes to take off at the municipal airport

Now if I could only get them into an album so easily.

Four Years Old

Dear A,

You turned four this month. I'm a little late making notes about it, because we spent so much time getting ready for your party and then recuperating. You wanted a princess party with princess cupcakes. I did my best to give you all you wanted without selling out to Disney.

You started reading last month, and I can't slow you down. You're sounding out street signs, billboards, and magazine headlines. Daddy has been reading chapter books to you at bedtime for a few months now and you soak up all the new vocabulary. Sometimes I hear you narrating your play and it sounds so sophisticated.

You love to color, especially with markers. You make a picture for somebody at least once a day. You send them to the office with Daddy, mail them to cousins and grandmas, and still I have a big stack to sneak out of the house somehow. Your drawings are taking shape with recognizable people and houses, suns and flowers.

You have successfully quit sucking your thumb and got to paint your nails for the first time as a reward. 
You're still stuck on a sippy cup, but I'm working on phasing that one out, too. Your afternoon nap is becoming less regular without the help of your thumb to go to sleep. You've been enjoying quiet time every other day or so. At night, you want to sleep on the top bunk and sometimes you even make it to sleep without your beloved meatsy.

You ask so many, really good questions. "Where did the white plug in C's room come from? (electrical plug) Why do some kids have the same as me and others don't? (referring to body parts) Mommy, do you have a baby in your tummy or did you eat too much ice cream? (the latter, unfortunately)"

You're a great big sister, very helpful when you want to be. But it's hard to play with C sometimes, because she just doesn't understand your rules yet and you are all about the rules. You'll have to learn how to work things out with her because she's getting big and she's not afraid to hurt you. Today you made a "park" for her in the living room with lots of things you thought she would enjoy. You promised that she could play however she wanted and you wouldn't get angry. That was a very big gesture on your part.

I'm really trying to work with you right now to be a smidge less dramatic. You tend to have huge reactions to little problems, and the resulting battle is very draining. So then the next meltdown is a little bigger and the whole thing kind of snowballs our day. You have so many words, so it's really frustrating when you resort to flailing around on the floor and screaming. With God's help, we'll smooth out that rough edge before your next birthday.

I am so proud to call you my daughter and feel blessed beyond measure that God has placed you in our family. I pray we will have the wisdom and love to cultivate your soul into the beautiful masterpiece He has envisioned.

Here Goes

Today is the day we say goodbye to thumb-sucking. Well, at least we take the first step and hope it works a miracle and we can really say goodbye to thumb-sucking without having to figure out what further action may be necessary. I just painted A's thumb with yucky clear polish marketed to help folks stop biting their nails.

First I said a little speech, "Thank you, thumb, for your years of service providing comfort and well-being. You have been a good friend. But, A is 4 now, and it is time to say goodbye to baby ways. It makes us a little bit sad to grow up, but we're also excited to see what will come next." We told her she could get pretty pink polish once we knew she was all done sucking her thumb. As the yucky polish went on, she cried and said, "I don't want pink polish." Then we took turns blowing as hard as we could on her nail to dry the polish. That turned pretty silly, so we ended on a good note.

She's already had one run-in with the bitter polish in the last half hour and it did produce some tears. But mainly she just wanted some juice stat to wash away the flavor. I told her that I used to suck on my fingers when I was little girl and my parents put the yucky polish on my nails, too. I distinctly remember waking up screaming in the middle of the night when my usual habit betrayed me. I hope I will be able to summon my compassion tonight if the same thing happens to my daughter.

We have no plans for today, so we'll hang out at home and see what kind of progress is made. Here goes...

Love Me Tender

I was feeling pretty cruddy yesterday morning and A was so sweet. I laid down on the couch for a few minutes to recuperate from C's morning circus and let the pounding in my head subside. I told her my throat was scratchy and she ran away. I basked in the silence for a moment and then almost cried when she returned with a damp wash rag for me to put on my throat. Isn't that sweet?!

She played very patiently with her little sister on the floor while I rested on the couch. She paused to bring me a blanket and lovingly spread it out to intermittently cover both my toes and thighs, but not at the same time. She asked if she should bring the thermometer, but I told her that wasn't necessary.

When J got home from work, he banished me to the bedroom to rest, but not before A asked him for a cup from the cabinet. She's so proud that she can fix a cup of ice water from the fridge and usually has one waiting for Daddy when he comes in the door each evening. But this time, I was the honored recipient. Then she ran to get me another rag for my throat.

Thank you, God, for tender moments that help sustain us through less-than-pleasant personality phases. I shouldn't be amazed that You can love me well through a preschooler.

Two-a-Day

I don't know what is involved in a football practice two-a-day, but at my house, it refers to a really long, hot day of outdoor activities that necessitates two showers in one day.

My Saturday started with a shower so I could be presentable for a visit with a sweet friend here in town who gave birth to twins last week. Little miracle babies, they are, and so precious.

I left that visit and got home in time to swoop up the rest of the family to go sledding. Yes, we went sledding in Texas in June.

Okay, so the video isn't that good; but I think the dramatic Elton John music more than makes up for it. (The music was playing on a loudspeaker, I didn't add that lovely touch.)

It's a local phenomenon, brought to you by the university ski team. Yes, Texas apparently produces ski teams. Who knew?! I sure didn't. What's even more fascinating is that they practice on white astro turf. I kid you not. Man-made mountain, white astro turf, high-pressure water hose to get it all wet, and you can sled in Texas in June. It took a couple of rides with daddy for A to get brave enough to go by herself, but she eventually did it and had a blast! I, too, scaled the heights of artificial wonder, but that video shall remain on my hard drive.

We were all quite sweaty from our sledding adventure, so we came home to cool off and have lunch. Then we all napped quite well before getting ready for a backyard birthday party. Can I just say that these friends are going to be the coolest teenagers in high school? You know you got major mommy mojo when you fill a wading pool with red jell-o for your 3-year-old twins' birthday party.

Notice C picked the cleanest spot to get in? Notice she doesn't really want to put her toes down? Notice the lack of other children? You would think something like this would be a blast for little kids, but I think I saw more grown-ups squishing it between their toes than kids. Now, the wading pool full of chocolate pudding was another story. Neither of my girls would get near it, but a few kids did full body pudding wallowing. There were also pools full of plain water, also lots of fun.

And a slip-and-slide that would not stay plugged, no matter how hard A tried to cover all the holes.

A very gracious party guest painted lots of faces, and the superhero mask to seemed to be the most popular choice. Of course, A wanted her mask to be pink.

Top off all that fun with an ice cream sundae bar, beautiful cupcakes, and a candy buffet for filling treat bags and we were done! Back home, the girls went straight into the bath while I pulled supper together. Needless to say, I caught my second shower after the girls were in bed. Day like today only confirmed my choice to eliminate the natural deodorant. And now it's time for squeaky clean me to go to lay in my crazy comfy bed, with my climate controlled air and count my blessings. 'Night, ya'll.

My Day

Well, I should probably back up and share the weekend. Okay, so really it's best to start late last week. Yeah, that should be good. Remember the whole quiet-time thing? Not working. I would much rather have a battle at bedtime because--let's be honest--Daddy deals with those while I'm writing blog posts. We started that on Wednesday of last week and by Friday, I declared (in a very unloving voice) that she would most certainly be taking a nap tomorrow or we would both be unfit for polite society. Or something along those lines. No need to recall the exact verbiage.

I'm sure the lack of success had nothing to do with C's untimely case of croup. She woke up with a fever on Thursday morning and by Friday afternoon, we were in the doctor's office confirming the diagnosis. It also rained Friday afternoon; lots of it...about the time we were leaving the doctor's office. Not such a fun day for me. But then came bunko.

Can I just tell you how amazing it is to play bunko with a lady who was in the catering business for over 20 years?! The carbs, y'all, my goodness, the carbs!! She made some kind of cream cheese dip that made me drool. And homemade strawberry shortcake and key lime pie. That kind of calorie-load will erase a multitude of sins. Or at least cause you to shift your focus to a different variety of sins.

Saturday is kind of a blur because C was so puny. Oh, yes, the parental units were quite stir crazy (it was still raining), so we played Big Lots Lotto. Before we left the house, we each rolled three dice (A only got two, and C got none since she's not quite old enough to know she's being left out) and we could each spend the sum total of the dice at Big Lots. J was so sad that he had $12 to spend and could only find a box of Pop Rocks that he was interested in. A loaded up on princess goods...markers, notepads, stickers. When we got home, J was very disappointed that his pop rocks were not more entertaining than he had hoped. Don't get me wrong, he thoroughly enjoyed emptying the little packets into his mouth and then putting his open mouth near our ears so we could hear the candy sensation. I think he just thought the 3-year-old would get a bigger kick out of it. Hmm. She eventually warmed to the idea, but only after her own candy was gone.

Then Sunday, I had the honor and privilege of serving in our church nursery not one, not two, but three hours. With the 2-year-olds. We rely heavily on student help in the nursery and this was graduation weekend, which translates to lack-o-help in the nursery. I really didn't mind pitching in, but three hours with eight 2-year-olds is memorable to say the least. "No throwing. No climbing. No hitting. No screaming. No mouth." Someone should make a soundtrack.

J got to stay home with C. Which is why he learned about a spontaneous concert by one of his favorite artists happening that afternoon. He took A with him to a local church to hear Andy Gullahorn and Ross King. C and I hung out at home and rotated toys so the girls would have a fresh selection to start the week.

Monday morning, C was definitely feeling better. She hadn't run fever since Saturday. We made a quick run to HEB in the morning and then broke out the wading pool that afternoon. Note to self - do not leave the pool in the backyard all winter; very nasty scrubbing to be done come summer. C did not enjoy the pool as much as her sister, but it may have been due to the uncontrollable splashing and squealing on the part of her sister. She also did not enjoy the strawberry popsicle I offered her for snack. I tried to hand it to her and she took off in a lap around our patio, saying "no, no, no, no, no, no." After about five laps, I threw the popsicle in the sink and gave her plain ice. She enjoyed that much more.

Today is Tuesday and we took the day off from our usual visit to a friend's house to make sure C is out of the croup woods. We went to the park for a couple of hours this morning; fed some very assertive ducks. I had a very productive nap time, did a reading lesson with A, and thought I would get just one more thing done on my to-do list before starting supper. Had to call the credit card company to look into a rewards reimbursement. I refuse to go into the gory details because I don't think my blood pressure can handle the spike again today. But because I'm still outraged, here's the highlights: one hour and ten minutes, six people (one who didn't speak English and another who was very rude), finally find a solution to the problem, but "oh, sorry, we can't authorize the request because you aren't the primary card holder. Please have your husband call back and make the request." I had to send the girls outside because I didn't want to hear A's lecture later on "Stay calm. Ask for help nicely. Stay calm. Wait nicely for help. Stay calm."

When J got home and saw my beet-red face and frazzled hair, he agreed that supper out might be a good idea. Then we ran into Half-Price Books to pick up a new chapter book for A. I love the idea of being able to shop at a bookstore with my kids. C was even chanting, "book, book, book" as we walked the aisles. Except you have to imagine that with a heavy German accent, because it comes out more like, "boochk." I was putting her in bed and gave her a kiss, which she sweetly returned. She's gotten really sweet about kisses and readily planted one on my cheek, then sought out my other cheek and gave me another one in true French bisous style. Makes the bad credit card man melt away.

So that was my day. Well, my weekend. I guess since tomorrow is Wednesday, then we've come full circle and that was my week. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Hands-On

Remember my self-exhortation about the differences between my two daughters? Here's a visual reminder:

Note the clean hands, clean painting smock, clean face of daughter #1. And, behold:
Note the facial application and thorough finger coverage of daughter #2. Oh, how I longed for A to squish the finger paint between her fingers, to smear it all over the paper and herself. Why? Why did I wish for that? Probably because, as is the case with most of life, making the mess is most of the fun and this too shall wash.