Friend Day

There was no school today, due to another teacher in-service day.  We had friends over for the day, which generally makes the day go a little easier.  Today may not have been one of those "easier" days, but I think the good still out-weighed the bad.  Maybe it's the cold keeping us inside.  But whatever it is, we were not all sunshine and smiles today.  But at least they spread the toys from one end of the house to the other.

I Wish I Could Break Up With You, Winter

I'm telling you, the cold, gray weather is way over done.

Hello, Sunshine

Today was such a nice day for January.  We put on our walking shoes, and went for a looooong walk.  We went up and over the hill, through town, stopped for some Mexican sweet bread at Pepe's Bakery, walked to Safeway and rented a movie for the kids, and then walked back home.  The pedometer said we walked almost 5 miles.

The most impressive part of our day was that there was very little whining.  Anyone with kids knows this is an amazing feat.

Bathroom Reading

Sometimes I wonder if Ryan will be happy pursuing an occupation in education administration, especially when I discover his "for fun" reading material in the bathroom.

A Near Fail

This morning I woke with a start- the tooth fairy didn't come last night.  Annie lost her second bottom tooth at school yesterday, and it was sitting under her pillow in a plastic baggie.  If I dared to sneak in then, it being just before 6 am, then I would have a houseful of awake children.  Children awake before 6 am would mean extra grumpiness all day, and Ryan had already left for his conference in Spokane.  I thought it was just not worth it.  I would get up at 6:30 like usual, and try to perform Operation Tooth Fairy on the down low when I heard the twins stirring.

Well, I heard the twins stirring when Annie yelled down the stairs, "The tooth fairy didn't come!"

Oops.  I was not quite as on the ball as I had hoped.

I already had my handful of 4 quarters, and ran up the stairs.  Annie and Maddie were both in the bathroom, taking care of some early morning business.  So, I tippy toe-d in their room, swapped the baggie for the quarters, and then poked my head into the bathroom and said, "Are you sure?  Maybe you should check again?"

Annie ran back into her room, looked under her pillow, and lo- there was money.  Her eyes grew wide.  She ran into Elizabeth's room and exclaimed that the tooth fairy came after all.

Whew.  Another "mom fail" averted.

Good Morning, World

River Rocks

For MLK day, Emma spent her morning working on her science fair project at the middle school, and Ryan did his homework diligently for several hours.  Which meant we got to have some family time in the afternoon.  Hooray!  We drove down to Tri-Cities to enjoy the amazing weather and go for a walk by the Columbia River.  I think we made it maybe .1 of a mile before getting side tracked by rocks.

 How rare and marvelous it is to have fabulous weather on MLK day in January.  After throwing rocks for 10 minutes, we were all peeling off our coats.

 As we were winding down, Emma started posing her sisters for pictures.

Then we took the girls to Target to spend some of the money they've been saving.  We spent so long wandering the aisles.  Ryan realized that he really does have girls, and girls really enjoy the process of shopping.

Funny Face

Does anyone else think Sunday afternoons have a tendency to drag on a bit?  Occasionally (cough cough), we have a difficult time coming up with activities that are quiet and enjoyable for the younger crowd.  We came up with a way to preserve some of our memories for future generations (in case anyone is interested in Generation Selfie...?) so it was totally Sunday appropriate.

I present- Our Funny Faces

Here's Thinkin' of You, Sis

As my sister gave birth last night, I think it's allowed for me to post this.

My sister Janelle is a good 4 inches shorter than I am.  With this, her third pregnancy, her stomach was waaaay out there.  Add to that she was 11 days over due when she gave birth, well....  Her tummy was epically proportioned.  She was a good sport about it, posting profile pictures of herself.  I am inclined to say she was larger than I was with the twins.  Poor girl.

Then she did a natural birth for a baby girl weighing 10 lbs 3 oz.  Can you imagine?  I can't.  I tore after delivering two 5 1/2 lbs babies, and those twins of mine were the easiest to deliver.

Anyway.  That may be TMI.

After one of the side shots my sister posted of herself on Facebook, my whole family talked about pregnancy and big tummies.  Pregnant tummies are fascinating, after all.  One thing led to another, and well, this happened:

Yes, I realize the irony.  I was so annoyed when Ryan did something similar when I was pregnant.  I really should know better.

Maddie's New Look

Maddie is pretty stinkin' cute in those glasses, isn't she?

Mom the Hypocrite

One of our many household rules is: Don't eat in the bathroom.  The reason seems fairly self-explanatory, but anyone with kids knows- you always have to explain anyway.  

I have broken this rule once or twice, and the girls know this.  I can get children ready and out the door for the school bus every morning, but getting me ready too?  That seems to be so much harder.  So when Sunday morning rolls around, I occasionally find myself without time to eat breakfast.  Rather than starve, I will fix myself an English muffin or toast to either eat en route to church (hello crumbs all over my dress), or I will eat it in the bathroom while I do my hair.  I'm not sitting on the "throne" so no harm, no foul, right?

Except when I'm putting on make-up afterwards, and I realize I am rubbing crumbs all over my face with the foundation.  

I really am so awesome.

Sigh.

But I suppose I can't get too mad when I find things like this, can I?

I have just now realized that one of my pants legs is rolled up, and the other isn't.

Except for the sneaking part.  Someone is going to get in trouble for that one.

But maybe they shouldn't get in trouble for that either.  I am a total hypocrite when it comes to sneaking food too.  (Chocolate?  What chocolate?)

Modesty and Make-up

Thanks to Pinterest and the blogging world, I have realized I was not applying my make-up correctly.  My face apparently is flat and undefined without highlighting and contouring.  I bought into this theory after seeing all those before and after photos.  Cara from the Maskcara.com said that the Bahama Mama bronzer was the best for contouring, for those of us not willing to shell out the big bucks for her IIID foundation.  I checked it out on Amazon, and the price seemed reasonable for me, so I bought it.

The lady on illustrated packaging isn't wearing a lot.  I like the idea of the cute packaging, but her bikini doesn't cover much, and she wasn't sitting in a lady-like pose.  When I used the bronzer, I tried to leave it upside down on the counter when the kids were around, or safely tucked inside a drawer.  

Once again, momma doesn't get everything right.

Remember when you (ladies) were little, and you would watch your mom put on make-up, and you hoped you would be beautiful like she was someday?  Well, my kids do that too- at least the watching me part.  And they saw the bronzer packaging.

Annie and Maddie were the most upset about it.  That girl was not modest.

So, we brainstormed on what mom could do about it.  Maddie found me a Sharpie, and brought it to me while I was applying my make-up.  So, I tried to cover up the worst of it.

January, Schmanuary

January is the "Monday" of the year.  Have you ever noticed that?  After the good food, good smells, pretty decorations, and holiday traditions of December, January comes along.  It's cold, it's gloomy, and there's nothing to look forward to for 3 months.  There's not even any snow around here, not that I like snow a lot.  Freshly fallen snow is pretty to look at, instead of the gray, gray, brown, gray landscape I stare at now.

I want to crawl under a blanket with a good book, and not come out until April.

Annie and Maddie were so funny this morning, making their own little breakfast table out of our pull-out cutting board.

 Then the kids all left for school, and my little rays of sunshine were gone.

At least I have this Bath and Body Works candle that smells like "Fresh Sparkling Snow."  I don't know if they've quite captured the essence of snow (does snow smell like "sparkling sugarberries, holiday pear, and icy melon"?) but I've been enjoying it.

I need to get out.  But I don't think checking out the middle school's HIV prevention presentation is quite what I mean.

No Longer Quite So Identical

Annie lost her first tooth at church last Sunday.  She was so confident that she was going to lose her tooth at church that she insisted that we bring a plastic baggie with us to church.  (This only confirms her opinion that she knows everything.  I have raised some very uh, confident girls.)  Annie came and visited me in nursery to hand me her tooth, and show off her smile.

Then today I took Maddie to the optometrist today.  She was given a referral from her school vision screening, and so I took her to get her eyes checked.  It turns out, she needs glasses.

One more way it will be easier to tell Annie and Maddie apart now.

Sniff.

Chalkboard

For my birthday, I was given a gift card for Hobby Lobby from my in-laws.  Kim had discovered Hobby Lobby this year, and is excited as the rest of us about the place.  I am more than happy to go spend money there.  So I got supplies to make myself a chalkboard- a frame, chalkboard vinyl, and chalk.

While my artistic abilities and handwriting will never be amazing, I am having fun with my chalkboard.

Another Mom Moment

Ring.

I was sitting in my bathroom with the heater on, playing a game on my cell phone while my hair deep conditioned.  It was after lunch, but I really didn't have anything pressing to do today, and I still had a couple of hours before Emma was due home.  That's when my phone rang.

"Hi, this is the school nurse..."  Oh, dreaded words.

Maddie needed to be picked up.  The nurse feared the beginnings of pink eye.  (We'll see about that....)  I peaked in the mirror.  I looked like a grease monkey, and there was no way I was going to put a hat on that.

"Ok, Maddie.  Mom is going to take a shower, and then I can come pick you up, ok?"

15 minutes after the phone call, I had showered, dressed, scrunched my hair, put on enough make up to ward off the "Are you feeling ok?" questions, and was running downstairs for my shoes, coat, and purse.

I've still got it.

I haven't really polished my fast shower skills in a long time.  When the kids were a lot smaller, I could be in and out of the bathroom in about 8 minutes.  When the twins were babies and Elizabeth wanted to love on her sisters in her rough 3 year old manner, I needed to be fast.  Or when Elizabeth would wake and let the tornado toddler twins out of their room.

Maddie is home now.  We are sitting on the couch, watching My Little Pony.  I really doubt she has the beginnings of pink eye, but she obviously wanted to come home.  Oh well.

A Night Of Makeovers

I have nothing to say in our defense.  We are odd.  And this phone app makes us laugh.

Developing Writing Skills

So, should I more excited that Maddie can express herself so well without any help, or more disappointed that I can't get the kids to stop fighting?

Really, Maddie hit most of the sounds in that sentence.  She did a great job.

New Year's Eve

We left at about 7:15 this morning to go visit my grandma.  We had nice visit with her, and left again about 3 pm.  This time we drove to Ryan's parent's place because they wanted their granddaughters for a New Year's Eve party.  We arrived around 6 pm, unloaded the kids' overnight gear, and had dinner with Rick, Kim, Megan, and Amy.  Then Ryan and I left our kids for the night and drove home.

This is my one picture from the day.  I must have left my phone unattended.  Or one of my daughters is a pick pocket.

Ryan and I went to bed at the usual time, feeling like unexciting old people.  We felt like we "enjoyed" the celebrations at midnight though.  We had neighbors shooting guns, and there were fireworks exploding somewhere locally.

Ryan is off picking up the girls, and was kind enough to let me have some quiet time at home.  I imagine I will have some tired, tired girls when they get back around 1 pm.  There were pictures of them posted on Facebook at 11 pm last night.

Happy New Year!