Our Little Cowgirl

The Mantra of a Four Year Old

Grace was running from the playroom where she had once again played past the point of safely being able to make it to the bathroom. She was whispering to herself as she ran: "Don't pee on the floor, don't pee on the floor, don't pee on the floor."

Question and Answer

QUESTION: Can a four year old truly understand sarcasm?


GRACE: Bellie, your mom is calling you.

BELLIE: She's your mom, too.

GRACE: I guess she is, isn't she. Thanks for that, Belle.


ANSWER: Duh.

For the Record...

Eric will no longer be allowed to post. I pride myself on providing honest, fair and balanced information. His erroneous post clearly puts that in jeopardy.

Strike Two (Reality Version)

I'm sitting on the couch when I hear the woman scream, immediately I know she has spotted a snake, or at the very least a stick that looks like a snake. So I pick up my snake battling tools (my shoes and a shovel) and I head out the door. I quickly spot the snake -- a skinny, 18 to 24 inch black snake -- as it suns itself near the bottom of our deck stairs. As I close the distance between us, the little slitherer made a break for it. He quickly wriggled under our deck and out the other side. I moved around the deck and cornered it, I went for the kill but the sly little bastard maneuvered out of the way and snuck under a large bush causing George and me to search under the useless shrubbery for a few minutes before realizing the culprit had made a safe getaway. But fear not, snakes, like most crooks, will return to the scene of the crime, and I'll decapitate him then. After being out maneuvered I returned to inside the house, or attempted to anyway, I found all the doors, windows and drain pipes locked and barred, Anne huddling under the kitchen table with Papa. Annabelle let me in.

Strike Two

At 11:30 this morning, I was taking George outside. As I step onto the grass, what should I come upon? (If you know anything about me, this is an easy question.) Thats right, a snake. Sitting right there, head up in the air as if taunting me, daring me to step into my own yard. This is when I have a heart attack. I run inside, screaming and feeling my chest pound so hard I swear it might explode.
I sent the snake exterminating team (Eric and George) out to handle the situation. As of now, said named snake it still on the loose, as I am told it is quite fast. Last known hideout was under our deck.
So this, my dear readers, is strike two. First a copperhead, and now this black snake that if measured might well have required more than a yard stick. Three strikes and we move.

Mama's Secret Playground Pics

I usually arrive at school early enough to see Grace's class still on the playground. It cam be very amusing watching a bunch of 4 and 5 year olds. Today, Grace decided that she wanted to pick some dandelions. The problem was that they were outside the fence. So I sat and watched her stretch her little arm as far as she could to reach the flowers. It took a few tries, but she managed to get enough to make a very lovely bouquet. When she got in the car about 10 minutes later, she had marks from pressing her face into the fence, and her nose was yellow from sniffing her dandelions (unfortunately the pics of that didn't come out).

At the Zoo

Sisters

Grace and Bellie were racing down the hallway to get to the playroom. Grace got there first.

GRACE: I win, I win, I win!!!!
BELLIE: Whatever. I'm cuter.

Singing in the Rain

There has been a LOT of rain lately. So many things have been cancelled, including a trip to the zoo. So, what do you do when rain threatens a picnic? You could move inside or even cancel it all together. Or you could stand under a pavilion (because there was no way I was getting all wet) and watch your kids have an absolute blast playing in the rain. And then you can go home and spend 45 minutes trying to rinse all the sand out of their hair.

Happy, Happy Birthday Gramma!

We hope you have a wonderful day and we love you very much!

What a Face

On Safari

The girls were playing with their Daddy this evening, and somehow they ended up pretending to be lions. They were crawling around the house, searching for prey. When they spotted me on the computer in the dining room, Daddy lion announced that they were going to capture the Antelope (aka Mama) and eat her for dinner. As I am being dragged from my chair by the Daddy lion and the Gracie lion, Annabelle comes running out of the office yelling, "I got it. I got the antelope!"

She was holding an envelope.

Since becoming a parent, I have heard AND said things that I never could have dreamed up BC (before children). The past few days haven't really been out of the ordinary, but a few situations have really brought this to my attention. Here are a few examples:

ME: Of course that hurt. You can never EVER do a cartwheel on the stairs.

ME: Yes, you always flush the potty. No matter what.

GRACE(crying): I just don't like Daddy in a red shirt. I really like him in green.

GRACE: Mama, is that what you are wearing? Ummm, it's really not my favorite. What else do you have?

BELLIE: I am so sorry I threw up all over the car Mama because now you have to clean it up.

Happy Easter

To Awa, Dude, Uncle Bob, Andy, Mike, Nami, Geet, Geoff, PJ, Dave, Christopher, Cara, Nana, Pop Pop, Uncle George, Uncle Kevin, and all our family and friends that we could not be with today: We hope you had a wonderful Easter. We miss you and Love you all very much.

Kitchen Karaoke

Michael's New Hat

Pilots In Training

Here are the girls and Grampa playing with their new airplane.

Secret Conversations

I heard this as I walked past the bathroom. The girls were inside.

GRACE: Isn't this great Bellie?! She thinks were are going potty. We can do whatever we want!
BELLIE: (maniacal laughter)

I knock on the door.

GRACE: Dammit!
BELLIE : (more maniacal laughter)

Learning to Crawl: I Think I Can, I Think I Can

Best Buddies

Happy St. Patrick's Day

One of Those Days

I will start this by saying that the reason that there is no picture with this post is that as I sit here writing, the kids are all nestled sweetly in their beds and frankly I do not want to look at them right now. Yes, it has been one of THOSE days.

Understand that it started out innocently enough, with the children waking Eric and I no earlier than usual. But since we had a night out on Friday and our heads did not hit our pillows until about 3 am, (no snickering here...how often do we get to do that? That's right, just about never) we were still moving a bit slower than normal. We went out for a family brunch. It was fabulous. We came home and played outside in the glorious Saturday afternoon weather.

So you are probably wondering exactly when it became on of those days? Well, that would probably be right about when Annabelle decided to shove a partially popped popcorn kernel up her nose.

I didn't see her do it, but as I was folding some laundry, I couldn't help but notice an awful lot of sneezing. I saw her with her finger up her nose, which unfortunately is not all that unusual, so I figured that she done something while digging around up there. She found me a bit later and asked if I could get it out of her nose. I asked her what was up there, expecting her to say "boogers" but instead she said "popcorn seeds." She then lied down and started wimpering a bit.

I will spare you the play by play of actually removing it, but I will just say that it took quite a while and involved all kinds of tools that normally you would not want anywhere near your nose. Finally with a POP as the snot seal was broken, out came the "popcorn seed."

Now, I am know you are wondering what Michael could have done to add to the days festivities. And if I am being perfectly honest here, I will have to take the blame for this. As I picked him up to get him dressed for bed, the girls ran by screaming and I knew as soon as I stood up straight that something was very wrong.

You see, a mother knows when she pushes ever so slightly on a certain part of the tummy that is almost assuredly going to make the child vomit. No matter how many times it happens, you always realize what you have done when it is too late. By the time I realized that George (following the screaming girls) was going to be directly in the line of fire, it was too late to stop Michael from vomiting all over him. The dog moved to the side just fast enough to ensure that the vomit also got all over the carpet.

After cleaning this up and placing the child in bed, I come down to the kitchen to see the girls eating Miracle Whip out of the jar. This actually makes ME want to vomit. When I questioned them about it, Grace proclaims that it was an accident. She seems to think lately that if something is an accident that she cannot get into trouble. Which leads me to my last example as to why today was one of those days.

Grace was explaining to me that her going into the fridge and taking out enough food and drink to make herself a picnic feast was an accident. Our conversation went like this:

Me: Grace, did you do this? (pointing to the things she had taken out)
Grace: Yes, but it was an accident.
Me: I don't really see how you could have gotten all these things out accidentally. You did it on purpose, didn't you?
Grace: Yes.
Me: So why did you say it was an accident?
Grace: Mom, do you think I WANT to get in trouble?

Poor Grace

The girls were riding their bikes today when we got home from school. Since it began raining, I got them into the garage to put their bikes away. Grace did NOT want to come in and quickly ran back outside before I could get to garage door down. She then proceeded to stand in the rain and cry:

"I'm only four and my life is RUINED."

We had such a great time with Geet during his visit! Hopefully he can come back soon. Maybe he will even bring his friend, Nami.

Writing Lessons

Annabelle practices writing with her Geet.

Conversations with Grace

Setting: The island in the kitchen. I have just served dinner.

Grace: Do children actually EAT this stuff?
Me: Absolutely. Children eat it and many even like it.
Grace: Well, not this children.

Ready for Project Runway

This is Grace's latest fashion creation. Using paper towels and tape, she fashioned herself a skirt and was very eager to show it off.

6 Months

Ok, so it is more like six and a half months...

Good Morning

Asking for Trouble

Apparently George was feeling lucky. And luckily for him, I found this before Eric did.

Miss Mess

Few days go by where I don't hear, "did you know Annabelle has food all over her shirt?" when I drop her off at school. YES, I know! But she is still pretty adorable, mess and all.

Cheeks

Our Little Drama Queen

Grace had fallen off a stool in the kitchen and whacked her head pretty hard. I gave her an ice pack to help the swelling. By the time I took this she was feeling much better, but when I got the camera out she said, "Wait. OK. Let me make my ouch face." I took the picture and she said, "OK, now let me see it." I turn the camera around so she can see it and she says, "oh yeah, thats a good one. Now let me make my princess face."

Funny Faces

Call the Doctor

Imagine her in the playroom, throwing herself on the floor, crying so hard she can barely breathe, speaking something inaudible for a few minutes. When I can finally calm her down enough to talk to me, this is what she says...

Me: Grace, what is wrong?
Grace: What did you do?
Me: What did I do to what?
Grace: My playroom.
Me: I cleaned it.
Grace: All this clean is making me sick.

Michael Likes It!

As we dive into the world of solid foods, Michael has made a disturbing discovery: Perched atop the end of his spoon, the very item that provides the yummy rice cereal, is a hungry puppy. After what seemed like hours of staring at each other, each holding on to their respective delicious treat, I was able to broker a deal between them. The puppy won't eat the rice cereal if Michael promises not to eat the bone.

Husband and Wife

Twins

Michael and Uncle Dave sort of resemble each other, don't you think? Maybe it's the hair...

She Might Be Funny...

The topic of hair has come up quite a bit since the incident. Grace and I were chatting this morning....

Grace: What color is my hair?
Mama: Light brown.
Grace: And what about Bellie? What color is her hair?
Mama: Her hair is blonde.
Grace: And what about you?
Mama: Red.
Grace: Yeah, but it is fake red. What color is it really?

Annabelle

When Bellie saw this picture she said, "look Mama, actually I'm pretty cute!" I think so, too.

The Aftermath

New Year, New 'Do

Apparently Grace and Belle have aspirations of becoming hairdressers, since this afternoon they decided to cut each others hair. As you can see they have a lot of learning to do.