Peculiar Audrey

All three of our girls have their quirks. Lydia hates socks. Audrey refuses to wear jeans. Charlie sucks her thumb and holds her ear when she's tired. However, Audrey seems to have a few more quirks than the other two. As mentioned above, she hates jeans. I think she's worn jeans only once or twice in the past two years. She asked me to get rid of all her jeans. She will occasionally cave and wear corduroys, but she prefers leggings and sweatpants. Audrey also asks to be alone when she's upset. I don't blame her. We have a small house and I frequently want to cry and be alone too, but I'm 33. She's 4. It's a little different when a four year-old asks for some time alone.

This is Audrey's diamond.

It's currently on our Christmas tree because its previous spot was hanging from a nail on the wall that is now behind the tree. It is currently on the black side. The other side is blue. When it starts to get dark at night, she turns it to black. In the morning she turns it to blue. She does this every day. She has bee doing this for a couple months. As soon as it starts to get dark out, she runs to change her diamond. I have no idea where she got it. She either made it at school or at home, but I don't remember how or why it appeared. But, she must change it every day.

This is Audrey grocery shopping.

Audrey loves brussel sprouts. She has cried at the grocery store when we bought frozen brussel sprouts and wouldn't let her eat them immediately in the store. When she was allowed to bring a snack to school because she was Star of the Week, she asked to bring brussel sprouts. We talked her out of it, but I still think it would have been funny and I like to imagine Audrey cheerily eating her brussel sprout snack while the other kids looked at her with disgust.

This is a picture Audrey colored.

It's creepy. You can say it. It makes me very uncomfortable. She gave it to Charlie and Charlie was very pleased with her gift.


Now, not despite, but because of Audrey's little quirks, I love her so much. I love that she's goofy. A lot of her goofiness is rooted in her intelligence and individuality and I just love that. I can't wait to see how this quirkiness manifests itself as she grows up.

A Trip to the Theater

On Sunday I took the girls to see the middle school's presentation of the musical The Little Mermaid. Jayson stayed home because it was in the middle of a Packers game. I was a little nervous about what would happen if Charlie had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the show, but luckily one of my friends brought her daughters too and I didn't have to worry as much. Also, Charlie didn't have to go in the middle of the show anyway.

The girls absolutely loved it. Charlie got a little antsy about halfway in. She started talking in a normal voice and even talked back to an actor at one point. I was ready to take her out in the hall, but she stopped. Then she turned around and stared at the two girls sitting right behind her, who luckily found it amusing.

I always love watching our students perform and there were several characters who were amazing, but I was really blown away by Ursula. After the show, the girls wanted their pictures taken with some of the stars. I talked to one of the directors and told her that I felt like Ursula stole the show.

When we got back home, Jayson asked the girls how it was. Audrey told her it was good, but a bad thing happened. He asked her what that meant and she said, "Some lady dressed like a jelly fish tried to steal some stuff!" I explained to Jayson that Ursula, the sea witch stole the show.

The high school is doing The Wizard of Oz in February and the girls can't wait!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a fun-filled long weekend for Thanksgiving. We did the standard Thanksgiving meals with Jayson's family on Thursday and my family on Saturday. Friday was fun as well. We went to Lakefront Brewery for a tour and to get their special Black Friday IBA. The girls hadn't been on a brewery tour in a while, so it was long overdue. We got there at about 10:30am and they had sold out by shortly after 9:00am. It was a little disappointing, but it was fine because we still went on the tour and had some of our favorite beers.

Charlie loves smelling things, especially things we're drinking, like coffee. Every time Jayson makes coffee, Charlie insists on smelling the grounds before he brews them. At the brewery, she kept insisting on smelling my beer and I'm sure to everybody around me, as I brought my cup to her nose, it looked like I was about to give my 2 year-old a sip. After she smelled it, she would insist I take a drink. Then she would say, "No, drink it!" and I would say, "I did," and she would say, "No. All of it." Moderation, Charlie!

After the brewery we helped our friends move. The girls loved the fact that they got to watch cable and stay out of our way. Lydia asked, "Mommy? Can we stay until 8:00? Because it looks like there's going to be a special iCarly on." Audrey decided to slap our friend's dad's butt? Then when he told her his name, which is the same as Jayson's sister's dog, she told him she would just call him Ralph.

When we left, Lydia made sure to get some email addresses of the people there because she just started using her email account and wants to email everybody.

Of course, after a long weekend, the girls were wrecks by Sunday afternoon. Audrey throws a huge fit whenever she has to clean up her toys. I told the girls to start cleaning up their toys and she threw her normal fit and wailed, "BUT I DON'T KNOW WHERE THEY GO!!!!!" So I said all cheerfully, "OK, that's fine. If there's anything that you don't know where it goes, just leave it. You don't even have to clean it up! I'll put it in a box and get rid of it. Because there's nothing worse than toys that don't have a place to go and we don't want toys like that in our house!" Then she got all mad and yelled, "I KNOW WHERE ALL THE TOYS GO!" So I said, "Then get in the toy room right now and put them away." She got really mad and "hmmmph"ed with her arms folded and went and cleaned up her toys. Mommy won that one.

November

It seems like we were just trick-or-treating, and now Thanksgiving is in four days. This month, Lydia and Audrey started swim lessons again, Lydia started skating lessons again, Lydia learned how to ride a two-wheeler (she taught herself!), Charlie has been making progress with potty training, and Charlie also learned how to ice skate (very slowly and cautiously, and only a couple feet at a time).

Charlie has also given up naps for the most part, much to Jayson's frustration. She doesn't go to bed well either, but it's actually kind of humorous because she sings to herself and tells stories and will randomly yell things, and eventually fades off to sleep.

Yesterday we had a very busy day. Caribou for coffee, Trader Joe's for groceries, Target for some odds and ends, Buy Buy Baby for some missing crib parts (yes, Charlie is still sleeping on a bed frame and we still don't have the correct parts to convert her crib into a bed, and we finally made some headway, but once again got the wrong parts.), Penzey's for some spices, Hockey Haven to sharpen some ice skates, skating at the Pettit for Lydia's lessons and then open skating with the family, Sam's for some pizzas, then our friends came over to eat dinner with us and watch the girls while Jayson and I had our bowling night.

The lack of naps caught up with everybody as evidenced by the breakdowns before we even ate breakfast and the constant arguing. So, after lunch today, it was family nap time. Usually family nap time isn't entirely successful. Usually one kid just isn't into it. Today it was Charlie, of course. But, after a while, she fell asleep too and the whole family was able to catch up on some sleep. The reward was sundaes after dinner.

A Transitional Week

My cross country season ended last weekend, which means huge changes for the family -- mainly the fact that I will be home a lot more -- about 20 more hours per week. People question why I coach when it takes me away from my family. The easy answer is that the cross country season is short and right after summer. So, I'm coming off of more than two months with my family and I don't miss them as much as I would if it were a spring sport (one of the main reasons I don't coach track). Plus, I love coaching. I love the relationships I get to build with the kids outside of the classroom. I love their families. I love seeing the kids succeed and being there for them when they fail. Also, money. I get paid, and it's money we rely on. 

But, I love being home now too. The first day of no practice, I made sure I was home to get Lydia off the bus. Then, she fought with her sisters, refused to practice her violin, and cried, and I kind of wanted to put her back on the bus, but it was already long gone. My family also benefits from me having more time to get my work done, so I'm under less stress.

I did have conferences Wednesday, which made for a long day of me not even seeing the girls. Well, except for the fact that Jayson brought them to school during my lunch duty so we could get flu shots. I love when they visit school. They get so much attention and just adore the big kids. 

I also started going to the gym in the morning now that I don't run in the afternoon with the team. It's usually pretty hard making that one-hour adjustment in my schedule, and conferences didn't help. 

So, I took a vacation day today. I slept in, went to the gym, ran errands, and did some baking. Of course, what happens when a teacher takes a vacation day? You run into no fewer than three parents who look at you very suspiciously and wonder who is teaching their child. I was able to have a nice conversation with one of them, that started with, "I'm not playing hookey!" I'll have to track those other two down.

Oh, also on the agenda was putting Charlie's bed together. You may remember my early July fiasco that ended with us having to reorder parts that would take three months to arrive. We got them. Missing the same parts. I'm now in contact with Buy, Buy, Baby, and they are trying to figure out what to do. I'm hopeful that they'll do the right thing and we won't have to wait another three months. Charlie might be in high school before we get the right parts, but she'll be sleeping in a bed with side rails, and that's that.

So, it's been an interesting, but good week. I found myself just relaxing tonight, and in an attempt to catch up on the news, I read the news report about the nanny who killed the 2 year-old boy and 6 year-old girl in New York. As my mind went to images that made my heart twist, I started crying. I wished that my own kids were awake so I could give them all hugs and tell them how much I love them. But, I also wasn't about to disturb their sleep. Then, by some small miracle, I heard the door to Lydia and Audrey's room open, and Lydia came out to use the bathroom. I went in there and told her, "I'm so glad you're awake, because I was just thinking about how much I need a hug from one of my girls." She laughed and gave me the best hug I've had all week. I tucked her back into bed and left her room so thankful for everything and everyone I have.

Updates

Oops... in the chaos of school starting and cross country, I have neglected my blog.

We did video updates today.

Lydia, 6.5 -- She has been learning about Washington D.C. and the presidents in school. Today they watched a video about the election.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqMecCDaZtI

Audrey, 4.5 -- Telling us about farm bingo that she played today. She LOVES 4k and is great about telling us what she does each day. She especially loves her teacher, Mr. K, and talks about him all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK146qDou54

Charlie, 2.5 -- She can identify most of the letters of the alphabet, the numbers 1 through 9, and the colors. Now we're working on shapes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=048IcsQxJJk

Public Embarrassment

In about ten years, I'll be able to repay them. But, for now, when I go out in public with the girls, it ends up being me who gets embarrassed. Usually, it's while we're shopping, but really, any public forum will do.

This past weekend, I had to run into to Target really quickly before church, and Jayson wanted to get us some coffee from Starbucks. So, we decided to divide and conquer. He took Charlie, I took Lydia and Audrey. Since time was an issue, I put Lydia in the back of the cart and Audrey in the front, and we took off. One stop was in the feminine products aisle, where I grabbed a box of purple tampons. Shortly thereafter, while booking it down the main aisle of Target, Lydia held them high above her head and asked me what they were. I told her to put them down and I would tell her later. "Highlighters, Mommy? They're highlighters?" Yes, dear. Highlighters.

Target is a frequent hot spot of mine. I enjoy visits at least weekly. One time I walked through the lingerie section and Lydia, who was two at the time, excited pointed to the racks of bras and yelled, "Mommy's boobies! Mommy's boobies!"

As she got older, she become more inquisitive of other people. We once passed a lesbian couple, both of whom were short and sported very masculine looks, including basketball shorts and baseball caps. Lydia very loudly asked me where those boys' mother was and why there were alone in the store.

Lydia also went through a stage of being obsessed with hair length and would see men with long hair and women with short hair and question their choices (I admit -- I questioned their choices too, just not out loud). "Mommy, is that a boy or a girl? A boy? Why is his hair long like a girl's?"

One time around Christmas, I was shopping with Lydia, and she was just over 1.5 years old. We were at Old Navy and she saw some teddy bears and excitedly pointed to them, yelling, "Lydia bear?" I told her no, and we kept shopping. I pushed the stroller in front of me while I bent down to look at a low-hanging rack of clothes. As I was looking, I could hear Lydia quietly talking. I stood up to see another woman, on the other side of the stroller, also bending down to look at the low-hanging rack of clothes. She had one of the bears in her arms along with other stuff she was going to buy. Lydia had spotted the bear and was quietly whispering to the woman, "Lydia bear. Lydia bear. Lydia bear," trying to get the woman to hand it over. The woman was silently holding in laughter, trying to ignore Lydia.

One time at the grocery store, Lydia was 4 and did not want to be shopping. She yelled, for the whole store to hear, "I'm hungry! You don't feed me!" When that didn't get the attention she wanted, she yelled, "Please don't leave me in the car alone!" (Something I have never done.)

Then there was the time last fall, when Lydia and I were grocery shopping and had what I thought was a very cute conversation.

Lydia: Mommy, do you want me to tell you all the bad words?

Me: Oh yeah, tell them to me. L: STUPID Me: Ooooh, that's a bad one!  L: HATE Me: Yup, another bad word, you're right! L: SHIT Me: Oh. Yeah. Let's not say that one again, OK?

I don't think she said that one loud enough for too many people to hear. 

We're Still Here!

I have failed at blogging for the past month. All of a sudden, our summer was a frenzy with a trip to Madison to visit my family, then my cross country season started, then school started, and then I got really sick this past weekend when I was planning on catching up on some posts. In the meantime, I've missed writing a post about our trip to Madison and the first day of school. I can't believe Audrey is in 4K. She absolutely LOVES school and can't wait for it to be a school day. She's also much more forthcoming with details about her day than Lydia has ever been, so it's fun to hear more about what she does at school and what she likes and dislikes.

Unfortunately, I have a stack of quizzes to grade since I'm just now starting to feel better after feeling completely exhausted since Thursday. I'll post a few pictures to make up for it.

There's no crying in baseball! Well, except when it's over.

This summer Lydia played baseball and Audrey played tee-ball. We mainly chose to sign up because it was only $25 and figured that if they didn't like it, at least it was only $25. We have tried other activities in the past. Soccer was a bust. Lydia was three and was not interested at all. In fact, she hid behind trees and we had to tell her to stop eating grass more than once. Dance wasn't a good fit either. I wasn't a big fan from the beginning, but it was one of the few things she could sign up for at four and there was no grass. She just wasn't very interested in it and the recitals were a racket. We did ice-skating too, which actually went pretty well. It was expensive though, and as soon as she lost interest, we stopped the lessons and told her she could try again when she was ready to focus more. She wants to try again this winter. Audrey has absolutely no interest in skating after some not-so-great lessons. They both love swimming, which we will continue to do with them because I think it's a great sport for them and they love it and are good at it.

Lydia's baseball team practiced Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings. She only missed two practices. There were some kids who barely practiced at all and then showed up for games, which confused me. She LOVED her coaches. They were both college students, one male and one female, and they were amazing with the kids. The male coach really seemed to bond with Lydia and always had a special job for her. Plus, she learned how to play baseball! She actually improved a lot. She really liked hitting and when it was her turn to field, she liked being pitcher or catcher. I was pretty impressed by the end of the season when she actually seemed to know how to play baseball!

Audrey's team only met on Wednesdays. The first few were practices and the last several were games. It was pretty adorable. They don't really learn how to field yet, but get the basics of the game. There's nothing cuter than an entire team of four year-olds chasing after a ball. She was also one of the smallest kids on her team, having just turned four a week before practice.

When their final game came around, both girls were upset. Audrey asked if we could sign up for it again, and I tried to explain to her that we would, but it would be in ten months. Lydia actually sobbed when her last game was over, which broke my heart, but also made me so, so glad that she had such a great time.

Here are some pictures from their last games.

Beauty Shop Night

Every once in a while, we have beauty shop night. I do the girls' hair and nails. Today we threw a few more steps in because they showered first, so then I had to blow-dry their hair. We also added masks.

Masks for flawless skin. I was surprised that Charlie wanted one too.

Pre-pedicure foot soak.

Pre-manicure hand soak.

Blow-outs. (They also chose to ditch their robes.)

 Audrey's straight hair gets curlers.

Charlie's too, but only four of them.

Lydia's curly hair gets straightened. Plus, Olympic manicure.

Audrey all beautified.

A better view of her curls.

Charlie's crazy curls. Her hair is so fine that they just kind of went nuts and lasted about 20 minutes. 

Currently...

I like to take videos of the girls every few months where I interview them and have them show what they know. So, I'll post the latest, which I admit were taken last month.

In a nutshell...

Lydia:
-Loved playing baseball this summer and is devastated it's almost over. She went from zero skills to doing better than I expected. She also had a crush on her coach.
- Swims like a fish! She loves being under water and tries to do handstands and somersaults. She can swim about 15 feet without touching. LOVES water slides.
- Very sneaky. You have to keep an eye on her. She's always trying to figure out a way to beat the system.
- Can count past 100.
- Can read very well. Most one syllable words are no problem and she does a great job sounding out words she doesn't know. She doesn't particularly like to read, but she can.
- Can and subtract one-digit numbers and has started some simple multiplication.
- Plays the violin. She took some summer lessons and is starting to get the hang of it.

Audrey:
- Loved playing tee-ball this summer and wants to know when she can sign up for more.
- Also swims like a fish. About as strong of a swimmer as Lydia but doesn't have as good of a technique. She is better at backwards somersaults than Lydia, though.
- Can count past 20.
- Recognizes most letters and numbers.
- Loves to pretend. If you leave her alone in a room, you will hear her talking to her dolls and making them talk to each other.
- Likes to help out, but does not clean up her toys.

Charlie:
- Counts to about 12.
- Says her ABC's.
- Sings songs she hears.
- Has just started to speak in complete sentences.
- LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba.
- Is crazy in the pool. Loves going underwater even though she can't swim. Loves jumping off the side so we can catch her. Has started to try to dive.
- Loves to make people laugh and is incredibly goofy.
- Refuses to use the potty.
- Has been sleeping in a big girl bed since July 1 with very few problems.
- Is an amazing cuddler.

Now, onto the videos. I'm posting Youtube links because otherwise they would take too long.

First, Charlie.

Charlie Numbers and Colors

Charlie ABC's

And Audrey...

Interview with Audge

Finally, Lydia.

Interview with Lydia

This last video cracks me up. Lydia insisted on my videotaping her reading Green Eggs and Ham. The entire book. At about 3 minutes in, Charlie decided she wanted the spotlight.

Lydia Reading, Charlie Creeping

Mid-Summer Update

Oh. Remember how I was going to post more during the summer? Sorry about that. But, we've been busy. We seem to have had a long run of parties.

June 30th we went to a housewarming party for some good friends of ours. My mom, the Granny Nanny, came with and took the girls home at a reasonable hour so Jayson and I could stay later and enjoy ourselves. It was a good thing, too, because it was really, really HOT and I don't think they would have lasted much longer than they did.

July 3rd we went to the home of a friend of ours who lives in a little neighborhood out in the country. Every July 3rd, he does a huge fireworks show in his backyard and there are probably around 150 people there. Every year, I seem to end up watching it in my car because one or more of the girls are afraid. This year it was Charlie and Lydia. They sat in the car and watched and I stood outside the car. Every time I opened the door to see how they were doing (it was HOT), Charlie screamed at me to shut the door. So, that was fun.

July 4th we went to the parade in New Berlin. Again, HOT. Every 2.5 seconds, I was shoving water bottles in the girls' faces and telling them to drink. After the parade, it was home for naps and then to a 4th of July party at a friends house who lives close enough to the park that we can sit on the sidewalk in front of her house and watch the fireworks. Just like the party the previous night, there were oodles of kids running around and the girls had a blast. We were farther away from the fireworks this time, so Charlie initially freaked out, but then did fine. She even told me the fireworks were cute.

July 6th we went to Jammin on Janesville with some friends. Again, HOT. Again with the water. The girls just adore the other family we went with, so they had a blast and got absolutely filthy dirty from walking and playing. The got their faces painted early in the evening, but after a few hours in the heat, they looked like their faces were melting.

July 8th we went to a party at another friends house. They had one of those big Banzai water slide sprinklers and again, tons of kids. The girls just loved it. I loved that the girls are finally at an age where they can pretty much play without us and Jayson and I can just sit and relax and enjoy ourselves.

July 9th, Charlie woke up and asked me, "Mommy, party today?" No, we were partied out.

The Last of the Big Girl Beds

The crib we used for all three girls converts to a full size bed. Last summer, I ordered the conversion kit so we would be ready whenever we decided to switch Charlie from her crib to a bed. I would prefer to just leave her in her crib until she's old enough to understand how wonderful beds are, but the dang thing (Charlie) keeps growing. So, we decided it's time. We also decided summer would be the transition period, when both of us are home and able to deal with the complete insanity of a two year-old at bedtime. Last night we discussed the fact that this week we would have a few late nights, with it being the 4th of July and us having various parties to attend. We figured it would be a perfect time to start the transition, when we knew she would be tired and not up for too much of a struggle.

We just needed to get a full size mattress and box spring. I decided to assemble the bed frame before we went to get the mattress so when we got home we would just need to plop the mattress in and call it a night. I very quickly realized our conversion kit did not have the necessary parts. We were missing the parts that allowed us to screw the side slats into the headboard and footboard. We were also missing some of the hardware pictured in the manual. We attempted to put the frame together using only the wooden dowels for the connections, but then we found that the slats that go across the frame to hold the box spring were too long. I called Buy Buy Baby, where we had ordered the conversion kit. The very helpful lady told me they would order a new one for us right away. It would be here in 14 to 16 weeks. As in more than three months. As in October. I asked her if there was anyway to get it sooner and explained to her that we were sitting with a half assembled bed, a half disassembled crib, a two year-old who needed a place to sleep tonight, and a husband who wasn't going to deal with putting a two year-old in a bed in the fall when I would barely even be home with school and cross country. She said she would try to expedite the order. It didn't sound very promising. Sorrelle cribs and Buy Buy Baby, I am not happy with either of you.

So, we decided we would just do half-ass job putting the bed together and let her sleep in it. Yes. We did. We even said out loud, "Well, if it falls, she's only six inches off the ground." Yes. We said that. We were experiencing enormous amounts of stress and that disappointed feeling when it seems like you should have had a handle on something but then it all just goes to shit. We were going to put the bed together without screws and run the slats at an angle.

We loaded up the car and headed to Big Lots because they had Serta mattresses on sale. If you have insider information that buying mattresses at Big Lots is the stupidest idea ever, please do not tell me because I just need to believe that it was a good decision. I'll tell you what is stupid, though. 99% of the people working at Big Lots. We went to the store, which is just a couple miles from our house. We scoped out the mattresses. I asked an associate at the front checkouts if somebody could help us and she paged somebody. A few minutes later, the teenage boy she paged walked towards us at a speed that would make you think he was running some sort of reverse race where the goal was to take the longest amount of time to get from point A to point B. I told him the mattress we were interested in. He went to the back storage area. He returned about five minutes later. "Yeah. We don't have that one in the full. But we do have queen if you're interested in that." Oh yes! Wonderful! Could you please get me a queen size mattress for my full size bed? That sounds perfect!

Meanwhile, our normally somewhat well-behaved kids were climbing all over the furniture at Big Lots and even running up and down aisles. I asked him to check the back and see which mattresses they did have in full size. He came back five minutes later to let me know that one of the mattresses that was $80 more was available in a full.  He told us, "The other Big Lots has it." Not, "Hey, let me call the other Big Lots to see if they have it." Not, "The other Big Lots might have it." He told us the other Big Lots had it. Jayson asked, "Where is that one? By the stadium?" and the kid confirmed that was where the other Big Lots was.

Back in the car, and we headed towards the stadium. Once we got close, I pulled out the navigator on my phone and looked up directions. There was no Big Lots by the stadium. In fact, the other Big Lots was 17 minutes from the stadium, according to my phone. We pulled into a Wendy's and Jayson got Frostys for everybody. Because that's what you do when everything else is going wrong. Eat ice cream. Then we headed towards the other Big Lots.

We got there and the girls were covered in melted Frostys. So we gave them a baby wipe sponge bath and went into the store. We asked for somebody to help us with the mattresses. It took a while, but somebody finally came. They had NO mattresses in a full size. None. Back to the car.

We drove back to the original Big Lots by our house and decided to buy the one that was a little more expensive. It was after 7:00, the kids were being awful, and Charlie still needed something to sleep on. I tracked down the big dumb kid again and he went back to get the mattress we wanted. I explained to him that we needed the mattress and the box spring. I had caught onto the mental capacity we were working with and clearly explained, "We need the mattress and the box spring. The sign here says it's called a 'foundation.' There should be two pieces." He returned with the mattress and asked us if we wanted him to bring it up front. No. Please, leave it here. I think we will just camp out here at Big Lots for the night. Once we got up front, I told him, "And the box spring? We need the box spring too." He looked surprised, as if this was a new development to him, and went back to get the box spring. He returned after a few minutes. No box spring. They were out.

I almost threw a tantrum in the store. Then, the girl working at the service desk took over. She determined that they were out of box springs. She called the third Big Lots in the area and they were also out. She told us she would give us the sale price and we could come back for the box spring when their delivery came. Yes. Perfect. Done.

We came home with the mattress. We tried to put it on our jerry-rigged bed and the bed fell apart. We tried to put it back together (oh, yes, we did!) and attempted it again, and it fell apart again. We came to the realization that even if we could get the mattress to balance on the frame, it probably wasn't safe for sleeping. So, we put the frame downstairs and Jayson got an old metal frame from the garage and cleaned it up. We did have to improvise with some wooden slats, but it was stable. We made the bed. Charlie laughed and cheered and climbed into it.

Once it was time to sleep, she was not so excited about it. Jayson spent about fifteen minutes putting her back in bed and telling her not to get out, but it eventually stuck. She is currently sleeping very soundly in her big girl bed. The plan is to get the box spring this week, and then in a few months when the new conversion kit comes in, we'll switch her to the nice wooden frame and headboard.

I am currently exhausted and will now be going to bed in my big girl bed.

Beating the Heat

Today it was 94 degrees and humid. As soon as we got up this morning, we closed all the windows and shades and turned the air conditioning on. We went outside as little as possible. This morning Lydia had violin lessons and Jayson took Audrey and Charlie to the gym. Lydia told me as we got in the car, "It is sweltering out here." We did venture outside to go to the farmers market because our favorite corn guy had promised the girls free ears of corn the next time he saw them. As soon as we walked up, he grabbed a freshly husked ear for each of them and they dug in while he sang, something he's well-known for. Then it was back home. I took Lydia and Audrey to see Brave. The girls insist we all share a bench seat so we can cuddle, and I can't really argue with that. We all loved the movie. There were some parts that were scarier than I expected and I held them a little tighter. During one particularly scary scene, I looked down at Audrey and asked her if she was OK. "Yeah," she said as she dug her fingers into her popcorn," I just got a seed in my mouth."

After the movie we came home for dinner, and then Lydia had a baseball game tonight. I was hoping it would get canceled due to the heat, but no such luck. She did great. She still hasn't had a hit off a pitch (just the tee), but she played catcher and did a great job. At one point, I overheard a boy on the team ask her when her bedtime is. She responded, "Seven. Sometimes eight. Sometimes even nine. One time in a hotel, I stayed up until eleven." He gently grabbed her arm and said, "At your age, you can't be staying up that late. You need your sleep."

Tough as Nails

We took the girls to the dentist a couple weeks ago and Audrey had a cavity. Jayson and I both were relieved that if one of them had a cavity, it was Audrey. Audrey is the child who asked the nurse for the flu shot instead of the flu mist, and watched with no emotion as the needle went into her arm. Today was her appointment to have it filled. We didn't want to give her too many details about what would happen. We basically told her she had a cavity and the dentist would fix it. She was pretty excited because she loves the dentist. When we got there, an assistant we had never met called her back, which I think threw her off just a little bit. I think the assistant would have preferred if I had stayed in the waiting room, but I wanted to be there, and Audrey wanted me there. I made sure to sit in the corner and not say much.

They gave Audrey some laughing gas, and I'll admit I was a bit disappointed it didn't make her more loopy. It pretty much caused her to ignore everybody. The entire time they worked on her mouth, she stared straight ahead with her mouth open. The dentist laughed and made jokes and asked her questions and she just stared straight ahead with her mouth open. No tears, no flinching, no complaining. When it was all done, she just looked at me and smiled.

We told her she needs to start using our toothpaste to prevent cavities. She likes the fruity taste of hers better. Tonight I told her if she doesn't use our toothpaste, she might have to get another cavity filled. She told me that's OK. It was fun.

Little Sluggers

Lydia and Audrey are playing baseball and tee ball this summer. It's through the West Allis rec department. Lydia has practices Monday through Wednesday and games on Thursday. Audrey has practice/games every Wednesday.

Audrey is the smallest on her team, having turned four just a week before the league started. She loves it and seems especially fond of running the bases. I didn't get to go to her first practice because it was also Lydia's last day of swimming. I was very excited to go to her practice yesterday. So was she. She kept running up to me all day to tell me tidbits of information, including, "Mommy, they guy (I'm assuming it was her coach, and not some random guy watching a bunch of little kids play ball) said I can't blink when I hit the ball. I can't blink. I have to keep my eyes open." I asked her to show me how she does that and her eyes got very  big as she pretended to swing a bat. On an adult, it would look like a zombie hacking at an innocent human, but on her the look was endearing. She also told me, "Mommy, after practice, we get juice and snacks. But only the people practicing. If you don't practice, you don't get the juice and snacks." Got it. Practicing is clutch if you want the juice and snacks. She also has throwing technique down pretty well, but only in slow motion. You can almost see the gears working in her brain as she slowly puts her left foot forward, brings her right arm back, rotates her arm forward, and releases the ball.

Lydia has an additional obstacle in the fact that she doesn't get a tee. It's coach pitch baseball. In a game, if they get three strikes, then they get a shot at it with the tee. This happened every time she was at bat for her first game tonight. What was great, though, is that she wasn't even that great at hitting it off the tee, so it would dribble off and land a couple feet in front of her and she could easily get a base hit. This resulted in her actually scoring a run, which she was very excited about. I'm glad she can even hit it off the tee because she has my uncoordinated genes in her. There's a reason I run. Anything else is too complex. I bike too, but Jayson makes fun of me every spring when I have to admit that I forgot how to shift during the winter.

What was really great about Lydia's game was how involved she was in it. For every batter, there was a cheer of "Here we go, (insert name here), Here we go!" Every single batter. Every single pitch. And it only got a little bit old after the first inning. She also did a great job watching the game, even when it was her turn to sit on the bench when they were fielding. She just sat there and watched. When she was fielding, we were worried she would be a little space cadet in the outfield, but she actually ran towards balls! I was very impressed.

A Weekend Away

This past weekend, we went to Minnesota to visit friends. It was a nice mini-vacation. We had a doctor appointment for Audrey first, though. We finally found out that she had shingles, it wasn't contagious, and there was medication for it. Exactly what we wanted to hear! So, we hit the road. Our first stop was Chippewa Falls. We met our friends Brooke and Steve there (they were also going to Minnesota for the weekend) and went on the Leinenkugel Brewery tour. We had done the tour five years ago, the last time we visited the same friends in Minnesota, but it's a fun tour. Lydia even paid attention for a lot of it.

The next day we headed to Minnesota. The first stop was the zoo, which was great! They have a dolphin there, which the girls had never seen before in person, so they thought that was neat. There was a dinosaur exhibit that terrified Charlie. Audrey begged to go on the monorail, so we did that too.

On Sunday we went to a water park. To our surprise, Lydia loved going down the slides. She usually is more cautious of things like that and needs a lot of convincing, but she walked right to the top and went down without hesitation. We were so proud! Audrey loved floating on the lazy river, laying on my lap. It was so relaxing. I found out that while I was on the lazy river with Audrey, Lydia had decided she was brave enough to go off the diving board and discovered she really can't swim and a lifeguard had to rescue her. Not too long after that, it started to rain with no sign of letting up, so we had to go. The girls really enjoyed themselves, though, and really want to go to a water park again soon.

Monday morning we headed home. We stopped in Madison for lunch with Grandma Deb and then were very happy to get home!

Our First Cavity

We took the girls to the dentist today for a routine exam. It turns out Audrey has a little cavity that needs to be filled. We're telling her as little as possible about it, just that she gets to go back to the dentist in a couple weeks (they love the dentist) because there's an owie on one of her teeth and the dentist needs to put medicine on it. Luckily, she won't be getting a shot of Novocaine. I guess they use a numbing gel now. Also, luckily, she's our toughest kid, so it won't be as bad as if it were Lydia or Charlie.

The Mystery Ailment

Sunday night Audrey woke up complaining that her arm hurt. Monday night she woke up complaining that her arm hurt, and then a little while later, her hand. I discovered a bunch of red bumps on her palm that looked like tiny blister under the skin. We went to the doctor on Tuesday and he was not very concerned about the arm pain and told us the bumps were a virus similar to hand, foot, and mouth disease. He told us we could give her ibuprofen for the pain and as long as she didn't develop a fever, she would not be contagious after a couple days. He said it would spread and probably last a week or two. Tuesday night, whe woke up with arm pain again. Wednesday morning, we saw that the bumps had indeed spread to her arms. Wednesday afternoon after her nap, the bumps had spread up her arm and were no longer blisters under the skin, but raised blisters with liquid in them. She also complained more of arm pain and would not use her right arm. I took her in to the doctor again, but our regular doctor was out, so she saw a different one. This doctor was stumped and concentrated more on the arm pain, but found nothing wrong. She could move it OK and no matter how the doctor twisted it, Audrey didn't seem uncomfortable. She brought in another doctor to look at the bumps and they concluded that it's a virus like chicken pox. They said she would only really be contagious of people came in direct contact with the bumps, so she needs to wear long sleeves. In June. None of the three doctors seemed to be very sure of their diagnoses, and we go back on Friday for a follow-up, right before we're supposed to head for Minnesota for the weekend. It's frustrating to see her in pain and not know what's causing it. She is such a trooper, though. I'm very curious to see how this ends.

In other news, two funny things from Lydia:

I told her that this morning I found Charlie licking my deodorant. Lydia said that was gross and I agreed. Then she said, "Now you have to put it back in your armpit! Disgusting!" Apparently, she is more worried about my delicate armpits.

Tonight Lydia told me, "I think you were cuckoo when you were a little girl." I confessed to her that I think I'm still a little cuckoo. She looked at me very concerned and said, "Should I tell somebody?"

Baseballs to the face and dunking babies. No really, it was fun.

Today was Lydia's second baseball practice. She got hit in the face with a ball and didn't cry, and that moment has gone on Jayson's list of Top Ten Proud Daddy Moments.

Audrey had swim lessons so I swam with Lydia and Charlie. Charlie's new favorite thing to do is go under water while I put my hands on her waist and glide her around. She asked me to do it over and over again. Just to make sure the other moms and lifeguard didn't think I was abusing my child by constantly dunking her, I made her say, "One, two, three, GO!" and then she would push her face in the water before I would glide her. She loved it. I loved watching her underwater with her big round eyes and huge toothy smile.

There's 104 Days of Summer Vacation (I wish)...

Today was the first official day of summer vacation. It. Was. Awesome. Not so much because of what we did, but because I got to wake up with my girls (Jayson too!), eat breakfast, lay down in the afternoon, and just BE.  Here are some highlights from the day:

It was Lydia's first day of baseball! She is not all that athletic or coordinated, so we were a bit worried, but she did great! She totally grounded some balls and threw them in the general vicinity of where she was supposed to! She did get lapped running bases. I'll take responsibility for the lack of speed. Those are my genes.

Charlie has moved up to the big-girl swings.

This was a new experiment. We are having a rummage sale in two weeks. I dumped all their toys on the futon and the took turns picking one toy to sell and one toy to keep. We got through about half of them and will continue tomorrow. I was surprised at how willing they were to get rid of some thing. In fact, there were a couple things they picked to sell that I rescued.

No, Charlie did not just run laps outside. She just woke up from her nap. It was 85 degrees outside and her bedroom is upstairs where it gets the hottest. She refuses to let us turn on a fan and insists on using a blanket. She wakes up a hot mess.

I gave the girls frozen Gogurts for their afternoon snack to hep them cool off. Audrey is a little mommy and helped Charlie by feeding her when she got to the bottom. Then she wiped Charlie's face.

WTH?

Today, shortly after most of my family had arrived for Audrey's birthday party, Lydia was playing hide-and-seek with her cousin. He hid pretty well and she was looking all over the house for him. She walked through the kitchen and into the living room, within earshot of everybody, saying, "Where did he go? Where is he? Where the HELL did he go?" All of our eyes got big and we held back laughs that came exploding out. She was mortified and I could tell right away. She ran up to our bedroom and I followed to find her laying on the floor crying, with her head under our bed. I talked to her for a while and explained to her why people laughed. I think the embarrassment was enough to ensure that she won't be saying it again.

And Summer Vacation Begins.... NOW!

I am committed to posting more now that school is out. I plan on staying very busy this summer and will no doubt be exhausted at the end of the day, but unlike during the school year, I won't have any grading or planning to do! So, blogging will hopefully fill that hole. Also, with more frequent blogging, some of the posts might get boring. Like this one.

Friday ended with beers on a local patio with a large group of coworkers, many who will be missed as they move on to greener pastures. Jayson and the girls met me there for dinner and then we went grocery shopping and got We Bought a Zoo from Redbox.

In the morning, I did the Lozilu mud run with my sister, my bff, her sister, and a group of women from my sister's gym. I was not sure if I would be ready for it, just a day short of two weeks from my appendectomy. I knew I could run, but any kind of stretching or lifting was off limits. Luckily, I only had to skip one obstacle, which was climbing a wall. The giant Slip N Slide was my favorite. See how fun!?!?

My sister came home with me and while we waited for her husband and sons to drive from Madison (my oldest nephew had a baseball game), she played with the girls and I got food ready for Audrey's party. When everybody arrived, we went out to eat downtown at Ryan Braun's Graffito. The food was decent, but servings were small and overpriced. We sat on the patio where we could watch boats go up and down the river, and the kids enjoyed that. We wanted to get ice cream in the 3rd Ward, but everything was shutting down, so we went to Oscar's closer to home.

When we got home, we got beds ready for my sister's family to stay over. The kids played outside. I gave mine a quick shower and took one myself with Charlie (she won't go in alone) and it was bedtime. Everybody was asleep immediately after such a long day.

Today was Audrey's birthday party. Her buddy from the gym, Nathan, came and she was just beside herself with excitement. I made her an Ariel cake, per her request, and it turned out! Yay! Nathan gave her plush Angry Birds toys and as I type, she is cuddled up with them in bed, one happy little girl.

Tomorrow is the official start to summer vacation and tonight we talked about all the things we want to do. The list thus far:

• Museums (we have a Discovery World Membership and a Betty Brinn one-time pass)
• Beaches (we like Fox Brook Park in Brookfield)
• Splash pads 
• Fountains at Bayshore
• Pools (the gym for sure, but hopefully some outdoor ones too)
• Water Park (we got passes to Country Springs for Christmas)
• Shedd Aquarium and possibly more of Chicago
• Jelly Belly
• Library
• Bay Beach (and visit the fabulous Adam and Jenny and their new little baby)
• Bike rides
• Zoo
• Madison
• ???

Hopefully we'll add to the list.

Smartest Two Year-Old Ever

OK, I may be exaggerating, but it's my blog and I get to do that. I've been MIA for a couple weeks with the insanity of school finishing up and a surprise appendectomy, but summer is just around the corner and I plan on blogging much fore frequently.

Here's Charlie singing her ABC's (kind of) and counting (kind of... she skips six and gets stuck on thirteen). Also, don't call her Charlotte.

Mother's Day Ode to My Amazing Mom

I have been trying to compose a Mother's Day post in my head, and it's been tough. My childhood was by no means unhappy, but it wasn't exactly picturesque either. Just admitting it wasn't perfect is enough to make me uncomfortable. When I think of the reasons, admitting them scares me to death, even though they're not mine to fear. Not any more. I grew up with an alcoholic father, who is now estranged. People who grew up in a situation like mine know the complete chaos and turmoil it causes in a family. They also know the shame and the amazing lengths a family dealing with addiction will go to in order to cover it up and appear normal.

As I get older and try to remember exactly how it was, I get a lot of conflicted feelings. There are memories I would like to leave in the past, but also feelings of great warmth, happiness, and pride. Those are purely due to my mom's magical way of keeping a fractured family together. Sometimes I wonder how and why she worked so hard to keep a sinking ship afloat, and sometimes it takes all my strength not to run to her house and hug her and thank her for keeping my childhood as idyllic as possible.

You see, addiction brings nothing but uncertainty. That's what it was like living with my dad. You could never be certain of anything. He was loving and funny one day and the next he was angry and belligerent. But we could always rely on mom. She was always a pillar of strength. A security blanket when nothing else seemed safe. One memory that always sticks in my head is sitting at home after school, watching TV when I was younger, working on homework when I was older, and hearing the garage door open at precisely 5:30pm, and that little jump in my heart knowing my mom was home. I remember dropping whatever I was doing and excitedly listening as her high heels clipped across the kitchen floor. She was home, and all was right in the world. I remember following her to her room and lying on her bed as she changed out of her stylish work clothes, slowly removing each piece of jewelry and putting it in its proper place, and then threw on her comfortable after-work clothes. There were other happy memories scattered throughout, but that solid, predictable, reliable memory, no matter how mundane it may seem or how often it was repeated is the one that means the most to me and to me symbolizes my childhood and my mom's role in it.

Now that I have three daughters of my own, I still don't think I will ever understand how she did what she did. It's hard enough raising three kids with a husband who isn't an alcoholic and is in fact quite capable and an amazing dad. However, I still see some of my mom in what I do with my girls. One thing my mom always did well was make the ordinary seem enjoyable. We didn't go on big vacations (the first time I flew on an airplane was when I was 17 and that was with my best friend's family), and we didn't have a lot of extra money for her to shower us with impressive gifts -- although she did make sure we always had a nice mixture of what we wanted and what we needed, and she very likely spent more money on us than was really prudent. But I remember just loving being around my mom (and I still do). I remember walks to get custard, trips to the mall, and just baking cookies always seemed more fun for us than for other people. I can't even really pinpoint why. I remember feeling so fortunate that she was my mom. I try to make sure my girls experience those same daily joys as well.

Now I still feel fortunate that she was my mom because I don't know another woman who would have had the strength to do it. I feel fortunate to have her in my life because I still get a little tinge of excitement when she comes to my house. Even more than that though, I feel so fortunate that my girls get to have her for a grandma. I may feel a small tinge of excitement when she comes over, but they are in full-out Grandma-mania mode with the screams of excitement and "IT'S GRANDMA DEB!!! She's HERE!!!!" You would think Justin Bieber just walked into a room of 12 year-olds. I see her shower them with love and small gifts and show them that they deserve everything the world gives to them and she makes each moment with them special. I feel like she maybe gets to love them -- three little girls -- in a way that has fewer barriers than the first time around with her own three little girls.  No sinking ship. No uncertainty. No having to be Super Mom. The fact that I am able to give that gift to her means so much to me but I know it will never pay her back for all that she has given me. She has been the single most important influence in making me the woman I am today and that is a gift I can never repay.

Audrey's Acceptance Letter

As soon as I got home today, Audrey came tearing into the kitchen yelling, "I have something to show you!" Her eyes scanned the table and she frantically asked Jayson, "Where is it?! Where is it!?" He handed her a sheet of paper and she ran up to me. "I'm going to KINDERGARTEN!" She excitedly shoved a letter in my face that confirmed she is registered for four year-old kindergarten next year. "I'm going to turn four and I'm going to go to Hoover School!" I frowned and looked at Jayson and he laughed, because he knows how sad I am about the girls getting so big.  Lydia gave me a pat on the back to assure me it would be OK. Awwww... Audge-pants is going to school!

Charlie, the Coffee Addict

On Sundays, Jayson and I like to bring coffee to church. Usually he makes it. I teach Sunday school two Sundays a month, but on the other Sundays, it's really the only time I get to just sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Today we got our coffee at Caribou because for Earth Day they had free coffee if you used a reusable mug.

We also put Charlie in the nursery at church. Today, though, she screamed the whole time because she hadn't gotten a chance to say good-bye to Jayson before he dropped the other two off. So, about ten minutes into the service, the Sunday school director came up to get him. He went downstairs and she was pretty upset, so he brought her up to church with us.

When Jayson makes coffee during the week, Audrey and Charlie are usually eating breakfast and they insist he bring the bag of coffee over to the table so they can smell it. Today in church, Charlie took that one step further. Or, actually several steps. Jayson had taken the lid off his coffee and she kept insisting on smelling the coffee in his cup. She would lean over the cup, inhale completely, and then let out a satisfied exhale. Then yell, "More coffee! More coffee!" and she did it over and over again.

Then she asked for the lid. And licked it. And kept putting it back on the cup to get more coffee on it and then licked it again. She did this through most of church. When Jayson's coffee was gone, she moved on to mine. The opening in the lid was small enough that after I took a sip, it still had a film of coffee covering it, kind of like a bubble wand. She excitedly stuck her finger in it and sucked on it. She tried to get the lid off, but I convinced her it didn't come off. So, she improvised and licked the top of the lid.

Jayson and I have always said that one of the girls needs to be a barista so we can have good coffee all the time. I think Charlie will do just fine.

Wheeling and Dealing

We just had an interesting lunch. Jayson made asparagus and chicken and we had some potato chips with it too. (It's nice to break up the healthiness). Both Lydia and Audrey proclaimed that they did not like the asparagus (or scarabus, as Audrey calls it), despite the fact that they have eaten asparagus many times before. So, Jayson told them that whoever eats all their asparagus gets a piece of Easter candy.

After a while, Lydia had eaten everything except her asparagus. She asked for more chips. We told her no. She told Audrey that if Audrey gave her some of her chips, she would eat all of her asparagus, then get a piece of candy and she would share the candy with Audrey. Audrey agreed.

A little while later, Lydia asked Audrey to help her eat her asparagus. Audrey agreed. Then Audrey decided she liked the asparagus and ate all hers. Lydia then realized what was about to happen. If they both finished their asparagus, Lydia would get half a piece of candy and Audrey would get one and a half pieces. She brought up this situation to Jayson and I and we both agreed a deal was a deal. Audrey really enjoyed eating that extra candy!

Spring Break

We enjoyed some much needed family and relaxation time this spring break. We kept very busy the whole time, but I also enjoyed staying up late and having some time to myself and getting to sleep just a bit later. Our break started out with a bang -- right from school I came home and we headed to Madison for Colby's first communion.

Highlights from that...

We got Colby a Brewers pocket watch and it was a hit. Who knew a kid could check the time so frequently?

When Charlie went up to the altar with us, she noticed the tiny loaves of bread and starting yelling, "Cookie NOW! Cookie NOW!"

Colby asked me if I've ever heard of Harry Potter.

Colby with his pastors and youth leader:

Charlie showing her stuff:

On Friday, I can't remember what we did. I think we ran errands? Who knows.

On Saturday we had the birthday party for Lydia and Charlie with family, which I already blogged about.

Sunday was Easter. Lydia and Audrey were very excited to hunt for all the eggs. Charlie found four and then sat down and started eating while the other two did the hard work.

Then, we ate what everybody eats on Easter. Sushi! OK, maybe we're the only family whose answer to everything is sushi. The girls got orange chicken, but I was very pleased that they also wolfed down a ton of edamame and Audrey even tried (and liked!) some California rolls. For some reason, waiters at Japanese restaurants seem to really like our kids. Our waiter on Sunday really took a liking to Charlie and at one point even picked her up and walked around the restaurant with her. I thought for sure she would start screaming, but she was fine with it. He gave her candy, which helped.

On Monday we went to the zoo. The girls love the zoo so we get the zoo pass and go as much as possible. For Charlie, it was kind of a new experience because she didn't really remember it from the last time we were there in the fall. She asked to see elephants, so we did. She really liked the lions because they were being pretty active. She was a little scared on the train at first, but then enjoyed it. We went with some friends from the gym who have two boys the same ages as Audrey and Lydia. Audrey sat as close to her little friend as possible (she says he's one of her boyfriends) and Lydia sat as far from hers as possible. 

Tuesday was swim lessons. I am always astounded at what little fish the girls are. Lydia and Audrey put on their goggles and I don't even have to worry about them. They go all over the pool and stand on the edge and jump in under the water. Charlie tried to jump in too, but she stands too far back and lands on the edge on her butt. I helped her get in closer to the water and she loved it. She kept pushing me away and said, "No help. No help," and then would land on the ledge. She thought she outwitted me and ran for the lap pool, but I caught her, and if I hadn't, the lifeguard who was out of his chair and running towards her, would have. I took her to shallower water and we laid on our tummies and practiced kicking, blowing bubbles, and putting our faces in the water.

Tuesday night Jayson had softball practice. The girls and I ordered Chinese food. I always order Charlie extra rice because she will devour it. The other two prefer pink chicken (sweet and sour). After our food, we played beauty shop. Lydia got her hair straightened, Audrey got curls, all three got manicures and pedicures. 

On Wednesday we went to the gym in the morning and then Discovery World in the afternoon. We had never been there, but had just gotten a one year membership at a silent auction at our church.

The Great Lakes model was really cool.

Audrey was a little scared when the storm came.

The ship was also a hit, but Charlie was the only one brave enough to go underneath with Daddy at first. The other two eventually followed.  

Crazy pirates.

They didn't know what a phone booth was. Later, Lydia saw a record and said, "Oh look! A CD!"

Running on the hamster wheel.

Bed of nails.

Audrey was a little more unsure.

On Thursday, we stuck close to home. Jayson worked, I took the girls to the gym, then we met friends at the park for a picnic and playing.

Friday was Lydia's party with her friends. We invited her whole class, but luckily only 8 came. It was insane. Also lucky -- it didn't rain like it was supposed to, so I was able to keep them outside for most of it. Lydia requested a birthday party where they did projects. The four projects were: 1) Making their own pizzas 2) Decorating cupcakes 3) Making necklaces and 4) Decorating T-shirts. I asked Lydia's Uncle Kyle, who owns a T-shirt business, to order the shirts for me so the kids could decorate them with puffy paints, and he suggested he help each kid screen print their own shirt! Awesome!

Saturday I don't think we did much.

Sunday the aforementioned Uncle Kyle moved his shop, which had previously been in his basement, into a storefront. The girls came with, because really, what's more helpful when moving than three little kids getting in the way? They really liked seeing the truck all loaded up and running around at the new store.

The whole week went by way too fast. It definitely made me really wish summer vacation was a little bit closer. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of trouble we can get into.