cold in a snap

last week we had great warm springlike weather. (60∘, maybe) you girls were outside, playing house and having a great time. this week it is about 30∘ colder. yeah. you're not outside but you aren't watching t.v. -amazingly. admittedly, we let you girls watch way too much t.v. in the winter. when the weather gets nice you don't want to stay inside so i'm not that worried. you seem to learn quite a bit from our mixture of videos/pbs kids. that being said, i love nothing more than working on my chores while listening to you girls "let's pretend" this and that. today, you are pretending that it is summertime. this, of course, entails all sorts of outfit changes. why does all pretend play consist of pulling out too many clothes and then "pretending" you don't see them when it is time to clean up. i can't keep up. don't know what is clean or dirty anymore. THIS drives me crazy.

i was at a neighbor's house this week who has 2 small children. now given that just 2 of you can make plenty o' mess it should be that this house looks somewhat like ours. (maybe one less child cleaner) apparently, i am the most disorganized woman who ever had kids. she had everything in place. there was no paperwork stacked in piles on a table. no shoes scattered under couches. i didn't even get the hint of children living in the house (i.e. glass tables, breakable decorative baubles) until i saw the basement with a lovely little, everything-in-its-place, play corner. i wonder, why can't i do this?

it's not like i have a full time job (she does) it's not like i do tons of volunteer work (she does) heck, i don't even get sleep. it must be that she never watches t.v..... wait, i don't either. you girls are the ones that watch the t.v. some people have nice little organized minds and that appears in their lives while other people are a bit, well, more organic. yeah, that's it. while i admit that i would not ever like to live in a museum or hotel lobby where things are planned and sometime sterile, i could use some help in weeding. the house needs some selective pruning and i hope that as you girls grow up that we figure out this together. i will never get there on my own. i have a hard time keeping track of my own self that i am amazed at times that i remember to show up at work on time, showered. this does not have to be the way that you girls do things and i hope to help you find YOUR way. maybe in the process, i'll find a new way of living.

first day of spring

it's March and unseasonably warm and all 3 girls are happily playing outside once the negotiations of what to wear were complete. imagine if you girls always want to wear "summer" clothes when there is snow on the ground, how giddy you were to discover the temps warmer and the snow virtually melted. it was hard to convince you that it was not time to pull out the sundresses and wear sandals. so you are wearing the sun/summer dresses with long sleeves under and sandals with socks. you can be quite the bargainers, i hope you use it for good.

so much happens in the course of the week and i should be writing more to let you know how incredible you are but i just sometimes have to let it all soak in and not comment. i have a bad habit of speaking before turn and i hope that i will somehow correct that and show you the proper way to discourse since at your age, you are famous for interrupting.

Since the beginning of the year V and B have taken ice skating and ballet. you did well in ice skating for first-timers and will probably do it more since the yard across the street and one two house down, have ice rinks in the winter. given that you didn't take advantage of the grand ice time though, you tire quickly and want to just play in the snow. i can't say i blame you and it is quite a lot of work to keep picking yourself up. but that you did and i'm proud of you for it. next winter we will start you up earlier so that you have some tolerance built up by the time the yard rinks freeze. that is my goal.

now that the ice has melted though, it's all about ballet. you go once a week at the Y and love it. i think you might even be learning some although quite informally. i don't know if it's the little leotards that you get to wear or the dance but you seem to be much more excited about this than skating.

i am going to guess that it is the clothes because with you girls, it seems to be all about the clothes. V, you were willing to give skating a great effort, once you got to watch the figure skaters and i told you that you had to practice and be really good to be able to skate in those "dresses". And Phoebe wants to always look like a princess. She wants a pretty dress because she "is a princess". And well B, you just sort of do things as you are told, but in YOUR way. (B, i think you will be the one who figures out how to bend the rules without breaking one. sort of)

i can't seem to remember all that i should write about since i am continually interrupted by girls needing to tell me a story about why a little girl is crying, or what they are doing and who i am in the story or just needing a snack. but you do play nicely together and have quite the story developing about "living in your playhouse with your animals, [i am] the mom in the main house, and the cow won't get off the roof." well,.... okay, then.

i do want to remind Beatrice that i will not die soon so she doesn't have to worry about who will take care of her when i die. (you also told me one day that you were going to get a cat when "you and papa die.")

And Phoebe, you like to ask me "are you the mama?" and Will "are you the papa?" it's a cute little game and i'm not sure how it got started but it does establish a sort of classification. thanks for the help.

letting go

it would seem that the end of the year is a good time to let go of things no longer useful. Viv, you decided that two of your baby teeth could go. of course we know that you didn't decide this but we can pretend you had something to do with it. your first one fell onto your tongue when you were outside building a snowman with papa. it was not the one that i thought would go first. the really loose one hung on one more day and papa pulled it out while you were taking your bath. so you had a visit from the tooth fairy 2 nights in a row. the first night you got a shiny gold dollar coin. you tried to give it to me but i insisted you put it in your piggy bank. this morning you got two silver quarter coins. you don't know anything about the value of different monies and are happy with anything you get. i like that. you immediately give your second quarter to Beatrice who is now excited that the tooth fairy came. you both are planning the next tooth "outing" so that the tooth fairy will return tonight. you currently have no more loose teeth. when Phoebe woke up you decided to give your second coin to her. what a generous little girl. we'll see if that holds true when you discover the value of each coin. hope that doesn't change. so we put coin in all your piggies since you gave your two away, i found a coin for you to put in yours. it was a morning of celebrating.

while we are letting go of things, you girls could let go of whining and i will let go of impatience. i could also stand to let go of a few pounds but that is not all that important.

nice surprises "under" the tree

Christmas has many mixed emotions for me. i love the season, the lights, the parties. i hate the retail, the mean people and the whining.

you girls get invited to a santa party every year. santa is perfect and you always get a small gift. V, you were funny since you actually got what you had been asking for, you were concerned that you wouldn't get anything more on Christmas. B, you wanted what V got and couldn't enjoy your little playmobile unicorn/ carriage. And Phoebe, well, you were just so excited to get to see santa and get a gift. i know you like your magnadoodle cause you throw a fit when you have to share.

you girls were cute because i made chex mix and chocolate sauce for gifts and gave you a choice on what to give your teachers. B, you were definite about wanting to give chex mix to your teachers and i even gave you the option of both. and V you wanted chocolate sauce even though i gave you the option of both. i'm glad to be raising little girls that have an opinion although it makes me crazy at times.

you all were introduced to the Polar Express movie and seem to love watching it. i have to admit that it is well done, magical and fun to sing. asked for it almost daily. the very monkey Christmas was also a big hit. curious George has a way with songs that you girls love to sing and dance to. watching movies in our house is rarely a passive thing.

V, you had a winter celebration at school where you all sang. it was nice and you seemed to love the songs that you learned for it. you were very happy that i made it there and wanted to show your little sisters how to behave at school.

Phoebe, you like to sing the most. PO will break out in jingle bells anytime you hear some "tinkling" i love that you find a song almost all the time. and join me when i sing silliness.

it's quiet this year. no extended family to hang with but that made it for a little less stuff as well. although your papa's family loves to bestow the gifts. you girls were pretty good with the gifts stopping to play and appreciate the gift instead of just ripping through it all like crazy. you seemed to be more interested in seeing me or Will open a gift too than you have in the past.

V, it was important to you that you and papa go get me something special. after W got off work on Christmas eve you went to the mall and got me something. W said that you were looking at stuff for you as much as for me but that it was fun to hang with you. he even bought you an ice cream because it was a special date for him and he wanted to just take some time to chat. you ended up getting me a hip purse, raspberry with fringe. i love it because it makes me a cool mom. thank you.

now in the quiet that happens after all the gifts are opened, you girls flicker around between drawing and playing and watching videos. mostly getting along. a good Christmas gift for sure.

Naughty or Nice

ah Beatrice, there isn't a day that goes by that you don't make me smile with some little nutty thing that you do. you truly are a coo coo bird. of course that makes up for the little things that you do that make me want to pull my hair out but that's not what this post is about.

today you are sitting in on the toilet with a toy phone in your hand. i overhear you say, "hey baby, whatcha got going?" i wonder who you are imitating since no one i know speaks this way. you continue with your one sided conversation to the point that i have to remind myself that there is no way anyone is on the other side of a toy phone.

when you're hot, you're hot!

oh, Phoebe, here you are with the new sink showing us how small you are and how big the sink is. maybe, i'll even fill it up for you to soak in one day. you are becoming so much your own little person.

last week, we were at the bank trying to set up all the details on our home loan and you were being a little difficult. so instead of doing what i should have and just struggled with you i let you wander. you and Beatrice ran circles around the reception area and then you spotted the light switches. you stretched and managed to flip the switches and i told you to stop. you did. but once again instead of doing what i should have done by picking you up, i let you wander. this time out of my view where you found another switch, in seconds. the fire alarm. and like the light switches, i imagine you stretching and stretching until you finally caught you fingers on that lever and pulled it down. the damage done, you come crying and screaming to me while it dawns on me what you have done. it is a horrifying thing to have a fire alarm go off but even more to know that your child caused it. "bad mother. bad mother. " was ringing in my ears right along with that alarm. we were asked to evacuate, everyone was. everyone felt sorry for you Phoebe. wanting to comfort you. i have to say i didn't want you to calm down and feel good. i wanted you to know that this is not okay. that you need to see there are consequences to your actions. sometimes very unpleasant ones. and i have learned that you are not to be trusted in public to make good decisions. you are, after all, a two year old and i should still be making your decisions. duly noted. i'm not sure if i am welcome at the bank anymore. and i'm still keeping my fingers crossed that we don't receive a bill from the fire dept. for the accidental trip. so far, so good.

getting distracted, catching up.

halloween night the rain held off just long enough so my little creatures did not get soaked through.

went the week before halloween to trick or treat because i needed candy to hand out on halloween. (kidding, but really, did you need more candy, think not!)

we picked up Sophie to go with us on Church st. but had a great time running into friends, Baxter and Paige. this got B's attention and she let me finally take her photo. below, is a sweet pic of Sophie and Viv. having loads of fun.

hey girls, things have been busy around here what with the kitchen being "fixed" so that i can see your smiling faces all the time! thought i would load a couple of photos so that you can see that you had a fun, fun time being woodland creatures and trick or treating. the big thing this year was the chant "trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat" don't know where you hear these things because i certainly did not teach you this. i blame school. you got too much candy (took the excess to work and shared with them, you'll thank me later) Beatrice, i threatened to take your candy away because it makes you crazy. and you just replied without missing a beat. "it's not the candy, mama. it's just me" good to know you are crazy on your own.