They make it easy

My girls give me way too much material not to want to share it with you! Though all of my moments are not always *proud mommy* moments... they are our moments nonetheless - and here is one I just can't keep to myself.

The girls and I stopped in at Chick-Fil-A yesterday afternoon in between our Wednesday activities to enjoy a quick, early dinner. The girls begged and begged for ice cream as I placed our order. (Or as Gracie calls it - ice beam.) I promised them that IF they ate ALL their meal, they could trade in their kids meal toy for a yummy ice cream cup. And having that to look forward to... they ate like little champs. So. I stuck to my word and they were able to get their ice cream cups after dinner. I gave them each their toys to trade in so they could "order" it themselves.

While waiting in line, they both perused the menu as if they had never seen it before - as if they weren't quite sure what they were going to order. (And actually, they probably had never looked at the menu before - I always just give them their options.) Anyway, Gracie feasted her eyes on the kids menu, and this is where the fun began...

Gracie: Look, Mommy, at all the dinks! (drinks)

Me: Yes, there are lots of drinks to choose from! (Though I only give you about 2 options... hehe!)

Gracie: They have apple juice box... fruit punch... milk... or... margarita?!

Me: No, Gracie! That's lemonade!

Gracie: Noitsnot! Its margarita.

Lainey: Gracie, its NOT margarita!

Me: Thank you Lainey!

Lainey: If it was margarita, every mommy in the whole wide world would be eating here.

{And here is where they both giggled and giggled at themselves. And I searched around us to see who had heard.}

My girls. They just give me too much material not to share!

I need a ti-too

OKAY. So are we ALL just a little bit tired (already!) of this cold/flu/allergy season?

{And let me go ahead and leave the disclaimer that we are VERY fortunate, blessed, lucky, happy, etc...! that so far this cold/flu/allergy season, we've just had minor fevers and sniffles. But still.}

* Just a few weeks ago, Lainey stayed home from school with a 12-hour fever. No other symptoms, just a fever.

* A week later, I took her to the doctor for what I thought was an allergy-induced sinus infection, only to find out she had an ear infection. (The little toot has never once complained in her 6 years of anything hurting. Ear infections are always news to me when it comes to that one!)

* Gracie woke up on Friday with croup. And on Saturday was diagnosed with an allergy-induced ear infection. (Now that one... she'll tell you when something hurts!)

* Stock in Kleenex, Nasonex, Purell, and Claritin should be rising at this very moment thanks to my little family of 4.

I know, for a fact, that we've all been exposed to the flu... probably the swine flu... and I'm just counting my lucky stars we've avoided it to date. (WHY am I TYPING THAT?!) A little girl and her mom were at Gracie's ballet class two weeks ago, just two days post-swine flu. And then last week, her ballet teacher was out with it. To say I wash her hands after ballet would be an understatement! (And to say I wasn't thinking some choice words for that mommy for not sitting out dance that week... complete understatement!)

SO. Here we are, first of November... and I'm so over this sickly season already! BUT. I'm also thankful each and every day when we all go to bed with only minor issues... all usually brought on by our darn allergies!

And there is ONE bright side to all this in my little family. The title of my post? "I need a ti-too." That would be Gracie asking for a tissue when her little nose is runny. A ti-too. I smile just typing it!

Happy, happy halloween!

How much better are holidays when you can share them with your kids?! Christmas has taken on a whole new meaning when seen through their little eyes. And Halloween this year? No exception. The girls loved every.single.minute of getting all dressed up, and Jeff and I couldn't help but get in on the action as well!

I totally lucked out with their costumes this year. Gracie had been waiting weeks - maybe months - for Halloween to finally arrive. She had known she wanted to be a ladybug for the longest time... and she stuck to it. And if I do say so myself, she might have the been the cutest ladybug I had ever seen. And Lainey? Well, her Dorothy character fit her to a T. (And how lucky am I that I found it at last year's post-Halloween-Target-75%-off-sale?! A $4.99 costume never looked so good!)

Here are a few pictures to commemorate the evening... and of course, some endless chatter from Mommy!...




Here they are... Dorothy and the ladybug. Oh, and we couldn't forget about Toto!... Or little ladybug antenna!... or RED sparkly shoes all around! (No matter how many times Lainey and I tried to tell Gracie ladybugs have BLACK sparkly feet... she would have no part of it! She wanted RED, and RED she got!)



And here's Dorothy, taking a rest in the grass with Toto.





And what is the ladybug up to?


She's picking a sweet flower for Mommy! yea!


And the whole family, dressed up and ready to go! (Actually this was the end of the night... the ladybug had had enough of her shoes!) We totally lucked out costume-wise again when Jeff was able to borrow his entire costume. And I braved the madness that was Party America and found a Mrs. pirate costume to match.





Here are the girls with their cousins, Abby and Will. I just love this shot... how they look so tiny and the door looks so big. They were the most funny trick-or-treaters. One would knock, one would ring the door bell... and they all would wait. They were persistent, that bunch!




What I love about this picture is Lainey's little face. I can see it in her eyes... THRILLED at the treasure that is about to be dropped into her bag. The girl loves candy. This holiday is HERS!




And here are the ladybug and Batman. Better known as Gracie and Will. Cute, cute, cuteness!







And the big sisters... Dorothy and Kitty. Known to most as Lainey and Abby. (And yes, Lainey has already decided she'll be a kitty next year! For oh, about the 3rd time in 6 years!)




And here they all are together! (Dorothy claimed to be just a tad bit cold!) We went to a super-fun "Trunk or Treat" with the cousins, followed by trick-or-treating in their neighborhood and a little pizza party to help absorb some of the sugar that was about to be inhaled.



What a fun, fun year this was! The girls are at that perfect age where they make every holiday just a little more special!... mostly because of their pure love of it all! There was nothing better than getting them all dressed up in the costumes they had been waiting so long for... and then seeing they had fun on top of that?.. icing on the cake!



The next morning Lainey said, "The only thing is... now we have to wait A WHOLE YEAR to do it again!" Yes, the waiting can be a bummer! But she was pacified with the knowledge that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner... and reminded me that after that we'll have Valentine's Day, Easter... and birthdays too! So she wasn't sad for too, too long!

Thank you, Johnny, for the Trees!!

Gracie just finished up a super-cute apple unit at school. For days, she was bringing home apple-related goodies. An apple crown... apple cut-outs... and one day she took some of the prettiest apples she could find to share with the class!

Well, along with apples... they learned, of course, about Johnny Appleseed. I didn't actually know this until just a few days ago when Gracie posed this question to me:

Mommy, who's that guy who planted all the apple trees?

{While totally smiling inside at her term "that guy"... I answered with what turned out to be who she was thinking... Johnny Appleseed!}

Well, last night on our way to church school I was singing a song. Gracie's class was going to be learning it, and considering I would be teaching it to them... I practiced on the drive there. It went something like, "God gave me ears so I could hear, God gave me eyes,"... etc.

When I stopped singing, the girls started having a little conversation of their own:

L: God made all the clouds.

G: Yeah, and God made juice. {Um. Yeah, she loves juice.}

L: God made all the animals, all the cars, and all the trees...

G: No, Lainey, God didn't make all the trees.
Johnny Appleseed did.

{And Lainey, in her infinite wisdom, has figured out when to correct Gracie and when to just let her roll with it.}

L: Oh, okay. God made everything but trees. Johnny Appleseed gave us the trees.

I was too busy laughing to myself to correct them!

Pumpkin carving time!... (and a little lounging)

Our Friday night was spent - where else - our driveway!

Carving pumpkins

Sipping Friday drinks

Listening to new tunes. (Which my CD - jam box snob husband refused to play on anything other than an ipod... whatever!)

We *let* Daddy take the reigns on the carving... look at that focused face!

Gracie all snuggled up with her puppy, Sissy.

Lainey all bundled up with every stuffed animal she could squeeze into her lap. And a cat blanket, of course!

The girls and I definitely had the best seat in the house, dontchathink?!

{And pictures of the finished products? Hmmm the girls and I came in to fix dinner before they were finished... so no photos yet! One is happy, one is scary, both are cute!}

I know how to live!

Is it totally old school that I bought a CD today?



And is it even more old school that the only CD player in the house is the girls' Dora the Explorer jam box?...












Don't answer that.



You do what you gotta do.



TGIF!!!

You better watch out!...

What does it mean that its not even Halloween, and I'm already having to pull out the ole "You better be good... Santa is watching you!" card?

It means I have a 4 1/2 year old with the face of an angel... and the sneakiness of well, I won't say the devil... but she's been up to a few *mischievous* things lately.

Bedtime has become Gracie's latest nemesis. Never one to be a fan of going to sleep, she's been taking it to a whole other level the last few weeks. How many times do we have to tell her to GET.BACK.IN.BED!... too many to count.

And one day last week, when I had just about had enough, I went into her room myself to get her all tucked in one last time. And what did I find? Big Sister, fast asleep... with a stuffed animal RIGHT on top of her little face. I looked at her, looked at Gracie... and asked the question I already knew the answer to... "Gracie, did you put that puppy on Lainey's face?"

Cue her biggest, sneakiest *smile* ever. So proud of herself too.

I then told her that it wasn't nice to put things on people's faces while they slept... and GOTOSLEEPNOWPLEASE!

And then, two nights ago, we had the same routine. On my last visit to her room (I say last... but its actually first and last... its the last straw when she knows what's coming next if she doesn't stay in bed!), I once again found Lainey fast asleep - with the stretchy headband that she had worn to bed - covering her eyes. Again, I looked at Gracie, but didn't have to ask. She gave me that same sneaky smile... this time with a laugh. That's when I knew I had to pull out the big guns.

"You know, Gracie, Santa is already watching you."

{Silence and an OH NO stare on her part.}

And I never heard a peep from her again.

I know, its early. At this time last year I was still able to use the candy corn bribe for just about anything I needed. But this year, she's another year older and another year wiser... so Santa it is. In fact, it left such an impression that last night as they were going to bed... I turned around to leave and Gracie asked, "Santa's watching us!?"

"Why, yes he is! So you better stay in bed, little girl."

{This was then followed by Lainey's 10-minute dissertation about how Santa might be watching NOW.... but he REALLY watches you Christmas Eve to make sure you are in bed... yadayadayada. My analytical one!}

So, I have approximately 8 weeks to use this to my advantage. They fight? Santa's watching you! She gets out of bed? Santa's watching you! She comes up with some new, creative way to harass her sister as she sleeps? Well, you know what I'll say.

{Oh, and no worries about her ever bothering any other kids... she only has the *courage* to mess with her sister!... asleep OR awake!}