treasure hunt

Now that L. can read, we can do all sorts of fun games. Like treasure hunt, where I leave clues on bits of paper around the house and she follows them to find the treasure. Today she volunteered to do one for me. Take a look:

and what was the treasure? thanks for asking.

to all those mothers who claim it doesn't get easier as they grow older...

this evening's conversation:
Mama: "L., what has gotten into you today? You are not behaving!"
L.(thinks about it, then says): "Well, my tummy hurts so that's why I'm being naughty."

Okay, babies cannot do that.

birthday girl

"Ah-mee" turned 3 last week! We had planned a big party for last Saturday and then 4 out of 5 of us got sick... I made cupcakes anyway, and she opened her presents and cards, and had plenty of offers of help along the way. She wore her pretty blue dress, and L. got dressed up, too (so she could be "pretty for A.").

I even offered to make a special birthday breakfast, "like chocolate chip pancakes or something?"

"I want oatmeal!"

It's so easy to please a 3 year-old sometimes...

Later, we managed to find a day when everyone could make it to the party, and so we made even MORE cupcakes. A. ordered an entirely pink party, so we had pink balloons, candies, pink lemonade, pink candles and streamers and so on...

And again, there were plenty of volunteers when it came to unwrapping gifts. We played games, had prizes, pizza, and L. made up this poster so we could do pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. And the pictures of tails very thoughtfully included a picture of a pin.

picnic lunch in the backyard. in february.

Is this just creepy and weird, or really really funny. I can't decide.

I caught L. out of the corner of my eye from the other room as she held out a bite of pb & j to A. at lunch (in a very deep voice): "A., this is my body."

chain blog thing

well, i'm following the instructions to this chain letter photo blog thing from cousin Eloise's mama over at the littleparisian blogspot. I don't have 4 photo albums on facebook, only 1, but since this is my 4th photo in that album, I couldn't pass it up.

(taken at a mini family reunion in Colorado, Fall '07.

P-roc is 1.5 yrs old, and L. is 3.)

(Burp)

Anytime we hear one of those, the girls like to say, (rather, shout):
"Is that you, Mom?!"

they insist it's a borrowed line from a library book from a few months back, but I like to think I have mad skills.

photo shoot

L.:"Mommy! Look what I wrote on the fridge!"

So I let her take a photo, then she carried the camera around the house for awhile.

Later, I found all sorts of good stuff there...

I don't think she was ready to wake up.

valentine's day

We set the table all pretty, dressed up in red dresses, exchanged valentines (L. made about 3 for each of us), had a heart-themed treasure hunt, and enjoyed heart-shaped pancakes with strawberries.


BR was not impressed with the hoopla and opted for a bowl of cheerios instead.

when does this guy work?!

(since the kids' father sleeps and works at odd hours, I tease him and them about how "lazy" he is.)

I was in the livingroom, folding some laundry tonight when I overheard A. muttering to herself in her room, long after she should have been asleep: "I think my lazy daddy is taking a shower."

serious work

BR only made one painting before he was bored. We kept him well-restrained and well-stuffed with cheerios while the girls continued their mass production of unicorns, horses and dolphins.

these three, 30 seconds after getting home from the library

i overheard A. this morning...

"Riceball! Don't waste my time!"


(in case anyone is worried this line is used on the children, mommy thinks she remembers teasing their father recently about 'wasting his precious doctor-time'.)

L., oh L.

L.: "Mommy, is there a splinter on my neck?"
Mommy (driving and distracted): "Uh, probably not. That doesn't happen very often."
L.: "Well, does it happen sometimes in Australia?"

I found this dress at a thrift shop over the weekend and I think it's so cute...

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check this out, (aunt) p-roc's mom. that's right, it is an empty pickle jar. we bought it on Saturday.
guess who is responsible.

at the grocery store, while wandering the aisles...

L.: "Mommy, is my head going to fall off?"
Me: (not even trying not to laugh) "No!"
L.: "But does that happen to some people? Their heads just fall off?"

She explained later that Daddy told her once that someone had 'broken his nose.' (And evidently she thought this happened because their head fell off...?!)

curly

for a few brief moments, after a shampoo, we can still see A.'s curls.

I'm pretty sure it's the dry climate that makes it go limp otherwise, but we'll have to wait until we step out of state to know for sure if it's gone for good. (sigh.) the one feature in any of the kids I could say for sure was from me...

they're playing animal charades...

L. is bouncing around the livingroom, looking suspiciously Australian.

A.: "I know! You're a trampoline!"

poor, poor Spiceball

we love fruit

the same old snack as every day, but this time...with toothpicks! the possibilities are virtually endless.

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A.(sighs): "I love fruit."

me: "What else do you love?"

A.: "Um, apples and juice."

me: "What else?"

A.: "And apple juice."

overheard from the other room

A.: "Riceball, let's sit and talk like old friends."

she's pretty sure she's in charge

moi:
"Everyone sit down at the table, dinner's ready!"
L.:
"Mommy, give me my daily bread! (Pause.)
Now go write that on the computer-blog."

sometimes a little tv time is just the thing

A. lets us know what's on her mind...

After I explained about home plumbing and what the sewage pipes on a neighboring truck were used for:
"Mommy! That's a yucky thing to say!"

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While she was sitting on my lap and I was giving her some squeezes:
"Mommy! Don't squish Jesus in my heart!"

a 65-degree day

post-nap misery