Socks don't fail me now

The other day as I was cleaning the house, the girls asked to go outside. I agreed but told them they had to stay in the yard and I would be checking on them periodically. Everything sounds good in my head, it's only when things are put into place that I notice when things go wrong. M came back inside after a bit and I put on a movie for her so that she could watch and I could still get some much needed cleaning done. A few minutes later, M tells me that she is going back outside to ride her scooter. If anyone has seen M, you know that despite her small size, she rides her scooter as fast and as fearless as she possibly can. She zips in and out of everything as she shifts her weight to steer. She doesn't like the foot brake and prefers to stop with her feet. I thought nothing of her going back outside as she is quite capable of putting her helmet and shoes on. Just a few minutes later, M comes upstairs to my room telling me that her feet hurt. She sits on the ground and shows me her feet. This is what I see and I know instantly what she has done but I would like her to tell me.



Me: What happened?
M: (with big blue eyes looking up at me) I don't know.
Me: Did you ride your scooter?
M: Yes.
Me: Did you have your shoes on?
M: No (smiles really big) I don't know where dey at.
Me: Did you go really fast on your scooter?
M: Yes!
Me: Did you use your foot to stop?
M: Yes.
Me: Do you think you should put shoes on next time?
M: Yes.

At least the socks slowed her down without getting her foot scraped and rubbed raw. However, shoes still provide the greatest amount of friction for slowing a fast moving girl on a scooter and last quite a bit longer.

Ice Baby

You know it's cold in your house and outside when you find ice on the inside of your windows and not just a trace but quite bit. I decided that the Christmas lights in the girls bedrooms needed to come down today because I really wanted to put the last box of Christmas stuff finally away. I pulled up their blinds and started pulling off the suction cups holding the lights when I noticed that at the bottoms of the windows near the track the window had a nice quarter inch of ice all the way along and in the corners there was a bit more. Is it time for new windows? Probably. Will we get them? No, because I plan on moving after this winter. But poor little M whose bed is below the window with the most ice on it. I'd move the bed but there is no place else to put the tiny toddler bed so we'll just make sure that she is covered up at night before we go to bed. That is an easier thing to say than to do. M has little to no fat on her body. Last night when I went to tuck her in before heading to bed she had taken off her pajamas and was huddled in a ball. I put her heavy fleece blanket on top of her and she relaxed a bit. I knew the temperature was going to drop last night with the incoming storm so I put her jammies back on while she was sleeping--not an easy task as she kept wanting to suck her thumb but I needed her arm to put inside the sleeve. It was finally accomplished and a blanket tucked in around her. This morning she was still dressed so that is a good thing; however, if she chooses to get undressed in the middle of the night except for her underwear like she did last night, I can't do much about it. I'm hoping this getting undressed thing is just a stage.

Happy 2009!

Ever since we've had kids we've decided to celebrate New Years early. Early is usually around 8 P.M. so somewhere in the world someone is bringing in the new year with us but usually it's not our neighbors. We light sparklers at 6:00 and then come in to play some games, eat some treats and then do our countdown at 10 seconds to 8. At which time we toot our horns, pop those little confetti things and shout at the top of our lungs, "Happy New Year!" Then it is time to clean up the streamers, finish getting the kids ready for bed and then finally put them to bed. We figure there is no sense in having the kids stay up late since they don't sleep in and then have them be grumpy all the next day because of lack of sleep. It works out really well since they watch fun movies during the day and at night we have our party with lots of fun treats that they have picked out.

This year, E, asked me if she could stay up till midnight. I told her no and that we celebrate early so that the next day we can all be happy people. Besides we were going to go sledding the next morning after we got up and had breakfast. That seemed to help. And on New Year's Day we did go sledding bright and early and we were the only ones at the hill so they all had plenty of time to sled on the sleds or on their stomachs and do the penguin slide. Even H got a few rides and enjoyed crawling on the icy snow. He lost his boots a few times but what do you expect from someone who still crawls everywhere.

Our favorite game this year was the Honey Bee Hop--squeals of giggles are heard as the girls try to jump over the bee and it gets them all tired from jumping and laughing. Here's to a great 2009!

The kindness of others

Today I had to run a few errands. I was trying to beat the coming snow storm. I called various stores and found out if they had the items. One store even put the candy thermometers on hold for me since they only had two left of each type. We made it to the customer service desk and the ladies there found the candy thermometers on hold. Another lady that worked there saw what I was getting and told me to get the cheaper one because she says that they all work the same but the expensive ones were like buying a name brand. She also told me that she had the same cheap one and it worked great but if for some reason it didn't I could return it. I saved $6 not a whole lot but I appreciated her help and honesty. I still needed a few more items so we finished some shopping and went to check out. When we were checking out, E, yells out, "Mom! H has a big burger!" I look and sure enough he does. I'm trying to find a tissue but can't find anything. I did have a piece of paper so I was trying to use that and H is screaming because paper isn't soft. The lady behind me saw the situation and pulled out a tissue from her bag. H liked that a lot better as I finished cleaning up his nose. The third random act of kindness came in the parking lot. It was snowing and I had finished putting the three bags of groceries in the back and I was trying to buckle H and T in their car seats when a lady walked past, saw my empty cart and saw me buckling the two little ones in when she says that she will just put my cart away with hers. Three acts of kindness showed to me by strangers who made my day a little easier, a little happier. So thank you to all who show a little kindness to another person--I hope that I can return the simple acts of kindness to someone else.

Enemy #1

M has an enemy. According to E and T the little boy across the street, who is a year younger than M, is her enemy. He is her enemy because he hits her (although she hits him back). He is also an enemy because he makes her cry and they stare at each other with looks of anger or malice until the other looks away. Who knew that one so little could have an enemy already?

It's all about giving thanks...

Around here we have a lot to be thankful for.

E: my family, food, books, school, parents, brother and sisters, toys, games, my house, bed, plants, animals, clothes, my grandma and grandpa, my cousins, my friends, aunts and uncles, teeth, dentists and doctors, firefighters, police and hospitals.

T: family, friends, grandpas and grandmas, aunts and uncles, mom and dad, sisters and brother, clothes, toys, the earth.

M: mommy and daddy coming home, my birthday, family, books, tomatoes, Ella and Thea and Henry, blankets.

H: food to eat, foot pajamas, bandaids and neosporin, music, milk, bottles, ability to crawl, diapers.

I am thankful for 4 wonderful children who are healthy, a husband that loves me and a father who loves and teaches our children. I am thankful for falling leaves and the wonder it holds for little hands and feet to explore, for rain and for puddles to jump in, for a washer and dryer to wash and dry those same clothes. I am thankful for smiles and little hands that reach out to hold mine. I am thankful for women in my ward who will love H for me and rock him to sleep during Sacrament meeting so that I can hold M and be with E and T. I am grateful for my parents who teach and love me and for sisters and a brother who also love me. I am grateful for air to breathe, public libraries, books, testimonies, and my Savior. I am indebted to men and women both past and present who fight for my liberties and freedoms that I enjoy on a daily basis. I am thankful for a house to shelter us, technology, good neighbors, Steve's job and so much more.

I am truly blessed.

Makes me laugh

If you ask M to spell her name this is what you get: "E-M-E-B" or "E-M-E-turtle" or "E-M-E-monkey." She isn't even close but it's funny to see what combination she can come up with next in her little mind.

E was playing Heads Up 7-Up at a church function and after she proudly exclaimed, "I knew who put my thumb down. . . . Because I peeked!" At least she is honest and really how else can you know who pushed your thumb down?

T running out of dance class exclaiming, "I'm a snow sprite! I'm a snow sprite. I've always wanted to be one!" In her oh so many years alive apparently this is a huge pinnacle she's reached but her grin makes you smile and wish that everything in the world would be like finding out you are a snow sprite.

H loves to crawl away from you as fast as he can and if you follow behind him he always winds up in the bathroom in the upstairs with a giant grin on his face as you pick him up and carry him back down the stairs and if you put him back down again he'll repeat the process.