In The Midst...

In the midst of a frustrating afternoon came a beautiful moment. One that made me stop focusing on the mundane and redundant tasks, stop focusing on a challenging parental issue where you're natural tendency is to be high strung about it (and to do high strung well)....
It made me stop.

It made me sit and watch the beauty, the magic, the silliness, the fun...

It made me laugh and enjoy my two beautiful girls.

I'm pretty certain I've asked them not to jump on the bed before.
I'm pretty certain I've told them not to jump on the bed before.

(Because sometimes they hit their head on the wall. And once Amelia hit her mouth and made it bleed).

But most of the time they don't.


And, really, what is the purpose of Daddy and Mommy's bed if not for jumping on?

We've Been Busy

We have been up to a lot this last week. Oh my, yes. It has really helped the time fly. All of a sudden, Hubby will be home with us again in just 8 days! I can hardly believe the 6 weeks is almost up. We are so thankful!

What have we been up to, you ask? Let's list the good stuff, shall we...


Big Sister learned how to take a picture of herself with the pocket digital. And, as you can probably tell, we've been spending time at the water park on post. The water park is awesome. It has two large water slides, a 'fun zone' with rope ladders and 'logs' to walk across, fountains in the pool area, etc. The pool itself is inclined, with a maximum water height of 4 feet; this is fabulous for young children. Both Big and Little Sister can splash together with me supervising closely, or we can hold hands, etc., and swim around deeper areas. Pool rules require a ten minute break every 60 minutes, enforced by lifeguards with whistles. While this sounds annoying at first, it's the perfect opportunity to catch some shade, have a snack, reapply sunscreen, or use the restroom. Or all of the above. We all have a lot of fun there, and we can't wait to bring Daddy with us!!

'
Mommy finally finished painting and decoupaging fun scrapbook paper onto our little ol' IKEA table. It gave it a lovely and girly face-lift. We girls like the pink and purple table very much.


The 3 kiddos utilizing furniture the way God intended. Much to Mommy's dismay. *Sigh*


The 3 kiddos playing sweet and precious for Mommy and the camera.
Did you notice what's in Little Sister's hand??


We finished Hannah's swim lessons. She did fantastic! She really made a lot of progress in the water, but best of all, her confidence level with 'new big-girl tasks' has visibly soared. Like... wanting to pour her own glasses of milk... or buckling her own seat belt... etc. It's hard to pinpoint, but she just has more confidence in herself and her abilities.


Exiting the pool using proper exiting techniques on the ladder, as taught and approved by the Red Cross Life Guards of America. Or... something...


With swimming specifically, she now walks away from the wall, and around the pool, all by herself! And at the water park she's been putting her entire face into the water while blowing bubbles, has attempted floating on her back, and has 'swimmed' (mostly me shoving her forward) a 18in. distance between my arms and the side of the pool, and back again to me. Much more confidence in the water! What a darling, happy lady!!


Little Sister at the Army Band's family night. There were snacks, a bounce house, music and dancing, and a magician! Big Sister and a friend rocked the bounce house almost the entire time. Little Sister stuck by me, and we chatted and helped sell snacks at our FRG table. Here she is with some of the goods all over her face. Too precious!


Little Sister required some more toddler-friendly toothpaste on our last visit to the super market. (Toothpaste is toddler-friendly when it's free of fluoride, and thus safer to swallow for little ones still learning to spit). She picked out Thomas the Train. This girl has never before cared who Thomas the Train is. But she is now obsessed with Thomas, and therefore, obsessed with her toothpaste. As is evident by the fact that she took both toothpaste and box to sleep with her. For the fourth consecutive night.

That's the good stuff, isn't it?!

Hannah the Mermaid; Pt. 2

Hannah has done remarkably well during swim lessons this week. Monday started off slow. As in, Hannah refused to get into the pool at all. But we are so glad we returned Tuesday morning! She has been active and excited and trying all sorts of new, and challenging, things this week!


Hannah has progressed to doing the 'frog swim' technique, as long as a teacher is holding her. She stood off of the wall, touching her feet to the bottom of the pool!! This was HUGE for her!


Hannah also used a kick board to kick around the pool, with the teacher holding the kick board rather than her. She even went down the kid's water slide! Hannah also says that she 'bobbed' her head under the water, which would be the ultimate accomplishment for this girl, but I haven't seen that yet. But she probably did!!


(Out of order, but here is a dress I made for Hannah. She finally wore it for me!)


Smiling after swim class!


My big, brave lady in the water! I am so proud of her! We're thankful her teachers were extra patient with her, and will be baking them a few dozen cookies this afternoon to show our appreciation.

Our Biker Babe

Well, despite searching high and low for a quality brand second hand 16" bicycle (no characters allowed!!), Hannah's wish for the new pink polka-dot bike with basket from our locally owned Schwinn store came true! She is quite enamored with her new bike, as well as her groovy helmet. Hannah especially likes the basket up front; she talks about taking family bike rides to the Farmer's Market with Bun-Bun along for the ride, and how she'd like to carry fruit home in the basket, too. Sounds perfectly dreamy, if you ask me.

This is Hannah riding her spiffy new bike away from me.
Amelia, who recently inherited Hannah's old tricycle, wants a "pink hee-mat," too.

Nifty basket, right? That's what sold her.
Hannah did pretty well for her first few spins this week. She just rode back and forth on a straight piece of sidewalk, part of a circular path around our fave park. We're still working against her natural desire to drag her shoes on the ground to stop, as well as completely taking her hands off the handle bars and lunging for Mommy. Not good technique. We'll get there, though!!
All too soon...

Our New Bedtime Routine

Our new bedtime routine, now that Eric is gone for a few weeks and I shoulder this 'home stretch' myself, lasts from about 6:30pm to roughly 8:30pm. That is quite a home stretch.
I begin by trying to have the girls entertain themselves while I finish up the day's dishes, sweep under the table, and make sure they have done their chores (i.e. fed the dog dinner and put their supper dishes on the counter). Depending on how well they entertain themselves, or each other, without hurting themselves, or each other, this can take a lil' bit.

They we commence the climb up the stairs, while I look to grab the much loved pink blankies and a really, really well loved bunny. If Amelia decides she wants to climb the stairs 'aw by self!' then, this too, can take a few minutes. She has to keep looking behind to remind me she's doing it 'aw by self!' and to see that I have both her blankies.

Bath time. And one more chore for the girls: put your own dirty clothes in the hamper for me. I try to get the washing of hair and bodies out of the way first, so there's time to play while I'm just outside the doorway folding a load of laundry. Can't fold it inside the doorway, because there is generally splashing. Even though I ask them not to splash. Repeatedly.

Next, it's time to push the basket to the wall, and get the girls out of the tub. They like to lay on the towel on the floor for a minute or two, giggling with their heads together, while I rub the other towel on their backs and heads and little, pruned feet.

Then, it's a race to the bedroom, with me always in third, as I stop to fold towels and rehang them on the way. Time for pajamas, combing of hair, and one more trip to the toilet for Hannah.
This can take a little coaxing. Or, if coaxing fails, one could always threaten the loss of tonight's story books. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

When pajamas are on, and hair is combed, we reconvene on Hannah's bed with (hopefully) between 3-5 books. Depending on what time it is. And how many times Hannah was told to go use the restroom. Amelia picks at least one book, Hannah at least 3 (she is the bigger sister, and she utilizes all the rights this privilege entails).

Books read, hopefully without any arguing about who gets to turn the page. Take turns, girls.

Now, it's time to race back to the bathroom for a round of teeth brushing. Again, me always in third, as I stop to replace books on the shelf.

Teeth brushing ensues. God willing, for a gentle but vigorous two minutes. Spit, brush your top teeth, too, please don't spit on the floor, Amelia, no, I said 'brush your top teeth,' let Mommy do this for you, now,' etc.
We spit our final spit, rinse, tap, replace into the holder, wipe our mouths, and one more race back to Hannah's bed.

Now, the girls will lay side by side and we sing a few lullabies. This is where I'm cultivating their love of Sound of Music with a little Edelweiss and My Favorite Things, a.k.a. "Sing Raindrops on Roses, Mommy." If this goes well, then there's Five Little Monkeys or Twinkle, Twinkle, too. Depends on how much yawning the vocalist interrupts herself with.

Finally, or almost, a hug and kiss goodnight between sisters. A hug and kiss goodnight between mother and big sister. Double check that the really, really well loved rabbit and pink water bottle are in their proper places beside Hannah, then the gentle closing of the door.

Amelia and I move down the hall to her room, where she gently demands some Lullaby Ro-a-bye, Baby (at least 3 times), as she lays her head on my shoulder. And maybe the Alphabet Song just for good measure.

Finally, finally, I lay Amelia down in her big girl bed. Did you know she made the switch? Just last week... a big girl toddler bed... no more crib... With a kiss goodnight, and a final check that both pink blankies and purple water bottle are in place next to Amelia. As well as her meerkat named Meow. And her Elmo lovey.

Tip-toe out the door, and close it gently. *Sigh* of relief, and a check of the watch. Is it really this late already? Finally, finally...

Now, there was a point to all this rambling...

My point was, I do not always act out this routine with the grace, sanity, and calm volume of voice that God gave me. No, no. Sometimes not. Like, really not. There are no perfect mothers anywhere, least of all in this house. And I am not looking for a pat on the back here. This is what every mother/father/care provider does each and every night.

I simply write this down to acknowledge that... well, whether I always like it or not, I am privileged to be able to actively participate in this routine. This monotonous, redundant, frustrating, tiring, precious, much loved, looked forward to, almost sacred, routine. It is important to my children. Therefore, it is important to me.

My point is that last night, for the first time,

I realized that my nights like this are numbered.

Pretty soon they will be asking to take showers separately, not baths together. And they'll want privacy. And they won't need me to clock them to see how fast they can get their pajamas on. They'll have a chapter book they want to be left alone with, and not want me to read so many books, or any at all, to them. They will know how to brush their own teeth, and God willing, do so for a gentle but vigorous two minutes. They especially won't want me to sing to them, definitely no more Sound of Music. The list goes on and on... doesn't it...

Please, please let me appreciate this wonderful, precious, much loved, looked forward to, almost sacred, routine. Please let me coax more, threaten less. Please let me use my 'inside, happy voice' more, and my 'Mommy's getting pissed voice' less. Let me appreciate it more, and more often. Let them remember this routine with warmth and fondness. Please. I know I will.

Hannah the Mermaid

Hannah was very excited for her first swim lesson. She would say, "I am so exciting, Mommy!" all day leading up to the lesson. (She says 'exciting' rather than 'excited,' which I don't entirely disagree with. Anyway).
When I helped her from the van, before walking into the Aquatics Center, she said, "I'm going to learn to swim like a Princess Mermaid, Mommy." We then had a brief, but good, conversation about what diverse skills a Princess has on our walk through the parking lot. Princesses can swim, sing, dance, read, eat, sword fight, ride horses, have impeccable manners, are bilingual, and have amazing opportunities to participate in important humanitarian causes. I might have contributed a few more admirable characteristics to this discussion. Ahem.
So imagine my surprise when my little Princess Mermaid spent the entire swim lesson wrapped around her teacher's neck. She didn't want to hang off the side of the pool, or practice kicking and splashing with her feet.



The kicker? Hannah gets out of the pool and says, "That was so much fun, Mommy."
My sweet, sweet shy lady... My, how I love this girl. Swim Teacher, hang in there... She may be a tough nut to crack, but she's totally worth it!
And come Thursday, Mommy and Amelia will join in the fun and see if we can't get this Princess Mermaid really splashing.