Shop till ya drop

Yesterday was a total blast!! I met a group of 8 ladies from church and we drove to an area outlet mall and shopped from 10-6! It was great! I got myself 4 shirts, 1 pair of shoes, 1 gift for a baby shower, 1 gift for a Christmas present, 2 pairs of jeans for the girls, 2 skirts for the girls and 3 shirts for the girls, ate two meals at nice places and STILL only spent about 120. That money all came from a garage sale that we had. I felt like I did really good.
The girls had a big time while I was gone. My mom and sister came over to be with them. They baked and decorated sugar cookies (fall colors of course) and then made craft pumpkins that were so cute. My husband came home from work and took over. He said they were real good and they never asked about me. Now that is really kinda sad! I figured they'd struggle to fall asleep at least. Nope. Nothing. So then this morning the youngest crawls into bed to snuggle and I excitedly holler to our eldest, "I'm heeeerrrreeee and I am awaaaaaake!!!!!!!". The BIG response was, "oh". I can tell I was really missed yesterday! =)

Cheap Thrill

Tonight we decided to take our girls out for a cheap thrill. We went grocery shopping and then took them to Krispy Kreme, where for about 1 dollar they have fun that keeps them talking for weeks!! You go in, let them pick out 1 doughnut and then we sit down and watch the "Glaze Fountain" coat doughnuts! We can easily spend 30 minutes doing this and it is so cheap. It helps that we only do this about twice a year, but when you are hard up for money and have a four year old who loves to be on the go, this is a great thing to do!

Pizza Party

My husband works full time and has classes four nights a week on top of all that, so by Thursday night I am DRAGGING. Also, my patience and creative talents for entertaining two girls have sunk to all time lows. So tonight we threw ourselves a Pizza Party. We ordered a pizza,ate in the living at the Princess table, watched a dvd and then tickled each other. It works wonders for your soul.

Oh Brother

It seems like the girls have been on a roller coaster of emotions lately. One day they are UP and have great behavior and the next day I start to believe that maybe aliens have invaded their little bodies. Today though, this was brought to a whole new realm that I was completely unprepared for. My four year old was having a rough day and she did something that required me to send her to her room. She came out of her room and I asked her to do something else and she said "NO". I was totally floored! This has never happened before. Now either we have been extremely blessed, or she in entering a new phase that makes me feel like I need to get some more parenting classes under my belt. I really don't know.
On the plus side we have had some great moments. Our three year old was sitting next to me during dinner the other night, she leaned over to me and said, "Mommy, I am glad that you are here with us all the time." Ahh, I live for moments like that.

Words of Encouragement

Today was really nice! It started off with the gym class the girls go to. After class the teacher comes up to me and says, "Are you the mom of the two little girls in pink?". Of course, I said yes. She says, "Well, I don't really know how to word this....., but they are leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else in the class! They are my favorites and are so good. I am very impressed with the skills that they have." I was doing interior screaming at this point! It made me feel so incredibly great!
Later this afternoon we had ballet and my husband surprised the girls by showing up before their class so that they could show him their room and teacher etc. They were thrilled!

Parents worst nightmare

If any of you happen to know our JUST turned 3 year old daughter, then you may know that we call her our "resident comedian". I also feel she acts just like my dad. Yeah. It's great. =) So, we are getting out of the car after church and she is finishing her lollipop. I noticed that it was gone and she was simply gnawing on the stick. I instructed her to go throw it in the garbage. She told me, "I can't because I am pretending that this is my smoke".
Can anyone please tell me where this comes from? We have no friends who smoke (to my knowledge). Any time we see someone smoking we say, "Ewww, they are making themselves sick, sick, sick." That is the extent of cigarette discussions in our household. The only TV they watch is PBS and I am pretty sure that Clifford and Curious George do not going around saying, "Anyone want a smoke"?
Anyways, I did laugh inside, but am still curious where this little girl came from!!! =)

Link to video footage

Here is the link to the video that goes with the post "Prancing Pastor".
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p178/KendyKender/?action=view¤t=pllllll.flv

Prancing Pastor

Today was loads of fun! I took the girls to soccer and then met my parents and sister to visit a State Park. At the park we fed fish and ducks, played in sand and then walked across a bridge to an amphitheater. That is where the true fun came. My dad, who happens to be a pastor, and the girls were putting on shows for us. My dad decided to do a show by himself. He came out to the tune of "Pretty Woman" and proceeds to prance and dance and do ballerina twirls ALL over the stage. We were laughing so hard! It was a riot!
The girls were wiped out. We came home and gave the dog a bath and then they went to bed. I can still hear them, but hopefully they will be sleeping soon.
As a sidebar, we rented "Christmas with the Kranks" last night and it is a very cute movie.

Check Up

Today my three year old had her three year check up and everything went fine! It was another very busy day here. I don't have any real cute stories, but it was nice. Our oldest went to preschool and the youngest and I went to her check up. She never even cried when they pricked her finger! Then we hit the mall and ate lunch together. After we picked up her sister we went to baby-sit for my friend with three kids under 5. It was surprisingly fun! We even squeezed in some outdoor fun. Afterwards we headed to Wal-Mart. UGH! Finally home and bed for two little girls. My husband and I caught up for a few minutes and now he is off to a late movie with several of his friends. I am glad that tomorrow is Friday and my husband and I can spend time together and time together with the girls.

"Hey Awana"

Tonight the girls had Awana's and this is almost equal (if not surpassing) the level of excitement on Ballet Day! They get to memorize scripture verses and recite them for their teachers. In return they are given little patches that are sown onto vests for them to wear. Our three year old now has two patches and our four year old has many because she was in it last year. For our three year old tonights Awana'a ROCKED! Evidently they sang to her in gym (probably about 100 kids), gave her a "lovely" whistle and then at snack time SHE was given chocolate ice cream! Our four year old was a tad jealous and she said, "Man, three yr. old! Your birthday keeps on coming every day and seems like it is forever"!

Shadow pictures

Today my THREE YEAR OLD and I were walking to go pick her sister up from school. She looked down and saw our shadows. She said, "Look Mommy! A picture of us walking together!" Too sweet!!!!
Our four year old came home from preschool and informed me that she can read a word. It is "the"! I know it's not much, but I was so excited! I bet by the end of the year she could be reading simple sentences. That is absolutely amazing to me.
Not too much news around here. We had preschool and soccer. Both went really well. I am exhausted and very ready for bed.

Ballet

At our house today the level of excitement is equal to how football fans feel during the Superbowl. Today was BALLET and TAP Dance Day!!! Our four year old could not fall asleep at nap time and our three year old was ready to run out the door naked just to get to dance class. I must say that there is hardly anything cuter than two petite girls dressed in leotards, tights, ballet slippers and carrying princess bags with tap shoes and socks! They look so cute toddling around in their dance gear.

Fussiness

Of all the things I long to remember about our girls, today is NOT one of them! They have been so fussy and bickery with each other (yes, I know that is not a real word, but it fits).
They pretty much fought and argued with each other all day long. Forcing me to the point of making ridiculous threats that I never would have followed through with. I actually threatened to remove all toys, books etc. until all they had was each other. It does make me wonder if they just have too many toys or is it just a grumpy day coming off a sugary birthday high?
All in all I think we are not alone. I also think (and pray) that tomorrow will be better.

Party Day

Today was a BIG day in the life of our three year old daughter! She had her 3rd birthday party! We had 10 kids (under 6) and 11 adults! She really got a lot of cool presents.
Here is the funny thing.... for 6 months all we talked about was that she wanted a black snake cake for her party. This might seem common if she actually liked snakes but she doesn't! So a few weeks ago she says she wanted a rainbow cake. When I quizzed her as to the last minutes change of plans, I was blithely informed that "Black snakes can bite." She then informs me that green snakes are perfectly acceptable AS LONG AS the inside of the cake is a rainbow. Can you guess what my husband and I were doing at 11 last night? We were making a rainbow cake in the shape of a snake and my husband iced it to perfection. It was such a great looking cake and I think we used almost every dish in the kitchen (thank you Lord for our dishwasher!!).
If you thought this is funny, keep reading. So we are at the party, which was inside an ice cream shop, and the BIG MOMENT finally arrives. After six long months of planning it is time to cut the cake. We light the three candles, sing the required birthday song and finally, FINALLY cut into the snake cake. Guess what? She never ate it.
Guess what else? I still love the tar out of her and think she is so amazingly cute!
Sidebar, on the way home from all the excitement we passed a homeless man and she exclaims, "MOMMY! Santa is walking down the street!"

First posting

Wow! My first ever blog! It feels so important. The main reason I want this is to remember all the little things that happen in our daily lives. My friend and I joke that we wish we had "mommy cam" (a built in camcorder in our fingers that would immediately record anything cute or funny).
So, in honor of that I will start with a few things that have happened recently that I want to remember.
On our way home from church Sunday our four-year-old and I were talking about where God lives etc. She asked how we get to heaven and I explained to her how if you love Jesus and try to be like Him then when you die you will go to Heaven. She says, "So, if I die will I go to Heaven?". I said, "Yes". She said, "Well, I will just look at God and say 'No thank you, I'll just go back to my mommy because I will miss her too much.' ". I about melted!
My husband and I are foster parents and recently the possibility of adopting a boy was open to us. I was discussing this with the girls. Our four year said, "Mommy, I hope he stays gone from us." I said, "Why? Don't you want him to live with us?". She said, "I'd love to have a little brother, but I just wish his mommy would take care of him." I found that to be amazingly perceptive for such a tiny girl.