Awaiting Spring

We were lucky and missed most of the storms this winter, and when we did get snow, we didn't get much. It has, however, been cold. I am eagerly awaiting Spring and this weekend we got a beautiful taste of it.

Since moving, the girls have gotten lazy. We used to walk everywhere and the girls could easily do 2 miles. Now that we drive everywhere, they complain about the 1/2 mile walk to the library. We need exercise.

So if the weather isn't offering enough hope, here are two pictures of what I found in our garden:

SPROUTS!! It is our first Spring here, so it'll be fun to see what is growing. I do know that we have Cherry Blossoms! Can't wait to see those!!

Grumpy

There's a song song by David Weinstone on Noggin called Grumpy.

The lyrics begin ..

If you want to be a grump that's ok, but could you be a grumpy kinda further away. It's not that I don't love you cuz you know I do, sometimes I'm grumpy too.

I think I understand exactly what it is you're going through. Oh when your oatmeal is lumpy and your socks are all bumpy. What's a poor kid to do?

I love this song and used to sing it to Apani all the time, she didn't like it as much. But man oh man, Maddy is a grump. She takes right after Apani, and it's so darn cute! Let me remind you... Maddy's Tantrum I have to restrain myself from laughing because she gets so mad so quickly over nothing.

The other day, just for kicks, when her tantrum started I said, "Maddy, if you're gonna be a grump, you need to go be a grump somewhere else." And so she walked away. I heard her stomping a few times, then turned around happily running back offering kisses (something she is cruelly, sparing of). I thought it was a fluke, but just a few minutes later I was given the opportunity to test it out again. Sure enough, as told, she walked away. This time she went to the "time out" corner she often sees one of her sisters in and after a minute she came out happy as can be! It's been very successful over the past few days, making life, a little less stressful and any mother knows, those tantrums can be emotionally draining so any tactic that helps is a life saver!

Dear Mrs Rowe

Kaitlyn came home from school with this letter today.

"Dear Mrs Rowe,

Your daughter is so funny! Her prayer intention for the day - "Please pray for my mommy cause she's falling apart"

Mrs G :)
(and so did we)"

It was a rough day

It began at 5:00 am...so much for sleeping in on a snow day.

A little later, Maddy peed on the potty and was enjoying her jelly bean when Apani slams into her knocking her over, hitting her head on the hard wood floor. I picked screaming Madelyn up when she goes silent. You know those silent cries right? Well, I've got her body pressed against mine, cradling her head on my shoulder, gently rocking her in an attempt to comfort her as she then begins vomiting, at least I thought vomiting, which of course makes me think she has a concussion. No, it's worse, she's gagging, choking on that jelly bean. I had no idea, cuz I've got her head on my shoulder...thankfully it came up before I could realize what was going on. I think I just would have panicked and not known what to do.

After some yelling about how we're not supposed to run in the house, we relax and look out the window to check on this storm. Storm? What storm? Nothing was on the ground. We were so excited about the foot + of snow we were supposed to get and here it is 8:45 and there's barely an inch out there. So we were stuck inside all day. The kids were crazy, refused to tidy their room, and yelling quickly became the theme of the day. I hate yelling. Maddy has been so difficult lately and just won't leave my side. I wish I could ignore her to get things done, but she stands between my legs, pulling at my pants. I can't move, I'm afraid I'll knock her over. It made cleaning the kitchen and Maddy's toys all the more difficult.

To end their day, I made dinner. Something they loved last week and because they didn't like the delicious, awesomely delicious, chili I made yesterday, I wanted something fast and easy for them tonight. After stressfully preparing it, they decided they didn't like it.

But I must say how thankful I am for the winter nights that get so dark so early because the ALL the girls are peacefully in bed by 6:30! Time to rejuvenate, forget the horrible day, and pray for a better one tomorrow. I'm exhausted and ready for bed myself!

A vacuum for Maddy

We didn't know Maddy needed one too. Grandma felt guilty, but I didn't think Madelyn even cared. Then, we went to Sears, searching for kitchen appliances. There was a small display of only a handful of vacuums, which just so happened to include a Dyson toy vacuum. Maddy was in love and dragged it all around the store. I was trying to figure out how we could leave without it.

As we were walking around, a woman walked in with her dog. Because of her great love of animals, Maddy and I went over to say hello. She could not stop saying how cute Madelyn was and we talked about how cute her dog, "Bonita" was. She bid us farewell and went to the back, turns out she was co-owner.

A few minutes later she walked out and said, "You can have that vacuum." Taken back, I told her that was nice but not necessary. She said, "No, really. It's supposed to be free with a Dyson purchase. We've sold 4 or so but no one wants the toy. Take it, it's yours!" Pending tantrum, averted :)

Maddy loves it and is very protective of it. Every time the girls pull out their vacuums and start cleaning, Maddy gets hers. There really is no better toy! They are developing a love for cleaning and eagerly clean up messes after meals and snacks. The house is kept very clean. Now, if only I can get them to happily put their toys away...

A morning like every other, sort of

Kaitlyn and Apani were fighting, nothing new there.

In order to ensure her victory, Apani yells, "FINE! I'm not your sister anymore!"
"You'll ALWAYS be sisters," I replied.
"No, I'm going to move far, far away!"
Kaitlyn chimed in, "I'm going to live with Mommy FOREVER!"
"Don't you want to have your own house, your own husband, and your own kids?" I asked.
"No because in this town, there's only Michael and Matthew!"


Michael and Matthew are the two boys in her class full of girls!!

Ready or Not

So I no longer have a choice. It's time to potty train.

I was peeing when I suddenly, like always, got a visitor. Madelyn wanted to pee too. I normally humor her and let her sit on her potty for a few minutes, but I have so much cleaning to do today that I just wanted to go. She must have known how much I have to do because she was very insistent that I put her on that potty. I kept trying to distract her til I gave in. I put her on the potty and left to continue cleaning when suddenly she comes running out of the bathroom, "Ma Ma, poo poo!" Her onesie was soaked and in the little potty was pee pee! She was so proud of herself and a few minutes later, peed again!

Go Maddy! Now it's my turn to be persistent. The only problem is I don't remember potty training. What do I do? And the other girls were older when I trained, Maddy is only 16 months old. lol!