I Raked, Here's Proof

See all those leaves, I raked them.

This is our lovely abode. Haley and Allie loved the pile of leaves. The garbage men didn't.

Laura cooked a great meal afterwards.

Take a good look, it might not look that way again until Jan. 2010.

"Storytime"

*Scroll to the bottom to turn off the music*

These videos of Haley and Allie are too funny. It's pretty easy to understand everything Haley says but Allie is more difficult. Here's her story in a nutshell (because I didn't understand everything she said.)

Once upon a time there was a magic dragon. He went back to where he was. He got in his woods. He was far away. He had things in his bed, but he shouldn't have things in his bed. But he'd get in trouble if he cried. He was running and he ran on the couch and the chair. He got Momma and he went to sleep. The End.

"A Princess, Her Prince, and Their Banquet"

(Top right) Haley was playing dress up and pretending to be Cinderella. I knew Allie was playing along with her but after a few snippets of their play-acting I realized that Allie was playing the part of the two stepsisters, the evil stepmother, and then Haley enlisted Allie as the prince so she could be swept across the floor at the ball for her grand finale. With all this practice Allie might be up for a Golden Globe nomination one day and we can all say, "I knew you when..."

As for their banquet, I was busy feeding Emily after dinner when Haley and Allie decided to help themselves to seconds. As you can see Haley went for the chocolate syrup. She wasn't making chocolate milk, she just poured it straight into a spoon. She had just started squeezing it directly into her mouth when I caught them at the table. Haley's very efficient. Allie went for more noodles but didn't bother with a plate. She just ate them right out of the pan.

So the prince and the princess lived happily ever after on cold egg noodles and Hershey's chocolate syrup.

"Oh Crap!"

Yep, you read the title right. (If you're offended do not continue reading.) Tonight we were all in the kitchen getting ready for dinner. I don't remember what happened but it caused Brent to exclaim, "Oh crap!" Of course the girls were within earshot so naturally Haley had to repeat it, "Oh crap!" Lately Allie has been Haley's echo repeating everything Haley says, so Allie said, "Oh crap!" too. I don't know why it struck me as funny. I could see Emily following suit if only she were verbal. "Crap" as an expletive was taboo when I was growing up, but I haven't been able to convince my children of this,obviously, since Brent says it and they've heard one of their grandparents use the word. I know it's completely inappropriate for 4 and 2 year olds, but what's a mom going to do?

"Babies Don't Keep"

It's already January 18. Is everyone amazed like me how quickly the time passes? I'm not complaining, just trying to ensure that I'm making the most of it.

When Haley was a baby I was really stressed over trying to take care of her and doing all my regular chores. (Not that Brent doesn't help, but for the most part we prefer my cooking and I don't trust him to wash the laundry.) Well, two kids later I'm still trying to figure out how to juggle it all. The only wisdom I've acquired on this subject is that everything does eventually get done (even if it's not until it absolutely has to be done) and spending time with my family is more important than not having any dirty dishes in the sink. I'm still learning to practice what I preach. Melissa shared this poem with me four years ago when I was worried about my messy house and the never-ending pile of dirty laundry. I repeat the last line of this poem to myself almost everyday.

"Babies Don't Keep"

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue (lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due (pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue? (lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

-- Author Unknown

Duck, Duck, Goose!

I took the girls to feed the ducks and geese today. It was really windy, but the temperature was great. Haley and Allie ate almost as much bread as the ducks and geese, but it's okay because we came well prepared. I got so many good pictures during our adventure that I had to share. Here are a few of my favorites, but there are a lot more cute photos in the slide show at the bottom of this post. Enjoy!

Allie is exhausted after our jog.

Being kids. They were soaked after this little escapade.

Pickin' flowers

Happy girls...

Emily was with us, but she was hiding in the stroller from the wind. Sorry there are no pictures of her. But before we know it she'll be running right behind them, making it into every picture.

Long Time, No Posts...

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. We left to visit Brent's family the day after Christmas and came home this Thursday with three sick little girls. Don't be alarmed! They just have colds.

There's definitely some catching up to do. Let's start with the "human fire"...

I mentioned that the girls all have colds. We've been running the humidifier in their room during naptime and at night. Last night when we put the girls to bed we forgot to turn it on. Brent and I were sitting up with Emily who was pretty miserable. We kept hearing this bump!bump! I was concerned about what was causing all the noise and a little annoyed that the girls were obviously not in their beds. When Brent went to check on them Haley quickly explained, "I was out of bed, but you forgot to turn on the human fire." We had a good chuckle over that one. One day soon I'm going to do a post about all the "Haley-isms" and "Allie-isms." For instance...at our house there is no such thing as "lunch." Haley thinks it's "munch." (Am I a bad mother for not correcting them? It wouldn't be nearly as funny if she said it correctly.)

Moving on....

Here are the three princesses. Aren't they cute?!

We took these pictures at Brent's parents' home. I had to share them.

Last, but not least is our experience during family prayer tonight. Haley, Allie and Emily were all in their beds. Brent asked Haley to say our family prayer. Haley usually says something short and vague, but she's only four. I guess she thought better of it tonight only her timing was terrible. Emily was crying, Allie hanging like a monkey on her bed and I really needed a bathroom break. She rambled on for atleast five minutes. I thought about prompting her to end the prayer, but knowing Haley we'd be sitting in church one Sunday and she'd shout "Amen" when she thought someone was getting long-winded. Eventually Brent and I looked up at each other during Haley's exhaustive list of things she's thankful for and blessings she'd like to receive and just laughed at each other (not out loud.) When she finally said, "Amen" I half expected her to raise her head and giggle about keeping us there so long, but the look on her face was so sincere. I was really proud of her for putting some thought into what she was saying.

On a different note, we hope everyone had a great New Year's. 2009 shouldn't be too bad because Haley put in a good word for all of us tonight. Also, Happy Birthday to my Bubo ( my great grandmother). She recently celebrated her 90th birthday. We love her very much and hope to see her soon!

Bubo and Haley 2004