Boating

In our haste this morning Flower thought we were going to take the raft on the river. She looked at me and asked if we were going on the boat. I was confused for a moment and then it occurred to me that she must have misunderstood Princess when she woke her up. Princess loves to help me vote but Flower didn’t remember voting in the primary. So when Princess told her we were going to vote on the way to school I think Flower thought she said boat. I don’t think Flower had as much fun voting as she has boating, but we got our stickers to wear proudly today.

A Premonition?

Flower and I were sitting down to lunch today and I asked her to say grace before we eat. She delivers her usually blessing for the food, to which I add “and please bring daddy home safely today.” Dear Husband is coming home from his project in Idaho today. So Flower repeats her blessing and adds a peculiar request at the end.

Thank you Jesus for this food, bring Daddy home safely, and keep Mommy and Daddy together.

I am not kidding. Those were her exact words. It’s a good thing we hadn’t started eating yet or I might have choked. Where does she get this stuff?

It's the Little Things

A couple weeks ago I was in our bathroom getting ready for bed when Flower came sneaking around the corner. She wanted to snuggle in our bed for just 60 minutes...please mommy, just 60 minutes!!! Sometimes I can't bring myself to tell her no, she's just so darn cute, so we jumped in bed to snuggle, for 5 minutes, not 60.

When Flower says snuggle, she really means talk non-stop while twisting and turning and flopping around. It's really more like ducking and dodging an octopus than snuggling. I learned long ago to take off my glasses and shield my face from her flailing arms.

As we were "snuggling", Flower told me she wanted a bedspread, like Princess's bedspread. I didn't buy Flower a bedspread after she moved into the bottom of the trundle bed because she sleeps with her doggy blanket on top of the sheets. But she was very serious about the bedspread so that Friday we went shopping after we dropped Princess off at school.

We went to the usual places; Ross, Target, ShopKo. Nothing was what we (and by we, I mean, I) wanted. Target was too expensive, Ross didn't have anything in a twin, and I can't remember what ShopKo had so it must have been ugly. Princess was sad. She was sure we would never find a bedspread for her no matter how many times I told her we would keep looking until we found something.

After school that day we stopped at JCPenney. They had one comforter but it was bright orange and red....we were looking for something purple. Again, Flower was sad. As a last resort I went to WalMart last week and I'll be darned, they had two really cute bedspreads in purple and pink.

I hid Flower's new bedspread until last Saturday. Even though it was Princess's birthday I thought Flower might like a surprise too. She was so excite about her new bedspread. Every morning when she wakes up she thanks me and tells me how much she likes it. Sometimes it's the little things that really make me smile.

Green Pumpkin Pie

The girls and I have been reading the Little House on the Prairie series this year. We started in January and read a chapter or two each night before bed. The girls really like to hear about the Ingalls family and I enjoy the books too.

This week we started the sixth book in the series “The Long Winter”. In the chapter we read last night the Ingalls awoke to a very hard frost on the 1st of October that did a number on their garden. They had to pick at the vegetables including the green tomatoes. When I said green tomatoes Flower said “Ew, gross, green tomatoes!” and wrinkled up her face. I don’t think she has ever had green tomatoes, I’m sure I haven’t, so I don’t know why she thinks they would be so disgusting.

Later on in the chapter Ma decided to make a pie from a small pumpkin. Princess fell asleep early but Flower was still listening. Flower heard the word pie and immediately started spouting ideas for a pie. She told me we could make a green pumpkin pie from our garden. I reminded her that we didn’t plant any pumpkins in our garden, to which she replied, “Nana and Papa did, we could ask them for a green pumpkin.” Problem solved.

Then we discussed the green pumpkin pie. Flower decided it should have salt and pepper in it, but no sauce. Then she changed her mind and said no pepper, just salt. Now we have a recipe….green pumpkin pie with salt….a Flower original.

I am drawing a blank....

I couldn't think of a name for this post. Flower's Fever? Just a quick update for those of you following the tick saga.

It was been 6 days since the last tick sighting. We have been checking for ticks morning and night. Apparently it has already become a habit because we were at urgent care this morning (hold your horses, I'll get to it) and Flower looked at me, raised her arms so I could her armpits, and said "Check for ticks Mommy."

Yes, I did mention urgent care. We got to visit urgent care this morning, not because we were very sick, although it was worse than I thought, but because the soonest appointment I could get at the doctor's office was Sunday.

Flower had a rough night. Now that I think about it, she has not been sleeping well all week. She woke up crying a few times last night. When I asked her what was wrong she kept saying she missed Daddy. We were up half of the night and I was getting little annoyed.

When Flower got up this morning she felt a little warm so I took her temp. 99.8 so a little warm, but nothing to worry about unless you have been bitten by a tick recently. I got a little worried. Then Flower said her ear hurt. Phew! No rocky mountain spotted fever, just an ear infection. Yeah!

I took the frozen tick to the doctor anyway, just in case. He did want to see it, so at least it wasn't a wasted trip on the part of the tick. Flower has an infection in both ears. One is very red and looks like it may rupture. The other ear looks like the infection just started.

For those of you who are keeping score, this is Flower's second ear infection in 2 months. The doc we saw today checked her chart and didn't say anything but I got the impression he didn't like the antibiotic prescribed for the last infection. He gave us a different antibiotic so I hope it works fast. Flower is miserable. All the way home from the pharmacy she whimpered and begged me to hurry.

So that is all I have to report. No ticks, two infected ears. We are taking a road trip tomorrow with Nana and Papa to see Auntie A, Uncle L, and the twins. The girls are excited to see them again. Happy Friday!

Horizontal or Vertical?

You may recall the girls have their music recital tomorrow night. I try not to worry about these things too much, but I won’t lie to you, I want them to do well and look adorable.

Friday afternoon I was in the kitchen when I heard Flower wailing. I ran to the stairs and saw her walking out of the playroom in tears holding the side of her head. I could tell by the sound of her cry she was really hurt. Upon further investigation I determined she and Princess were playing with my laundry basket, which is one of the tall narrow types, and Princess left the room leaving Flower stuck in the laundry basket. Flower attempted to exit the basket, tipped it over, and fell face first into the dollhouse.

Flower must have hit the dollhouse pretty hard because she pushed it back a couple inches. Her face did not look so good. Her left cheek took the majority of the fall. She had a big purple spot the size of a golf ball on her face with a vertical welt down the middle. My first thought was how am I going to cover that up for the recital?

We iced Flower’s cheek as much as she could stand. Her lip and nose were also sore to the touch so I was expecting a big bruise. By the time Dear Husband got home an hour later most of the purple was gone. I was hopeful.

Saturday morning Flower’s face looked remarkable well. She had a 2-3 inch purple bruise down her cheek but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Yesterday the bruise was starting to turn black and green so I’m hoping it will lighten up by tomorrow.

Last night as the girls were getting ready for bed, Princess was bouncing around moving the herd of stuffed animals from her bed to the floor so she had room to sleep. All of the sudden she comes running into our room crying and holding her head. She fell head first on Flower’s bed and hit the side of the frame with her head. She had a big purple spot with a 3 inch horizontal welt across the left side of her forehead.

Within seconds Flower was on the scene with the ice pack. If our summer continues in this manner I’m going to need to invest in another ice pack.

The Bird

The girls have been taking a music class since January. It is a really cool program that teaches kids basic music skills and to play the piano. By the end of the first level they will be able to compose simple music.

The beginning level of the program is for 3 to 5 year olds. I am lazy and want to keep the girls together for any extracurricular activities as long as possible. Flower was a few months shy of 3 when we started but the teacher was willing to give it a try. Flower did pretty well and is able to play basic songs on the piano.

A large part of playing the piano is teaching your fingers to move together and separately while reading the music. We play a lot of games and sing songs that teach the kids to move their fingers separately. Those of you who play the piano know each finger has a number. The thumb is finger 1, the pointer finger is finger 2, etc.

The first two months of class we spent a lot of time moving our fingers independent of the other fingers and it was tough for Flower. She had a hard time holding finger 3 and finger 4 up individually. About a month ago she must have figured out how to move finger 3 because all of the sudden she started pointing with it. Not just once or twice, exclusively….with both hands.

I knew what she was doing and was proud of her. She had been working on moving fingers 3 and 4 for so long. She was able to use finger 3. Dear Husband was mortified. I guess it must be a daddy thing. I wasn’t bothered at all when Flower held up her middle finger to point out the window as we were driving through town. She finally mastered a difficult task so I think she should be rewarded. DH wants her to use her pointer finger. I guess we can comprise and start working on pointing with finger 4….that shouldn’t offend anyone.

Lambs

Princess's class took a field trip to a sheep ranch this morning. Flower and I tagged along. We had a great time and we got to hold a lamb. I didn't get a photo of Flower holding a lamb because I had to help her and but Mrs. F took a picture for me. Here are a couple for you.

There's Fizzies In My Bed

It's 12:22 AM and I am sound asleep. I am awakened by Flower crying "There's fizzies in my bed! The fizzies spilled in my bed!" What? Flower is pretty upset so I pull her up into our bed and try to clear my mind so I can make sense of what she is trying to tell me.

Me - What is in your bed?

Flower - Fizzies!!!!

Me - Fuzz, is there pieces of fuzz from your socks?

Flower - NO....FIZZIES!!!!

By this time Flower is very frustrated with me and I have absolutely no idea what she is trying to tell. Then it hits me. We stopped by our friend's house last night to play with some puppies (that's another story) and their daughter has two fish in her bedroom. The kids were feeding the fish right before we left.

Fish in her bed....Flower was dreaming about the fish....now I understand.

Happy Green Patrick’s Day!

St. Patrick’s Day is here and spring is just around the corner. In case you haven’t noticed, I have not had much motivation to blog lately. I would like to say it is because we have been really busy, but that would be lying. Flower picked up a nasty cold last month and we just keep passing it around so I am blaming my lack of ambition on this virus.

February was filled with birthday parties, which lead to the previously mentioned cold virus. Flower and Dear Husband had it first, and then Princess and I picked it up at the end of the month. At the same time Princess got strep throat. She is over the strep, but still fighting the cold. Flower is finally on the road to recovery so I am feeling very optimistic that we will have a healthy spring. The weather is gorgeous and we are done being sick.

Last week we celebrated Flower’s birthday. I’ll post some photos soon. We are still working on potty training and Flower seems to be doing pretty well….at home. Daycare is a different story. Sigh.

Princess has been preparing for a leprechaun to visit her classroom today so we have been talking about St. Patrick’s Day a lot lately. I looked all over town for a shirt that Princess could wear today and had no luck finding something green that she will wear. I guess I should have been Irish, I could have really used some luck. Every place we went Flower wanted to know if she could get a green shirt too….and I could not find anything in her size either.

Last weekend we took a road trip to GF for lunch and shopping. We found a t-shirt for Flower at Old Navy and she was ecstatic. All week Flower has been talking about wearing her new green shirt on Green Patrick’s Day. She is driving Princess crazy because she refuses to say St. Patrick’s Day, but hey, isn’t that what little sisters are suppose to do?

Goodbye 1989

I need to clean out my closet. Homestead and I have discussed this over the years. She is a much better purger than I.

When I got home tonight Flower followed me upstairs to change my clothes. She looked in my closet and pulled out an old swimsuit. I wore that suit in high school. I loved that swimsuit. It was the first, and one of the only, swimsuits that has ever fit properly. It is over 20 years old. Why do I still have it in my closet? It's two (or more) sizes too small and 1989 neon pink.

Flower asked me what it was. I told her it was an old swimsuit that is too small. She gave me a confused look and told me to throw it in the garbage. So we did. If she was a couple feet taller I would have her go through my other closet.

Road Trip

Last Friday the girls and I headed north to visit Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, and Great Great Aunt E. There were a lot of greats in that sentence.

Grandpa had surgery on his foot two weeks ago so we thought he might need some entertainment. Flower was perfect for the job.

No more than 30 minutes after we arrived Flower was unpacking our bag to find her blanket and woof-woof. She covered Grandpa up with her blanket and tucked him in with woof-woof. Wouldn't it be nice if everything could be made better with a soft blanket and stuffed animal?

Flower spent the weekend following Grandpa around the house with his bag of ice and pillow. She checked on him every so often to make sure he was OK. Flower was on a mission to make sure Grandpa was without a want. I think nursing may be in her future.

We had a nice weekend. We hung around the house, went out for lunch, and raided Great Grandma’s stash of cookies. Uncle S and Aunt S came for dinner and brought microwave popcorn (in a bucket since the theatre is closed for the winter) and sweetest (Swedish) fish.

As I type the snow is falling and it’s a bit chilly. I’m glad I decided to take a road trip last weekend.

Just Pretend

We are still working on potty training Flower. It's a long story.

After dinner tonight Flower was sitting on the couch next to Dear Husband. Her diaper looked a little saggy so I asked DH to check it.


Dear Husband Flower, are you wet?

Flower No, I dry.

Dear Husband Are you sure you're dry, you look wet?

Flower Just pretend I dry.

Breakfast Chitchat

Princess is having her first fire drill at school next week. Her teacher asked us to talked to her about what to do if there is a fire in our house. We've discussed it before. We have a meeting spot across the street. Princess seems to know what to do.

At breakfast this morning Princess explain to Flower what to do if there is a fire at night. She told Flower if the fire was outside her bedroom door they would keep the door shut, open the window, and yell for help while they pushed the screen out and crawled out on to the roof. Then they would wait for someone to help them down from the roof.

Flower listened intently and then looked at Princess and said in her most serious voice, "OK, I can do that." I think she was serious (for a change), but you never know with that little joker.

Flower’s Bed

Flower has spent five nights in her “new” bed and hasn't rolled out yet. This morning around 1:30 AM she did start crying. I woke Dear Husband to go check on her. I thought she had finally fallen out of her bed.

Turns out she hit her head on the aquarium instead. The aquarium I bought for Princess when she was an infant and wouldn’t sleep. The aquarium which has not worked for almost a year because the batteries are dead. The aquarium which we will take off and box up for future nieces and nephews tonight.

Flower

Last weekend we decided to convert Flower’s crib into a daybed. Actually, convert probably isn’t the correct word. We didn’t bother to purchase the guardrail for the bed; we just put pillows on the floor so when she rolls out of bed her landing will be cushioned.

We have been talking about moving Flower to a regular bed for some time now. Flower will be three this spring and Auntie A will need the crib….she’ll need two cribs actually, but that’s her problem :)

I have been reluctant to give Flower the freedom to get out of bed at night, fearful of what she might get into before I hear her. Flower always needs something during the night. A drink of water, a different blanket, woof-woof, a Kleenex…you name it, she will think of it. My personal favorite was a couple weeks ago when she called for me to come in her room around 4:30 AM. Dear Husband was just getting up so he went in to check on her. A moment later he returns to our bedroom and tells me Flower wanted us to know she bumped her head and she’s ok. Thanks for the update kiddo.

Saturday night DH took Flower upstairs to start her bedtime routine. She hasn’t been allowing DH to get her ready for bed lately so he was trying to make her happy. All of the sudden I hear squealing and Flower is running around upstairs screaming about a big girl bed. I’m surprised she didn’t need a new pull-up after the excitement was over.

It has been two nights and Flower has not gotten out of bed, at night anyway. She did try to get up from her nap after about ten minutes yesterday. As I’m writing this I just realized that the light was on in her room this morning and the blanket I covered her up with last night was hanging on the end of her bed so she must have gotten up during the night. If she came out of her bedroom I didn’t hear her. Now I’m wondering what else she was up to last night. I think I’ll have Keilie-dog sleep outside Flower’s door tonight.

She Lost It!

Princess lost her tooth today. It fell out during snack time while she was eating an apple. She is contemplating waiting until tomorrow night to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy because she wants to show Nana first. We'll see what she decides.

In the mean time, she wanted to show the world the empty spot in her mouth where her first adult tooth will soon reside.



Flower wanted to show you her teeth as well.

The Potty Training Saga Continues

In case you are wondering how Flower is doing with the potty training I thought I'd post a quick update. I chickened out on panties for Flower on Saturday. I had too many things to do and not enough time to wash a car seat. Flower donned her pretty pink princess pull-ups instead and the girls and I headed to town for a morning of shopping. We visited the restroom in every store we shopped, sometimes twice, and Flower stayed dry all morning.

I took the girls to a birthday party Saturday afternoon. It was an outside party with kiddie pools, sprinklers, and a slip-n-slide…a really cool slip-n-slide I might add. I have a post on slip-n-slides bouncing around in my head but I'll save it for another day. Anyway, I put Flower in a little swimmer because I don’t trust her. I’d hate to make that kind of a memory at a birthday party. I couldn’t tell if Flower stayed dry at the party but I have my doubts. I imagine the lawn didn’t care.

Sunday morning she was dry during church but once we got to Nana and Papa’s house she immediately forgot to use the potty. So we’ll keep working on it. She picked out new princess panties so maybe those will do the trick this weekend. I do know one thing…I’m tired of buying pull-ups!

Happy August!

I was looking at the number of posts I made the last few months and June was my personal best.....as far as quantity. No comment on quality. Anyway, since Princess got up early, Flower and Daddy are still sleeping, and I have a hot cup of coffee I thought I'd try to think of something interesting to write this first day of August.

Yesterday the girls and I stayed home for the entire day. It was the first Friday in months we didn't have an appointment or trip. After some quality time on the Internet I spent most of the morning cleaning the floor and as I look at it now, you can't really tell. Sigh.

Flower has been on the verge of potty trained for months, the problem being our schedule. I'm not up for potty training while traveling so we've bought a lot of pull-ups lately. She's interested in using the potty, she just forgets until she has already dripped a little. That's how Flower says it "Mommy I dripped!" which means she needs to go potty.

Since we had no where to go yesterday I decided to give panties a try. She picked out some Care Bear panties and we headed downstairs. I headed back to the bathroom to get the little potty (it lives in the dining room when we're potty training because I'm too old to make 100 trips up and down the stairs carrying a two year old) and before I got to the bathroom Princess was screaming, "She peed on the floor!" Poor Flower has this look on her face like, "What happened?"

My theory was that if Flower felt pee running down her leg she would remember to hold it because I know she's capable of holding it. I was partially correct. Flower wasn't thrilled about pee running down her leg, but not as disgusted as I'd hoped. None the less, we cleaned her and the floor up, and picked out a pretty green pair of Ariel undies for round two.

The rest of the day went well. Flower used the potty every 20 minutes and she was dry all day. Until Daddy came home from work. I'm not sure what happened, maybe he jinxed us, but Flower had a little accident during dinner and then pooed in her pants after dinner. Ugh. But all in all, she did well for her first day of wearing big girl undies.

Today we have to run errands and then we have a birthday party this afternoon. Flower just got up and informed me she wants to wear panties. This could be interesting....

Tidbits from Last Weekend

Princess and Flower were standing in front of the bathroom sink brushing their teeth Friday morning. Princess was making faces in the mirror accompanied by this weird groaning/grunting noise. Flower looked at Princess and said “What wrong Princess? You pooin’?”

Sunday dinner was at Nana and Papa’s house. Traditionally we begin our meals with Flower mumbling something no one can understand and then Princess blesses the food by saying “Thank you Jesus for this food. Amen.” We like to keep it short and simple. We sat down to the table and Papa asked Flower if she would like to say the blessing. Flower folds her hands, bows her head, and very, very seriously says “Thank you Jesus for Daddy’s birthday. Amen.”

The girls and I were enjoying strawberry shortcake with Nana and Papa on their deck after dinner. We were discussing the fruit trees and when the cherries would be ready to pick. Nana and Papa were saying they should find the tags from the cherry tree so they knew what kind if tree it was. Then they might be able to find out when to pick the cherries. Princess looked at them and said “Just google it!” as if she knew exactly what she was saying. Heck, she probably did.