Quick 5

The 17 inches of snow we got last week have created Lake Kimble in the backyard. Also, our new sump pump was a good investment.

1. These are the times of kids being raised early in the 21st century:

2. The girls had fun in the snow. Not as much as their dad, who actually made a snow man. But Bria enjoyed doing face plants. I have no idea what Joya and Alaina did. Snow time is their time.

3. One quirk of a newly potty-trained kid is the distraction factor. Sometimes it takes Bria up to three minutes to actually go in the potty. She'll sit there and mess around before she gets down to concentrating on the job at hand. I found a way to speed the process up, though. And it's this:

Do you see all the gold doubloons in my hand? All I have to do is ask her to hand me her gold doubloons. Then I hold on to them until she's done. When I'm holding her gold doubloons she gets down to business rather quickly, because she wants them back. I think I'll try that technique with other things I want her to do quickly.

4. We're gearing up for our trip to Tulsa. I'm actually feeling good about the road trip. I think I know enough about what the girls will actually do in the car and what they won't. I'm armed with Adventures in Odyssey and a few audio books from the library. And of course, the barf boxes.

5. Alaina is home sick today. She is in good spirits, but is running a temp. She's sad to miss out on all the Earth Day festivities her class has planned, but what can you do?

This Quick 5 was brought to you by the word "actually."

Quick 5

Yesterday my girls wore shorts. Tomorrow they will need snow boots. Dear Spring: your fickle moods are less than charming.

1. Lee has found some good hiking/camping buddies, and they went on their first hike of the season last week. The hike was filled with crisp, cool air, a quiet sunrise, and a herd of deer. All the makings of a good hike.

 2. We drove to Colorado Springs to celebrate my sister's birthday last Saturday. We really don't drive far too often, so I thought the hour drive would be a good tiny test run for our road trip in two weeks. Bria and Joya waited a whole 20 minutes before they started the every five minute "Are we there yet??" routine. Our drive to Tulsa should be a good time.

3. Grammy found a lovely fluffy vest for our household. I think it's for Bria, although all the girls have been seen wearing it. However, none of them wear it as fashionable outerwear. Nope, it's turned into a bear/kitty costume. I do agree that it is super fluffy and fun to pet. This is what happens when you don't have a real cat to pet.

4. Alaina received another character award at school. This one was for perseverance, as she worked really hard to learn the sign language for the Ellis Island Day program. We're very proud of her.

5. We've begun the Great Weaning Bria From Her Sleepsack Tribulation. That thing is her woobie. So instead of putting her in it, we just gave it to her to sleep with. Last night was her first night not wearing it, and she only lost it four times before falling asleep, and woke up twice moaning. Hopefully the worst is over. She was pretty excited to wake up wearing just her jammies, and not the sleep sack. She's practically a full grown kid now.

Stay dry, friends!

Quick 5

1. Last Friday, Joya was dying to be pranked. Last year I froze their milk on April Fool's Day, and they were hoping for the same thing this year. I maintain that it's not a good prank if they are expecting it. But I couldn't think of anything else to do. Until I realized that we were having hamburgers for dinner. So I prepared their plates as usual, had them sit down, and then I served Joya this:

That is a plastic toy hamburger. It was a perfect prank. And she was happy. (Don't worry, I have a good idea for next year.)

2. I'm not too big of a fan of spring because early spring is still pretty barren. The trees are all naked and it just looks sad around here. But the warm weather is so refreshing. Sunday was a perfect day to introduce popsicles to 2016.

 3. This week was Crazy Hair/Hat day at Awana. Alaina stayed true to form and really resisted participating. She had fun talking and planning it a dinner, but when it came time for execution she totally chickened out. She finally just wore a regular hat. But Joya was totally game for the fun.

4. Our most exciting discovery this week was Trader Joe's. There has never been one close by, and I also thought it was one of those trendy things that I should stay away from just because everyone else goes there. But since one opened in our area, we decided to check it out. I will definitely be visiting there quite frequently.

5. We attempted a family hike last Saturday. What we failed to remember is that just because it is nice outside doesn't mean it's nice to hike in the mountains. The trail was totally muddy. And we were so ill-equipped for that. All we had on were our normal, every day shoes. So we had to cut the hike short pretty quick. But the girls loved the idea, and so we decided to buy shoes for hiking for all of us; shoes that we won't be sad if they get muddy. We are now prepared to get out there, come mud or shine.

Happy Birthday to my big sis Jamie! Hope your day is filled with happy, compliant children!

Quick 6

Doesn't it feel good to be out of March?

1. Our final Spring Break event involved livestock. We got to go to our friend's house to hold baby chicks. The girls had been talking about it for weeks. They loved it and Bria still wants to go back. Even Bria held the chicks, although she had to be closely monitored and reminded to hold them gently every time she squeezed their little necks. Bria also got very comfortable with helping them fly, by tossing them into the room or back in their little cage. We put a stop to that as much as we could too. And there was only one incident of Bria sitting in chicken poop. But it was fun to see animals they have never seen before. Maybe we can go back this summer to see what those little fluff balls look like grown up.

2. Alaina and Joya got to have donuts with Daddy on Saturday. Bria got to stay home and play on Mommy's tablet. A good time was had by all.

3. Our Easter celebration was a quiet affair. We didn't have an egg hunt due to the foot of snow on the ground, but we will probably have one in a week or so, when everything dries out. My girls looked...special. But it's not about how you look, is it?

4. We had a fun mail week this week. We got the title to our van. I got the materials for a writing course I am taking. And we got a big box of clothes for the girls from a high school friend of mine. It's been like Christmas around here.

5. We're about a month away from the anniversary of our basement flooding. I've been having hard core flashbacks with all the wet, heavy snow we've had lately. But our sump pump is working like a champ. Our backyard looks like a lake, but I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing that lake inside this year.

6. April Fool's! There is no number 6. I'm hilarious, aren't I?

Onward!

Quick 5 - Spring Break Edition

It's been a long time since we've had a March Wallop of snow. Guess it felt the need to make up for lost time.

1. Last Friday was Alaina's Ellis Island Day. Her class sang a few songs about America, then got to participate in entering the United States through Ellis Island. Alaina answered her questions quickly and correctly and was granted entry.

2. Tuesday was a beautiful day. 70 degrees. Super windy, but very nice. We went and tried a new park. Lee challenged Joya to walk around the whole park on the ledge without falling. Bria celebrated eating a grasshopper by sliding and swinging her little heart out. Alaina made friends with a couple of kids, and taught them her favorite recess game called Groundies. A good time was had by all.

3. Less than 12 hours later the storm hit. We had to cancel our Wednesday plans and stay inside to watch movies. The wind was too strong for the girls to even go outside. We lost two big branches in the backyard, which is really sad.

4. We still had to postpone some plans for Thursday, so the girls played outside. It took 12,530 minutes to get them ready, and they played outside for 34 minutes. The snow was very deep, and they got tired of it pretty quickly. Oh well.

 5. There are still a few days left of Spring Break fun. We have fun plans today, and Alaina has Monday off as well. Throw in the celebration of our risen Lord, and this mama is going to need a vacation. Or a couple containers of ice cream.

 He is Risen!!

Quick 5

It's like the weather realized that it only had a few more days of winter, and remembered that it forgot to snow a bunch for the past two months. Boo snow!

1. When Lee started his new job, he was very surprised to see his old co-worker Nick already working there. Nick was a good friend at the old job. He has been here for dinner and has helped us move (maybe more than once.) He joined us for dinner again on Monday. Lee bought the girls a real soccer ball, and since Nick enjoys soccer he spent a lot of time kicking the ball around with the girls. In fact, he spent most of his time here playing with them outside. It was fun to have him here again, and I very much appreciate his kindness toward the girls.

2. Bria has eaten her weight in jelly beans this week. I've been a willing source of these jelly beans, because the girl is potty training! For reals. It took a bit of unorthodox strong arming, but on Monday we had our first ever success. And she's been going strong ever since. We've had one accident each day, but for the most part she stays dry. She also has to go about four times an hour, sometimes five. Or, you know, whenever she feels the need for a jelly bean. Which is very, very often. She loves wearing her underwear and balks at the idea of wearing a pull up, but Mommy insists at nap time, bedtime, and when we're not going to have access to a bathroom for more than an hour. But even then, with the exception of overnight, she can stay dry. It's been a pretty exhausting week for me, but this is a good trend.

3. It's probably been due to all the jelly beans, but Bria has been super active this week. Her favorite thing to do is run and do a tuck and roll on our bean bag chair. She launches herself without fear. And when she's tired of that, she just runs laps around the living room. Oh to have that kind of energy.

4. The leprechaun was up to his old tricks on Thursday. Literally. I think he only has one prank. The girls were delighted to see that he somehow turned their cereal milk green again. The milk was white in their cups, but turned green when they poured it into their cereal. He's a tricky one, isn't he?

 5. We made it to Spring Break! We don't have any big plans for the week. An oil change for the van. Lunch with some friends on Wednesday. We might get to go see some baby chicks at a friend's house. But that's it. We'll just play it by ear.

Goodbye Winter! It's been real!

Quick 5

March, I shake my fist angrily in your direction!!

1. This week was marked by a sick Bria. She had unladylike lower intestinal issues. Tuesday morning she woke up and scared the living daylights out of us by being non-interactive. She was responsive; she ate and drank and answered questions, but she was pale and silent. Usually first thing in the morning she is either completely chatty or whining and fussing as loudly as possible. She took a nap during morning room time and seemed to be a bit more like herself for the rest of the day. Then Wednesday she woke up and cried about how her tummy hurt. She ate yogurt for breakfast and calmed down some. We ran an errand. Then around 10:00 she started crying (literally) about her tummy again. Then she did not stop for an hour. She didn't want to be held, she didn't want food or drink. So I called our pediatrician and they had me bring her in right away. I scooped her up and Joya and I ran out the door. She was still crying about it at the doctor's office, and the doctor couldn't even get a good exam done because she was resisting so much. So the doctor told us to go to Children's Hospital, because they needed to do x-rays and possibly an ultrasound to rule out appendicitis. Bria actually began to calm down a bit on the way to the hospital, which was good because I was beginning to freak out and Joya needed to cry too. Bria was much calmer at the hospital; calm enough for the doctor there to do a good exam. Immediately she ruled out appendicitis, because she said she was "mashing down on it pretty good" and Bria wasn't even flinching. But the doctor felt that her belly was distended, and she could feel a lot of air in there. We were able to get into x-ray pretty quickly, and by the time we got back, Lee had arrived with chicken nuggets for Joya and me, since we hadn't had lunch. When you're at the hospital all you do is wait around, so that's what we did too. Joya and Bria got to watch a Mickey Mouse clubhouse DVD, and we just waited. Then Bria started literally gassing us out. So much stink from one little girl. The doctor came in and said that the x-rays showed there was no blockage, so they started giving her juice and crackers to see if she could keep them down. She did. All of that was for gas, I'm both embarrassed and relieved to say. My consolation is that it was on the doctor's orders that we went in; I wasn't just being a panicky mom.

Gassing herself out

2. On Thursday morning Bria woke up completely back to normal. All is well. Not even a smidge of stink left.

3. Which brings me to my PSA/Soapbox for the week. As a mom, a nursery director and a babysitter, I feel I need to remind the Mom World to keep their kids home when they are sick. And YES, moms, diarrhea IS sick. I know your kid is much more active when they have lower intestinal issues, as opposed to when they are throwing up, but it is STILL SICK. Last Thursday at our babysitting, a mom dropped off her girl and told me that she had been having "really gross diapers." She said that if she needed a diaper change to call her and she would do it. I'll be honest; I didn't think much of it. But if she had been having those issues, then she was sick. She touched everything in that nursery, and then so did Bria. And Bria still puts stuff in her mouth. I'm very sorry I took Bria to the library on Wednesday morning. I didn't let her play with toys, but we probably shouldn't have been there. My point is, if you have any respect for your fellow mothers, DON'T TAKE YOUR SICK KID AND PUT THEM IN A NURSERY SETTING WITH OTHER KIDS.

4. On the bright side, Joya did AMAZING on Wednesday. She was hungry because all this was going down at lunch time, but she went with the flow. She was patient. She didn't whine. I'm so proud of her.

5. Also, Bria completely missed her nap that day for the first time ever. She did amazing too. She pretty much passed out when I put her to bed at 6:30 that night, but she really handled it like a champ. Which means I don't have to worry about the nap so much. I'll keep it as the main part of our lives, but if there is something we need to do, she can probably handle it.

Looking forward to a weekend filled with 70 degree days!