Per Adrienne

Adrienne is really saying some funny things these days. Because of Jillian's Wizard of Oz obsession, Adrienne is well-versed in the ways of the wicked witch. You may recall that the famous line from the movie is, "I'll get you my pretty....and your little dog, too!!" Well, I have heard Adrienne taunting Jillian with her own version of the warning: "I'm gonna get you little girl....and I want your puppy!"

And today, we put up our Christmas tree. Matt was the master of ceremonies and he handed out ornaments one at a time, so that everyone got to put an equal amount on the tree. Often, he had the girls close their eyes and hold out their hands to see what kind of 'surprise' ornament would be given to them. Adrienne was delighted to open her eyes and discover a fun kid ornament, but her response took us by surprise: "Oh wow! Look! A potty treat!"

We call it an M&M, Adrienne, but you DO know it as a potty treat!

We have a potty treat on our Christmas tree!

LIttle Blessings

It is true that I find the girls to be quite a handful most of the time these days. They are busy, full of spirit, energy, independence, and desire to strongly assert themselves in most all situations. This week (probably as a result of the upcoming holiday, and all the thankful themes that permeate every blog, story, or devotion I read) I have really been trying to let some of it go--to take a few deep breaths, let them be little, try to keep my cool, and just be thankful that I have these children. To be thankful they are healthy. To be thankful they are smart. To be thankful they love each other, and want to play together. To be thankful for the slimy kisses. To be thankful for the paper scraps all over the floor after a creative burst of energy. To be thankful for the little hands clinging to and pinching my legs as I try to cook dinner. To be thankful for the innocence of their minds and the purity of their hearts. To be thankful for the joyful noise that threatens to make my head explode most days. To be thankful for their questions. Oh, the endless questions. To be thankful for the Cheerios I step on multiple times a day. To be thankful for the expression of personality in wildly mismatched outfits. To be thankful for orneriness that ends up making me giggle. To be thankful for Jillian. To be thankful for Adrienne. Thank you, God, for these beautiful little blessings.

And sleep. I am thankful for the sweet peace of slumber.

Matt took the girls out for some errands and a trip to Chuck E Cheese today so I could have some alone time to get some holiday cooking done (add this to my thankful list!). They came home with a new little friend. We may not be eating turkey at our house this year (5 weeks until the pescetarian/vegetarian year ends....everyone better get out of my way at Newt's on New Year's Eve. Nothing will stand between me and my marvin's burger. Nothing.), but we still have turkey in 'da house! Happy Thanksgiving from all three of the little turkeys!

We were about to watch a rest time movie, hence the pajamas. Jillian insists all movies be watched in pajamas, even if they are seasonally inappropriate. I think it slightly ironic that while turkey is not part of our thanksgiving feast this year, the cute little crabs on the pajamas just happen to be....it's a low country Thanksgiving over here, y'all.

Glamping

Matt bought a tent about a year ago with the intent of taking Jillian camping. They planned to start out in the backyard, and thought they could work their way up to a local campground with friends (because Mommy doesn't camp!). It always seems that time and weather get in the way, but tonight, the tent was erected in the playroom, along with a pretty cushy air mattress. Jillian got out her sleeping bag and hauled her beloved blanket and stuffed animal (and the picture on her bedside table--the one of her and her dear departed goldfish, Dorothy) into the cushy space they created. I suppose this would be more aptly termed "glamping".

Waiting for Dad to get downstairs. Check out the hot pink picture frame close to her head. She is really good with simulating details.

Soon they were in place, with lights out (and lantern on) and the featured film on the iPAD rolling: The Wizard of Oz. As a side note, Jillian begged to watch this movie last weekend. We (I) hesitated because I am still scared of the Wicked Witch of the West, and I was sure she would be too. Matt decided we should watch it, and Jillian was enamored. Adrienne watched most of it, too, and thought it was hilarious. I guess this is just an example of how we shouldn't project our own current or past fears on our kids. The game of the week has been "good witch, bad witch" (which I guess is a little girl's version of Good Cop, Bad Cop?), and we have already had lengthy discussions about a family Wizard of Oz-themed Halloween costume next year (with Jillian assigning roles, of course). End of side note.

The campers requested some snacks about midway through their movie, so I just ran down to deliver popcorn, M&Ms, and peanuts. Looks like they are having fun!

Matt is such a good dad

North Americans

I got a kick out of the explanation that went along with this little project Jillian brought home from school. "Mom, this is me as a North American. You know, those people who were with the pilgrims on the first Thanksgiving"

Um, you mean the Native Americans?

"Yep, I'm a North American!"

My little "North" American

Thankful

A crafty mom I am not. But, I have a craft-loving 5 year old, so every now and then I manage to get my act together and do something "not boring" (meaning something outside of 'just' coloring) for her. I have seen the idea for a 'thankful tree' on Pinterest for many years now, and knew that I finally had a kid old enough to appreciate the activity and to fully participate in reflecting on things she is thankful for. So, after school today I surprised my crafter with the activity and she was over the moon. I was blown away by the depth of her responses. At first, we focused on thinking of four things we were especially thankful for.

Jillian is thankful for:

Top to bottom: God, warm clothes, light, and Adrienne (tear in my eye over this one)

Adrienne is thankful for:

Princess Sofia and a cozy bed (pretty sure she heard Jillian rattle that one off in the car as we were talking about this, but props to her for retaining the idea). 

After Jillian's original four, she requested to do more. We ended up with thankful "leaves" for teachers, cat (when I reminded her that we don't have one, she said she is thankful for Grammy's cat, Urban), Dad, a bed, friends, and "someone who takes care of me that starts with an 'M'"--that's me!

Our thankful tree

In case you were wondering, Mom and Dad also participated. Jillian nearly knocked Matt over as he came through the door excited to tell him about this activity. She was bursting with curiosity about what he would write on his leaves. 

Love seeing that sweet 5 year old penmanship mixed in with the grown up writing.

Lost

Adrienne, Adrienne, Adrienne. Where have you gone? How I miss you so. I really feel like you are lost. Not literally, of course, but I can't find my sweet-natured baby anywhere. All we see is a 2 year old creature who continues to regress in potty training (after ANOTHER poop-meets-hands-and-toys episode at "rest time" today, you are now officially in diapers full time again. No pull ups, no underwear, no potty treats, nothing. I'm ALL done, and over being played a fool. Desperate times call for desperate measures!) and who will fight us with all her might (kicking, screaming, hitting, flailing) to get in the car, refuse to come to the table, put pajamas on at bedtime, etc. It literally took your dad and I 10 minutes and all 4 of our hands to get you diapered and dressed after bath time tonight.  You scream when we pray at dinner in loud protest (I cannot figure out why, other than you don't like Jillian to sing), and your response to my allowing you to walk mostly anywhere (which is what I thought you wanted) is to throw yourself on the ground and scream "Carry me, Mom! Carry me, Mom!" over and over and over and over. We are totally drained and totally exasperated (not to mention flabbergasted) by this continued personality morph. It's really similar to what one might expect in a toddler who just gained a baby sibling--except you are NOT in this position (and WILL NOT be in this position). Seriously, where are you? Can we stop this madness already? You have officially given 'ornery' a new meaning. Even Jillian, your highly spirited sister, asks, "What are we going to do about Adrienne?!?"  We. Are. All. Stumped.

Moments Are Memories

Sometimes I pause from all the hurriedness and frazzled feelings and behavior management, and I am able to capture and appreciate some really sweet moments that I hope will be memories for the girls. A couple from this last week....


Matt worked a double shift on Tuesday, which meant he wouldn't be home until about midnight. It was super cold, rainy, and I hadn't adjusted to the darkness of standard time yet, so I decided the girls and I would stop at our favorite, Pi Pizza, for dinner immediately following swimming lessons. This meant we ate at 4:30. As we were eating I paged Matt and asked if he had eaten yet, and since he hadn't, we decided we would spontaneously deliver him a salad and pizza. Jillian requested to make him a picture--and while I had crayons in my purse, I didn't have any paper. So, we improvised, and we decorated his pizza box to make a truly original delivery to our favorite guy.

The pigtails on Adrienne just kill me. I can barely take it.

On Wednesday, we were spontaneously invited to Culver's for a post-school ice cream treat with Ella and Chloe. All four girls were so precious together--eating ice cream and cooperatively finding pictures in a seek-and-find book that Ella brought.

Adrienne wears her amulet EVERYWHERE she goes.

I think Jillian looks so mature with her hair pulled back like this (for the record, it was braided like Little Red Riding Hood's is in her fairy tale book. Her shirt was red with a hood, so therefore she was Little Red Riding Hood on this day).

When I Grow Up.....

Jillian's class studied jobs all month, and to top off all the career exploration, each child got to dress up like what they want to be when they grow up. Jillian surprised me (because she's done nothing but insist she will be an apple picker someday) when she declared that she wants to be a chef! I was thankful for that easy costume, especially since I didn't find out until the night before that this was happening (teacher had an e mail glitch and didn't know that her emails weren't getting to the parents). While I didn't have a chef hat, Jillian agreed that we should pull her hair back because a chef wouldn't want her hair to get in the food (nice save on my part, right?). When I picked her up from school she was so excited to tell me about everyone. I asked her to stop until we got home because the commentary was too good and I wanted to write all this down. She went through every single kid without stopping. I had to write fast.

-"Austin was a construction worker."

-"Jonah was a Twins baseball player, how can I forget all these words?"

-"Silas was a triath-a-lete. That's someone who swims, bikes, and runs."

-"Veronica was an artist. I'm a REAL artist because I draw a lot of pictures and write lots of words."

-"Um, OK. I'm thinking who was sitting next to Logan.....Logan was a circuit designer. They make the 'lectricity work. I think he just want to be that when he grows up. they figure out how TVs work and that the lights work and everything that is light works. Get it, Mom?"

-"Ella was a vet. She REALLY REALLY wants to be a vet."

-"Payton was a doctor. But she forgot her stuff at daycare and her mom ran back and got it."

-"EmmaClaire was an ontologist." (insert my puzzled look here) "You know, someone who finds bones." I asked her if she meant a paleontologist--"Yes, thank you."

-"Gavin wants to be a builder, too, but he didn't bring his costume. I think they didn't know that it was dress up day. I think Gavin forgot to tell his mom, but it's OK. We still know what he wants to be."

"Oh there's one more! Me! I was a chef. So you can remember that I was a chef. I really really want to be a chef."

At the end of the conversation I asked her which costume was her favorite....

"Um....the tri-ath-a-lete. Because I think tri-ath-a-lete is fun a little. Because I love to swim, bike, and run. I love all those things!"

My little chef after school with her apron, bowl, and wooden spoon.

The Uns

Girls, your dad and I have decided to affectionately give you new nicknames. Collectively, you are "The Uns". Separately, we have Ungrateful (Jillian) and Uncooperative (Adrienne). These seem to be the themes we are dealing with these days, and so in spirit of your love of fairytales/princesses, we liken you to a couple of Snow White's dwarfs.  A couple of examples....

Ungrateful, you threw a fit on Sunday as we pulled up to Target because I said "no" when you asked if you could pick out a new coloring book. I reminded you that you just had a birthday and a party the day before, and you said "But no one bought me a coloring book, and we have NONE". I'd like to remind you that we have at least 40 in the craft closet. It's embarrassing, really. You also told me that you "only got 3 presents" at the party. It seems you have already forgotten that you actually got SIX, not to mention the gazillion presents you got from everyone in our family in the few days prior. I'm about to send all of them to kids who really need them, and I will do it if you continue to tell me that everything I take you to do is "boring".  You have so much to be thankful for. Let's be done with this drama, OK?

Uncooperative, you threw the hugest fit of your life in the bathtub on Saturday night after Ungrateful's party. You were absolutely beyond reason and unmanageable (and lucky you didn't land yourself a head injury in the bathtub with all your thrashing). Your dad was stunned. Secretly I was glad that he witnessed what has become the norm for you, because now he no longer thinks I'm crazy. On Sunday, you got your Pull-Up (I'd say panties, but we all know you decided you don't want 'em) in a wad over some buttons on your sweater that you wanted me to button. I buttoned the buttons to close the sweater, but the two decorative buttons on the pockets are not buttonable. At this moment we were standing at the check in of this new church we've been trying and you threw a most disastrous fit that caused me to want to flee and never return. You absolutely refused to enter the room after this point and could not recover. Your "consequence" was that you got to sit on my lap throughout the sermon because I had already dropped Ungrateful off at her class and she thinks this is the "best church EVER". I didn't need two fits to prove my awesome mothering abilities to all church attendees. When we got home you told your dad "I went to the music time with Mommy and then we got Jillian." You made sure to snuggle me and overtly kiss me about 75 times while in church and had everyone around us ooh-ing and ahh-ing over your adorableness. Apparently, none of these people were in earshot of the church during your fit. And, your resistance to getting in the car is really getting old and about breaks my arm every time I have to muscle your writhing, screaming body into the carseat. Can we be done with this ridiculousness, please?

I am only surviving by the grace of God and my good sense of humor. You are both lucky you are cute.

Royal Party

After careful consideration of her options (large party somewhere that does all the work, a special trip to the MOA with one friend, or a small party at home), Jillian decided she just had to have "a drop off party at our house. At  night. With dinner. And with princesses". To be honest, I was REALLY hoping for a Chuck E Cheese or RAC party or something because that would have equaled ZERO work for me. But we try to make birthdays extra special, so the idea was born. We decided on "A Royal Party" (not just princesses) because there would end up being boys involved and my little party planner and I got to work. She had some grand ideas that I needed to reign in a bit (one of which was the idea of 5 special princess dresses--you know, costume changes throughout the 2 hours), and required frequent reality checks. In the end, she had a great party with 6 guests (3 sibling sets), and the wildest 2 hours that Matt and I have ever chaperoned to date....8 kids and 2 adults was pretty nuts. Bless the people who live that life. Without further ado, here are the highlights of the royal engagement!

Sofia the First manhandling Cinderella

"Come on, Cinderella, look at the queen when she takes your picture"

The princess of honor was Sofia The First

Kiwi Crate wand kits--party activity and favor

Daddy putting the Sofia balloon out of reach

The Lovely Cinderella

Beautiful Sofia

Jillian was pretty surprised to see me come out for the party in my queen costume. All hail The Queen Mum!

The first two guests arrive--Princess Rebekah and Prince Max (self-termed "The Red Prince"). Love the photobomb by Jillian.

We colored some Sofia themed pictures while we waited for others.

Do you see The King in the kitchen?

Sir William makes his grand entrance

The Fairy Princess, Rachel, arrives

The King and Queen

We began with the wand kits. 

Careful concentration

Princess Ella, Princess Jillian and The Red Prince

Love Will's face here.

Then we moved onto princess masks.

I got the boys bat masks...I don't know of any royal bats, but it made for happy boys.

Princess Ella and her sister Princess Chloe

What crazy party is complete without a pinata? I did my best to fill the castle pinata with things other than candy (since we were 2 days post Halloween), but they still got a fair dose of sugar. 

The least dangerous pinata buster we could find was one of Matt's juggling pins. Still made me nervous.

Scrambling for treats.

Thankful for dinner time--pizza

Soon it was time for cake! Jillian requested a Sofia the First cake--I think I did a pretty good job.

Satisfied customer

The Queen with her creation

Looks good enough to eat. I love this series of pics.

I love how Ella mimics the candle-blowing with her lips

Say "Birthday"!

We don't usually let our kids open the gifts during their party, but we had about 15 minutes left and it seemed like a reasonable way to fill the time.

I see you back there trying to rest on the job, my king.

All talk of wildness aside, the kids were all well behaved and I think they had a good time. All royalty were sent promptly to bed post party...the king and queen were tired from the festivities!!