Insta- Friday November

I want to get back to doing insta Fridays where I sum up the week in pictures. It was such a nice way for me to catalog our Daily lives and capture all the little moments that make life what it is.

Since last week was Black Friday and I shopped all day, this insta Friday is a double header.

Being Thanksgiving it was a slightly busy week. We spent homeschool time focusing on history.

We've been doing an Anerican Indian unit the last couple of weeks tied in with the American Girl book Kaya. This week we learned about the pilgrims and some of the real facts around Thanksgiving. Then we just had fun making hats and crafts ;)









We spent watching the Macys parade and then the dog show while eating pumpkin pancakes. Before we went to Tonys aunts for dinner we had fun making crafts .


Finger print tree











We came home from thanksgiving dinner and kicked off our Christmas movie watching with Holly and Hal moose!


Black Friday we got out to the stores at the bright and early hour of 11 am. We actually got awesome deals still . A $300 camera for $99 at my favorite TARGET, cheap baby dolls and tons of DVD and bluray. Oldnavy scored us the kids Christmas picture outfits for less than $10 per piece !

We stopped for lunch at eat n park where Layla kept standing up in the booth saying "watch my booty watch my booty" cracking us all up...






Black Friday is also our tree decorating day. I wanted it up early this year but Tony refused and I didn't find the time to haul it piece by heavy piece from the attic myself.

We got it up friday night but were too tired to decorate :(

Saturday night we finally got around to decorating - but not before I broke an ornament opening the first tote.


The Christmas season isn't official in this house until an ornament breaks...

We decorate the tree every year with Elf on in the background. The movie is pretty much the running background soundtrack for the season for us. . Layla enjoyed the ornaments. Surprisingly she didn't break any and only tore a few off. So far it's going better than I thought with her maximum toddler terrorist mode.













Ella gets bored easily and bounced between cackling at elf and helping decorate. She has a great laugh where when she's genuinely amused shell just bust out a loud short giggle. It's so full of joy that you can't help but laugh with her. Needless to say, Will Ferrel in yellow tights is an effective catalyst for her joyful giggles.



Laci seems so old this year. It seems every family activity we do highlights this sad fact. She was very studious in her ornament placing and pretty much did it all as tony fished them out of boxes and I put hooks in them. She was more one of us than the little kids. Makes me sad.













Is anyone surprised my tree is covered in Disney ornaments?
















Decorating was hard work or this tiny elf!

Normally the Elves would have come the day the tree went up, but I was too darn tired. So they came the Night we decorated. Layla stays up so late now that I'm exhausted by the time she nods off so me/clean/random other things time has ceased to exist. This is going to make Elfing a challenge this year which is why their appearance was so lame.


They hopped on our counter at one thirty am in the downstairs bathroom and hastily scrawled a message on the mirror .





This is the only stupid bathroom mirror picture you'll see of me. I hate those. Can someone please explain the need of girls to snap pictures in every grimy Walmart and McDonald's cess pool bathroom they This isn't supposed to be of me anyway its their message.

They declare that Christmas season has begun and wrote their names. Yay. Also Scouty is apparently dyslexic as he always writes S backwards and sometimes c .. It's the details... The reindeer, Randall threw some chocolate coins on the counter . Last year they found out he likes them and he ended up getting their whole stash, so he was repaying the favor. Tony apparently found the scene lackluster and through purple glitter all over them.... Yay... So fun to clean.

I'm going to have to up my game. It's going to be a long Christmas season if Layla doesn't start to sleep like a normal human.
Sunday night I completely forgot to move the stupid things because it was an awful long day. I didn't even make it home from the morning church service and was there from 11- -almost 11 pm with a one hour lunch break and half hour Walmart run. Elves were not on my mind when I got home!

I panicked Monday Morning sitting on the couch with tony when the girls came down and yelled about what the elves did. Before I could blow my cover and make an awful on the spot excuse for them still being on the sink, they started yelling about stockings. Luckily tony saw them and stuck them in stockings as sleeping bags under the tree. Marriage is a partnership people.





Scouty is safe from human hands in the stocking but that soon changed. Much shrieking was heard and it turned out Layla was and kept touching Scouty McWinkerbean . Humans touching him makes his magic go out of him leaving him unable to fly to the North Pole . They freaked. So I had to come up with a plan.

I texted Santa (tony) and he text back that some magic elf dust would arrive from the North Pole and they had to sprinkle Scouty before midnight. Because I don't have enough to do.

The girls checked the door every fifteen minutes and finally around 10:30 I managed to throw together a Christmassy lookin package of glitter inside a Christmas ornament on sparkly red yarn and they soon found it hanging from our door.








It must have worked because the next Morning they found the Christmas crew with a Christmas light bound grinch, bluray grinch set and a note declaring he wouldn't steal Christmas while they're around.




Tuesday I crafted with my bestie while laci carted her son around on her back. He just finally got to come home being adopted from Uganda in the last month but it feels like he's always been here- he acts like it too! He's so funny, love my new nephew!











Laci had an impromptu field trip to the fire station- benefits of having an aunt dating a fire fighter. Thanks Leigh anne and zach!




Scouty drew faces on all our pictures!




She is starting to pass out on the couch. Praying she is transitioning into bit needing me so much to sleep.





Scouty got all fancy and zip lined across the dining room Wednesday night!







I made some Christmas crafts Thursday night while I was childless and decorated some.


These are ornaments I made from rose petals from flowers from Tony. Aw<3

I had gone to put El Blu ray in while I crafted and discovered I had two! So the bestie gets a benefit for my forgetfulness as he shares an affinity for elf culture I'm passing the extra copy to her.


Scouty kept it low key Thursday night and started the find the Christmas pickle tradition. We've never done it but I thought it would be fun and Ella found this awesome pickle ornament at fabulous Target.



All this and it isn't even December! I love Christmas time! It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!!

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So now what...

I cried tonight.

Never have I ever cried over an election- not even the first time Obama was elected.
I clearly saw who and what he was from the start. I took him at his word that he would "fundamentally transform America" and not in the positive way the screaming masses of the uneducated believed. I knew his plan was not one of strengthening America but instead to bring her to her knees.

Still, I didn't cry.

I even watched the inauguration with a baby Ella in my arms. I remember the moment thinking she will be five when we possibly have a decent president again. What fundamental change will this great nation undergo in the first four years of her life? What future is she inheriting.

Tonight I sat for hours after weeks of reading poll speculation. I started the evening with cautious excitement having fallen hard for an unlikely candidate. I felt such hope well up listening to Governor Romney. I felt a renewed confidence in America . I watched as he dominated debates and won over the undecided.

All this bolstered my hope for some peace and relief. Hope that while it was going to be a long road to recovery - America would be turned around in January and started down that path. Hope that we would be free from fear of an out of control President who sees no need for Constitution nor Congress and spends whatever energy that is not expelled on a golf course or basketball court in trampling the former under foot and circumventing the latter with Czars and executive order abuses. Hope that came from the possibility of dismantling the crippling curse of obamacare from the nations economy and freedom from sub par socialized medicine with medical decisions being made in Washington Dc by incompetent beurocracy.
Freedom from the fear that perhaps we have a tyrant occupying the hallowed halls of our White House who has already issued executive orders trampling our rights and freedoms. Hope that "hope and change" that came with this man would be replaced with real change and real hope and future.

I sat tonight with a growing migraine, sick stomach and dizzyness through the entire vote counting. As things went from close to unravelling- my nerves peaked in their dishevelment. Once Ohio was called the tears fell.

Not a sob. Just drops escaping the tenseness of my body.

Ella came out to the couch and sat by me and I couldn't help but remember that inaugural day when I was fearful and apprehensive yet determined that four years of bad leadership- even the worst and most dangerously progressive four years could be undone in the next election.

She sat beside me tonight and as I remembered that day tears fell a bit harder.

She will have just turned nine when our new president is sworn in (if there are still elections and term limits then) - the same age as my oldest daughter. To me , viewed in these terms ,this is a monumental range of time . What evil can be perpetrated upon our great land in that span?

And so I cried. And my mascara ran. And my 2 year old toddler- unnerved by my quiet tears- assured me she liked me.

I didn't cry the first time he was elected so why now.

Aside from the loss of hope of a Romney presidency and the crushing blow of realization that the damning changes made this term are not to be undone in the next but only Built upon and surely with frighteningly more extreme additions as this being his last election he will have "more flexibility" as he told Putin. But perhaps I cried for the people of this nation.

The first time around the media failed us, as it did again, to expose the man for what he is. The general population couldn't be held responsible for vetting a candidate on their own. We naively still held faith in the press.

The general public couldn't fully be blamed for getting caught up in the hype of the fresh new face and the excitement at the potentiality of the first black president while ignoring his transparently anti American ideals and promises.

But this time, THIS TIME we know who he is - even though some still deny. His policies have led us down a dark, dangerous path to destruction.

We look the other way as he signs away our rights keeping us from unlawful detainment.

We applaud his deference as he bows to our enemies- literally and figuratively.

We ignore the scandals: fast and furious, Ben ghazi, lies in the health care bill, borrowing from china meanwhile giving free cell phones to people too lazy to get a job even when the economy is good.

Then we vote him in again.

What has become of this nation. Have we really become a people who would rather be falsely lulled into submission by a tyrannical government tossing us morsels of "free" health care , "free" birth control, "free phones" while handing over our FREEdom?

Today it seems to be true and the ever wise Ben Franklin was correct

"When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

I dont know. I fear that is where we are headed but all is not lost.

Even as I wiped mascara stains from my face I felt a peace come over me.

My shortness of breath, migraine, dizziness and upset stomach that had accompanied for hours while I watched the election and relied on my own abilities to cope suddenly lifted from me as a peace that can only come from God- the creator of the universe- gently reminded me all was not lost.

"

we do not mourn like those who do not have hope "
- 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Now I know the first part mentions about not being ignorant about those who "sleep" indicating died. And that was the first thing I thought as this verse continually came to mind until I realized I was in fact mourning.

I was mourning the loss of the hope I had in a Romney presidency undoing the deeds of the last four years.

I was mourning the Loss of faith in my fellow Americans to look beyond themselves and putting the needs of a nation in crisis first, looking past party lines, past lies and hollow promises.

I was mourning the excitement and optimism that swelled in the conservative ranks the last few months.

I was mourning.

But in that realization peace replaced my mourning.

Resolve replaced defeat.

Hope in a man and fellow Americans was replaced with hope In the only one who deserves hope for he holds it in His hands.

All seemed Lost, all hope dashed
and then

There. Was. God.

Tonight is a severely disappointing set back on the road to recovery, the path to saving America.

But it's just that - a set back.

We Are. Not . Done.

America is a shining beacon to the world.

God didn't not form this republic for it to only crumble to irrelevance in such a crucial time in history.

He is not done with us yet and If that is true not even Barack Hussein Obama in all his Marxist might can completely unravel this country .

It will not be easy. The road is long and hard . It was always going to be - even with Romney.

What we lost tonight was not all hope. We didn't lose America tonight .
What we lost was the easier path. The chance to take a breather after four long years of vigilance and voices crying in the wilderness that the compliant media has created by not reporting the truth.

Now is not the time to fall back in defeat but the time to regroup with renewed strength and press on.

I believe we are in a time of transition - and not the one our newly elected now more flexible progressive leader has in mind.

We the people have been an entitled, lazy sleeping mass who has allowed enemy to infiltrate.

We've ignored God in our excess and blessing.

We've taken for granted the sacrifices of many as we've feasted on the rewards bought by their blood.

It seems now it is time for us to pay our dues.

Our complacency, apathy and ignorance have led us far off course .

We are about to wake up from our sleep to find ourselves still stuck in this long national nightmare of the Obama regime.

I believe these next four years are going to be used to fully awaken our fellow Americans to the reality of what we have created in order to undo decades of damage.

I believe in this time we will see people turning back to God, because of the adversity we will face, back to the Constitution in the wake of lost freedoms and back to the real America in the face of danger of losing it.

We could have had this easily had we been willing to do a little work, educate ourselves And rise to action.

The road we've chosen is harder but not impossible.

It will cost us more initially - but in the end we will triumph because this still IS a great nation.

The American spirit is alive and well and will not stand for tyranny.

Please do not lose hope or fall into hate and bitterness over this election. Those will only serve to destroy you.

Instead let us all find a new resolve, let us stick our courage to the sticking place and press on to turn the country around - taking back what was lost in the last four years - refusing to stand by watching more be taken while we sheepishly hand it over.

This is still America. God is still God. All hope is not lost.


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Falling Stars and Fleeting Moments

Tonight I got my kids out of bed at midnight. Sadly they were still awake anyway.

Tonight was the prime viewing for the Perseid meteor shower.

I sound all brilliant and scientific using the proper name for the meteor shower but truth be told I found out about based on Facebook statuses...

I gathered up my two oldest kids, while daddy and baby slept, made some Keurig hot chocolate ( they associate with special events like watching Once Upon A Time with me , reading Sessions of the Kingdom Keepers books) and out we went .

Living on a farm with no street lights for miles definitely provides a benefit on a night like tonight- most every other night it means me being certain that wolves and Sasquatches are lurking just beyond my porch in the shadows...

Because of the attacking Bigfoot nature of the dark landscape and being armed only with gourmet hot chocolate I decided we would view the shower from the safety of our (locked) SUV.

We headed up to the field and not one to out scardey catted, Ella began a slew of questions about "what's that over there " ( it was tombstones. Ack scary answer!! There's a graveyard on our land- for reals :/)




^^actual cemetery on our farm

"are the stars going to fall and catch everything on fire"

Um I hope not...
Thankfully Ella started asking cute questions like
" can we go pick up the stars when they fall mama?"

I decided it was a good time to just talk about things like creation and Said

" You know God put all those stars in their place and knows how many There are"

"mommy how does he know how many"

" he made them, remember the first half of the sentence -made them all; put them into place "

"even the shooting ones?"

"yes"

"well how many are there"

"idk I'm not God"

This went on for awhile until laci and I got into a discussion about Earths placement and I was pretty impressed with what she knew about our solar system.

(she's homeschooled Sooo I totes get credit for teaching her that...)

After our impromptu lesson (the best kind of lesson)

We sipped our hot chocolate and sang along with the praise and worship cd playing ,watching meteors shoot across the sky- singing to the One who placed those very stars in the sky.

Could there be a more perfect mommy/kid moment?

Ella's giant blue eyes lit only by moonlight while she scours the sky looking for shooting stars, her little belly hitting against mine in rhythm to the her humming along to the music when there's no lyrics to sing. Laci leaning forward searching intently for meteors and asking questions about the earth and theology and things far too old for her.










So perfect. And free.

Sometimes I think as parents we try to make moments happen. We will drive hours to go to a special toy store (birthday trip to American girl store Coming up here ), plan elaborate parties, try to orchestrate big events - all to create a moment or a memory.

Meanwhile the best moments are the ones that happen naturally. Our kids, while they may remember special trips to pick out a new doll or the great theme party we threw, I really believe what will stick with them when they're grown and bring a warm smile to their faces are moments like these, impromptu, free - naturally special times spent together.

So let's all take time to lay in the grass and decipher cloud shapes, drink hot cocoa under blanket forts on a rainy day and jump in puddles with our little ones more often.

While the elaborate parties and special trips and special stores are great and memorable- they'll always be there, what will really matter and be missed years from now are all these fleeting moments we overlook and neglect while trying to make "moments" happen.



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Overheard at our house

More of Ella's crazy thoughts. (mostly Ella)

"do Crocodiles really eat chickens?"

At the beach I told her come on we are going to a beach shop.

Ella steps out onto the balcony and yells through the glass sliding door
"mom is this the beach shop?"

"How do puppies give hugs ?"

" am I a muppet?"

Ella looks up from her lunch and randomly and urgently asks "DID YOU ADOPT ME?!"

After she writes a letter for her best friend to mail:

"so, I just shove this in your phone right mom?"

After texting the same friend, she looks into the sky
"I don't see my letters."

Ella comes out in an all neon outfit, purse and sunglasses.

Me :" Ella you look like a teenager"

Ella :" no mom I'm only four"

Pulls tag out of her shirt

"see mom F O U R!"


She found a horse shoe, a really old one which is pretty cool because our farm road was originally part of Braddocks trail...

"mom we really need toget this to a farmer soon"

Laci comes out in a trendy outfit, purse, sunglasses and new shoes with Layla on her hip.

"mom don't I look like a teenager in this outfit... Especially with the baby?"

NO!!
While we were at myrtle beach we ate at a calabash.seafood buffet. They remodeled the downstairs into a big play area for kids, you know because kids get bored during their parents gluttonous feasts. It had a big ship and to play on with mops to swab the deck and all kinds of dress up. One little girl had on a capt outfit and was bossing everyone around very loudly. When she finally left Ella unhooked herself from my leg and looks up won big blue eyes

"mom was that a REAL pirate?"



Swabbing the deck at the behest of the pirate.



^real pirate

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Disney Pre--Trip 2011

We had waited three years since our last visit and after six months of saving, planning and disboards reading the time was here – we were headed to Disney World!

The last time we were at “The World” Laci had just turned 5 and Ella was a tiny 9 month old.  Though she had technically been there before and loved it, waving for the first time in her life (at Pluto) screaming in joy at princesses – for me this was Ellas first “real” trip and I couldn’t have been more excited.

Being a three year old means you are obsessed with all things princesses – especially when you have a princess loving older sister and a room full of princess gowns. A normal day at our house consists of multiple wardrobe changes. I have no idea why I have so many regular clothes for the kids as they spend their days wandering about in renaissancestyle gowns provided by the Disney store.  A princess dress is the uniform of their childhood.

This, I knew, would make this trip special for all of us. I cried everytime thinking of those giant blue eyes lighting up as the castle first came into sight, as she saw Ariel, Cinderella and Belle at the three o clock parade and the sheer joy when she would finally get to meet them and hug them. I knew it was going to be magical.

I was a little worried about Laci – being 8. Our last visit she was 5 and still very much enthralled with all things Disney. And while she still is a Disney-phile, the innocent simple faith of childhood is being washed from her eyes and I worried that she would see through my explanation from our first visit that the “animal “ type characters cannot talk because in our world animals don’t talk but Mickey and friends can talk in the cartoon world just like on the movie Enchanted….

Of course the challenge of having Layla just having her first birthday the day before we departed on our Disney adventure weighed on my mind and kind of dampened a bit of my pre disney excitement. Going to Walmart with these three is a hardship what will 7 days in the World be?  The stress of that thought was pushed aside though as I remembered how much Ella had loved her trip as an even younger baby and I knew that despite being a stroller hater on  a normal day would be provided with enough sensory input in Magic Kingdom to make her endure sitting in a stroller much of the day.  The added task would be entertaining three kids at different ages and excitement level.

The day before we left was sheer chaos. It was Laylas birthday and I was determined to not allow her first  birthday be overshadowed by this trip.  It really already had been as most of my organizing/planning faculties had been directed towards making this trip perfect .  In order to not further push her day into the background I spent the week prior staying up til 4 and  5 am trying to get things ready. In a silly notion I had decided I wanted to make the girls adorable custom Disney outfits  like all the boutiques sell.  Great idea- just not a month out from the trip date. So I had to finish all these things, pack, and of course clean the house top to bottom – because everyone knows the cumpulsory need for a spotless house before vacation.

By the day before we left- Laylas birthday- I was a zombie. A severely behind in her duties zombie. We enjoyed a nice day of cake and presents before Tony left for work.  Instead of packing we put together her cozy coupe car. Madness. 

After running to stores to get last minute supplies for the trip and last minute sewing neccessities –no I had not finished their outfits (or mine and Tony’s costumes. Yes costumes for the parents) but was determined to do so, I came back to finish packing. Did I mention I way over pack. It’s a sickness.

We were travelling from MD to FL with three young kids. I felt we needed ample entertainment.  And snacks. Lots of snacks.  Each girl had at least one big bag of toys. Not to mention the Disney stuffed animals they “had “ to take with them (about 20. I am not lying) in a suitcase, our entire Disney DVD collection along with some other kid movies, a cooler, a huge tote of candy; chips; cookies and general unhealthiness, a new thirty one bag filled with coloring books and art supplies. This was in addition to our several suitcases of clothing – including one full of dress up clothes.

Yes my girls dress daily as princesses in the park. If they want to walk around in itchy organza and a full four layer skirted dress in the oppressive Orlando heat- im going to let them. It makes a great photo.

My husband was ready to kill me as he packed the car –even a roof cargo holder- full. There was just enough room for human occupants as we left- 7 hours later than planned.

I popped in a Newsboys dvd and blasted our travel theme song  with the lyric “everywhere we go that’s where the party’s at” and off we went.

We made it a couple of hours and hit Berkely Springs when Ella asked

“is this Disney?” 

Wow were her expectations low!

Ella’s bladder cooperated with my first Target sighting somewhere in VA. Tony had said no to Target and a little voice yelled “I have to PEE” and mommy said “YES that Target has a bathroom! “ 

After scooping up Great buys on cute clearanced shorts and a flip video camera purchase for me to more easily document my trip and make a fun travel video for us to enjoy we finally made It to our first rest stop- just inside NC.

Rocky mount NC was far far from our planned overnight stay in Savannah GA.

   

Tony was not at all happy.

The next day we left at 10 am – again late and continued the venture. Our destination wasn’t Orlando but The Villages – Floridas friendliest hometown.

We were spending two nights with Tonys grandmother before our Disney extravaganza. We didn’t arrive there til about 10 pm but being that we werent under a reservation for a couple days I really wasn’t stressing on how long it took to get there. Car rides are about the only time tony and I have time to talk.

Did I mention all the toys I packed to entertain the monsters on the 16 hour car ride werent touched?

Nope.

 \The couch potatoes were fully entertained the entire time with dvds. Kind of sad really, but I don’t let them watch much tv at home so I suppose they were making up for it. In all honesty I didn’t care I was just glad there was no crying and tearing out of each others eyes. 

Lesson : $100 for a set of portable DVD players will save you from fights and free up three suitcases worth of room on a long trip. Buy them.

The following day we spent a nice day swimming at the family pool at The Villages , chasing geckos and counting hunreds of golf carts.

They even drive those things to Target and Walmart. Amazing.

  It was nice to visit family and have a  day of down time before our real trip began but the anticipation was mounting. Ella spent her pool time reenacting the Little Mermaid – making me sing the entire score. Thankfully we were the only ones there – aside from one young guy sitting in a cabana pretending to read as I made a fool of myself.

^^ the youngest people in The Villages by about 90 years.

 Pointing out geckos.

 Finding geckos and spying on retirees.

                                                              ^^gecko

                                looking for the elusive outer space geckos

After minnie mouse manicures the girls surprisingly went to sleep without issue.  I on the other hand stayed up gluing rhinestones on their outifits. Its not like I would have slept anyway – I was going to Disney the next day!!!

Still having stayed up til about three I woke ready and eager at 6 am. I am not an early riser but the prospect of Disney will get me moving.

Interested in The Villages ( who wouldn't be with the  peeping tom toddlers and herds of golf carts described in this post?) check out Dwellable for more info!

The Villages on Dwellable

 

Of Keurigs and toddlers

Lessons from today.

If you smell coffee very strongly while cleaning do not take the time to determine whether youhad brewed some and forgot or acquired without knowledge a coffee scented candle knowing your husband would never bring one in the house because he hates the smell of coffee.

Instead immediately find your toddler who has most assuredly bitten through your iced vanilla k cup and sprinkling it throughout the downstairs focusing on the couch.

Do not get distracted while cleaning up this mess and continue to vacuum because it needs done anyway. The coffee wasting toddler will take this glimmer of opportunity to procure yet another precious k cup, bite through it silently and reconstruct the coffee ground masterpiece you have so rudely and unappreciatively sucked up in your dyson exactly as it was before.

You will not get ahead in cleaning, you will instead be out fifteen minutes and two delicious cups of iced coffee goodness .

If your husband offers to get the stupid k cup holder when buying you a keurig never refuse, rationalizing that you have plenty of unused drawers in your kitchen. Kitchen drawers provide ample opportunities for mischief for unruly toddlers who hate to see you get ahead.

Never believe you can get your entire house clean with kids still living with you.

Never try to clean with a toddler at home without siblings or other supervision. The more you clean- the messier your house will become.

Instead , Be smart. Instead of cleaning brew an iced coffee and sit down and watch a real housewives marathon.

Coffee in your mouth is better than coffee in your couch.




^^^^ destructive force packaged in adorability . Be advised.



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Overheard at our house

Ella: "Daddy what are those balls on your arms?"
Tony "muscles."
"what do they look like when they aren't balls"
"long and skinny"
"oh like bacon!!"

Layla from upstairs with the sound of a door opening and closing ,probably the dryer door
"Kitty kitty stuck "


Tony "Layla did u put cat in the Dryer"

Dryer door opens and slams

"Kitty meow kitty stuck"
"kitty kitty ouchy kitty meow !!"

Door opens; cat flies downstairs.

Pretty sure it was in the dryer


Ella staring puzzled at her partially empty plate:
"where is all the food I ate?!"



I served the kids soup for lunch. Lacis bowl was hot so i sat it on a plate .
Ella: "Why does laci get to eat like a princess?"

She looks over at Layla who is eating her noodles off a paper plate with her hands :

"yay Layla gets to eat like a maid"


Me:
"you're quite the little farm girl Ellie"

Ella:

"Do farm girls have lots of stuff- bc I don't want to be like an orphanage"

As she tucks an iPod into her skirt...

Random Ella

"I want togive a horse a knife"

?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!!??!?!!

Ella
"How do people get in commercials? jump through tv?"
Starts running.

Me "Ella dont run at the tv"

Ella
"but I want to be a star!"



Layla is holding a cat near her head.

Ella: " Cats are not hats"



Ella after being sent to her room for a tantrum, calms and comes back down declaring

"mom, I'm in the best mood I could find"


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Another Disney Day

I want to start posting my trip report for Disney day segments , but alas it's on my computer and I have no wifi access on the farm (yes I know I say that a lot) so it takes some planning.

Instead I have a small bit of advice and some pictures.

Always buy your child a costume at Disney, if they want one. You will never be disappointed in the smiles and joy that comes from seeing your child dressed as their favorite character. They are pricey but well worth it and the price is well worth it because they hold up for years of play as opposed to department store ones that really aren't that much cheaper.

And they bring moments like this:




























Worth of every cent....

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Overheard in the Carey house

While eating lunch.

Ella: "are we training after this Laci?"

Me:" training for what "

Ella : (singing) "Kung Fu Panda. Legends of AWESOMENESS"

Later that night on the way home from picking up chinese.

Ella: what's for dinner for me
Me: chicken Lo mein
Ella: Chicken lemonade?
me: lo mein
Ella:singing again- chicken lemonade oh lo lo lo
All the while Layla is chanting "fry fry fry fry fry" because she recognized the Golden Arches for the first time.

Tony: We need to have a serious conversation about driving to Florida.

Also all in the same night Ella made the connection that all new foods must first be eaten at Disney world. It stemmed from a conversation about Laci saying carrot cake is gross but after a forced bite at Pecos Bills in Magic Kingdom she loved it.

So later that night when Laci announced that she had tried snow peas before and did not like them Ella asks

So you tried snow peas at Disney world right laci"

I love how her little mind works.

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What big eyes you have

Laci is such a talker and she is a bit controlling, taking over conversations and situations here which means I don't get to really hear Ella and her thoughts much.

A couple week I had a rare opportunity where Laci was at a friends and I picked Ella up from her sleep over with her bestie- alone.

On the way home she indulged me in many tales. I asked her how the play date was and she informed it was fun of course and they had spent that day with her friend's granmother and that they went on a walk in the woods which she did not want to go on.

"well how did it go ?"

"turned out alright "

"oh yeah how so"

"you know, no snakes, no bears, no big bad wolves"

I love her and perspective.
No big bad wolves, what more could a girl ask for?





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Bringing history to life

Last week I was fed up with the kids taking forever to clean. Going slow for no reason. They have yet to learn I won't do it for them, it's not going away and if you hurry up and do it you're free to do what you wish.

I had no more motivators so I declared no one would get lunch until they finished. It was a task that could be done within a half hour so no one was going to starve.

Later that week we were doing our history lesson with the girls and we were discussing Jamestown. It got to a part where the colony was failing because of lazy sluggards who were taking advantage of the communal aspect, not working but eating the fruits of others labors. (too much welfare anybody???)

And so things had to change :

"he who does not work, will not eat" - Capt John Smith Jamestown

Tony (who was not home for the playroom lunch deal, or the clean bedroom lunch deal which later transpired due to the success of the playroom deal) said
"see and you think we are mean!"

To which Laci simply replied:

"Mommy belongs in Jamestown"


Just doing my part to bring history to life.

"He who does not work, will not eat"

I think I'll get this made into a sign. It's quite effective.



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And the three princesses saved the kingdom from the momm ydragon

Having three kids is tough. Having three kids home all day everyday is fodder for insanity. Throw in rare opportunities for them to be babysat- I get spread thin.

Thank God they're cute.

And creative.

After a particularly daunting week- for no other reason other than it just was, I had just about waved the flag of surrender.

Then imagination kicked in.

Theirs not mine.

Ella came out and handed me these papers.






They were her catalog of hairstyles to choose from. Apparently I had a hair appointment.

But not just from anyone.

I had a Royal Princess to do my style.



And with hair like that, surely she must be an expert.

After rapunzel finished my hair with a myriad of bobbled and ribbons, the doorbell rang. Expecting Tony dropping off lunch I opened the door- and saw a man who was not mu husband, hair full of random barrettes and wild ribbons. Hooray.(sorry no pictures)

After my embarrassing porch encounter with a surprisingly straight faced man confirming which trees he was supposed to trim for the electric company, Ella gave me a show.

And never one to miss out on attention- Layla joined in.






Here she is pre wig literally stealing ellas thunder.

We all sang along to the Tangled soundtrack. A break from reality into fairytale world was just what I needed.

And they all lived happily ever after.... For a few hours anyway.

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Whimsy - not the kind you buy on Etsy

Ella is whimsy.

She is not whimsical- she is whimsy personified. And I love it.

Her wild hair, her giant sparkling blue eyes, whispy frame of a body. She is whimsy.

Of course her personality also. Obviously that is where the whimsy lives.

And her style.




Oh to be not be self conscious and to think Mermaid tales were appropriate shopping attire.

I nearly made her change to matching flip flops, but when one is wearing a Mermaid Tail does footwear matter?


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I love you too

We've waited for months since Layla started talking, jabbering even, we've tried to get her to say it probably daily only for her to not even try. She's said words like princess and Cinderella, complicated I'd say for any baby tongue but one phrase that seems so easy to us apparently was to hard to even attempt to her- love you.

Last night she finally said it :) I was organizing the masses of clothes we have(three small fashionistas) and switching out seasons. Ella opened my bedroom door and said "I love mommy"
Then Layla, always trying to be like her sisters said " I wub mommy"

Yay! It was so exciting and for the next half hour I tried to get her to repeat it. Most of the time she skipped the best part opting for "I mommy" . I know what she meant so I still count it. She threw in some "I daddy" also.

She's growing so much and has the craziest little baby personality. She laughs so hard you can't help but be caught up in it. Before the I love yous, last night she spent a half hour laughing at a meow mix commercial. I had to keep rewinding it, but it was worth because as soon as the two cats came on she would lose it.

She loves her sisters and yells for them all day long. Her face just lights up when they take her off to play. She will look back at us as she is carried off with the proudest smile.

She runs all day from room to room tearing apart whatever she can find. It drives me crazy because I can never keep everything clean, but there will be days for that later. Now all I can do is laugh at her toddler insanity and pick up what I can while she tears apart something right behind me.

She's a little snuggle bunny and really drains me since she still nurses like a four month old. She gets upset anytime I'm up being productive and ive figured out it's because I'm less accessible to her. She likes to lead me to the couch and try to push me down on it. The message is clear- I'm expected to sit on the couch all day so I'm available to be climbed on and hold her at a moments notice. Now if she could just arrange for a maid to clean her messes, I'd gladly comply to the compulsive couch sitting.

She's such special fun little girl with funny quirks like listing all day family members and pointing out eyes on everything (all we hear lately is eye , eye , eye) we love her so much. So good to finally hear her say the same.




" why aren't you sitting where I put you"

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