New Portraits

I was cleaning out my wallet recently and realized that my Sears Portrait Club was about to expire. So I called this morning and we went this afternoon - at nap time. Lila is the furthest thing possible from cooperative during pictures. That is not an understatement. She does not have a future in modeling like her sister. The photographer was training (great), but she got some good pictures. It wasn't until after the sitting that Lila needed to visit the ladies lounge (aka - spanking zone) with her mommy. Temper tantrums in Sears don't make me happy. We did manage to get our behavior under control and shopped for some back to school shoes for Emma, who knows how to behave perfectly in the mall.

If I feel inspired, maybe the four of us will go all together before my membership is up. I may need a drink that night!

Jumping For Joy

Hooray! Our new trampoline pads finally came today. Emma was given our trampoline for her 3rd birthday by our good friends Adam and Courtney. That trampoline has seen a lot of jumping in the last five years, but the old blue pads were in bad shape. Ryan ordered new green ones - ooh, pretty! They make our backyard eyesore look so much better, not to mention no one will lose a finger on the exposed springs! The girls are thrilled!!!

Projects

We received two bags of wonderful hand-me-downs for Emma last night. The bad news - that means an entire day of cleaning out her existing drawers and closet, trying everything on, sorting into piles for our friends and Lila, and folding and hanging all of the stuff we decided to keep. We worked all day and I feel that the task is under control now. But now I have a new project...undo the damage Lila has done without supervision.
She apparently poured the bottle of Emma's earring cleaning solution over her head and then followed that up with lots of lotion rubbed into her scalp with a washcloth. This picture is after her bath, but before her clothes. See, sometimes she just plays nicely.

Shopping Adventure

It's a cold and rainy week here, so today we decided to go shopping. My mom, the girls and I had a few hours of nonproductive (therefore guilt-free) shopping and stopped for McDonald's on the way home. We were about 15 minutes from home, when Lila started crying quietly in the back seat. If there's one thing Lila doesn't do a lot, it's cry. I kept asking her what was wrong and then she told me - unfortunately not with words!
She started vomitting. At first just a little - we can wipe that right up and get home. Then more, and more. So I'm on the side of a 4 lane road, with tons of truck traffic, and the rain is pouring down. I've got Lila out of the car and stripped down to her newish, very big, very white sneakers and socks, and Elmo panties. Quite a sight to the high volume traffic passing us. Meanwhile, Emma has her head turned and her face shielded so as not to even catch a glimpse of the chaos on her sister's side of the car. Lila's telling her matter-of-factly, "I frowing up, Emma." Emma tells me she feels like throwing up just seeing Lila do it. Really? Not me. I just had to plunge through it with my bare hands to rescue her from her car seat. Just another example of God giving strength to mothers.
I'm thankful that we were close to home, because my 2 year old rode home almost naked in her sister's booster seat with the seatbelt across her little bare chest. I asked her if she had a tummy ache. "No, just choked on my french fries. I'n fine." Thank goodness Grammy was there to assist. When we got home, she did the bath while I did the car.
Never a dull moment. And we didn't even buy back to school shoes!

Lila's New Expletive

Lila has a new phrase that she yells when she's frustrated with someone. It's pretty bad because of the content and the anger behind it, but it's also really funny because of the misuse of the language.
Picture this: We're in the car and Emma is playing with something that Lila wants.
"Let me have it please, Emma!"
"Just a minute, Lila."
"PLEASE, let me have it!!"
"When I'm done, Lila."
"Emma - Don't be a DARN IT, Emma!!!"
Mommy (while laughing to self) says, "Lila, that's not nice. Say you're sorry."

Riversharks

Last night we went to a minor league baseball game with our minichurch. It was a beautiful night despite warnings of storms. This is the first game that Lila remembers going to, and she was quite interested. She insisted on taking her bat (the yellow whiffle ball variety), mitt (a hand me down from somewhere), and hat. Apparently this is what she knows about baseball. She cried when we made her leave her bat in the car, but the hat and glove came in. We were in the front row of our section and she had a super time leaning on the rail and waiting for the "guys to hit the ball". She and Andrew shared a seat, and Lila fed him her goldfish. Those two crack me up! The fact that we had what seemed like 42 kids with our group certainly helped with the entertainment also. Oh, and thanks to Miss Shelly for slipping Lila an occasional Mike and Ike - that really helped.
Emma also had fun. She claims that she did watch some of the game, but I suspect that it was only the "get the crowd to line dance" portions. She was surrounded by her best friends, and they had a blast stomping their feet to We Will Rock You. At one point Melynie and I commented that it looked like we were the chaperones on a day care trip to the ball park. Oh well, the pretzels were good and I smuggled in some salt water taffy that I was supposed to send to my brother-in-law (sorry Brian). There's something about the great American pastime that's just fun even if the Riversharks are really lousy!

The Ocean State

We just got back from an impromptu whirlwind tour of Rhode Island. -Very exciting. Ryan found out late Friday afternoon that he needed to fill in for someone there at a Monday evening meeting and Tuesday morning presentation. Since he was driving, we three girls decided to tag along. The trip was completely uneventful (I didn't take even one picture), but it was fun being in the car together. It's always a good day when I can strap my children in somewhere and not worry about what they're into. Plus, Ryan and I got to have some adult conversation time while the DVD's were playing.
We checked in to our Hampton Inn and went to the local mall food court for lunch. After a quick stroll around the Disney store we let the girls ride on the carousel in the middle of the mall. When I buckled Lila back into her car seat, she said, "Thanks for taking me to Disney World, Mommy. I had fun!" So, if you take a road trip, check into an OK hotel, eat at Burger King, go to a Disney store, and ride a mall merry-go-round, your kids may think that you've taken them to Disney World. It's worth a try!

Glamour Girl

We took Emma to get her ears pierced on Friday. When she was little, she used to nag me about getting it done all the time. When I finally gave my OK, a year or so ago, she was too scared. I admit this was partly my fault, I did tell her it would hurt (she's a bit dramatic, so I wanted to prepare her). A couple of weeks ago, her 5 year old friend, Maddy, got hers done. It's all we've heard about since then.
She wanted it done before school starts. And her reasoning was, if she got it done now, when we go to Disney in November, she can wear Mickey Mouse earrings - that's motivation enough for a 7 year old.
Emma wanted Aunt Becca (her beauty/fashion consultant) to come with us. So we went to the Moorestown Mall Pagoda. She was brave. She only almost backed out once when the girl in front of us got her cartilage pierced. She selected a lovely sparkly, irridescent ball and got them done - one at a time - which worked out fine. Afterwards, we celebrated with lunch at Friendly's. That was Lila's favorite part.
She wanted to surprise Ryan, who had already given his permission, but didn't know we were going that day. That lasted about 4 minutes before she asked for my cell phone, because she couldn't wait any longer to tell Daddy. And the endless chatter the rest of the day...? I had no idea so much conversation could center around ears, earrings, friends's earrings, ear piercing, earring storage, holiday earrings, etc. That girl can talk!

My Baby Can Swim!

Well, it's official - Lila can swim! ...On her own - without a flotation device - and she enjoys it! Last night, the four of us had Gappy and Grammy's pool to ourselves and before we knew it, she was swimming. She's been a little neurotic lately about having to have the swimmies on even if we're holding her, so we've been working on swimming with a noodle or a tube. But last night she wanted to swim to Emma... then to Mommy... then to Daddy... then to Emma again, etc. Her legs just kick like crazy and she goes underwater like a little fish! She was excited to show Aunt Meghan tonight at her swimming lesson, and I remembered to bring the camera:

VBS

I had the pleasure of teaching Lila's class for Preschool VBS this week with Emma as my helper. Ten 2 1/2 year olds - fun! Although it was a great opportunity to see her in action, the truth is, they really needed help and I was late signing her up, so Emma and I made a deal with Miss Jane. They saw a bible story acted out each day, made crafts, sang songs, got balloon animals, and jumped in a moon bounce. Lila loved it (even though she has a little shiner from one of the toy-throwing kids in the class). Her favorite part was just playing in the room with the kids and Mommy and Emma there.

A Brief Thought

When you have children and no dog, you have to pick up every morsel of food that is dropped on the floor yourself. I didn't know this.

Sad, Sad Day

Yesterday we had to take our wonderful dog, Lu to the vet. He's been going downhill pretty quickly lately, and we knew it was coming. Last week we celebrated his 12th birthday. We sang to him and gave him a waffle with peanut butter - happy dog! He was a beautiful chocolate lab, and everyone that knew him loved him. Lu was our first baby. We got him as newlyweds when he was really tiny and adorable. Then he grew to be huge - 100 lbs- and still adorable. He was always perfectly patient with our girls climbing all over him right up till the end. I can remember baby Emma pulling his lips up to show me his teeth and Lila following him around the house holding his tail. He never minded. Swimming and chasing balls were his favorite things. He could fit 3 or 4 tennis balls in his mouth at one time. Lately, he hadn't had the energy to do either. Although he did have a quick dip at Grammy's just last week.

Here's how God answered my prayers about this situation. I knew for sure. Yesterday morning, I looked at him and I knew. His eyes looked different. He wouldn't eat a thing - even if I put it on his lips. He was throwing up and obviously uncomfortable, but the decision was in his expression plain as could be to me. Ryan was out of town due home yesterday evening. He called to tell me he caught an early flight - he didn't even know that we needed him here yet. God just put him on an early flight (he never catches early flights) and we waited at the vets office for Ryan to get there. He got to see Lu and see for himself that we made the right decision. The doctor agreed with me and didn't try to give me other options. Ryan and I were right with him when he died. God let us have this awesome companion for 12 years.
The girls are doing well. I was honest with Emma all day yesterday. She got to spend time sitting with him all day. She mourned him in a healthy way and by the time we buried him, she told us she was done crying and happy for Lu. Lila doesn't understand. We told her Lu died and then she started asking for her fish that's been dead for months. She's using it to her advantage, though. She was sitting on the naughty step last night and instead of apologizing, she was yelling, "I want my Luey!"
So now I sit here in the middle of the night, remembering my dog. Life goes on and we have a busy week, but I wanted to memorialize him here while I can't sleep anyway and the tears are already flowing. You were the best, Lu. I love you.

Canoe Carnival

Over dinner on Saturday night, we made am impromptu decision to go to the Canoe Carnival. A lifetime ago, we were very involved in a float group - a champion float group. The Scrub Pines have built some fabulous floats over the years, and his one was no exception. We crashed the huge party at our old friends' house. I'm not sure anyone would have noticed us with the crowd there if we hadn't said hello. Kim snagged us a lakefront seat for the parade. Our old group did "Shiver Dance". It was a giant emperor penguin whose feet and wings moved to Irish music. Other characters included bagpipe and fiddle playing polar bears, other penguins, and spinning seals. It was awesome. Lila was a little scared of the lit up penguin eyeballs and the sheer size of it, but overall, the girls really enjoyed seeing the whole show from such a great vantage point. We were really glad that we went and even more glad that we no longer spend every Saturday and then some, from April till August working on this.

Beach Storm

We spent Saturday at the beach with our good friends. It was a beautiful day. The ocean was warm with perfect sized waves for our boogie boarders. The dads, Ryan and Eric, had as much fun as the kids, Emma and Jacob. Jacob pointed out the cool dragon kite someone was flying to a very impressed Lila. Lila and Allison jumped the waves and all four kids were absolutely covered in sand when the sky turned black. The lifeguard called everyone including our husbands out of the water, and the rain began. We waited it out under the umbrella at first - then the thunder hit. Katie and I ran off of the beach with the kids (very attractively I might add), and left the men to gather the gear. -Nothing like a bit of excitement to end our fun day. Oh well, we were getting a little sunburned anyway.

Double Date

We had a great double date the other night with good friends, Brad and Melynie. They have season passes to Six Flags and we went with them for an evening of adult only rides and fun. I can't remember the last time Ryan and I did anything like this and we had a great time! Ryan admitted that for the first twenty minutes he kept looking to gather our kids (who weren't there). That was hard to get used to.
We were there for only a few hours, but had no lines and rode all of the big roller coasters at least once (I think there were 8 or 9 of them). We even rode the "Kingda Ka" - the highest, fastest roller coaster in the world. I was a little intimidated, but had to seize the opportunity. Not one of the 4 thirty-something adults puked - impressive.
The guilt from not telling the girls was a little strong, but Mommy and Daddy deserve to have a little fun too once in a great while! And we were taking them to the beach the next day. Besides, they stayed with Grammy and got to have a "picnic" in her front yard before they swam in the pool and watched movies.

My Dolls

The girls were playing quietly together for a while the other day (which is very unusual and often a cause for concern). Then I heard, "Mommy, come see us!" There they were, all set up with all of the dolls they both own. Note Lila's Belle dress which is her favorite outfit lately. I'm so glad God gave me girls!

Baby Talk

Emma has always been quite a talker. Really, I feel like from at least 20 months on, she spoke in clear, grammatically correct sentences - with an amazing vocabulary to boot. I think that's why I'm truly enjoying Lila's adorable speech. She speaks very well and is very conversational also with a nice vocabulary. But she has a little lisp, which I find too cute (my friend/speech pathologist, Jul, says it will go away on its own). And, she's always saying hilarious and clever invented words (like "stunk"). Today, we were swimming with friends all day. At one point, I told her not to touch something. She, of course, touched it, and then had to sit on the "naughty step". When her time was up, I asked her what she had done. She told me, "Mommy say no touch - I dooed it." Yes, honey, you dooed it all right. You always do.