Monday, April 11, 2011

The weather finally warmed up today and the girls got to play outside in shorts and we even put on sunscreen! I remember the girls getting a small sunburn last year the first time we wore shorts so I was much more diligent about it this year! It was beautiful out today and I can't wait for more sunny, warm days ahead! Mckenzie didn't have much fun outside today. She wanted to practice riding her bike in the street and threw a fit when I said no. In her defense, I let the girls ride in the street the other day, but that was to get to the park and for Abby to practice turning around while riding her bike. (our driveway is slanted making it difficult to turn without tipping) And, Mckenzie was super tired today and I wouldn't give into her pacifier demands, so it was understandable that she wasn't happy when we were playing outside. She tried to have fun, but it just wasn't happening for her. I hope she starts getting used to not having a nap. This transition has been a difficult one for her. But, she managed to turn around after a bath and a few jelly beans putting on a smile for the babysitter tonight. We talked to Scott today and I can't believe that in just over a month, we won't have to skype anymore! I am getting so excited to actually see him in person and hear his voice. I did hear his voice upstairs today after Mckenzie and I returned from grocery shopping, but it turned out to be only a voiced recorded book he made for the girls before he left on his trip. My heart got a little excited hearing it until I realized it wasn't actually him :( Abby had a great day in school and was so excited to show me a bird's nest they made in class out of mud and twigs and leaves. I made sure to thank her teacher! I took some photos of the girls playing, but after the school board meeting we had tonight(why do they have to be so long?!!), I don't feel like editing them tonight. Maybe I will do it tomorrow...

Sunday, April 10, 2011

We skipped church this morning. I asked the girls if they wanted to go and they said no, so I was decided we would just hang out again today. We did play outside this afternoon and rode to the park to play. M didn't want to change out of her pjs today, so she spent the entire day in them! Sure made it easy to get her ready for bed! Abby had to finish up her homework for school tomorrow and Mckenzie wanted to help her. Abby was so sweet and gave M a color crayon and tried to tell her to only color in the lines. I love sweet little moments like that. They had another one at bedtime. Mckenzie climbed into Abby's bed and gave her hugs and kisses before bed. The two of them were giggling so much that I just wanted to let them stay like that forever! M is giving me a hard time about going to sleep, but I knew it was coming since she took a nap again this afternoon. One minute I was talking to her and the next, she was asleep. I know I shouldn't have let her sleep, but it gave me a few moments to read a little bit of a book I just started.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The girls and I hung out in bed this morning and watched some cartoons. It was nice to lounge around for awhile before starting the day. We went to Target and the girls were amazingly well behaved in the store. It was unreal to me that there was no whining, no arguments over who sat where, nothing. Just two happy girls. So, I took them to Chick fil A as a treat. The girls didn't play very much today as there were quite a few loud and obnoxious kids running around the play area. So, we headed home and Mckenzie fell asleep on the drive. I let her take a nap when we got home since she has a cold and her sleep has been interrupted by coughing at night. We skyped with Scott today. Always a good time! Abby told Scott he shouldn't have cut his hair again because she wanted him to have long hair. Such a silly girl! We played outside this afternoon and went for a bike ride/walk. I was so happy Abby wanted to ride her bike after not wanting to go near it the other day. Mckenzie is not the best driver when it comes to her trike. She doesn't pay attention to where she is steering, so she ends up in the middle of the road and she stops every so often just to check out her surroundings. She loves to ride though! Abby would ride ahead of us a little bit and then have to wait for Mckenzie and I to catch up. We stopped at the park and Abby made it all the way across the monkey bars by herself! I am so proud of her! Both girls had trouble going to sleep. Abby was upset about Scott being gone. She came to me and asked if I had any extra hugs. (When Scott first left, I told the girls he had given me extra hugs and kisses for them to get any time they were really missing him. I have had to give out a lot of those hugs, but this is the first time Abby has asked me for one.) It took Mckenzie an hour and a half to settle down and go to sleep, but I was expecting that since she took a nap. Luckily she is sleeping and I haven't heard her coughing too much so I am hoping she gets plenty of rest tonight!

I bought the girls watering cans today at the store and they couldn't wait to water the flowers and grass.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Both girls were in school this morning so I had a little me time again. I love Fridays!!! Mckenzie fussed a little at drop off, but no crying and she had a great day other than peeing her pants on the playground. Personally, I don't take my children outside if they haven't used the restroom, but apparently not everyone thinks to do that! Luckily she had a change of clothes in her basket, well, minus shoes! Abby had a great day and was excited to have one of her friends come over after class to play. The kids played pretty good together. I didn't know how it was going to go since this particular friend has never been over to our house before. It was raining off and on today so we didn't get to play outside. That sure makes for a long afternoon! I gave the girls an early bath and let them have bubbles! Mckenzie didn't do as well today in regards to her pacifier. She was so tired from school that I let her use it a few times when she got upset during Abby's playdate. But, I do see improvement when I tell her she has to wait until bed. It takes less effort on my part to redirect her attention and that gives me hope that we may be able to get rid of this thing someday (well, at least during the day. I'm not brave enough to tackle the night while Scott is away!) On a side note, I am really hoping by some miracle Congress gets it's act together and passes a budget by midnight! Highly unlikely, but I really think it sucks that my husband has to continue working without getting paid! I just wish the politicians would quit playing games and do the job they have been elected to do!


She is always climbing on the furniture!


Chef Kenzie!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Abby had a friend over this morning and we all had a good time. The girls made sock puppets and then had a puppet show for us using the puppet house we made out of boxes so long ago! Abby's puppet had it's mouth on the back of it's head and Mckenzie had pompom ears on hers, which the dog just happened to chew up. Although that didn't bother me as much as what she did later in the day. Mckenzie used her little potty while we were skyping with Scott and apparently after she left the bathroom, the dog just had to see what was in the potty. I came in to find a dirty rug and a dog that knew she had done something wrong. Why do dogs eat poop? YUCK!!!!!! Mckenzie did great about not using her paci again today. She did use it a little bit while we were talking to Scott, but that was it. It was challenging to distract her, but Abby was a big help with that. The girls were so well behaved today that I spent extra time reading to the at bedtime (little did they know I started getting them ready for bed earlier to do so!) and they were so excited to get to read more books than normal. Abby 'read' a book to me tonight. She has memorized a good bit of it, but she did sound out some of the words for me. The best part was how excited she was about reading. The pride radiated from her face. I love, love, love seeing her accomplish a task and the pride she gets from doing a great job! I always want my girls to know how proud they make me and how much I love them!

My top five photos from January to March

I am linking up with Click It Up a Notch, Nap Time Momtog, and Amber’s Articles in their quarterly event to pick your favorite 5 photos from January to March. It took me awhile to decide what photos to use. I love just about every photo of the girls, not necessarily the quality of those photos, but I love looking back and remembering the moment. Thank God for digital cameras!!! So, here are my top five.

I picked this one because it was such a tender moment between the two of them. Scott never cries, he only gets a little dirt in his eyes. Well, there must have been one hell of a dirt storm the day this was taken!


I picked this one because Abby loves to pick out her own clothes and has a style all her own! This was mix and match day at school, but it really wasn't all that different than when I give her free reign over what she wears! She wears two different colored shoes so often that one mom at preschool joked that Abby was going to wear matching shoes on mix and match day!


I picked this one because the girls LOVE to wear sunglasses, especially around the house. This was a super fun day for all of us because the girls had just gotten some new swimsuits and sunglasses and they wanted to pretend they were going to the beach. So, I got out a beach blanket and we had our dinner picnic style on the beach (aka the living room floor) and went for a swim with the jellyfish in the ocean (aka the foyer)!


I picked this one because Mckenzie lives for a ride on a swing and she looks so happy in this photo! I spend most of my time at the park pushing her in the baby swing. She has tried using a big girl swing, but she still prefers the baby seat.


I just had to get a photo in with bubbles. The girls go crazy for bubbles and the day this was taken, there was no wind and the bubbles just stayed in one place making a huge bubble pile. They had so much fun running through and popping as many bubbles as they could! We ran out of bubbles that day and both girls were so sad :(

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Abby had a good day at school and made carrot cake in her chef class, which she didn't like. I'm guessing she didn't like it because there were raisins in it. Mckenzie and I hung out at the house today, not getting much accomplished. We played outside for a bit this afternoon and one of our trees is in full bloom and is absolutely gorgeous! I am looking forward to the tree in the backyard blooming as well and I saw a few buds on it today, so it shouldn't be long now! The kids rode bike today, but Abby refused to ride her own, instead she rode Mckenzie's trike. At first she told me she was riding the trike because it has a bell and her bike doesn't, but she finally confessed that she doesn't like her bike because it is wobbly and she is afraid she is going to fall. I couldn't even get her on it if I stood next to her. I'm wondering what she will ride next week when she has her trike-a-thon for school! Mckenzie wanted to play ball again today and even though she never actually hit the ball, she had a blast! Abby asked to move her bed this afternoon, so we did a little furniture rearranging up there. Abby told me she wished Daddy was here because he is so big and strong. Mckenzie fell asleep while we were doing that and she was a real grumpy gus when I woke her for dinner. But, on a good note, she managed to go the entire day without her pacifier!!!! It wasn't easy by any means, but we made it. She was so excited when she got her purple paci at bedtime. Her whole face lit up! I'm hoping this is the start of a new trend and I can get her to only using the paci at bedtime!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

I actually woke up early enough to get showered before the girls were running around and it made for a much smoother morning. No rushing around to out the door on time. We were even a little early for school this morning if you can believe that! Well, kind of early. I was scheduled to be the parent helper in Mckenzie's class today (and when you do that, you should be 15 minutes early to help with any prep for the day) but I totally forgot that I was supposed to be in the classroom! Luckily, the teachers were very forgiving with my mistake and told me to come back later with snack. So after running to the post office (your surprise gift/project is on its way Scott!!!) and dropping Abby at a friend's house (Thanks Denise!), I headed back to school! Mckenzie was super excited to see me and have me in the classroom. We went over to a friend's house for lunch and played a bit before heading home. It was raining off and on today and really cool outside so we ended up playing inside all day. Mckenzie did great not using a pacifier until around 4:30/5pm. That is great progress if you ask me. I would love to be able to get her to only using it at night. School really tires her out and she ended up snoozing on the couch for 15 minutes before we headed to church for dinner and choir. Mckenzie had a major meltdown when we got home from church. I was pulling up the trash can and a million bags of leaves that the garbage company wouldn't take (thanks babe for leaving all those bags from this fall;-) ) and the girls were running around the front yard. When I finished, Mckenzie decided she wasn't tired and she didn't want to go inside. Then the battle turned into not wanting to remove her coat or shoes or come upstairs to get ready for bed. She was crying the whole time and I know she just overtired. I finally managed to get her upstairs and get her shoes and coat off, but I didn't even try to brush her teeth or put on pjs. I finally got her calmed down enough so I could tuck Abby in and when I went back to check on Mckenzie and stay with her if I needed, she was already sound asleep. Abby ended up sleeping on my bed because she was upset that she is not going to be singing with the church choir at an upcoming baseball game. I would love to let her, but it is an evening game and I can't imagine Mckenzie sitting still and I worry about taking both girls to a busy place like that by myself.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Abby had preschool this morning and she was so excited when I told her she didn't have to wear a winter coat today! After drop off, Mckenzie and I headed to Lowe's to pick up some mulch and flowers. I really wish I had driven the truck because the bags weren't the cleanest and left some dirt in my car. We also did some grocery shopping and Mckenzie was really good. She did get a bit tired towards the end, but so did I. Grocery shopping is very exhausting! We got to play for a little while before Abby was done with school. I gave her an oreo for a snack and she made one heck of a mess out of herself! Abby had a great day in school, but when we were leaving, she saw two of her friends were riding home together because they were having a playdate and it sent her into hysterics! She was crying and told me she felt sad that she didn't get to play with them and then she started to tell me how much she missed Scott. I tried to use her disappoint as a learning lesson and offered to find a playdate for tomorrow. It broke my heart to see her so upset and feeling left out. I wish there was a way for moms to make sure their kids never had to feel like that. I know she wasn't being left out, it was just so hard to make her believe that. We got to skype with Scott again, but the connection was horrible because of the some very windy weather where Scott is. He is going outside was pretty miserable with all the sand blowing around. We played outside and it was gorgeous out! The girls were shocked when I didn't make them put a coat on! I am so glad it is warming up. I love to let the girls run around outside. The girls were practicing hitting/throwing a softball today. Abby would get mad at me when the wind would catch the ball making her miss. She kept telling me to throw better! Mckenzie was upset that she couldn't hit the ball and for the life of me, I couldn't throw the ball at the bat to make her think she hit it. She is so irratic with her swing I could never predict where that bat was going to end up! At least she is getting better at throwing!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Abby's choir sang in church this morning. I just love to watch her sing. Her hands and mouth, really her whole body, is so animated while she sings. It is hard to describe what she looks like when she is singing, but I think it is one of those things I will never forget. We played outside this afternoon as it was pretty nice out. The girls had fun rolling down the tiny hill we have in our front yard and racing their cars around and into one another.