sleepover fun

 matching suits...NOT planned,  just proof these girls have a lot in common.

 I know, I'm such a bad mom for letting my 2 yr old run around w/ a passy in her mouth.  But she was a little overwhelmed with the loud and rowdy kindergarteners , she wanted the security!  I indulged her.

 movie time!

 Emma was fascinated with Mr. Brian's Star Wars game.  It was so cute!!  I love so much how he protected himself from the loud squeals and giggles and hid in the bedroom all night.  (He had lots of distant support from Emma's dad Jim (who was home relaxing with mojitos on his back porch!)  Brian  did emerge randomly in support and  to help me cook and get a good laugh.

 The first attempt to leave them and say goodnight.  I thought the evening was done at this point...probably 9:30ish.....I was so "dary" wrong!

We had Abigail's first little sleepover this memorial day weekend and the girls had an absolute ball!  I must say I was a bit nervous for them and hoped I could keep the excitement and party alive enough to keep little Emma from getting homesick, but they both did great.   Emma is such a sweet friend of Abigail's that lives just 5 or 6 houses down our street. They are too tiny peas in a pod.   We love her mom and dad and so it's a friendship we are very thankful for and want to grow.   The girls were complete pills counting down to the big event and mutually her mom and I were glad when we finally got the little monkeys together.   We started with a sprinkler party in the backyard complete with loud music from my ipod station. The video of the 'dance party'  as Abigail named it was a riot.  I will try to post a clip of it. The girls had fun running around until they got too cold then came in for Kool Aid and princess tu tus.   I fed them hot dogs and tater tots and with a big mouthful of dinner and ketchup showing  Emma announced in her own dramatic way complete with eye roll for emphasis "oh Abigail....you are so my BFF!"   [translation 'best friends forever' for 30 yrs from now when I have no idea what that means]
  We did cookies and popcorn for movie time on the living room floor.  Chloe did not understand why we were enjoying so much festive food and play time but she was very into it.  The big girls did so good to be patient with the tiny 2 year old shadowing behind them all evening.  Only once did they have a game they wanted privacy on so I sent the Chloe bird back to hang with Daddy who had quarantined himself to the back with his star wars game.  He lovingly put on the movie Star Wars and good old handsome Han Solo held Chloe's attention nicely for 30 min.  
   As the evening drew to a close Emma began to announce how "weird" it was to not be at home with her mommy and daddy.   Desperately trying to get her through her first sleepover we pulled out all the stops to keep the party going until she absolutely passed out with exhaustion.  I allowed both Emma and Abigail to climb back into bed with me (Brian took the computer game back to the living room when the coast was clear), where me and the little ladies stayed until after 11 o'clock watching Wall-E until they literally  passed out.  I was so proud of Emma.  I knew she wanted so badly to be a big girl and make it all night.  I carried the little stick insects (what I loving refer to the girls at the knees and elbows stage) back to the Bit's big bed.  They slept like little logs all night.  Although Abigail did complain at the lack of space when I snuck out of her room that night.  My squirmy worm needs ample space to flail but she did ok and no one woke up with a shiner thank goodness!
  We did waffles with red white and blue sprinkles on top for a patriotic breakfast.   Then we let Emma's parents pick both girls up and drive our Bit to church then we met them there to  make the switch after their time in Kings Kids.  In the lobby afterwards both girls begged to keep it going and spend Sunday afternoon together but we drew the line for sanity and made them say goodbye and part ways.  It was a great success and I'm sure the first of many girly invasions and sleepovers.

mothers day 2012

  


Well this was an interesting mothers day weekend for us this year.  Holding very true and consistent with the current trend of the year we found ourselves once again in the throws of a sick little girl with the stomach flu.   We seem to have stayed sick all year, I really think the sickest we've ever been since having kids and maybe ever.  Poor Abigail woke up Saturday morning with a fever of 102 and then the fun followed close behind. We had grand plans to attend 3 birthday parties through the course of the day and it just broke her heart to have to miss them all for "the quizzies" as she lovingly refers to them.   The poor kid threw up probably 6 or 8 times by bedtime Saturday.  She had melted into her almost non responsive zone she gets into when she is that sick.  The first time she did it it scared me to death.  It's almost like she just goes away to another place when she feels that bad.  She doesn't make eye contact with you when you speak to her, she won't speak, won't smile.  Just a very flat affect until you can get her hydrated and feeling stronger.   That unfortunately wasn't until mid morning on Sunday when we finally got some Gatorade  into her.   Brian did a very sweet job of making us all breakfast and taking care of his girls and wife on mothers day. 
     We had a funny spin on the day that I have to remember.  That morning over coffee and a flaccid pale Bit in my lap I noticed what I swear sounded like a duck in our air vents.  The annoying thing was it ...honked or quacked every 45 seconds or so.  Brian remembered that he had attempted to change the air filter last weekend , got the wrong size and had left the system filterless for the week.  Fearing the worst I of course started to fret that we had blown it and would face another huge home expense.  He picked at that furnace all day long, even cutting the power to it at one point and the dern thing still quacked. Meanwhile I took the girls outside for some much needed fresh air.  I laid a blanket in the back yard and brought out coloring books and saltine crackers.  Even sweet Chloe remained low key for the most part for her sister being very content to just sit and "coyer".  We enjoyed the breeze for a while then the Bit admitted she was done and needed to head in.
    Poor Brian had still been working on the mystery.  He had gone to the hardware store,  he called the heating company, his company, and even his trusted google let him down without a solution.   By mid afternoon after our naps he told me he even took my stethascope to the hot water heater and the furnace to make sure where the noise's origin was.  You see since his surgery Brian has lost the ability to determine direction to sounds.  It can be very frustrating for him at times.  He asked me to once again walk downstairs and see if I could tell with certainty which appliance the noise was coming from.  When I did  crawl all the way over to between the 2 machines I busted out laughing.  I called for him to come down and showed him the wicked culprit to our problem.... an old ratty looking smoke alarm that was mounted behind some duck work and must have a dead battery.  We couldn't see the thing until we were all the way behind the heaters and Brian couldn't tell the noise was overhead.   Relieved we removed the very inexpensive 9volt battery with a smile.   Ahhh,  for once the expense wasn't what we feared.  We have lived here for 3 years and never knew there was an alarm there.
     As the day was drawing to a close.  I threw the girls in the tub to get the stomach cooties off of them and discovered  the poor Bit had a tiny tick on her hip.  Of all the days, she was NOT in the mood for tick removal in her state.   I did the hot match, and then alcohol soak to get the thing out with her wailing in pitiful exhausted drama.  Her scrawny little bony  body just didn't want any more insults.  We got through it and she and Chloe forgot their woes and played in the bath together.

 the sweet girls got excited at Daddy's magic even though they knew it was just for mommy after they went to bed.

   Brian made us a wonderful roast for dinner.  The clean wet headed kids actually ate it (amazing) and then we put the girls to bed early.  Brian finished the night with an amazing from scratch puff pastry desert, filled with bananas foster complete with rum,  topped with home made whip cream and chocolate sauce.  Then he iced a bottle of my favorite desert white wine for me and we celebrated getting through the weekend together.  Go team!   Puke, mystery ducks, ticks and all we were a very tired  happy couple.  We watched a Will Smith sci fi movie and headed to bed.  Not my most glamorous mothers day ever.  But you know,  to see my family pull together to take care of one another, work problems out, to just be able to sit for 48 hours straight and hold Abigail in my lap, in her limp wet rag state was well,  what it's all about after all isn't it!?   She told me that night as I put her to bed through her fearful tears.  She said when she laid in her bed she felt bad again but if I laid with her it went away,  she looked at me with big weepy eyes and said "mommy, you have the power to make me feel all better again".   I guess I couldn't ask for much more could I?   :)