Like, In Minutes?

Andrew has been teaching the kids the differences between a "couple, several, few" as it relates to time. So when we tell the kids "in a couple minutes" they know that that means in 2 minutes, etc. It's not an exact science, but it helps the kids understand how long they should expect to wait for something.

On Saturday, Aurora was begging to start making Jesse's birthday cake and I told her we'd make it in a little while. She thought for a few minutes and then turned to me and said, "How long is a while, like, in minutes?" Dang! Sometimes it's not fair having smart kids.....

Jesse had "the best birthday ever" (in his words) yesterday. He loves colors, especially rainbows, and that's what he requested for his cake. It was really fun making it! The kids loved separating all the M&M's and helping to assemble the cake.

Calling All Rejects

Okay, so this is probably tacky (I know Marsha would think so), but I just wanted to make a request from all you Mommies out there.

If you have any "gently-used" clothes in the following sizes that you don't want anymore, let me know! I'm definitely more than willing to pay the shipping costs and help you clean out your closets in the meantime...:)

Winter clothes
Girl (7/8 or 9/10 clothes, 13/1/2 shoes)
Boy (4T/5T clothes, 9.5/10 shoes)
Girl (24mnths/2T clothes, 5/6 shoes)

Thanks!!!! I think there should be a swapping site for baby clothes kinda like those paperbackswap and swapadvd sites.

** Mindy: Aurora LOVED the clothes you sent. It's a fight to get her not to wear all the long-sleeved shirts to school already. Thanks a bunch!

Plagues of Egypt

I feel like we've been enduring the plagues of Egypt since we moved into this house. Maybe everyone feels that way about their homes, especially at the end of summer. First, there was the mice. We've already caught and killed 4....well....the one that Andrew sucked up in the vacuum was de-furred and probably wished it was dead when we released it into the "wild" afterwards. But FOUR? And there might be more. We just don't know, but we walk cautiously around the house at night.

And while we are listening for the scampering of little mice feet, we have now noticed an alarming amount of crickets. Baby crickets, normal crickets, albino crickets (I swear that cricket was white!!!). Every morning Jesse runs screaming into my bedroom, shouting, "AAAHHHHH! There's a bug on the stairs!" The only good thing is that they don't make noises. I would be so perturbed if I had to listen to them too. And most of the time, the crickets are dead and are just lying there. Hmmmm.....wonder if the mice are getting to them?

So, I ask you - What's next? Frogs? Snakes? Spiders? Moles? Please tell me this isn't part of the Last Days, because I just don't want to know if there's more of this to come......

Indecent Proposal

Aurora has announced her intentions to marry her "best friend," Ira, from school. Just thought I'd give everyone the heads up. So, keep your calendars clear for December (she said) in the year 2024!!!!

Eagle Mountain Neighbors

Aurora came home from school, so ecstatic that one of her friends, Bailey, lives "right next to me!" I was intrigued....How does a 5 year old find out that her friend lives right next to her. Maybe they described the color of the house, or the trees in the front yard? Maybe they both talked about the weeds that grow 3 ft high around our townhouses?

So, I asked, "Aurora, how do you know she lives right next to you?" She said, "I told her I live in Eagle Mountain....AND SHE SAID SHE DID TOO!!"

Ha! Ha! Andrew and I got a huge laugh out of that one. Hey! Aren't we all neighbors in one form or another?

Super Mom

I survived the first full week of kindergarten!!! YIPEE!!! Okay, so this may not seem like such an accomplishment to all you seasoned mothers out there, but this was big for me. At 31, I'm experiencing the joy of school all over again. Of course, Aurora didn't cry and she didn't fight me when I brushed her hair every morning so it wasn't all that difficult.

Some of the things I did that were great:

1. I was super excited - which helped her be excited, right?

2. I laid out her clothes every morning.

3. I fed her breakfast every morning.

4. We did all her homework every day.

5. I dropped her off at school on time every morning.

Some of the "not so good" things:

1. I was 30 minutes late to pick her up on Monday.

2. I was 30 minutes late to pick her up on Monday.

3. I was 30 minutes late to pick her up on Monday.

4. I was 30 minutes late to pick her up on Monday.

5. I was 30 minutes late to pick her up on Monday.

Why the heck is there an "early out" day on Mondays????? Poor Aurora was sitting in the office when I frantically got there. She looked up at me and said (for all to hear), "Mommy, you forgot me!" Yes, early out Mondays is the worst idea in the world.

Preschool Mathematics

There's something about the way little kids do math that is so intuitive. Why not count on your fingers? That's why we have them, right? To eat, pick our noses, scratch, and add up numbers.

In that light, a few days ago we were quizzing the kids, "What's 2 plus 2? 4 minus 1?" and they did really well adding and subtracting with their fingers. But I just had to get tricky and I asked, "What's 3 plus 3 plus 3?" Aurora and Jesse scrunched up their eyebrows and concentrated, going back and forth between both hands trying to figure out the answer. A few minutes later, and 5 sighs, Jesse threw his hands down and gave the most profound answer imaginable.....

"I only have two 5's!"