Happy New Year!

Yes, the blog is finally updated. I have been rather busy training for another online teaching job and beginning my PhD program. I would love to tell you how well I did, but it might be rude to report that I got straight 'A's, so I won't.

The girls are doing well. Hannah's arm has healed nicely (see October's post), and Abby is growing up much too quickly. When I asked one of her friends over for a playdate, I was informed that third graders do not "play", they "hang-out." I was also informed that anything having to do with princesses is "baby." Hannah told me that Abby was embarrassed to walk in the hall with her, because Hannah had Dora the Explorer on her shirt. Abby remedied this by taping a piece of paper over the offense image. Such is life.

Mike and I just celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary by going down to San Antonio for three childless days. It was wonderful!

Enjoy the stories. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions on how we can improve this site. If you wish to unsubscribe, write a letter to my children stating that you would rather not hear anything about them. Happy new year!

(There are four posts beyond this one. Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec. You may need to advance the page to see them all.)

December

Goliath got a bone for Christmas. Whenever he gets a bone, he digs up the yard, looking for the perfect spot to bury it, so Mike decided it would be an indoor toy. Goliath stood by the door with the bone in his mouth. It was a pathetic sight, and eventually Abby took pity on him and opened the door. He raced outside, ready to dig. When we told Abby that he wasn't supposed to take the bone outside, she took off after him. She, still in her pajamas, chased him through the yard. They ended up playing tug-of-war, and Abby won.



The girls were in the shower, each with a sudsy loofah. They had instructions to wash everything. Here is the conversation that followed:
Abby: Wash your buns!
(Abby reaches over and washes Hannah.)
Hannah: HEY!
Abby: You're supposed to wash your buns!
Hannah: Those are MY buns! They are attached to MY body, and I can do what I WANT with them!



My dad was watching the girls while I went to school. He asked if I was caught up on my homework, and I said no. Abby was listening. "Do you have recess at school? Because if you're not done with your homework, you can do it during recess!"




Mike's favorite Christmas present. A Lord of the Rings Pez dispenser set.



Hannah often doodles while she's at the computer. She likes to copy the phrases and pictures she finds on the screen. This one was my favorite:



Mike's mom was able to come out for Christmas this year. The girls were thrilled to have her here.



Hannah performing in the Christmas musical. She's so angelic!



The girls and I rehearsed good gift opening manners. We discussed that even if you already have it or you don't like it, you still need to thank the person, and then talk to Mommy later in private. On Christmas morning, while they were messing around in the bathroom, I peeked in. "Do you remember what to say when opening presents?"
"Yes, Mommy!"
As I walked back down the hall, I heard Hannah practicing, "Oh! It's beautiful! Thank you so much!"



We left four cookies for Santa. Before I went to bed, he ate three of them. When I woke up, the fourth cookie was gone, as well.
"Look, Mom!" Abby cried. "Santa ate all the cookies!" A few minutes pass. "Or maybe he ate three cookies and we ate one."


The girls got several Squinkies for Christmas. These tiny figurines are about the size of a fingernail. Abby and Hannah wanted to take some in the car while looking at Christmas lights. I gave them a snack size bowl and explained that they could take five Squinkies in the car and that the bowl would help them not lose the toys. When Mike brought them back later, Hannah approached me with her head hung low. "Mommy, I'm very sorry, but I lost three of the Squinkies. And I lost the bowl."


The girls were excited when we bought an abominable snowman stuffed animal for Christmas. They were less than thrilled when they found out it was a decoration and not a play thing. They were told to leave it in the corner. They have done as instructed, but he has not been fully left alone. Here are the before and after shots:





(He's eating a Squinkie.)

November

Hannah and her daddy:

I got a pedicure. Hannah asked to see it, so I unveiled a foot to show her the color. “Pretty!” she said. “What color is the other foot?”

Me: Hannah, how do you want to wear your hair today?

Hannah: Blonde.

Hannah: I want to be a grown up so bad!

Me: Why?

Hannah: So I can be a mom and have kids.

Me: Why?

Hannah: So I can spank them.

While helping out in Hannah’s kindergarten class, I overheard one of her boyfriends giving her attitude. He ended his sassy phrase with, “Got it, dude?” She stuck a hand on her hip and used her “duh” voice. “If you want to call a girl that,” she said before walking away, “it’s dudette.”

As Hannah was leaving the doctor’s office, the receptionist offered her a coloring book. She excitedly took it. While driving out of the parking lot, I heard her say, “Hey! This isn’t a coloring book! This is something that makes me learn!”

After looking all over town for a little girl's sling, I came up empty handed. Hannah's Aunt Kelli blinged this sling for her. She loved it!

We had someone dropping off garage sale donations one evening. It was cold outside as we were helping him unload his lifted truck. A few minutes into it, Abby complained that she was too cold. I heard Hannah call, “It’s warm over here!” I glanced over to see her warming her hands and face with the exhaust of the idling car.

The girls with their cousin Molly:

November 1^st, the day after Halloween, found me alone with two delicious bags of candy. Seven hours alone, two bags of candy, and very little willpower. Three days later, with the candy disappearing at a very rapid rate, I asked Mike to hide the bags. He did, bringing them out when he got home from work. We would each have a few pieces after dinner, and he would hide them again. The girls also hid a bag of candy from me. It worked well. With the candy out of sight, I wasn’t tempted.

After a week of this, Mike asked if I’d found the candy yet. My answer was the same when he asked me each evening for the next week. “No, I haven’t even looked for it.” I was confused by his snickering. Two weeks later, he could not keep his hiding place a secret anymore. “I hid it with the cleaning products,” he admitted. “I knew that once you cleaned, you would find it, but you never cleaned!” We’re not on speaking terms anymore.

When that candy was gone, I asked the girls to get the bag that they had hid from me. Two beautiful deer-in-the-headlight faces peered back at me. “We hid it in our backpacks and ate a piece for lunch every day, because you don’t pack dessert with our lunches!”

October

We were at the park, and the girls were on the monkey bars. Usually, Hannah gets to the fourth or fifth rung and screams for help. I lift her down, and she tries again. She could do this all day if I'd let her. This particular day, Friday, Mike and I told her that she needed to drop down by herself. (We've seen her do this dozens of times.) She got to the fourth rung and yelled for help, then dropped down. After the fifth cycle, she dropped down and began crying. I scooped her up, and when she wouldn't stop crying, we headed home for aspirin and an ice pack. She fussed off and on that evening. In the morning, she said it hurt a little, but she was well enough to go to a swim party. She swam for two hours. But on Sunday morning, she cried about it again, and I decided to take her to the ER. Her sweet little arm was broken in two places. She now tells the story with, "I told my mom I needed help!" I am up for mother-of-the-year award, so be sure to cast your ballots now.



In the ER, the nurses needed to take Hannah from her room to the x-ray room. They prepped a wheelchair for her, but I told them that she would be fine walking. Hannah gave me a dirty look and requested the wheelchair. They gingerly placed Hannah in, then wheeled her to the x-ray room - right next door. After the x-rays, she again got in the wheelchair and was transported back to her room - next door.




I found this in Hannah's room. "It's for God," she explained.

Mike was in Cambodia during the World Series, and I wasn’t watching the games. One night, the girls started pressuring me. They wanted to watch the Rangers. Everyone else at school got to watch the Rangers except them. Abby was upset because a friend said, "Did you see it when so-and-so hit that home run?" And of course, she hadn't. So we watched half of the game with some friends. We told the girls when to cheer. We taught them how to chant Na-po-li. Abby saw the players spitting. She kept yelling, "Go Rangers!" Hannah kept saying, "Go Texans!" Abby was disappointed that they weren't hitting a ball that was thrown RIGHT to them! She said if she were the pitcher, she wouldn't throw it right at the batter, she'd throw it over to the side so they'd never be able to get it. Abby wanted something to talk about in school the next day, so when we saw a double play in the fourth, we came up with her line. "Did you see that double play in the fourth inning?"

The next morning, I checked before school to see who won. I told the girls, "Okay, the Rangers won." Abby cheered. Hannah asked how the Texans did.

Me- Abby, do you remember what to say?
Abby- (Sounding totally scripted) Did you see the double play in the fourth ending?
Me- Inning.
Abby- Inning?
Me- Like "in" - "ning."
Abby- Inning.

The girls get ready for the school carnival. You can really see their different personalities in this picture:

Hannah was washing her hands when coming home from school one warm day. I watched her wash and dry, then rub each armpit with the dish towel before placing it back for others to use.

“Hannah! Why are you rubbing your armpits with the towel?

“They were wet!”