Look What Daddy is Bringing Home Tonight

There were 4 abandoned kittens left at Jerry's work.

No one wants them...does that include us?!?

He sent this picture to my cell...knowing I'd fall in love.

The girls have said the funniest things since learning of this news.

I told them that daddy would be bringing home four kittens this evening and that they would be very scared. That we would need to use gentle hands and quiet voices when we met them because they had lost their mommy.

The questions started:

Jade-Where did the mommy go?

M-I'm not sure.

Jade-Maybe she's at work. No. Maybe she's hiding.

(My thoughts exactly Jade...4 babies wanting to nurse...I'd be out of there too.)

Then I told them that there are 3 black ones and 1 orange one.

Lily-Orange? I didn't know they made them in orange. I want a pink one!

So, needless to say I've got two very excited girls on my hand.

We just called daddy, who should be in route, and he didn't answer. I'm envisioning kittens crawling all over him in his truck. This should be a fun evening.

Anybody want a kitten?

Febrile Funk

one feverish kid

+

one bored sibling

+

one very busy daddy

=

one tired mama with lots of stuff to blog about but no time to do it in!

I'll be back soon...

Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes

5 years ago this evening I was holding our first pink bundle of joy.


I'd like to sit here and write a sappy post about her with all sorts of equally sappy photos from the past five years, but I just can't.


My mind is completely absorbed with a little birthday party project. Namely making 56 of these babies.



Now I know why I have the bakery's phone number on speed dial.

U5 Soccer: The Real Story

Well, finally the rain subsided and The Pixies got to play their first game.



And I got to realize that any thoughts I had about soccer not being competitive at this age were thought in vain.


We were hoarse after the game from yelling with excitement.


But that isn't the real story.


And the fact that Lily looks so cute in her soccer gear, crowned with her cute ribbons that my awesome friend Michelle made, isn't the real story either.

Nope. The fact that they won 10-7, and Lily scored two goals, and we have a star player named Mia that reminds us all of Mia Hamm...those aren't the headlines either.

The headline is about this guy.

The daddy coach who tapped his feet all the way to the game that just couldn't start soon enough. The guy who has a game plan and really cares and really loves these little girls that are now called The Pixies.

The guy that is just now getting his voice back. Lost through the new bonding experience that causes him to shout, "To the goal, baby, to the goal", to his one day shy of five little girl. The girl who looks back over her shoulder with a grin, knowing her daddy is proud of her.

Ten years of marriage and two kids later and I am still getting to see a new side of my husband...stick around soccer, you make me smile.

Picture Outtakes

I think my hair turned two shades grayer at the picture studio the other day. It would have turned completely white, but my husband was there to handle some of the stress.

Jade was terrified. Something about the backdrops. She didn't want to go anywhere near them. The stress was so real for her. And when we were done she was just giddy with relief.

Sister leans in a little closer, and it only gets worse.

You want me to do what? Where? By myself?

Then when she calms down, the tongue comes out.


Yay! Jade is relaxed. But, oops...Lily's eyes are closed.

Lily, on the other hand, loves getting her pictures taken. Most of the outtakes of her were when she was being a little too model-ish. She was forever leaning too far back, or wanting to lay down and pose. Too funny.

I know it is rude to leave you only with outtakes and none of the good ones, but you'll have to wait for Christmas to see the rest. You've heard of Christmas in July...well they'll be wearing their July 4th outfits for Christmas! Oh well, 5 and 2 year old pictures are off my list. Now I've just got to add some Clairol to cover the gray.

Workout...Mommy and Me...Gymnastics Style

I took Jade to a little preview gymnastics class back in July. So, when we went for the real deal I knew what to expect.

What a workout. Running all over the gym floor...sometimes carrying her 33 pounds with me...squatting, lunging, walking and sidestepping various beams, etc. Whew! I can't remember what I wore, but it was totally inappropriate. I came out of there completely sweating!

The real kicker was the trampoline though. Whoa. I haven't been on a trampoline in years, and my last memory of one only includes laying out on it...not jumping.

So, besides wearing Under Armour work out apparel, I also added a sports bra to my outfit.

I'm definitely sure that the last time I went jumping and rolling around on one of those things I hadn't nursed two babies. Enough said.

I was dressed and prepared and so was Jade.

See the trampoline back there? AKA, death to the girls.

We definitely need to work on our beam skills. ;)

She doesn't like playground swings at all...but swinging from rings? Right up her alley.

On the contrary, she loves slides at the park, but wasn't willing to slide into the foam pit at all.

All in all...she had a blast, I got my morning workout in, and no one got hurt. I'll say it was a triple win.

46 seconds of pure pre-"nastics" fun

I've always thought that gymnastics outfits were ugly. Always. I don't care if they are on Mary Lou or a more current star, they just don't appeal to me. The color combinations alone are frightening...then add a few rhinestones and weird fabric cuts. Oh Lord.

I mean, who looks cute wearing black, blue and hot pink all at once? JADE!

My baby started mommy and me toddler gymnastics..."nastics" according to her...

She was a little bit excited. Just a little bit.



I'll post some pictures of her in action soon.

My "Stripes"

We are in the part of Texas that has had some sort of storm sitting over it for days. It has been raining nonstop since last Thursday and there is no end in sight.

All of this rain has brought on some umbrella usage drama in our household. It seems the girls want to have their umbrellas open in the car, in the house, in the store...wherever they are...raining or not.

So today after I instituted some rules about not opening the umbrellas anywhere other than OUTSIDE, Lily immediately tested me. She popped her umbrella open in our crowded entryway and nearly poked her sister in the eye.

I took her upstairs to counsel her...mainly over the disobedience. I told her that I wasn't trying to be mean, but that I was trying to keep someone from getting their eyes poked. I went on to tell her that when I was younger I got my eye jabbed by an umbrella and that it really hurt.

That caught her attention. Finally, I thought I was getting somewhere with her.

Until her mouth opened.

L-Is that how you got those stripes?

M-Stripes?

L-Yes, those stripes on your eyes.

M-What stripes? Point to them for me.

And then she pointed to the wrinkles all around my eyes.

I almost told her that those "stripes" are one of the many reasons she should give up on being tan sooner than I did back in the day of the tanning bed. But instead I just increased the length of her time out and went to put on some extra anti-aging eye cream.

Kids. They keep you humble.

If you want to read more stories of how kids' talk has got their parents laughing, head over to Tiny Talk Tuesday.

Sibling is a Star, Too.

Well, somehow Lily got wind that Jade had a "singing video" published on the computer.

So, the questions began:

Do I have a video on the computer too?
Can you video tape me doing something?

and my favorite...

Where was I when you videotaped Jade?

Ah. Sibling rivalry at its finest.

So after putting together her ABC puzzles, she grabbed a pointer and demanded a video be made. I obliged...she's a star too.



Love that girl!

Crib Star

I love it when my baby wakes up happy and singing. She's got quite a repertoire.



Did you catch two of her comments?

First off, she said...Mommy? You're naked? Oops. I wasn't really naked...just not fully clothed. I thought of taping her while I was finishing up my shower and had to act quickly.

And obviously with her second comment...what's that?...I not only need to act quickly, but more often.

My 2 year old doesn't know what a video camera is. Sad. Sad. Sad.

I hope she never has to identify a baby book.

Potty Training...Complete!

Alternative Title: Even Princesses, Fairies, and Circus Lovers have to use the pot.

or Sisters Find New Way to Bond: Potty Talk Edition

or Mommy Hasn't Changed a Diaper in Weeks...and it is making her want another baby...

Mommy MUST be crazy.

For more "Wordless Wednesday" go here.

Snap, Crackle, Pop...

Rice Krispies.


In an effort to sell Lily on some of the healthier cereals that came in the big variety fun box, I told her of the magic talking properties of Rice Krispies.



It worked...after she got over the idea that she was eating the noisy little elves.

Child Labor

Is it really labor if they beg you to do it? And they aren't getting paid?


Currently in our home we are letting our girls help out in lots of ways. I don't bring out the camera for the daily routines...like getting their cups to the sink, Lily unloading the silverware and sippy cups, or Jade herding all the shoes to their proper locations.


The camera came out for their first driveway car wash though...


The best part is that all the work that is back breaking for us, is right at their level.

Tires and fenders? No problem.

Crawl in the van to do the inside windows? Sure.

We sprayed Lily down for good measure towards the end. Work and play go hand in hand.

Her favorite chore inside is dusting. Again her height sure comes in handy. Yesterday she dusted the undersides, bottom legs, and lower shelves on every piece of furniture we own. But as she was doing the bottom of a dining chair she came across a cobweb and that scared all the fun right out of her.

Thankfully that was the last room to do, so the dusting was done. And hopefully she'll forget all about it by next weekend. I want to get some more work out of this free and available laborer while she's willing.

Things I probably shouldn't admit

That it is 12:17 AM and I know I should be in bed, but I am still up. I will regret it in the morning and promise myself that I'll go to bed earlier...and won't.

I've been working too many hours and it is really showing up in the form of chaos in our home.

The light beamed in at just the right angle earlier today and exposed some freakish cobwebs on my walls/ceilings. How long have they been there? Who else has noticed them and not said anything, but sure thought something?

I got pulled over again tonight. Rolled through a stop sign apparently. I was in my husband's truck and couldn't find proof of insurance. His inspection also just expired 8/31. And I only got a warning. This is unbelievable to me because up until last week, I had never gotten a warning...ever. Only stinkin' expensive tickets. Last week I got a warning for going 42 in a 30. I've driven that road for 3 years and always thought it was 40. 2 little girls witnessed mommy getting caught disobeying. Very humbling. Now Lily always asks me if I'm driving too fast. I'm just thankful she wasn't with me in the truck tonight.

Why do I do things/eat things/say things that I wouldn't want them to do/eat/say? Total depravity. Thank you Lord that you provide rescue. Thank you for using my kids to sanctify me over and over and over again.

And last but not least on the list of things that I probably shouldn't admit...I turned the sprinkler on out back a bit ago. Now it is raining, thundering and lightning so bad that I am too chicken to go turn it off.

When Jerry figures out what I did and the probable flood I caused, I'm glad I can distract him with the fact that I got pulled over in his truck with no proof of insurance anywhere to be found, boasting an inspired inspection sticker...and got off with just a warning.

And now I really am going to bed...

Put on your sunglasses...

the uniforms are in.

Apparently Jerry shouldn't have been worried about being head coach at all. If he doesn't get home until late and they need to hold a practice after dark, it's no problem...they'll all be glowing.

My initial idea was to name them the Fireflies...that was before I knew our color assignment. Oh how appropriate that would have been!

6 four year olds and a size 3 ball

Let the U5 soccer fun begin.

This is going to be an exceptionally fun adventure for us as Lily figures out if she should call the coach by, "Coach Gibson", or simply "daddy". I'm sure he'll answer to either.

We really didn't intend for him to coach. I mean he has played soccer all of his life, and was more than happy to assist, but with his work schedule and the time change on the way, we weren't really sure he could swing all the practices...especially if they didn't want to be playing in the dark.

He volunteered to assist. Then he suddenly started receiving emails about submitting his team name and color choice. Huh? He replied back for 3 weeks stating that he'd only be able to commit to assisting. No response. None.

So, with the season quickly approaching we began to get worried when Lily never heard from her coach regarding upcoming practices, etc. With Jerry getting no response via e-mail, I marched myself up to the Rec soccer office and inquired in person. I went at it from the angle of my daughter not having heard anything from her coach. The lady gladly looked her up in the computer system and said, well, it says here that her coach is Jerry Gibson, isn't that her father? Uh, yes.

So to make a long story short, Daddy will now be known as Coach Gibson for the next ten Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Here is Lily and her buddy Mia, a neighbor girl who Lily happens to be a whopping 5 days older than...who is now her fellow teammate as well.




Notice the pink and purple? We were hoping for pink or purple jerseys. Well, seeing as we were a little late in the game when it came to picking names/colors we were just assigned one. Out of the 29 U5 girls teams in our league, it seems they had plenty of pink and purple requests. Guess what color we got? Lime Green. Dear Lord, may it please be a cute lime green and not a crazy fluorescent yellowish green.

I just got an email that the uniforms are in and ready to be picked up this evening. I'll have to post an update later.

Oh, and did I mention that one reason Jerry decided to coach was that according to the soccer office one of the mom's had already volunteered to be team manager/team mom. Yeah, right. We emailed her to thank her for offering to help and let her know that she needed to get her background check sent in. We got an immediate response stating that she had double checked her daughter's registration form and that she had not volunteered to help in this way. Great.

That's when I got a new assignment from the Head Coach. I'm reporting to you as Assistant Coach of the Lime Green Pixies. I've never played a day of soccer in my life.

Lord, help us all.