Woaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
January 30, 2008, 4:00 pm
Last night Lily brought the house down with her dramatic attempt at avoiding cleaning up. We were at Matt and Dawn's house for Matt's birthday dinner. Lily was a bit ornery throughout the evening. She was standing in the kitchen near the dog's water bowls and there was a little bit of water on the floor. I asked her to please help Noah and Emily pick up toys downstairs.Lily said, "I can't! This floor is too slippery!" Then she held out her arms as if she was about to fall and said "Woaaaaaaa!" and then she fell all the way to the floor.
She did this routine twice as she left the kitchen. Nathan, Dawn, Matt, and I all doubled over in uncontrollable laugher. She brought me to tears.
I have to wonder if Aunt JJ had any great performances like this at the age of 3...[ 2 comments ] ( 19 views )
Like Father, Like Son
January 27, 2008, 9:33 pm
I discovered Nathan and Noah watching a show on the Wall of China. The globe was out, and they were both mesmerized by the program. There are a few other similarities I noticed (besides their love for educational television and looking at the globe.) Can you spot them?;)
[ 2 comments ] ( 19 views )Pinewood Derby
January 26, 2008, 4:12 pm
Noah built a pinewood derby car with his Grandpa and Uncle Troy over Thanksgiving break in Kansas. We brought the block of wood to Grandpa's house, and he immediately started sketching plans. Noah picked the color yellow with the black #17. Uncle Troy drew a cool Darth Vader face on the driver.After Thanksgiving, Grandpa made a very serious call to Nathan about increasing the weight of the car to 5 ounces (the maximum weight). We got the weight up to exactly 5 ounces for the race by drilling a hole and adding some weights.
This morning Noah won 2nd place of the Tiger cubs and received a trophy! He immediately called his Grandpa (we're not sure who is more excited)...
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[ 5 comments ] ( 32 views )
What have you done for me lately?
January 24, 2008, 12:48 pm
Noah likes to make popcorn in the microwave on his own. He even gets out bowls and serves us the popcorn. Last night we put on a movie, and Noah started the popcorn.Then he asked me to go get him a Sprite from the downstairs refrigerator. I told him he can go get one. He said, "I have to do EVERYTHING around here!" and pouted.
Of course this is a moment every parent dreams of, and I proceeded to list everything that Papa and I do around the house:
laundry
dishes
making meals
cleaning the house
shoveling snow
etc.
Noah listened to my long speech and then kissed me very sweetly and asked, "please?"
Of course I got it for him. I'm a sucker for a good kiss.
[ 2 comments ] ( 18 views )
All about Lily
January 24, 2008, 12:40 pm
We went to Julia's 2nd birthday party last weekend. Lily was very excited, as she loves cake, balloons, and visiting her friend Julia.Lots of Julia's family came for the party including Grandmas and Grandpas. The kids were eating cup cakes and the adults were taking pictures when Lily asked, "Why isn't anyone taking any pictures of ME?" So Julia's Grandma Barb started taking lots of pictures of Lily.
Lily got a pink balloon (her favorite color of course) and amazingly it survived the 2 1/2 hour drive home so that she could have me tie it on her chair at the dining room table.
Lily and her balloon:
;)
[ 4 comments ] ( 24 views )Linda
January 17, 2008, 4:24 pm
Yes, this is another post about my Mom. Sorry, Dad, I'll pick on you next month. Lily loves her Grandma Linda. While at the waterpark, Lily and I won a bunch of tickets playing games (quite by accident), so Lily picked out a Barbie for a prize.Melissa asked Lily, "What is your Barbie's name?"
Lily declared, "LINDA!" Then Lily said, "That's my mom's mom's name."
Melissa said, "You like your Grandma, huh?"
Lily said, "Yes, she plays tea party with me!"
Lily has also named the crescent moon Linda. She looks for her "baby crescent moon" every evening. When the moon is crescent shaped she yells, "There's Linda!" and pretends to pull the moon from the sky and cradle the moon in her arms.
Lately Lily has been talking about having babies in her belly (sometimes one, sometimes three), but one of the babies is always named Linda. Lily was still hungry after dinner one night, and she said, "My baby in my tummy, Linda, she ate all my food!"
;)
[ 2 comments ] ( 19 views )Winter Weather
January 17, 2008, 3:21 pm
Last week when it was quite warm here (in the 60's) and all of the snow melted, Noah said, "Well, I guess winter is over! It's time for spring!"I assured Noah that it was still winter and told him that it always snows around my birthday and usually that is the snow that stays a while and reminds you why you don't really like winter in the Midwest.
This morning we woke up to big beautiful snowflakes coming down. Lily yelled out, "It's snowing! It's snowing!" and was so excited.
Then she said very sweetly, "Your birthday should be coming soon!"
;)
[ 2 comments ] ( 19 views )Like mother, like daughter
January 10, 2008, 1:53 pm
As I approach my mid-thirties, I find myself doing more things like my mother. I often chuckle over the realization that I am turning into my mom. Now my mom is one of those great mothers. One with truly unconditional love. She tells me I'm beautiful every time I talk to her or get an email from her. She's the kind of mother I aspire to be, a mom who builds her kids up every day (even her 30-year-old kids).That said, she is my mom, and I've always viewed her as a little nerdy or perhaps a bit quirky (both great qualities of course). She's gotten much more fashionable with age, so there is hope for me there.
Looking at pictures of me as a child, my hair was always wild and never styled well. My mom openly admits that she has no idea how to do hair. I often wondered if my hair was brushed when I was little.
In my favorite picture of me as a little girl, I am wearing a tight shirt, polyester red pants, tap shoes on the wrong feet, and my hair is a mess. This picture seems to be the epitome of Jeni as a little girl (or the white tornado as they called me). My mom dressed me in odd combinations of clothing, or maybe I dressed myself like that.
My friend Dawn has a daughter Emily who is always dressed very fashionably. Dawn can also do hair very well. Often Emily will show up with some cute hair style, and I ask Dawn how she does it. She assures me it's very easy, but I somehow doubt I can do it.
When I had Noah, fashion and hair were not a problem. Noah's hair has always been short. Nathan cuts it very short, and I have never brushed his hair. Dressing a boy just involves pants and a shirt or maybe overalls which is about as fancy as I got with Noah.
But then I had Lily. Luckily Lily was bald for a very long time. Now she has hair. I swear I wash it and brush it almost every day, but her hair never looks brushed. I hear people chuckle and often make comments about Lily's wild hair. Good lord, I am my mother!
Then there are Lily's outfits. I have received so many wonderful hand-me-down clothes for Lily, but I think I put the wrong clothes together (she never quite looks put together like Emily does).
Last night Lily had her first dance class. I sat there completely entertained for 45 minutes while Lily attempted various ballet and tap moves. Then I realized that Lily didn't look like any of the other girls. The other girls had really fancy hairdos (buns and multiple pig tails and certainly some skilled brushing) and pink leotards with matching tights and shoes.
I looked at Lily and it was like looking back at that picture of me in the polyester pants. Lily's hair was wild with a blue barrette in it (my sad attempt at hair styling). She had on a black leopard print leotard with bright green socks and black shoes. I heard other parents giggle at the sight of her, and right then I saw Lily's future (and felt more like my mom than ever).
(But you have to admit, she is beautiful)
;)
[ 8 comments ] ( 73 views )Lily's Sayings
January 9, 2008, 12:31 pm
This morning Lily and I were getting ready for storytime at the library. Lily got her socks on and then said, "Mom, can you put on my shoes so I don't get frustrated?"In the car on the way to the library she requested her favorite song. I had to look for the cd. I found it, and she said, "Wow, you found that cd without getting frustrated! That was very good of you Mom!"
Thank goodness for the mornings when Lily and I don't get frustrated.[ 2 comments ] ( 26 views )
Perfect Day
January 7, 2008, 9:41 pm
I love the American Express ad with a picture of Tina Fey and her daughter. The ad includes a questionnaire. My favorite answers:Proudest accomplishment: my daughter says "please" and "thank you."
(Because I'm really trying to raise polite children.)
Perfect day: coffee/playground/nap/exercise/flea market/playground/bath time/dinner with grownups/see a great movie/asleep by 9 p.m.*
(I can really relate to the coffee, playgroups, nap, exercise, bath time, and asleep by 9.)
I think I had close to the perfect day last Saturday:
coffee/exercise/bath time/playtime in the basement/shopping at Kohl's/chai tea from Starbucks/swimming at the YMCA/read a few chapters from a great book/nap/playtime/bath time/dinner with grownups at one of my favorite restaurants (all dressed up)/a drink in a smoke-free bar (Illinois restaurants and bars just went smoke-free)/in bed by 11:00* (up just a tad later than I prefer).
My perfect companions:
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[ 4 comments ] ( 33 views )Fun City
January 2, 2008, 8:30 am
We rang in the New Year at a waterpark with some of our favorite people (Matt, Dawn, Emily, Kevin, Melissa, Lee, Alexia, and Sophia).The kids counted down the days to Fun City. They certainly had fun and were sad to leave. Lily enjoyed "swimming" in the waterpark and going down the slides (the small ones). Noah liked the car racing games and the go-carts.
Lily stayed up until 10 p.m., which is very late for her, and Noah made it all the way until Midnight.
Notice all the fun being had:
The Kids: (Alexia, Emily, Noah, Kevin, Sophia, Lily)
;)
The Mothers: (Jeni, Melissa, Dawn)
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The Fathers: (Matt, Lee, Nathan)
;)
Noah ready for a race:
;)
Emily and Noah, a bit delirious as the clock is about to strike 12:
;)
Happy New Year![ 3 comments ] ( 23 views )
