The mind of a child

I have another Abby story for you.  My girls say the funniest things sometimes, and I just never want to forget them.  You may not find this funny at all, but I'm a mom and can't help but think my babies are so great.  Sometimes I am amazed at how innocent the girls are.  I love that they think we will live together forever, and I will always be there taking care of them.  The day they don't need me to do things for them will be one of the saddest days of my life!!!  Don't get me wrong, I encourage my girls to be independent too, but I love that they still need and want their mommy. 

This is a converstation that took place on the way to school the other morning.

Shelby: "Mommy, if Abby is going to be a vet when she grows up, and Macey is going to be an artist, what in the world am I going to be?  I know, I will be a vet too."

Abby:  "No you won't, that's mine."  Then she thinks about it for a minute.  "Maybe that would be ok, we could work in the same office together."

Me: "That would be great.  I will work there too and answer your phones."

Abby (very excited now):  "Yeah, and we can drive to work together every  morning just like we do for school."

Me:  "That's right, because your going to live with me forever."

Abby:  "Of course I am.  Mommy, how old do I have to be to be a grown up."

Me: " Well, you are legally a grown up when you turn 18."

Abby:  "What?!? Does that mean I am suppossed to take care of myself then."

Me: "Well, sort of."

Abby:  "Well that's a great present.  You wake up on your 18th birthday and it's surprise your clothes aren't laid out for you and you have to fix your own hair."

If I can handle four shots, I can handle this

Shelby got her ears pierced tonight.  She had been asking to do it all week, and I did everything in my power to talk her out of it.  She wouldn't budge.  I told her it was going to hurt, and that we would have to clean it all the time.  Her response was that she got four shots at her check-up and it couldn't hurt as bad as that.  I really had no reason not to let her so I gave in.  She did try and back out at the very last second (at that point I was going to have to pay for the earings no matter what), but sitting on mommy's lap made her feel better.  She sat very still and only cried for a minute afterward.  I hate seeing my babies get hurt which is why I tried to talk her out of it!  The lady at the store said that a lot of mom's bring their kids in screaming and hold them down while they get their ears pierced.  Maybe it's just me, but I can't imagine forcing my baby to do something that was going to hurt them.  Especially something as unneccesary as pierced ears.  I didn't get any pictures of the actual event because they wouldn't let me use my camera in the store. 

Her ears starting burning a little.  I can still remember my ears burning when I got them pierced at the age of five!

Fiesta!!!

Shelby had a Fiesta at her school this week to celebrate Mexico's Independence day.  Being so close to Mexico, her preschool celebrates a lot of the Mexican holidays.  Her classroom is also a bilingual class so she has one teacher that speaks to her in English, and one teacher that speaks to her only in Spanish.  Shelby loves this and so do I.  Mrs. Veronica thinks Shelby is a hoot because if she doesn't know how to say something in Spanish, she just makes it up.  The Fiesta was a lot of fun, complete with a parade, pinata, dance, and lots of yummy Mexican food.  Shelby's favorite part was the dancing.  Two of the boys in her class, got into a shoving match over who was going to dance with Shelby.  At one point, they each had one of her arms.  I had to intervene before they tore her apart.  Shelby's response was to say "boys, I can dance with both of you."  She loves telling people that two boys were fighting over her.  Thanks to my wonderful friend Andrea, Shelby had the perfect dress to wear!

One of Shelby's friends at school.  I don't think she was expecting this hug!

All the kids in Shelby's class took off as soon as they saw the pinata.  So much for the parade!

This is the only picture I got of the two little boys who were fighting.  I had to intervene after that.  Look at Shelby's face.  She is delighted!

Lukas won the first dance.

While all the other kids were listening to a speach about Mexico winning its Independance, Shelby was playing a trade the "noisemaker" game with one of her friends.

That girl was intense when it came to hitting the pinata.  Just look at how she is standing!  Of course when the pinata finally opened, there were only packages of goldfish inside. Shelby said "What is that?  I want a bag of candy!"

Go Green!

Abby and Macey had their annual Go Green day at school this week. It always kicks off their fall fundraising event. The kids have a great time dressing up in their green outfits. This year Abby and Macey both won for most creative outfit. They would have been better, but the notes letting parents know about Go Green day were sent out the night before. I didn't have a chance to shop or think about it at all. The girls wore their green tutus from last year. Abby had outgrown her ribbon jeans so I hot glued some green and pink ribbon around the bottom of her old shorts. Talk about last minute! Our house was turned upside down after the girls and I dug through every drawer and closet looking for green accessories. We actually had a lot of fun together while doing it. I did not have as much fun cleaning it all up later that night!

Labor Day Getaway

With Bret being gone during the week for the last month, weekends together have become very important. It has not been easy for the girls to deal with Daddy being gone so much. Shelby especially has not dealt with it well. She has started baby talking again, and she is throwing temper tantrums like you have never seen! I know this is a result of to much change at once, daddy leaving and preschool.

Bret suggested we go up to my parents cabin in Ruidoso for the long weekend. I wasn't sure I wanted to go to all the trouble, but he was right! We had a great time. Getting away from everything for a few days was just what we all needed. We took walks, played in the river, went out to eat, and went to the gun show (Daddy's choice). Most importantly, we laughed and snuggled and spent a lot of time together. I am so lucky that I am married to a man who loves his wife and children as much as Bret does!

The girls loved playing in the river!  They were so cute in their rain boots.  As you can tell from the pictures, Macey enjoyed it more than most. 

Shelby was very unsure of herself at first.  This was her first step into the water, and she nearly took both her sisters down in an attempt to keep her legs dry.

There are some great roads going up the mountain by my parents cabin, and we really enjoyed family walks.  We saw several deer which was fun. 

Yes, I know this picture is ridiculous, but Bret is oh so proud of it. 

When 30 was old

This is a conversation that I had with Abby the other night while she was doing her homework. I think it's so funny because I can remember when I thought 30 was old!

Abby: This is so dumb!

Me: What is Abby?

Abby: I can't believe they are asking me a question about the year 1998. That was so long ago George Washington was probably still alive.

Me: Abby! I was in college in 1998.

Abby: Wow, I figured you were just a baby when George Washington was alive.

Shelby's first day of school.

Shelby had a good first week of school. She has shed some tears when it is time for me to leave. That has made it a lot harder to leave her. However, she has loved school. Her teacher thinks she is hilarious and really seems to love her. Hopefully that is the case. I did get to school early one day, just in time to hear Shelby tell her teacher that she didn't like her! Apparently, she didn't want to leave the playground when it was time. We had a long talk about that, made Shelby apologize, and she has been great ever since. I can't help but think her spunk is a little funny, not that I want her acting bad. The second day of school, I was waiting in the hallway for her class to finish and two teachers from a different class came up to me and asked if I was Shelby's mom. When I told them yes, they said Shelby is so funny and so friendly. I can't even imagine what that child has said to them! Here are some pics of her first day at school.

Isn't she so cute walking in with her backpack on? What a big girl!

Deciding she doesn't want to go in after all. Here come the tears. :(

Wait a minute, there's a Guinea pig in here? Maybe I'm OK after all.

Her cubbie and basket.

Mrs. Charlene telling Shelby how much fun she is going to have while I sneak away.