Our Royal Day

Chris's Mom, Judy is so fun!  On March 19, she hosted a royal day for the "big girls."  Clairey and Daddy stayed home and rested while Grandma, Michelle, and Hallie went to Disney Princesses on Ice.  Hallie had no idea where we were going.  She was just told we were going on a "surprise adventure."  We selected her Snow White outfit since she hasn't had a chance to wear that fancy get-up in public yet.

Hallie was thrilled when we arrived at the arena.  Many little girls were dressed up for the event.  I know I am biased, but Hallie was the cutest princess there.  However, she was not keen on how "high" and "scary" our seats were.  In truth, we had a perfect view of the show but she has a classic fear of heights.  Grandma thought fast and got her a massive TinkerBell snow cone and I will admit that definitely distracted Hallie until she became comfortable. 

As you can see, it all turned out princess perfect!

After our show, we met Chris and Claire for dinner.  Mom treated us to Noodles and Company and then we treated Mom to gelato.  We were indeed royally spoiled.

A look back at St. Pat's!

Someday, my grown-up daughters might look back at these pictures and think I was really organized and I planned ahead to pull things off like this.  The truth is, my sweet girls, I had a combination of desperation, supplies and luck to be able to pull off what looks like such a cutesy, festive day. 

I woke up the morning of St. Patrick's Day in a panic realizing Hallie's "go-to" green dress was in the bottom of a laundry basket and that all her friends at preschool would be wearing green.  I silently prayed she would have something else green to wear in her dresser.  Thank goodness she did!

When I stumbled down to get out cereal I lamented the fact that I wasn't cool like other Moms who thought ahead and bought Lucky Charms.  But I do own food coloring!  So, into the milk and pancake batter the green dye went.  Hallie was the one who told me the leprechaun did it.

From then on, I was sort of in my groove and the green obsession simply snow-balled . . .

to green nails . . .

and any green hair accesory I could find . . .

to a green onesie that could accentuate her pudgy toddler tummy.

Hallie discovered a pot o' gold at preschool that day and immediately shared her treasure with her sister.

Chocolate is a true treasure.

I am ridiculously proud of her coloring skills of late!  Perhaps we could work on that new backwards signature shown below though?

She painted this darling rainbow at preschool by dipping race cars in paint and taking them for a spin around the paper.   

I'm in the middle of this favorite green book of mine.

In the afternoon we watched one of the girls' favorite green movies. 

I realized we don't really have Irish movies around here.

Chris wore his fav tie with green in it.  It also happens to sport his school colors (which is why I bought it).

We made Shamrock Shakes!  Claire loved them!

For the dinner table, I pulled out everything green I could find and told the girls "the leprechan" put green, gold, and yellow candies on the table to eat.  We ate Irish Hot Pot-- it's something my dad made for us while I was a child.  You boil Irish favs (potatoes, cabbage, and onions) in a pot of water and then serve with sausage.  Each person can season with butter and salt and pepper as desired.  It is surprisingly delicious.  The girls loved sneaking bits of candy in between bites of potatoes. 

The older I get, the more I realize any opportunity for a new family tradition is an opportunity we must take!

These are the things my children will remember.  These are the types of memories that will tie their hearts back to home and make them long for simple, happy things.  And that is so worth any flight of frenzy to produce these festive times.

Things I hear from my kids everyday

From Claire . . .

"I need help, Mommy!"  "Mommy, I need help-out!"  "Help!"  "Help!"

"I need weck-usses (necklaces)!"  As she piles on her fifth strand of jewels.

"I don't want it."  Which really sounds like "I want it,"  but she is shaking her head so vigorously you know she doesn't want it.

"I humming, Mommy." . . . which means "I'm coming." 

"I need huh-ler, Mommy" . . . which means coloring is in order.

"Luh-uh too!" (Love you too!)

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy.  Mommy!"

From Hallie . . .

"But my old one still works!"  Anytime she gets a new anything, she mentions an older item and how that one still works.  Not that she doesn't want the new one . . . just that the old one is still useful too.

"I spy . . ."  and "It's your turn, Mommy."  Chris taught her how to play "I Spy" while driving in the car.  I am simultaneously happy and exasperated with it.  Let's just say she has longevity.

"Please bless me to NOT go to bed!"  followed by a burst of giggles.  She loves to use sarcasm in her nightly prayers and laughs and laughs about it afterward while Chris and I tickle her relentlessly.

Rhymes.  Hallie loves to rhyme "schmeverything."  Any "smerd" can just come out in a funny rhyme.  And then she is a ball of giggles again.

"You don't need to ask me.  I'll just do it myself!"

Also, I'll add their funny (to me) comments during dessert the other night:
Claire: "Not too bad!"
Hallie:  "That banana split was awesome!"

Sucky Seas

Funny title of a post, right? 

I just don't want to ever forget how hilarious Claire's pronunciation of Chuck E' Cheese is.

Isn't it awesome?

Several Saturdays ago, Chris and I were ambitious and started painting Hallie's new bedroom.  After two coats, trim work, and beadboard, we were starved and ready for a break.  Daddy had the great idea to take the girls to Chuck E' Cheese.  They had patiently withstood us ignoring them while we slopped on paint and we thought they deserved a reward for how they handled such neglect.  So we printed out a coupon and headed out.

That's quite the toothy grin from me.  Perhaps I was intimidated by Chuck.

And now for my favorite photo of the night . . .

Apparently, Claire just wasn't into the photo booth.

When the night was done, Chris said he could do without Chuck E' Cheese for another three years.  The pizza was just okay but they give us too many tokens and we felt like throwing them away just so we could get out of there.   However, the girls were enthralled.  When Claire got on rides she woud exclaim "Wook me, Daddy!"  And even though it is weeks later, Hallie still talks about the rides and Claire mumbles about "Sucky Seas."

Easy going

This little gal of ours is so easy-going these days. 

It doesn't matter that Dad is sick for two weeks and the Mom gets sick for a week and then baby sister gets sick and wakes up all night long or that she gets miserably sick too.  She just wakes up, smiles politely, and does her thing.

Our sweet girl is content to stack baskets to build "castles" or line up boxes and Barbies and bears to make choo-choo trains so she can shout "All aboard!"

And she is content to let you play movie after movie after movie.

Even if it is the same movie three times in a row because your parents have the strength to press play and not to open the DVD player and switch the movie.

She lets Mom make her peanut butter and jelly for the third time in a week and eats up sweetly.

I am so lucky to find such a kindred spirit in a little girl.  I can't tell you what a blessing it is to raise her.  I hardly feel like I am doing anything except hanging out with her and making her food.  She is just naturally a classy, happy, fun-loving girl.

Thanks, Hallie gal!

And for the record, we think we just may be done, FINALLY, with being sick.

A day so good I need to invent words

Before we ever got sick (were we ever not sick?) we did something fun!  We were both enjoying the glory that is President's Day and reveling in days off work (Thank you Misters Washington and Lincoln) when we took a spontaneous trip to Denver.  Our first stop was the temple. 

It is such a beautiful, peaceful place.  Look how thrilled Hallie was!

Claire . . . not so much.  You will notice a pattern with Claire for this day.

Our next goal was "Operation: Find a Disney Store."  So, we headed to a mall in Littleton where we had gone to one before.  Imagine how crestfallen we were to discover it had closed (we were so bummed).  But Southwest Plaza did not want us to leave devestated so it gave us a token prize called Cali Burger.  Let's just say the burgers were so amazing that Chris and I could potentially drive an hour just to eat there again -- even if it was in a mall food court.  And imagine our pleasure when the burger we were feasting on was called the O.C. (as in our hometown Orange County) Cheesey Burger.  It was good and I want it again -- even though I haven't eaten breakfast yet.

Claire fell asleep on our ride after lunch so Chris stayed in the car with her while Hallie and I enjoyed the American Girl Store at Park Meadows.  Hallie kept gasping and saying "Wow!"  She asked me about a hundred times if we could buy one.  I told her it wasn't her birthday, so she suggested we buy one for Claire's birthday.  I told her Claire didn't need a hundred dollar birthday present.

Hallie was in doll heaven!

She did not, however, appreciate the new-fangled hand dryers in the restroom.

After our doll delight, we all strolled into my favorite mall.  I found a cute dish in Anthropologie and two necklaces and a bag at Forver 21 and for a combined total of $16, I felt like I had gone a serious shopping spree.

Yep . . . she was in a big time "Don't hold me, I walking!" phase this day.

After we were shopped out, we headed south for home.  We were pleased as punch in our car when we were rear-ended.  Thankfully, thankfully, thankfully there was Denver traffic so the car couldn't have been going more than twenty.  And thankfully, thankfully, thankfully we had said a prayer earlier and asked for a blessing of safety on our family and car.  And miracle, miracle, miracle there was not a scratch to behold on our car. 

All in all a blessed, tastey, shoppy day.  That last adjective I made up . . . but who wouldn't want a tastey, shoppy day?

Claire on the cusp of two!

 

Our Clairey girl is in the eve of her second birthday!  In truth, she has about a month and a half to go.  But everyday a little of our baby slips away as the little girl in her comes out to shine! 

The funny thing about children who have older siblings is they pick up on their silly habits.  Claire loves to drink the milk out of her cereal first, then spoon the cereal into her mouth (courtesy of Hallie).  She loves to pretend to make "cakes" by stirring together everything on her plate (Hallie, again).  She also loves to talk back -- whether or not she knows what she is saying.  Case in point -- the two of us were at the store together the other day and Claire would not sit down in her cart.  I kept encouraging her to sit down and she looked at me indignangtly and said "I DID sit down!!"  (even though she was standing up defiantly in her cart).  She also likes to deny that she screams (still a favorite past time).  She ran into the other room shrieking and when I called her name she turned around and said "I not 'creaming!"  The next day she did the same thing except she told her Daddy "I just quiet!"

Claire is doing great in physical therapy.  We put her on an exercise ball to strengthen her core muscles around her middle.  She can run in the backyard on uneven surfaces and can kick balls (even if they only go six inches).  She is starting to walk up and down the stairs by holding onto the banister.  She also is transitioning from going down stairs on her tummy to going down front facing one step at a time and landing on her diapered bum.

Little Claire is getting good at counting to ten with us helping her and loves to identify when she has two things.  She'll yell "two shoes!" or squeal "I have two Minnies!"  The other day Hallie was having cheetos with her sandwich.  Claire wanted one too and I was impressed when she said "I want red . . . no, I want yellow!"  The correct color would have been orange but I didn't even know she could identify any colors so I was wowed by her attempts.

Clairey's favorite things still have to do with Minnie.  Her favorite movies to watch are Wonder Pets (Wuh-Peh), Care Bears (Pear-Bears), Sesame Street (Street) and Cinderella (Rella).  Claire is getting a longer attention span and can therefore read books for longer.  She loves to push the cart at the store.  She could easily live off candy, chocolate, and crackers if we let her.  The only meals she eats consitently involve cereal, yogurt, or pizza.  Other toddler staples like macaroni and cheese are beneath her (even my homemade batches-- which stumps me).  She is good about eating any sort of beans -- pinto, black beans, refried.  Otherwise, she will love peanut butter and jelly one day and despise it the next -- typical toddler behavior.

She is still the ultimate mommy's girl.  "Mommy . . . I hold you!" is her most used phrase. 

  

We love you, Claire!