confusing

Evie is talking more and more each day! Which is a good thing- don't get me wrong. But I thought it would make communication soooo much easier. In some ways...not so much!

Me vs you and your vs mine


She loves to look through photos. And when we come to a picture of her, I point and say "It's you!". When I get a photo of me I say "It's me!".  Well now that she can talk, every picture of me is me and every picture of her is you. Does that make sense?

And mine and yours...jeez! Last night I had a 10 minute conversation with her about which bed we should lay down in. Mine or yours? She kept saying "Mine! Mine!" So we went in her room. She immediately started crying and saying "Mine! Mine!". And I was so confused, because we were in her bed. Finally I asked to show me, because I just wasn't getting it. So she hops out of bed and goes into our room. She points to my bed and says "Mine!". And at first I thought she was laying claim to my bed- and there was no way I was letting that happen. So I looked at her and said "Noooo. That's mine! That's my bed." She smiled, shook her head and said "yep. Mine."

After about 10 minutes of cuddles with daddy and a bit of cartoons, she decided it was time to go to "YOUR" bed. And just as the words "Evie, this is bed is mine and that's your bed." came out of my mouth- it hit me. Poor kid! How confusing! I don't remember such antics with the other children. She will most definitely keep us on our toes!

Classics

Evie has declared on ownership of my iPad... but then again I declared ownership of it when we were gifted it as a family gift for Christmas a few years ago...so I shouldn't be surprised. Anyway, she loving calls it Gamers. She has about 15 apps on it specifically designed for preschoolers. She has learned her animals, shapes, some numbers, correlation of objects and entry level sight words! YAY! Which really excites me because I was hoping she would be able to start school in 2016. And she is well on her way to being ready.

But her new favorite is a little known thing called You Tube. Yes. It has sucked her in. She likes to watch cartoons on it. And I don't really mind, because then I don't have to watch cartoons all day or listen to the same theme songs over and over. It has also allowed her to check out the classics.

Here she is watching black and white Mickey Mouse.

I'm pretty sure she'll be programming cell phones and computers by the time she's in first grade. Kids these days!

sweetness

I had an eye appt in Omaha earlier this week. We beat rush hour traffic and made it into town a bit early. So Evie and I stopped to grab a tasty treat from Krispie Kreme. 

I'm pretty sure she enjoyed it...what do you think?!

And the sweet person that I am...I bought a dozen to bring home and share with the family. I even dropped some off with the in laws! Yum! 

Pressure

The twinners are sophomores in highschool. They are intelligent, mature and level headed. They are kind, thoughtful and giving. Pretty much all you could ask for in children!  And it breaks my heart to see them struggle and get caught up on the pressure of it all.

The other night, one of them broke down at dinner. She was upset and worried about her future. What if she chooses the wrong man to marry? What if she goes to school and ends up hating her career choice after a few years? What if she moves over seas and gets homesick?

Tough questions and worries for a 15 year old. John and I talked with her and told her that if she marries a jerk- leave him and find someone else. If you don't like your career choice- change it. There is no age limit on education. If you get homesick- come home! Or better yet...invite us to visit! There is very little concrete finite decisions that need to made- and certainly none that she has to worry about now. I wasn't sure if all this was legitimate anxiety or just emotional girly drama that tends to visit monthly.

A few days later I found out that the twins were registering for junior classes this week at school. Their junior year is going to be huge and the pressure is already here. During their junior year they will test in the ACTs and SATs, begin looking at colleges, evaluating programs and requirements and finally selecting one by the end of the year. It's important to have one selected so that they can take transferable courses their senior year. A way of maximizing class loads and jump starting their degree. They took the pre-ACT and based on those scores- already have colleges trying to recruit them.

They are 15 years old. Having to make such decisions right now is kind of nuts. We are not a "failure isn't an option" type of family. We encourage our children to push themselves. If that leads to success then we celebrate. If it leads to a failure- we focus on what we learned. We support them and love them. We encouraged them to choose a field they love. Something that excites them and motivates them. Don't worry about the educational requirements or pay scale.  We explained that it's not about how much you make, it's about learning to live and enjoy yourself within your means.

McKynna brought up a good point last night. She said "We are being asked to make decisions that will help decide our futures- yet we still have to ask to go to the bathroom. Something is not right about that."

After some more conversations and assurances that they are bright and wonderful- and will succeed in what ever they try...we finally made it through. I don't remember feeling so overwhelmed in highschool. Is it a sign of the times? Of how our society is changing? In a lot of ways lately, I feel we (as a society) are shortening the length of childhood. Expectations are coming on earlier and earlier. I wonder what it will be like for Evie?

Birthdays AND plans that don't go as planned

Last week was my 34th birthday! Woohoo! I'm getting up there, but it's all good! I went to GI town to have lunch with my mom and grandma. It was a lovely afternoon and I had a really nice time. Evie even put on a show for the small cafe...dancing to their mood music for the enjoyment of all the other patrons. She's a cutie!

My grandma sent me home with a ginormous german chocolate cake- which my family was forever grateful for! They devoured it all weekend long!

And I almost single-handedly ate the two dozen yummy cookies from my mom. YUM. No regrets!




AND then Sunday was my mother in law's birthday. It's not very often we get to spend her special day with her- so we thought it would be fun to spoil her with her favorite meal, balloons and a cake.

Our intentions were grand and it's the thought that counts. Which is perfect because all did not go according to plan!

It was BEAUTIFUL outside (60+ degrees) and she was craving margherita pizza. So we decided to grill up some at their house on the patio and take full advantage of the day.

Our first choice for pizza crust was closed, so we tried another store. No luck. But we did grab some organic tomatoes, wet mozz and yummy smelling basil. Ran home to grab the other three kids, the gift and a few groceries. We wrangled everyone in the car and ran over to a grocery store to grab the rest of the stuff, balloons, flowers etc. I was in charge of the food and John was in charge of the balloons and flowers. Evie sat in the cart and screamed the entire time. John was still waiting for the balloons so I checked out and headed out to the car. After about 5 minutes, I went back in to see if all was ok. Just our luck - it was newbie employee. Very inexperienced. It took her 22 minutes to blow up 4 regular balloons and a mylar. GRRRRRRR....I wasn't impressed.

We get everyone and the balloons and flowers in the car and start heading over to Nancy's house. We are about to turn into their subdivision when Kwynn says "I find it ironic that the balloon says 'Happy Cake day' and we don't have a cake!" 

OH CRAP! I completely forgot to grab a cake while we were at the store. By now we are in the driveway and it's already 1:30. We decide to just ask her what kind of cake she wants - and go get it after lunch.

We make the pizzas- which was easy and fine but one of my tomatoes was completely black on the inside and unusable. GRRRRRR.

We burned the pizzas.

I went to change Evie and realized I left the diaper bag in the van- which John had left in to go get the cake. Evie runs around commando for about 5 minutes before she has an accident and is now buck naked! Poor Nancy, at this point, is thinking- quit spoiling me...REALLY stop...now! 

John gets back and I realize there is no diaper bag in the van. GRRRRRR

Evie and I run back home, grab pants and the diaper bag. Oh- ya...my gas tank is on EMPTY. Owell.

We get back and enjoy some DQ cake. Pick up our mess, gives hugs and loves and farewells.

Nancy is free of our CHAOS...which probably ended up being the best part of the birthday!

We love you Nancy- and promise to spoil you again (with far less drama)!!

parenting

Last night at dinner, I realized John and I have become completely engrained into the parental zone. On our way to becoming pros, I tell ya!

We were all sitting at the table eating dinner and conversing about the day, events and various other things. And before I knew it, Evie was out of her seat and running around the kitchen singing at the top of her lungs. Her running is more like galloping and her singing is more like yelling, but you get the picture. But the epiphany came when I realized that John and I were conversing at a normal tone, relaxed and calm...meanwhile crazy kid was creating quite the commotion. And the twins are developing this fine talent too, because they were involved in the conversation acting like Evie wasn't even there. Now that's a skill they will appreciate!



Anyway, it's those little moments when you realize that even after 15+ years of being a parent- we are still learning, growing and achieving. Yay!




P.s. A little Evie-ism to leave you with. Last night we had tacos, rice and beans. Evie was dead set on using her chopsticks during dinner. Which ended up with her scooping up a bean at a time and balancing a grain of rice on the end of the chopstick. She is a stubborn, determined little stinker. But a cute one that we adore beyond words!

morning love

I love our little family. Our discussions at dinner. Our likes and dislikes. Our bickering. Our sarcasm. Our differences. Especially our differences!

Case in point...


A few pix from this morning:

Evie's full of energy and ready to terrorize. Corynn is wrapped in a blanket half asleep. 

Love them! 

Stay at home day

Today was a snowday cold day. School was cancelled because of frigid temps dipping well below -30 with windchill. CRAZY!!!

photo taken from weatherchannel.com

I spent a quiet morning taking down the last of the Christmas decorations and polishing our silver bells. The house is officially de-christmased. I'm still debating putting up Valentine decorations...it's a bit early but it is the next holiday!

While I debate that quandry, I'm off to read books, snuggle and watch Mickey Mouse with the little munchkin. Which is really one of the best perks of being a parent...seriously!

Christmas Memories 2013

I wanted to be sure and write down my favorite Christmas memories from this past year. 

G-A-M-E
My in laws were in no position this year to go shopping for the grandkids and rightfully so. Definitely more important things going on. But they graciously gave us some money to buy their gifts for the grandkids instead. I usually do our family Christmas shopping as well. John tries to keep up with what we got who and what so and so wants...but it's really just not his cup of tea. I pretty much kept everything straight between the Kelly gifts, our gifts, advent gifts and stocking stuffers. But somehow John was left out of the loop on a few things.

Case in point...a ps3 game the twins have been wanting. John ordered it because it was on sale and had planned on gifting it to them from us. But it was really a spur of the moment gift and it was going to put the delicate balance of gift equality all out of whack. So in the end I decided it would be from the grandparents! Fast forward to Dec. 23rd when we had our own little family Christmas. The kids are all done opening gifts and I'm trying to answer Corynn and help Evie undo packaging. John asks me if there was another something like a DVD the twins needed to open. I was so pre-occupied with Evie that I answered back "You mean the g-a-m-e from your parents? wink wink" AND then it hit me that I just spelled out what the gift was...in front the twins...our 15 year old twins....who have known how to spell since 1st grade. It was really quite funny!



Nephews
I really enjoyed having all the Kellys over to our house. It was fun and a great afternoon. Partly because my nephews are full of the unexpected.

My six year old nephew showed of his twerking skills. That was really funny.

Our other nephew (he's 11) told us he wanted money for Christmas so "he could buy his way into college." which he stated very matter of factly.


Gas station holidays
We traveled back to GI town on Christmas day to celebrate with my family. We left here around 11am and by noon the kids were a bit hungry. We tried to find a fast food place- but all were closed due to the holiday. So we stopped at a gas station, along with about 100 other travelers, and found some snacks. You would have thought the apocalypse was coming. The shelves were going bare and people were just grabbing stuff. It was kind of crazy. We made it out with some peanuts, corn nuts, chocolate, pringles and water...so we were good! :)


Ham
We brought out KSC ham back to GI town with us to have with my family Christmas night. It smelled lovely baking all afternoon! So when dinner came you couldn't help but indulge. And most of us indulged a wee bit toooooo much. Shortly after dinner, all of us were sprawled out on couches and the floor cursing ourselves and the ham!


Adult swim
John, Evie and I stayed a hotel Christmas night while the other girls stayed with grandparents. It was late and Evie was borderline asleep, but it's her routine to watch a bit of cartoons before going to bed. And she wanted her cartoons that night. It had been a long day and she was in a mood. We flipped through all the available channels and couldn't find any cartoons. She started crying. Finally John flipped past Adult Swim (which is a bunch of adult cartoons like Simpsons, American Dad, Cleveland show etc). Evie was so excited- TART-TOONS! So we turned down the volume and let her watch some raunchy cartoons. What can you do!? I totally understand now when people say the baby of the family is spoiled and can get away with murder. It has nothing to do with the kids...the parent just gives in faster. :)

Happy New Year!

It's 2014...can you believe it!? I wonder what this year has in store for our little family!

I'm not much into resolutions- mostly because I suck at keeping them. So I'm going to try something else this year. I found this little 'fill in the blanks' questionnaire on Pinterest and thought it was great. This is how I filled it out...

Here's to a lovely 2014! Cheers!