Daddy Daughter Date Night

Enough said. 

Blissful night for Mommy. 

Quiet house. 

No dinner to cook. 

No dishes to clean up. 

Thank you, Daddy! 

The girls had a great time. 

They also had a decadent chocolate dessert that had them up and buzzing

 an hour or more after their bedtime!

Surviving Sisterhood

Sometimes it's a wonder little sisters survive big sisters.  And I'm a big sister!  It's not uncommon to hear these phrases around the house (said by Natalie, of course)..

"Audrey, I'm going to tie this ribbon around your waist and you're going to be my horse and drag me to the kitchen."

or

"Mom, can I have some Cheerios and water in bowls that I can feed Audrey?  She's my kitty in my pet store and I've made a bed for her in the bathroom." 

And so it goes.  The latest was Natalie using stickers from a decorate-a-woman's-face-and-fingernails activity book that Grandma Lala gave her to dress up Audrey instead.  She put the sunglasses sticker on.  And all 10 fancy fingernail stickers, too.  Again, the sunglasses are a giant sticker so Audrey could not see.  A thing.  She walked around (and into things) a while before she took them off.  Because even when big sister's ideas are less than practical, little sister is still along for the ride.  Most of the time.

 It's getting a little dark in here!

 I can't see a thing!

And on go the nails.  "I'm sure they look great, Sister!"

On Two Wheels...

We've lost the training wheels!  A little before Thanksgiving we were at the park with some friends and their kids brought their bikes.  Sans training wheels.  Natalie, of course, wanted to give riding on two wheels a try and didn't at all think it was the big deal that I thought it was. 

No training wheels?  All of a sudden?  At the park?  Without Daddy here?  On a bike that's not yours?  Are you sure?  She was sure.  That's our girl.  She hopped on her little friend's bike and off she went.  There were a few wiggles and wobbles of the wheel.  A few tips.  Many slow downs and stops made possible by the lawn near the bike trail. But no big crashes.  She was feeling super confident by the time we got home.  A few days later when Corey took her training wheels off she was thrilled.  She had a spill that split her bike seat and crunched her basket but kept her teeth and wrists intact.  I'll call that a success, overall.

So, now she has a new seat and a HUGE smile as she rides her big girl bike...that is all of a sudden looking very small on her!  Why do these kids insist on growing up so fast?

 

Audrey must feel like a big girl, too, so she grabs her scooter when she's feeling all sassy!

Deep Thoughts by Audrey

The only thing more charming than how Audrey talks is what she talks about.  This kid's mind is always working, just like her big sister's.  And while she's often deep in silent thought, lately she's been sharing what's on her mind and it never ceases to bring smiles to our faces.

 

I've mentioned how she is NOT a fan of the Bob the Bobcat mascot at Natalie's school. Well, the last time we saw Bob was at the school's Fall Fest...in October. But occasionally, out of the blue and far from the school campus, she'll announce, "Bobbacat so scary, Mommy. I don't like him."

Bob's not the only animal on her mind. Yesterday in the car she said, "I don't like tigos (tigers), coyotes or meewkats (meercats). I only like ephalants (elephants) and raffs (giraffes)." We obviously hadn't passed any of these animals on the street during our drive home from the grocery store, nor have we been to a zoo lately, so not sure why these particular mammals came to mind.

And speaking of ephalants, this kid has a memory like one! On New Year's Eve we brought out our fondue set, put Audrey to bed a little early, and had a fun fondue dinner with Natalie. We moved the table close to the kitchen island to utilize the outlet and reduce the risk of one of us tripping over the cord. Well, it was a late night and we never moved the table back to its regular spot until the next day. Audrey was not happy about that when she found it displaced early New Year's morning. "Why did you move the table? I don't like it here! Move it back wight now!" She would not let it rest until we scooted the table back in place. It's been more than 2 weeks and she still brings it up out of nowhere. "Mommy, wemember when you moved the table. Why did you do that? I don't like that."

She also has a thing against men with unruly facial hair. Can't blame her really but she's very vocal about it. We didn't even try the Santa's lap thing this year because I just new she'd freak out. There's a bearded fellow that works at Trader Joe's and Audrey points to him, screams and loudly shouts, "That man is scary, Mommy!" I try ignoring her but she insists on making sure I know what she's saying and exactly who she's talking about. We've gone over again and again that it is unkind to point and announce that anyone is scary, especially based on his beard length. But she's not convinced.

 

She's a huge fan of her new Ladybug Girl doll.  Ladybug Girl comes with us most places these days.  And she loves when we get the grocery cart with the beverage holder as it makes a perfect seat for Ladybug Girl.  I really need to buy a back up doll because it will be a miracle if we manage to not lose this doll considering the amount of fresh air she gets on a daily basis!

Today I was trying to get her to look at the camera.  I tried my old trick, "where is Mommy's nose?"  That always used to work when she fell for it and looked my way.  Today, while deliberately turning her head away from me, she said, "you know where your nose is, Mommy, it's next to your eyes!" 

Stinker.

Julie

So, Natalie's new American Girl doll, Julie, has quickly become a member of the family. We tuck her into bed every night next to Natalie, brush her hair every morning and she even has a pink storage bin for her things in Natalie's bedroom.

 She comes on walks around the neighborhood with us, naturally.

And this doll  has me knitting again (which I haven't done since I was pregnant with Natalie.)  And even learning to sew!  These American Girl doll clothes cost more than I spend to dress my own living, breathing, school attending children, so this mommy had to get creative! So far I've knitted Julie a poncho and a matching hat...

and (thanks to Grandma Lala showing me around the sewing machine I've (we've) been carting around the country for 10+ years) sewed her a sundress and matching headband. Actually, Grandma Lala did most of the sewing project, but seeing how quick and fun it can be to make a few items for Julie, I took the 60 year old sewing machine in for its first servicing in at least 30 years to make sure it can keep up with the projects we have in mind for this doll! Still working great, according to the repairwoman. Just needed a lot of cleaning and a little love. Hilarious. 

 

 

 Anyway, Natalie is loving all the Julie crafts.  Once we showed her the sundress Lala and I completed during one nap time, Natalie was so impressed with our success she started designing her dream wardrobe for Julie.  I had to remind her that Lala was heading home to Palm Springs the next day and she was going to be stuck with me...novice seamstress squared!  But that didn't seem to discourage her dreaming so I ordered an instruction/pattern book for beginners and I'm hoping for the best!