Happy Birthday to Mommy!

I've learned not to set high expectations for my birthday, but there's always that deep down part of me that hopes for something fabulous and unexpected to happen.  Of course, right?  This was the year!

I gave up Facebook as a Lenton resolution so I knew not to expect the usual messages and good wishes via that media source.  But, I was pleasantly surprised about the number of text messages, e-mails, cards, and phone calls - I'm still loved!

I had requested several weeks in advance that Jason take me to dinner and a movie for my birthday.  I had really been wanting to see the new Nicholas Sparks movie, and there are a handful of restaurants we haven't yet tried, i.e. not great options for kids.  But, despite my requests and hinting that I'd even call the babysitter if needed, he didn't take any action to make this request happen.  So, Saturday, pretty much our only option to do something, as I was heading out the door to a church meeting I told Jason, I'm contacting a sitter and I want to go to dinner and a movie tonight.  Totally, last minute, but it worked!  The first sitter option I contacted was available.  Sweet!

The girls were super excited that Miss Raeann was coming to play that night.  She was Leah's teacher at their old school and we really liked her, our favorite by far.  Before we moved schools, we got her number and have had her over to the house a few times.  It was a good feeling to leave for dinner that night with both girls smiling and giggling with Miss Raeann.

We chose the near by Mexican place for dinner and it was delicious!  We ended up having to wait for close to 30 minutes for a table even though it felt early to us - before 6pm.  We weren't sure if we'd make it to the movie, but thankfully once we got our table, the server was on top of things and we had already perused the menu and ordered immediately.  That didn't prevent us from filling up on chips and salsa before our food even arrived.  I think I ended up taking home three fourths of my dinner as leftovers.  We also learned this would actually be a good option for kids, assuming you don't have to wait that long for a table.

The movie was good, not awesome by any means, but still worth seeing.  One issue is that I love Nicholas Sparks books but always am a little disappointed in the movies (except The Notebook, loved that movie too).  I totally understand that it's so difficult to put the details and the entire story line into the movies, but since I always read the books first, it's hard not to be critical.  Jason, of course, only agreed to seeing it because it was my birthday, and I'm pretty sure he was annoyed with my critiquing and trying to tell him what really happened.  Oh well, he survived.

Sunday morning, we woke up and Jason offered to give me my birthday gift.  Lesley was very opposed to this idea since it was only Sunday and my birthday wasn't until Monday.  Thankfully, we were able to convince her that we should celebrate for more than one day.  Though I suppose it didn't really matter much since she had spilled the beans about the gift a few weeks earlier.  Apparently she is still a little young to share the gift buying process with.

We then got ready for the normal Sunday morning schedule - Lesley and I go to Sunday school while Daddy and Leah go to Mass.  We had a low key lunch (leftover Mexican) after we got home, then went outside for a walk and played at the playground for 30-40 minutes.  It had snowed a few days earlier, but was close to 70 this day.  Perfect!  To cap off the nice afternoon, all the girls including Mommy took naps before Mommy and Lesley went to Mass that evening.

While we were gone, Daddy and Leah made a fabulous dinner - steak, broccoli and rice casserole (which we ate for days, there was so much!), baked potatoes, and cupcakes.  The steak was so good!  Not sure if it was the fresh meat we got from Uncle Jim's cows, or if it was because we hadn't grilled out for quite a while.  Either way, I think commented how delicious dinner was at least a dozen times.

He also surprised me with a caffeine free diet coke from Quiktrip.  I've been trying hard to cut out caffeine (except tea) and the diet coke was heavenly, and very unexpected!  Then, per Lesley, we had to sing Happy Birthday before eating our cupcakes.  Daddy turned the lights out to sing and the girls LOVED that.  We all went to bed fairly early and woke up to lots and lots and lots of rain. 

 

It didn't bother me since I was thankful it had been so nice the day before, a weekend day when we could get outside to enjoy it.  And, it certainly didn't spoil a fantastic birthday lunch a new friend at church insisted I have with her.  She was so thoughtful and it was wonderful to join her at a new place, that I never would have found on my own.  The food was fantastic, and the dessert was amazing.  After confirming with Denise that she would help me eat it, I ordered the coconut cake.  Something I'd never get when with Jason or the girls.  It did not disappoint....for lunch or for the next few days when I continued to polish off the gigantic piece.  Denise also got me a piece of tiramisu from a local bakery to take home.  Spoiled!

In addition to the long lunch, it was Monday which is a dance day for Lesley so I always "leave the office" early to pick up the girls and transport to the studio.  So, my birthday felt like an especially short work day.  Usually I don't take a break for lunch on Mondays so it's not noticeable when I sign out a little early.  But, interestingly enough, my manager has the same birthday as me so she was not in the least concerned about a shorter work day for me.

On the way home from dance, it was still raining and I knew the kitchen was a mess from dinner the night before.  I hadn't planned anything for us to eat, and Daddy was going to have to work a little later...so I just went through the drive-thru and grabbed 6 tacos to take home.  I was surprised Jason was home cleaning up the kitchen, and he was surprised I had gotten tacos to eat.  But, it turned out perfect and we all enjoyed the fast and easy, low stress dinner which did include fresh fruit and veggies from the fridge in addition to the tacos.

Probably one of the biggest surprises of the day was the huge fruit basket that the local flower shop delivered that afternoon.  Since moving here, we've had a few different flower arrangements delivered that were intended for the previous owners so graciously sent them back.  As the guy walked up to the door, I wrongly assumed this was the same situation and expected to tell him we aren't Mr. and Mrs. Carey.  When I opened the door and he said, "For Abby Carlin."  I said, "Oh, that's me?"  I quickly opened the note attached and realized they were from my sister.  What a sweet gift!!!  She knows how much fruit our family eats and it was just the perfect gift.  Apples, bananas, peaches, plums, grapefruit, pears, pineapple, and strawberries!  And, we have eaten almost all of it!

That was kind of a long post about me, which is not common, but I can honestly say it was a wonderful birthday!  I don't think I've had this perfect of a birthday in years!

Threats

Lesley's Latest Threat
The day after Lilly left, I was trying to get dinner together and Lesley was in the way....on my heels in the kitchen, fussy and whiny, and preventing me from working quickly.  Usually I can tolerate her "help" in the kitchen, but it just wasn't happening that evening.  It might have been my attitude or possibly a combination of our attitudes.  So, I kindly asked her to go find something to play with in the living room.

Her response - "I will not play until Lilly comes back."

She was pretty adamant, even after I started laughing.  Poor thing was heartbroken when Lilly had to leave the day before.

Even though she continued to pester me in the kitchen that night, thankfully she gave up on her threat and has been playing, mostly happily, with Little Sister.  And, she continues to remind us that she will see Lilly in KC when we celebrate their birthdays in March.

I think, just like a sister, Lesley and Lilly will be life long friends.  This makes me smile.

Mommy's Latest Threat
Lesley has had a few rough mornings this week.  Changing her mind about what to wear, refusing to eat breakfast, pouting about the iPad which I usually let them watch while eating, just plain crabby and acting out.  We continually remind her to change her attitude when she gets in these moods and usually she's pretty quick to straighten up....but this week, it was three mornings in a row and I had finally had enough!  (Mommy probably needed to change her attitude at this point too.)

So, in a not so proud mommy moment, I said, "Four year olds don't act like this."  According to Lesley, "I'm not four, I'm still three."  Oh boy, I hate when she is right.  My response, "Well, maybe we will have to cancel your birthday because you can't turn four and act like this."  Let me tell you, she quickly straightened up and turned her attitude around.  Perhaps it was the unspoken threat of not celebrating with Lilly in KC.

Despite the immediate change in behavior after this conversation, I still regretted saying that.  Usually I'm really careful about not threatening something that I can't or won't follow through on.  Because, seriously, I can't take away her birthday, that doesn't even make sense.

So much fun!!!!

We had special visitors over the President's Day weekend. The girls have been planning and preparing for Lilly to come so we were very happy when the schedule worked out and she could hitch a ride with Grandma Nancy and Papa Keith for the weekend. AND, the even found another hitchhiker in KC. Aunt Denise came along too! I didn't tell the girls about Aunt Denise. Wasn't sure if plans would change last minute, and it ended up being an awesome surprise. Lesley kept saying, even after they left Monday, "I didn't know Aunt Denise was coming. That was a great surprise."

The travelers spent their first night in KC and headed down the rest of the way Saturday morning.  We had cooked a big lunch, the girls played for a bit, then it was time for naps.  That was tough to convince the ladies when all they wanted to do was spend time together.  Grandma knew the trick and started reading books.  It worked for Lesley who eventually settled down and napped.  Lilly wasn't quite as easy...she was maybe a little nervous about the new location or just being clingy to Papa.  But, eventually her and Papa fell asleep for about an hour.  That was enough to get her through the evening.

There was also craft time with Grandma.  Leah was in her jammies because on the weekends, she insists on jammies while she naps.  It's a lot of changing and new panties, but it works and she naps well.

The weather was warm enough that they all headed out to play.  There was some shenanigan's going on in the photo above.  Aunt Denise spotted the scooter going up the play set...we put the kabash to that as soon as we could!

Papa always teases the girls by putting smiley faces o his toes when we are webcamming.  This time, he put them on Leah's toes.  They thought it was hilarious!

They even had a tea party with Papa and Grandma Nancy.  There was a lot of giggles and lots of spilled tea.  All worth it!

They even insisted on honey for their tea.  Can you see the upside down honey bear?  Mommy loves honey when her throat is hurting, and Leah was getting a deep cough so we agreed the "bear" might help with the congestion.

Lesley wanted to show off our "Love" sign.  She really likes it when I switch it up.  It's certainly been a cheap, easy craft.

It felt like an iPad convention from time to time.  Grandma Nancy and Aunt Denise brought theirs and we exchanged games and tips throughout the weekend.  It was pretty awesome to have multiple iPads for all the little ladies.

Aunt Denise knew about a lot of preschool age games.  It was great to get a new inventory.

The first thing Lilly asked to play with was the car.  Since we moved here, it's never been brought in the house...until that weekend.  Lilly and Leah fought and fought over that car.  It was always a race to see who could get to it first, and Leah usually won.  I even witnessed her diving through the window when Lilly was running to the side with the door.  I was pretty proud of her scrappy maneuver, but also reminded her she had to take turns.  The car is still in the house and Leah is still having a blast with it every day.

Besides a lot of playing at the house, Lilly joined us for Sunday school which made Lesley SO HAPPY.  We also went to the hunting and fishing show in town per Papa's request.  The girls had fun, though I felt bad Papa had to tolerate their impatience while he dreamed about an African hunting trip.  

Eventually, we gave up and headed out to get pizza.  The girls did really well for our late lunch.  Lesley has been a "hungry bear" lately and devoured a whole slice of pizza plus some toppings from Grandma Nancy's salad.  Leah did ok, but really just wanted her milk warmed up.  I think Lilly was overtired and just tolerated Papa's attempts at getting her to eat.  Back to the house for naps for the little kids and Papa, and a few games of "Can't Stop" for the rest of the adults.

We also tried a local restaurant for breakfast on Monday morning before our visitors headed back north.  I've been wanting to try this place and it was really good.  Definitely a place we'll visit again since there's no Bob Evans - my all time favorite breakfast location - around.

After breakfast, we made a quick stop at the park for the girls to get a little more play time.  The temperature wasn't too bad, but it was so windy!  Still, it was really hard for my girls to say good-bye.  As we strapped them in, Leah was crying for Papa and Lesley was crying for Lilly.  It's not much consolation to them that we'll get to see all of them in a few weeks when we celebrate Lesley and Lilly's birthdays.  Time is just not an easy concept for them to understand.  And, it's good-byes such as those that make me cry too.  I worry every day that my girls don't get to see their grandparents enough and it's because of decisions I've made.  I also pray pretty much every day that they won't hold it against us when they get older.  We really are trying to make the decisions for our little family, but unfortunately we can't have it all.

We did head off to Target after the tearful goodbye and let the girls pick out lots and lots of birthday gifts for Lilly.  The Target dollar bin was a huge success and Lesley is super excited to give the gift to her most favorite cousin!  Don't worry, she picked something out for Lyssa too and we'll be happy to see her, Aunt Aimee, and Uncle Mike too.

Not in Oklahoma

The weather people have been predicting snow for several days but when I would tell Lesley that it might snow, she was adamant, "No, no, no Mommy, it doesn't snow in Oklahoma.  Only in Kansas and lots in Iowa at Grandma's house."

 

I think I'm turning into a Southerner - Oklahoma is considered in the South, right?  Well, it certainly is relative to all my previous homes - Iowa, Northern Indiana, and Kansas.  I would not have been disappointed if the weather people had been wrong and it didn't snow.  And, I certainly love the winter temps here that stick mostly to the 50's with only a few days of highs in the 30's, so the last few days where we are stuck in the 30's and actually wearing winter coats (gasp!) I've seriously been FREEZING.  I've even had my space heater going in my office with my door shut tight.  It makes my room nice and cozy....of course when I have to leave my office to out use the bathroom or get a drink of water, I feel like I'm stepping into the arctic.

 

It was snowing big, fluffy flakes when I took the girls to school yesterday.  They weren't really interested in playing in it but thought it was hilarious when we walked the few feet from the car to the school door and big flakes were in my hair and on their jackets.  All the teachers were opening the blinds in the classrooms and the kids were lining up to check out the snowflakes.  That reminded me that snow is uncommon here, given the kids were so amazed by it.

 

It snowed most of the morning and off and on during the afternoon.  I snapped the photo of our blooming daffodils as soon as I got home around 8am.  By midday, the poor flowers were wilting (?) and wrinkling up from the heavy snowflakes.  Too bad they hadn't waited another week to bloom.  If I had been smart, I would have cut a few to take inside and at least enjoy for a little while.

 

 

I had planned to take the girls outside when they got home, but I wasn't feeling so good and it was kind of raining outside by then.  Thankfully they were content to stay inside and just look out the windows every once in a while.

 

This is likely the only snow we'll get this year - I'm okay with that.  It rained a lot over night so I was sure the snow would be gone by morning, but there was still a little out in the yard.  It's supposed to rain most of the day, along with thunder and sleet/hail.  We need the moisture, so even though I could do without the cold temperatures, I'm thankful for the rain.

 

And to think, when Jason was interviewing for jobs over a year ago, we almost ended up in Minnesota.  I probably would have turned into a polar bear and tried to hibernate for several months had we moved there.

Waiting

We had very special visitors coming last weekend and the girls found it hard to wait patiently Saturday morning while the guest were enroute.

 

I tried a photo shoot, since it only seemed appropriate to send a text message with photo to the ones traveling.

 

The girls dressed in their "I Love Grandpa" and "I Love Nana" shirts (though we call them Grandma and Papa, it was the current design from Old Navy so we just go with it).

 

And, they decided to pose next to the art work we "won" at the school auction from Leah's class.

 

Despite the dozens of photos we took, these were the best...and yes, Lesley's mouth is open in all of them.  That girl.  At least, Leah was especially cute with her bow and all.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Here are our little sweethearts ready to go to school and celebrate Valentine's Day.

I'm not sure what caused it, but Lesley has been over the moon excited for this day.  You'd think it was Christmas or her birthday or something.  Each day she tells us how many more days until Valentine's Day, and reminds us we need to take her Valentine's and candy to school.  A few days ago she came down from her room with the heart shirt proclaiming "This is the shirt I am going to wear to my Valentine's party."  It was a hand me down from her second cousin Elizabeth and I had forgotten we even had it.  But, it really is perfect.  I couldn't get her to wear her pink curly bow, as she insisted the pink clippy matched perfectly.

Leah got to wear the Valentine's shirt Lesley wore a couple years ago, along with her pink skirt.  She is a happy camper as long as she gets to wear that skirt.  She wouldn't wear her new pink sparkly shoes both girls have, but she was still darn cute.

Leah's class was also having a party and there was a sign up sheet for snacks to bring this week.  When Jason picked her up last night, not many things had been picked.  Since we were headed to the grocery store anyway, we just added cheese cubes, strawberries and cookies to the list to make sure there were plenty of treats for her room too.  She, however, was most concerned about the candy and Valentine's we put together last night.  As Daddy gathered all the goodies this morning before heading out the door, she mentioned the candy about 10 times.

Lesley felt left out since Ms. Karen said they didn't need any snacks or treats for their party.  So, we decided to go ahead and buy a couple big bunches of bananas for her to share, along with the candy in her Valentine's.  I figure if the bananas aren't needed today, they will for sure we appreciated at snack time t tomorrow.  Ms. Madison has told us that bananas are the kids' favorite fruit and they are always devoured when on the lunch menu.

Leah's Recent Obsessions

Her jacket - She is in LOVE with her green hoodie.  She has worn it every single day since returning to school after Christmas break.  Her teachers have told us they try every day to get her to take it off, but she won't do it.  She even wears it to bed, which as you can imagine, makes the task of getting it washed tricky.  We've had a fair share of meltdowns when Mommy insists it be cleaned.  I can honestly say we have gotten our use out of this jacket since it was a hand me down from Lesley.

 
Soap - The potty training process is of course accompanied with lots and lots of hand washing.  Thankfully my girls are mostly good about that step and Leah has decided washing her hands is one of her most favorite pastimes.  It can be exhausting at times, that is for certain.

Matching - She likes to point out over and over when her shirt matches her bowl, or when her boots match her blanket, or when her crayon matches Lesley's pants, etc.  She gets SO excited when she finds something that matches, and it makes us smile.

Milk - She still loves warm milk, in the morning and at night.  Like seriously loves, loves, loves.  We have tried to limit her intake, just because she drinks SO much and she certainly doesn't actually need that much.  But, she gets so upset and has major meltdowns if we refuse.  Lately, we'll just say, in a few minutes, or when we sit down to eat, trying to put her off as much as we can.  Or, in the early morning hours, so early some days, we'll say "not until the sun is out".  (And, when I say "we", it actually means "I", i.e. Mommy, since you know it's rare if Daddy gets up.)  I tried that tactic this morning and she just sobbed "a tiny bit mommy, please, just a tiny bit."  Oh man, how can a mama refuse that!!!??  Plus, it would probably ensure we could get 2+ hours more of sleep.  Done.

Blankie - Here's the story leading up to the lost blankie:  Lesley had a blast putting puzzles together at Grandma Nancy's when the girls stayed there after Christmas.  But, we got an e-mail one day that Leah kept snatching puzzle pieces and they couldn't finish the puzzle one night.  Papa was teasing Leah while they were searching, and said "Did you put it in your boots?"  Apparently her face lit up and she ran off to the mudroom digging for her boots AND the missing puzzle pieces.  Found them!

Now the actual blankie story:  She's gotten more and more attached to her blankie these days.  While at Grandma Nancy's house over Christmas, it got lost.  It was the day Jason and I returned from KC so Mommy and Daddy weren't very helpful when looking for it.  We looked (almost) EVERYWHERE.  We called the big girls who helped with the little ladies that day, we called folks at the hotel where the girls had gone swimming, we checked Uncle Nick's house, and looked under the couch, in the bathroom, in Grandma's bed, in all the vehicles....It was no where to be found.  Grandma said the last they saw it was right before they headed to the swimming pool at the hotel.  She handed it to Leah and told her to put it in the bedroom and sent her off through the kitchen.  But, we just could not find it.  Needless to say, bedtime was rough that night when Leah didn't have her blankie.  She finally settled down, and we all convened in the kitchen for another drink.  As we stood around and chatted, Grandma Nancy started planning and preparing food...and sure enough, she opened the pantry and there it was!  Clearly, that's almost the same as "put it in the bedroom".

This isn't really an obsession, but just something that made me laugh.  I took her to church one Sunday evening even though she had gone with Daddy that morning when Lesley and I were at Sunday school.  But, she was having some clingy issues since Mommy had been out of town working the week before and I hated to see her upset when I was getting ready to leave for church.  Plus, she is usually really good at church if she is by herself.  Same with Lesley.  It's a much different story when they are together...anyway....Once we got there, she apparently got bored really quickly.  Beginning with the opening song, as soon as the last note was played, she said, "Done now mommy?"  And, made that same comment after every single song....and, let's just say she wasn't using her library voice.  Pretty sure everyone around us was chuckling by the end of each song knowing what question she had next.