Purple flowers and purple poop

Play Doh. Such a lovely smell that brings back so many wonderful memories. Claire made this beautiful purple flower for us today. Then I smelled her breath...yep, Play Doh. I told her she is going to have purple poop now. She is so proud of herself and her soon-to-be purple poop. I wonder, will it smell like Play Doh?

Update: Poop never smells like Play Doh. If it did, would Dad change more diapers? hmm.....

She's confused.

Claire is running around the house with her pom-poms (blue and white ones from USAFA) and chanting "Go Big Tiger!" I'm not sure which team she's cheering for, but she's really excited about it.

Fashion Plate Claire and Critic Ellie

Claire has on a special "I'm 2 and you're not going to fight this battle" ensemble. We start with a long-sleeved white Onesie that is too small and can't be snapped between her legs, so the snap ends are hanging down just below the hem of her beautiful, summer sundress that she INISISTED she wear today (I think the high today was about 40). From the waist down she's wearing jeans and her new snow boots, which she will wear around the house, but screams when I suggest she wear them outside. The jeans are rolled up because the pant legs won't fit over the top of the boot.



Ellie is unimpressed by the outfit.



A picture together:

The price of being number 2.

Ellie loves to watch Claire play, so I often put her in her Exersaucer and leave her alone. Claire started following me around as I straightened up the house. Shortly after, I realized that Ellie was very quiet. Here is how I found her:
Poor baby. I took her out of this contraption, changed her diaper, and put her to bed. She never opened her eyes.

P.S. I found my camera...obviously. I am a gift bag organizer, much to John's chagrin. He told me weeks ago to check all my gift bags; I've been checking them slowly but surely. Of course, it was in the last one.

"noman"

December in Colorado brings snow...and lots of it the past few years. Claire loves snow! She calls it "noman." She's yet to separate snow from the snowman figure.

It snowed here starting this past Saturday and snowed most of today again. Claire got up this morning and wanted to go outside to play. I told her she had to put her shoes and coat on. She ran and put on her Crocs, mittens, and hat. She brought me her coat. She let me put socks on her. I figured she wouldn't be out very long if her feet got wet and cold. Boy, was I wrong. After about 2 minutes, I thought she was probably getting frostbite walking out in the snow with her Crocs on. She let me put her tennis shoes on at least. Mama Sue bought her snowboots today when I mentioned we were going boot shopping tomorrow. Claire will have a great time playing in the snow with warm feet! Thanks, Mama Sue!

I have to say....there's nothing much cuter than a 2-1/2 year old trying to catch snowflakes in her mouth, especially when she's as cute as Claire. Ellie sat at the backdoor and watched from the warmth of the house. She laughed at Claire's outdoor antics and you could just tell from the look on her face that she wanted to be with her. It won't be long.....

P.S. Still can't find my camera. I just KNOW Claire hid it.

Claire Elise, Future Decorator of America (FDA)

Sunday: I put up the Christmas tree while the girls were napping. I put on the lights also. Ellie woke up and helped me decide if the colored lights should flash or be still. She liked the "twinkling" feature, so that's where we have it now. How I determined that's what Ellie liked? She smiled when I hit that option; she cried when the hyper-flashing option started...for that I will always be grateful.

Monday: Claire helped me unpack the ornaments. Well, I was working; Claire was unpacking. Decorating with Claire is a new sport: speed decorating. I worked up a sweat while Claire handed me several ornaments at a time. "Here, Mommy. Here it is. Take it. Take it." The tree looked great!

Tuesday: Ellie sits right next to the tree and doesn't even reach out to touch anything. She likes to watch the lights. Claire has undecorated and redecorated the tree several times by noon. She liked the ornaments with the Peanuts gang. I find ice-skating Snoopy this afternoon in the Fisher-Price Little People House with Mr. Potato Head. I don't even speculate why. Mr. Potato Head and Snoopy go back to their assigned locations until their next clandestine meeting.

Note: I have to say....I went from my "white-lights, matching silver ornaments and bows" tree to a "colored-light (twinkling, nonetheless), homemade and Hallmark ornaments (too many to count!)" tree. I love it! I also hated riding around town looking at Christmas lights. Now I find myself driving through unknown neighborhoods so that Claire gets to see the houses that have cool lights (which she loves). It still doesn't motivate me to decorate the outside of our house though...maybe someday. Nah...

Teddy Bear Picnic

Claire had her first preschool program yesterday. She sang the songs and did the motions all week. She was very excited that Mama Sue bought her a new teddy bear. She chose her outfit carefully and let me put her hair up in a special way...without crying or yelling at me.

We got to school and she did her normal, "Mommy, don't leave me" routine when I left. She put on her teddy bear ears and paraded down the hallway with the other kids. Then the teacher introduced "The Teddy Bears" and the Sunbeam teacher pulled back the room partition .... and Claire was standing next to her teacher crying (Claire is a Honeybee). No bear ears, no teddy bear in her hands, crying and looking very pitiful. She spied Mama Sue and Papa Rex and ran to them (I was on the opposite side of the room). I tried to get her to participate and ended up in the hallway holding and reassuring her.

I'm so proud of my little drama queen. There will be many more preschool programs to come. =)

Wow!

This is SCC's No String Attached Puppet Ministry from their performance at the Pumpkin Patch Carnival. I'm amazed what you can do with a black light and white gloves. It makes me cry every time I watch it. Hope it works for you. Again, wow.....

OK, So I can't figure out how to upload the video. Here's the link to the SCC website. Maybe this will work.

http://www.springscommunitychurch.org/youth/index.php?id=58

Halloween

I really didn't care much about Halloween before I had kids. I mean, I dressed up most years and helped out at the church's Pumpkin Patch Carnival. This year I coordinated all the fun and it was a blast! But that's another story. Here are pictures of the girls. Aunt Dana held Ellie all night, so she was happy (both Ellie and Aunt Dana). Claire ran around the carnival with Mama Sue (Thanks, Mom!) and had a blast, I think. She was so overwhelmed when we got home it took her several hours to calm down and go to sleep. Ellie was asleep long before we got home. Both slept until almost 9:00 this morning. Ellie was supposed to be a punker with her tie-dyed shirt and blue mohawk, but she wet her outfit during her nap, so we had to go with plan B. She was still cute! Thanks, Alex and Natalie, for the make-up.

My little mountain climber

OK, I have to stop hiding things from Claire on the top shelves of the kitchen cabinets. For the 7th time (approximately--the event is a daily occurrence), I have caught her sitting on the kitchen counter with something from the top shelf. She hasn't figured out how to get down from the counter yet and needs help getting down. She's usually very proud of herself for getting the item in question. So now I have two questions: 1) should I be proud of her sense of accomplishment and drive to achieve her goals? and 2) do you know anyone who gives rock-climbing lessons to 2-1/2 year olds? I have a client for them.

P.S. I'd take a picture for you, but I've misplaced my camera. I'm convinced Claire hid it so I can't document her shenanigans.

Drama Queen

The girls and I went to the Venetucci Pumpkin Farm yesterday with Claire's preschool class. Nick Venetucci gives every child a free pumpkin, BUT they have to be able to carry it out of the field. Right.... Anyway, Claire found one she liked and could carry for awhile. Luckily, there were only 2 checkpoints and I carried it the rest of the way. At the first checkpoint, the man asked Claire to carry her pumpkin for a little while. She carried the pumpkin for about 1/200 of a foot, put it down, and threw herself to the ground breathing hard. The man was laughing so hard I thought he might wet his pants. Luckily, he let me pick up the pumpkin and Claire regained her composure. I'm working on getting a copy of the picture to post (her teacher took one while she was on the ground).

My echo

Ellie was crying while I was getting dressed this morning. I must have been repeating the same phrase to her because Claire went over to her, patted her on the tummy, and said, "It's okay, Punkin." Ellie stopped crying. Claire returned to her T.V. watching.

Go Big Red

My poor girls are going to be so confused about which team to support. Either that or they will be well-rounded. Aunt Dana and Uncle Gary's favorite outfit!

Spicy Claire

Claire decided to explore the powders in the shiny metal tins in the kitchen. Cool, huh? Apparently, her favorites were onion powder and Beau Monde seasoning. I figure these are her favorites because that's what was all over the kitchen floor. She was so proud of herself. The dog has onion breath now.

Just for Ryan

Equal time, right? We love you, Ryan!

Claire vs. the dog's Bitter Spray

The Bitter Spray won. Claire is running around the house squealing with her tongue hanging out and drool running down her face. Funny? No...hilarious! She won't lick the bitter spray bottle again any time soon.

For those of you who don't know what bitter spray is, it's an organic liquid that you spray on items you don't want the dog licking or biting, i.e. doors, plants, furniture, etc. The bitter taste is supposed to deter them from going near the item sprayed.

In this case, our dog, Sam, won't go near Claire...much less lick her.

Glue Sticks Rock!

One glue stick = $1.29

Poster Board = $.39

Tissue paper = $1.99

All three with a preschooler = priceless hours of fun!

Geaux Tigers!

While getting dressed this morning, Claire chose her purple sweats and her LSU t-shirt. She pointed to the front of it and said "tiger." Then, while jumping up and down, yelled "Go Tigers!" over and over until I made her stop to put on her socks. Mama Sue and Papa Rex would be so proud.

Naps are good.

There are not many things in this world that I would say are a vital necessity. Food, water, clothing, housing, a car, and money are among things I would always like to have. I've added naps to that list. Someone told me once that kids stop taking naps when they are about 4 or 5. I assumed they meant 4 or 5 years....not months. Let's see.... Claire is 2-1/2 and Ellie is 5 months. I struggle to get them both to take naps. I won't even be picky and ask that they nap at the same time (which would be really, really nice)...just a nap for each every day would be great. This morning Claire had preschool so it was assumed she would come home and collapse. But no. We got home from school at 12:15 and at 5 pm, she fell asleep in my lap while watching TV. Ellie? No nap. Just lays in her bed and cries.

Naps are good things. Ellie finally fell asleep. The house is quiet; even the dog is asleep (not a unique event). It's too late for me to nap, so I'm going to make iced tea, sit in my porch swing, and enjoy the cool breeze. Perhaps I'll read awhile and enjoy my treasured quiet time. I love being a mom.

Equal time

Ellie eating. If you can't tell, it's rice cereal. Did you know that rice cereal has the adhesive qualities of cement? Does it ever come off high chairs? It comes off skin eventually, so I assume one day it will come off the high chair. Since Ellie is child number 2, you would think I would have remembered that a bib is a necessity when feeding a child rice cereal. But alas, I did not. I'm not sure why she has such a startled look on her face; perhaps she is thinking her mom is an oddity. She would be correct.

Uh oh....there is a potty-training child in my house and I hear some heavy breathing and grunting coming from that child. She is wearing "big girl" panties today. This could be ugly.

UPDATE: It wasn't ugly; she was moving furniture.

I'm really just testing how to add a photo to a post. This picture is from today when Claire refused to go to her room to take a nap, so I left her alone. Within 5 minutes she was out. My neck hurts just looking at this pic.

Everyone blogs....

I was thinking today that everyone I know (just about) has a blog, so why not me? I frequently call people just to tell them a funny "You'll never believe what Claire (or Ellie) just did...." story. So I thought, "Why not start a blog and post them?" That way I won't forget them and will have something to show my girls' friends. I'm a mom; blackmail is always an option.

Today has been a pretty quiet day. Dad's out of town and we'll "skype" him later. We've been keeping in touch with Daddy via internet video calls. Both girls are fascinated with her image, but will occasionally talk. Ellie will sit in my lap and laugh at Claire on the computer.

Ellie certainly loves her big sister. I can't wait until they are both bigger and can play together. You can already tell that Ellie "worships" Claire just by the look in her eye when she watches her play. They take baths together and Ellie gut-laughs at Claire. Claire is funny, but not THAT funny.

Anyway, this blog will be my way of capturing those moments that I won't want to forget. They may be funny now or will by funny someday after I've paid off the doctor bill. I hope you enjoy my blog as much as I enjoy my girls.