Monkey See, Monkey Do-Monkey Hear, Monkey Say

Do you ever say something and then instantly wish you hadn't? Well, my kids seem to always be listening perfectly when my mouth gets away from me and then repeat it at really opportune times! Not too long ago, I said (in the heat of the moment) "I can't take this anymore!" And now as we try to get G to drink her "stinky aspargus milk" (don't ask!) each night at dinner she spouts off with "I just can't take this anymore". Of course, this phrase has been heard several times since my outburst with the mulitple viewings of "Aladdin" that have been taking place lately, but still I started it. Sigh.

The girls have taken to doing some things as a threesome, which I am excited to see. A loves to teach Sunday School and she finds willing students in G and R. And A has also discovered highlightskids.com which has tons of cool animal stories that she will read aloud to her sisses. Very fun to see them all crowded around the monitor exclaiming over what they are seeing.

Murray has turned out to be a water lover. With all the heat of the past couple of days, he can't seem to help himself to R's pool. He popped the inflatable one in his throes of excitement over discovering a source of water to lay in, so I got a hard-sided plastic one that will hopefully outlast him. Last night while R was in her pool, Murray just hopped in and helped himself. She wasn't quite so sure that she liked that telling him "no Murmee, and down". It was pretty funny to see him flop down in that pool!

The Land of No Nod

Welcome to my current reality: No-Napville or very tiny, get-your-hopes-up-only-to-have-them-dashed naps. I am currently considering adding caffiene back into my diet by means other than my mama stash! (Like an I.V.!) Miss R seems to run through these napping cycles and I had been enjoying (until this weekend) heavenly naps lasting until I woke her up. Now somehow she sensed how heady this control of her naps was to me and how much saner I was because of the extra "me" time and she took control back into her little, dimpled hands! Today was actually a decent nap compared to the past five days, but nothing compared to the heaven I had lived in blissfully a week ago. Who is this kid??

On a positive note, A spent at least an hour yesterday working on drawing a cat. We got a book from the library on how to draw cats and she decided to work on one, a persian. Anyway, she finished it and before I could immortalize it, quickly folded it up and stuffed it in an envelope for her "swimming lesson teacher". Thankfully, her teacher was sufficiently excited about her gift and that really made A's day.

What are those, rocks in your ears??

On our way to swim lessons this morning, G asks why Great Grandpa has rocks in his ears. I told her (without thinking), I don't know. She proceeds to then say thatit must be because of the rocks that he doesn't hear so well. Then I put it together and realized that the "rocks" G was referring to were really his hearing aids!! So we had a little discussion about that and that she would probably have those too when she is really old like Grandpa Cliff. :) I told her that mommy would have them much earlier due to all of the yelling and screaming that my princesses do. They all thought that was pretty funny.

And oh the power of bribery. . . both A & G jumped off the side of the pool without their teacher's help today! YAY! And both of them earned an ice cream cone. I offered the bribe thinking it would be next week before they'd attempt anything so brave, but not so. I was so proud of them!

Ding-Dong

As a relatively seasoned mom, I should know better than to leave my little ones unsupervised with writing utensils, but I have memory relapses occasionally like the one I had the other day.

I was fixing dinner, R was busy with a huge sheet of paper and a pencil, pen and crayons (her latest is sitting at the bar counter to do her work) when the doorbell rang. Not thinking about her, just wondering if Murray had escaped again, I answered the door. After talking to my neighbor about a lost dog (NOT mine--yay!), I went back into the kitchen. The second I darken the doorway, R is reaching out holding a pen. I take it, say thank you and then see her masterpiece. . . my recipe book!! And of course, it was in pen, not pencil! I suppose now I have a little piece of her toddler-hood preserved for all time.


This afternoon, M and the girls set up the pool (the BIG one) as the girls call it. A is so excited about it, that she has yet to take off her suit. G and R got cold and called it quits unwillingly. And now R has a new word: poo. Very cute. So I will have a new roosting spot next to or in the pool for the next few months. Not so sure if that's what I want, but the girls will love it!!

Muree, see-see, and other new words

Miss R has discovered that she can say just about anything that crosses her mind to try! Today she kept saying muree and finally we figured out it was "Murray", so then the fun began for the older two. "R say": Jackson (jack), Ainsley (see-see), Grace (dace), Buzzy (Bussy), and so it went. She went on to try just about any word we threw her way. It was fun!

The older two have completed their first week of swim lessons and I am happy to report that they are doing swimmingly! Both are unafraid to put their faces in the water and jump in and go under. What a contrast to the last go-around. I actually think it helps A to see her younger sister being brave about trying new things. Seems to be helping her conquer her fears. Hopefully they'll be swimming before too much longer. Not that the weather has been that inspiring as of late to want to go swimming . . .

A has been cooking up Father's Day surprises for M. She is so cute about it. I think each day this week she has added some new part to her gift. G wants to buy clothes for daddy in a particular hue, which I can't figure out, but we'll go with it. Who knows maybe she's onto a new color that would look good on M!?

Blue clues

Last night at dinner, Murray came streaking into the dining room with a big BLUE smile!! I did a double take thinking I was seeing things, when I see his blue paws and blue on his back. Immediately I took off to the family room and following the "blue clues" back to the dog bed where the culprit was . . . one of Ainsley's paint pens that he had chewed on.

On the positive, it is washable, and Murray is mostly white so it showed right up! Boy have we forgotten the joys of puppyhood!

Potsie Part 2; Let smiling dogs lie

Today while I was checking email, R came up and found a magazine near me and started saying "potty". I asked her if she needed to go, and when she empathically nodded "yes", I followed her into the bathroom. Not only did she want to sit on the potty, she wanted reading material to go with! Once I got her situated on the seat, she immediately pointed to the magazine she'd left on the stool and said "potty" again. It was so cute, unsuccessful as far as anything being taken care of, but cute.

And poor out-of-shape Jackson came huffing and puffing up to the house after a romp along the fence line with Murray and the neighbor dogs. He flopped down on the floor and when I checked on him a couple minutes later, he was smiling as he panted. It was too funny. Took him a long time to cool down.

Would you like what?

Earlier this week A decided to make breakfast for G and herself which I appreciated. She got the toaster out and I heard her ask G what kind of bread: raisin or plain. G chose plain and then I hear A ask her if she wants the hoof! The what?? I put it together and realized she was asking G if she wanted the heel!! I explained why I was laughing and then she started giggling. So now our family has a new little word-play.

This week has been so hectic, trying to get ready for MOPS retreat mostly. Thankfully that is under my belt in time for swim lessons to start tomorrow. G is super excited to start and A is very nervous. Thankfully today some of G's excitement must have worn off because A was talking it up to R. It should be interesting to keep the littlest one entertained while the two older are doing the same thing. Friday, a friend took care of A & G while I grocery shopped with R, and she cried the whole way to Winco after we dropped the girls off. She kept saying something--maybe sissie--I don't know. Anyway she dotes on her big sisses.

Murray seems to have settled into life here fairly well. He and Jackson get along like old pals. The nickname J-Bone has sure proven true for Jackson, Murray can't get enough chews in on the poor guy. A found a flip-flop shaped chew toy in the dollar aisle at Target and Murray loves it. I love it too, it doesn't squeak! Well that gets you sort of caught up from the past week!

Meet Murray

Seeing as this weekend didn't go according to plan anyway, we decided to further complicate our lives and get a puppy too! Mom called Saturday morning to say that there were some adorable free pups at the farmers market and did we want one? Mark fielded that call and deferred it to me when I got back home. . .

Long story short, we have Murray, a lab/brittney spaniel mix. Mom ended up getting the two puppies that were left and then let us choose which one we wanted and they would keep the other. A had decided (unbeknowst to us) that she wanted a girl puppy regardless of appearance! Well, Mark and I liked the looks and temperment better of the little boy and finally after tears and guilt, etc. we talked A into the boy.

Today you wouldn't even know that she wanted the other one! She and G have been outside ever since we got home from church "taking care" of Murray. He is a great little guy. Loves the girls and gets along great with Jackson. Well, I'm sure you'll all be hearing more to come about this one!

Pooh tents and irrigation irritation

Well this morning I got to sleep in a bit. The older two were up, G having been up early with a bloody nose and then I'm sure woke up A. Anyway, they were doing a great job of being quiet, so mama and R could sleep and when I went in to start the day I found out why! They had managed to get the Pooh tent out and mostly set up in their room and were busy playing in it.

So I bit back my frustration (I had told them to ask first!!) and we hauled it out to the deck so they could play in it today. This was a good plan until G comes in soaking wet! (I had a friend over to work on MOPS stuff at the time, so hadn't been out there.) I ask her if she had run through the sprinklers and after a couple of fibs she told the truth that she and A had been "cooling off" in the sprinklers! Yeechh!! Apparently when you zip up the Pooh tent it gets "too hot mama", was what I was told. Hopefully they won't stink too bad after playing in that dirty water.