My Little Water Bugs

It poured this morning, then it got hot and gross and humid in the afternoon.  It was a perfect day for swimming and we were lucky enough to have a friend bring us as her guests to the community pool.  Lillian, Sydney and Liam had a blast.  The girls couldn't get enough of the big, twisty water slide and I had lots of fun catching them in the pool when they shot off the end at the bottom.  Liam loved the kiddy wading pool and he even took a few dunks under the water, too- we're practicing to get him acclimated to the water.  He LOVES it!  It was a really fun afternoon!

Lillian sported the goggles the whole time and now she wants her own pair!

Syd was such a brave girl!

Lilly with her friends A and M.  They are such sweet girls- I'm so glad they're friends!

Sydney with her friend L.  They played together all afternoon and at the end of the day L's big sister said, "They could get married!" :)

My little pool stud.  He's SO happy in the water!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Play dates.  Lillian was invited to play at her friend E's house.  She met E in her preschool class last year and they are totally BFF's.  Their friend K was there, too, so it was three times the charm.  Lillian was SO excited about her play date all week long that she told EVERYONE she met about it.  I think the whole neighborhood knew about her play date today.  Shortly after I dropped her off I got this text.  Princesses, indeed!  Thanks, E and K for making Lillian's day awesome!

Princesses!

 2. Close calls.  We've been lucky the last couple of days- Sydney and Liam in particular.  Sydney's little tricycle is on the porch.  The porch is two steps up from the yard, sidewalk, and little garden bed below.  She was riding her bike around the porch while I was inside when I suddenly heard her crying.  When I went out to investigate, I saw Syd's legs sticking up in the air over the side of the porch!  She had accidentally driven off the edge, right into the flower bed.  She escaped the accident with only a little scrape on her arm and a bruise on her leg.  She got pretty lucky in more ways than one- she narrowly missed falling down the hard cement steps and she landed in a way that didn't cause too much trauma like knocked out teeth, banged up head, or broken bones.  Now she is a very cautious tricycle rider.

This morning Liam almost took a nose-dive off the bed onto the hardwood floor.  He was laying on his back wedged between two pillows while I was in the bathroom getting his bottle ready.  Bobby was brushing his teeth and I was letting the water run, waiting for it to warm up.  Bobby gave me his two cents and said he never waits for the water to get warm, he just serves up a cold bottle to Liam and he still guzzles it down.  I was slightly annoyed by him sharing his opinion on a matter that I felt quite experienced with.  However, I was getting impatient and tired (it was 5:00 in the morning), so I just mixed up a cold bottle and headed back into the bedroom.  I saw one pillow shoved to the side and Liam scooching on his belly at the edge of the bed, with his head peeking over the side about to careen down to his doom!  I did an Olympic leap across the room and grabbed him before he toppled over the side.  That's the last time I trust him to stay put on the bed...and he'll probably never get a warm bottle that early in the morning again, it's just too risky.

3. NO cavities!  Lillian had a check-up at the dentist this morning, and for the first time since she started seeing the dentist, she didn't have any cavities!  Wahoo!  All the brushing, flossing, and fluoride is FINALLY paying off!!  Here's my proud girl (and a proud mama behind the camera):

Lilly's holding "Mama Fox" that she got from Ikea for her birthday.  It was Mama Fox's first trip to the dentist, and Lillian helped her not to feel afraid.  I have a sneaky suspicion that Mama Fox helped Lillian not feel afraid, either. :)

4. Birthday money.  Bobby's mom sent Sydney a birthday card this week with a very generous monetary gift tucked inside.  While Lilly was at her play date, Syd and I hit the toy section at Target to spend some of her money.  She calls it her "happy money"...I think she means "happy birthday money", she just forgets the birthday part.  But, heck, it is HAPPY money! :)  She made a b-line for the little shopping cart as soon as she set her eyes on it and her opinion could not be swayed against it.  She pushed it around the store next to my big cart for the rest of the trip.  She couldn't wait to get home to use it.  She's already been on quite a good number of shopping trips.  Our cupboards will be well-stocked.

 

5. Liam's grabby hands.  He tries to grab everything around him- my keys, my dinner plate, my hair, my nose, my phone, the girls' shirts (and their hair), my shopping list...  As soon as he gets whatever he's reaching for into his little hands, he sticks in straight in his mouth and drools all over it.  Today he tried to grab my camera.  But I was too fast!

6. Boys in a princess tent.  Sydney and Lillian convinced the boys across the street to play in their pink princess tent.  They didn't seem to mind the various shades of pink all around them.  They were fascinated with opening and closing the flap on the door and leaning against the sides so the whole tent tipped over- very boy-ish behavior.  The princesses of the castle put the rowdy boys in order.  Our next door neighbor said he would have to hire knights to guard the castle. :)

7. Bobby's forgetfulness.  He forgot to bring his change of clothes with him this morning.  He had to go right from the hospital to a meeting at a fancy-shmancy restaurant in the city.  So I got to meet him by the Art Museum to hand off his clothes to him.  We got to see him for a few minutes, which was nice, especially for the kids since they were all asleep before he got home.  On Monday night we got a lucky visit from him, too.  He was on call, so he checked with the ER before leaving to make sure there weren't any pending cases that would call him back to the hospital.  It's a 45 minute drive and he would rather stay and wait to take care of something than make it all the way home only to have to turn right back around.  The ER said there was nothing so he came home.  Right before he walked in the door his beeper went off for 2 cases in the ER that needed his attention- clearly no one had actually checked in the ER to see if there was anything that could call him back.  He was quite annoyed about it, but we both were happy for the chance to see each other before he had to go back.  He had time to eat some dinner in the bathroom while I gave the kids baths, help with pj's, and do family home evening with us.  Since it's a long drive there and it was already getting late and he had to be there at 5:30 the next morning, he decided to stay the night at the hospital.  Even though he was gone the rest of the night, I'm grateful that he got to see the kiddies before they went to bed and that we were able to spend some time together as a family.

8. The mouse in our kitchen.  There is a brave little mouse running around in the kitchen.  And the dining room.  And maybe (probably) elsewhere throughout the house.  We want to catch it and dispose of it (sorry animal lovers), but tonight its appearance was helpful.  Bobby has to stay up to study and prepare a presentation for tomorrow.  He was starting to fall asleep at the table when the little rodent ran out.  The wild goose (er, mouse) chase that ensued was enough to thoroughly wake him up.  The little sucker escaped, so the chase is still on.  I will be making a trip to Lowe's tomorrow to buy some big sticky traps (again, sorry animal lovers).

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Sydney's sense of style.  Yesterday she wore her flower girl dress (very poofy and fancy) with "halloween socks" (orange and black stripes) and her pink princess tennis shoes.  She tromped around the neighborhood in this outfit, holding up her dress as she hiked through yards and scaled porch steps. Today she insisted on wearing her pink rhinestone sunglasses.  I love her fashion independence!

2. Wooden spoons.  It entertained Liam for a good chunk of the afternoon!

3. Home-made Italian pizza, made by a real Italian.  Our neighbor is from Italy and he is quite a chef.  He let me sample a [large] piece of his pizza tonight.  Home-made wheat crust with home-made tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and fresh sliced tomatoes- delizioso!! 

4. Friends to watch TV with (Sydney is saying 'look at THAT, Mom!'- they were watching Ice Age and I think it was the part when the big mama t-rex was trying to get them, or some other exciting scene).

And friends to swim with.

5. Silly Sisters.  I had no idea this photo was on my camera until I uploaded them to the computer.  The girls must have gotten a hold of my camera when I wasn't looking!  Lillian is getting pretty good and taking one-handed self portraits!

Today I'm thankful for...

1. Blogging.  *Sigh*

2. Our new house!!  Our wonderful neighbors, a dishwasher, 3 bedrooms, a bigger bathroom, a much bigger kitchen, a double sink with a garbage disposal and a sprayer (it's the small things that make me happy), a covered porch strung with Christmas lights, our little yard, the little doggie named Fluffy that lives across the street, all the nannies who take care of the neighbors' kids who I get to hang out with, our little library that's within walking distance, the St. Joseph's University building across that street that we can see from our dining room window that Lillian says looks like a castle, the spider that spun a web in the flower bush by our sidewalk, bookshelves- lots of bookshelves, a fireplace, the nice lady across the street who has four daughters (the youngest is 11) who is off-loading all of her girly toys like tea sets and doll beds to us [where am I going to put it all??], did I mention our awesome neighbors and all the kids that Lillian, Sydney and Liam are becoming friends with?  I love it here.

3. The big hugs and kisses that Sydney and Lillian gave to Daddy when he got home tonight.  He said it melted his heart to see Sydney make the ASL "I love you" sign, then run across the room into his arms.  His little girls are growing up so fast. :)

4. Liam's claps and waves.  He's 8 1/2 months now!  He is a pro at waving hello- his specialty is vigorously waving both arms at the same time while smiling and drooling.  He has perfected his clap so that when he puts his little hands together it now makes a little clapping sound- I think that is one of the most adorable sounds a baby can make.  He's an all-around happy little guy and I love him lots!

5. The Paint Bucket.  My aunt is so creative!  She's been teaching kindergarten for almost 10 years, and she has created her own literacy curriculum with these adorable little "teacher's creatures phonics puppets."  Check them out at her website here: http://www.monacolane.com/.  She has also put together a whole slew of homework kits that, in her own words, "make homework magical for children."  She's sharing the kits on her blog (http://teacherscreaturesphonicspuppets.wordpress.com/), and this month it's the Paint Bucket, which focuses on colors, reading, and math.  She shares PDF files for instructions on making the homework kit, related worksheets, and an activities list so parents know how to use it with their children.  I can't wait to put one together for Lillian and Sydney- they will LOVE it!!

6. My sister and her wonderful friends.  Audrey and her Penn Vet friend Michelle came over for dinner tonight.  Michelle was so nice and all three kids warmed up to her so quickly.  Audrey is such a kind and loving person herself, no wonder her friends are just as great.  I hope they can come again soon.

7. Dr. Bobby.  He spends so much time at the hospital taking care of other people who have physical ailments that sometimes he doesn't have the time to be a doctor at home when someone here needs his attention.  But on Monday he pulled a double shift and came straight home from a 12 hour day at the hospital to be Dr. Husband.  I was so sick that day that I actually threw up.  I honestly can't remember the last time I threw up- despite having three pregnancies, various rounds of the flu, stomach virus, etc- it must have been 20 years ago or something.  Anyways, I was feeling really awful and was basically glued to the couch.  Bobby took care of dinner, clean up, baths, family home evening, story time and bed time, and he helped me get to bed, too.  It really cut into his limited study time, but I am so grateful that he was here and that he took care of me.  I'm also grateful to be feeling much, much better.  :)

The Last Day of Preschool

Lillian helped her teacher clean the classroom today.  She was a little sad when it was time to leave.  She stood in the doorway of the school building and didn't want to come out into the school yard.  She wanted to turn around to go back down the hallway to stay with her teacher.  I told her we could come back to visit next year.  Lillian had an amazing time in preschool this year and she learned and did SO much!  I'm so proud of her for being such a good student, for making new friends (some of whom we already have summer play dates planned with), and for being "a little ray of sunshine" in the classroom- as one of the teacher's aides called her. :)

As is tradition with Great Gpa B, here's Lil's "last day" photo.  Lillian added her own personal touch by writing "LOVE Lillian" in the corner, along with a drawing of herself with her teacher.  She gave the sign to her teacher when she got to school.

 Check out this photo from nine months ago (to the day!)...my how she grew up!!