The recital draws near

stalling

We put the girls to bed at 7:30 after a long day full of activities.

At 8:35pm, Roo emerged.  Usually it's a potty run.  Tonight, she just needed "a little kiss".

The stall was on.

Roo: How about a little nosey?
Me:  Goodnight, dear.
Roo: Well, what time is it exactly?
Me: 8:35.  Goodnight.
Roo:  I don't think that 8:35 is a good bedtime.  I don't think I need to get sleep to grow bigger and stronger.
Me:  Goodnight.
Roo: Because, I really just want to get smaller and smaller and live in a leeeeetle tiny house....
Me: *staring*
Roo: Well.  Um.  *closes door and goes back to bed*

coping strategies

The girls attended a special event for our favorite library this past Monday.  Among the bounce houses, face painting and train rides was a balloon artist.

They each requested something specific.  A unicorn and a scorpion.

They left with a ladybug and a light saber.

Before we got to the car, the sword part of the balloon saber popped.  Roo examined it disappointedly, and then declared that the remaining portion of the hilt looked like a monkey.  Good enough.

In the car, part of the "monkey" popped.  Roo eyed it critically and proclaimed the remnants a "cactus!"

Ten minutes later, we heard the tell tale "thhhhhhbbbttttt" of a deflating balloon.

Ruh Roh.

Em: OH NO!  Oh Ruby!  Are you Sooo Disappointed! *tears in voice*
Roo: NO! I'm MAD!
Roo: First, I had a light saber.  Then, it was a monkey.  Then it was a cactus.  And Now I've GOT NOTHING!

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They balance each other well, don't you think?

Dear Diary...

I guess Roo is keeping a diary of sorts on her iPod. I found these tonight as I was adding new music to her playlists. Hilarious!

Mother's Day 2012

I love our annual photo!  Mother's Day rocks!!

Em and Roo made me sweet cards at church this morning, plus had more waiting at home.  On the way out of church, Roo told me that for Mother's Day, she was going to get in bed with me and snuggle.  That would be her gift.  Sure enough, after we got home from dinner tonight, she followed through.  THE BEST. 

Em gave me millions of special Mother's Day hugs and kisses through the day.  And she made a point to color a special picture just for me.  

Blessed so much with these girls.  Blessed beyond measure.  

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Mother's Day 2006-present

6

Em and Roo turned.... 6! 

We kicked off the morning with their new t-shirts and donuts...

...with candles to blow out.  Plus, they let me sing a very soft birthday song to them.  They still feel a little wiggy having the song sung for them and requested no singing at their party. 

Marmee arrived soon after donuts and we headed to the American Girl store.  

 Welcome to the family, Josefina!  Your new mommy, Em, is super proud to have you.  

Next up, lunch at the American Girl Bistro.  Dad joined us and that made it perfect.  

 Then, Roo's turn!  The Lego store for all the mini-figures she's been wishing for.  She built them all from scratch and couldn't be more pleased.  

 We made the cakes the day before.  Em requested a pink American Girl cake.  Her cake has vintage American Girl pewter game pieces as the cake toppers. 

Roo asked for a blue-green Sesame Street cake.  We found some cool 1970's cake toppers that fit the bill perfectly.  

 They invited all their friends from co-op, plus family and our dear, life long, since the NICU, friends, Abbey and Porter.  First up, cook-out, then cake, finally The Muppets on the screen in the backyard with popcorn.  

Up bright and early the next morning, despite the late party.  They couldn't wait to rehash it and also had the added treat of tons of birthday wishes, blessings and greetings awaiting them on Facebook.  

Happy Birthday to my darling Rowdy Girls.  I can't wait to see what amazing things you do this year!

Answered Prayers

All week, Em has been insatiable in her appetite for Bible stories.   When I find her curled up with a book, most times its one of our bible story books.  On Thursday, she asked me to read the Nativity story and we finished half of the new testament before we quit reading.  Today, she asked me to read again and opened right where we left off, to hear the continuation.  So cool to watch this unfold in her!

Tonight, after bedtime prayers, Roo was asking more tough spiritual questions.  I asked her, as I usually do, if she would like to invite Jesus to be in her heart.  And this time she said yes!  Then, she spent another half hour working up the courage.  I asked her if she wanted some help with the words and she said yes.  After I articulated a simple invitation, Em repeated it verbatim, eyes shining!  She is SO excited about her newfound power!  Then, Roo, finally, said she'd like to ask Jesus in, but wanted to do it quietly, in her head.  I felt like I should stress the importance of doing this out loud, but offered her my ear, if she wanted to whisper it.  Roo jumped at this and quickly leaned over and used her own words, not mine, to pray.  And, being Roo, she came right back with a post script prayer.  It was a little joke for Jesus.

I think it counts

The girls have been full of faith-related questions lately. Each question is more challenging. The theology is deep and simplifying it for a 5yo without dumbing down the core content is excruciating. Within it all, my heart has been burdened to pray with more frequency and more fervency for a declaration and a dedication of my girls' hearts.

Tonight, Em smashed her finger in the closet door. There was no blood, no apparent damage, other than some torn skin. It was epic. The Snow White bandaid stemmed the tears only temporarily. It was bedtime. Tired emotions whipped the tornados of drama into a frenzy. J and I calmly prayed over the girls and the injured finger, answered some questions and said good night. As the door closed, the tears began afresh. I stood and listened, prepared to go in and lay in calm once again.

Instead I heard Roo worry over Em's hurt and tell her not to worry... that Mama was praying for angels to watch over them. Then, I heard Em call out "Jesus! I need you!" She did this twice.

I think this counts. It's not the perfect prayer of surrender, of salvation. Instead, it's what we're all brought to... the moment that we realize there is nothing within our power to change our current circumstances. And the circumstances are intolerable. We cry out for help, it's the 911 to heaven. Help, Papa!

I'm so incredibly grateful to have been there, on the other side of that door.

It counts.

Loudly Spoken

Most everything is loudly spoken these days. Which can be funny, annoying or down right mortifying. For example...

At the conclusion of the Christmas eve service prayer, when all the people said "amen", Roo shouted "Manamana!" Thanks, Muppet Movie.

At the grocery store, Em shrieked "Hey! She checked me out!" towards the pretty cashier. Apparently, Em was in the line of fire when the checker scanned my coupon card on my key chain and her eyes got flashed with red scanner light.

From the backseat, Em hollers "Sneak the red light, Mama!", urging me to turn right on red.

Em also announced to the entire cafe that she was going to "erase" her crumbs and then licked all the parts of her mouth that her tongue could reach.

This morning, while climbing in the car, Roo pretended to talk on the phone. Her entire conversation was about how annoying I was being. "I'll call you back. My Mom is bugging me again.", she said.

Then, don't forget the million times they announce that they have to go to the bathroom, have burped, or need help wiping their booties. Loudly. All very loudly.

I may start wearing a disguise when we go out in public.

Merry Christmas 2011

Merry Christmas!

Lists and Learning

This is the first year the girls made lists for Christmas. It's hard for them to understand that the list is a wish, not an order. Not everything will be fulfilled.

Then, there's the torment of the packages.

The joy of giving is still in its foundling stages, not in full bloom, yet.

It's the hardest Christmas so far. And, perhaps, one of the most important.

The Day itself will be celebratory, but the lessons learned before and after will stick hard, I believe.

it's the middle of the night

Dear Roo,

It's 1am. You started sleep talking about half an hour ago. But now, I think you're wide awake. You probably woke yourself up with all the chatter. You do this a lot, you know? Em is a champ who sleeps through it all. I probably would, too, if I'd already been asleep. But, I can't sleep and now, I can't try to sleep. Because you're awake. What's the deal, Neil? Not enough hours of day to say everything you need to say? I'm not upset, though. A few years ago, I worried that you'd never speak.

I'm not worried anymore.

Love,

Mama

P.S. You're narrating stories right now. With loads of details and plot points. Maybe you dreamed a story that you just had to wake up to tell. Until your handwriting catches up with your brain, we might need to snag some dictation software. You have stories to tell, my sweet. Beautiful stories.

the one where I could have pulled out the embryo photos

True Story

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Me: So, if Miss J gets a dog, what kind of dog should she get? A loud one or a quiet one?

Roo: One that will not sniff me or lick me.

Roo: Really, she should just get a fish.

Roo: I think we should take Maggie and Mo back to Petsmart and get a fish instead.

Me: Maggie and Mo didn't come from Petsmart. Mo was rescued. She didn't have a place or a home at all.

Roo: Where did Maggie come from?

Me: She had a good home and family and a mom named Meg and a dad named Beck. They had a lot of puppies, so Maggie had a lot of brothers and sisters. When they were big enough, they were ready for families of their own. So, Daddy and I picked out Maggie and made her part of our family.

Roo: Did you and Daddy pick me and Em out?

{crickets}

Roo: Well?

Me: Um… God picked you out. {tiny voice} and so did Dr. H.

R: Whatever

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Overdrive

The girls' imaginations are in overdrive these days. I'm loving all the stuff they come up with.

This photo shows Roo in her "truck" with all her babies tucked up tight in the back seat. They were off to the store to buy snow globes.

put the breaks on the Christmas shopping

Roo has revised Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You".

All the words are the same until the end of the chorus which now goes... "all I want for Chwistmaaaaas... is mah se-elf!"

details

On my way to the kitchen this morning, Roo stopped me. She was extremely irate at the misprint in her children's Bible. Apparently she just noticed Abraham's name change from Abram.

---------------

J has a newish toy. A remote control helicopter. None of the girls in the house are allowed to play with it. We may only admire his awesome flying of the thing.

Said helicopter has been missing for 48 hours.

After much interrogation, Roo admitted that she might know where it is. She "might" have hidden it. On the shelves. In the living room.

He still couldn't find it.

They chatted some more. She wouldn't be in trouble, but could she just tell him where.it.was. Well, sure she could, but maybe he could do her a favor. She began bargaining! Negotiating! A few of her toys are MIA. Maybe he could track those down for her or pick up a couple of new ones first, she suggested.

I found the helicopter tonight. Behind a framed photo of our family. On the shelf, right where she said it was. Hidden. Only a piece of the propeller peeked out.

Mornings

Of late, mornings around here consist of me being woken by someone asking if their outfit matches.

Before I've had a chance to drink my coffee, someone needs help with their accessories.

"Tie my scarf, please." "Have you seen my headband?" "I need my robot necklace."

As I'm making breakfast, their day is already underway. Roo, clad in a hat and cardigan, is writing a giant P.S.H. on a legal pad. It was supposed to be a T for technology, but she got distracted and wrote a P. So, what's a P word that rhymes with technology, she asks? I've got nothing.

The game changes. It's, now, a Pechnology Scavenger Hunt.

Has anyone seen a Pechnology anywhere?

kid slang

My new favorite things being said around here are mostly coming from Em.

Today we introduced them to 007 movies, the classics, and she referred to James Bond as a good "spyer".

Also, I love the way she uses "sneak" in a sentence. "Daddy, I'm gonna sneak you!" means I'm going to creep up and surprise you.

Roo also got in a good one with "race game" referring to the marathon that went through our neighborhood.

iDunno

My friend spammed me with this earlier this week and it made me chuckle...

-----

It all began with an iPhone...

March was when our son celebrated his 17th birthday, and we got him an iPhone. He just loved it. Who wouldn't?

I celebrated my birthday in July, and my wife made me very happy when she bought me an iPad.

Our daughter's birthday was in August so we got her an iPod Touch.

My wife celebrated her birthday in September so I got her an iRon.

It was around then that the fight started...

What my wife failed to recognize is that the iRon can be integrated into the home network with the iWash, iCook and iClean.

This inevitably activates the iNag reminder service.

I should be out of the hospital next week!!

-----

What made me really laugh was the exchange that took place afterwards:

Me: What's an iRon?

Her: Don't know... was hoping for an explanation. Been on Apple's site all day trying to buy one but can't find it. Let me know if you figure it out.

Me: If I find out, maybe the men in our lives would like one for Christmas.

Her: Yes! We will get two of these elusive iRons.

I'm pretty sure Roo and Em have no idea what an iRon is either. It's a different, permanent press kind of world now.

powerful

I had a headache today. It got worse as the day progressed. Tonight, I just stayed on the couch, still, while the girls had dinner with J.

Em finished before the others and came in to check on me. She covered me with her Nannie blanket, a fine crocheted masterpiece of prayers and baby soft yarn. Then, she laid her hands on my head and prayed for me. "...an help make my Mama all better. 'n Jesus, amen."

And I do feel better. A lot.

Powerful stuff, prayer. Even more so when it is delivered with the unshakable faith of a child.