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*

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!

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.

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

--------

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

-------

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.

Mother's Day

It's been an amazing Mother's Day for me.

The girls were sooooo excited to celebrate this day and had special gifts, made secretly at school.

And to really make the day special, Roo placed all her favorite dolls just so, facing my bedroom so that they could all wish me a happy Mother's Day.

Before church, we took our annual photo. The girls are bellowing HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

After church, J and the girls made a "brunch tea party".

It was fabulous and the girls were absolutely charming.

It's been a day to cherish. I am so thankful to be celebrating my sixth Mother's Day with these gorgeous creatures who call me Mama.

P.S. Did J kill it or what?! Lovely pink tulips, red roses (not pictured), homemade waffles, mimosas, pretty presents and an afternoon to laze around and read a book. Blessed!

High Five!

The Rowdy Girls turn 5 years old today. Or, as Em puts it, "I changin' to five."

Happy Birthday to our brilliant, beautiful, bold and blessed little girls!

RG Opera

Transcript

prior to this video starting, the opera began with the following:

Roo: I am not going to to school (repeat)

Em: I need to go-o

Ro: no no no-o

Roo: I not going

scene opens on this phrase:

Em: I going to take my toys...

take my red and ..

Roo: No no we are not going going

Em: yes we are

Roo: no we're not

Em: yes we arr-rrr-re

Roo: (in robot voice) I don't think we are going

Em: yessssss

Roo: now be quiet

Em: I am getting ma-ad (snaps her Nannie blanket at Roo)

Roo: (robot voice) I am too

Em: you know what I am going to do-oo (snaps blanket back)

Roo: NOOOOOOOO!

Em: NOOOOOOOO!

J: (bellows from living room) GIRLS!

Em: Hide! (dives under covers)

And, scene.

must find parenting manual and read section on age 5

Earlier this week Em had a bad dream. J went in to soothe her and, apparently, left his glasses on the shelf of her bed.

The next morning I found them on the shelf in 3 pieces. Some forceful bending had removed the ear pieces from the eye pieces. We took them to J. I began to sternly lecture Em about what she'd done incorrectly. J, meanwhile, is squinting at her (sans glasses) and chiming in on the lecture. Em focuses completely on the winky squinting.

She leans in, gets right in J's face and gives him a huge smile and a wink.

And then dashes off to play.

************

On Monday, we ate lunch out as a family. The waiter stopped by after taking our order to refill our glasses. The food was not yet ready. Roo whipped her straw out of her cup and jabbed it at the unsuspecting waiter. "How 'bout you get me my grilled cheese sandwich, Sir?" she said.

As J and I muffled mortified laughter and the waiter burst out laughing,

her big blue eyes missed nothing.

************

Tonight, after a frustrating dinner (no one under the age of 5 was eating, complaining was rampant), J hit the wall. "Fine. Be excused." he says.

"But no more food or water for the rest of the night. There.will.be.no.snacks."

Both girls pop right up, all smiles. (They totally won.)

On her way, Em leaned over and hugged J. "You're my hero, Daddy"

Bluebonnet Snaps

the obligatory "crying" photo

Oh, those Roo Blue eyes. Love this little girl.

Could Miss Em look anymore grown up here. Must stop the clock. Must.

Rubies are red, Bonnets are blue.

Rowdy Girls, we just adore you!

cheese twins

Not who you expected to see seated next to Roo, huh?

But none the less... the smiles are "twinny"

Maggie Dog always rises to the challenge.

Roo masterminded this photo.

Complete with dog and doll placement. I just pressed the shutter.

not my proudest moment

I snagged an hour pass to run a few errands last night.

J rolled in from work as I finished making the girls' dinner. The RGs were situated at the table and working on picking apart their food and J decided to fry up some mystery meat as I prepared to leave.

Just as I was closing the door, the smoking skillet set off the fire alarms.

The girls were screaming "CALL 9-1-1!" as the kitchen filled with smoke.

I thought, briefly, about going back to help.

And then...

I ran.

(it was all fine when I got home)

get weddinged

There is a little boy named P in the Rowdy Girls' preschool class. His birthday is tomorrow. Part of the Tiger Class birthday ritual is making a class card. The teacher interviews each child about what makes the birthday kid special and records it in the card.

Ms. Laura told me that Em insisted that P was special because they were going to "get weddinged". And continued on to say that she interpreted that to mean that Em wants to marry P.

After further inquiry during the car ride home I found out the following...

Em does want to marry P.

She thinks he is funny.

She plans to wear her Cinderella dress to the wedding.

And they will live happily ever after.

Roo said she just wants to marry Em.

Funny Valentines

We've had a week of Valentines.

It's good to get your moneys worth out of a holiday and your seasonal clothing.

First up, a class party. Em and Roo made their own cards with a teensy bit of help.

Next up, several days of staggered packages and cards arriving in the mail. Awesomesauce!

Finally, the big puffy heart day. Em woke me asking if she could open her surprise right away. The gift bags were sitting on the table. I'm actually pretty impressed with their restraint.

Inside...

Hats!

A cupcake for Em and a Grover for Roo.

This is the only clear photo of the front of the hat...The stock photo from the store.

Because Roo insists on wearing it backwards. It looks like Grover is eating her head.

We met J after work at a diner for burgers and pizza. Then, on to the show. The Biscuit Brothers were performing across the street and the girls are big fans.

Both were nervous about the crowd and getting too close to the musicians.

They're bigger in real life.

The venue had a playscape behind the stage. We set up camp there and had a super time. Playing, rocking and enjoying the show.

Happy Valentine's Day to all y'all.

Love,

The Rowdy Girls

storytime

I love that, of all the words on that page, 'led' is the one that tripped her up a bit.

My amazing girl.

word of the day

February 7: Hangry

When you are so hungry that your lack of food causes you to become angry, frustrated or both.

An amalgum of hungry and angry; invented to describe the mood of a person who hasn't eaten for many hours; an outwardly hostile and angry hungry person; a contraction of hungry and angry.

*"I.WANT.PEANUT.BUTTER.CRACKERS!", snarled Roo, in a hangry haze of low blood sugar and frustration that had well exceeded the ability to speak without growling.

found

Two and a half packages of peanut butter crackers... Minus the peanut butter.

stop the presses!

Austin, TX got snow for the second year in a row. It's a good time to be a Rowdy Girl.