Auntie Visits

A few weeks ago, my husband had to go out of town for a golf tournament. Now since I'm working, I called on my ever so faithful sister to help watch my girls while I worked. Seeing as though it's not like she lives just next door, one could consider her a very expensive babysitter. But the flight was booked on a free ticket (just a few taxes had to be paid), she has a bunch of vacation time at work, it seemed a perfect match. So right from the get go, my ever so faithful sister was on duty. I switched shifts with another girl who couldn't work during lunch and since my sister was going to be in by 11am, the boss said it was OK. So, I picked her up, they dropped me off at work, and she was thrust into babysitting duty. The girls had been up early that morning since we took my husband to the airport at 6:30. So their day was already messed up by the time Auntie took over. I gave her directions on how to get to my house and my trusty map (that she bought for me once) was in the vehicle ready for use. Lunch was on schedule (which sounded like it went alright) but nap time didn't go so well. Since Cocoa had fallen asleep in the car on the way to pick up Auntie from the airport, I had a funny feeling that she wouldn't take her usual nap and Sweet Pea would just be too wound up from the days early events to want to sleep. I got off earlier than expected and made the call for them to come pick me up. After twenty minutes passed, I started to get worried since they hadn't shown up yet. Once they arrived I found out that Auntie made them put away their toys before they left to picked me up (WAY TO GO AUNTIE!!!!).
It was a busy week while she was out. I did have the following day after she arrived off, so we enjoyed some quality grocery shopping time. Now she sees how fun it is to shop with a 2 and 4 year old. (It takes forever.) I had two more days off during her stay. My husband came home on Friday night and Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I was sure he would be working on the yard as usual. I had Saturday and Monday off so I knew I would be able to spend sometime with my sister. On Saturday we took the girls, grabbed some lunch from Sonic (YUMMY CHEESE CONEY'S!!!), and headed for the park downtown. We enjoyed our lunch and the girls ran around the really tall trees and played hide and seek. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of a Hawaiian performance group that was near by performing for a party. At some point I grabbed the camera to take some pictures of the girls playing. Sure enough Sweet Pea wanted to take pictures too. So I handed her the camera. Cocoa wanted to do the same so Auntie handed over her camera. Of all the photos that were taken this one became my favorite. It's a view through the eyes of a child.

I missed you mommy

As of Monday I started training for my part-time job as a hostess in a restaurant. I have to say it's been rather liberating to go somewhere other than the store for more than an hour and not have the girls with me. Yes I do miss them. I've been with Sweet Pea 24/7 for the last four and a half years, and Cocoa for the last two and a half.
When they awake, I'm there to get them a cup of milk and breakfast.
Then bath them, dress them, play with them, teach them.
Make them lunch and then put them down for a nap.
Play with them again and get their dinner ready.
Play with them some more or maybe enjoy a movie and then put them to bed.
Even when I'm asleep, I'm still on duty ready to soothe them when they awake from a bad dream.
I'm there early in the morning when Cocoa stumbles in the room and reaches her arms up to me to pull her into the bed.
Now there is that window of time that Mommy will be gone. I wonder about all the things I'll miss and all the things they will miss. I haven't had to stay at work late but soon I'm sure there will be days I won't be home till 11:30 at night. Well past the time they've already gone to bed. How will they deal? I'm sure they'll be fine. Sweet Pea seems to be adjusting well but she does seem to want to be around me more. Cocoa is finding it a little harder. She acts like she's fine but when I come home she only wants mommy and has been throwing a little tantrum or two to show it. It's been nice to hear as I walk in the door, "HI MOMMY, HI MOMMY!!!", "MOMMY'S HOME!!" in their little voices as they run to the gate by the back door and reach up their arms for a hug. Now I get to feel what it's like for Daddy when he comes home. They've been a little bit of handful for him and he hasn't been able to do some of the things he wanted to do when he got home but I'm sure he manages just fine. He's a good father. I'm hoping he can now see how sometimes I just feel like the life is sucked out of me and just how quickly you're pulled in two different directions because they both want your attention. It's still tough to think that I won't be putting their pajamas on and tucking them into bed. I won't be there to kiss Sweet Pea good night or sit by Cocoa's bed as she clutches my finger till she falls asleep. Cocoa didn't seem to want to go to sleep last night so I finally gave up and let her fall asleep beside me as I studied for my test. I woke up and went downstairs this morning and Sweet Pea was awake and watching cartoons. Eventually Cocoa woke up, came downstairs, came up to me and said, "I miss you mommy, I missed you." Things will be changing and with time I'm sure she'll adjust as we all will.

The green monster

I thought I was being smart by not really allowing markers of any kind in my house. Along with paints and any other kind of kid crafty project stuff. I know that we should allow our children to express themselves through art and it's cool to have a picture that was painted by your children hanging from the refrigerator door. Not for me. I could already envision the destruction and damage that could be caused. I'm surprised I have crayons in the house. I have to draw the line somewhere.
But I started thinking that an easel with a dry erase board and chalkboard would be neat to have to help with teaching the ABC's and 123's. Surprise, surprise when during a visit one time my in-laws brought an easel for the girls. The initial markers were not that good. Eventually we got a set of good ones and I was very careful at putting them up high and out of the way. Now Sweet Pea knew where they were. High on the top shelf of the linen closet. Not an easy climb for either girl. So I thought they were safe from sticky fingers.
I WAS WRONG.
That Saturday morning started off with the girls having to clean up their toys in the bonus room. Now I gave them a break to have breakfast but they had to take care of the mess first before they would have a bath and could go outside. My husband was in need of some things to finish working on part of our yard and I was sure that he wouldn't want to stop and babysit the girls as they cleaned. See, something inside of me just felt like something would happen. After awhile of sitting around and barking orders at the girls to clean, my husband said he needed the items before he could really continue on a certain section of the yard. So I said, "What should I do with the girls?" He replied, "Well they should be cleaning up their mess." And he kind of left it at that. So, bravely, I told the girls that I had to go get somethings for their daddy at the store and that they were to finish picking up their toys before they could go outside. Simple, clear, and to the point. Not to difficult right? I set off to store with the thought that maybe their toys would be picked up when I returned but still there was that nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach.
I returned after being gone for about an hour. My first question to my husband, "Where are the girls?" He replied with, "There inside cleaning I believe. I heard Cocoa saying something and I told her to finish cleaning up and then she was quiet." The pit in my stomach did not have a good feeling about this. So, I walked inside...up the stairs...and down the hall. The hall is a little dark without the light on but no bother. I went toward the sound of voices. It was coming from Cocoa's room. I turned slowly at the door and as my eyes gazed from the mess on the floor up towards the little girl standing by the wall with the marker in her hand. YES A MARKER. A GREEN DRY ERASE MARKER.
(An example of her artwork)
My jaw dropped. My heart sunk. For a minute I could hear my heartbeat come to a complete stop. I wasn't sure what to do. I was frozen. I broke from my daze and screamed, "WHY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This word would continue to come out of my mouth as I surveyed the damage. The wall in Cocoa's room. The comforted on the twin bed. The crochet baby blanket (that I made for her before she was born!!!!) and blanket on her toddler bed. The curtain, her stuffed animal. The walls in the hallway, the door of the bonus room. The door frame to Sweet Pea's room, her bed, the door to the balcony, the balcony floor, the stucco outside the balcony. COCOA HERSELF, was covered in green marker. I yelled at Sweet Pea asking her who got the marker and told her not to lie. She didn't lie of course and told me that she got it down. I'm not sure though if she had anything to do with the artwork. She wouldn't answer me. I cried. I cried and cried. Cocoa kept coming up to me to console me (Nice to know she cares about mommy crying but not the damage she just made) but I kept telling her to go away. I was so mad I went and opened the window of the bonus room and told my husband he had to see the mess but didn't tell him what it was. He told me he really couldn't stop and to TAKE A PICTURE. So, I did just that. Then I called my sister to have her calm me down. (Thank you again). Then I took the camera outside to show him the damage and to explain what I saw since the pictures didn't do it justice. So I must say in conclusion, Cocoa had her toys taken away and both were banned from the bonus room again. Yes, mommy locked the door again. Now it's a week later and my husband can maybe now understand how I can't easily trust the girls inside the house alone. Why did it take a mess like this for him to understand? I guess like me somewhere in our hearts we believe that our little girls aren't capable of such destruction. I'm hoping nothing like this will ever happen again. Now if only I could get the marker off of the stucco before he sees it (I'm sure he saw it on the balcony floor but I don't believe he actually went onto the balcony). Kids will be kids right?

Sugar Bugs

Just a few days ago, Sweet Pea went to the dentist. I woke up that morning remembering that I almost scheduled her appointment for 8:10am. I would have been crazy to have done that. I got a more reasonable time at 4:00pm. I brushed her teeth twice before we left just to be sure that they were clean. My husband was unable to watch Cocoa so she came along for the ride. I asked her several times to be good and to listen to mommy. So on the way I stopped at the bank and Sweet Pea said, "This isn't the dentist. I want to go to the dentist. I don't want to be late." The entire day I kept telling her that we didn't want to be late and sure enough here she is reminding me. Anyways, we make it to the dentist office and again I remind Cocoa to be good and for Sweet Pea not to be scared of the dentist. She had seen him last year for her very first dentist visit when she was three. The dentist apparently left the practice he was with to start his own and I thought since he was still covered by our plan that it would be a good idea to go to the same person. Last year though she was really shy and I'm sure scared. She had to sit in my lap and lean back so the dentist could count her teeth. So this new office was pretty cool. It had a play room for the kids to hang out in. I had to fill out paperwork and keep an eye on both girls when Sweet Pea said she had to go potty. Of course I do remember asking her to go before we left the house and I was sure she did but here we were having to go to the bathroom and I still had to fill out that paperwork and keep an eye on Cocoa. We came out of the restroom and the dental assistant was already looking for us. (Good service!) Now since Sweet Pea is only four, I thought it best for me to be with her and of course Cocoa had to come along too since I wasn't leaving her in the playroom by herself. So we got to the room, which was a little small, and took our spot in the corner. Sweet Pea looked so little sitting in that big dental chair. While I finished filling out the paperwork and keeping an eye on Cocoa, the assistant got to work on cleaning Sweet Pea's teeth. She even got to watch Finding Nemo on a TV screen mounted on the ceiling. They didn't have that when I was a kid. Cocoa was concerned the whole time about her big sister. I think it was the sound of the brush cleaning her teeth that might have made her concerned. It was very cute of Cocoa to be concerned. I had to keep telling her that Sweet Pea was OK all the while still trying to finish that paperwork and answer questions the assistant had. While cleaning her teeth, the assistant asked if Sweet Pea brushed teeth twice a day. She says yes (thankfully since we mostly only get to it once a day) and the assistant asked if she flossed her teeth. She says yes and then says no. The assistant goes on to describe the "Sugar Bugs" that get stuck in between your teeth and that it's important to have mommy help you floss. (Information noted for further use). Before you knew it, the assistant was done and I gave the OK to take x-rays. I didn't think they would need to do that yet since she's still young but since she sucks on her fingers still I thought it might be a good idea. She was SO GOOD!!!!! She sat very still and did what the assistant told her to do. I was SO proud. The lady thought Sweet Pea was so cute and adorable. So the assistant says to us that she's all done with the pictures and is going to go develop them and get the dentist. That's when cute, adorable little Sweet Pea says, "Last time there was this guy and he was scary. I was scared." (Of course she was referring to the dentist she saw last year who is set to come in her room soon.) The assistant and I assured her that he wasn't scary and shortly she returned with and loaded the x-rays on to the screen. Then a few short seconds later, the dentist arrives and says, "I'm not scary, I'm just silly." He goes on to ask her how old she is and she answers without me having to answer for her. He explains that he has a daughter her age. She even looks at him and shows him which two fingers she likes to suck on. At that same time, Cocoa puts her fingers in her mouth to do as her big sister does. (I can only deal with one child sucking on there fingers I don't need two. I got lucky when I took the pacifier away from Cocoa. It hasn't been an issue. Except every once in awhile I see her copy her sister. Not good!) So he checks he teeth and informs us that there are NO CAVITIES! YEAH!!! (Mommy's been doing a good job at brushing her teeth! Good job mommy!) He goes on to explain what would happen if Sweet Pea doesn't stop sucking on her fingers. At this point, she looks a little scared. Maybe the thought of having something metal placed in her mouth till she stops doesn't sound so good. So, we check out the x-rays and there are Sweet Pea's adult teeth hiding behind her baby teeth. It was weird to see. She's still my baby and the thought of her starting to lose those baby teeth and get big girl, adult teeth is difficult. They grow so fast. So the dentist is all done and the assistant asks if we want fluoride and I said, "Why not." I'm instructed that there is to be no hot liquid, brushing or flossing for 4-6 hours. (Hot liquid? Who gives their four year old hot liquid?) In the process Sweet Pea asks the assistant if she has two children. The assistant seemed surprised by the question and says, "That's a really grown up question to ask." I then chime in and say that the dentist mentioned that he had a daughter her age. Then she understood where the question came from (I guess. Kids do say the darnedest things.) So, for the first checkup in over a year (apparently you're suppose to do this every six months) things were good. But as we ride the elevator down to the ground floor, Cocoa starts to scream because she wants to push the buttons again. As we exit the elevator I told her how good she was up till that moment. I still stop at Starbucks on the way home and get the girls chocolate milk for being so good. Now I get to look forward to taking Cocoa to her first appointment. I have decided she won't go until she's three, like her big sister did. I have a hard time getting her to open her mouth for me to brush her teeth. I can't see her opening her mouth for a complete stranger.

It's the GREAT Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

So a couple of years ago, my dad sent the girls two packets of pumpkin seeds to plant in our garden. Now finally a few years later we actually planted a garden and I figured we should give the seeds a chance.

Surprise, surprise! After a few weeks, we started to see the seedlings pop up out of the ground.
We lost a few watermelon plants along the next few weeks, I'm assuming to birds or other pests. But the pumpkin plant was spared and began to grow. We thought that it would be possible to actually get a pumpkin or two for Halloween out of it. We were trying to be optimistic.
As time past, the pumpkin plant kept growing and started to take over the area's where the watermelon plants that didn't make it were planted. I decided I would do the smart thing and write down the days to harvest for all our vegetables and fruits. So you can see to my surprise that when I read the pumpkin package I over looked one very important detail. Sure I understood that it takes 120 days to harvest. I'll have to see how long we can keep it on the plant before we have to take it off. It might be ready well before Halloween. The part I over looked was how big it could grow up to. Just a measly 100lbs! So as you can see the plant is thriving and there are even a couple of flowers blooming and appears there are more to come.













A HUNDRED POUNDS!
Let the count down to the great pumpkin begin!!!!!!
The girls are excited of course. Sweet Pea can't believe that we could have a great pumpkin growing in our garden. Cocoa, well, I'm sure she'll understand once she sees the pumpkin growing. It's amazing to see. The rest of the garden is coming along as well. There are pea's growing and probably ready to pick soon. I'm looking at harvesting the Bibb lettuce and maybe even some Romaine. YUMMY!!!

A castle built for the princesses

So one hot weekend, the princesses grandparents on my husbands side, came out to help build them a castle. Complete with swings (two of course), a slide, a steering wheel, and a look out tower with a periscope. It turned into a massive structure that even mommy and daddy can be on (swings included). There is still a little bit of work left to do but it's mostly complete. Sure enough though the princesses have already argued over the swings (even though there are two). One is set slightly higher for Sweet Pea and one lower for Cocoa. They swing back and forth, or at least Sweet Pea does. She's getting the hang of pumping her legs. While Cocoa, sweet sweet Cocoa, takes to laying on the swing on her belly. She's pretending she's flying like a bird. Of course they've argued over slide as well. Both want to go first and both want to take their time at the top and the bottom as well. It seems as though no matter what, they will always argue. Sad. Yes they do enjoy the castle very much. Even though the past few days have been so hot that we haven't even gone outside. Cooler days to come though. The slide gets pretty hot in the sun. So now when I have to mow the lawn, they have an extra place to play. But it doesn't mean they'll stay put. At least this takes the pressure off of mommy of having to drive them to the playground.

Bicycle, bicycle; A hat is a hat

In just one week, sweet little Cocoa figured out how to ride her bicycle. Sure, at first she only went backwards. Then she would only get a few inches forward before she couldn't push the peddles anymore. And you can't forget how she would finally get going only to drive into the flower bed because she didn't know how to steer. Now, she's a speed demon! She races Sweet Pea up and down the driveway. She turns with ease. She even sits up off the seat and peddles at times. Wow!! I say...WOW!!! I was shocked to see how quickly she just picked it up. My hubby says she didn't want to be left behind. It reminded me of someone I know, me. I have a sister who is a year older than me and I do remember always wanting to do what she could do. So, Cocoa is off to the races now. No need to help her anymore. I remember showing her only a couple of times how to push the peddles and steer. Fast learner that one is. They ride around the table on the back patio when I mow the grass. Around and around they go. Faster and faster. I think Sweet Pea enjoys riding her bike now since she has someone to do it with. So, when do I take the training wheels off Sweet Pea's bike? Maybe when I buy her a helmet and a padded suit. She looks so big on it now. I remember when she got her bike. My parents brought it with them when they came to visit us when we first moved into the house. She was same age as Cocoa is now when she learned to ride it. My how time does fly.
The other day I went out to weed the yard and I realized that the sun was brighter than I thought it would be. So I went inside to get a hat. I normally wear a baseball hat but today I felt like wearing one of my hubby's hats from work. It's a straw hat, like a cowboy hat, but more like those you see old men wearing in Florida on the beach. So, maybe it wasn't that good looking of a hat, but it was a hat. I walked out of the garage and Sweet Pea saw me and announced, "Mommy, you look like Lola." Lola would be her grandmother, my mother. I chuckled to myself and thought, well, Lola is my mother I guess I look a bit like her. Then I remember the time we visited last and she went to the zoo with us. She had a straw hat (that of course was better looking than the hat I had on). I remember the girls playing with Lola's hat at lunch time. I even took pictures of them. So, now whenever I wear that hat I'm sure Sweet Pea will remind me that I look like Lola.

How does your garden grow

Ah Springtime! The leaves are growing on the trees, flowers are blooming, and people are outside planting their gardens. I have to admit that I was one of those people planting a garden. So it wasn't my idea, it was my husbands. He thought it would be fun for the girls to see how things grow. So a few weeks ago, he got the rototiller working and was out in the backyard tilling up the soil in a landscaping area he had yet to plant in. Our property sits on almost two acres and I have to estimate that the backyard alone is a little over an acre of mostly grass. Grass as far as the eye can see. Lots of grass.
I call it our own personal soccer field. Anyways, to give the yard a little bit of depth, he put three berms of soil for future tree planting. The middle berm is where the garden is located at this time. That day he started to till the soil, I had to go get some seeds. So I took the girls to our home away from home, "Home Depot". Unfortunately their display was mostly empty and I had to sort through a couple boxes with packets of vegetable seeds and flower seeds mixed together. It was not fun since at the same time I had to keep the girls from arguing with each other. You'd think that with them sitting in the "race cart" (a cart that is shaped like a race car) and having their own steering wheel, that they would keep themselves entertained. I was wrong. So after finding some seeds, we made it home and my husband inspected our loot. Well, it seems as though I would need to go to another store since I wasn't able to find any peas or carrots. Can't have a garden without peas or carrots. So this time, I left Sweet Pea to help out daddy and Cocoa, my constant shopping companion, came with me. We made it to Wal-Mart where we got a couple of Strawberry plants, Walla Walla onion bulbs, and another packet of corn. Unfortunately their display was pretty empty too so off to another store we went. This time it was Fred Meyer's turn to hopefully not disappoint us. Sure enough, I walked through the displays with Cocoa and there it was. A beacon of hope...an enormous display of vegetable and flower seed packets....completely stocked! So I found the peas and carrots I was looking for and even picked up a package of green beans. I was tempted to pick up a packet of "Giant Pumpkin" seeds. The picture on the packet was impressive but I opted not to since we already had two packets that my dad had sent the girls last year. What would we do with a giant pumpkin anyway? Make a whole lot of pumpkin pies? So...with our loot in hand Cocoa and I returned home to rain showers. The planting would have to wait.
So the next day, bright and early, I took on the task of planting that garden. The girls were eager to help. Unfortunately, I didn't want seeds dumped all over the place and things growing in the grass. So there was a little tension. The girls lined up side by side, and we went down the first row of corn. They took turns planting every other one. This was good for the first row. Then Cocoa disappeared. She went up front to hang out with daddy. So Sweet Pea helped with the next row of corn. She was anxious to see what color the seeds were with every packet we opened. After that next row, Sweet Pea took off to see daddy as well. I was left to plant. All alone....planting seed by seed. Eventually Cocoa came back and so did Sweet Pea. Sweet Pea helped to make the mounds for the watermelon and pumpkins. She got to count out the seeds and put them in the hole. Cocoa....well....she spent a lot of time playing with the soil and coming by me and squatting down next to me to check things out. I think they enjoyed it. After awhile it was just me again. I completed the planting process by planting two blueberry plants and a raspberry plant that my husbands father had sent the girls. The planting was complete...now let the waiting begin.

We've had some pretty good storms come our way lately so I didn't have to water much. So a few days ago while we were out back, I took a closer look to see what was going on with our garden. Sure enough, we had corn growing. All four rows.
We even have the watermelons, pumpkins, peas, cucumbers, and I believe some romaine lettuce coming up. I have to look closer at some of the other areas to see if anything is coming up. I was surprised to see it all. The girls were excited of course. I think they take a little bit of pride knowing that they planted something that is now growing. I'm just surprised I planted something that is now growing. (I'm not one to have a really green thumb.) So we'll see what will become of this garden in the months to come. Hopefully we'll have some yummy corn and watermelon to eat.

Our little green visitor

Last week the girls and I were outside cleaning and weeding. Or at least I was cleaning and weeding, the girls were making dirt castles (Yes I mean dirt castles. There's no sand here). As I'm pulling the dead leaves from around the iris bed Sweet Pea chimes in, "Mommy, frog!". I jumped up out of the bed of iris to take a look. Sure enough there it was, resting in the cool shade of the iris plants. Cocoa came over and we all hovered over it. I ran to grab the camera so that we would always have a picture of our little green visitor. It's as though it was posing for the camera.


Apparently the frog has decided to stay around for awhile. Just a few days ago, my husband was working upfront on the boardwalk he was building. Sweet Pea had been outside with him and as Cocoa and I walked up to see how he was doing, Sweet Pea said, "Mommy the frog is still here." Sure enough, there it was sitting on the bed of rock by the board walk. Cocoa had to take a look at it. She walked up next to her daddy and slowly planted herself on his lap. He was trying to level something at the time but stopped what he was doing to show her the frog. The girls watched it for another moment or two before it hopped its way back under the boardwalk to stay cool.

Cookie on the back

Cocoa smiles not only with her mouth but with her eyes as she says proudly, "Cookie on the back." For awhile there it was difficult to get a clean diaper on the girl without searching through the stack and finding the one with Cookie Monster on the front. I constantly remind her that Cookie is on the back as well, pointing to the smiling monster on the back of the diaper. She finally gave in one day and proudly turned her backside to me, stuck out her rear and said, "See, Cookie on the back. See, see." Pointing down to the furry blue creature. Now she does this often. She picks the diaper out of the basket and shows mommy that Cookie is there. Yet, I feel that soon, there will no longer be a furry blue Cookie Monster on the back of her diaper. She is starting to use the potty more. She's even gone several times on her own. One day after getting showered, I called for her to come brush her teeth. I called again and again. I went into the hallway and called again. I heard a faint voice in the distance, "I go potty." I went into the girls bathroom to find Cocoa perched on the toilet seat. She had the "two step" step stool in front of the toilet with her legs out stretched on the top step. She looked up at me, smiled and said, "I go potty." And sure enough she did! Number 2!!!! So happy with joy at my little girls accomplishment, I cleaned her up and put on a pull-up. She smiled with glee because she had seen these before. Her big sister had worn them for awhile when she was potty training. She looked so proud as she spun around showing mommy the princesses that were on the front. She did a quick turn to the back and looked. I think she was looking for Cookie Monster.
Not a bit of sadness there though because later that same day as we were entering the grocery store she said, "Go potty." I said, "Are you sure?" She nodded and so I took her to the restroom. I was use to doing this before with her. Normally Sweet Pea was with us and she had to go. Cocoa always said she had to go herself but never would actually go. So I went along with it and to my surprise, SHE WENT POTTY! NUMBER 1 this time. Wow! I smiled and told her, "Your such a big girl!" She was happy with her accomplishment again. Unfortunately though as I rushed to pulled her pants down, the pull-up tore and I didn't have another one in the diaper bag. I said, "Sorry Cocoa. Mommy has to put a diaper on you." Out of the diaper bag came a diaper with, you guessed it, Cookie Monster on the front. Oh was she delighted with that. We washed up, got our cart, and I buckled her in. Sure enough, she pulls up her shirt and tries to pull the waistband of her pants down to show mommy that Cookie was on the front. "See, See.", she says. I smiled and reminded her we were in the store and to keep her shirt down.
Later that night Sweet Pea said she had to go potty and Cocoa said, "Me too." Sweet Pea comes running out of the bathroom and says, "She went potty!" So to share in the joy I motioned for my husband to go see as well. She went Number 2! So he got to help clean her up this time. What a joy it is to potty train.

Mommy locked the door

About two weeks ago I took all the girls toys, right down to the last stuffed animal decorating their rooms, and put them in the bonus room and locked the door. I came to the conclusion that they have too many toys. The pile on the floor seemed endless. Mostly it was a pile of stuffed animals. OK so maybe they have too many stuffed animals. Word to the family.....no more stuffed animals. OK so some of the animals came from us when we went to Circus Circus. Can't help but try to win the stuffed animal for your little girl. Those big brown eyes of Cocoa's and those beautiful green eyes of Sweet Pea's, you just can't resist. (Daddy's pretty good at those claw machines.) That first night I started to feel guilty. They wouldn't clean up the mess they made with the toys that were in the room in the first place. It had been two days of saying "clean up the toys". Giving them time limits and bribing them with candy and the chance to watch a movie. I would start to help them but they had to do the bulk of the work. It just came down to me not wanting to deal with it anymore I guess. I did give them one stuffed animal a piece, Sweet Pea's "Horsey" and Cocoa's "Dumbo" (I'm not that mean). So that night Cocoa walked downstairs and told daddy that, "Mommy locked the door." She would continue to repeat this same phrase over and over again. I called my sister one day and Cocoa even mentioned it to her.
Get this, the first day after I locked the door, they found something they could use to unlock the door. I called my husband and told him about it and he asked, "How did they know to it?" I told him that they're not stupid. They're SMART! They've seen us do it before to other doors they've accidentally locked. The next day, they did it again. Now it's two weeks later, they've gotten a few things back. Two boxes of blocks and a box of Toys Story toys. They sure were excited to see those. But since then, nothing else. I actually was going to give them all back the other day. They, of course, had opened the door and so I told Sweet Pea to start putting the animals in their rooms. Once the animals were back in their bedrooms, I would come and help put them away. Simple right? Wrong. After two hours, about two dozen animals had been moved. They went back into the bonus room. The next day, same thing. I don't really think they missed the toys as much. We certainly spend more time together now though. I have it in the plan to give them the toys back by the end of this week. They have to work for them though. They must help make their beds, clear their dishes from the table, and listen to mommy. Simple stuff. Maybe they'll appreciated their toys more now. I don't know. But I guess I can always lock the door again.

A way to beat the heat

So yesterday to beat the heat I took the girls bowling. Yes, bowling. Imagine if you will a pair of bowling shoes. Now imagine it in a size 6 for toddlers. They were absolutely adorable and looked even cuter on Cocoa. She's been bowling before (just before her second birthday). This time was different. She stood next to the ball return looking into the black hole waiting for the ball to come out. She watched as others took their turn and she cheered. She even picked up the six pound bowling ball. This I thought wouldn't be a good idea seeing as though she could drop it on her foot. But she held on tight and with all of her might pushed it down the lane. It only needed help from the bowling alley guy twice. Otherwise she didn't do to bad (of course she had help). She would often pout when Sweet Pea would try and help her out. Sweet Pea insisted on helping her sister which actually meant she was holding the ball and pushing it down the lane. I had to remind Sweet Pea that it was her sisters turn and to help her push the ball, not do it for her. Sweet Pea loved bowling. She would pick up the ball (even putting her fingers in the holes) and walk right up to the line and would let go. Sometimes it was a little slow and we weren't sure it was going to make it but it generally did. Get this, on the first frame of the first game, she got a strike. That's my girl! It was definitely a fun time and a lot cooler inside the building than outside. I may have to take them again sometime. Afterwards as a special treat, we stopped at Starbucks and the girls got to have a Horizon chocolate milk (in the box) and of course I had to have a frappacino. It was 94' degrees outside! What a lovely way to end the day.

What a beautiful sight to see

I caught a glimpse of this sunset last night and had to take a photo. It was the first day in a series of very hot days to come. The temperature was just right and the view was breath taking.

The night of the tent

The other day my husband called and told me that he won something as a raffle prize at a golf tournament he played in. He thought it would be fun for the girls to play with. "What was it?", I asked. He told me I would see when he got home. Sweet Pea was screaming with glee because daddy was bringing home something for her. Cocoa was screaming with glee because daddy was coming home. So when he made it through the door Sweet Pea was already looking for daddy's surprise. Cocoa just wanted him to pick her up. It didn't take long for him to unveil what appeared to be a tent. Yes, a camping tent. I thought to myself that we really don't need a tent. We don't go camping (OK maybe one day we will). But the girls were excited at this thing that was now being taken out of it's package and assembled in our family room. Their eyes were big and they were eager to see what it looked like. It was put together rather quickly and sure enough once the door was unzipped, they went right in. So seeing as though they would be well entertained, I took off for the grocery store. (It's nice to be able to go shopping alone once in awhile.) I thought by the time I got home that they would be ready for bed. Sure enough they were ready for bed, and the tent had been taken down. As I put away the groceries I asked my husband if the girls were already in bed. His answer now that I think of it should have tipped me off that something was up. He said, "Well, sort of." I then heard Cocoa talking upstairs. I finished putting away the groceries and went upstairs to put her back in bed. As I rounded the corner at the top of the stairs the light was on in the master bedroom. I pushed the door back to unveil the TENT. I gave a half a smile and asked what was going on. Sweet Pea said, "We're going to sleep in the tent mommy." OK....so I went downstairs to see why. My husband informed me that the girls wanted to sleep in the tent and he didn't think them sleeping downstairs was a good idea. He didn't want them to wake up in the middle of the night and get scared. So he put the tent upstairs. In the master bedroom. I guess he could have put it in the bonus room but that room is off limits to the girls right now (their toys are in there, more on that later). All I can say is that it wasn't easy trying to get them to sleep. They were too excited about this new experience. And it wasn't a good night sleep for me either. We had put blankets down on the bottom of the tent but during the night I just kept hearing the rustling sounds of their legs against the canvas/tarp like material. I also had put a night light in the room so it wouldn't be too dark and well it was too bright for me. I know they enjoyed themselves and they stayed in the tent all night (Cocoa generally goes wandering in the middle of the night). I really needed that cup of coffee the next morning. So much so that I even had a second cup. You know they even took their naps in it the next day. I did take it down last night though. I don't think I could have gone through another night of hearing them toss and turn on that material. Oh what joy it brings to see them have so much fun with something so simple as a tent.

Oh the words they say

Today is a better day. Got started off early with of course a cup of coffee that I was able to make by myself with out the girls screaming, "It's my turn" with regards to who puts the coffee in the filter and who presses the button. The girls were still asleep. I actually got to watch part of the news this morning with no interruptions from the monkeys climbing all over me. I sometimes feel out of touch with the world seeing as though I pretty much just stay at home with the girls and most of my daily conversations include the phrase, "Let's go potty". Yet that's what being a mom of two little ones is like. You discuss everything it is that you're doing or going to do. Sure enough this makes for quite a conversation with two year old Cocoa. Almost everything you say she'll try and repeat back at you except that she'll be missing a word or two or four. She'll try and sing a song and will normally just shout out the last word in the verse. It is rather cute though. She's moving around to the beat and bopping her head in time to the music and you hear, ".....Manatee.......for me......up above....love." Since I'm around her more it's easier for me to understand what she's saying or trying to say. It's as though I'm a translator specializing in the secret language of a two year old. She'll sometimes be on the phone with her daddy and all I hear is her end of the conversation. Once I get back on the phone I do my best to clear up any confusion for my husband. On the other end of the spectrum is Sweet Pea who has volumes of words stored up in her vocabulary. She just needs to start understanding the definition of some of those words. Case in point, she likes to use the word "frustrated". She'll crinkle her nose and say she's frustrated when she can't have the big fork and has to use the kid size fork. I then remind her that it has the princesses on it and then she seems to be OK with it. The word frustrated just seems strange coming out of the mouth of a four year old. I remember when she was about two and a half and we were in the Starbucks drive-thru, I ordered my drink and pulled up to the window. From the back seat I heard her voice say, "Benti Pepper Mocha". She was clearly trying to repeat my drink order of a venti peppermint mocha. I had to turn around and smile. I even smile about it now.

All quiet on the western front

It's nap time. Ah, nap time. Some days I just live for nap time. As I mentioned I have a four year old and a two year old. The older one I call "Sweet Pea" and the younger one is "Cocoa". Of course it's not their real names. I don't know how comfortable I am yet with letting the world know their real names. These are nicknames that I do call them though. Sweet Pea is full of energy like most kids. I really should just let her run around the backyard at times just to get it all out of her system. Cocoa is at that age that she wants to do everything her big sister does and everything her mommy does too.
Which brings me to my morning cup of coffee. I left the kitchen for a short time to go upstairs and mentioned to Sweet Pea to come upstairs once "Super Why" was over. OK was an easy answer but a difficult task for them to do. I came back downstairs to find Cocoa on the counter and Sweet Pea on a chair by the coffee maker. The milk jug was on the counter with a cup full of milk beside it. Coffee grounds were overflowing from the filter and the bag of coffee and scoop were in Cocoa's hands. So it was my fault for leaving the room and my fault for allowing them to help me from time to time make coffee. This was the second time Cocoa has done this. "Mommy's coffee" is what she says to me with those big cocoa colored eyes of hers (Now you know why I call her cocoa). Oh the silly little things they do. For now all is quiet on the western front for at least an hour and a half.

The inaugural blog

I guess I should say that I am Cafe Mere. I know I forgot all the little accents and what not that go over the letters. So what. Yes, Cafe Mere is French for coffee mom. Why Cafe Mere you say? Because I LIKE coffee and I'm a mom. And anyway who doesn't like coffee. (OK my husband doesn't really drink coffee but that's OK.) I am a stay at home mom of two beautiful little girls ages four and two. They are currently getting into the cupboards for breakfast (that would be my cue). My oldest just said, "Mommy I think your coffee's done." Smart kid. I guess my coffee is calling me. More on me later.