Amelia is 6!

Our sweet Amelia is 6! Her birthday is always at a busy juncture and this year was no exception. I took the girls to a baby shower in Minnesota by myself for a very short weekend trip. We returned Sunday and launched ourselves into a very busy Monday during a busy week before a long Easter weekend.

We picked up the kids after school so we would have time for dinner between school and a soccer game Scheduled for the evening.

Amelia has been talking for weeks about her birthday selection for dinner. She got to choose our dinner destination. She finally went with a local pizza place.

The soccer game was outstanding- quite possibly the best Amelia has ever played. We came back home for singing and cake and baths. Soccer makes for messy kids!

Amelia finally selected chocolate cake with chocolate frosting as her choice. Each decision is almost painful as she deliberates so seriously and slowly. Luckily, John was able to complete the cake while I was driving back home with the girls in tow.

Amelia's teacher made her an adorable birthday crown, which she wore proudly all day. She chose to take powdered sugar doughnuts and juice for her class.

Amelia is surely a very special girl! We are so happy to have her in our family. We are very proud of the young woman she is becoming!

Conversations

Zelda on riding a horse:

I like it. I want him to come and scratch my ears now.

Grandma: you want the horse to scratch your ears?
Zelda: yes. I want him to scratch my ears.



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We are at a restaurant for dinner. Mama, Gemma, and Amelia are eating with grandma and grandpa.

Gemma: I have to go potty!
(Flurry of activity as we scramble to run her to the bathroom. The moment we have it organized, she laughs and declines to go to the bathroom. Grandma decides this is a good time to go the bathroom herself. )

As grandma walks away from the table, Gemma says to grandpa:
"There goes your owner"


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After dinner, we stopped by the Home Depot to pick up one item. As we left, Gemma bent down to pick up a rock on the ground.

Mama; Gemma! Leave the rock.
Gemma: I yike dis rock. I yike it.
Mama: let's leave it here.
Gemma: no. I put it in my pocket. I keep it safe in my pocket.

We buckle her into the car and I forgot about the rock. As we are driving away, we hear:

Ack. Pft. Pft. Rock is yucky.

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Sent from my iPhone

What super power would you want?

Abraham Lincoln

Go tell your friends!

George Washington

It's your lucky day folks!

Gemma sings abcs

She is so cute, I could just eat her up.

Gemma talks

Gemma talks.  Gemma talks a lot all of a sudden.  In the last month, we have had a vocabulary explosion.  She is talking all. the. time.  It has been wonderful because now I know what is going on inside her head.  It also means that I know everything that is going through her little head minute by minute.  Although we've been through this three times before, I had forgotten just how intense this phase can be.  I owuld consider myself an extrovert and I enjoy being around people.  These days, when John comes home, I find myself begging off for a few moments of quiet.  Just a few moments of quiet with my own thoughts.

This increase in talking has lead to some pretty hilarious conversations:


1.  Gemma: Mama!  I will go to the soccer game!
Mama: Yes, we just have to find a parking spot (there might not be anything more stressful than finding a parking spot at the soccer park in time for a 10 o'clock game.  This Saturday we drove around for close to 20 minutes before we found an open spot.)
Gemma: There is a spot!
Mama: We can't use this spot.
Gemma: Why?
Mama: This is for people who need a wheelchair.  THis is not a spot for us.
Gemma: We find a spot.  The we watch soccer for Num-na.
Mama: Yes.  We just need to find a spot.
Gemma: I will find a spot.
Mama: Okay.  You can help me.
Gemma:  There is one over there!  Over there!  I can smell it!




2. Gemma: I will have a cookie snack at that store!
Mama: I don't know if they will have cookies today.  We will go and see.
Gemma: I will have a cookie at that store!  I a big girl!
Mama: You ARE a big girl!  We will look and see if there are cookies.

----at the store----thankfully there are cookies-----

Mama: They do have cookies!  Do you want one?  Are you big enough to eat this big cookie??
Gemma: I am big enough!  I am big enough!  I have big teeth in my mouth and I will chomp it all up!  The big teeth in my mouth are perfect for eating that cookie up!


3.   We were eating dinner.  It was noisy.  All three kids are talking at one time.  William got frustrated first. 

William: Gemma!  Amelia!  It is my turn to talk!
Mom: We should take turns, shouldn't we?  Why don't we let Amelia finish and then it can be William's turn.
(Some discussion about this arrangement.  Amelia completes her story about her day at school. William starts to talk.  Gemma starts talking.  William gets upset.)
William: Gemma!  Gemma!  It is MY TURN!  You need to stop and be quiet!
Gemma: You not the boss of me.  You not the boss of me William.  I a big girl!  I a big girl!  I have have big mouth and I talk!  You not the boss of me!



4.  Backstory: William and Amelia love to play "house" in the curtains.  Somehow over the last month, they have managed to break two curtain rod, pull a curtain rod from the wall and bend a second curtain rod.  This is extremely frustrating as it take a lot of time and effort to replace the drywall and the curtain rod.  We have asked them over and over not to play in these areas, but it is just too tempting to leave them along.  Most recently, Gemma came to the store with me and William and Amelia stayed home to play together.  And pull another curtain rod completely out of the wall.  Not surprisingly, John was not happy when we returned.

Gemma: Daddy!  The curtain is broken!
Daddy: Yes.  Yes.  It is broken.
Gemma: Daddy is sad?
Daddy: Yes.  I am sad and mad about the big mess and the broken curtain.
Gemma: I will help you fix it!!!
Daddy: No.  No, I think Daddy should just fix it.  You should go play somewhere else.
Gemma: I Super Gemma.  I fix it for you Daddy!
Daddy: (still mad) No Gemma, I think Daddy will just fix it.
Gemma: I will get my hammer and special tape.  I need a ladder to fix it right up.  I am Super Gemma!  I will fix it for you Daddy!  Daddy will be so happy!  Don't be mad anymore Daddy!

How could you not smile?

Amelia is wonderful

We were driving together as a family recently and I heard a voice behind me say "peel". I heard Amelia laughing and taking to herself and then her say "peel" yet again.

I finally turned around to investigate and found that Amelia was playing bananagrams by herself in the backseat in a notebook.

She laughed at her words, groaned when another played "peeled" when she wasn't ready and then read me her list of words.

This girl is so full of wonderful surprises- I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

Cooking once a month

I hate meal planning.

I love grocery shopping.

I can easily spend $100+ at the grocery store and still have no idea what is for dinner.

With three kids and a busy schedule in the evening, it just became stressful.

The process through which I arrived at my strategy is not that interesting, but I have spent considerable time collecting recipes that freeze well. I collect the ingredients for 10 recipes at a time and spend a huge amount of time putting the recipes together. It is a lot of work. Every time, I get half way through and want to give up.

It is a huge mess, yet I'm finding it so helpful to have 10+ meals prepped and ready to throw in the oven or crock pot.

Bad bean box

I have a plastic tub filled with a variety of dried beans and it is usually a wonderful thing. I can get it out and Gemma is easily occupied for at least 15-20 minutes which is enough time to have a complete thought and write it down. This day, I wanted to clean the bathroom and deep clean the cabinets. I know how to have a good time, right?

Anyway, we haven't played with the box recently, which usually means it will be extra fun.

This day, it meant that I started cleaning the bathroom and had completely emptied the cabinet when I heard the sound of beans hitting the floor behind me. In fact, there was a wide trail of beans from the original bean box location allllllllllll the way across the room and down the hallway. I usually don't mind a few stray beans here and there- they vacuum up quite easily. However, there wasn't a bean left in the box on this occasion.

Most disappointingly, I still hadn't cleaned the bathroom or the cabinets. On top of that, I now had to vacuum close to half of the house to clean up the mess....

While trying to salvage some of the mess, I discovered that lentils are exactly the shade of our carpet, making them impossible to see.