Let it snow. Let is snow. Let it snow.

A wise person once said, "Cleaning with children is like shoveling in a snow storm."

In that case let me just say, "Organizing with young children is like shoveling in white-out blizzard conditions!"

And to all the people we told (while pregnant with Charlotte) that our daughter would not wear pink...go ahead and have a good laugh at our expense! We deserve a big ole' "I told you so!"  Because clearly we are saturated in pink:)

Wild and crazy times. {Or not...}

This morning the girls and I did this...

Then this...

And lastly I pushed both of them in the basket...

And man. That was a workout! {I may have just discovered my winter exercise regime.} 

Then I sent them to their room with a full sheet of stickers with instructions to use them all up...on themselves! {It was a sheet of old scrapbooking stickers I was planning on tossing.} Because what I wanted was to snack by myself. Selfish I know. 

And it worked like a charm! I got to eat this...

in complete peace and quiet! And it was delicious. I was going to call it an early lunch but I decided I hadn't really eaten breakfast yet. Half a strawberry tossed on the floor by the baby and a few bites of leftover soggy toddler cereal does NOT count as a meal in my book. {Being a mom sure is glamorous!} So alas I called it breakfast. Tortilla chips & cheese, refried beans and a pepsi. Breakfast of champions!

Because quite frankly I wanted to be able to partake in our lunch too!

Toddler cooking is the best! Well and the worst too. But mostly the best:)

Oh and the stickers? A HUGE hit! See?

Hannah may have eaten one or two but no biggie! Nothing like the time Baby Isaiah ate my entire grocery list. I know for a fact he ate the entire thing...it came out whole:) Take a minute to let that one sink in. 

Happy weekend one and all! I may just go wild and change over my kids' wardrobes from 'summer' to 'winter'. T-shirts and shorts in 60 degrees do seem a little cruel. Here's to hoping my husband will be home a bit so that this job can be done {somewhat} efficiently without the "help" of the kids! Oh the excitement. 

Update: I posted too soon. Hubby is on trauma call this evening and has board review lectures to attend Saturday and Sunday. Yep definitely will be wild and crazy around here! Guaranteed. Cruel and unusual punishments might live on a little longer. We shall see. 

Blogger-in-Training

Yesterday was icecream day at Isaiah's school. How do I know? Joe texted me at noon to inform me (because he had received a notice informing him of such from the PTO's app). What exactly that meant I did not know. Where was the icecream? Was it for sale or were they giving it away? Was it during school or after school? What kind of icecream? Was I supposed to do something to sign Isaiah up for icecream? I did not know. And neither did Joe. 

It was then that we decided we really suck at this whole parents of a kid in school gig. Which we promptly realized was quite ironic considering we are pretty good at being students ourselves. We have essentially been students...oh let's see for....forever! We started dating in high school. Then we went to college together. Getting married after our sophomore year. {Yes we were just kids!} We managed to complete 4 years of college with 3 degrees between us. Then I completed 2 years of graduate school. During which time Joe went back to college to complete all the science pre-requisites for medical school. {He originally was a finance major.} And currently he is in his third year of medical school. So yeah, we are good at the student thing. {That and having babies. They are kind of like school souvenirs for us...we have one from each state we attended school in...NOT including high school:) }

But parents of a student? Apparently that is too difficult for us! Don't believe me? Earlier this year, I *thought* I had Isaiah all signed up for school lunches so I sent him to school empty handed. He wasn't signed up:(  My poor boy would have gone hungry if his sweet teacher hadn't noticed and scrounged up some food for him. And it took a few phone calls and several e-mails for me to finally figure out how to actually get him signed up for lunches! The second library day of this school year guess who forgot to return the book? This mom (well and Isaiah of course, but he is only 6)! Oh and last week when Isaiah had a SCHEDULED day off from school...yeah I didn't know about it until THAT day...when Isaiah informed me that it was a "stay at home" day! Clearly rocking this school thing. 

I shouldn't be so surprised that I am so bad at this. Last year, I read the email from Isaiah's kindergarten teacher requesting I send in a birthday treat and Isaiah's favorite book to be read to the class the day AFTER his special day! {In my defense, he has a summer birthday and she had arbitrarily chosen his day.}

Not only was yesterday icecream day but it was also a classmate's birthday. His parents sent "treats". Notebooks and cool pencil packs for everyone! Isaiah promptly decided to make his a journal. So he can write down everything he did every day. Totally his idea. I promise. Here is his first entry:

Oh and icecream day? Isaiah informed me that it is for sale for $2 immediately following lunch. He enthusiastically told me the icecream treat options are: Sponge Bob, sour kids, 3 colored Popsicle or a chocolate bar. He of course did not have $2. But he said that was ok because he just liked looking at them. And when he looked at them he could imagine how they tasted. And clearly (from his journaling) he liked icecream day! Oh the sweet innocence of a six year old. How can I keep him this way forever? Completely oblivious to the fact that his parents are clueless and if we just had our act together he could bring $2 to school and actually taste the icecream!

The new class? Well that is his 'Mixed Media' art class he is taking through the rec department. We figured it was only fair since Charlotte is in dance:)

Last night the last words out of Isaiah's mouth were, "I can't wait for tomorrow so I can write all about it in my journal!"

I know the feeling buddy:) In fact this morning he started today's journal entry before school. However he only got as far as the date. Clearly nothing note worthy had happened yet. I have entire days like that...and yet I manage to ramble on and on and on. The Archives are filled with those days. 

5 Favorites.

Five of my favorite things at this moment. 

Ready. Set. Go....

1. These things. 

They are flushable diaper liners (for cloth diapers). And while "NO MESS" might be a slight exaggeration, they really are AMAZING. They have revolutionized the whole cloth diapering experience for me. In a good way. Oh and one smart momma informed me that if they don't get messy (ahem...poop filled) then they can be washed with the diapers and reused. I tried it. It works. And you better believe my frugal-loving heart did an extra happy beat with that discovery. 

2. This weather. Isaiah's school was cancelled today due to the heat. So the kids and I spent much of the day playing in the kiddie pool and pretended it was still summer. It was such a good day I got a little wild and had TWO sodas....Pepsi of course:)

[Sorry no poolside photos. I was sans digital devices. Diapers drying in the sun will have to suffice.]

3. Free family events. 

This was at our town's "Touch-a-Truck" event last weekend. We live in a pretty HCOL area and it is rare to find free entertainment. This one was a rare gem. Charlotte LOVED it as she has been insisting she is going to be a firefighter when she grows up. I keep trying to convince her to become a mommy instead...to no avail! It was all fun and games until someone hit her nap time wall...

4. I have been eating far too much of this...

As a non-chocolate eater I find it challenging to find a really good ice cream flavor. This one is a winner. Finding the right ice cream flavor and challenging in the same sentence?!? Yes clearly my life is a cake walk. Pun intended. 

Finally. 5. Is there anything funnier and sweeter than watching a baby fall asleep while eating? I think not. Here's the proof. 

Dance mom

Saturday morning was Charlotte's first dance class. For days...actually weeks...beforehand she would ask daily...sometimes hourly...if it was "dance day"? Friday night she was SO excited she couldn't fall asleep until she and I had thoroughly discussed all aspects of her dance class. Her leotard. Her tights. Her ballet slippers. Her fellow dance mates. Her teacher. The music. Her three year old mind was running wild with anticipation and excitement. 

Not surprisingly she woke early Saturday morning. It was finally dance day! Charlotte excitedly dressed in the required ALL pink dance attire. Including the leotard and ballet slippers I had searched long and hard for. We even managed to pull her baby fine hair into a "bun" as was the required hair style of all dancers. 

And we were off! We arrived at the Park District building a few minutes early...for pictures of course:)

Seriously the cuteness is too much!

Class was to start at 9:10. We were slightly confused as to why we were the only ones in the dance studio. But we had fun playing around by ourselves. By 9:15 we were concerned. We trudged our troops to the front desk to discover that Charlotte's dance class had been cancelled. For the entire semester. Surely we had been contacted the front desk person insisted. Um no. I would have remembered that! She was appropriately apologetic. 

But an apology just wasn't going to cut it for me. Because my 'mama bear' had come out in full force. My little girl wanted to learn to dance. I had promised her a dance class. There needed to be dance class. Sorry wasn't good enough. I needed a solution that involved Charlotte dancing (and NOT in our living room). Because I certainly didn't want to break her little heart!

Thankfully the dance instructor entered the scene at this moment.  Miss Kim. She saw my distress and offered to help. She would allow Charlotte to join the 4 & 5 year old pre-ballet class that had not been cancelled. This class began at 9:55. This I could live with. Miss Kim said that if Charlotte did well she could continue for the semester. 

Charlotte may have been a foot shorter and a year younger than all the other girls but she couldn't have cared less. She loved it! She smiled the entire time! She was so enthralled with Miss Kim and the music. She stood there practically in a trance from all the excitement. 

And she passed the test! She held her own with the big girls and Miss Kim said she can continue in the class. This dance mom couldn't be prouder of her big little ballerina.