Dude, Where'd Our Sweet Girls Go?

You may have thought Piper and Lucille just turned Six and Five, but they fooled you!
They're really Sixteen and Fifteen!!!
Overnight they have developed Wicked Eye Rolling and AT-TI-TUDE!

Example~
Me "Piper honey, please don't walk in the mud".
Piper "I Don't Care". Then tramps right through the muck!
Me "Don't give me back talk".
Piper - Wicked Eye Roll
Me "Don't you roll your eyes at me".
Piper "I Didn't - Gosh!"

Trent "Lucy, please put your shoes on".
Lucy "Dude!" Then as she puts on her shoes, she gives Trent 'The Look', like "Da Dumb Ass".

So now Trent and I are all "Dude, are going to put the next load of laundry in the washer"?
"Well, Da"
"What Ever"
"I Don't Care"

Lucille's 5th Birthday

Dear Lucille,
You have had such a beautiful year.
You have had so much fun in your preschool class with all of your friends and you have learned so much from Ms. Jess. Your favorite things in school are playing in Home Living with dolls and dress up clothes, Arts & Crafts, and Phonics Group Time.
You are so lucky to have so many girl friends in our neighborhood your age! You, Piper and all the girls have a blast bopping from house to house playing School, House and Wedding, building forts, and having sleepovers.
Your favorite color is still purple, and you still sleep with Blankie and Sheepie every night.
Your new favorite food is pickles and cream cheese!
You are the Wii Bowling Champion in our family, well besides Uncle Lance!
You are Spunky, and have the cutest Booty Dance in the world!
You are gentle, helpful, and you love to snuggle - you promised me that even when you are a grandma you will still watch movies and snuggle with me...you promised!

Happy Fifth Birthday Princess!

Love,
Mama

birthday party pics coming

Potty Conversations

Lucille "Mom. Why does poop come out before the pee?".
Mom "That's a great question. I'm not really sure.".
Lucille "I think it's just the way the good Lord intended me to be."

Piper Susanne is 6 years old...

Wow Piper - you are 6 YEARS OLD!

What happened to my little baby that slept in my arms and played peek-a-boo?
My little toddler that said Bungdy for Bunny, Shooey for Lucy, and Hoga Me for Hold Me.
My little Preschooler that couldn't get enough Fraggle Rock, Dora, Blues Clues and Wiggles. Who wanted me to read Good Night Moon over and over again.

In the last year you have learned to blow bubble gum bubbles, read, ride a bike without training wheels and how to tie your laces. You graduated Preschool and became Kindergartner. You have a brilliant sense of humor and tender heart.

A few of your favorite things are:
Reading Hog and Dog, the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, and Cat Traps
Watching The Little Mermaid, Arthur, Martha Speaks, iCarly, and of course Sponge Bob.
Playing with your sister and neighborhood friends Elli, Natalie, Camie, and Brooke.
Coloring and creating beautiful artwork.

I just love watching you grow and learn new things. Every morning when I wake you with kisses and snuggles and wonder "what's she going surprise me with today?".

Happy Birthday Princess...and remember my favorite thing in the whole wide world is being your mommy.
Love,
Mama

You knew the question was coming...

Five minutes before we arrive at school this morning, I hear from the back seat "Mom, how do babies really get out of your tummy?".
Um...ah...well honey...the doctor takes it out.
"Yea I know that but there isn't a hole in your tummy, so how does the doctor really take the baby out?".
Oh yea...I have a feeling I'm going to get a talking to by their teachers after school today...

A Sister's Love

Growing up, my younger sister, little brother and I used to fight all the time. I'm not just talking the typical "mom she looked at me" or "dad he's sitting in my spot and I was there first". Oh no. It was more like calling my mom at work fifty times after school to report things like "mom she just bit me and a whole chunk of flesh is missing" or "mom she threw a fork at me from the kitchen and it's stuck in my knee". I remember one time when my little brother was about seven and I was thirteen, we were fighting over the Nintendo and I punched him - hard. He turned around and sucker punched me right in the gut - SUPER hard. I think that was the last time my brother and I physically fought because I realized that even though I was older, he was much stronger.
When we grew up a little and the punching, scratching and fork throwing days were behind us, we had screaming and door slamming fights instead. Nothing pissed me off more than the two of them borrowing my stuff and ruining it and then feeding me a line of bull that they didn't know what happened - they didn't even touch it. I'm still bent out of shape about the one time my sister recorded herself singing How Will I Know by Whitney Houston over my mixed tape of songs I recorded from the radio. Do you know how long it took to record all those songs by holding a tape recorder up next to a radio and praying you get the whole song recorded before your tape runs out or before the DJ starts talking?!?!?! Anyway, I have forgiven them and I am happy to say we are very close. They are my very best friends and I love them both very very much!

I tell you all this because having daughters thirteen months apart I thought "oh they're going to be best friends forever and never ever fight". Yea Right!
Oh they started out all sweet, gentle and loving. And then they turned four and five! Now it's "she's touching me" and "I had it first". It's also evolved to tattling, pinching, hair pulling, kicking, screaming and yes - door slamming (I wonder where they get that one from?). It starts from the time they wake up and race to see you can get dressed , get to the living room, get the best seat, and watch Sponge Bob first.

All the while there are melt downs, tears, and shouting "that's not fare". Once I gain control of my self, I calmly explain to the girls that we need to work together to get out of the house on time :-)
The fighting continues in the van because one got in before the other or one is touching the other's seat, on and on and on.

However, this morning I busted them! Piper gently woke up Lucille, gave her kisses and rubbed her arm. They helped each other get ready and giggled all the way to school. Beautiful and loving moments like this get me right in the gooch!

Gin Nap Sticks

The little ladies have started Gymnastics classes (or as Lucille calls it "Ginnapsticks").
They absolutely LOVE it and they are actually REALLY good at it.
The other night some of the moms were commenting on the girls and one of them asked "who's their mom?".
I smiled at them.
They said "they are really good at this - really good".
I said "they have lots of practice jumping on the furniture, balancing in the arms of chairs, and doing cartwheels in the living room trying not to crash into the stereo".
Practice makes perfect - right?

Princess Stories V

Hey - who loves Cheez-Its?
Piper: I do!
Lucy: I do!
Dad: I do!
Mom: I do! When I was a very little girl I remember eating Cheez-Its with my grandpa Christianson. My grandpa always had Cheez-Its at his house.
Piper & Lucy: Who's grandpa Christianson?
Mom: He is grandma Deb's dad and he is in Heaven.
Lucy: With grandma Bea, grandpa Claude, grandpa Stern, and grandpa Rick?
Mom: Yep. And grandma Evelyn and grandma Jeanne.
Lucy: What does Heaven look like?
Piper: Heaven is a big big big big big big big field, and it has mountains and some shrubs, and there is a HUGE chair in the middle of the field for God to sit in, and he lays sleeping bags all over the field for the dead people, and he planted trees next to the sleeping bags to give them shade.

Princess Stories V

The girls had their yearly check ups, and here are their stats...

Piper
44" tall = 97% for her age group
39lbs = 45% for her age group

Lucy
39" tall = 55% for her age group
32lbs = 24% for her age group

The little ladies also had shots at this visit - ouch!
They were SO brave.
Piper insisted on sitting with the nurse by herself. When the shots were done and the nurse left the room, she looked up at me with tearful eyes and said "Boy, I sure didn't think those shots were going to hurt that much!".

We went to Dairy Queen for ice cream cones and all was well again!

Princess Stories IV

I have finally started organizing the baby books, photo albums, and journals for the girls and came across the following list of word the girls used to say when they were just little babes~
Piper:
Shooey = Lucy
Bungdee = Bunny
Holg me = Hold Me
Cortcake = Strawberry Shortcake

Lucy:
Pie Pear = Piper
Dibble = Tripper (our cat)
Skabetee = Spaghetti
and a cute little saying "I have too many hands" = My hands are full
____________________________________________________
I also came across this entry in one of their journals~
May 2006 - Target Shopping Trip
Piper 2 years old, Lucille 1 year old
On this particular trip I needed to visit the "feminine" isle.
I thought I was just going to grab what I needed and keep on going, but who would have thought there would be so many new choices!?! As I am looking around oohing and awing, I hear the little girls just giggling away. I rock the cart back and forth and say "you guys are being so good - thank you". Another minute passes and they are now belly laughing and Piper says "Mommy Stickers!". I turned around to find the girls completely covered in Maxi Pads! I started laughing hysterically. Then I looked down the isle and there in the blood pressure chair is a little old man who had witnessed the whole thing laughing his pants off!

Princess Stories III

After reading a story about a Hog, we had a little talk about different names for animals.
Mouse is one, Mice is many.
Kitten is a baby, Cat is a grown up.
A baby pig is a piglet, a girl pig is a sow, a boy pig is a boar.
A baby deer is a fawn, a girl deer is a doe, a boy deer is buck.

Lucille, looked right at me and firmly said "and you, me and Piper are womanz!".
_____________________________________________________

Driving along the other day, Piper was in the back seat explaining to Lucy:
"Grandmas are Grandmothers, Grandpas are Grandfathers, Moms are Mothers, Dads are Princes".

...Trent was grinning from ear to ear!

Princess Stories II

Piper is learning to read and write! On Thanksgiving she wrote Happy Tarke Da all by herself. I asked her how she knew those words and she said "I just wrote the letters that make the sounds". Then on Sunday, she was making her Christmas wish list and wrote Krismis - all by herself!. I was telling Trent's mom about this, and she said "well ya know Trent was such a smart little boy, he was so smart. I don't know about you, but if she's anything like Trenter..."! Nice :-)

I woke Lucy up last Monday and said "good morning sweety it's time to wake up time. There are only three days of school this week". She mumbled with her face still in the pillow "then it's Turkey Day?" I said yep. Then she mumbled "then Santa comes?". I said "well we will decorate the Christmas tree and get ready for Santa". She mumbled "then it's Easter?". I giggled and said "yes honey". She rolled over and put her hand to her head and said "Oh, there's so much to do"!

Princess Stories I

Piper - 4 1/2 years old.

Favorite colors are pink, rainbow and sparkle.
Favorite foods - strawberries and cream oatmeal, chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, broccoli & fruit.
Least favorite food - nuts.
Interests - Drawing, coloring, writing words and learning how to read, singing, playing dress-up, watching princess movies, playing with Lucy and friends.

Piper has a "thing" about the seams in her socks. They must be aligned just so, and then carefully eased into her shoes making sure not to disturb the perfect line across her toes. This morning, after several attempts to get her socks to cooperate, she came to me in tears and said "I've lost my magic. I've looked and looked and looked and I can't find it anywhere! And now my heart hurts and when my heart hurts, it hurts God because he lives in my heart". After a big hug, she sat on my lap and we put the socks on together. Then she slowly put her shoes on - looked up at me with a smile - and said "oh my magic was in my shoes"!!!! __________________________________________________

Lucille - 3 1/2 years old

Favorite colors are purple, blue and rainbow.
Favorite foods - waffles, fish sticks, mac & cheese, nuts, green beans, & fruit.
Least favorite foods - anything mint.
Interests - Coloring, writing the alphabet and learning how to write words, dancing, playing school and mommy with her dolls, helping mom & dad with cooking and cleaning, playing with Piper and friends.

A couple weeks ago Lucy asked me to teach her how to snap her fingers. I showed her which fingers to use, she watched me do it slowly, and we practiced the motion a couple times. I told her "practice make progress" and sent her on her merry way. 2 days later she runs up to me and says listen...and snaps an actual for-real snap! We high fived a bunch of times and then she said "maybe I should be the big sister now because Piper doesn't know how to snap"!