Our Kids

We had a great weekend.  On Saturday we took the girls to the AZ Museum for Youth and they had a great time.  It was fun for Jason to see what we get ourselves in to on hot days during the week.  On Sunday we went up to the Haslup’s to celebrate a multiple birthday (Jason, Kathie and myself).  It was a fun day.  We topped it off by watching NASCAR, the girls just love it (LOL and JK).

At night from 7 to 7:30 we sit around in their room and sing songs and read books.  We play little games like Row Row Your Boat where we row really fast and then really slow, I’m a Little Teapot, Where is Thumbkin and Patty Cake.  They really love it and it is a good way to spend a quality 30 min before they go to bed.  I was doing something with Piper and then I said, “Kiss me” so she ran up to kiss me and planted a wet one with tongue right on my mouth.  It was quite a surprise.  She has been into licking things instead of kissing lately but I was not prepared to be “frenched.”  Of course she got a super kick out of my reaction and insisted on licking everyone and everything until we tucked her in to bed.  What a little stinker.  Lela got in on the fun by running up to you with her tongue out but she did not actually lick anybody.  Oh I wonder how they get so many germs, LOL!

We went to a new place today, www.way2playcafe.com.  I had been wanting to try it but was a little afraid, the warm, humid weather was just enough to force me in to trying it.  We took Noa, our 7 year old neighbor and headed out early.  When we got there it was empty which was great for the girls.  It is a huge play space with a 25 foot pirate ship, a grocery store, a kitchen, a big play area, a mulch pit, a ball pit and a large playscape with a climbing wall and other fun stuff to do.  The girls had fun exploring and running about, around 9:30 it started to get crowded and by 10:30 it was insane.  It was a great experience for the girls because they were able to get used to more and more kids coming in since it was over a 2 hour period.  If we had walked in with all those kids at 10:30 they would have freaked.  By the time we left they were mixing among the other children, not really playing with them but mixing in with them.  It was a bit much for me with all those kids running about but a good place to add to our list of places to go.

Lela has started calling Piper Pipe.  She calls to her from anywhere in the house in her outside voice, PIPE PIPE PIPE.  It is so funny and pronounced just like a lead pipe.  She also calls to her in the store with come on Pipe, come on.  Since Piper is the slower of the two Lela is often calling her so she can speed up.  Piper doesn’t seem to mind and generally listens.  Lela has also become the conscience of the group, if Piper is doing something she is not supposed to be doing, Lela will come and get me so I can make sure she stops.  At least she does not try to stop her herself and lets me do it.  My little helper, peace keeper, law enforcer Lela.

Well yesterday I took the girls to the zoo plus a neighbor, 7 year old Noa.  Noa is a big help with the girls she loves them and they love to hold her hand and chat with her.  Anyhoo, I did my normal morning workout and then packed them all up and headed to the zoo.  It is monsoon season here so it is overcast and not so hot but humid for AZ.  It was a great morning, we rode the carosel, watched an animal show with snakes, hawks and lizards and then went on the zoo train.  We topped it off with nocones (snowcones without the syrup) and had a great morning.  The only BUT in the equation is that I am 7 months pregnant and it is starting to show literally and physically.  My belly is definitely protruding these days and that zoo trip wiped me out.  I am still recovering today, I don’t like feeling so drained but it never hits me until after I have overdone it.  I want to be really careful because as much as I want to meet this new baby I don’t want to meet her too soon:)

Okay so this is a secret but I will let you all in on it.  I have said before that the girls are starting to play with one another but this time I really mean it.  Yesterday they played together for about 2 hours with very little interaction from me!  I suggested what toys to play with or games to do but other than that they laughed themselves silly, bowled with their balls and pins, painted (with my supervision), read books to each other, played with their zoo animals and more.  It was so heavenly you can’t imagine.  I was hard at work on the mural in the third little monkey’s room (that is what we are calling number 3 these days).  The mural is almost finished and the girls are a riot.  Right now they are playing in their playroom with their kitchen.  They are inseparable and when one goes to the bathroom the other joins along for company.

Shortly after the sunflower photos on flickr, the air went out.  Needless to say it is cause for freaking out around here.  I think that poor Otto got the brunt of it of course since he stayed here while we went to cooler climes at the Haslup’s in Scottsdale.  It was all okay, the girls were a bit out of their element but did really well sleeping and such.  We were able to return home on Monday but had to wait until 2PM for the AC guy to get here.  He had it all fixed by 5:30PM and it got cooler around 8PM.  All in all it wasn’t too terrible and could have been much worse.

I was just thinking how hot it was outside and that we should buy a treadmill for these couple months since I am a bit cranky when I return from my workout in the AM at 6:50 sweating buckets.  But I guess I would rather have AC year round than a treadmill for a couple months.   Just when you think you have stashed away some extra cash something always comes up:)  LOL!  Cycle of life!

The girls have picked up two of my traits.  I would say two of my more annoying traits but who am I kidding, they are all annoying at some point (my traits, not the girls:).  Anyhoo, Piper twirls her hair when she is tired or bored.  She just sits and twirls away, something I got genetically from my dad and have passed along to her.  The other night she was uber tired and went to bed with her hair wet, in the morning she had a huge knot in her hair right at the twirling spot.  It was cute and thankfully not too bad to get out.

Lela is the expressionista!  Along with the sensitive nature she inheirited from her dad (and me) she makes the funniest facial expressions all the time.  You can’t help but laugh out loud even when she is trying to show you how upset she is with you.  She is just a crack up, I can see the teacher’s notes now, “Lela would excel in her schoolwork if she would focus and not try to be the class clown.”

These days when we go to the store the girls are all about walking on their own.  That works because they stay near me and don’t (or haven’t yet) run off or darted into traffic.  Anyhoo, lately while we are checking out Piper will go through the grab n’ go stuff at the register (all candy, gum, mints etc) and bring it to me and say “Piper need this.”  Which is too funny, I don’t know where she got that unless it is from us asking her if she needs anything when we go to the kitchen or if she is frustrated.  Well it is inevitably a candy bar or some other less than stellar item that she has never eaten before and has no idea what it is.  I always say no you don’t need that and then I offer up a healthier alternative I am either already buying or have in my bag.  She doesn’t complain and takes what I have on offer.  Today she told me she needed this and when I looked to see what it was it was a little bag of dried fruits.  Hmmmm……was that coincidence or did she recognize it as something she CAN have.  I vote for coincidence but she did get what she was asking for and it made everyone happy, even me.