Happy Birthday, Bella!

Bella Dancerella Kitty is now 2 years old.  We sure love our kitty!  I never wanted a cat until my girls started praying for one.  Now, I can't imagine life without Bella.  She is so good with the kids.  Rachel and Erin Joy constantly play with her.  Their favorite game is putting her in the doll stroller and playing house.  Our sweet cat will generally just sit in the stroller and has even on occasion fallen asleep in the stroller.  She will escape under the bed when she is tired of playing, but I am amazed at what she puts up with from the girls.

She wasn't very excited about her new remote controlled mouse that we got her for her birthday, but the girls sure love it.  We didn't light the candles in her special birthday treat because I was afraid she would burn her whiskers or Erin Joy would burn her hair or something.

Please ignore the very messy kitchen, leftover dinner on the table, and leftover dinner all over Erin Joy's shirt.  That's how it is....

Happy Birthday, Bella!  We love you!!

Love the Song

Just a Bit Dirty

The result of falling off a tire swing, crying, and rubbing eyes with dirty hands looks something like this:

Picnic

I was invited to my first picnic of the season!

Here is my invitation (it says, "please come to my picnic" in case you can't read it...)

It was a glorious picnic.  Complete with apples, bread, and fake food on towels...

I was invited by this sweet princess:

Bones, Fairies, and Santa

A recent conversation with Rachel went something like this:

"Mom, I know that you are really the Tooth Fairy."

"Why do you think so?"

"You told me that the reason I can't fly is because my bones aren't hollow like a bird. That means that fairies really can't fly either because their bones aren't hollow. That means fairies aren't real. A fairy really can't bring me money. I know you did it."

I confessed. I then told her it was fun to pretend and can we keep pretending. She told me we could keep pretending. Sheesh...she is growing way too fast and is getting way too smart. She then jumped in to Santa Claus.

"I know Santa Claus is real though because we don't have a chimney and he still can get in with a magic key. Besides, you can't be Santa Claus because he always brings lots of toys and you don't have enough money."

I laughed. She is right. Santa does bring too many toys...more than her mother can afford. He must be real.

She continued, "The elves aren't real though. I know that Santa doesn't really have elves that make all the toys. I know he really buys them at the store."

Glad she has it all figured out...

Memories...

I was watching old video with my kids last night and really enjoyed this clip.  Cute little 3 1/2-year old Rachel being the teacher is pretty cute.  I love when she tries to catch her sister jumping from the coffee table. Sweet little Erin Joy learning animals sounds is pretty cute too.  I remember Erin Joy struggling to learn to talk.  She was three years old before she began to say a few words.  In this clip, she is learning animals sounds.  I remember her shaved-head-orphanage hair cut.  I was so glad when her hair grew long enough so people stopped calling her a boy.

Erin Joy has made so much progress.  She no longer qualifies for special education.  She still qualifies for speech, but that is it.   She scored in the average range on her kindergarten readiness assessment.  Wow!!!  She is doing so well!

Anyway, enjoy a short video of my sweet girls:

Yard Update

I think it will take a year before my house looks presentable again, but is certainly looking MUCH better than it did in January with mud, trees, water, and other debris piled next to it.

I pressure washed the side of my house a few weeks ago.  I couldn't believe all the dirt and rocks UNDER the siding.  It really was a mess.  There was a hole about 2 inches in diameter in the paneling under the siding.  

A friend came over and put new siding on.  It looks so much better.  He also climbed on the roof (I hate heights) and fixed the gutter.  He looked for damage on the roof, but thankfully the roof is intact.  I'm grateful for good friends.

Rachel helped me paint.  We took a piece of siding to Home Depot and they used a computer to match the original color.  It doesn't look exactly the same now, but hopefully when it dries it will match the original color.  I really don't want to paint the entire house.

Finished!

While Rachel and I painted, Erin Joy and her neighborhood friends decorated the driveway.  I love the rainbow with the dandelions on top and the great autograph.

I have planted grass.  I know the grass won't take care of the pond that forms every time it rains, but it will help.  The birds flock to the standing water and have enjoyed eating the grass seed.  They lost their bird feeder in the landslide so I suppose they can eat my grass seed.

I hope the drainage system and stabilizing the slope doesn't take forever.  I can't even begin to express how terrible I feel suing my neighbors, but there really isn't anything else I can do.  The attorney bills are no fun either....

I used to really look forward to spring in my yard because the bank was covered with wild bleeding hearts.  There are now scattered patches growing in the mud and debris.  Grow little flowers grow!!!

FINALLY!!!

I thought she would be stuck looking like Larry the Cucumber forever, but her remaining top tooth FINALLY fell out.  I never realized how long it takes for a tooth to fall out.  Actually, her bottom teeth didn't take that long.  I really thought her top two teeth would be gone in time for Christmas so we could sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."  Now that it is April, we can finally sing that song.  Her permanent teeth are coming in very quickly so I had to get a picture fast.

Rachel is very disappointed that the Tooth Fairy only brings her a dollar.  I think it is plenty.  I only got a dime.  Besides, the Tooth Fairy always brings her a silver dollar.  The Tooth Fairy also leaves the tooth so she can either bury it in the ground or throw it on the roof.  Supposedly, this is the custom in China.

My Favorite Flower

I love when my children bring me dandelions because I can usually sneak in a hug and a kiss.  They think they are my favorite flower.  I suppose they must be.   Anything coming from my girls is my favorite.  (I prefer them picking the dandelions to my daffodils....)

That's actually a nice picture...it makes them look like a beautiful flower instead of an ugly weed.

Erin Joy and her neighbor friends picked a basketful.  I convinced them to take them to the neighbor's house.

Children's Museum Fun

This picture didn't make it into the smilebox show....Rachel LOVES hot and sour soup...we often treat ourselves to a big bowl of hot and sour soup after dance class.  

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Beethoven Roll Over

Rachel has enjoyed learning about Beethoven in music class.  She talks about him all the time and she really wants to learn to play Fur Elise on the piano, but was happy to see "Ode to Joy" in her piano book and learned that song instead.  I enjoy playing duets with her, but it is hard to video tape and play the piano at the same time.  

Please enjoy our attempt of "Ode to Joy".  Please ignore our very out-of-tune piano.  I really need to get it tuned one of these days.  Listen to the very end when I ask her who her favorite person is.  I expected her to say "Beethoven, but no...her favorite person is really the cat!  Figures..."

I Didn't Mean To...

I heard a big crash and discovered this on the floor:

And a child sobbing in her bed:
The naked light is all that remains.  I am NOT replacing the light fixture.  This is the second one that has been broken by a child's head.  Rachel broke the first one.  I'm just glad nobody was hurt either time.  Rachel was jumping off the bed when she hit it with her head the first time.  Erin Joy just hit it with her head when she climbed up the ladder (so she claims...I didn't see it happen).  I guess the bed is too close to the light.

Lord's Prayer

Erin Joy has learned this verse for her preschool.  Listen to her great speech...especially that great /th/ sound that we have been working on.   Nice job, Erin Joy!!! 

Easter Movie

Here is a little movie containing a lot of pictures that I have already posted.  Watch it quickly before YouTube removes it because I probably used copyrighted music and they keep deleting my movies that I set to music.

Our Easter

I had the girls stand in front of the neighbor's yard for pictures in their Easter dresses because our neighbor has nice cherry trees and our yard is still very ugly with landslide mess and makes for a horrible background.

Church was incredibly wonderful today.  I love Easter and I love all that it represents.  I am so grateful for a Savior who died and was resurrected for us.  I hope my girls grow to learn how important He is in their lives.

Easter basket (Saturday morning because we like to save Sunday to focus on the Savior):

Rachel got her favorite snack, White Cheetos, Erin Joy got her favorite snack, marshmallows shaped like bunnies, and each girl got a stuffed animal and a silly Dollar Store bunny game.  No chocolate bunnies and other candy because I will eat more of it than they will....

Easter egg hunt at our cousins' house:

Roasting hot dogs at our cousins' house:

Roasting Erin Joy's bunny-shaped marshmallows:

Yummy!

Easter morning breakfast....blue-banana-bunny pancakes decorated with raisins, apples, and strawberries served on "special plates" (plates that I made as a child...)

Happy Easter!

Single Parent's Prayer

A Single Parent's Prayer  Lord, grant me Time enough to do all the chores, join in the games, help with the lessons, and say the night prayers, and still have a few moments left over for me. Energy enough to be bread-baker and breadwinner, knee-patcher and peacemaker, ballplayer and bill juggler. Hands enough to wipe away the tears, to reach out when I'm needed, to hug and to hold, to tickle and touch. Heart enough to share and to care, to listen and to understand, and to make a loving home for my family. Author Unknown

72 pictures

I really have 72 pictures hanging on my walls in my teeny-tiny house.  Most of the pictures are of my girls.  They are just too cute!  I just have to have a lot of pictures of them.  

(That was the answer to the poll question by the way...)

Nurse Rachel

After Erin Joy's band-aid fell off and her mother denied her another band-aid, Rachel helped by bandaging poor Erin Joy's teeny-tiny cut. Who needs band-aids when napkins and tape are available?

Easter Eggs

We went from snow last Friday to warm, sunny, spring-like weather since Saturday. In fact, I think we skipped spring and went straight to summer. I'd like to imagine that summer is here, but there is rain in the forecast and the skies are already starting to cloud over. I figured we had better hurry and hide Easter Eggs before the rain came.

We dyed eggs, hands, clothes, the table, and the carpet tonight. We then had a great time taking turns hiding the eggs. This is the first year that both girls have understood what to do. It was a lot of fun.

Dying Everything:

Ready to hunt for eggs:

The eggs were just a little cracked after being hid so many times.

Love these girls!!!

15 Animals

Rachel went to a princess party today. She and a few friends enjoyed singing songs from a book that their music teacher has used in school. Here is my favorite song:

Spring Break Part Four

We used passes left from my brother and his family's "city pass" book and went to the Experience Music Project/Science Fiction Museum.  I have heard that the museum is not geared toward young children.  Yep...that's true.  My brother, Bill, would have loved it.  It was too loud for my girls.  They were scared of the science fiction section.  It was a quick tour.  They did enjoy our jam session in the recording studio.  I opted to not pay the $9.95 for a CD recording and just video taped my girls' version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  

We then went to the children's museum.  The girls had so much fun at the children's museum that they forgot all about being scared at the EMP/SFM.

Rachel wore a pajama top all day.  She is so excited about the pajamas her cousins gave her.  I didn't argue with her.  Some things are just not worth arguing about.

This is a purse that Rachel made for me.  This purse is better than her first attempt because it actually opens.  I took it with us on our adventures of the day.  I was surprised the stitching held, but it worked great.  I'm sure everybody we saw was jealous of my great new purse.

I think the EMP is the ugliest building I have ever seen.  

Jam Session: