Oh Boy. I got a married smooch and I'm gross.

Every now and then, my eldest has a slight flare of emotion.  A zesty outburst, if you will.  I had snapped this photo about a month ago, while she was feeling this need to be zesty.  I was holding it - feeling like she would never do it again and this should not be used against her.  Well, I must show it.  It's amazing how angry she gets.  (those that know her will agree that Macy is a 98% happy kid - usually goes with the flow...but when she doesn't.........)  Yesterday, I dared to tell her she had to share the keyboard with her sister...who, in her defense, had been continually turning the keyboard off and on in a blatent attempt to frustrate and annoy her.  I was on the phone with my mom, Orange Gramma, when all of the sudden, out of the happy and peaceful city we typically reside in, she zested...and she yelled her typical "I don't like you" -- to which I reply, "Well, I still love you and I'm sorry you feel that way." --She then screamed, convulsed a few times, sat, stood, stomped and then came at me with the FUNNIEST insult, yet.  "And you're GROSS!".  I really almost laughed.  I said, "What?".  And she repeated, with even more zest, "You're Gross!!!!!".  Awesome.  3 minutes later, she apologized and told me that I'm not gross and that she loved me.  Good to know!  :)

Then, today happened.  Two of my favorite moments, to date, since becoming a parent.  First, we went outside to play today for about an hour...too cold to stop and quit moving, so we just ran around and went for a walk, and then played in the back yard on (what Macy & Jorey call) the park.  Macy was climbing over one of the walls and got stuck in an uncomfortable situation...I helped her get off and she looked up at me and kindof had a half smile when she told me, "I smashed my balls!". 
"Huh?".  Before I could respond with anything intelligent, she asked,
"Mommy, what are balls?" 
"Boys have them and girls don't." 
"Where"  Now, I know I shouldn't have, but really - what is a mystery going to do but make her look like a moron in 12 years when she never thinks to ask again, I forget I told her a strange story, and she then tells her friends that boys have balls in their ears...or some other version of innocent ball talk.  I one time believed that Worchestershire Sauce got it's name because I guy walked into a bar and said, "What's this here sauce."  Not kidding.  My dad probably told me that when I was 4 and then I was 25 when I re-told the darn story...now it's likely that the whereabouts of male anatomy is going to spring up in conversation before Worchestershire sauce, but you get my drift.  So, I simply stated that their balls are by their wieners.  I know...I'm a bad mom.  But, she was satisfied with the answer and just curled up her nose.  Then she asked if an unnamed 5-7 boys have balls.  I said, "All boys do.  We don't really need to talk about that, though...those things are private."  Oh, brother.

Fast-forward today to a time when we're going down for naps.  Every time I put them down, Jorey trots over to Macy's room, they take out every stuffed animal and book that her room holds and have a little pow wow on Macy's bed.  (side note, Jorey told me her first lie on Friday when she stated that she had slept and woke up --later, after consulting with my eldest, they did not sleep and played the entire time - I have now wisened up and go up there 3 times in the first 15 minutes to confirm that they are in their rooms, as they should be).  So, I go up to find her heading back to her room to get more "goodies" to pile on Macy's bed and I get her back in her own bed.  I go back in to tell Macy to get to sleep and she wants a kiss.  We have quick smooch and she says, "No, I want to give you another one."  So, she grabs my face with a hand on both face and pushes her lips up against mine and then kindof twists her head - the smooch lasted about 4 seconds.  Then, she pulls away and says, "There, now I gave you a married kiss like you give Daddy."  wow...I love my kids.  Can I keep them this age for all time?   Na...I'm sure there's more good stuff coming.  I can't wait to see what's next.

Tonight is the Night. The first of Many.

Macy took her first shower.  My little, sensitive Sally, who generally has a bit of a panic attack when water gets in her eyes, just took a shower 2 hours ago.  She smiled the whole time and embraced the whole ordeal.  Even when the water was flowing down her face, she smiled.  Amazing.  I'm now just remembering my fascination with mowing the lawn.  It would be 'so fun' I had said.  I dreamed of one day cutting the grass.  Maybe this sense of pride and accomplishment is similar to that desire that I once had and because it's new, it seems like a treasure that first time.  Who knows, but it made me laugh out loud a couple times because you could tell she was happier than a bird with a french fry to be taking it, rather than the bath.  Nice work, Macy.  You're a big girl!  And, speaking of big girls, I can't leave out my little lady Jorey.  She is an official panty wearer.  That was the first sentence out of her mouth to everyone at our Kath Thanksgiving gathering at Great Granny Kay and Papa Eddie's house.  They would say, "Well, hello Jorey!  How are you?".  She would respond, "I'm wearing panties.".  ha ha.  So fun.  And, I have to say...she really did a doozy on me when she caused the "Pile and the skid mark" from the previous post, but this was the end.  She has been dry nearly every morning and has yet to have an accident at daycare or during waking hours.  It's unbelievable.  It makes me happy!  I love you goyles so much...and I'm proud of every big step you're taking toward becoming our little ladies!

A Crazy Monkey, Kids Dancing at a bar...and, Mom's night out.

What a weekend.  First, a couple friends and I tried out Baby Loves Disco.  We got the kiddos there in their Jammies for the 5th Anniversary PJ party.  Then, the confusion started.  It was at Club Envy and we walked into the bar with a dance floor, but there were no dancers.  Then, we went up to another area, played in some tents, etc. until that got crowded, ventured around the bend to the back side of the bar, where the party was pumpin'.  They had food on the bar, tons of juice boxes and kid friendly snacks.  The DJ, however, was located at the end of a long, narrow passageway that was to be the dance floor.  There was no fighting my way through the crowd to get Macy and Jorey on the dance floor to win them their new PJs because they couldn't even see a dancer and only had eyes for balloons.  After 3 lost balloons, a 30 minute wait in the face painting line (only to lose interest and go so far away that mom had to lose her spot in line), and a few dances in bubbles, the girls had had enough.  I'm going to rank it a 5 out of 10.  Cool idea - bad bar to have it in...funny.  Bad bar to have the kid party...huh?

Saturday night, Auntie Amy came over to hang with the girls.  We were still down a member of the Fry family, due to hunting obsessions.  Mom went out with two of her other favorite goyles, Melissa Gaulrapp and Nina Huntington.  Who knew that Elko Speedway had a bar...and not just any bar...a big one with 2 bars and a stage...and they had G.B. Leighton!  woot woot!  We took a picture every hour...here's a couple of my favorites.

Look who got to sing 'Come and Get Your Love' with Brian!  Ooh la la!

The following day, I licked my wounds from the night before and ventured out to the MN Zoo with the girls and our friend Misty and James (aka Big Jim).  The monkeys were CRAZY! They were screaming and jumping and swinging around the branches.  I've never seen anything like it!  Here are some shots from the day. Please note Big Jim...I did all my favorite stupid faces, dances, etc...not a smile.  Not a single, stinkin' smile...It got so funny by the end of the day. 

I love the Minnesota Zoo!

The day that began like many others

I woke up early to Macy requesting a spot in my bed.  OK - get in here.  Dad's gone deer hunting, so why not.  About 2 hours later and 12 requests by Macy to get out of bed and go downstairs later, at 7:30am, Jorey walks into our room.  I know she's there, but just wait to hear what she has to say...and this is what I heard.  This is what I heard when I didn't even want to have to get out of bed, yet...
"Mom, I pooped in my pull up.".
"It was an accident"
I roll over to look at her standing in front of me with the strangest expression.  It was not one of fear or frustration, but one of matter-of-fact.  "I did it.  It's done.  What's next."
She then states, "There's poop in my bed."  So, that leads me to believe that she likely touched this poop and now she's twirling her hair. 
"Did you touch the poop?"
"Ya."
Out of bed...here we go...let's have a looksey. 
Oh, man...there's a pile of poop in the middle of the bed.  A skid coming off the bed, a few "wipe marks" on the comforter, and a poopy hand...still twirling hair.
Forget that we had a bath last night...we're having another, princess poopy-pants...get in the bathroom. 

A few things since this happened...

1.  Don't buy Target pull-ups.  Ya, they're cheaper, but if your kiddo should poop in them, the poop spills! out. 

2.  Get rid of the diaper pail that smells like death...worse than death.  It needs to go.  And, it may be extra incentive to never "accidentally" poop in your pull up some morning when you should wake up and tell mom, but it seems easier to poop in your pants.  It's early on in potty training and you know Mom will chalk it up to an accident.   Diaper pail = trash.  Gone.

3.  Who am I kidding.  Those sheets had to be changed anyways...it was an incentive program to do it.  Thanks, Jorey.

There were more fun events from the weekend, but I'm busy laundering.  I'll post on those little deets later on.  In parting, I say this to you...Don't let your kids save their good stuff for when dad leaves on a hunting trip and you're left alone to suffer!

Who's going potty in the potty chair?

Yahoo!  Jorey finally has been getting about 80% of her potty in the toilet.  That makes mom happy as a lark.  Ken and I had decided on the potty training day.  Macy and I were trying our first dance class (she hated it!) and Jorey was home with dad...alone...to learn how to go potty in the toilet.
Saturday morning, Halloween Day, Jorey was given the smack down by her dad.  He told her not to go potty in her pants and she did.  Oh, boy...Dad wasn't amused and told her about his disdain.  A couple accidents (including a puddle in the kitchen, a puddle on the counter, and a 40-minute session on the toilet later, and mom arrived home to find her girl in a diaper.  Something that happened that morning, though, stuck in her stubborn little mind and I was shocked as can be.  After 5 minutes of laying in bed for a nap, she was up saying she had to go potty.  I helped her try.  Nothing.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, again, she had to go.  I told her to go in the bathroom - had caramel mix on the stove that was going to certainly burn all over the stove surface if I were to leave it unattended.  By the time I got up there, she had the diaper off, but had to go so bad, she had a teeny tiny accident on the floor.  After she stopped crying over the trauma, she was told that it was good that she tried and it was Mom's fault for not getting her up on the toilet.  She was unable to gain enough composure and relaxation to get any more out.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we had to go again...after the last session, we put a pull-up on so we could get it down and 'assume the position' in time to be effective.  This time, we got up there in time and got a few little dribbles in there.  It was still quite stressful.  Back to bed.  5 minutes later, we needed to go again.  This was the best one.  We got it all.  So, back to bed and AGAIN, 5 minutes later, we tried again...but, we were good to go.  Needless to say, with all the excitement, the girls only got a 20 minute nap before their neighborhood Halloween Party.  long sigh...
Today, though, Jorey stayed dry all day!  She went potty in the toilet five times with no accidents.  Woo Hoo.  We're on our way to diaper freedom.  Way to go, big girl!  I'm proud of you!

Happy Halloween

Well, we had our first Halloween that both girls would dress up and were happy to do so.  Last year, Jorey was 100% opposed to her Dragon costume and put it on for about 5 angry minutes.  This year, though, Jorey was tickled pink to be "piderman".  The only prerequisite was that we don't wear the eye mask.  That did produce some anger and then it was lost at their daycare party anyways!  Reginald was a Post man.  He loved it (not so much).  We had the Frys over to help with Trick-or-Treaters and have some dinner and watch the MN Football game, so we had a few visitors.  Payne and Logan Pietig came over to join us for some good times.  Logan was Flash and Payne was some sort of Star Wars character that I'm still trying to figure out. :)  (Btw- I'm going to clean the glass on the front door right now after that family pic...gross!  Jorey's very helpful with letting Reg out and in...it makes for a shiny glass door.  ;)

This week, at daycare, they had lots of dress-up days. 
The first was "Dress Like a Pumpkin".  Well, I could only come up with this...But, Paige seemed to have nearly the same theme and Macy was happy to wear it, so we all win!
I didn't get a picture of Crazy hair and clothes day...I don't know what I was thinking, but by Thursday...I was frazzled.  I could NOT keep up with life last week.  Hopefully, this week is going to be better. :)