The price of a little peace and quiet

The girls thought that today seemed like a good day to paint themselves green. I did not interfere because we happened to be getting a whole lot of stuff done around the house...cleaned out the garage, laundry room and laid 6 yards of mulch. This was all WELL worth the time it took to bleach their clothes and scrub green paint out of their hair. They actually got along decently all morning playing "school" and making a bus out of laundry baskets and jump ropes.





Here are a few recent NiNi quotes:

"Watermelon makes me pee"

(Raising her eyebrows) "My eyebrows are awake!"

When she is trying to show me something and I absentmindedly respond with "Uh-huh." she will say, "No, TALK mommy!"

NiNi: "Sissy grew in your tummy"
Me: "Yes"
NiNi: "I grew in your tummy"
Me: "No, you grew in someone else's tummy"
NiNi: "In daddy's tummy!"

"You a mean mommy today" (When I don't give her something that she wants)

NiNi and grandma were using a big wooden spoon to make macaroni and cheese which sparked this conversation:
Grandma: "What do we use spoons for?"
NiNi: "For cooking"
Grandma: "Uh-huh. What else can you use them for?"
NiNi: "For stirring"
Grandma: "(Beginning to tease a little) What does mommy use the spoon she keeps in your underwear drawer for?"
NiNi: "For stirring my underwear"

How does your garden grow

Mother's Day

Had a great mother's day weekend. Mom and Laura and I went to the Indianapolis Zoo and Gardens. Meagan thought that it was weird that adults would want to go to the zoo without a kid with them. I assured her it was perfectly normal. On Sunday Chris cooked dinner which consisted of BBQ chicken, a large vat of store-bought potato salad and an even larger vat of "lime jello parfait". My children have never seen lime jello parfait before and weren't sure what to make of it until they realized it was sweet. I suggested that we save it for dessert. Chris said, "That's not dessert, that's the fruit!" Needless to say, the girls were ALL OVER that idea. And I thought, who cares as long as I didn't have to cook!

Rough week

Hat's off to all single mom's out there. I don't think I cut the mustard. Chris has been either out of town or getting ready to go out of town all week. I also tried to fit in chaperoning the 2nd grade field trip to the zoo, and working a little over-time this week. Sadly, NiNi spent 11 hours in daycare yesterday and I'm feeling VERY guilty about that. Also feeling a little guilty about the several changes of dirty clothes on my bathroom floor and the fact that I can't cram anything else into my refrigerator because it hasn't been cleaned out in so long. NiNi has been her usual strong-willed self. I'm beginning to think that the 3's are much more "terrible" than the 2's. I seem to have no patience these days for fit-throwing of any kind, especially when it relates to what color of cereal bowl one gets. Here are a couple of theories: could PMS actually begin much earlier than adolescence...perhaps even in the toddler years? Okay, maybe not, but I just might google "uncontrollable whining" as a symptom of the swine flu. Oh, and apparently, the entire sidebar of my blog has just disappeared and I have no idea how to get it back.

In other news, Chris shaved off his beard. I guess his boss wants him to sharpen up his image a little since he has taken on a new position. All of the women in his life are very unhappy about daddy being clean shaven. Meagan started to cry and asked how long until he would grow it back.

Meagan and Chris before the Father/Daughter dance

Meagan is looking so, so grown up to me

When NiNi saw Chris all dressed up for the dance she said, "Oh daddy, you look like Barak Obama!"

The other day, NiNi peed a big puddle on the floor. Meagan said, "Hey, having NiNi is just like having a dog!"

Family weekend

Had a great time with Chris' dad in from California this past weekend.

Chris, me, Jenni and Sean

The Reuter men (only uncle Jason missing)

Four generations

NiNi and great-grandma Reuter