Leah's SEVENTH birthday!

Leah turned seven on the 20th. We got to bring treats to school and that evening she had three school friends come over for a fake slumber party. (I vetoed a real one.) So they had pizza, cake and watched a movie...sort of. After three hours I was very pleased with my decision! I'm pretty sure I would have gone mad and drove everyone home in the middle of the night :) The next week was spring break, so we went up to Portland and had a birthday party up there for her with the family. One present was a gift card to Old Navy. I brought her there and let her pick out anything she wanted up to the amount on her card. She picked out a hot pink shirt, light pink capris and coordinating hot pink shoes. :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

Leah...and her legwarmers, Naomi, Heidi, and Emilia (Yaya)

Some fabulous quotes from my little ladies.

**Emilia is constantly humming, or singing about whatever she is doing. The other day she was singing about who knows what, stopped, looked at me and said, "I just made up a song. Want to sing it with me?" and expected me to join in for the chorus.**

**Naomi to me. "I can't wait to start ballet! I can't wait to start kindergarten!"

Me-"You're growing up so quickly!"

Naomi- "I know!!! Soon I'll be a mom and you'll die. But don't worry, we'll still be a family!"**

**Emilia and her cousin Anika were playing together at Grandma's house over spring break. I overheard her say to Anika, "Can we push pause on this game for a minute? I need to use the potty."**

After dinner tonight Lars said thanks for dinner and leaned over to give me a kiss. Leah caught the tail end of it and said very relieved, "Whew. Good thing I was looking down at my plate. YUCK!"

Yaya was playing with all her toys on a little table in their room and Heidi was sitting on the floor, so I asked Yaya, "Can you put your toys down so Heidi can play too?" Yaya answered plainly, "No. Heidi sucks." Shocked, I exclaimed "What?!" Yaya answered again, "Heidi sucks...on all my toys." Ahhh. :)

Yaya was playing on the floor and Heidi crawled over and on top of her. Yaya got annoyed and said in frustration, "Heidi, I'm not a toy, I'm a kid!"

Lars and I went on a date last Saturday. Leah asked me, "Why are you going on a date?" "To spend time together" I answered. "I don't like when you go on dates." "Why?" I asked. Leah responded, "Because then you'll be kissing and that's disgusting." I told her she could be happy knowing we were going on dates and kissing because it showed her we loved each other. "I know," she answered still distraught, "It's just that I'm going to have to do it someday."

Naomi, Yaya and I were in the kitchen getting breakfast and Naomi was asking for something a million times in a row. So exasperated I said, "I heard you already. Good Night!" Yaya said, "It's morning." "I know," I explained, "It means quit freaking out." "No it doesn't," she countered, "It means GO-TO-SLEEP!"

I can take a hint

Since I don't have a swim pass, I have to print and sign my name on a clipboard and pay the lifeguard every time I go into the pool . So last week when I went swimming, I approached the lifeguard to give him my money and he asked me, "Are you over eighteen?" Completely flattered, I said, "Yes, thank you for asking." His next comment? "It's my job." Ouch.

So tonight I walked into the locker room and was greeting by a full moon from none other than Mrs. Potato head herself. Thankfully she was on her way out, as I was on my way in. I started a little late, 9:15-ish, but I had until the pool closed at ten. I quickly threw my three dollars at the life guard who did NOT ask my age, got my little blue paddle board thingy, and jumped in the pool. It was sparsely populated at that hour.

My only company to my left were two girls wearing strategically placed strings and triangles of fabric. It's a good thing they stood in the shallow end the whole time chatting and giggling, and never even attempted to swim because I'm pretty sure I would have regretted purchasing goggles if they had. And to my right was a girl who was being coached by a guy that walked laps along the side of the pool as she swam them. Each time she came up for a breath, it sounded like the coach was stepping on a squeaky toy. I have no idea how someone can be that strained for air and still remain afloat.

Anyway, not long after I got there the bikini sisters bailed, and shortly after their departure Squeaky's coach called it a night...leaving me, the lifeguard and my little blue paddle board. Upon arriving, my goal was to kick non-stop through my 500 meters and I wasn't going to let an awkward situation get in my way! I had about eight laps left when I started to get the feeling like when you are the last person sitting in a restaurant and the entire staff is trying to politely nudge you out the door. Six laps to go and the lifeguard shuts off the music. Four laps, and he's hosing down the pool side, drinking water from the hose, making a fountain into the pool. Three laps to go, and he's on the phone, "Hey man. What are you doing? Yeah, I should be back at my place in about ten minutes, hopefully." Two laps, and he's watching...willing me to get out or drown. I finished my last lap, returned my paddle board to it's rightful place and headed to the locker room. "Have a nice night!" Mr. Lifeguard shouted, a little too loudly and enthusiastically. And once again, I could revel in the showers all to myself.

The Farmer and the Stork

Leah was in a little school play last week. She was a crow and had a brief speaking park. She really lit up on stage! Leah spoke clearly and confidently. After their second performance I said to Leah, You did a great job both nights, just like I knew you would! "Yeah," she answered, "I think I'll set up a stand and put up a sign that says $10...or maybe $2 and do plays for people!" Go for it!

Mother-Daughter Questions

So this little "Mommy Quiz" was floating around Facebook. I asked my girls the questions and they had some pretty right on answers. Wanted to share with you all.

These are questions asked by me to my daughters. Leah is 7 (on friday!), Naomi is 4 1/2 and Emilia is 3 and some change.

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
L-I love you
N-Don't carry the baby
E-Don't carry the baby. Actually, it's I love you.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
L- When we always do what you ask us to
N-When we don't do something wrong
E-When we love you

3. What makes Mommy sad?
L-When we don't do what you ask us to. You'll also feel sad if one of us died.
N-When I break one of your things.
E-When Leah bites onto people's fingers

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
L,N and E- Tickling us!

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
L-a happy girl
N-sad
E-tickle

6. How old is Mommy?
L-29
N-15
E-16

7. How tall is Mommy?
L-taller than me
N-stand up and let me measure
E-(holding arm up) um, this tall

8. What is Mommy's favorite movie?
L-Tell me what movie you like
N-Martha the Speech (????)
E-The Wizard of Oz

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
L-Go to stores
N-Take Yaya (Emilia) some places
E-Missing me

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
L-Joke Teller
N-cooking, 'cause you are good at cooking
E-doing the hokey poky

11. What is Mommy really good at?
L-making us laugh
N-cooking
E-helping wipe my bottom

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
L-notin'
N-hula hooping
E-being a president

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
L-take care of us
N-swimming
E-getting the grape juice opened

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
L-watermelon
N-watermelon
E-apples

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
L-taking good care of us and not forgetting a thing about us
N-by getting me things. by surprising me. like when you got those bow shoes, and Ariel panties. E-when you open the grape juice

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
L-Garfield
N-a star
E-super woman

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
L-we walk to school together
N-remember when we had a special time together and had smoothies? that was a fun time
E-open the grape juice

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
L-we're both smart. really smart. and we're both the oldest girls in our family
N-we both have a nose, two eyes, two arms, eyelashes, hair, one mouth and two things of teeth
E-we both drink grape juice

19. How are you and Mommy different?
L-we don't have the same color of hair. and we don't both have babies at this age
N-because you're large and I'm medium
E-Jesus

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
L-'cause you always say it to me
N-'cause I'm beautiful
E-we give kisses

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
L-i know one thing you don't like about him...he snores a lot. one thing is that he goes to work to get money for us
N-that he loves you
E-grape juice

22. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
L-the outlet mall
N-that store that you got those pants that daddy sometimes wears
E-Wal-Mart

Show Off

Just wanted to show you all what I made for my little cousin's fifth birthday present. She loves horses...if you couldn't figure it out :)

Bed Time

As I was putting the girls to bed, I gave them each a hug and a kiss and as I was walking out the door, I said, "Love you, love you, love you!" Then I heard three little voices each take a turn replying. Leah said, "Love you tons!" Emilia said, "Love you twenty!" And Naomi said, "Love you one hundred more than five!" I love those girls!

Overheard

I would like to relay a conversation between my sweet daughters Naomi (4 yrs.) and Emilia (3 yrs) in the car yesterday. It went something like this...

E-Are we up high?
Me-Higher than the water.
N-But not as high as the clouds.
E-Are we as high as the clouds?
Me-Nope, they are really really high.
N-If we were as high as the clouds we would be by Jesus.
E-Jesus has a big head.
N-Yaya! Don't say that about Jesus. It would hurt his feelings.
E-DON'T SAY THAT TO ME!
N-You should only say nice things about Jesus
E-STOP TALKING TO ME!
N-Mo-om, Yaya isn't being nice to Jesus
E-YOU'RE NOT INVITED TO MY BRIAR ROSE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!

Just thought you would like to know :)

poll takers

O.k., I just have to know. All of you who said you think of what to make for dinner in the morning...do you have a schedule or are you secretly gormet chefs and slave over the stove all day? I can rarely think of something to cook. It's like that part of my brain got lost when we moved fro Idaho. Help!

I guess so...

I think all my girls look like Lars. Alot of people tell me Naomi looks just like me, but I mostly think it's because she's the only one with brown hair. (Well, according to Naomi, her hair is "reddish, brownish, blackish") Anyway, I took this picture yesterday and for the first time, I thought, Wow! Naomi really does look like me. What do you think?

eventful

Today was my second day at the pool. The swim team wasn't there...but the football team was.

At least that is my assumption based on a number of observations.

First, their size. Enough said.

Second, their apparel. None of them were wearing swim shorts (thankfully), but the shorts they were wearing obviously weren't that great for swimming because they were constantly making "adjustments"...if you catch my drift. And then, they were wearing du-rags on their heads, rather than swim caps. How is that helpful?

Third, their actions. I was sharing the lane closest to the locker room entrances with a sweet Asian gal when all of a sudden there were six large men cannon-balling in over our heads. Thankfully the couple in the lane next to us were leaving at the same moment, so we moved over. But these guys all started jumping and splashing around until the ring leader called them into a huddle. I'm not kidding. So they huddled up and apparently decided to do a relay race because that was the next main event. They split up into teams and made the life guard say "ready, set, go" then they dove/belly flopped off the racing pedestals and started "swimming" as fast as the could. Keep in mind I'm making these observations while doing my laps, and I happened to be doing one such lap when the tidal waves from their racing started pouring into my lane. I felt like I was swimming in the ocean...minus the salt water and the sharks. At that time one more guy showed up with a girl who was wearing a bikini I'm pretty sure was only useful for getting attention, but definitely not for swimming. He was by far the smallest, and most ripped, but also the most cocky one of the group. He was wearing swim shorts that he rolled up before he jumped in the water with his little girl toy. Well anyway, I was on my last lap when they finished their little racing event and huddled back up again. I was doing the side stroke with my back toward them, and as I passed I totally kicked one of the guys right in the can...really hard. I was horrified! He whipped around ready to defend himself and then started laughing when he saw the expression on my face as I shouted "sorry" and swam as fast as I could to the end of the pool. I exited quickly and was quite relieved to find I had the showers to myself this time!

awkward and a bit embarrassing

Last night night I went to the swimming pool, by myself, for the first time. I got there about 9 pm and all the lanes were full...with the swim team. Serious swimmers. So I scooted down to the far lane and asked the two swimmers there if I could share the lane with them. They were nice and said sure and then asked me a question in swimmers code. The blank stare on my face gave away that I didn't have the faintest idea what they were talking about. So they tried again, in english, "Do you want to take one half of the lane and we'll take the other?" Oh, sure...but I informed them that I needed the lane closest to the wall because I am learning how to swim and still have a tendency to run into things. We all laughed. Me, because I was serious, and they, because they thought I was kidding. Well, my assigned workout for the night was 4x50 meters. I had to ask my lovely lane neighbors what a "50" was. Down and back was 50 meters. So I swam my first one and made it most of the way back before I was breathing underwater and coughing when I was supposed to be breathing. The second 50 was not much better. But by the third and fourth I made it all the way without getting any water up my nose! So with my resting in between laps, it took me a half an hour to do 200 meters. The triathlon is 500 meters. I've got a bit of work to do!



After I finished swimming I went into ye old community shower. Not being a die hard, I remained "suited". As I was washing my hair another lady (Whom I shall refer to as Mrs. Poatohead) came in and loudly exclaimed, "Whew! I'm getting to old for that!" and assumed the shower directly behind me. I had finished washing my hair and was reaching for my conditioner, but it shot out of my hand and across the shower landing at the foot of Mrs. Potatohead. I yelled, "WOAH!" (probably much louder than was necessary since my ears were waterlogged) as I turned around to pick up my conditioner. Just a millisecond too late I realized that Mrs. Potatohead was no longer "suited" and I had just yelled "WOAH!" at her naked body, but actually at my flying bottle of conditioner. It's kind of hard to crack a joke or talk yourself out of a situation like that when you are afraid to turn back around, let alone make eye contact. So I snagged my conditioner, mumbled a weak, "Heh, heh, guess that got away from me..." and then bolted. Hopefully she's not a regular. That would be a painfully awkward reunion.