Ani talk

Like all kids, ani has her quirky pronunciations as she learns to navigate the craptastic English language. Yellow is pronounced lellow. 

Root beer used to be pronounced root beard, but has recently been adopted correctly. It kinda makes me sad, but my little big girl is growing up. She would like a root beer cake for her fourth birthday party. 

Nissa used to be sissa, but that went away a long time ago. Three is still free usually, and nissa likes to correct that. We had a talk about just repeating the word correctly in a sentence is enough- no need to say "no, it's pronounced this way." Two lessons in one there, go me.

Nissa still says callerpitter for caterpillar, but the again, i used to say bubberfly for butterfly, as my dad is so fond of reminding me lately.

Siri prounces Ford Road "Ferd"

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a loss and a win

i lost yesterday when i woke up expecting to pull fresh, dry undies from the dryer. . . only to find that when i flipped the load right before going to bed (and falling asleep on the couch prior), i failed to actually start the dryer. thank goodness i still have a blow dryer! but, later a big win: the girls love cabbage. steamed, then sauteed in butter, salt and pepper. they eat it up. yay!

Nissa was putting on her winter coat yesterday and asked, "mom, fix the sleeves?" because they weren't covering her whole arms. Can't fix a shrinking coat! It is the third season, after all.

costume creation blues

i hustled yesterday to finish making nissa's main costume, so she can be a werewolf on sunday. i hustled saturday to clean the house so we won't be embarrassed when my parents visit on thursday. adam hustled both days to do cleaning. monday morning comes too fast. but like i learned last monday, even taking a day off doesn't always help, because all i accomplished last monday was printing out, assembling and cutting out the pattern for nissa's costume. no fabric cut, sewing machine never left its box. everything takes time and it's just plain hard to find the time. which made this morning's facebook flashback that much more of a reflective moment. five years ago, i posted this picture:

and my first thought was hey, who wore it better? then dug up this shot from two years ago:

then i remembered that neither girl actually *wore* the costume on halloween to go trick or treating. i kinda got ani to wear the hat (under protest):

adam wore it for a minute:

and nissa was willing to at least try it on, way back when:

but seriously. . . i put a lot of time and energy into that thing and it barely saw any action. sigh. i was really proud of it too, because i designed it myself! no pattern, just a guestimation of attaching a large stuffed globe to a tube-like dress-thing. and i even made a coordinating goodie bag. adam says i only have myself to blame as i crunch through making costumes year after year. but at the end of the day, i love the challenge of making these costumes. i just wish i had more time or less other stuff to do. let's see how much i can pull off this week!?!?!

NPR + children

last year, when nissa started riding in the car with me twice a day to get to school, i'd put on music for her, then switch back to NPR for just me. at some point, one morning "the news" was still on and she asked me to leave it on. "ok cool," i thought. on few occasions, i will change the station when a story gets prefaced by "this story will contain graphic language/descriptions." mostly, i let it go and be sure to talk to nissa afterward. with "the news" on, we've talked about the results of the state election, what "bitch" means, the immigration crisis plaguing europe, "black and white" as it relates to people, and the prospect of hilary clinton for president. the last one is getting to me. "mom, have we ever had a girl president before?" no. "it would be really cool to have a girl president." i agree, but i don't think hilary is the best candidate to choose from right now, i like bernie better. "but it would be really cool to have a girl president." yes, it would. i told her about the republican candidate (couldn't remember her name), but then i mentioned Elizabeth Warren. now that's a woman i'd vote for in a heartbeat. but here i am, being all adult-y: do i vote for bernie because i think it's the best thing for our country right now, or do i vote for hilary, because it would be the best thing for my daughter. it's a stumper. why can't Elizabeth run?????

some reasons why being a mom sucks

i feel terribly guilty that ani pulled her hair out yesterday (sunday). we were trying to watch a movie as a family and ani really isn't ready for that type of activity, she's much too active for that. so we said it would be ok to go upstairs and play, where she could sing as loudly as she liked. after 15 minutes or so, she came back down and handed me a fistful of curly hair. i asked her if she used the scissors (again), but she said no, she just pulled it, "like this." she then demonstrated how she pulled her hair tightly away from her head. i did a terrible job explaining to nissa last week why she got two wrong on her spelling test because she made her p's backwards, even though backwards numbers or letters aren't marked wrong elsewhere and even though she knows perfectly well how to spell the words. i have to defend my boring job and making nissa having to be there with me. a way doesn't suck - hugs. even surprise ones.

so strong!

since is started using a pedometer, i was struck by just how sedentary my lifestyle really is. all this talk of 10,000 steps in a day makes me chuckle. i consider 5,000 steps a day to be a satisfactorily-active day, and many days i do not hit that goal. but last weekend and this weekend, i was close to or just over the 10,000 step mark and i am super impressed with myself. silly thing is it occurred to me that i was not doing all that walking alone - nissa and ani were with me the whole time. that is so cool to me that an almost 7 year old and a 3.5 year old can do all that walking! my daughters are so strong when they're not paying attention :)

terrorist threes

my 3 yo pushes my buttons every night, and she shares a room with her 6 yo sister. two nights ago i took away all her stuffed animals and asked her to go to sleep. she cried, then was playing again in a few minutes. then i went in and took her pillow. i told her if i had to come back in, her mattress was next. it was nuts, but it worked. for now. at one point a while back, i resorted to spanking her - i was at my wit's end. i was disappointed to find it didn't really phase her, so then i felt guilty for striking my child. grrr. sometimes you can't win - i was hoping to just startle her and help her hear me. that's not helping her, nor me.

kids say the darnedest things

so a while back, i took ani to sunday school with nissa and i and we did the whole bit- class time, communion, post-church gathering. a few days later, she asked about getting the holy bread from the guy on the stage. she liked it and wanted to go back. in hind sight, i wish i could do that for her more often. maybe sunday school from home? it was just too much this year.

ani's observations strike again

we went to the pool as a family yesterday. ani's favorite thing is to do water ballet: stand on the underwater platform (for lessons) and do some barre work and twirl. while we were there, she said she wanted duck feet. duck feet? i look over and there's a large basket of fins on the wall. duck feet. genius.

family fun

so, here i am at work - alone. for the last ten months, nissa has come to work with me for the first hour of my work day. today is the first official day of summer break and it's noticeably different. no one to walk up the garage stairs with, no one to harass to do homework, no reason to watch the clock to leave on time for school. but what i did have was a desk that was touched by ani - the photo of her an nissa close to the edge, with my tigger clock close by. my calculator was pulled close to the edge, too. she was loving using it (i wonder if she'd like it with the printer on?) and when she was typing, I commented "oh, you're working hard," and she responded "yes, you too mommy!" both of us typing away and working hard. what fun. and she was so loud and full of observations and hellos for random strangers. until we got to school for nissa's last day, then she would not say hi to ms gordon or mr rodriguez. she kills me some times. it's funny to think how nissa and ani are so similar, yet so different. i think father's day was a success. adam got to get some sleep (he didn't have to wake up at 6:30 with the girls), had a decent breakfast, enjoyed his gifts, played on the bed with the girls, played karting with nissa, and had a decent steak dinner. plus, i got to get some things done around the house, since the day was all about spending time with the girls. now if only i could get them to sleep more, we'd be set. nissa's june show was a success. she and her classmates did a great job remembering their choreography and keeping their spacing. ms cori is a solid teacher and i'm glad nissa enjoys going. it was a bit spotty during the year, but i think the fun of seeing both tallulah and azul each week was a good reward.

This just in. Tourshi, nissa's imaginary friend, is now a boy and is accompanied by mimi. When nissa is older and has kids, she plans to name her kids norman (after her teddy bear) and mimi.

Small world
nissa just found a friend at lane park playground that goes to AJLA.

Siri mispronunciations: joliet = joe-lie-et, bass pro shop= base pro shop, touhy = tow-hee,

in honor of mother's day

a friend created a post like this on facebook, so i thought i'd post it here again. i had no idea how hard it was going to be to figure out ani's due date. i remember her being late, but couldn't remember the date. thank goodness i have resources! In honor of mother's day let's post on our walls the blessing(s) that make us the happiest and best mother's we can be. Post your own baby stats to show your Mama Pride Nissa Rachel Due date: 11/12/08 Birthdate: 11/18/08 10:16am 6lbs 12oz, 19.5in. Ani Florence Due date: 12/30/11 Birthdate: 1/4/12 8:20 am 8lbs 14oz, 20in.
Edited to add: Zabelle Valeria Due date: 1/30/17 Birthdate: 2/1/17 12:44 pm 8lbs 4oz, 19.5in.

Overheard at bathtime yesterday: cannon ball!

darndest part two

nissa was lucky enough to get a mini glow pillow pet zebra from grandma and grandpa g. she and ani both love to watch the light show at night, eventhough i wish they would just go to bed. grumble, grumble, mean ole mom. 

anyway, it didn't take nissa long to become frustrated by the briefness of the light show, when adam had suggested dhe leave it on the floor of their room. when adam went up to remind her to stay in bed, she complained that it only ran for two cycles and shut off. her words, not mine. 

an astute observation, accurately phrased. so our kid and i love it.

You know it is spring in chicago when the air is filled with the hum of harleys and the beats of 10 different styles of music

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I've gotten to a strange place in my life, where it feels like more work to order out than make chicken vegetable soup and cornbread from scratch.

things ani says, again

ah ha! i remembered one. got a text from adam one morning: Ani wanted to tell me something, "a tomato was peeing" And then she went to the back porch to show me out the window where it happened. yes, likely a dream she had - especially since the yard was covered in snow on feb 3 when this happened. but hilarious none the less.

things ani says

yet again i've been meaning to post but do not. i feel like that happen a lot and somehow i've completely lost my ability to focus. combine that with zero short term memory and i'm a mess. oh well. the funny thing ani said last night was this: we were discussing the agenda for the rest of the evening and she asked to watch tv, the one with the "yellow mens in it." the yellow people? yes. the show you watched last night with me and daddy? yes. the simpsons? yes. weeeeell, maybe another time. didn't take too long for her to get hooked on simpsons. sheesh.

so long, teeth

so yesterday at school, nissa lost her second tooth! it had been very, very loose for days and i'm not really sure what was holding it in anyway. she was so proud! i love it. i'm really not sure how we got from this: to this: minus one more tooth on the bottom. where does the time go? of course, ani is asking for a tooth pillow, too, and insisting her teeth are wiggly also.