Carrots and Contacts

What, you might ask, do these two things have in common???  A LOT, according to Morgan.

When: Saturday Morning
Where: at the bathroom mirror
Who: the whole family
What: watching Mommy put her contacts in
Why: the girls think it's really cool to watch, especially Sadie

Daddy: What's Mommy doing?
Sadie: (as she pokes herself in the eye) She put glass in her eye to see.
Morgan: She's putting the soft glass in her eye so she can see without her glasses.
Daddy: Why does she have to do that? Why don't you or Sadie or I have to wear glasses or contacts?
Morgan: Because Mommy doesn't like carrots.  Me and you and Sadie like to eat carrots and they make our eyes healthy.  Mommy won't eat carrots, so her eyes aren't good.

And there it is, the truth to why I wear glasses/contacts.  Morgan is right, though. I don't particularly like carrots, so I guess that's why my eyes suffer.  It couldn't possibly be due to genetics (both my parents wear glasses and most of my siblings, too)!

Note: Earlier in the week, Brian and Morgan had been discussing the vitamins in carrots and why they are healthy for us.  So, she may not have remember the term (beta carotene), but she remembered the concept!

"I'm Not Tired"

"I'm not tired, Mom.  I'm not going to take a nap.  I'm just going to read."  That's what Morgan said just before rest time Saturday.

3 1/2 hours later... 

And, when I let Sadie wake her up, Morgan came out and said to me, "Mom, why did you let Sadie wake me up?  I was sleeping and I still wanted to sleep."
I simply replied, "Because she misses you and wants to play."  I left out the part where I also say that we want to go to sleep before midnight tonight, so you need to get up.  (I think she finally went to sleep about 10:30 p.m. that night.)

"Hick-Amucks"

That's Sadie's pronunciation of Jicama.  And that's about how much our baby weighs this week (32 weeks).  Morgan wanted to know what a jicama was, so I showed her at the grocery store.  And, because it would cost under $2 to buy one, we decided to get one and try it out.

Here's Morgan taking her first bite.  She wasn't a fan.  In fact, she refused to even give it an unbiased critique and simply ate her three small bites we asked her to try.

Sadie, on the other hand, like it.  She especially liked it dipped in ranch dressing, along with every other food she eats.

Brian and Mackenzie's take on jicama:  Brian actually tried it and ate several sticks (think like carrot stick size)!  He thought it was okay, and says it tastes just like he would expect a weed to taste (it is a root vegetable).  Mackenzie thought it was okay, but couldn't get past the "it tastes like a dandelion smells", unless it was dipped in ranch.

Final Consensus:  The baby should be the size of a pineapple next week (I peeked ahead on the calendar).  I think we'll enjoying that sampling much better!

Sprinkler Time!

It's that time of year again.  You know, the time when Morgan and Sadie find every possible excuse to get outside in the water?  And, even though it was only about 65 degrees on Saturday, here they are, all swimsuit-clad and ready to get wet!

Getting Creative

As we're slowing, but surely, packing up, the girls are becoming more creative in their playtime.  In fact, they haven't even touched trains, blocks, or dress up in almost a week!  Why would they need to when there are a gazillion empty boxes in the basement and lots of fun baby gadgets to use?  

What you don't see to the left of this picture are the 3 additional "train cars" (i.e. boxes)--the engine, the dining car, and the movie car.  These are the sleeping cars and the girls are pretending to be "fast asleep".  Funny thing, though.  On this train, they only serve lunch and you only take naps.  There's no other time of the day!  Just movie, lunch, nap, movie, lunch, nap!  

As I've been sorting through all the baby stuff, Morgan and Sadie decided it would be a great time to try everything out on their babies.  So, how many babies can you fit in one bouncer??  Five.  As long as you're okay with them all lying on top of each other and not being strapped in.

Peanut Butter Play Dough

This past week, I was in charge of a craft for our weekly Music Makers (check out the button on the side of my blog for more info).  It being the last week for the year (we take a summer break), I decided to choose something fun for the kids to do.  So, we made Peanut Butter Playdough to bring to Music Makers.  Morgan and Sadie loved helping make it and all the kids loved playing with and eating it!  

I just realized that the recipe I used from the OLD Nursery manual (the one from when I was a kid) has been boxed up since we made our play dough.  So, I found a similar recipe online.  My recipe called for powdered sugar and corn syrup (Karo syrup), but I'm sure honey and regular white sugar will work also.

Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups peanut butter
4 cups dry milk powder
4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups honey

Directions:
Mix together peanut butter and the sugar, and beat in honey and milk powder. This recipe takes about 12 minutes and is a nice change from traditional playdough.

"How to Eat Cake", by Sadie

 Last weekend, we also went to a first birthday party for one of Brian's coworker's kids.  I think my kids are a little deprived of classic sweets, like birthday cake, because Sadie's was gone in 3 bites.  I'm not kidding, either.  Somehow, I managed to get all three bites on camera!  

ONE,

TWO,

THREE!

Girls' Nite

Last week, Daddy went out of town for a business trip to "Sandy Eggo", so we had a couple of nights of just the girls.  

After the girls tucked their babies into bed,

we watched The Parent Trap (the old one with Hayley Mills), 

and enjoyed a slumber party in the front room--complete with lots of slumbering.  This was probably about 5 minutes after the movie ended.

To finish off our girls' nite, we went out to breakfast at Einstein Brothers' Bagels.  The girls didn't know there was a special store just for buying bagels, so they thought that was really cool!  And, despite being at the bagel shop, they both ate coffee cake and orange juice!

Laundry

One of Sadie's favorite chores is filling the washing machine with laundry.  She takes it very seriously.  And I take her willingness to help me very seriously.  Even if it is only one sock at a time.  I hope she never outgrows wanting to help!

Her only request seems to be that the water be running as she fills the washer.  If it stops, so does she!

Signs of Aging

It's happening.  I'm getting old.  No, I'm not experiencing one of those "Yikes!  I'm turning 30!  Where did my life go?" moments.  Mostly because I'm not turning 30 yet.  It's actually one of those, "Holy Cow!  My kids are growing up!" moments--Morgan turns 5 in a few weeks.

And, as was bound to happen at some point, my sweet little Morgan stopped calling me "Mommy" a few weeks ago and has now resorted to simply "Mom."  Much better than her attempt to refer to me as "Mother" last year, but, why can't I be "Mommy?"  It's bittersweet. I love to watch my kids grow up, and I want to freeze time so they can stay little.

Let Them Be Little

by Lonestar 

I can remember when you fit in the palm of my hand
Felt so good in it, no bigger than a minute
How it amazes me, you're changing with every blink
Faster than a flower blooms they grow up all too soon

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

I've never felt so much in one little tender touch
I live for those kisses, prayers and your wishes
Now that you're teaching me things only a child can see
Every night while we're on our knees all I ask is please

Let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

So innocent, a precious soul, you turn around
It's time to let them go

So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little

Let them be little