What happened to September?

I am pretty sure I have not blogged in over a month. I where did that time go? In fact, where did the end of August go? What year is it? Sad but true fact: I asked my friend why they were playing the OJ Simpson trial at McDonalds. Then quickly said " Whoa, what happened there, I just slipped 15 years into the past." I guess my time warp is beside the point. Here is an update on what we have been doing for the last 2 months:

Emma: She has started talking in full sentences. Yep. My baby is a talker. She frequently says " I wanna hold you." (i.e. she wants me to hold her). Today she said " I wanna snack" She knows the names of all of our friends and family. She is constantly asking " Where did Grandpa go?" even though she hasn't seen him in 2 weeks or a month (as we recently established time and I are not on good terms right now.) Emma is also bound and determined to wear panties and be potty trained. You know, aside from the fact that she has yet to develop the ability to tell when she has to go potty. This is causing me a great deal of stress. In particular, she yells potty! Then I pick her up and run to the toilet while she yells " Go, Go, Go" then she sits down and doesn't do anything. She also likes to color.

Izzy: Today I said " Izzy, I think you are awesome." She said " I think you are awesome." This was after we sang a duet of One Republic's "Good Life." We love to sing. Her lyrics are mostly better than those of the real songs. Yesterday I was laughing so hard when she was singing Bruno Mars " Sky full of Lighters" and the part that says " We've been kicked down forced to fight." She sang " And we beamed down for supplies." Izzy is now in a much, much better school! She goes to school in Tallahassee with Ava. I 100% have the Linkers to thank for this. They recommended the school and help out with transportation. In the words of Isabel, we think the Linkers "are awesome".

Gwiny: Gwin is now a Girl Scout! A brownie! We found her a great troop and I think this may be an activity she doesn't immediately want to quit. Hurray for Girl Scouts. She has really gotten in to playing Wii sports. But she cried when I beat her at bowling. She doesn't take losing well. She is also an amazing artist. She got all the skill I always wanted. Her school doesn't offer art, so on Mondays we have our own art class here at home. Check out this Lego picture she made for me tonight.

Me: I got a horrible hair cut. When it was cut it looked like a boy haircut in the front, mini mullet in the back. Now that it has grown out it looks like Rachel Maddow's haircut. RJ tried to tell me I looked good as Rachel Maddow...I went with the dramatic squirrel face. ( Please someone get this... ) I also got on to Pottermore. I was sorted into Slytherin cause I am cool like that and my fake wand is made of Cedar and Phoenix Feather. Oh my.... really.. news about me is a joke about my favorite news show and a Harry Potter web site. I think I need a life.

RJ: You know, he doesn't like me to talk about him. He is wearing a giant red beard like a viking. Acting like a superhero saving the planet and all that.

See you in a week.. or two.. or month.. or ....

Random Facts

Here are a couple of things that have either happened or I have thought about in the last couple weeks:

Really? There is a song that says " Don't take this the wrong way, but girl you look better with the lights off." How do you not take that the wrong way?

I asked Emma to point to her nose, she points to her nose, I say point to the kitties nose, she points to the cats nose. I show her the cats tail and say " Do you have a tail?" She says " Yep" and points to the pony tail I put in her hair that morning.

I love the new One Republic song. I want to listen to it over and over.

Izzy started her new VPK program. It is amazing as are the Linkers who are saving me 40 minutes a day of driving.

Gwiny is turning 7 in 6 days!

I am super addicted to pintrest.

We are going to sign Gwin up for Girl Scouts tonight. Yay for 3 generations of Girl Scouts!

I am taking the GRE again in 5 days, I better stop blogging and start studying for the GRE like I should be doing with every extra bit of time I have.

What I have learned in the last 2 weeks

Only 2 weeks ago my husband and I signed the papers to own our very first home. Not just to own our first home, but this is the first house we have ever lived in. Over the last 8 years of our marriage we have never lived in a house, always an apartment. I knew things were going to be different, and they sure are. Now we can...

10) Mark the girls heights on their door frames.

9) Play in a back yard!

8) Put all the girls to bed in their own rooms.

7) Lock the pantry door.

5) Walk to the car as many times as I want to without worrying about leaving the kids inside.

4) Learn how to clean off a plate properly, as we have no garbage disposal.

3) Do cartwheels in our living room, yes we have.

2) Make 3 cakes in one sitting and I did it today.

1) Walk to the car without wearing shoes.

The first day of school

Today was Gwiny's first day of second grade ( just saying it makes me feel old), and Izzy's first day of Pre-School. I would say it is a bitter sweet day for me, but in reality, it is just sweet. While I only have Emma I am going to... Start a Yoga program, study for the GRE, get my house clean, and write more blog entries. In 6 months you should remind me that I was going to do all of these things, I will maybe have done one, but I have good intentions.

Gwin came home today ecstatic, she loves her classroom, her teacher, her new friends, her bus driver, and even loves last years dreaded lunch period. It has been a long time sense I have seen her so happy to go to school, and it makes me very happy to know that I will not have to battle a crying 7 year old every morning for the next 9 months.

Izzy, however, was not so impressed. But no one was more angry when I picked her up, than her lovely, red eyed mother. It started when I dropped her off and her teacher says " Oh, you don't need that lunchbox." Me: "They don't have a snack, I just put juice and crackers in there." Her: " I'm not sure, we will figure it out." Me: " Ok, well if you have snack it is in there." And then the rest of the questions I ask her.

___" Where do I pick her up?" " I'm not sure how it will work Monday."

___ "Where do I drop her off?" " I'm not sure. I think there will be a card thing you swipe." "What does that mean?"

And then this happened:

___ Her: " She told us she can't drink cows milk at breakfast and we didn't believe her, but then when she said she can't drink cows milk at lunch we looked it up and your paperwork said that she is lactose intollerant, you need to fill out this form." Me: " She ate breakfast and lunch? Where do I go to pay for that?" Her: " I'm not sure, but you could check in the office." So I go to the office with the intention of asking why she had breakfast and lunch. And the response I get " Yes, they eat both breakfast and lunch here. " Me: " Its a 3 hour program." Them, " I know my daughter goes here and I thought it was weird too. But she can bring her own breakfast in a lunchbox."

And now, I request a transfer.

A story about Emma

Because I am feeling adventurous, or maybe because I don't want to pack, I am going to attempt to write 2 blog entries today. OOO AAHH.

I finally decided, that if I am a remotely good mother, I needed to take Emma to the doctor today. She has been eating poorly, falling down a lot, and been extremely fussy and whiney for about 2 months. The signs of an ear infection. For the last 2 months I have been thinking, it might be teeth, so lets just wait. And then all of her teeth came in and I had no excuses left. So off we went to the doctor. They ask how long she has been acting like this, and I feel a little nervous to tell them, I mean, what kind of mother allows their kids to act sick for 2 months and not take them to the doctor. Guess what. She got a clean bill of health. Why does she keep falling down, congestion you say? And what that also explains her bloody nose? That coupled with the genes given to her by her mother that has broken her toes 4 times by kicking things and tripping. MY DAUGHTER falling down for no good reason? Yep, makes sense.

And just because we are on the topic of Emma. She has learned a new word, "pony." For those of you who know and love her rendition of "puppy." ( for those of you who don't it sounds like someone hyperventilating but instead of heavy breaths it is the word puppy repeated over and over and over.) She now has issued a sequel. "pony" it sounds exactly like she is saying "pooey" repeatedly. So hopefully this one stays in the confines of our house.

And just for fun here is Emma's quote of the week. Keep in mind she is only 17 months old.

" I wanna doughnut"

Harry Potter Party... Part 2

I am a full blown Potterhead. I own more Harry Potter collectables than people would think possible of a grownup. In fact, I have 2 shelves of my bookshelf with wands, a lego burrow, Chocolate Frogs, Fudge Flies, Droobles, A notebook with a quill, all of the movies, a wax seal thing that sets as Ministry of Magic, A butterbeer glass, a Hogs Head Mug, and a Ministry coffee cup. I also own 2 sets of the books. One for the girls and one that came in a special box set, it looks like Harry's Hogwarts trunk. Oh and I have 3 shirts and a hoodie. It seems a little obsessive now that I write it all down.

In November we hosted our first Harry Potter Party to coincide with the release of the Dealthy Hallows Part 1. Yesterday, we hosted our second Harry Potter Party. I spent over 5 hours this week baking cakes, making snitch pops, creating challenges, and collecting prizes. I even created an all new type of cake. I call it Pumpkin pie cake. It was fantastic. I used a white cake mix, added in half a can of pumpkin filling, and used 1/3 of a cinnamon candy cane mixed into the batter. I also spent over 6 hours cleaning my house to get it ready for company.

We ate a meal, drank butterbeer, had a scavenger hunt that ended in Brianna having to drink half a pitcher of tea to get to her item, a hot potato trivia game, wii wizards chess, a polyjuice potion making (who can make the worst tasting soda) competition, and we ended the night by attending the last movie.

The party was a success aside from the fact that as the night came to a close, I nearly fell asleep during the Harry Potter movie and my throat was burning. I barely made it 10 min. after our company left, until I fell asleep on the couch. But I did get raving reviews of my cakes, and that is almost as important as the movie itself.

What can I do in one day?

I have been riddled with this question for years now. I always feel like everyone is much more productive than myself. It could be that I am just self critical. I mean, I am almost entirely sure that I am self critical, but I have been feeling like I am always full of excuses to myself. Why is my house not clean? Response: Because the girls haven't been sleeping well and I am tired. Then I think, the girls are never sleeping well and I am always tired. What is your excuse now? Well Emma is cutting teeth and wants me to hold her all day. Response: Emma has wanted you to hold her all day since the day she was born. NEXT...

And so goes my circle of self criticism until I end up eating four Lindt chocolates that I was given for my birthday. Don't think I had that much self control. This is only the 4th day I have been in the presence of those Lindt chocolates.

And so I decided to think back on what I had done today, and wonder why I can't get anything done. Here it is, my day:

Wake up

Get dressed

Make Coffee

Do the dishes

Wake up the kids

Get ready for a movie

Take the kids to a movie

Come home

Make lunch

Administer Lunch

Clean up after lunch

Watch the kids put on a show while eating my own lunch

Start nap time

Start a load in the washing machine

Go on a playdate

Make dinner

Order Harry Potter Tickets

Go to publix

Put the older kids to bed

Emma stays up

Make popcorn

Eat lindt chocolates instead of dinner

Drink a mountain dew

Get Emma to sleep

Watch storage wars

Blog

Now Sleep.