Brrrrrrrrrrrr that's BRISK baby!

Mighty chilly round these parts!!!!!!!! On the way to school this morning the girls were talking about going for a walk in the afternoon but it was too cold for me. Instead we got out the paints. They're in love with painting lately. It's not nearly as messy an activity as it used to be so that's good! Honey got a kit for her bday that you make plaster casts of letters and then paint them when they're dry. I've been dreading this box for ages and have put her off so many times but she got especially insistent this week & I couldn't shake her. It's a two day process as you have to mix the powder to make the plaster (which of course, THEY want to stir themselves...) then pour into the molds & wait to dry til the next day. So the mixing and pouring wasn't toooo disasterish but the waiting part was almost enough to kill them! I think they were more excited about this than Christmas itself! They talked about how they were going to paint the letters many many times before bed. Then in the morning they wanted to know exactly WHEN the painting was going to happen. We got home from school and they wanted to start! I made them wait til after lunch and then let them go to it.


one of my favourite pictures. Sweetie's portrait of Murray.

They loooooooooooooved it. I had a bit of a hard time convincing Honey that she should let her sisters do some too. She wasn't keen on that one bit. She totally forgot that we'd long ago used her sisters' kits and that she'd enjoyed using their stuff at the time! So we talked a bit about whether it was fair not to share hers and she decided maybe they could do some afterall.

They wanted to combine the painting with playing school so that was art class and after art class, I wanted the students to practice printing their names. WELL! they haaaaaaaaaaated that idea! But once it came down to getting the page done & being able to watch a movie til "their parents came to pick them up" they weren't long in getting through the worksheet! LOL

Toddler Chat VI (or something)

Last week, Lovey was very keen on helping me out in the kitchen. She helped clear the table off for supper, then set it & then put away a bunch of stuff that didn't belong in there and then asked to wash the dishes. I told her what a good helper she was being and how impressed I was etc. She told me "I like helping you. I can do some of your jobs and then you won't have so many things to do and then you won't have to say "oh CRAP!" all the time."

Murray was reading the kids one of their bedtime stories and came across a word he thought he'd better explain.

Murray- girls, dilemma means the same as "problem"
Sweetie: yeah Daddy, another word for that is predicament


On Tuesday, Sweetie came out to the kitchen holding a bunch of coins in her hand.

Me: Where did those come from?
Sweetie: my bubblegum machine
Me: What are you doing with them?
Sweetie: I want to give it to the poor people.

We put the money in a little baggie to take to church. Last winter, almost a year ago, we heard about a single mom with 2 young girls, one the same age as our girls who were having a hard time and had a totally empty cupboard. So we went through our pantry and gathered some things to donate & then I bought some more stuff at the grocery store, including some bubbles as Easter was coming up. Sweetie remembered this family and wanted her coins to go to the little girls that we gave the bubbles to. It's amazing what they can remember sometimes. That was a one time event, ages and ages ago (especially to a 4½ year old!) but she was very specific and very serious.

She also decided to get her teddy bear bank and looked at what she had in there and added ALL of it to the bag because "I don't need anything and I don't need that money but that family will be very excited to get my coins. Daddy has money and he gets what we need." Mind you, our money tree out back doesn't work any better than anyone else's but she is right, Murray's got her basics covered and her life won't suffer any for her generosity so I didn't try to talk her out of it. Honey & Lovey came along and got in on the conversation and then ran to their bedroom & were back with their banks in no time. They dumped out all their coins onto the table and started adding to the bag. Lovey decided she didn't need any of hers either and added it all. Honey thought maybe she might need a bit and decided to save some but still put the majority of what she had. I let them talk it out & do what they wanted but it was an interesting conversation!

STRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE!

We took the girls out for an activity on the weekend. They wanted to go to gymnastics. It was full. Fine. We'll try the playclimber. It was closed down for some repairs. Soooooooooo, who wants to go bowling????????? The girls had dressed for the balance beam, not the alley so their outfits here are somewhat odd but they'd have been stylin' on the floor (so keep that in mind!)

They enjoyed the bowling for awhile but it takes an awfully long time for all of us to finish even one string & they started to get tired of it. Before that, they were very into it & somehow Sweetie managed to get a strike! We couldn't believe it & she was pretty impressed with herself too!

New Mittens!

A triplet mom friend of mine had recommended these mittens last winter & I decided to get the girls some for Christmas (thereby justifying the outlandish present by combining a practical item & Christmas present). They're awesome! They're dry! They're warm! No snow can get inside! The liners are removable if their hands sweat! and last but not least: they all hate them.

We tried them out last week. We got out the door and all three of them started to cry. and cry and wail and scream. I tried to tough it out & thought they'd come around. How bad can new mittens be? It's not like I was hanging them by their thumbs for heaven's sake! I ignored them & worked away at shovelling the very fluffily full driveway. After a few minutes, Lovey decides to handle it her own way. She takes them off & goes bare handed. Honey & Sweetie stick to their screaming banshee strategy. Is this normal 4½ year old behaviour? They whine & cry buckets for anything that doesn't go right. It realllllllllllllly grates on one's nerves when it's bombarding you threefold 486 times a day! They literally sat there in the snow, not moving, tears streaming down their faces for at least 15 minutes. Lovey is nearing frostbite but quiet. How long should I have let that continue? I didn't last much longer than that. I gave up & gave them their old mittens back. Am I a bad mom? Are they controlling me? Am I teaching them anything useful?????? The mittens are too big and they can't grip things with all the extra padding so their dislike of the mittens isn't completely unjustified but I'm thinking their reaction was a bit ridiculous. But now I have to worry that I've yet again reinforced that crying is the most succesful means of getting what you want!!!!! Arghhhhhh!

As soon as they had their comfy mitts back on, all was well & we spent 2 hours outside in the fresh air & I shovelled the whole driveway. Not a bad workout! Although they didn't learn much about toughing it out, all was not lost I guess.

A Doozy of a Week!

Well! the flu has had its wicked way with some of us here. Sweetie went down last Monday night & was up hourly. She missed school the next day and although she doesn't like to be sick, she sure does like to be home with Mummy all by herself. The whole way there she kept making sure she was NOT staying and was going to be coming home with me after we dropped her sisters off. and then there was that sneaky little grin that gave it away too ;) By the weekend I thought we'd dodged a bullet and she was going to be the only one. Not so lucky. Saturday night, Honey was hit but did all her porcelain time before bed & was able to sleep comfortably all night, as were we. So that's probably enough for one week isn't it?????? No, unfortunately not. Sunday night/wee hours of Monday morning I realize I'm the next victim. Blech!

Being sick is terrible! I missed my mummy! When I was at home, even when I was a teenager, she always got up with me, rubbed my back and put a cool cloth on my forehead. There's not much you can do for a sick kid but I always remember that that always comforted me and made me feel a bit better. Murray always gets up to check on me & offers to help but well, I'm not 4, 10 or 16 anymore and having your husband witness this awful situation just isn't cool.

Mind you, he was a superstar the next morning! I was sooooooooo impressed! He got them all up & fed, dressed, teeth brushed and out the door, on a Monday morning when the routine is always a bit rough from the weekend and had them at school EARLY. EARLIER than ANYONE else that day. I've been doing this school run since September and frankly, I think I've managed that once. I got up to see if the kitchen was a disaster at least but it was pretty tidy. How rude. I let him take over for one day & he has to go and show me up. ;) I took full advantage of the quiet and dropped back into bed. He picked them up, was home by noon, got lunch for them & himself and settled them downstairs with the tv and was back at work around 1pm. Before leaving he warned them severely to let me rest unless it was really important and not to fight or anything.

Those kids let me sleep until after 3:30pm. I figured I had an hour tops after he left. I was in and out of it most of the day but stayed in bed the whole time, even when I wasn't asleep, I just laid there, conserving energy. Sweetie started checking on me and tiptoed in the first time to whisper "Mummy I hope you get better soon" and then started taking care of me a bit before 4pm when she brought me some "fresh" water. (hopefully from the tap & not other low lying water sources she can reach). A few minutes later she brought me a picture that she & her sisters had made to make me feel better. Then I dozed off again, only to wake up to the rattle and clunking of something in a plastic box. I initially thought the little sneak was making a break for the Polly Puke-It stash under my bed but then I felt a stethoscope on my chest. She was giving me a check up! Everything was satisfactory so she packed up her kit & took it back downstairs. She brings me an extra blanket and holds it in front of the fan for a few minutes so it won't make me too hot. Then she changes my water, from the Dora sports water bottle to a little cup with a straw because she thought that would be easier for me to drink. Next, it's snack time & in she comes with a little metal cookie sheet with All Bran Bites on it. She tells me that she's taking care of me and anything I need, just let her know and she'll get it for me! Except, if I want food, it has to be something that's already made and that she can reach because she can't cook so it has to be something in a package she can open. She mentions several times that she loves taking care of me and wants to know if we can play a game. I'm enjoying the attention but not too sure about this and wonder "game???? oh dear heaven, I haven't got the energy or attention span for a game...." But I say yes, what do you want to play? She wants to play "I be the mummy & you be the little girl" Whew! I can do that for sure! I even chew down a couple crackers since she's gone to the effor to get them ready for me. Off she trots again, returning this time with a bag of baby carrots. "Do you want some veggies Sweetie? They're good for you & will help you get better!" oh help me. not cold slimy carrots.... I manage to beg off those without offending and ask for a cuddle instead. As we lay there, I tell her what a thoughtful "mummy" she is. "I AM????????" she says, as a pleased smile spreads over her face. I mention all the helpful things she's done and how nice it is to be looked after so well and I could just tell she was over the moon at this praise. Over and over she kept telling me how much she liked taking care of me and was just so incredibly sweet & cute.



Honey & Lovey were good as gold and never even raised their voices once. There is almost always some sort of squabble over something in the run of an afternoon! I couldn't get over how good they were, how great Murray was at handling everything & what troopers they all were while I was having a sick day. Three cheers for my crew!!!!!!!!!!