Typical morning

The kids went back to school on Wednesday after staying home two days. John was excited to be back but Gillian was not. Daddy picked the kids up from school that night and was informed that Gillian had a fever and could not go to school on Thursday. Daddy stayed home with Gillian today. I got up with John and the two of us got in the car and went to the bank. John was super excited to come inside the bank and push all the buttons on the ATM. In the car on our way to school, John says "Mommy? Are we going home or going to school?" I told him we were going to school. He says "Wait a minute! We're missing something! Where's Gill?"

Yup, a typical morning.

Sick Kids

John woke up around 3 this morning. He was crying and coughing. I went right to him and tried to calm him down. He wanted to come to our room mainly because he knows that I have water. And his throat hurt. I carried him to our bed and we settled in. Two second later, Gillian started crying. Daddy got her and brought her to our bed. For awhile we all snuggled together, but John was still shivering even though it was really warm in our bed. Daddy took him out and gave him a warm bath. That really helped bring down his fever. John joined Gillian and I in the bed but Daddy was awake and went downstairs. I moved into the middle of the bed so the kids could both snuggle me. Gillian fell asleep for a little bit but work up around 5 and asked to be moved back to her bed. John and I slept until about 8 and then he joined Daddy downstairs. Gillian woke up crying. She felt warm to me and I put her into a warm bath. After the second bath both kids got set up with the iPad and they snuggled in their beds watching shows. That's pretty much all we did today. They drank lots of water and juice and watched tons of shows. John had a temperature again before bed and hopefully the fever reducer will help to break it. If not Daddy will be taking the two of them to the doctor tomorrow.

Inside out PJs

John heard on the radio the other night that we might get snow today. This morning he woke up and wanted to know where the snow was. We explained to him that the snow probably wouldn't come until after school. I also told him that I had a secret way to get it to it to snow more. I explained that if you sleep with your pajamas on inside out that sometimes it snows. He didn't believe it. I said call your cousin Bert. He did it and they got snow. Daddy also explained to him that you need to get a lot of lot of kids to wear their PJs inside out. The more kids that do it makes more magic. This whole thing really stuck with John. In the car on the way to school, he said "How can we get more kids to wear their Jammies outside in?" Inside out, I corrected him. We talked about how we could call our cousins and he could tell his friends at school. I'm sure he told everyone about it at school. By the time I left work it was snowing. John was so excited. After dinner he called his cousins and asked them to wear their PJs inside out. At bedtime both John and Gillian wore their PJs inside out. Gillian kept saying "It's backwards!" I snuggled with John for a little bit and he said "we didn't tell everyone yet. We have one more person to tell." I said ok, should I text Uncle T? He said "No. It's someone that lives far away." Jokingly, I said should I tell Mr. Matt, because he lives far away. John said "No! You know! Mr. Matt loves really close. No. You know this guy. He lives far away and we see him once a year." It took me a little while and I finally figured it out. Santa! John said "Yes! But he probably has snow up there. Maybe he can send us snow!" My little man is always thinking! I hope the snow lasts until tomorrow and John gets to play in it.

Best Ever!

I don't know when it started but Gillian had been calling people or things "best ever!" It's pretty simple. If she likes something then it's "best ever!" Some days when I pick the kids up from school, she will come running over saying "Mommy! You best ever!" It's a wonderful feeling to know that you are the best thing in her world. Now if you ask her who is "best ever" she will think about it and then give her verdict. Last night, we talked about all of her friends at school. Only Dora was considered "best ever." Gillian says "her nice." You can see the logic there. Dora is nice so she is best ever. This morning before school, Daddy was best ever but not Mommy. Tonight at dinner, Mommy, Daddy and Johnny were best ever. But don't worry. Everyday Gillian is best ever. If you ask her her name she says "Gillian Beanie Best Ever!"

The Obstacle Course

I picked the kid up from school today. On our way home, I asked the kids how their day was. I expected a short one word answer. But John surprised me. He told me about Amazing Athletes and how they did relay races today. "First we did frog hops, then bear crawls. And at the end we ran! That's my favorite! When we get home can we set up an obstacle course?" How can you say no to an obstacle course? So of course I said yes. He said "Ok first we need two hoses. Then we need rubber snakes. But don't tell Daddy, cause he doesn't like snakes! Then we can run through the snakes with them falling on us. Then next we need a really big snake in the front yard. Not a real snake, but looks real. And we need a house but not made out of wood. Made out of Popsicle sticks. So we can run right through it. But it's not real wood. So it won't hurt us. Then we need bricks and glue. We can make a brick wall with a rope so we can climb over it." After all of that he went into a long tirade about how we would have to move the brick wall with cranes and dump trucks. Meanwhile, Gillian is sitting listening to this whole thing. She repeated the last word of every sentence as if to add emphasis to John's speech.

By the time we arrived home he had everything figured out including knocking down our house to make room for his obstacle course. We talked about his obstacle course at dinner and decided instead of knocking down our house we would build it at GiGi's house because she has lots of space. After dinner John took a big pad of paper and drew the layout of the obstacle course. I love that he has such a vivid imagination and was able to draw his vision. I can't wait to hear more about it.

Daddy got some video of John describing his obstacle course, but YouTube was no cooperating with me and I was not able to upload. Hopefully I will soon.

Here's the video of John describing the obstacle course.

Bath time assistant

I give Gillian baths at night. And every night there is drama about getting the soap out of her hair. I have tried to get her to lay down on her back and lean her head back but she doesn't want to try. She gets upset and refuses to lay in the water. Even though when she is playing, she will lay down on her belly or her back. Anyway, last night I washed her hair with my shampoo (I have to do that at least once a week). So I asked her to lay back in the bathtub so that I wouldn't get any water in her face. She shook her head. "No!" I called in the big guns. I asked John to show Gillian how I get the soap out of his hair. He said, "This is what I do." Then he laid down on the bathroom floor and tilted his head back. She watched him and immediately laid down in the water. We got all the soap out of her hair with no tears. All thanks to my John.

Tonight we started to have the same problem. But all I needed to say was remember what John said? She laid back in the bathtub and we rinsed her hair. John checked on us saying "Do you need my help?" When I told him that she rinsed her soap out like a big girl, he went running to Daddy shouting "She did it! I didn't even need to show her!" I love that he was so proud of her too!

The Beach

Daddy and I decided to take the kids to Manasquan today.  It was our first time to the beach since Hurricane Sandy.  We bundled the kids up and packed them in the car.  In the car, we reminded John about how the hurricance destroyed houses and the beachfront.  We also talked about Gee-Gee's.  For those of you that don't know, Gee-Gee's is a pizza place where Daddy and I met in high school.  We both worked there during the summers.  Gee-Gee's is very important to both of us, not only did we meet there, but we spent countless hours there.  A lot of our memories revolve around that building.  John knows Gee-Gee's as The Pizza Man (simply because employees wear t-shirts with a man holding a pizza).  Anyway, after reminding John that there may be some damage to the places he knows, he said "We can help clean up!"

We arrived at the beach.  Daddy and I wanted to see Gee-Gee's, John on the other hand was more concerned about the big piles of sand.  He kept saying "I'm going to the top of the highest mountain!"  I really didn't think anything of it, and said go ahead.  Then I turned around and noticed that one of the piles of sand by me had glass on it.  I didn't think.  Those piles of sand came from the streets or even from in front of Gee-Gee's where glass and all kinds of other debris were inside of them.  I didn't let John climb the piles by the boardwalk.  I took Gillian and John farther onto the beach so that they could play in the sand.  John was totally interested in all the debris in the sand.  Pieces of wood and wire and anything else.  We specifically told him and Gillian to not touch anything.  They ran up and down the piles of sand and even found a couple of shells.  After playing for a little while, Daddy and I put them back in the car and we drove to the inlet.

When we got to the inlet, John and Daddy started to walk along the rocks.  Since I had Gillian, we stuck to the beach.  We sat and watched a few surfers.  Then Gillian saw John and Daddy on the rocks.  She pointed to them and said "I go there!"  The rocks at the inlet are big and sturdy enough to walk all the way out, but carrying Gillian I was a little unsure.  I took her and walked along the rocks for a little bit.  She kept pointing to John and Daddy, who were about 20 feet ahead of us.  We ended up catching up with them and I handed Gillian off to Daddy.  I grew up in Manasquan, but I had never been that far out on the jetty.  Once Daddy head that I had never been out on the jetty, he made it a goal to get all the way out there.  I stuck with John for the second half.  He really got me worried.  The rocks are big, but there are also some big spaces between the rocks.  John would jump from rock to rock and all I could envision was him falling into the cracks.  He didn't fall.  He did a great job, but he did get Mommy a little worried.  We made it all the way to the concrete at the end of the jetty.  And stopped to take a few pictures. 

I took Gillian on the way back and Daddy took John.  I'm thankful that I had to carry Gillian, because on the way back, the wind started to blow really hard and I almost fell a couple of times.  Daddy had to deal with the wind and a little boy.  Overall, we had a great day at the beach. 

Dancing

I went to check on Gillian this morning. She was awake but still laying in her bed. She quickly got up and gave me a big squeezie. She went potty and we went back into her room to get her changed. I was able to get panties on her and then she started dancing. She was running around the room dancing. She would dance then fall to the floor laughing. I was able to get her dressed slowly. I put on her pants and she danced, danced, danced. Then I put on her shirt and she danced, danced, danced. She had so much fun and we shared so many giggles this morning.

Party

Today was John's friend's birthday. Remy's mom invited is over for dinner and cake. Normally I wouldn't go to a party on a school night but it was going to be a small group. Plus I felt like I owed John. The week after Christmas I ran into Remy's mom when picking up the kids. She suggested setting up a play date. We settled on New Year's Eve. That morning I piled the kids in the car and went to start it and it wouldn't turn over. The battery was dead. We unfortunately had to cancel that day and so when I was given and opportunity to get the boys together again I couldn't turn it down.

Daddy picked up Gillian from school and I picked up John. John and I got to Remy's house a little late and Logan was already there. As soon as we walked in the door the boys went running. John felt immediately at home! The boys played and only took a break to eat, open presents and eat again. I had a good time too. It was nice to talk to other moms while the boys entertained themselves. We were on our way out the door and John was in tears "I don't want to go!" I had to promise that we would come visit another day so he would stop.

I did it!

Tonight Gillian and I were snuggling in my bed. Instead of sitting still, she kept climbing out of the bed and running back to me to help her get back in the bed. After repeating this process what seemed like a million times I told Gillian that I would not help her again. Once again, she came up with an excuse to get out of the bed. "I cold. I get manket!" I reminded her that I was not going to help her get back in the bed. She climbed out anyway and went running into her room. She came back with her blanket and Patches, her stuffed doggie. She threw her manket and Patches on the bed and climbed up. When she reached the top she said "I did it!"

While Gillian was climbing in and out of the bed, John was showering. He showers while Daddy supervises in the bathroom. He tells Daddy when it is time to wash his hair or when he is done showering. Tonight he yelled to Daddy "I'm shutting her down!" Where does he come up with this stuff?

French Fry

It's Tuesday. I am sure I've said it before (Daddy says I write it every week), but Daddy works late on Tuesdays so I get to pick the kids up from school, feed them and bathe them before he gets home. Daddy came home tonight and found the kids already in their PJs. Daddy brought home some food for his dinner. When he sat down to eat it, Gillian said "Is that your food?" Daddy said "Yes, it's my dinner." And Gillian responded "I eat it?" Daddy placated her and gave her a French fry. She ate it and said "It's delicious!" Daddy then said "I'll tell you a secret, other people's food always tastes better!" Gillian nodded her head empathically. Daddy shared some more of his fries with Gillian. But then he started to eat his sandwich. Gillian watched him intently "Is that your sammich? I have some?" You would think that I didn't feed her dinner.

Bedtime

I love tucking the kids in bed. They are so sweet. They try to prolong the goodnight as long as possible. They give tons of kisses and squeezies. Gillian will fuss over which blanket goes where or which pillow to use. John will want me to snuggle in his bed and then after 30 seconds he will kick me out. He will want the smallest random stuffed animal (that we can't ever find). He will finally settle down and fall asleep. John falls asleep quickly, but Gillian does not. She takes her time and talks to herself and her toys. I always go back and check on them before I go to sleep. I love how sweet they look when they are sleeping.

Dinnertime Secrets

Tonight at dinner (much like every other night), I served the kids food, and told them it was hot. Gillian immediately shoved a meatball in her mouth. She started to cry, because it was too hot. We told her to spit it out and I again told her that the food was hot and that she needed to blow on it. She said "I can't. You blow it." That drives me crazy. I'm sorry, but a kid her age should be able to blow on her food to cool it down. I told her that a two year old should be able to cool her food down. She again said "I can't." Meanwhile, John is saying something to me too. I focused on John and asked him what he needed. He said "Can I get up and tell her a secret?" I told him he could tell Gillian a secret. All I was thinking was that it would distract her for a few minutes while her food cooled down. He got up and went over to her and whispered "When I was your age, I had to blow on my food. Try it. You can do it." She shook her head and said "No!" He again reassured her "You can do it!" He walked around the table and climbed back into his chair. "I just had to tell Gillian a secret." And then he started to tell us what told Gillian. But we stopped him and told him that he didn't need to share the secret. What a sweet little boy trying to help us out.

Extended Timeout

Nothing much exciting going on in our house for the past couple of days. Daddy and I are having a hard time with getting the kids to listen. We will tell them something as simple as, don't stand on the furniture. But then minutes later we will see the same behavior. Tonight I sent John to timeout for jumping from couch to couch. While he was in timeout he proceeded to kick the wall and talk to Gillian. His timeout got extended longer due to both of these infractions. Then within 5 minutes after he was released from timeout he stood on his chair. And that was the last straw. I sent both of them to bed. I just couldn't take it anymore. John pouted the entire time up the stairs. He insists "I was so excited about watching your movie that I forgot." He couldn't talk himself out of this one. Both of them were sent to bed and John was again told that he is a big boy and needs to work on his listening.

Stooges

One of Daddy's favorite shows is the Three Stooges. He recently watched the movie and knew that John would love it too. We started watching the movie and John at first did not like it. But that didn't last long. The first really big scene where the stooges were trying to fix something and they hit each other with hammers and fell down a ladder, John laughed and laughed. He laughed so hard that I was afraid he was going to pee his pants. He loved the movie. He was glued to the TV and didn't miss any of the action. Then the stooges had a big fight. Moe got mad and the three of them split ways. Daddy and I watched John and he looked really mad. I asked him if he was ok. He turned to us with tears in his eyes and said "I can't believe they're doing this right now!" He burst into tears and jumped into my arms to snuggle. We explained to him that everything would be ok, but he was still upset. It didn't take long to get him laughing again. He really enjoyed the movie and before Daddy tucked him in bed John said "Don't worry! All the hammers and tools they used wasn't real. They were rubber and sound effects!"

Babies & Whistles

Gillian was playing with her babies this weekend (I know big surprise). She was feeding them and walking them around the house in their stroller. Gillian and I went downstairs to watch some shows and relax. She put her babies to sleep and then woke them up. She left the babies on the couch for a little bit and started to look for her dress up stuff. Then the fire whistle went off at the fire station behind our house. Gillian has gotten over her fear of the fire whistle during the hurricane. However she went running over to her babies and picked them all up and brought them to me. She said "They scared! Whistle not nice!" She rocked and hugged her babies tight until the whistle stopped. What a good little Mommy!

The Book

This morning Gillian was reading her princess books.  She loves looking at the pictures and occassionally she will comment on what she sees. This morning she was reading "Beauty and the Beast."  She brought the book over to Daddy and pointed to one page and said "He has her hand!"  The page she was talking about had a picture of Gaston holding Belle's hand.  She moved to the next page and saw a picture of the Beast.  She then said "There a tiger!" Daddy explained to her that he was not a tiger, but he was the Beast.  She basically ignored that information.  Later she brought the book over to me and again said "He has her hand!'  She was so worried and upset about Gaston holding Belle's hand.  She repeated again and again and again (and again), "He has her hand!"  We tried to explain to her that he was the bad guy, and to not worry because Belle was ok.  But all she still remains concerned that "He has her hand!"

 

Busy

I am lucky. My kids play very well with each other. Tonight they made a little game out of chasing each other around the kitchen island. Gillian was holding her wand and John was holding his two swords. John was trying to tap Gillian on the back with his sword. But she wasn't running fast enough. So he kept yelling at her saying "Run faster! Run faster!" Them John tells her "Ok let's do it again without our weapons." The two of them put down the wand and the swords and run around the island again. They ran and ran until they laid down in Duncan's bed to rest. I was finished in the kitchen so we all moved downstairs to play.

It didn't take John long to create a new game. He took his two little Nerf guns that Uncle Bob gave him for Christmas and he started shooting them across the room. He then said to Gillian, "Gill! Get the bullets!" Gillian was more than happy to run around the basement picking up the darts. She picked them up one at a time and ran them back to John. During one of her trips across the basement, we heard John mutter "This will keep her busy!"

Pickup

I was the lucky one to pick the kids up from school tonight. Since I work until 5:30, the kids are already in the Dolphin room playing with the remaining kids. I have a little routine when I arrive in order to save myself some time and aggravation. I go to Gillian's cubby and organize her book bag and then to John's cubby. I then go to Gillian's class and sign her out and then to John's class to sign him out and get his paperwork. I then go into the Dolphin room to collect the kids. Tonight I walked in the Dolphin room at the same time as another dad. Gillian came running over saying "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Then John can running saying "I missed you so much!" I felt so bad. The other dad stood there and watched me get hugs and kisses. He turned to his daughter and said "Where's my big hello?!" I was embarrassed of all the affection I received. Now thinking back about it, I shouldn't have been embarrassed. I am lucky. My kids are not afraid to show me how much they care. I love my babies and I can't wait to pick them up again!

Sweet kids

My kids are so sweet. They love to give kisses and squeezies (that's what we call hugs). I'm a lucky mommy. I get the most kisses and squeezies. John got to stay up a few minutes later than Gillian tonight. He snuggled in our bed for a little bit and I told him it was almost time for bed. So he gave me a kiss. Then he proceeded to blow two kisses to me. And if that wasn't enough he gave me a kiss on my nose. Daddy took him to bed. John was in bed for about ten minutes and he walked into our room. "Mommy, I need to talk to you. How come you didn't come and give me kisses?" I said I thought I got all my kisses before Daddy took you to bed. He said "No! I gave you those kisses. Now you have to come give me kisses!"

Archaeologist

John received a dinosaur puzzle from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. This is not just a dinosaur puzzle. It is a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. And before you can put it together, you first need to dig the pieces out of a block plaster. John and I started digging yesterday. He got frustrated because he didn't find any bones within the first five minutes, but he stuck with it and found quite a few bones the first day. He even let me help too! We didn't finish it yesterday but Daddy and John worked on it again this morning. He was able to get 10 of the 12 bones out of the plaster. He only has two more to go hopefully tomorrow he will be able to get the remaining bones out and we can put together the puzzle. Below are some pictures of hi progress.