Statue

Daddy called me tonight before I left the office. I could hear Gillian in the background. She was super excited and talking very fast. I couldn't understand what she was saying, but Daddy said he would explain when I got home. 

Today, Gillian and her class made a mask that looked like the Satute of Liberty. Gillian told me all about it "She's a girl. And she's holding a thing. And it's on fire! And she's got spikes on her head! And you can go inside her. You gotta buy tickets. I want to go see her!"

I love that she is so excited about learning, but all I could think of was John trying to say Statue of Liberty. Check out my previous post: http://johnandgillwentupahill.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-was-your-day.html?m=1

The scarf

Grandma made Gillian and I new infinity scarves. Grandpa gave them to me at work yesterday. I picked up Gillian and she saw that I was wearing my new scarf and she asked "New scarf?" I said "Yes. Yours is in the car." I gave her the new scarf and she said "I can put my fingers thru it. Like my manket!" I put it on her and she immediately put her fingers through the loops of the stitches. 

She loves her new scarf. Today we were leavin school and one of the teachers stopped us and said "Gilly, I love your scarf is it new?" Gilly nodded. I said "Grandma made us some new scarves." The teacher asked me "Is it one of those infinity scarves? It is beautiful." I tried to answer her, but Gillian talked louder than me. She said to me "You know who Grandma is? Grandma is your Mom!" We talked to the teacher for a few more minutes. And Gillian proudly walked out of school telling me "Everyone loves my scarf!" 

The list

John and Daddy went on an adventure yesterday. They needed to get silly socks for John for school, and flour and creamer for Mommy. When they got home, Daddy told me that John was a big helper. John kept a list in his head. He described it "I had pictures in my head and then when we got something on my list I made a check (and he took his finger and made a checkmark on his temple)." John was so proud of his list. After he described his list, he told me "When we got everything I erased it!"

Sunday Breakfast

I try to make a nice breakfast for the family on Sundays.  This morning, Gillian and John wanted to help.  I put Gillian in charge of coffee, while John helped me make the eggs.  Gillian is the best coffee assistant.  We have a Keurig coffee maker and all Gillian really has to do is load the K-cup and push a button.  We moved a chair over so Gillian could reach the coffee maker, and I gave her two cups.  She picked up a K-cup and asked "Daddy like this one?"  I told her yes, and she made the coffee for Daddy.  She then yelled "Daddy!  You gotta help me!  It's hot, you gotta take it out!"  Daddy helped her taking out the used K-cup and moving the cup of hot coffee.  She then asked me "You like this one?"  She's a smart little lady, she remembers which K-cups Daddy likes and which ones I like. 

Meanwhile, John was assisting me with the eggs.  I was making toad-in-the-hole, and John was cracking the eggs for me to put into the center of the pieces of bread.  He was very good at cracking the eggs and enjoyed it so much that he was ready before I was ready for the next egg.  When we had cooked enough, John called everyone to the kitchen.  He was very proud.  "I helped make the breakfast!" he told Daddy.  Gillian was mad, and said "I made the coffee!"  I am a lucky mommy and I had two helpers this morning. 

Later in the morning, I was ready for my second cup of coffee.  The kids were downstairs playing and I stood in the kitchen and said "I really want another cup of coffee.  I wish I knew how to make one."  And from the basement I heard "I can make it!"  And Gillian came running upstairs.  She even checked on Daddy "Daddy, you need more coffee?"  And she made us all some coffee.   

Bad day

I picked Gillian up from school yesterday. When I got there, she was playing Ring Around the Rosie with Dorlisa and two baby dolls. Gillian didn't see me at first so I got to watch them play for a few minutes until a little boy said "Gillian your mom's here." She turned around, saw me, threw her doll in the air behind her and ran towards me. I told her to go back and pick up the baby doll. It was not nice to throw it in the air. She fell to the floor and had a temper tantrum. We left school and I told her no television because she misbehaved. 

Tonight, I picked Gillian up from school. When I got there, she was coloring. I said "We need to go get John." She said "I'm not done. There's still white!" I let her finish her picture and we got in the car. In the car I asked her about her day. She said "It was bad day." I asked her what happened. She said "I spit and I go to Miss Kim's class." Ummm, Miss Kim is the school director. That's the equlivant of going to the principal's office. Not a good day Gillian.

I picked up John. I asked him "How was your day?" He said "Good." But that story changed when Daddy asked. "I had to sit out ten minutes of recess." Daddy asked "Why?" John said "I called Conner a name." Daddy asked "What did you call Conner?" John said "I was afraid you'd ask that." Again Daddy asked "What did you call Conner?" John mumbled "A big baby head." 

Gilly was right. It was a bad day. 

Last week

One of Gillian's favorite things to say is "Last week..." She, like most children, has no concept of time. Here are a few of my favorite "Last week" stories. 

"Last week, I was a baby and Johnny feed me."

"Last week, I go to the crayon factory. I want to go right now! I need to make more crayons."

"Last week, I was a baby and I no wear socks."

"We already come here! Last week, we go to this store and I get donuts!" (at the mall)

"It's my Dad's birthday." We tell her that it isn't. She says "It was. Last week!"

Are you sure?

John and Gillian came to work with me again this morning. Daddy had an early morning appointment and was planning on picking them after he was done. So they were only at the office for a short time. We started the morning by drawing pictures. While drawing Gillian asked "When are your friends coming?" 

After being really good for awhile, Mimi and I let them watch a show. I turned put on the Cars movie for them to watch. After a few minutes John came to find me and said "Finding Nemo is on. And we don't want to watch it." I went into the conference room to change the channel and Gillian was staring at the TV. She shouted "Nemo!" Apparently not everyone wanted to change the channel. As I started to look for a new show, Gillian cried. And John said to her "Are you sure you want to watch Nemo? After the mom and the other kids died? Are you sure?" Thanks John. Thanks for making her aware of how sad that movie starts. I changed the channel. Gillian pouted for thirty seconds and John stopped talking about fish dying.

The little things

Saturday morning, I was awake laying in my bed when John walked in. He climbed up on the bed and laid next to me. We snuggled for a few minutes and he kissed me on the forehead and went downstairs to find Daddy. We didn't say anything. We just enjoyed the moment together. 

Today Gillian came upstairs with a little dish and two spoons. She said "I make you guys a snack. It's not spicy! It has an apple!" Daddy and I both got to "try" her snack. We told her it was delicious. She smiled and ran away. 

John has decided that he wants to compete in the Olympics. He said to us "Mrs. Belena already knows that I'm going to be in the next Olympics."  We had to explain to him that he would only be 8 by the next summer Olympics and that he wouldn't be old enough to compete. 

We put on the Disney channel for the kids this afternoon. I was going to get some work done, but Gillian asked "You watch with me?" So the two of us snuggled up next to each other on the couch and watched Gillian's favorite princess in Cinderella 2.  

A day at the office

Yesterday John was scheduled off from school and I had planned to bring him to work with me. We woke up yesterday morning and Gillian's school had a 10:00 am start and Daddy had a 10:30 start. So the only options were for me to wait out Gillian's delay or bring her to work with me. I decided to bring her to work. I packed up a bunch of activities for the kids and we headed to the office. (On a side note, I work at my in-law's car dealership and it is not a problem to bring the kids to work)

We stopped at the service center to drop off some Valentine's cookies for the employees. Aunt Missy met us at the door. She asked "Who wants to stay with Aunt Miss?" Gillian raised her hand and said "I do!" I got Gillian out of the car and she and Aunt Missy went to work. John and I went over to the sales building and started our day. We have an extra desk in our office that John has claimed. John hung out at his desk playing games on his DS. I was able to get some work done too. Mimi came in and John told her "It's really hot by my desk!" (His desk is by the window.) Mimi had a solution, she made him a little fort. 

He loved his little fort. He also convinced Mimi to add another tablecloth to the fort so it was bigger and the sun didn't make him hot. Uncle T came inside and asked John to help him with the plow truck. When they were done, John said "Uncle T drived and I got to do the plow. I made it go up and down!"

Meanwhile, Gillian was having a great time in the service department. Every time a tech or another employee came into Aunt Missy's office, Gillian would point at them and say "Who's that? What they doing here?" Gillian was very busy and she made pictures for Uncle T, Mimi, Miss Sharon and me too. Gillian and Aunt Missy walked over to the sales building in time for lunch. Gillian was not happy when she saw that John had a nameplate for his desk. John only has a nameplate, because Poppy modified it for him.

Notice the masking tape? It's covering Poppy's middle initial E. Anyway, Gillian asked "Where's my name?" Aunt Missy made Gillian a nameplate out of card stock. Gillian wasn't happy. "I want a wood one!"

The kids had a little picnic in John's fort. 

The picnic was short lived. Gillian ended up eating at my desk. And I ended up with peanut butter on my monitor. I packed the kids extra snacks and juice boxes thinking that they would have some for an afternoon snack. Well Gillian ate everything in her lunch bag. 

After lunch the kids played games on the iPad and my phone. When Mimi came back from her meeting, she set the kids up in the conference room with Disney Junior on TV. 

They spent the rest of the day hanging out in the conference room watching cartoons, relaxing and drawing pictures. It was a long day for them and they were very good. 

Snow day projects

Today was yet another snow day. In anticipation of being stuck inside the house all day, I ran to the food store on Wednesday night. Normally I avoid food stores before a storm, but honestly it wasn't that bad. Luckily I didn't need bread or milk. I just needed some supplies to make chicken torilla soup. While I was getting my soup supplies, I also got a few thing to keep the kids busy. 

This morning I put some clear contact paper on the sliding glass doors with the sticky side out. I also cut up little pieces of tissue paper. So the kids could create stained glass windows. I showed them what to do and let them be creative. Gillian wasn't sure at first, but she figured it out and went crazy. John was very specific. He looked for all white and wanted to make a sky filled with snow. and then all he wanted was green to make grass. 

John's final project. He said "It's snow in the sky and then the grass and there's a fake sky too. I wanted to make people in the middle but wasn't sure how to do it."

Gillian's final project. She said "I crumple up the pieces for the little spots!"

We had a lot of fun with this project. I will definitely do this again. 

Later in the afternoon, we made heart trees. I traced the kids arms and hands to make the tree trunk and let them put heart leaves on the trunk. I'm surprised with the result. I thought they would have used more hearts. 

John's final heart tree. 

This is Gillian's final heart tree. She said "I make it for Johnny!" And she ran over to him and gave it to him. Love their big hearts. 

If the snow didn't turn to rain then we would have had more fun outside. Next time!

The Bus Stop

John's bus stop is at the corner of our street.  It is a house away from our house.  I normally walk with John to the bus stop.  We hang out and talk and wait for the bus.  Since the weather has been very cold lately, we have been driving to the bus stop.  It's ridiculous.  I feel stupid driving, but at the same time, it's been too cold to wait outside for an extended period of time.  Since we are just waiting in the car for the bus to come, I have been letting John sit in the front seat.  He has a lot of questions about the car. "What does that do?" "How do you make the wipers go?"  "When do you use the emergency brake?" "What does the N mean?" I try to get him to focus on one thing and we talk about that. But some days we talk about everything. I can't get mad. I love that he is interested and wants to know more. 

Cookie assistant

Aunt Betty came over on Sunday to help me decorate Valentine's cookies. John and Daddy decided they would build Legos all day. Gillian, on the other hand, told me "I's going to help you. I do the sprinkles!" When Aunt Betty arrived, Gillian squirmed into her lap and refused to move. Again she told us "I can help!" Aunt Betty decorated a few cookies with Gillian sitting in her lap and then she moved to another seat. She then iced a cookie for Gillian to decorate. Gillian was very precise with her placement of the sugar hearts. 

After adding the sugar hearts, Gillian decided that the cookie needed sprinkles too! Pink of course. Gillian was happy to help decorate that one cookie but that didn't stop her from critiquing our work. If we decorated a cookie with just icing she would say "You forgot sprinkles!" If we asked her what color to use she would say "Pink!"  

I iced a cookie for Gillian to decorate. She decided to use white pearls on it, but initially wanted to use my tweezers. I told her to just use her fingers because it was hard to use the tweezers. She did a great job. 

I asked her what she wanted to use next, sugar or sprinkles. 

She decided to use pink sugar. 

Gillian decorated a beautiful cookie. She also helped Aunt Betty with another cookie. Below are her finished cookies. 

I think she is going to be a great cookie artist!

Johnny Saturday

On Saturday, Gillian and I ran some errands in the morning and then went straight to John's basketball game. Daddy said that they got there early and John got to practice. John practiced with Daddy and made a few baskets. We got to his game at the end of practice and watched Johnny play. Gillian is a great cheerleader. I think everyone (except John) heard her say "Go Johnny go!" 

John and his team did great. At the end of the game the kids give each other high fives and say "Good game!" We watched him go back to the bench and pick up his water bottle and head across the court to us in the stands. As he crossed the court he saw one of the kids from the other team. He ran up to him and said "Good game." The other boy didn't even see him. But John still smiled and ran over to us. 

After basketball we went to see the Lego Movie. John was super excited to see the Lego movie. We went to the movie theater at the mall but found out that our show was sold out. We then ran to the next closest theater. Luckily they were showing the movie in twenty minutes. I ran inside bought tickets and popcorn and we waited and waited and waited. They were cleaning the theater from the previous movie. John has no patience and continually asked "Can we go in now?" "Is it ready now?" Finally we got in the theater and watched the movie. John loved it. He did close his eyes a couple of times and say "Tell me when it's over!" But overall it was a cute family movie. 

Pizza Party

One of Gillian's friends had a birthday pizza party at school today. When I picked her up tonight, she immediately said "Nicholas give me something and I got a party hat!" I saw that Nicholas gave everyone a goodie bag. Gillian insisted "I carry to the car!" In the car I asked her what she had at the party. She said "Pizza! I eat two pieces! And munchkins! I eat two chocolate ones." I asked her if there was any cupcakes. She said "No cupcakes. Nicholas' mommy needs to make some. And then you can have one. Or you could have a bite of mine!" I should not have asked. Poor Nicholas. You know on Monday she is going to ask him for a cupcake. 

The alphabet

Gillian goes to daycare (we call it school) and this year in the 3 year old classroom she is learning to recognize the alphabet. Every couple of weeks they work on a new letter. They trace the letter and at the end of the week they make a picture of the letter. They started with A. 

Gillian was so proud of her monster A. She showed me and roared. When Daddy saw it he said "I bet they are all muppets. It looks like Animal." Well Daddy was right. Because B looked like Beaker. 

I love the Muppets and I look forward to seeing her creations every few weeks. So far we have Crazy Harry, Fozzie, Gonzo and Sam Eagle. But my favorite was brought home yesterday. 

I told Gillian "This is my favorite letter!" She said "It's Kermit!" I love it. And I love this project that Gillian's teacher is doing. I can't wait to see them all!

The Hat

Yesterday I was getting her dressed to go outside. We couldn't find a particular hat. She said "I want the one I got for Christmas." I knew the hat she was looking for but it was in Daddy's car. I told her that and we went outside. I looked in Daddy's car and I found the hat she wanted. She immediately traded the one she had on for the "Christmas hat." On a side note, she didn't get the hat this Christmas, she got it Christmas of 2012. She has a good memory. 

This morning, I helped her get her coat on before she left for school. I tried to put her hat on (the Christmas hat).  She looked at me and said "No Mommy, I can't wear that. It's a Christmas hat!" Oh that explains everything. 

Another Snow Day

I woke up this morning, and it wasn't snowing.  But I checked online to see if the kids had school.  Both schools were closed in anticipation of today's snow storm.  I told Daddy about the school closures and he said "Okay."  Luckily, he was scheduled off today because he worked on Saturday.  I got ready and went to work.  As I was leaving, John woke up and walked downstairs.  "Is it a stay at home day?"  he asked us.  We explained that it was a school day but school was closed because it was snowing (it had started snowing by this point).  He was super excited about no school!

After working a few hours, I came home to find Daddy making the kids lunch.  We had lunch and the kids played for a little bit.  Then I bundled them up and we all went outside to play.  I practically had to beg John to come outside with us.  He kept saying "I'll just watch you guys."  After bundling the kids up (that takes forever), we went outside and started to play.  The snow was good snowball/snowman snow.  I attempted to make a few small snowmen, but Gilly-zilla smashed them all.  John and I had a little snowball fight and the Gillian got bored.  "Smashing makes me tired.  I go inside."  Johnny and I decided to go in the backyard to play and Gillian's attitude changed.  We went out back and the kids went right to their playground.  They had to go down the slide and play on the swings.  After awhile, Gillian and I got tired and we went inside to play.  John stayed outside for another half hour after that.  He kept himself busy playing on the swings and clearing off the deck.  For someone who didn't want to go outside, he stayed out for a long time.

At dinner, I asked everyone "What was your favorite part of the day?"  John said "I think you know!  It was the snowball fight!"  Gillian said "Daddy.  Daddy and John." Overall, a pretty awesome snow day.