First Reconciliation

John had his First Reconciliation last night. For those who don't know, your First Reconciliation is when you confess your sins to a priest for the first time. John was very nervous. We arrived at the church and he looked around impatiently. I asked what was wrong. He didn't say anything. I asked "Are you nervous?" He said "Yes. I'm scared." I said "I know. When I was scared before my First Reconciliation. Do you want to hear a secret? Everyone in here is nervous." He had wide eyes and said "How do you know? Because you were nervous? That doesn't mean that everyone else is too!" Luckily at that point it was time to start and we couldn't talk anymore. The ceremony was short and then it was time for the kids to line up for confession.  I waited with John on line. He was still very nervous. And we talked about what he was supposed to say and how the Father was going to talk to him. Finally it was his turn. He sat in front of Father Ben and started confession. I couldn't hear anything he was saying, but I could see his face. He looked so sweet and innocent. I will admit, I got teary eyed watching him. I don't know if it was just the moment or the fact that he is big enough to have these experiences. After confession he came over to me and I asked "Did the Father tell you to say any prayers?" John looked at me and smiled, he said "You know what he said? He said that I should think about how other people feel when I say things." He looked so happy. I told him "I'm so proud of you!" And we walked over to the alter. John pinned his sheep to the board, got his certificate and lit a candle. 

We had to wait for the rest of the kids to do their confessions and then it was time to go. 

I am very proud of John. He did awesome. I am also very proud of Gillian. She was very good throughout the whole night. 

Music

Last night we heard MKTO's "Classic" in the car. Gillian had a couple of questions, "Who's Michael? And why does he wanna kiss a prince?" I explained that Michael Jackson was a singer and Prince sings a song about kisses. Tonight at dinner I told Daddy "We need to include Michael Jackson and Prince in the kids music education." Daddy agreed and he said "Wanna hear some Prince?" John said "No. How about the Go-Go Girls?" Daddy looked very confused and said "Do you mean the Go-Go's?" John said "No. It was the Go-Go Girls." John has the second grade concert coming up next month. It dawned on me that he might be learning a Go-Go's song for the concert. I asked "Are you singing a Go-Go's song?" John smiled and said "Our Lips are Sealed." Daddy found it on YouTube and John sang along. After the Go-Go's, we listened to the Jackson Five and Prince. The kids danced around the kitchen. I love teaching the kids about music. 

Girls are mean

Gillian learned the hard way yesterday that girls can be mean. John had a basketball game on Saturday morning. We all went to watch. Normally we bring Gillian's LeapPad with us so she can play games. But this time all we grabbed was her plush Belle doll. We sat in the bleachers behind another family. A few minutes into the game the little girl sitting in front of us opened her bag and took out little plush dolls, Anna, Elsa, Olaf and Sven from Frozen. Gillian's eyes lit up. She watched the little girl and her friend play with the dolls. Gillian just watched at first. But then other girls joined the first two in front of us. Now there were four little girls all playing with the Frozen characters. Gillian moved closer to the girls and played with her Belle doll. 

The four girls moved to the empty bleachers to play. Gillian followed them and sat close to them, and played with her doll. From our view it looked like Gillian was going to be included, but we were wrong. The girls moved every time Gillian got close to them. My heart ached for her. She just wanted to play. Luckily this only lasted a little while and the basketball game ended.

As we were putting on our coats and getting ready to leave, Gillian burst into tears. I picked her up and held her. She was so upset. I told her that everything was all right and that sometimes girls could be mean. She said "I just wanted to play." I told her that we would all play with her when we got home. She asked "Even Daddy?" Yes. Even Daddy. Daddy carried her to the car and I explained what happened to John. He agreed to play dolls when we got home. And we did. All of us sat and played dolls with Gillian. She was so happy. 

Cinderella

Every night this week, we have given the kids some extra time before bed to read books. Tonight I asked Gillian to read me a story. She picked Cinderella.

I recorded her telling the story. I hope you enjoy it. I did. 

Car ride

Daddy called me on his way home tonight. We were discussing dinner plans when I heard "Hi Mommy!" I said "Hi Beansy!" I then heard her mumble something. And then Daddy said "Well I love Mommy too!" They are so sweet. 

Daddy told me the rest of the way home they played a little game. It's just like the "duck" that sometimes visits in my car, but it was a dog in Daddy's car. Gillian was wearing a knit hat that looks like a dog today. So she started barking in the backseat and Daddy asked "Gillian, is there a dog back there?" Gillian thought this was hilarious. 

Boycott

Daddy stayed home today with the kids for their snow day. He called me at work to tell me this story. 

John and Gillian were upstairs watching shows. John came downstairs and told Daddy, "Gillian's watching girl shows. I'm boycotting." Daddy said "John do you even know what boycotting is?" John looked at Daddy and said "Yea. Abraham Lincoln boycotted." Daddy questioned John, "Abraham Lincoln? What did he boycott?" John said "He boycotted buses. He wanted people to walk or ride a bike or take the subway. He wanted people to make less pollution."

We think he has mashed together stories about Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks and Abraham Lincoln. We will teach him the proper stories, but for now we are enjoying his mashup. 

Monday Morning

John woke up this morning and walked to our room. I saw him standing in the hallway and said "John? What are you doing? It's a school day." He was so mad. He put his hands in the air and huffed at me. Daddy chimed in too and said "You got to get ready for school." I said "Go back to your room. I laid out your clothes." He huffed and headed back to his room. Daddy and I burst out laughing. John came running back into our room and said "I knew I didn't have school today!" Daddy and I were just teasing him. 

I went to check on Gillian and I found her in her doorway. She said "Do I have school on Monday?" I said "No." She jumped in my arms and I carried her to Daddy. The two of them snuggled while I got ready for work. Daddy told her "Johnny is watching shows." She said "But I want to stay with you." What a sweetie. She only stayed a little while, but Daddy still got plenty of snuggles. 

Painting nails

During bathtime tonight, I told Gillian that I would paint her nails. She was super excited. "I'm going to pick the color!" She quickly got into her pajamas and was ready with her nail polish picked out. She sat patiently while I painted the first coat. But then I put on music for John and she wanted to dance. "Are you done yet?" I explained that I needed to do one more coat. And as I painted every nail, she asked "Are you done?" I tried to move the process along and blow on the nails to dry them faster. She complained "Can you stop that? I'm cold." She sat still until her nails dried and then danced. 

Girl colors

Tonight I dried Gillian after her bath and she asked "Where's the yellow towel?" I told her, "John used it." She giggled and said "You gave him a girl towel." I asked her "Why is it a girl towel?" She said "Cause yellow is a girl color." I hate this logic. So I said "There are no boy colors or girl colors. Just colors." She didn't agree with me and said "Pink is a girl color." I said "No. Do you know who's favorite color is pink?" She said "Me!" I continued and said "No. One of your Uncles likes pink." Gillian said "Uncle Joe." I said "Exactly. Is Uncle Joe a boy or a girl?" She said "A boy." I said "See, it's not a boy color or a girl color. It's an everyone color." I couldn't just leave it there. So I asked "Who likes blue?" Gillian said "John. And me too." I said "That's right. It's not a boy color or a girl color. It's a what color?" She didn't answer right away. I answered and said "It's an everyone color." She said "I was going to say it's a family color." I'll take it. Hopefully she gets it.  

Cookies

Yesterday, Aunt Betty and I decorated Valentine's cookies. Gillian insisted on helping. She got everything ready, the paper plates and all the sprinkles. She started with a cookie that spelled out I ❤️ U. She said "I don't know what this is." But that didn't stop her. She decorated it with a lot of blue icing. She made a handful of cookies. I have to say that I am really impressed with her skills. She really pays attention when I decorate. For example, when she wanted to add purple pearls to her cookie; she took the lid off poured some pearls into the lid and used tweezers to add the pearls. She is very messy with her decorating. She ends up with icing all over her face and in her hair. She also doesn't realize that she shouldn't lick the tweezers or toothpicks. But it was a lot of fun!

And her cookies came out amazing!

Paddington

When we first saw commercials for the new Paddington Bear movie, I told the kids "Mommy has a Paddington Bear." They didn't believe me, but my bear had been sitting on Gillian's dresser for years. I received my Paddington Bear many years ago. I think my Aunt Mary gave him to me. He is well loved and his felt hat has holes in it. Gillian has claimed him as her own. "I just love him."

Last weekend, Aunt Betty took the kids to see the Paddington movie. The only thing the kids could tell me about the movie was "Paddington had a red hat!" Gillian said "But Mommy, your bear has a yellow hat! The one in the movie had a red hat!" They were not happy. 

As info, Paddington traditionally wears a  hat, coat and boots. But in the UK the colors all vary. Most recent books he wears a red hat and blue coat. However when Paddington was first released in the US he had a yellow hat and pale blue coat. 

Consumers

John has a test this week on consumers, producers, and products. Daddy was quizzing him this morning. Daddy first asked "What are producers?" John said "Producers make things." Daddy said "Good, what are consumers?" He said "Consumers buy the products. Namely Mom!"

The Photographer

Gillian asked Aunt Betty yesterday if she could take pictures with her phone. These are some of Gillian's pictures. 

Soccer Ball

Gillian's school had a Super Bowl party on Friday. Gillian was very excited to tell us all about it on Thursday night. She said "There's a party tomorrow. And there's a game and you gotta pick a color. I picked green cause my favorite manket is green. And it's the Soccer Ball and we gunna have hot dogs!" We explained to Gillian that it is the Super Bowl and they play football. But she continues to call it the Soccer Ball.