happy birthday elise!

so did i mention that having children is a mixed blessing?

i think the best reminder of what blessings children can be came monday morning when elise barged into the bathroom and announced that the hall bathroom was flooded. i was in the shower (the first shower). i asked her what happened and she told me that it was wet and that she hadn't been in there at the time...clarence was in there, though. clarence, the cat, of course. so i had to mop up the flooded bathroom floor...brings a whole new meaning to "eau de toilette". another quick shower and i was ready to face my monday :) i'm so efficient that i showered for monday and tuesday in one morning! ;)

so today was elise's 6th birthday! i had asked her a couple of different times what she wanted to do and what she wanted for her birthday. she said every time that she wanted to go to tgifriday's for dinner and she wanted them to sing to her. easy enough (except that they don't sing at friday's anymore). we also brought (dirt) cupcakes in to the school to share with her friends. as i was telling my boss what elise had picked out, elise stopped me and said "but they aren't really dirt...it's chocolate." heeeeeeeeeee! elise also wore her birthday girl crown and sash pretty much all day...but then was so surprised when people said "hello" and "happy birthday" to her while we were out. when we got home, she opened pressies and (woohoo!) it was bedtime :)

i'm just kinda glad that we are done with birthdays for a bit at our house. christmas is coming...

what. a. week.

the girls are home and i am so thankful for that! of course, with them comes the noise and mess, but the house was way too quiet last week. it's a lot of work, this motherhood thing, and a bit of a break is always nice, but it is so very nice to have things back to the way they should be.

ouch

I can honestly say, without the shadow of a doubt, that having my hair styled by a toddler is not in my job description. Oh what fun... ! =:D

i'm almost old

so i have recently celebrated yet another birthday. yay as it surely beats the alternative! for my birthday, lillian got strep throat (which is one of those gifts that are so difficult to return!). but then later in the week, liz came for a visit (woot!). although the girls' dad has been getting a bit...um...creative in terms of visitation, we were determined to have a good time no matter what. we played with the girls on saturday and then they went with their dad for the night and we. went. out.yum! dinner at the melting pot :) cheese and dessert, thank you very much. oh and a glass of wine (that i finished, even!).

so then, we headed over to dave and busters and i learned how to play pool with friends!and i know that you are shocked that i am not very good in the least. sigh...at least i have

a book to look forward to reading.

ahem...

gainfully employed

forty hours of nonstop bliss

i would like a maid

sometimes you really do have to be careful what you wish for. i am so very thankful to have a great job that is exactly what the girls and i need...they are so happy:

actually, the girls love love love it! elise was in the wrong room and wasted no time letting me know about it. kaely and elise are making friends easily and keep very busy with activities and field trips. lillian likes to be a "big kid" and hang out with the five year old class, but she also likes her proper class (the fours). the teachers seem fairly receptive to me, as well...although it never fails to floor me when they argue with me about things. it's a work in progress.

we have neat activities for the kids, like the ice cream man that comes to visit:and the red robin "chicken" that came to read stories with the kids:

and last week we were visited by a magician. that man had the kids laughing so loud we could hear them up in the front office.
in between the busy days at work, i am still dealing with the girls' father. we've done fun things like "forget" to attend court ordered mediation orientation and make and then break plans and, my personal favorite, introduce ourselves as "karen's husband...for now" to my co-workers. more fun than i can stand! :D this month i go to the parenting class (thankfully he will not be in the same class) and then next month is the actual mediation. i have also replaced the shower curtain in the master bath, which doesn't sound like much, but it was a personal triumph. i try to look at the positive when the girls are gone for a weekend...it gives me time to do fun, kid-free things. the sunday school class went out to dinner one night to a neat asian place called creation...it's located in an old paint store and totally not a place i would ever bring the girls. i've also been to movies that are not animated, bowling (it was like crazy bowling or midnight bowling or something...either way, it was fun), and yesterday i got in a paddle boat (wheeeeeeee). i am meeting all sorts of new people and i quite like that.

aaaaaaaaaaand...lillian has turned four! my girl *sniff* so proud... not just any cake for her, no ma'am. my girl wanted an ice cream cake from




wait for it...










cold stone creamery

yummy on the inside...obnoxious pink on the outside
lillian had a great day opening presentsand playing outside in the sprinkler (to burn off that cake, of course)so...yeah...i guess that's about it then.

the roof is on fire

today in sunday school, elise learned about pentecost and made a crown with flames. as per usual, i'm "that" mom...running in late to grab her and go (i have exactly 30 seconds between choir warm-up and church to move the girls around...i'd really hate to see what i must look like, running about, choir robes flapping...but i digress). so as we are running upstairs to grab kaely, i say to elise "nice crown!" and she says "it isn't a crown...it's a flame hat!" it's really hard to run upstairs when you are laughing...a lot.
i need to get a picture of the flame hat...

green eggs and hahm

elise is reading now and i am so thrilled. tonight, before bed, she was reading "green eggs and ham" by dr. seuss. about halfway through the book, she started saying "hahm" instead of ham...because that's how "he says it in the movie". but my favorite part was the page where the guy is underwater. elise read that part in a different voice, because "he is under the water, so i am talking like you would under the water".
thank you elise.