Smile!

Yesterday we were outside playing when Savannah got the grumps. Scout and Ash Lee started singing this song to her to get her to be happy. It didn't work right away but they were relentless and totally cute. Eventually she came over and played with us. I give Savannah a lot of credit for pulling herself out of the grumps. When people start singing peppy songs at my face, it is NOT my first instinct to get LESS grumpy!

I finally got new batteries for the camera so I was able to record them today. Here are the words just in case you can't quite understand:

If you chance to meet a frown,
Do not let it stay,
Quickly turn it upside down
And smile that frown away.

No one likes a frowny face,
Change it for a smile,
Make the world a better place,
By smiling all the while.

P is for Pickles

We went to the store this morning. I needed to grab a couple things from the dollar store so we went there first. Dollar stores are MADE for 3 and 4 year old girls. Everything was AMAZING to them. Pink fluffy things leftover from valentine's day, cheap plastic shiny mirrors, hot pink lipstick, flashlights, candy...it was overwhelming to them.

We stopped by JoAnn's to use their potty (this time it was for me :-P) but we ended up walking through the store finding things that started with P. There were huge bolts of pink and purple fabric, cascades of purple and pink flowers, piggy banks, paint, pails and pictures. Plenty to see although our favorite thing was walking down the wind chime aisle (P is for Pipes) and picking out which ones we liked best. Noisy free fun with clean bathrooms...does it get any better?

Next came WinCo which has Ps everywhere. I had packed a lunch for the girls so they sat in the cart (Ash Lee in front, Scout in back) and pointed out the big Produce sign, potatoes and pork. We were a little confused for a while through dairy...B sounds very similar to P so they pointed out the butter and bananas on the yogurt cups. Frozen foods was better...popsicles and pizza!

We were almost done when the girls started to get thirsty. There were old people walking around carrying cups of juice. I'm not sure where they got it because I couldn't find any free sample tables. Maybe it was just Free Juice for the Elderly Day at Winco. We hurried through the rest...past the pickles, pretzels, bread (close! bread starts with b) and got in the way back of a long long line. Luckily, a new checker came by and invited us to be the first in her line. WOOHOO!

The checkout went ok until Ash Lee saw a bug flying around. The bug was probably 10 feet up in the air, against the far wall and so small I didn't see it for a while but it was still pretty traumatic. Since at WinCo you bag your own groceries I couldn't distract her very well (although trust me I tried...much to the girls' embarrassment). The thing that worked was to have Scout jump up and down between the cart and the fly shooing it away. The fly didn't even notice but it was enough for Ash Lee. Yay for Scout and her Fly Shooing!

The only hitch with the ride home was the girls fighting over who was going to hold the middle seat belt...yep...you heard me...who was going to HOLD THE MIDDLE SEAT BELT. There's no way I was that weird when I was little. I buckled in the Imaginary Girl and that appeased them both.

We're back home, food is put away, everybody's had drinks and now we're off to do circle time!

P is for Performing

Yesterday the girls called me in to see the performance of their play. I brought the camera in to snap some stills of the girls but when they started it was so hilarious I had them do it again so I could film it. The problem with that is that when the camera comes on the girls lose their minds. Oh well, so our girls are over-actors and camera hogs...doesn't sound too far off from "real" actors to me!

One note before you see this...the beds WERE made at some point in the morning but after a couple hours of fort building and play performing the room looks like a tornado hit it.

Anyway, here is their performance. I think the plot was this: The Evil Pig Lord appeared and tried to eat the girls. Some were eaten but one got away by jumping into the ocean...or something. Enjoy.

The Pig
By Savannah, Scout, Sydney and Ash Lee

*Sigh*

Well today isn't really what I would describe as a "Stellar" day. We tried to go to the park again after lunch. It was gorgeous outside and I was really looking forward to having the kids more than 3 feet from me :-)

The walk to the school should have been my first indicator that this trip would not be our greatest triumph. We had trips, falls, scrapes, shoes falling off, crying, coughing, whining and fighting the whole way. It was to the point that I wondered if they all had inner-ear infections or were wearing the wrong shoes. Balance was not our strong suit.

We were there for almost 30 seconds when we headed back for the bathroom break. Apparently when I told everyone to go to the bathroom before we left and the ones that didn't swore up and down that they didn't have to go it was just a game I like to play. Back we went...trip...fall...cry...whine..."wait for me"...run...trip...fall..."can you carry my coat?"..."are we going back"...etc. etc.

Everybody that didn't go before now went. Bladders empty, we headed back for that break I really really needed.

We eventually made it with slightly more luck than last time. Probably because I was carrying as many of them as I could and made it a rule that no one could run...or skip...or whine...or half run...or complain that it was sunny/daytime/Monday/Tuesday etc etc.

So we were there for about 10 minutes. Then we went back for another bathroom break. yargh.

Turns out it was a poop thing and we weren't in time.

*sigh*

President's Day

Our day began bright and early...was it bright? Maybe it was dark and early. Anyway our day began early with some Super Why! while we ate some breakfast. Cheesy scrambled eggs were on the menu and were irresistible to most of the kids...even the ones that already ate!

We did some fabulous art work this morning. Penny rubbings on giant Ps. The kids were especially excited to learn that Sydney knew how to spell Penny already because it was her mom's name! She immediately became the resident expert on pennies and I think really enjoyed helping the other kids write penny on their P. That just sounds wrong...sorry. :-P

Next we had snack, played with playdough and then had our President's Day Story time. We read a somewhat disturbing story about President William Howard Taft. It was a little funny to watch the kids one by one make the connection between his name and William Hupp. They all had their own individual epiphanies throughout the story. They'd light up, pat my arm and say "William! Like William Hupp!" When the 6th kid informed me of the situation I ran out of original responses and had to resort to "Wow, yeah." hehehe

We ate lunch although no one was able to finish it all...it was sort of a challenge. I told them they had to eat things in order (so they wouldn't eat only cookies and gogurt) and they said "But what if we eat it ALL and are STILL hungry!" I said "well then I'll take you to the doctor and figure out where the leak is!" No one made it past the 4th course although I think Random and Isaac are still working on it.

Savannah has the little girls in the bedroom and is having a mini-circle time while the boys are golfing with the wii. I was just invited to a performance by the girls so I'll keep you posted!