Friday Night

I'm not really a big fan of cooking on Friday nights!  You know, after the long work week, all you want to do is come home and just plop on the couch (which never happens, by the way)!  so Jason told the girls we could go to McDonalds.  This was anything BUT relaxing!  This was the first time ever, that both kids ate all of their food, so I couldn't deny them the huge playscape!  Sydney was terrified of course and played in the baby area, while Lizzy was all about running in with all of the big kids!

Lizzy literally took off and made it to the top in record time.  The only problem was that she was too small to make it over the obstacles to come down the slide, so guess who had to climb to the top to help her?  And guess who hit her head about 20 times trying to get off the darn thing?  If you guessed me, you're right!  But Jason did his fair share too,  although he wasn't wearing heels like me!

I eventually made Jason force Sydney to go into the big kid area!  The big kid area was for 3 year olds, so there was no reason that she should be playing on the baby slide.  It looked a little silly for Lizzy to be with the big kids and Sydney with the babies!  You could hear Sydney screaming, but eventually he just pushed her down the slide.  And in true Sydney fashion, she loved it of course, and then didn't want to leave.  She just has to learn to take risks sometimes, but maybe it's good that she's a little skeptical of things because it scares me how fearless Lizzy is sometimes!

As if McDonald's wasn't enough, we went to Toys R Us after to buy their friend Jake a birthday present, it was the only chance we had to buy the gift.  We explained that they were not getting anything!!  And we were serious...nothing!!  Jason shopped for the gift, while I chased the kids around the store...they were all about playing with all of the toys.  And Lizzy enjoyed climbing on the display and into all of the motorized cars (thankfully they didn't work)!  Sydney was in tears when she found out she couldn't buy the Cadillac (it's ridiculous the toys that are out these days...might as well buy her a real car!).  Then she found a Snow White toy and carried it around the whole store while I told her she wasn't getting anything!  She looked so pitiful.  So Jason and I both caved.  Snow White was too expensive though, I told her she  had to find something on sale.  So she settled with a Tinkerbell toy.  And if Sydney gets a toy, well, so does Lizzy!  So she bought a ball that she had been kicking around the store!  I guess we weren't so serious...but next time I'm putting my foot down...or just not taking them with me!  I was worn out!

The whole time at Toys R Us, I kept thinking about this family that I saw earlier in the day when I went to Sam's Club for work.  It was an Orthodox woman and she had 5 kids...totally crazy.  She had two in the cart and the other three were just following along like little angels as she shopped.  They were incredibly patient and obedient.  I don't what she tells those kids to make them behave, but I know that my kids run around like wild Indians the second they are free...which is why I have two kids and not 5!

A totally exhausting day, but at least the kids had fun!

Life Lately

Wow, it's been a while since I last blogged, but I kind of knew that would happen!  Nothing exciting has really happened, we just continue to go about our daily lives!  So, I guess you could say that life has been happening!

We recently celebrated Passover, which we had at our house this year.  We were fortunate enough to have Grandpa Joe and Grandma Polly come this year (even though she wasn't feeling well) who also brought a couple of special guests: Brandon and Tyler...that made Sydney pretty darn happy.  Sydney was on her best behavior.  She never really cares what is going on around her when she gets to spend time with her cousins.  I'm starting to realize that Sydney really likes company and especially enjoys when people sleep over at our house.  But as excited as she gets when people come over, she gets even more upset when they leave...she doesn't like to say good-bye!  Anyway, we had a great meal...Grandma Sharon made an awesome salad, Grammie Gail made a brisket, Grandpa Eliot made some great vegetables, and what did I do?  Well...I guess you can say I cleaned up (the story of my life).  I didn't do much cooking, but eveything worked out!  Lizzy made a cute wild beast...she didn't really know what was going on (but let's face it, I'm not the best Jewish holiday teacher)...but all in all it was a fun night with family!

 

Let's see...what else?  Sydney was on spring break from school this week, which was actually a welcomed break for me as well.  Even though I still had to work, it was nice to not have to worry about getting everyone up at a specific time and rushing off to school.  It made the mornings a little more relaxed!  And I also didn't have to run back in forth in the middle of the day picking her up from school and taking her to daycre!  I especially enjoyed the fact that Gail had the week off as well, so she picked up Sydney and Lizzy from daycare on Thursday and kept them overnight.  That was sooooooooooo nice.  It was weird to come home to a quiet house and not have to do ANYTHING.  Jason and I went car shopping!  I've enjoyed having no car payment, but it's time for a new car! I also had a great nights sleep knowing that I didn't have to be on guard in case someone woke up (they always sleep through the night, but I'm just always listening!!).  The best part about the kids being away was seeing them again!  They were so happy and full of hugs and Sydney kept saying, "oh mommy, I missed you so much and I love you".  That's always nice to hear!

The best part about life lately is that winter is finally over.  We have totally been enjoying the nice weather!  Lizzy loves being outside so much.  It's almost impossible to get her to come back in.  Her new thing is "I wanna hi" meaning that she wants to go say hi to the neighbors.  So whenever she sees them, she takes off and plays with the big kids.  She has a great time!  And although it's been a little cold this weekend, I am hoping and praying that it gets warm again because I absolutely refuse to wear socks!

Princess Party

As soon as I found out that the The Costick Center in Farmington Hills was having a princess and super hero party, I was all about it!  How could I deny my little princess' anything princess related?  It was pretty sweet!  There were tons of kids decked out in their favorite gear and everyone looked so cute and had a blast!  They had a bounce house, nail painting, arts and crafts, tattoos, gymnastic mats, balloons, and an awesome dj and dance floor!  Oh, and dinner, can't forget that because any night that I don't have to cook is a good night.  We're not talking gourmet here: hot dogs, mac & cheese, and cookies, but it was actually REAL macaroni and cheese.  I hate going to restaurants and paying 5 bucks for a kid's mac and cheese and they bring you that cheap Kraft stuff!  Anyway...

Lizzy had fun tearing up the dance floor!  They were playing a balloon game where everyone would throw balloons and when the music stopped, you were supposed to jump away from the balloons and if one touched you, you were out.  Of course Lizzy didn't get...so she just ran around picking up balloons and yelling, "mine, mine, miiiiinnnnneeee."  That was fun until she disovered that there was a bounce house.  The only negative of the whole evening was the fact that there was only 1 bounce house.  My little princess just loves to "jumpy", and that was the longest line in the whole place.  She kept trying to run up the front of the line and get in and would cry hysterically when they wouldn't let her...she just doesn't understand the whole line concept yet, so people had to put up with a lot of crying while we waited for our turn!  So, finally we get in and she is as happy as can be until a big kid falls on her and she just starts bawling!  So, the guy in charge told everyone they had to get out (including Lizzy), and as soon as everyone got out Lizzy got all excited because she thought she got the whole thing to herself and immediately shut of the tears and starting cheering, "yaaaayyyyyyyyyy."   As you can imagine, that didn't last long, as they sent me in there to drag her out...oh, the tears!!

As for Sydney, she enjoyed getting her nails done by Miss Farmington, and walked around with her hands out as if her nails were wet the whole night.  We told her they were dry, but she's a girly girl in every way!  She tried a little bit of everything (although wanted nothing to do with the bounce house)!  She was excited to see her pre-school teachers there (Mrs. Bruder and Mrs. Teeples)!  She did arts and crafts with them, danced a little, got a Dora tattoo, and pretty much ran back and forth on the gymnastic mats the rest of the night while Jason and I chased after Lizzy trying to keep her from running to the front of the bounce house line!  All I can say is, we were all sooooo tired when we got home!  But we had a ton of fun!  Sydney already wants to go back!  Guess we'll have to wait until next year!

Tough Love

Tonight I was fully prepared to send Sydney to bed without any dinner!  I am so tired of making her dinner and her not eating it.  I made her 3 chicken nuggets, cut up strawberries and a Go-Gurt...so, we're not talking about a lot of food here...totally do-able! She ate the the yogurt (of course) and said that she was done!  Next thing I knew she was in the playroom.  I warned her (and Jason....because we need to be on the same page) that she was not to have ANYTHING else until she ate her dinner and she said she was fine with that!  She said she didn't want anything anyway...yeah right...my kids like junk and can't live without it!  But they have to finish their dinner before dessert.  Usually we give in at some point or say that they can be done eating, when they probably haven't really eaten enough!  But not tonight.  I had enough!  Besides, food is expensive...I don't need to be throwing away half of their dinner!

So, Sydney was doing very well.  She survived watching Lizzy eat her cookies, and then a few crackers a little later.  But when Jason busted out the jelly beans, she just couldn't take it anymore.  By this time it was almost 8 o'clock.  She came up to me and said, "Mommy, I want to eat my dinner" (which was all wrapped up waiting in the fridge).  And she did, ate every last bit of it and happily had dessert.  Everything ended on a good note, we both got what we wanted!  I am going to have to put my foot down more often!

Of course, there's Lizzy in the background eating AGAIN!  Noone in this house can eat without Lizzy getting anything.  Jason gave her a banana because she had reached her junk quota for the day!

Matzah Factory

This past weekend, Jason and I took the girls to the Matzah Factory at the JCC.  The kids had fun, but only because Jake and Nathan were there!  I thought it was way more oranized last year!  People were just coming and going as they pleased and didn't know where to go or what to do, but it all worked out. 

Sydney thought it was cool that she got to go up and help make the matzah and Lizzy was just interested in baby Nathan.  But after making the matzah, the kids were able to play dress-up and play in this little tree fort thing...of course my fearless little Lizzy liked that part!  I think she would have jumped out of the tree if I wasn't standing there!

All in all, it was a fun afternoon.  When we got home, Sydney told me she had fun making pizza...*sigh*, I guess she didn't quite get the whole matzah thing!

Mommy's Little Helper

I'm not sure when Lizzy all of a sudden grew up, but all of a sudden she is just blossoming!  She just turned 18 months yesterday, and I can now see why 18 months is significant in terms of development.  She's talking way more, and sings constantly, she even knows her ABC's.

Lately, when I take a shower, she likes to just stand there and wait (weird, I know...I'll have to put an end to that soon).  Anyway, she stands there until the water goes off and says "all done".  Then, she helps open the door and gives me my towel which I always have hanging near the shower.  I usually like to stand in the shower for a minute while I dry off so I don't get the floor all wet, but Lizzy yells at me the entire time, "come on, come on, come on" and she holds her hand out.  So, I get out and she gets my deoderant out of the drawer for me.   Then, while I finish getting ready, she likes to watch tv, so she goes and gets the remote and says, "come on, Yo Backgards."(that's what she calls The Backyardigans).  She has this thing where she always stands right up against the tv and I always tell her she's too close, and every time she says, "oh", and then backs up and sits near my bed.  It's all rather cute.  It's like I have a personal assistant for each move I make. 

I'm sure this whole "come on" thing will get old pretty quickly as she bosses us all around.  She is starting to tell Sydney and the other kids at daycare what to do.  But for now, due to her cuteness, we will let it slide...but only for a while...her bossy and stubborn personality is starting to really shine through as she chucks things she doesn't want across the room or throws herself down to the floor in a fit of rage.  But we'll save that for another story another day!

A Princess Weekend

Every year Jason goes on a road trip with his friends and leaves us girls behind!  But we had plenty of princess fun while he was gone (which was a long time because he had a business trip right after, so he was gone for 6 days).  On Saturday night we went to a Purim carnival which the kids loved, but it was a little chaotic for me!  Thank goodness Grandma Sharon came with us because I spent most of my time chasing around Lizzy!

They had this animal bounce house and Lizzy just thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I couldn't keep her out of it.  Lately, she just loves to jump.  She will go up to the couch or Sydney's bed and just say "I want jumpeee, I want jumpee".  So, she was in jumping heaven at this carnival.  It's too bad that the person in charge of this particular bounce house wasn't a very nice woman.  She was getting SO angry at me because I was having such a hard time getting Lizzy out.  And when I finally did get Lizzy out, she just wanted to get back in, so we waited in line again.  But the lady wouldn't let her back in because she said that other kids had to have a chance (15 kids were allowed at a time, so it's not like she was occupying the whole thing).  I thought it was pretty fair that if we waited in line, that she should get to go again, besides it was the only thing at the whole carnival that Lizzy could do.  So, I picked her up and threw her over the walls of the bounce house...the lady really loved me then...not!!  But Lizzy had fun while Sydney and Grandma played games, won prizes, and ate popcorn!  We only got to see Lily and Jake for a quick second due to the chaos...but we had fun!

On Sunday, I took Sydney to see Disney on Ice while Lizzy stayed home with Grammie and Grandpa.  Grandma Sharon bought the tickets and thankfully again, she came with us becuase she spoiled Sydney rotten...there was  no way I would have spent the kind of money that everyone else in that place was spending.  Sydney's lemonade alone was $10...crazy if you ask me!  She also suckered my mom into buying a Cinderella doll and glass slippers.  It really was fun though!  Sydney hasn't stopped talking about it.  She got so excited every time a princess came out on the ice, it was so cute to watch her happy little face!  She is at the perfect age now where she appreciates doing these kinds of activities and she even understood the whole story line!  She's been reenacting scenes at home!

(Sydney and her $10 lemonade)

Fortunately, we survived the rest of the week...it was a long one...but we survived.  Jason brought home a souvenier for Sydney from the American Girl store.  Poor Lizzy didn't get anything!  He bought her matching pj's for her and her baby.  She was extremely excited!  The only problem was that Sydney has twins and Jason only brought home pj's for one of them.  Sydney doesn't quite get the concept of money and has no idea how much these things cost so she was a bit disappointed that the other baby didn't get any.  She asked Jason all night long why he didn't buy two pajamas.  So now, a week later, the "other baby" is sitting on the floor cold and naked becuase she doesn't have matching pj's too.  Sydney refuses to put her clothes back on her, she wants her to have pajamas.  Guess the baby will be naked for a while!!