Hair dryer?

I'm not sure how it started, but for weeks Madeleine has been asking for a hair dryer. Every night before bed, she says, "Mommy? While I'm sleeping, will you go out and get me a hair dryer?" I say yes and hope she doesn't ask about it in the morning.

Friday evening we stopped at the drugstore on the way home to pick up my vitamin prescription. As we're waiting, Madeleine asks, "Mommy? Do they have hair dryers here?"

Of course they do. She remembers seeing them months ago and heads straight for the aisle on our way out. I quickly scan for the smallest, cheapest ones they have. Luckily, they have a travel size one. And they have two. Not to be outdone, Lily wanted one too. I tried to talk her into a bag of Cheetos instead, but no luck. She wanted a hair dryer too.

They were very excited for bathtime Friday night. I'm just glad we didn't pop a circuit breaker.

Making a birthday cake for Uncle Mark

Monday was Uncle Mark's birthday, so we decided to have a party for him on Sunday. First thing in the morning, we made our first cake. The girls picked chocolate. In a surprise move, Madeleine was the only one wanting to lick the batter bowl.

Then after nap, when it had cooled, we attempted to frost the cake. Madeleine wanted to do vanilla, and Lily wanted to do chocolate. She quickly just went to licking the knife and abandoned frosting the cake all together. Good thing I had a second can of chocolate frosting in the cupboard.

Madeleine's frosted bottom layer.

Lily-frosting-face.

The finished product.

Little Princess

Lily got kicked out of day care on Monday for having a fever. Tuesday she was much better and hung around the house with me. We watched Cinderella three times in a row. Her favorite part is at the end where she gets married.

Throughout the entire movie, Lily wears her Cinderella dress. Then when the end approaches, she runs to get one of the veils my mom made for them. At the end of the movie, Cinderella and her prince get into a carriage and ride off into happily ever after with them kissing.

Lily gets her veil on and jumps in her Pottery Barn anywhere chair. She slides over to one side and yells for me to come get in the carriage. I get to be the prince. She waves to everyone and then kisses me on the lips, keeping one eye open and glued on the TV to make sure we kiss as long as they do.

Snow Day

Today is the girls' first real snow day. We've had a few flurries in the past, but this was the real deal. School cancelled. Enough to play in.

Somehow they slept until 8 am. So I just went into their room and lifted up the shade. They were so excited and couldn't wait for their day. We went upstairs and had breakfast. We talked about what we would do, and at about 10 am, I started getting everyone ready. Trips to the potty, extra clothes and bundled up. I think we got out the door around 10:40.

The other neighbors were out in the street with their kids, so they all kind of played together. The girls were very excited about the snowman and were insistent on a carrot nose, a smile, and buttons.

Madeleine LOVED doing snow angels and throwing snow balls (that I made).

After nap we had a snack and went out again. This time in the back yard. I had to drag them inside after about an hour.

Birthday Blitz

In an unprecedented record, we attended three birthday parties in a single weekend. Going into the weekend, I was aware ahead of time and planned appropriately. Sunday's party was a surprise due to an AWOL invitation.

First up - Molly Scrivner, age 3, at Planet Child. The girls had an awesome time. Lily somehow remembers their second birthday party where Aiden Jackson wore a Spiderman costume the entire time and now wants to do the same every time we go. Fortunately for us, she did try on some others this time, including a dragon and a bunny.

At noon we headed to N. Raleigh to Makenzie George's 3rd birthday party. The party was at her house, but mom Amy brought in the Tumblebus for everyone to enjoy. I was so proud of the girls for being brave enough to board without mommy and participating in all the activities. Madeleine stayed the whole hour, and Lily only left early to go potty. I didn't know what to do with myself, so I kind of just hung outside the bus for an hour. I didn't want to wander too far in case they needed me, but not my kids. The girls skipped the cake here, but opted for ice cream sundaes. The girls love Makenzie's playroom and asked if they could sleep over.

Because of the party times, we skipped Saturday's nap entirely. Lily cried the whole way home from Makenzie's, falling asleep just before we got home. They passed out by 7:30 pm.

Sunday's party was at Monkey Joe's in the afternoon. We hadn't been there since Erik Ruble's last birthday party a year ago. The girls played hard for about an hour before settling down in the party room for cake. Lily only ate the frosting, and Madeleine didn't touch it. It was amazing to see how much more independent they were this year compared with last year. There was only one slide I really needed to help them with. We carried the girls home at about 5:30 pm, Lily crying again, exhausted after such a long weekend.

Toy Storage Oddessy

I've been searching for years for a workable toy storage solution. We have a three bedroom home, with one of the bedrooms serving as an office for my work-at-home husband. Our living area is one big room, only segmented by a stairwell in the middle. So the main kitchen/dining/living room is one big L with small hallways on the remaining two sides of the stairwell.

So, we don't have a playroom for their toys. So I had to make space for them in our main living area. I chose to put it along the wide hallways leading from the front door and one side of the living room. So they've got a designated area that's theirs.

Here's a living room before picture:



We got the Trofast system from Ikea. Even though it wasn't super-chic, I liked the idea of the varying size bins. Plus, there's a way to hang dress up clothes from the towers.

Once I got the basket system up, I noticed the blank wall opposite. Luckily Pottery Barn kids was having a huge sale, and I got the blackboard and corkboards to display their artwork.

This is the living room after. They still pull everything out in the floor when they're home, but at least it can all go away.

New Year, Same Old Song and Dance

For New Year's Eve last night, Eric and I stayed in with the girls. We had dinner and then settled in our jammies to have movie night. I had done this a few weeks ago when Eric was out of town, and the girls did awesome. This time, not so much. Probably was the choice of movie. Three weeks ago it was The Little Mermaid. They knew the story and followed it right along.

Last night we rented Wall-E. I thought it would be something Eric and I would like as well, and I'd heard other kids of the same age liked it. The girls talked and asked questions the whole time, and since we hadn't seen it either, I had no answers. I think they had a problem following the robot dialogue because they couldn't tell who was doing the talking since no mouths were moving. They kept asking "who said that?"

So, tonight they asked to watch something else. My mom had brought over a copy of Barishnokov's The Nutcracker ballet. I've never watched the ballet before myself, but I assumed that the girls might not be super interested. But tonight they asked for it, and immediately I had to put them into their leotards and tutus.

The videos that follow are their interpretations of the dances onscreen. They asked plenty of questions as it went along as well, but managed to stay engaged for an entire hour.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For those playing along at home, we are FOUR DAYS with no one falling out of bed. Still coughing though...

Taco Bar

The girls have been pretty picky lately when it comes to food. Even the old standbys (chicken nuggets) aren't in demand anymore.

So tonight I went with another favorite - make your own tacos. I don't think the girls like the food so much as the ability to pick and choose what is on their plates. It's a huge mess, mostly because the taco shells break as soon as they take a bite.

This is the time when I know Lily is definitely my daughter, as she fills her shell with 85% shredded cheese and will put it directly into her mouth if permitted.

I tried the Jessica Seinfeld trick of adding carrot puree to the meat tonight, but I didn't seem to affect their consumption of the meat at all.