Boo!

Here's a little Halloween sneak peek for you!  Myah and Maysen's school is having their annual Fall Fun Fest tonight so we get to try out the costumes.....aren't they fun!!

Super Girl (AKA Myah)

Snow White (AKA Maysen)



















Mylie the Smiley Ghost

 

The Three 'M'sketeers

A Splash of Color

You probably remember the incident with the scissors... Maysen's hair is still short and it's still very cute.  However, I've got some smart cookies on my hands!  Maysen has received several comments on her adorable new 'do, but Myah was/is frustrated by the positive remarks.  She would often say to me, "But, mommy, Maysen was naughty when she cut her hair.  Why does everyone say nice things to her?"  She was sad that no one was complimenting her for being the good listener.  She was 100% correct in her observation, and it definitely wasn't fair.

So......I asked her what she'd like to do with her hair.  Her response: dye it pink.  Of course that's what she'd want!  I talked to a few hairstylists to see what they thought.  I really didn't care, and if that's what she wanted, why not?!  Since this all started back in August and we were still frequenting the pool, I decided to hold off because I was worried about the reaction between pink dye and the chlorine.  Well, we got busy, and frankly, I forgot all about this.  Then last week, the girls and I were at HyVee and saw Katy Perry on the cover of October's InStyle Magazine.  And what was she sporting??  Pink hair of course for Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Myah spotted it and told me that was exactly what she wanted.  I said, Ok, and that we would go on Wednesday to get it done.  I really was ok with the idea.  However, before Wednesday arrived, we saw some girls that had feathers and color splashes in their hair and Myah decided she liked that and would be ok with that instead of a full head of pink hair (which I've decided would be totally cute on her, but we'll wait a few years to go through with that).  I took her on Wednesday to get some put in.  BUT guess what.....she asked if Maysen was going to get some.  I told her no she wasn't going to because this was her (Myah's) reward for not cutting her hair.  She told me that she wanted Maysen to be able to get some too.  Doesn't she have a heart of gold!?!  Then they talked me into getting some, too.  So now, we all have a little color to our 'dos.

 My pink strand.

 Myah got one pink and one purple color splash.

 Maysen got one pink and one orange splash.


I'll be posting our Halloween adventures next week,  we got M&M's costumes last Friday and I've finished making Mylie's so we're all ready to roll next Monday.  What are you or your kids dressing up as for Halloween?  Some year, I want Brandon and I to dress up as Mr. and Mrs. Incredible.  I think that would fun!

The Laurie Berkner Band

On Sunday, Brandon and I had the enjoyment of taking Myah and Maysen to see the Laurie Berkner Band perform at the Hoyt Sherman Auditorium in Des Moines.  Here's part of how this opportunity came to be.  Back in 2007, when M&M were born, they received a Laurie Berkner DVD and CD combo from a good friend of the family as a baby gift.  When they were around 18 months old, I started putting in that DVD every morning while I got ready for work.  The girls danced and sang and just absolutely loved it.  In January, 2010, we took the girls to see Curious George Live!, and they did so well that I thought we should start doing more things like that with them.  I love musicals and plays and I want to expose the girls to those types of things as well.  Secretly, I really wanted to see Laurie Berkner in concert (you just can't help but clap and tap your feet when you listen to her music).  I went to her website and submitted a comment (or 2 or 3 or 4 or 5) that she could come to Des Moines or Minneapolis to perform.  Over the two years since then, I've received emails from some 'Events' thing that would tell me things like '4 other moms in your area requested Laurie Berkner.'  Finally, in late July, I got the email saying that she was actually going to come to Des Moines.  I was thrilled, and since I had made so many requests, I sort of had to take the girls to see her, besides I obviously really wanted to.
It was one heck of a show.  About and hour and 15 minutes long (perfect for kids 5 and under).  The girls were so happy and having so much fun that it brought tears to my eyes (yes, I'm a bit over emotional at times).  Brandon even said on the drive home "I had so much fun watching you girls.  It was worth every penny to see you so happy."  He turns to me and says "I guess that's what being a parent is all about, huh?!"  Before the concert was over they girls were up right in front of the stage gawking up at Laurie, jumping up and down, and singing at the top of their lungs.  The pictures turned out pretty dark, but still are worth sharing.

 Myah and Maysen holding their souvenir 'Shakey Eggs' for the song "I Know a Chicken."

Two things from this week that told us that we are definitely raising our kids right:

*While at the concert, the girls kept creeping up the aisle and getting closer to the stage (the place isn't any bigger than a high school auditorium, so it was just fine).  They kept looking back at us to be sure they could see us and that we could see them.  They even came back at least once to let us know that they were just 'right up there.'  They didn't just walk away without saying anything.

*I was having a conversation with Myah and Maysen about offering at church and Sunday School.  They told me that we had forgotten for a few weeks now, and I said that I would write myself a note from now on to remember that.  Myah speaks up and says 'I have a quarter in my purse.'  I replied, 'Oh, honey, that is really sweet of you.  You can give that quarter at SUnday School if you want to, or mommy and daddy can give you the money for it and you can save your own.'  She has decided to give her own quarter at offering next week.  Reminds me of the lady who didn't have much, but she gave all that she had.  That makes for one proud mama and daddy!

All Buttoned Up

Every year, I see some really cool ideas for pumpkin decorating, but most of them will have to wait until my children are a little older and more sophisticated in their painting and decorating.  Until then, we have paint and buttons.  They turned out pretty cute, anyway.

Baby pumpkin for Baby Mylie.

Maysen's colorful and smiley pumpkin.

Myah's happy pumpkin.

My randomly placed buttons.

Brandon's tribute to the USA (in anticipation of our trip to DC over Thanksgiving)

We Love Fall

Fall is here, and we've been loving it.  Myah and Maysen have been studying 'Fall' at school for a couple of weeks so they are continuously pointing out leaves that are changing color, noticing cooler temperatures, and picking up pinecones and acorns they find on the sidewalk.  The mornings are cool, but the afternoons are very warm....we've sure been spoiled by the beautiful weather.  Do you remember these adorable hats that I bought for the girls even before Mylie was born?  Well, she's been sporting hers when we go for walks in the stroller and M&M wear theirs occasionally as well.  Isn't she adorable!?

My cousin, Jessica (Grotewold) Schipper, had a baby boy a month ago.  We went up to Lake Mills last weekend to celebrate his baby shower.  Maysen and Myah each got a turn of holding him.  He was/is just a little peanut.  He was probably up to about 9 lbs at the time of the shower, but I'll tell you, Mylie was NEVER that little.  His bottom was so tiny, and that was including his 'full' diaper  and his pants.  He slept through the entire shower.  It's crazy how quickly you can forget how little babies can be.

 

Last week, we took our annual trip to DeMoss Pumpkin Farm here in Ames.  Mylie loved her first experience.  She always takes in the sites and tried to touch everything.  Luckily she didn't put anything in her mouth, but you could tell by the look on her face that she was experiencing all the different textures.  We are going to be decorating our pumpkins this afternoon or evening so I'll have pictures to share of this year's creations sometime soon.

 Myah and Maysen holding their pumpkins of choice by the measuring scarecrow.  An annual picture.

 When more than one child is involved, you really just have to focus on getting them all in the same picture.  It's impossible to get them all looking at you, too, so it's really not even worth the fight.

 Myah and Maysen wearing their Halloween shirts and skirts that Nana bought them.

Mylie is eating a lot of table foods now.  Well, maybe not A LOT, but some.  She loves noodles, cooked carrots, corn, baked potatoes, applesauce, cottage cheese and Nilla Wafers.  Here, she's enjoying a banana.  I say 'enjoying' loosely as she licked it and scrunched up her nose and then put the banana down and didn't touch it again. :)

My favorite part of fall has to be the time we spend outside on our patio or at the park and it's not too hot to be out there.  We love summer and going to the pool, but this past summer was really too hot to do much else.  I also love the Honey Crisp apples that appear at supermarkets this time of year.  What do you love about fall?

**If you are on Facebook, go to the Raising Readers of Story County page and see our cute Mylie there.  We've entered her into the Babies Love to Read contest.  The winner will be featured on their annual magnet that's sent out around the county and will receive a bag of books.  As of yet, I don't know of any way that you can vote for her to win, but if that comes up, I'll be sure to let you know!

How to talk to girls....

I may be a little biased, but being the mom of daughters is simply wonderful.  However......I am continually praying that I'm doing a good job of raising them.  I cringe when they come into the bathroom and see me weighing myself and then want to step on the scale to know what their number is.  The list could go on and on.  The thing that bothers me the most is the fact that they are only 4.  A conversation on the way to school the other day went something along the lines of:
M or M: Mom, what does 'healthy' mean?
Me: Well, it means that we eat food that is good for our bodies and that we get regular exercise so that our bodies continue to work well.
M or M: Are cookies good for us?
Me: We should only eat cookies and candy AFTER we've eaten foods that are good for our teeth and bodies.  Fruits and Vegetables are really good for us, and we should eat a lot of those (like we do), and cookies and candy have a lot of sugar in them, and that can make our tummies hurt if we eat too much of it (like we sometimes do).
It was really hard for me to hold back the 'fat' word.  I don't even want them to begin thinking that they are fat or that other people are fat.  They are fully aware that mommy goes running to stay healthy and that daddy exercises downstairs because exercise is good for us.  The other day, Brandon was going to take the girls to the park and they debated between walking or driving to the park.  Myah's response was 'we need to walk so that I can get my exercise.'  Again, it's great that they are aware that exercise is important, but I worry about that 'line' and going to far.  I want them to understand that there is a healthy amount of exercise and then terrible extremes.  Part of me wants to shelter them from the ugly, reality of life, and part of me wants to expose them to every faux pas out there.

A little while ago, my sister stumbled upon this article about how to talk to girls.  If you don't want to take the time to read it, it ultimately talks about how so many conversations with little girls focus around their cute hairstyles, or fashionable/adorable dresses.  Instead of always complimenting little girls about their appearance, try asking them about their favorite book.  I am really pretty good about this with my own daughters because I want them to be smart, cultured, AND cute.  Beauty comes in so many varieties and I surely don't want them to think they will reach their dreams in life based solely on their appearances.  The other day, Mylie was wearing a onesie that I had bought for M&M back in the day, and on it it said 'Future Valedictorian.'  I remember when I bought it, the other option was 'Future Prom Queen.'  Now, why can't a girl be both?  In my mind, she definitely can be, and SHOULD be both!  However, since I needed (ok, wanted) to make a decision, I chose the Valedictorian because that's the accomplishment that I would want my daughter to strive for first.  Each and every day, I ask the girls what letter they learned to write in school and we practice on the chalkboard in the kitchen while supper is in progress, I ask about the centers available and how they relate to the theme of the week.  We do puzzles and flashcards, computer games and read endless books.

Switching gears here a little bit, so bear with me.......

Now, you all probably know that I'm NOT the fashionista that my sister is (she looks gorgeous everyday!).  I would love to be, but just don't have the time to put that much thought into my outfits each day.  Don't get me wrong, I strive to be presentable, but sometimes that little bit of spit-up on my shoulder is ok and so what if these shoes aren't perfect, it's practically a miracle I got out the door today:)  However, I am beginning to think that fashion is maybe just a little bit instilled in girls and caring about how we look is ingrained in our DNA.  And try as we might to foster other 'likes' in our daughters, those instincts are still there.  Hear me out....M&M have a boy cousin who is just one day older than them, so in May the three muskateers turned 4.  We went to C's birthday party and gave him a toy and a bag of new clothes.  He simply peeked into the bag of clothes and tossed it behind him.  A natural reaction for a 4-year-old, or so I thought.  The next weekend, M&M had their birthday party and got several bags of clothes.  Instead of tossing the bags behind them, they pulled each and every garment out of the bag one-by-one and held them up to show them off.  That spoke volumes to me.  There are some clothes hanging in the closet right now that one or both of the girls won't wear, and they don't really have any reasons why other than 'I don't really like it.'  So long to the days of me buying clothes on my own for them.......

This weekend, we read several books, dug in the dirt at the neighbors AND went shopping.  The girls got to pick out a new pair of jeans and a new shirt.  They chose the same shirt, but different designs in the pants.  They were so proud and had so much fun choosing their new outfits!  I couldn't believe that a 4 year old could care so much.

I have to boast that my girls really are beautiful AND smart and I'm so very proud of that, but as a middle school teacher, I worry about how the priorities and foci (?) can change as girls get older.

NOTE: I am in the process of cleaning out my closet, and I'm planning a shopping date with my sis so that we can put together a few outfits as I DO want to look cute and stylish most days.  I just don't want to spend hours in front of the mirror and I want it to be pretty effortless because I want to communicate to them that beauty on the outside is less important than beauty on the inside.

Miss Mylie turned 6 months old a few weeks ago and Eric took some pictures of her.  She is such an incredibly happy and smiley baby.  The only times she fusses really is when she's tried or hungry.  Enjoy.

 

Myah and Maysen's teacher has a little girl that's about exactly a year older than Mylie and he daughter was a pig for Halloween last year.  We borrowed the costume, but it's a little snug on Mylie....she's too long for the costume and her cheeks are a bit too wide for the hat part, BUT it was way too cute to not get any pictures of her in it.  She's going to be a ghost for Halloween.  I'm making the costume so we'll be sharing it with you soon!

Quick Post

I know I've been a little behind in the blogging world.....running too many places lately!
Here's a quick catch up as to what we're up to:

*I'm back to work full time (and have been since Aug 15).  I miss being home with my kids, but I do feel that I'm a better mom because I know that my time in the evenings is very precious and limited that we do all sorts of fun things like riding bikes (or walking) around the block, doing puzzles, cooking,  and watching America's Got Talent.
*I'm also helping 'coach' (by coach, I mean supervise) Mock Trial at the middle school.  I was new to this role last year and learned a lot about out legal system.  It's really cool to watch these kids act out a trial case.  This will probably be my last year of helping with it, however, because I want to be able to pick M&M up from Kindergarten (don't get me started on how grown up they are.....yes, I said the 'K' word already) every day next year!!
*As if those things aren't enough, I'm a 7th Grade Leader which means I organize 7th grade teacher meetings on Wednesday afternoons and participate on a committee to help make positive decisions for the middle school.  My organization (and other people's lack of it) really drove me to take this position.  Time is valuable and I try to do things as effectively and efficiently as possible in this role.
*Dance AND Gymnastics started this week, which means that our evening time (see the first bullet) is even more limited.  The girls love it and it's physical activity, which is something important we try to stress in our house, and it exposes them to more circles of friends than just the ones at school.
*Mylie Bear is 6 months old and topping the charts at 23 pounds (had to switch her out of her infant carrier this week!) and 26 3/4 inches long.  She is about the happiest baby I have ever seen and her wide open mouth of a smile just melts my heart every time.  Over the past two weeks, she's really dominated in learning to sit up on her own.  It's not quite fully mastered, but just about.
*B has ISU season tickets again and they've had two great games resulting in (barely) victories.  The girls and I haven't been out to tailgate yet because it was raining for the UNI game and a good friend of mine got married on the evening of the Iowa game.  He's also taking a graduate class online toward his Special Education endorsement, which he hopes to have finished about a year from now.  For a guy who didn't think he'd ever get his Master's (he says I'm the main reason why it happened), he's pretty motivated to keep going and finish this next degree.  Basketball season is right around the corner.  We're all a little sad (but understanding) about the fact that we (the girls and I) won't make it to as many games as we did last year.  I can't even imagine what it's going to be like chasing an 8 month old all over  (filthy dirty, disgusting, germy) bleachers.

A couple of bonus happenings from this week:
*we cashed in our loose change and came up with $40 for a surprise dinner out tonight to Hickory Park.  We're splurging on O-Rings as appetizers and who can say 'no' to ice cream there??  I can't!!
*I'd been dreading 'pants season' this year because I hadn't worn any of my pants since before I was pregnant with Mylie.  Monday was summer weather here (90 degrees) Wednesday was Fall (62 degrees), this morning, I woke up and it was winter (35 degrees!).  Time for the pants to come out....and guess what!?!?!  They fit!!  I have lost all of the baby weight, BUT things aren't exactly in the same place as they were pre-Mylie (not to mention pre M&M...ugh!).  Those of you who are moms understand, I know!

We're going to the Des Moines Farmer's Market this Saturday for the first time.  I'm so excited!  Hopefully I will have some pictures for all of you the next time I post.  You can about imagine how busy we are (and I know you are, too).  Till then.....