Cuddles for Trucks

This morning I let the girls play for a bit in Connor's room while he was at school. This is a super special activity that we only do occasionally and the girls LOVE it. I mean, we don't want to just expose them to gender specific toys or anything, right? They get to play with Connor's trains, trucks, hot wheels, and read all about Tow Mater and Lightning McQueen, and break apart all of Connor's puzzles. Of course we clean it all up before he gets home. I couldn't help but notice (once again) the difference between raising a boy and raising girls. Usually when Connor pretend-plays trucks (or trains, or Batman, or whatever...) all I can hear is crashing, smashing, explosion-like sound effects and lots of banging around. In fact, I do not believe that Connor's characters ever talk in real English, only sound effects. In contrast, here's an example of how the girls like to play cars and trucks:

Kaia: Oh no! My truck is so sad because he is sick!
Ashlyn: Lets give him a big hug.
Kaia: And a big kiss!
(Both girls hug and kiss the truck)
Ashlyn: We need a band-aid for him!
Kaia: Oh, no. I can't find one anywhere!
Ashlyn: How about a blankie?
Kaia: Yea, a cuddly blankie will make him feel better. Don't worry [to truck] we will cuddle you up in a soft blankie. You will feel better soon.
(The girls wrap the truck up in a blanket and rock the truck like it is a baby doll).

No crashing. No smashing. No explosions. Not much actual driving either. No wonder Connor prefers to play mostly these types of games without his little sisters. I mean its kinda hard to smash, crash, and explode when the girls are busy taking care of each and every little injury.

Spiders & Other Scary Things

Ashlyn & Kaia both have a tiny fear of anything that crawls or flies. Ashlyn encountered a spider recently while in the other room by herself & here is what transpired:

Ashlyn (screaming & shaking): "There is a PIDER. There is a PIDER!!!"
Kaia comes running, first on the scene and apparently feeling very brave: "Don't worry Ash, I am here now." Then holds her hand.
I arrive & my heart melts for how sweet this situation is.
Connor arrives and yells: "Don't worry girls, your brother will scare the spider. RRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!" (This is the loudest scream I have ever heard any human child make & my ears ring).
Kaia & Ashlyn immediately start crying real tears now & say: "Connor is being too scary!" and "That's too loud!" etc.
Connor (oblivious to the fact that he has just scared his sisters): "Mom, did you see that? I scared that spider so bad that he just ran away!!"

And that is the difference between boys and girls in a nut shell, folks. 

Soccer

Check out Connor's latest sport. There are many elements to the game, apparently. 

First, we have Ready Position A:

 And also, Ready Position B:

 

Then comes a lot of chasing after the ball...

 If chasing after it doesn't really work, there is also the screaming strategy too:

Oh, and just a little break to smile at the crowd...

 

...and make sure all his fans are watching!

 

This particular fan looks a little concerned. It does get pretty intense out there! 

 Since they play 3 on 3, there is inevitably some bench time. Clearly not the most exciting part.

 And back in the game. New strategy: try to intimidate the opposing players.

 I can't really say if that strategy worked or not, but boy did it make our soccer player tired! WHEW!

 Ahhh, and a little water break towards the end of the game.

I bet you had no idea how much was involved in 5 year old soccer! 

Believe me, it is not for the faint of heart.

Obsessed

Connor has graduated to what he calls "mini legos" (aka the real ones). He might be what you would call obsessed. And I mean this in the kindest way possible. He just loves to build Legos...like more than eating, watching TV, ipad, or possibly even more than he loves his own mom. You can see that occasionally I have to bring him food rations and water over to his Lego table. He basically only breaks for school and to use the bathroom.

 

He used to do all this building in his room alone, carefully organized set by set (kept separated in their own containers), so they can be rebuilt over and over using the instructions page by page (his idea not ours, but heavily supported by the other Lego maniac in our family). However we realized that we NEVER saw Connor & we kinda missed him. So, we had to move him out to the dining room table. Here's a few of his completed projects. He has his sights set on a fortune of Lego sets that he is supposedly asking for this Christmas. I have tried to tell him that Santa does not have that much money, but he is not convinced!

The Keepers...

 

And last, is our fav. 

After that challenging photo shoot,

 do not be surprised if you see this one again in our Christmas cards. 

Seriously.

Family Photos

We had this super smart idea that we would take our own photos of the kids this summer since we recently purchased a much better camera. Surely better camera = better photos, right? Well, as it turns out staging the children, and GETTING. THEM. TO. COOPERATE. is where the real talent lies. Seriously, photographers do not make enough. After 1 hour of doing everything in our power to bribe, beg, and threaten the children to cooperate, we maybe got oh about 1 picture we like of all three of them. But first, for the pics that did not make the cut. Apparently "smiling nicely" totally eludes our five year old. On this day we were not laughing, but now these totally crack us up!!!

Stay tuned for the keepers...

School Days

I'm sure you are dying to hear what the girls and I do everyday while big brother is in school (for 2.5 hours). Well first we start out the day very excited to see the bus come. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. we have to head out to the bus stop with all our "packpacks" on.

 

 (Yes those are jammies on the girls...a Mom can only do so much before 7:45 am). Then every day the girls ask me if they can get on the bus (with their packpacks). Occasionally there is a tiny bit of whining and/or crying when the bus leaves without them. In an attempt to make staying home SO MUCH MORE FUN, we have been quite busy. First up: Finger Painting with chocolate pudding.

 Winner! (Note to Parents: requires a full bath afterwards unless you enjoy chocolate hair).

 There's lots of playing around the house including the occasional "see how many clowns can fit in the box" trick.

 

Lots of singing and learning new things! Plus lots of watching themselves on the video over and over again afterwards. 

And last, I leave you with a few of my favorite quotes from the girls in the past few weeks:

Kaia: "Did you see my Ashlyn? She is just so fun!" as Ashlyn is pretending to perform some ballet dancing for us all.

In reference to potty training, which has been very successful for Ashlyn, while Kaia has been kinda luke-warm about the whole thing...
Kaia: "I want to wear undies like Ashlyn!"
Me: "Sure! I'll let you wear big girl undies as soon as you go poo in the potty."
Kaia: "Oh. I don't want to wear undies anymore then."
Me: "Your choice." (*Sigh)

Ashlyn screaming at the very top of her lungs, causes Kaia to also scream at the very top of her lungs, then Ashlyn says, "I scared Kaia ALL the way!" and they both laugh really hard.

Jog-A-Thon

Connor's school had a jog-a-thon to raise money. We had no idea how far he could run, but he was sure excited to start! The excitement builds as he waits with his class.

 And they are off!! Connor's running style was to sprint as far as possible (the first lap+) then keel over trying to catch his breath, then begin to sprint again (about another lap, etc.). I tried to suggest that he work on pacing himself, but he wasn't interested. Apparently it is better just to be the fastest when you are 5.

 Parents were encouraged to run a few laps with the kids, so we all did some running. However, with the sprint/rest routine I must say I had a hard time keeping up with him.

In the end, Connor basically sprinted 6 full laps (1.5 miles)!! The Kindergartners get to count a lap for each half lap, so that's 12 "laps" for Connor. His dad & Uncle Troy pledged $ per lap. Time to pay up suckers!!!

Two is Right for a Quiet Talk

Tonight we read the girls Sandra Boynton's "One Two Three." Just to set the scene for you, my dear friends in the blog-o-sphere, it goes a little something like this:

"One is nice for a quiet walk.
Two is right for a quiet talk.
Three is nice for having tea, or for counting one, two, three.
And when you want to go explore, the number you should have is four.
{....you get the idea all the way up to 10. Then...}
One is wonderful after the crowd."

So, I ask the girls: "Do you ever just like to be just one."
They both answer immediately: "NO!"
I say, "You don't ever wish you could be alone?"
Ashlyn answers first, "No. Two. I like to be two."
Kaia agrees, "I like to be two too."
Me: "Good because such is your life."

They don't get much alone time & I often wonder if this bothers them. Apparently not:)