Halloween and Jilly's Birthday

 I told Evelyn to document the fact that I, me, myself, was carving these pumpkins instead of the children who begged to buy carving pumpkins. They ran around on the playground instead. 

From the left, Princess Leia, a princess, and Batman. 

 Mommy dressed up too, at the girls' request. 

 Funny cut-out pictures at a local Halloween festival. 

 The finished product - the glow sticks were kind of cool. I still prefer candles though. 

 One afternoon trip to Disneyland and the teacup ride. 

 Another family bike ride in which Jill decided a "nap" was in order and Gordon agreed. 

 Jilly turned seven at the beginning of November, and requested cheesecake and strawberries for her dessert. A girl after her parents' hearts. 

 She got Legos for her birthday and worked with Evelyn to get them together. 

 We went to California Adventure the next day in honor of her birthday and had lots of fun. She specifically requested to ride California Screamin'. She always looks afraid in the pictures, but loves this ride. 

This handsome man is always behind the camera. So here he is in front of the camera. 

November

 Gordon had a friend from nursery over, and I can't remember what they were doing, but it was cute seeing them so intent on whatever was in front of them. 

 Jilly asked for a chocolate ducky cake, and this is what I came up with. That frosting was like liquid fudge. 

 For her birthday dinner, she asked for orange chicken and broccoli. This is one of probably eight meals our entire family will gobble up. 

 Happy sixth birthday Jilly!

Uncle Dan gave Jilly a box of little "girly" Legos, which both girls have enjoyed playing with. 

 Ben found a great deal on a girl's bike on Craigslist, so he jumped on it. All three kids are on bigger bikes now. Jilly learned how to ride without training wheels just before her birthday, and on this particular Sunday she was practicing while we grilled up some food for lunch. Gordon thought he'd just chill on the basketball pad while the girls rode circles around him. 

 Jilly invited a friend from Primary over, and they had lots of fun. Evelyn's holding the toddler I babysit. 

Thanksgiving was at Uncle Dan's house this year, and he has a giant couch the kids sprawl on and watch movies while we finish fixing dinner. 

We  had a proper Thanksgiving dinner this year, with an actual turkey (last year it was fried chicken). 

Evelyn looking like she's going to take Gordon out with a baseball. Thankfully she can't throw that far. 

 Evelyn brought croup home right before Thanksgiving, so she spent Thanksgiving break sick with that. I opted to keep the kids away from everyone else, so we spent some time at mostly deserted parks. 

 Gordon picked up the croup the next week, and I spent a significant portion of two days helping him breathe, in the doctor's office, or eventually the E.R. The best part was when the doctor at the office told me I was making a big deal out of the fact that Gordon was wheezing like he had asthma, and then told me to do everything I had already been doing (and had not found it to work), and told me to stop doing other things I had been doing (that had helped him breathe). It was my most frustrating and confusing experience with a doctor to date, and I will not be going back. I felt vindicated after driving to the E.R. at 4 am after having Gordon wake up coughing, gasping, and wheezing every 20 minutes for a 6 hour span the second sleepless night. It was croup they said, but I think some asthma edged in there too. 

 The construction crew finished up all their digging and cleaned up pretty well, except for the big pile of concrete mix my kids found. It made an excellent digging pile, and an attempt was made at actual cement, but we were probably missing a key ingredient besides water, because it crumbled apart. 

Another set-up, this time dinner-themed. Pizza made of wood. Yum! 

Jilly is six

Jilly turned six this week. Here are a few things that make her who she is right now:

She received Legos for her birthday. She loves them because she can "make a little set-up!" She still loves playing with small, miniature toys and turning them into organized scenes.

She is also fiercely protective of these small toys and her personal space. No one else is allowed to sleep on her bed or play in it, unless she gives permission. Her bed is still a small disaster zone, just like a year ago when she first started storing anything precious to her on her bed.

She is so sweet. At the same time, she can throw a magnificent tantrum. (It's usually the result of not having eaten recently - she never has had much of an appetite).

She is learning her letters in Kindergarten and loves it there. Numbers and math come easily to her, so I have hope that math will be an easier subject for her than it was for me as a child.

She is not a crowds person. During the trunk or treat a few weeks ago, she was the nervous mother hen checking to make sure all family members were accounted for and not falling behind in the crowd. She also has a big fear of being left behind and if I walk too far ahead of her, she'll be hollering at me.

She just learned how to ride a two wheeled bike last week and is already a little speed demon.

She continues to be particular in her tastes for food, clothing, and toys. She knows exactly what she wants, and she doesn't want anything else. If she can't verbalize what she wants, or I don't understand, she gets immensely frustrated.

When I go in to tuck the kids in again before I go to bed, she's often uncovered herself and rolled up into a little ball because she's cold. I'll cover her up and try to coax her out of an awkward position, but she'll start grunting and even glaring at me in her sleep. It makes me laugh.

She loves make-up and getting dressed up (like I did as a kid). I'll be paying my dues when she's a teenager, because if any of my children are going to take hours getting ready, Jilly will most assuredly be the one.

Jilly plays great with other kids and always has stories about what happened to who at school that day, or who she sat by on the bus.

I love you Jilly and the dynamic you bring to our family. You balance out your two high-energy siblings!

The things they say...

Me: Gordon, why is your shirt all wet?
Him: Because i' was raining on my shirt.

Our fire alarm went off on a Sunday afternoon in January when we were all changing our clothes after church, so we hauled Gordon and Jilly out in blankets. Gordon was totally traumatized. (Our fire alarms are louder than any fire alarm out there. They could wake the dead). Now whenever he hears an alarm-type noise, he'll ask if it's a fire alarm. It's also a topic of choice for him to discuss with whoever will listen.

He also likes to talk about In 'n' Out. He'll say, "I wan' two double-doubles and fries. Wid ketchup." He randomly threw this out one day in December, not long after our friend Ed had stayed with us. We had eaten at In 'n' Out with Ed one night and he had ordered two double-doubles. I guess Gordon was really impressed by that or something.

During one of my piano lessons with a student named Nate (same age as Evelyn).
Evelyn: Mom, I have something to discuss with you.
Me: Uh, discuss with me? (I was giggling at her very grown-up choice of words).
Nate (looking incredulous): What six-year old uses the word "discuss"?

Today, taking down all the Christmas cards and pictures.
Evelyn: Mom, why are you taking down all the pictures?
Me: Because.
Evelyn: "Because" is not an excuse, Mom.
Me: Um, it was time to take them down.
Evelyn: Why is it time to take them down?
Me: Uh...

Jilly is locked into the, "Why (enter question here)?" phase. She's just trying to figure out why we all do what we do. "Mom, what is this big box (my hope chest) for? Is that our quilt? Why are you folding it up that way? (So it fits in the chest). When did you make it? (This summer at Grandma's). Was that when I was two? Or when I was five? (When you were four.) How did you do it? Did Daddy make this little clock when he was little? How did he make it? Why is there a crack in it? Is this Evelyn's book? How did she make all the pictures? And on and on and on...

As I'm finishing this post.
Evelyn: Mom.....Mom.....Mom....You need to read my homework.......Mom.....Mom....Mo-om! Is your brain broken? You need to read it.
Me: "Is my brain broken?"
Evelyn: Laughing and laughing.

Happy Birthday to Jilly

My littlest girl is five years old. She is smart, mischievous, curious, articulate, and loves all things small and ducky. She is definitely my "pretty girl," who must always look just right, and will take her time getting the perfect look. I see long hours in front of the mirror as she gets older! I think she has a talent for dance; she loves to prance around to music, and is surprisingly graceful as she does it. I wish I had the money for full-on ballet lessons for her, but I'm hoping to come up with another solution for Christmas. 

 We had a little birthday party with a few friends, and they painted nails while watching "The Little Mermaid." She likes that movie because it was my favorite princess movie as a child. 

 She got her own ballerina Barbie (Evelyn has the blond version). 

 She requested Lucky Charms cereal for breakfast, macaroni and cheese for lunch, and homemade pizza for dinner. She wanted a strawberry cake with real strawberries inside, with homemade whipped cream frosting. I used dried strawberries for the inside of the cake, and liked it much better vs. fresh strawberries. 

 She ate all of her cake, yay! It's nearly impossible to get her to finish any kind of food these days except chocolate milk, which is probably why she is still such petite little girl. 

 Her primary teacher brought over these chick cupcakes, because Jilly loves little duckies and chicks. She has some of her other birthday gifts on her lap. 

Grandma and Grandpa Chickens sent Jilly a Littlest Pet Shop treehouse, and she sets up the animals she got for her birthday (the ones pictured). She loves to make "set-ups" as she and Evelyn call it, and is very particular about where things go, who puts them there, the rules go on and on. She is very particular (if you look up this word in a thesaurus using the adjective description, it describes Jilly to a tee. It definitely provides for a parenting challenge!) She is also super-sweet and can be so thoughtful, we all love her. 

Random Dinner Conversation

This was dinner a few Sundays ago.

Here are quotes from tonight's dinner conversation. We had homemade Macaroni and Cheese, chicken nuggets, and steamed broccoli. Or in Gordon's language, noo-noos, co-kies, and bok-ee.

Evelyn: When are you going to be a real mom?
Me: What do you mean? I thought a was real mom. (I'm expecting a response about when we'll have another baby) What's going to make me a real mom?
Evelyn: When you eat all different sorts of things, like cottage cheese and tapioca pudding. Like Daddy. He's the eater-dad.

Gordon had just dumped the last of his dinner on the floor.
Me: Gordon!
Jill: Mom, don't get so mad. Gordon doesn't know anything.
This was funny because I say nearly the exact same thing to her at least once a day.

Evelyn: What comes at the end of your thought? A polka-dot! Hahahaha!

Jill: Mom, I like mushrooms, sooo much. I will eat the whole mushroom store!
Evelyn: I will eat aaalll the junk food!
Jill: I don't think that's a good idea!

Our friends Cody and Karina had a baby today.
Evelyn: Why did Cody and Karina want to have kids?
Me: Why do you think Mommy and Daddy had you guys?
Evelyn: Umm, because kids are cute...so Moms and Dads don't have to be by themselves...so the parents can stay in their house forever... so the kids can learn ...so the kids can help decorating ...so the parents don't have to do it by themselves ...so they can have a big family together forever.

Jill: Why do you have a ghost sigaling(?) through the house?
Me: What?

"eeeeeeeEEEYAAAAAA!"

We went for a visit to the Orange County Zoo. We liked it, it's a perfect little kid zoo. 

Jillian is obsessed with applying sunscreen. Not a terrible habit to have I guess. We were walking around and she's just casually applying sunscreen.

The ocelot sauntered in front of us, checking us out I guess. 

"I want to eat your stroller...."

A kestral. This was Evelyn's favorite part of the zoo. 

One of the things I love about our area are the AWESOME city parks. This is Evelyn's favorite one, we pass it on the way to Costco and she always wants to stop and play at it.

We all got some fun in on this toy. 

Watch for Jilly's high-pitched, "eeeeeeeEEEYAAAAAA!" in the middle of the video. We think it's hilarious. 

Jilly's Birthday

Jill had her second birthday earlier this month, and had a good time as far as I could tell. We did do a little party for her, which seemed like a big party in our little apartment. Thanks to all the friends who stopped by!

I decided to be crafty and make this banner for Jill. There is a major flaw to it (enlarge to see if you can make it out), but I didn't throw it away because it took too long to make. We both laughed (after I said "Gosh dang it!" a couple times) a lot the next day over this.
Ev convincing Jill that the best thing for her to do before breakfast is open presents Mom and Dad said she couldn't open until party-time.
Dad and Mom giving in and letting Jill open Grandma's presents after breakfast.
My kids love cupcakes, and I was too lazy to frost them. I found that canned whipped cream is a very fun alternative, with sprinkles added. Both girls love the stuff.
This little party was my first experience with a lot of little kids running around. It was fun watching them get as, if not more excited about Jill's stuff than she was. I'm seeing the future of grade-school parties.
Yeah, I think she had a good time. This year kind of makes up for last year's not-so-spectacular birthday due to being sick. I'm glad I had the energy for it this time around!
At two, she is really coming into her own. She has just started having temper-tantrums this week, but is finally sleeping through the night on a regular basis. (Today we moved Ev into Jilly's room to see how they sleep in the same room. I'll let you know how it goes). She is incredibly sweet most of the time, so snuggly, and talking so much. Most of the time in full sentences. It's strange to have two little girls around, instead of an older one and a baby like it's been for quite a while now. Jill really complements Evelyn's easy-going style, and their relationship reminds me very much of Nicole's and mine as kids. Happy Birthday Baby Jill!

I'm going to have to stop saying that soon.