Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice?

Many of you know that I like to cook. On occasion when Brooklyn and Sadie are in the kitchen while I'm making dinner I will let each of them smell whatever spice I'm using. I often leave them on the counter top next to my stove since it's a tiny counter and perfect for my spice rack. The other day I noticed that it was quiet. A sure sign that something is going on that's not supposed to be. I walked to Brooklyn's room where the door was closed, opened it, and a strong lovely scent of cinnamon filled my nostrils. She had gotten a hold of my cinnamon opened the lid, shaken most of it on her toddler bed and was hiding behind the curtains when I came in clutching the empty container of cinnamon. I could see her little legs sticking out from underneath the curtains, as her tutu from her princess dress protruded from behind. I took the cinnamon and had her help grab the vacuum to clean it up. She loves to vacuum and I figure it's a great way to teach responsibility and to clean at the same time. Her room still had a delightful aroma for a couple of days afterward.

Fast forward a couple days. Again it's kind of quiet, but I'm busy making pies with a couple friends. Brooklyn comes running in and urgently says "where's my milk!" She kept hollering at me, which isn't unusual when she wants something. I took my time to respond, but the cry came again more urgently and I noticed that she was sneezing and had a red powder all over her. Turns out she grabbed the cayenne pepper! She had it all over her and once again all over her room. We got the fire put out with a glass of milk, then Eric helped her vacuum it up again.

Yesterday she took off down the hall with the nutmeg. I obviously haven't learned my lesson to put the spices back in the cupboard. As this happened several times yesterday. Fortunately Eric would catch her taking off down the hall headed towards her room with one spice or another and prevent any other mishaps from happening.

Does that confirm that girls really are made of sugar and spice and everything nice? I don't know if you'd count cayenne pepper as nice, but cinnamon and nutmeg that's a whole other story.

You Three Make Quite The Pair

Talking to Eric today he cracked me up. He was talking about how cute all three of his girls are, (I'm hoping he included me and not the dog) : ) and had the brilliant quote of "you three make quite the pair." This higher education is really paying off or something. I've been teasing him the rest of the afternoon just because I really liked it.

The picture is of Sadie sitting on Brooklyn's lap on our new "park". I could really get into garage sales $7 isn't bad for a new toy the kids and the dog can really enjoy!

Sadie today wanted to talk on the phone to Valerie. She was holding the phone and hollering "Valerie, Valerie!" I dialed her number and Sadie continued to holler until her voicemail picked up. Once it picked up Sadie was mad because Valerie wouldn't stop talking and respond to her, so Sadie say's in a loud and rather annoyed voice "Valerie, PSSSST!" I laughed so hard. Often when I am trying to get the girls' attention I'll say something and then say "pssst" and they usually turn around. To see Sadie do it busted me up. Brooklyn will often say it to me when she's trying to get my attention.

Leader of the Pack

I'm learning a new language. I'm learning how to speak dog. It's a rather fascinating language. Fortunately there aren't many words to learn, only one, "BAHHHH" said in a deep low growl. I'm also learning how to air snap (or bite in the air) to "threaten" Tiger in her own language to show her I AM THE LEADER OF THE PACK! To accomplish that I have a little bean bag with a chain inside to imitate the sound when it hits the floor. I'm using my body language to communicate with Tiger Lily and learning how to read her so I can expect and prevent any unwanted behavior. After one training session I can get her to sit, stay, and wait until I tell her to come, all with an open door to the outside. Which is a huge accomplishment for us. Now if I can just get her to stop stealing food off the table and jumping up on everybody, we'll be in good shape.

Brooklyn and Sadie are quick learners too, they are now expert growlers and growl at each other. Funny story when our trainer was over I had a friend helping watch my girls for me so I could focus my attention on the trainer and the dog. My friend had her own little girl and was watching another friends little boy in addition to my two. Needless to say I love her and appreciate her so much! As we were growling and throwing our bean bag at Tiger's feet, I was worried all the loud growling would scare the kids especially the little boy, Wes. Instead each time we growled and tossed the bean bag, Wes let out the deepest belly laugh. We were all rolling it was so cute and hard to keep a deep low growl.

It's going to be a lot of hard work to continue to establish my dominance in this household, but slowly and surely its coming along. Just you wait, I WILL be the Leader of the Pack!

I'm 8?

A few days ago I was headed to a doctor appointment. I had Brooklyn and Sadie with me and it was lunch time. We didn't have time to stop and get a full meal, but a few doors down from my doctors office was a little bakery. I decided we'd stop and get a cookie before heading in to help ease the visit. Kids are always easier to manage when their tummies aren't growling. Sadie was asleep so I left her in the car (don't turn me in ok?) and took Brooklyn in with me. When we returned to the car I didn't want to buckle Brooklyn back into her car seat for a 100 yard drive, if that, to get nearer to the doctors office door. I decided I'd buckle Brooklyn in the middle seat, between the two car seats for the little drive (again don't turn me in ok?). When I told her to sit down and as I was buckling her in, she says "I'm eight mom? I'm eight?" Turns out she does listen to me. I have told her that she can't sit there until she is eight years old, or 4 foot 9 inches, whatever happens first. I about died laughing. She is too smart for her own good. She's a sharp one and definitely keeps me on my toes. Looks like I'm really going to have to follow through with what I say and stick to it.

Witching Hour

See what happens when you stay up late catching up on old friends? You end up starting a blog! Though there is a saying "nothing good ever happens after midnight," I disagree. As a mother of 2 girls, wife of a medical student, and puppy owner, midnight often turns into my recharge my own battery time. A precious few hours of doing what I want to do and not being told that I am in "time-out" by Brooklyn, rescuing children from an ever active pup, and scrambling to find something to fix for dinner. So now after an hour bike ride, some microwave popcorn, and a quick episode of Winnie-the-Pooh trying to calm down hysterical Sadie, I should put myself to bed.

Such is a day in my life and always has been, force myself to get to bed and then mind over mattress the next morning. Now Sadie is peacefully sleeping and the house is quiet except for the sound of my fingers typing on the keyboard. Not bad for a first post I guess. We'll see how I progress!