It's been a year since I posted! eek! My mom came for a visit last week and said she checks in every once in a while looking for updates, and has even left a message or two. I haven't even noticed messages coming in, so I guess that means I haven't been on here in quite a while. It's 3 AM and I can't sleep though, so I'm just doing my usual surfing around thing to pass the time. Checking out some good blogs, wishing I had half the creativity and resourcefulness that I see out there! Very impressive. I was thrilled to jump back on and see this adorable pic of my kiddos, though... how they have grown in the past year! It's hard to believe they looked like that last Father's Day!
Much as I love to write about my kids, I'm thinking about starting a new blog with an expanded focus. Still working out the ideas. ;) In the meantime, I'll try to get a newer pic up (and yes Mom, I will try to update every now and again!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Labor Day = Day of Labor
Well, not completely - but pretty much! No fun events so far to speak of this weekend, but I'm really not complaining. We needed a weeked of work and I'm just SO grateful that I have one more day to go before having to head back to the office. Now that I'm working in the office again, I'm really struggling to get done all of the things that I was previously able to do...like cooking decent dinners, for example. Whereas I used to be able to just run downstairs on my lunch break and throw something in the crockpot, or get the meat marinating, etc., I obviously don't have that flexibility anymore. Add to that the fact that we're adjusting to a new schedule, getting Maddie out the door every day in addition to myself, etc., and life has been a little hectic - and more than a little disorganized.
So today, amidst the ever present task of unpacking, I decided to spend the day in the kitchen, prepping up some food for the upcoming week. We went to the big farmer's market in Fayetteville yesterday, where I picked up fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini radishes, green beans, a butternut squash (mmm...fall is coming!!), and even a new melon to try (Valencia) that the kids loved. In the interest of using things up while they're fresh, I planned out a few meals and went to work. Chef Sienna helped me make zucchini bread and mini muffins. Chef Maddie helped me make crockpot meatballs with zucchini tomato sauce. Mini chef Lyla helped me taste test and perfect mashed sweet potatoes. And after Madelyn begged me to make chicken noodle soup for her favorite new back to school supply - her Ni Hao Kai Lan Thermos - I whipped up a big pot of chicken bow tie stew. The kids were too cute, wanting to taste everything...so we ended up having a pretty mish-mosh dinner of little plates of everything, followed by movie night with popcorn. It was a lot of work in the kitchen, but honestly? I love it. I wish I could cook and bake like that everyday! And I have to say that my kids are pretty good incentive to keep cooking, because they're generally so appreciative of the things I make. Even if it's not their favorite, they give it a try and they think mom is a good cook! (I brainwash them at night, but that's another story...)
It wasn't all work and no play today, though. We went on a nice walk/bike ride with the kids, and also had the neighbors over for a swim in the pool. The girls spent a lot of time this morning playing with Eli across the street, who has some pretty fancy outdoor toys that are much cooler than our Little Tykes ride-ons! (Picture a battery powered Cadillac Escalade with a real AM/FM radio that Maddie rode around on for an hour, and you'll get the idea!) So all in all, a good, fulfilling day of labor. We'll see what tomorrow brings!
So today, amidst the ever present task of unpacking, I decided to spend the day in the kitchen, prepping up some food for the upcoming week. We went to the big farmer's market in Fayetteville yesterday, where I picked up fresh cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini radishes, green beans, a butternut squash (mmm...fall is coming!!), and even a new melon to try (Valencia) that the kids loved. In the interest of using things up while they're fresh, I planned out a few meals and went to work. Chef Sienna helped me make zucchini bread and mini muffins. Chef Maddie helped me make crockpot meatballs with zucchini tomato sauce. Mini chef Lyla helped me taste test and perfect mashed sweet potatoes. And after Madelyn begged me to make chicken noodle soup for her favorite new back to school supply - her Ni Hao Kai Lan Thermos - I whipped up a big pot of chicken bow tie stew. The kids were too cute, wanting to taste everything...so we ended up having a pretty mish-mosh dinner of little plates of everything, followed by movie night with popcorn. It was a lot of work in the kitchen, but honestly? I love it. I wish I could cook and bake like that everyday! And I have to say that my kids are pretty good incentive to keep cooking, because they're generally so appreciative of the things I make. Even if it's not their favorite, they give it a try and they think mom is a good cook! (I brainwash them at night, but that's another story...)
It wasn't all work and no play today, though. We went on a nice walk/bike ride with the kids, and also had the neighbors over for a swim in the pool. The girls spent a lot of time this morning playing with Eli across the street, who has some pretty fancy outdoor toys that are much cooler than our Little Tykes ride-ons! (Picture a battery powered Cadillac Escalade with a real AM/FM radio that Maddie rode around on for an hour, and you'll get the idea!) So all in all, a good, fulfilling day of labor. We'll see what tomorrow brings!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Love and Loss
We both celebrated and grieved this weekend - celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, and, the same day, grieved the loss of my favorite uncle, Uncle Walter. Walter died early in the morning of August 29th, after an 8+ month battle with cancer that was really nothing short of heroic bvased on his initial prognosis. He will be sorely missed by our entire family.
A few things about our anniversary. First, I am truly shocked and amazed that it has been ten years since Brad and I walked down the aisle. Time has flown by, and in the blink of an eye since I found myself planning blue hydrangea flower arrangements, silver seashell sugar scoop favors, and rehearsal dinner on the Pilgrim Belle, suddenly three kids (not even babies!) have emerged and I find myself 35 and married, now, to the man who has become both my best friend and a better father than I could ever have imagined. So I'm taking stock, and here are some of the highlights and changes since we married 10 years ago:
- We have finished 3 degrees between us: Brad his bachelors, and me two Masters degrees;
- We have visited 12 different countries - and lived in two (including the US);
- We have lived in 5 different apartments/homes, in 3 states, and have purchased 4 homes (we've sold all but one, of course! Not keeping residences in every state, LOL!)
- We have worked for only 2 companies between us during our entire marriage: Unilever for me (9 years on August 29th!) and NSSC for Brad (11 years this past June);
- We have had three beautiful (in my very biased opinion) children;
- And sadly, we have lost 6 of our closest family members: Brad's mother and father; our niece, Stephanie; my Nan; my grandfather on my mother's side, and now Uncle Walter.
So lots has gone on in 10 years. Most of it has been fantastic, and I wouldn't change any of it. So to Brad, Happy Anniversary, to my best friend and forever partner.
Each year on our wedding anniversary I pull out the wedding video that Aunt Joyce and Uncle Walter had made for us as a wedding gift, and I reminisce. I adored our wedding day, adored the man I was marrying (though looking back, we both looked more like kids and it seems somewhat silly to call that very much younger Brad a man!) and thought it all turned our perfectly. But now, I am so thankful I have that wedding video to look back on, particularly to see the loved ones that we've lost. To see a close-up of my mother-in-law again, and see her dancing with Brad - and be able to share that with the girls, who never had a chance to meet her - is really, truly priceless. It brings tears to my eyes to see my Nan, and Brad's father, and Steph...and now Walter. But I'm so happy to have had such a beautiful day with all of them, and to be able to see them again.
The 29th is now also the day that Uncle Walter passed away, and so in the spirit of remembering him, I just want to post a couple of thoughts. Walter was one of the kindest, gentlest guys you could ever meet. What I enjoyed most about him was the fact that at every holiday get together, every meal or visit with the family, he would always want to sit down and talk - really talk - to me. He asked so many great, thinking type of questions, and more importantly, he actually listened to the answers. Maybe not a big deal now, but as a teenager that seems like a novelty! Walter was always the one who remembered what was going on in school, or what you were thinking about majoring in, or what you had coming up in life that was making you nervous. For that alone, he was someone you could really feel close to. A great listener, and also a great advice giver - particularly when it came to educational matters, since he worked in the school system. We gave Uncle Walter more than his fair share of ribbing for all the countless hours (days?) he spent behind that big clunky dinosaur of a video camera, but his narration was always a hit and now more than ever, I'm sure we will be happy to have the memories that he helped to capture and create.
R.I.P. Uncle Walter...until we meet again.
A few things about our anniversary. First, I am truly shocked and amazed that it has been ten years since Brad and I walked down the aisle. Time has flown by, and in the blink of an eye since I found myself planning blue hydrangea flower arrangements, silver seashell sugar scoop favors, and rehearsal dinner on the Pilgrim Belle, suddenly three kids (not even babies!) have emerged and I find myself 35 and married, now, to the man who has become both my best friend and a better father than I could ever have imagined. So I'm taking stock, and here are some of the highlights and changes since we married 10 years ago:
- We have finished 3 degrees between us: Brad his bachelors, and me two Masters degrees;
- We have visited 12 different countries - and lived in two (including the US);
- We have lived in 5 different apartments/homes, in 3 states, and have purchased 4 homes (we've sold all but one, of course! Not keeping residences in every state, LOL!)
- We have worked for only 2 companies between us during our entire marriage: Unilever for me (9 years on August 29th!) and NSSC for Brad (11 years this past June);
- We have had three beautiful (in my very biased opinion) children;
- And sadly, we have lost 6 of our closest family members: Brad's mother and father; our niece, Stephanie; my Nan; my grandfather on my mother's side, and now Uncle Walter.
So lots has gone on in 10 years. Most of it has been fantastic, and I wouldn't change any of it. So to Brad, Happy Anniversary, to my best friend and forever partner.
Each year on our wedding anniversary I pull out the wedding video that Aunt Joyce and Uncle Walter had made for us as a wedding gift, and I reminisce. I adored our wedding day, adored the man I was marrying (though looking back, we both looked more like kids and it seems somewhat silly to call that very much younger Brad a man!) and thought it all turned our perfectly. But now, I am so thankful I have that wedding video to look back on, particularly to see the loved ones that we've lost. To see a close-up of my mother-in-law again, and see her dancing with Brad - and be able to share that with the girls, who never had a chance to meet her - is really, truly priceless. It brings tears to my eyes to see my Nan, and Brad's father, and Steph...and now Walter. But I'm so happy to have had such a beautiful day with all of them, and to be able to see them again.
The 29th is now also the day that Uncle Walter passed away, and so in the spirit of remembering him, I just want to post a couple of thoughts. Walter was one of the kindest, gentlest guys you could ever meet. What I enjoyed most about him was the fact that at every holiday get together, every meal or visit with the family, he would always want to sit down and talk - really talk - to me. He asked so many great, thinking type of questions, and more importantly, he actually listened to the answers. Maybe not a big deal now, but as a teenager that seems like a novelty! Walter was always the one who remembered what was going on in school, or what you were thinking about majoring in, or what you had coming up in life that was making you nervous. For that alone, he was someone you could really feel close to. A great listener, and also a great advice giver - particularly when it came to educational matters, since he worked in the school system. We gave Uncle Walter more than his fair share of ribbing for all the countless hours (days?) he spent behind that big clunky dinosaur of a video camera, but his narration was always a hit and now more than ever, I'm sure we will be happy to have the memories that he helped to capture and create.
R.I.P. Uncle Walter...until we meet again.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Confessions of a Crazy 1st-Kid-in-School Mom
Yesterday was the big day: Madelyn's first day of kindergarten! To be totally honest, I wasn't really all that well-prepared. Despite the fact that I've had, you know, 5.5 years to prepare or so. But between the move, the vacation so close to the start of school, etc., I just didn't quite have all my ducks in row - either mentally or in terms of physical gear. The physical gear wasn't such a big issue; after all, I figured that if they decide to tell you a day and a half in advance that the kids can't wear open toe shoes in the 98 degree weather (and half of your life happens to be in boxes), it surely can't be a horrific violation to have to make do with sandals for the first day until you can track down some shoes. But as for the mental piece, that's a different story.
My sweet Madelyn was SO excited to go to school. She picked out her outfit - a special dress bought by Grammy on their back to school shopping trip together - and got herself right up and dressed, brushed her teeth, washed her face, and was practically skipping to get to the car. On the drive to school, I asked her if she was excited. She responded immediately, "YES! I've been waiting for this for a WHOLE YEAR!" and could barely contain herself. For the first day, I was allowed to walk her down to her classroom to meet her teacher; but parents were not allowed into the classroom, for fear that it causes greater separation issues. Maddie eagerly sat down with her classmates in the hall, said hello to her teacher, and waved goodbye to me with a loud, "See you later Mom!!"
I'm not one who cries easily, and call me unsentimental, but I didn't cry yesterday either, really. I felt a bit of a sting in the corner of my eyes as I walked out, but the bigger feeling was one of having just been sucker punched right in the gut. I just felt this huge wall of anxiety - this awful feeling that I was leaving my baby, my firstborn, with these total strangers. These people that were now telling me that she would have to be dropped off in the car lane (no parents in the school afer week 1, please!)...would have to buy her own milk at lunch...would be registered as tardy after the late bell rang at 7:45 (seriously? my little BABY?)...would have to gather up all of her own things, and deal with her own issues, and spend a whopping 7 hours a day completely out of my care. And after the wall of anxiety hit, and the teariness had passed, I just kind of got ticked off about the whole thing. Just a little indignant - if irrational - feeling that I just forked over my baby's childhood at the door. And truly, I've been a little bit depressed ever since.
I'd like to say that Madelyn had a great first day and so I feel a whole lot better about school now. But when Brad picked her up, she got in and said school was fun, but that a little girl had told her she was "the rudest little creature ever!" Madelyn, who is honest to a fault when it comes to relaying incidents like this, was completely shocked as she didn't know the child's name, hadn't even spoken to her, and was simply standing next to her at her cubby. This is her version of the story, and I really do believe her. So Madelyn, who is not shy about standing up for herself (thank goodness! It's my mission to raise strong, self-confident girls!), said "Hey, that's not nice to say!" The little girl replied with a bratty, "YES IT IS!" and Maddie again said, "NO, it's not!" So the girl said again, "Well, you're still the rudest little creature EVER!" So needless to say, Maddie shook it off - but she's the kind of kid who will think about it over and over, and wonder why it happened, what she could have done, etc. Not that that's like her mother, or anything... So she was really bothered by it and we had to do a lot of talking about it last night, and a lot of hugging. Fortunately, she was still looking forward to going today.
This same little girl caused another issue for Madelyn today, when she apparently laughted at Madelyn's nose. Maddie asked her to please note laugh at her, and explained that she had fallen and hit her nose jumping on the bed while we were on vacation a few weeks ago. Truthfully there's nothing left of the injury, but she did get a bit of a sunburn on the tip of her nose the other day where the scab had come off. I'm happy to be raising a kid who (in my opinion) handled both of these situations ok, but I hope this isn't the start of some bully type issues this year.
Add that to the fact that I'm just not getting warm fuzzy feelings from her teacher, and I'm feeling a little less than excited about school. I'm trying to hold off judgement until after the first week, at least. But I really do miss my girl terribly during the day, even while I'm working, and wish I could be there to help her get through all that is new and different in life right now. She loves school by default, so let's hope her bubbly enthusiasm and generally excited disposition returns soon. Of course all moms just want their kids to be happy - and I'm certainly no exception!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Vacay!
Ahhh….vacation!! That about sums up how I’m feeling right now. There’s just no substitute for the relaxed, sleepy feel of sun, sand, and a fantastic beach vacation. I feel like we’re all getting a much-needed reset, after a completely crazy couple (ok, more than a couple?) months of prepping the house to sell, putting it on the market, moving, finding a new house, starting a new job, etc. We can handle the stress – but it’s oh so nice to unwind. And for me, just so nice to leave the corporate world behind for a week and spend quality time with the family.
We haven’t done anything particular exciting this week; our days have been filled with making sandcastles, swimming in the pool, jumping in the waves, taking decently long naps, and getting to know the cousins over family dinners and walks on the beach. I say “getting to know” the cousins because these days, we manage about one trip a year to see the H side of the family; so really the kids do need to get to know each other from year to year. But this is the second year in a row we have come to (gorgeous!) Atlantic Beach – and Maddie’s third trip here – and having memories from year to year is definitely proving to be nice for building relationships with Brad’s side of the family.
But even though we’re doing the same activities from day to day, it’s nice to see how things change… over the course of the week, Maddie has gone from using a lifejacket part of the time to going without about 90% of the time in the pool. She’s doggie paddling from one end of the pool to the other, working on perfecting her underwater somersault, and getting more confident by the day. Sienna and Lyla are motoring all around the pool with their floaties; arm swimmies have been a sanity saver with Lyla, who insists on doing everything in the pool herself even though she really can’t swim yet. The sandcastle skills are really getting honed, and the two older kids have gotten fairly brave with the waves and are now enjoying bobbing up and down in the surf with lifejackets on and Mom or Dad nearby.
More to come, but the pool is calling… it’s really too bad vacation can’t last forever!
We haven’t done anything particular exciting this week; our days have been filled with making sandcastles, swimming in the pool, jumping in the waves, taking decently long naps, and getting to know the cousins over family dinners and walks on the beach. I say “getting to know” the cousins because these days, we manage about one trip a year to see the H side of the family; so really the kids do need to get to know each other from year to year. But this is the second year in a row we have come to (gorgeous!) Atlantic Beach – and Maddie’s third trip here – and having memories from year to year is definitely proving to be nice for building relationships with Brad’s side of the family.
But even though we’re doing the same activities from day to day, it’s nice to see how things change… over the course of the week, Maddie has gone from using a lifejacket part of the time to going without about 90% of the time in the pool. She’s doggie paddling from one end of the pool to the other, working on perfecting her underwater somersault, and getting more confident by the day. Sienna and Lyla are motoring all around the pool with their floaties; arm swimmies have been a sanity saver with Lyla, who insists on doing everything in the pool herself even though she really can’t swim yet. The sandcastle skills are really getting honed, and the two older kids have gotten fairly brave with the waves and are now enjoying bobbing up and down in the surf with lifejackets on and Mom or Dad nearby.
More to come, but the pool is calling… it’s really too bad vacation can’t last forever!
Catching Up
So…I’ve been MIA for a bit due to a whole lot of activity going on here in the H household. Since I last posted, I went on a business trip to Chicago, we closed on the new house, and we headed out on vacation. The last item, of course, being the most important!
We’re currently in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, completely enjoying our vacation. We’re here with Brad’s two sisters, Melissa and Darlene, and their respective families. None too small a group, since there are a lot of cousins between our three families! But first things first…
The house closing went off without too much of a hitch. Other than the previous owners not being completely moved out by the time of closing (what the heck??!) and then asking if their two cats could spend the night after our closing in the garage (again, WHAT?!?), things went as planned. We did discover in our final walk-through that we need to replace all of the carpet, pretty much, which is a bummer. But I have developed a pretty intense allergy to cats over the past few years, and we had no idea they had two of them. That’s what happens when you house hunt from 1,600 miles away, I guess, and spend a total of 15 minutes at a time looking at your future new home. But now that we’ve spent some time in there, I’m DYING. Add to it the big stains that were revealed when they moved their furniture, and it’s pretty much a necessity to replace the carpets. Sigh.
The night after we closed, we brought the kids over for picnic pizza and their first swim in the pool. So much fun! We pulled up a spot on the kitchen floor and brought out the paper plates, then headed for a dip. The kids thought it was all very exciting to be picnicking (sp?) on the floor in the new house with no furniture, and Madelyn took all of about 20 minutes to get up enough courage to jump off the diving board in her lifejacket. They went back and forth between the pool and the fantastic new playhouse, which is seriously as sweet as any toddler/preschooler could want. Maddie is all excited about decorating it inside, which I think it just too cute. Guess she’s got a bit of Martha Stewart in her…so we’ll see what she comes up with! Move-in date is the 11th.
We’re currently in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina, completely enjoying our vacation. We’re here with Brad’s two sisters, Melissa and Darlene, and their respective families. None too small a group, since there are a lot of cousins between our three families! But first things first…
The house closing went off without too much of a hitch. Other than the previous owners not being completely moved out by the time of closing (what the heck??!) and then asking if their two cats could spend the night after our closing in the garage (again, WHAT?!?), things went as planned. We did discover in our final walk-through that we need to replace all of the carpet, pretty much, which is a bummer. But I have developed a pretty intense allergy to cats over the past few years, and we had no idea they had two of them. That’s what happens when you house hunt from 1,600 miles away, I guess, and spend a total of 15 minutes at a time looking at your future new home. But now that we’ve spent some time in there, I’m DYING. Add to it the big stains that were revealed when they moved their furniture, and it’s pretty much a necessity to replace the carpets. Sigh.
The night after we closed, we brought the kids over for picnic pizza and their first swim in the pool. So much fun! We pulled up a spot on the kitchen floor and brought out the paper plates, then headed for a dip. The kids thought it was all very exciting to be picnicking (sp?) on the floor in the new house with no furniture, and Madelyn took all of about 20 minutes to get up enough courage to jump off the diving board in her lifejacket. They went back and forth between the pool and the fantastic new playhouse, which is seriously as sweet as any toddler/preschooler could want. Maddie is all excited about decorating it inside, which I think it just too cute. Guess she’s got a bit of Martha Stewart in her…so we’ll see what she comes up with! Move-in date is the 11th.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Best Sisters
I posted on my FB status this morning that I was really enjoying hearing my kids play so nicely together...and truly, it was probably one of the best Saturday mornings we've had a in while in that department! Our girls really do seem to be good friends, and because they are close in age they really play together most of the time. BUT they also fight really well together, and can go from best of friends to what would seem like lunatic enemies in the matter of seconds. Not fun.
This morning, after baths and shampoos for everyone, Lyla ended up taking a morning nap - which is rare for her these days. Madelyn and Sienna began playing together and just seemed to go from one happy little activity to another together - also rare! Madelyn, as usual, played the role of ringleader/activity coordinator, and for whatever reason Sienna was just being easygoing this morning and happy to oblige. So they started off by putting on costumes, and getting ready for the big show that they were going to put on in Lyla's room (which is a big empty "bonus room" on the second floor that has cathedral ceilings, and nothing in it but Lyla's pack-n-play and a clock radio the kids have been using as a boom box for mega dance productions) as soon as she woke up. Madelyn then decided they needed to dress up the costumes a bit more, so they moved into the kitchen and we set up craft stuff. Maddie drew huge flower petals on all different pieces of construction paper, then drew a belt for me to cut out for her (kids scissors are among the missing!) so she could glue them on to the belt and dress up her outfit. Sienna preferred to practice letters, but did a little jazzing up of her own with a headband.
After finishing up and determining the costumes were ready, Madelyn started teaching Sienna the words to her new song, "Best Sisters." The two of them sang together, arms around eachother, and it nearly melted my heart. I always wanted sisters (sorry Dave and Rich!) and I just think they're so so lucky to have each have two sisters. Amidst all the fighting that goes on each day, it was such a nice change to hear them loving on eachother and appreciating having eachother around. Soon they were singing at the top of their lungs, which probably woke poor Lyla Lu. But she woke up in good spirits and quickly joined in the singing and production. By then M had taken off her costume, but Sienna was still looking all Jane Fonda-esque in Maddie's dance leotard (backwards, of course), ballet slippers, and elastic headband. Besides being sweet to watch, the whole morning just allowed me to get so much done! I was able to wash and fold a load of laundry, make pancakes from scratch with homemade blueberry syrup, and get a whole batch of fresh tomato sauce made while they played together. Alas, it didn't last forever...the fighting eventually did start up. But it gives me hope that despite the fighting, they really are developing into the best of friends.
This morning, after baths and shampoos for everyone, Lyla ended up taking a morning nap - which is rare for her these days. Madelyn and Sienna began playing together and just seemed to go from one happy little activity to another together - also rare! Madelyn, as usual, played the role of ringleader/activity coordinator, and for whatever reason Sienna was just being easygoing this morning and happy to oblige. So they started off by putting on costumes, and getting ready for the big show that they were going to put on in Lyla's room (which is a big empty "bonus room" on the second floor that has cathedral ceilings, and nothing in it but Lyla's pack-n-play and a clock radio the kids have been using as a boom box for mega dance productions) as soon as she woke up. Madelyn then decided they needed to dress up the costumes a bit more, so they moved into the kitchen and we set up craft stuff. Maddie drew huge flower petals on all different pieces of construction paper, then drew a belt for me to cut out for her (kids scissors are among the missing!) so she could glue them on to the belt and dress up her outfit. Sienna preferred to practice letters, but did a little jazzing up of her own with a headband.
After finishing up and determining the costumes were ready, Madelyn started teaching Sienna the words to her new song, "Best Sisters." The two of them sang together, arms around eachother, and it nearly melted my heart. I always wanted sisters (sorry Dave and Rich!) and I just think they're so so lucky to have each have two sisters. Amidst all the fighting that goes on each day, it was such a nice change to hear them loving on eachother and appreciating having eachother around. Soon they were singing at the top of their lungs, which probably woke poor Lyla Lu. But she woke up in good spirits and quickly joined in the singing and production. By then M had taken off her costume, but Sienna was still looking all Jane Fonda-esque in Maddie's dance leotard (backwards, of course), ballet slippers, and elastic headband. Besides being sweet to watch, the whole morning just allowed me to get so much done! I was able to wash and fold a load of laundry, make pancakes from scratch with homemade blueberry syrup, and get a whole batch of fresh tomato sauce made while they played together. Alas, it didn't last forever...the fighting eventually did start up. But it gives me hope that despite the fighting, they really are developing into the best of friends.
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