This morning we got to school early enough for the girls to play on the playground.  I was standing by Chloe when one of her little friends came up to her and said, "Chloe, what about the secret yesterday?" 

Chloe paused for a second, looked at me, looked back at her friend, shrugged her shoulders, and said indifferently,"eh...I don't know."

Then she looked at me again and we smiled at each other and I gave her a big thumbs up and she ran off an played.

Now, all I need to do is follow  my own excellent advice on not gossiping.  : )

What's All This Nonsense?

One of my favorite times of day is bedtime.  For one, it means my little computers are going into sleep mode and I get a break.  And two, I love this little bonding time I get with them every night.  Some of my best conversations with Chloe, happen as we do our nightly cuddling.
Tonight she told me that there were secrets going on at school today.  
 C: "Elyse sang this song today at school.  'Elyse and Austin sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G..."
M: "Ya I know that song."
C: "You do?"
M: "Ya. Why was she singing that?"
C: "I don't know.  And then another secret was going on.  That *so and so likes *so and so.  And then Alina told everybody.  And then *so and so was mad at Alina for telling everyone her secret.  What's all this about Mom?"
M: "Well Chloe, you know how Mom likes Dad and she thinks he is cute? Well that's what they are talking about.  But you don't need to worry about that.  You just play and be friends with everybody. Do you like anybody like that? Do you think any boys are cute?"
C: "No. I just like to play with boys and have fun. "
M: "good. You just keep being friends with boys and don't worry about secrets and all that."
C: "Mom, I have another secret.  I threw something away."
M: "What did you throw away?"
C: "I'll show you."
(walks into her closet and brings out a piece of paper with a picture of a skeleton from her friend Mo)
M: "Why did you throw that away?"
C: "Remember what we were talking about? You know, all that love stuff?"
M: "Ya..."
C: "Well I threw it away because I don't want people to think that me and Mo are in love.  Last time we played together, Mo was a prince and I was a princess...and I just don't want people to think we are in love.  So I threw it away.  But...I think I'll just take it down for girls club so my friends don't see it."

I am annoyed that kids are even talking about such nonsense in 1st grade...but I am glad to see that Chloe doesn't seem to be interested in the drama.
And I won't be disappointed if some day Mo and Chloe fall in love.  But that better not be for a LONG time.  And until then, they better continue to climb trees together and make cars and airplanes and forts and haunted houses out of cardboard boxes.

 The other day I was at my Dad's house and Macie spilled something on her clothes. She insisted she take off her dirty clothes, which left her a little indecent.  So I looked in a closet and found some old dresses from when I was a kid. I was pretty excited to see that some of them can fit my girls.  I even might let them wear a couple of them in public.  Don thinks Macie looks like a Fundamentalist Mormon in this one.

Look here I am in the same dress! But I must be at least a couple years older than Macie.  

This past weekend we ran a 5K at the Phoenix Zoo. And by "we" I mean Don pushed Macie and Chloe in the stroller and I ran ahead with my friend Katie.  Chloe ran the first mile with us. She was so cute, and she really did run a good portion of a mile, of course she was decked out in pink from head to toe.  I got to see her cross the finish line.  The first thing she asked me was, "Did I win??!"

I of course said, "Yes!"

Then she jumped up and down and asked what she got for winning.

I told her, "a t-shirt."

She was sorely disappointed.

Later that day she asked me, "Mom, did I really win?"

And once again I made a Mom lie and said, "Yes!"

And she replied, "I didn't think I was going to win.  Because my family doesn't know how to run very fast.  And I had to stay with my family so I didn't get lost...I always beat Dad when he races me to my room."

: )

Today driving home from school she told me about this worksheet.  I love looking at the pictures she draws.

She told me, "Mom, I got nervous today."

Me: "Why?"

"Well because all the other kids drew a street for "end" and I drew a moon and stars because I thought of the "end" of my day."

Me: Well, that's okay. Why would that make you nervous?

"Well I didn't want to get in trouble for drawing something different than everyone else.  I didn't know what to do.  So I prayed.  It didn't really help.  Well it helped me a little.  It told me what I could do."

As you can see, she erased her original moon and stars and drew a street like the other kids.

Another lesson for another day will be about not having to do the same thing as all the other kids...But I just really loved that she prayed when she got nervous.  

And she gave Macie her Lollipop when she got in the car after school , and Macie was overcome with joy.

Moments like these make me feel like the luckiest Mom in the whole world.

Chloe brought home this book from school with all these different careers one can have when they grow up.  It is filled with things like this:

 She told me she colored this picture because she wants to be a rock star when she grows up.
sigh.
Too bad the book wasn't filled with real people career choices...
I want to draw people's blood and change adult diapers.
I want to sit at a computer all day and give people's money to the government.
I want to convince people that they need a product that they really don't need.
I want to be a mediator for two people that used to love each other, but now can't even sit in the same room together.
Wonder why those career choices didn't end up in the book.

Also, Chloe invented a new color. It is called "Dust."  It is made by combining  pink, green, and a white crayon.
When she asks what my favorite color is, I am now required to answer "dust."

Come Rain or Come Shine...

Girls Club

 I tried to take a relaxing Sunday afternoon nap.  Which was pretty much impossible.  I was woken up every 4 and a half minutes.  Sometimes by soft knocks.  Sometimes by loud knocks.  Sometimes by screaming.  Sometimes by fighting.  Sometimes from cries of injury.  And one time by Don.  There is only really one thing I really sincerely miss about not having kids: being able to sleep where and when I want.  

I finally got up, after putting off Chloe's pleas for over 2 hours, for me to help her with "Chloe work."
I had no idea what "Chloe work" was.  Since I know that she usually doesn't like to include the words "Chloe" and "work" in the same sentence.

Turns out "Chloe work" is:
1. Writing in Rose Book (ie. her journal)
2. A Geography Lesson. (she wanted me to get out our globe in the far reaches of the closet, and for me to show her where certain locations are.  And then she counted how far apart all her requested locations were.  In case you are wondering, they are all approximately 12 Chloe units away from each other. She said she plans on showing all her friends how smart she is.  The good news is, even if her 12 Chloe units lead her astray, I am pretty sure the other 6 year olds will still be naively impressed.  Confession: I thought Spain was in South America until I was 18.  So Chloe asking for my help in this area is like the blind leading the blind. )
3. A lesson.  (she wanted me to find her missing purse after saying a prayer to find it.  I think this prayer is going to require some more faith and perhaps a miracle, since I believe it could be at at least 10 different houses.  Or in the grocery cart of a homeless person camped out by Target.)

 Yesterday Chloe was in a purse making mood. She told me she made it big enough for my sunglasses.  Unfortunately she didn't make it big enough to balance out my hips.  She also made smaller purses for herself and Macie.  Macie was appreciative at first, but I think the purse was later used to illustrate her rage in one of her ear piercing tantrums.  2 year olds are so extreme.  One second they are like the dew from heaven.  And the next, they are the flames from he**.  Macie asks me to swing her literally 5 times a day.  I had this brilliant idea from the internet, to take a string and attach it to the swing, and theoretically you only have to emit only a very slight effort of movement in your hand, to make the swing go.  This is going in my Top 10 List, maybe Top 5, of HORRIBLE IDEAS.  First of all, it didn't really work. And second of all, Chloe, Macie, her friend, and yes even myself, fell victim to being burned and sliced from a fast moving string.  HORRIBLE IDEA.

 So I have not written yet about Chloe's girls club.  A couple weeks ago, she came up with this idea with a friend, to have a girls club.  Every day.  Her first thought was to have it at 7 PM. But I told her that perhaps a better time might be 3 PM.  Like I said, she wants it every day.  And for pretty much all her friends to come.  We've done it once or twice with only one playmate, which I think the failed expectations caused her to lose some girls club steam.  But somehow her passion was reignited today, and thus. I have a new fort in my family room, in preparation for her girls club tomorrow.
And here is the agenda for her girls club:

 Art. But they only do this on Tuesday.

 And they have a snack.  She told me this is a sandwich with ketchup and other stuff.  But not lettuce.  Because ketchup and lettuce don't go well together.  But apparently ketchup on sandwiches is delicious?

 Then they read...

and they play outside on the swing set.

And they make paper jewelry...

 and have a fashion show.

 And evere day they go into the closet with our new glow ball.

And my favorite part, at the end, they hug.

 Other stories from the past week:
Chloe told me again that she was worried about being a Mom because she didn't know how to cook.
I told her that I would teach her a little each day.
And then she told me, in a very concerned voice, "But Mom. I don't want to...I just want to play."

We were at the mall, and Chloe and her cousin were playing on one of those soft indoor playgrounds.  Somehow she lost her footing and she fell directly on her back.  She knocked the wind out of her lungs. (Her cousin told me that she hurt her blow hole. Which well, doesn't sound all that appropriate, but I digress.)  anyway. So I was trying to carry out my crippled Chloe, which Macie was having none of,  because she is the only one who can be held by Mommy, obviously.  So that created a bit of a predicament for me.  I had one kid who couldn't walk, and  1 kid that wouldn't.  And then Macie pulled down my skirt and exposed my underthings.  It was a relaxing afternoon.