You know what is weird? The view counts on my blog posts have gone up exponentially.  I have no idea why.  I am quite positive that it is not because a plethora of people have become interested in stories about my kids, so this leads me to wonder why the increase.  My one real reader, (erin) do you have any ideas?  You can ask your brother, the one who now works in the West Wing of the white house now, doing computer stuff.  

Chloe asked me the other day, "Mom will you still like me when I get older?"  And of course I said yes and why...and she said, "Well I hear other Moms saying mean things about their kids when they are not around." Chloe has noticed Moms gossiping about their teenage kids and she was worried that I wouldn't like her when she became a teenager.  I am constantly amazed by how observant Chloe is.

 Oscar is 2 months old today.  This boy is happy when he is held and when he is eating and for about 10 minutes after eating. I seriously feed this kid 24 hours a day.  I cannot get anything done.  If he eats a bottle he will be happier for a longer space of time.  He does like being snug as a bug in my baby carrier.  He has smiled a few times, but it is not consistent yet.  I am looking forward to that.  Newborns just seem so disgruntled or indifferent their first few weeks of life.  and it is just because they don't smile.  So I wonder, "Are you happy?  Am I adequately fulfilling my duties as a Mother, because you certainly don't seem impressed!"

With school starting, I have tried (unsuccessfully) to come up with a routine.  Mostly it is the homework that is killing me.  so I made a rule, no t.v. until rooms are clean, recycle is out, and your homework is done.  I thought those were 3 pretty easy responsibilities to fulfill.  It didn't work.  Chloe just told me, "That's okay, I don't really care about watching t.v." So my rules solved the too much t.v. problem but did nothing for the homework issue.  I hate Chloe's homework.  It is actually my homework.  The worst is the 2 full pages of math facts that I constantly have to redirect her attention to.  So I still haven't figured out a productive way to get her to do her homework.  But Chloe is like me.  she likes making lists.  Not actually doing the things on the list, but making them.  So she filled my fridge up with more jobs that she wasn't planning on doing.  We even agreed on a reward, her idea. If they did all their jobs for three weeks in a row, they could get the "elsa closet."  (another "Frozen" accessory to add to their collection.  Which by the way, did I mention that I finally found them Elsa barbies, and they played with them for 2 days before they became part of the "old, no longer exciting" toys pile).  Anyway, I think they tried to follow their list for about 1 day, even with the promise of that beloved Elsa closet.  I do really like all her illustrations though and specifications for who does the job and how often.  My favorite is Macie has a potty job "every day."  She has the most x's.

 I have mentioned how my girls hate to get rid of anything.  Well we are putting in grass and we just got rid of these rocks.  When the rocks were getting picked up by a landscaping crew to put into someone elses yard, the girls ran out to grab their most special crystal rock.  The rock they have not cared about for months, the rock sitting on the side of the yard in a pile, just waiting to be pawned off on someone else who likes rocks and dirt and desert.  Macie actually picked up that heavy rock and brought it into my house to save it from its' impending adoption.  Don bribed her with an ice cream cone if she would give it away and I told her we could take a picture of it so we could always remember it:

We also finally sold our Mazda and Chloe had to sit in it and mourn a few minutes before letting it go.  Oddly enough I felt a little sad seeing that little car drive away too, but then I remembered what a money pit that car is.

 I liked Chloe's answers on this one.

 I also love Chloe's answer on this one:

 Chloe wrote me this note: