Late Mother's Day Post

I know I already posted about Mother's Day, but I have to document something Sydney gave me.  In Primary (for our church) the teachers asked each kid questions about their moms.  Here are Sydney's answers.  I got a kick out of them!

The first thing my mom does when she wakes up is: MAKE COOKIES AND FOOD  of course I do!
My mother's shoe size is: 40TH!
My mother likes to: BRUSH MY TEETH
My mother does not like to eat: COFFEE
I love my mother because: I LOVE HER SO MUCH!!!
My mother is happy when: I HELP HER
My mother's favorite food is: PIZZA
My mother's favorite story in the scriptures is: ABOUT JESUS
If I could give my mother anything, I'd give her: NUMMIES I don't know what nummies are, but I'm excited!
If my mom could go anywhere in the world, it would be: TO ATLANTIS

That last one was my ABSOLUTE positive favorite.  A lot of the other kids said to Utah.  Only my kid would say this right? ;)

I love my little girlies!  We'll have to do these questions each year because they are hilarious!

Happy Mother's/Women's Day

I have a lovely history of Mother's Days.  It was not my favorite day for a long time, but even after I became a mom, we had some exciting times.

Mother's Day 2008: At 4:30 I was up because Sydney had peed out of her diaper and all over everything. Welcome to motherhood!

Mother's Day 2009: Sydney graciously got up and got into my lipstick that was in my scriptures in my nightstand.  She wiped it all over my light carpet.  I sat in church by myself because I had to sing and she and Aaron were sick.  So much fun.

Mother's Day 2010: Everyone was sick but me.

Mother's Day 2011:  So far, it's the best one yet!  Currently our worst ailments are being sore from planting our vegetable garden and building another garden yesterday.  Yesterday Aaron took Sydney to a Kids Workshop and they brought me home this lovely planter.  Sydney walked in and said, "Happy Wednesday Mommy!" 

This morning when I came downstairs I found she and Aaron cooking me breakfast.  Sydney informed me that it was all for me because it was Mother's Day.  Aaron said, "What do you tell Mommy?" and Sydney replied, "You're handsome!"

I love my girls!  (and my boy too!)

Happy Women's Day to all of you!  Regardless of your current family situation, today is about all women and our proclivity for motherhood.  Thank you for being the women you are and for being an example to me and to my little girls.  We love and appreciate you!

My Kids Crack Me Up

My kids are hilarious.  They often make me laugh.  Sydney the other day said, "I'm so sick of you changing my bum."  Me too! I thought. 
Sydney in particular often talks about what a big girl she is.  Mady tries to keep up, and although she's got some great verbal skills for a 2 year old, there are a few things she still doesn't get, which make them even funnier. 
Tonight in the car Sydney informed me, "I weigh 16 feet."  That means I'm big!
At that point Mady chimed in, "I have 16 feet!"

For the next 10 minutes Sydney argued with Mady about that.  By the time we arrived at our destination she had set Mady more or less straight.  She finished with, "I have 6 feet!"

Spring is Here

Spring is definitely here.  I mean, I know it's May already, but it actually has been very springy around here and we've had lots of rain and wind.  Not a lot of outdoor time.  Today I mixed fertilizer into the garden while the girls "helped" until I gave them a fruit roll up.  It was their first, and let me tell you - they were big fans.  Totally confused about the whole rolled up candy on a strip of paper thing, but big fans. 

In case you needed it, here's true proof that I'm a dork: We have a raised garden and I have never once seen a worm in it, in the 3 previous years we have planted vegetables in there.  Today I found like 10!  I was so excited!  I know, I'm weird, but that means we actually have dirt and not just rock hard clay and that maybe they will help our garden now!

After I was done in the big garden, the girls wanted to plant something.  We had one of those TerraCycle planter thingies where they put seeds in cardboard and you plant them in upcycled yogurt cups.  The girls were excited to plant their tomatoes and Sydney has been checking on them all day.

Are you growing anything this spring?

Butterfly Pavillion

On Saturday we went somewhere new!  We'd never been to the Butterfly Pavillion, so we headed up for the morning. 

 Almost right off the bat this littlle girl had a huge smile on her face.  Mady didn't want to touch them.  She's not one for bugs.  She enjoyed looking though.  This butterfly was actually like 3 inches tall (long?)

 Here I am with our little butterflies watching one on the ground.  It was very hot and humid in here and you had to be careful because if you stayed in one place for too long the butterflies would land on your shoes.

We've been reading Fancy Nancy and had picked this one up only the night before.  In it, Nancy goes to a Butterfly Pavillion.  My girls were so stinkin' excited.  We read it on the way to the pavillion.  We even saw an azure butterfly, just like Nancy does.  Happy day.

 After that we headed over to pay a visit to the mascot of the Butterfly Pavillion, Rosie the tarantula!  We found out there are over 150 "Rosies" that they use so that the tarantulas don't get tired.  I first held a tarantula in 2nd grade and was fascinated.  While I'm not a huge fan of spiders, tarantulas don't bother me, so I immediately sat down and held Rosie.  Sydney initially held back, but there was no line and when she saw I didn't hesitate, she decided to go for it.  I think she just wanted a sticker.  Jess, this picture is for you. ;)

 After a lot of bribing, I got Mady to do it too.  Funny thing was, I bribed her with jelly beans, which she totally forgot about.  Sydney ate them.  Typical.  Mady's been sporting her "I held Rosie" sticker every day since.  I think she's pretty proud.

 We couldn't let Daddy miss out on the fun!  He wasn't excited, but was a good sport and humored me!

 Poor kid was all tuckered out and crashed on the way home!  Being brave is tough!  Great job girls (and Daddy!)

The Butterfly Pavillion was a fun little day trip.  The Insectarium at the St. Louis Zoo is better for butterflys (and free!), but this was a good version close to home.