And yet another ordinary day (this one without leaving the house)

I would be remiss if I didn't tell about our day today, if I only told Friday's "day in the life" story, which would give the (mistaken) impression that we are full of energy and on-the-go every single day. Because today was just as much of a typical day for us as Friday was. Today I never got out of my pajamas and the girls never wore real clothes. We didn't leave the house, and no one's hair got combed (including mine), but we sure enjoyed ourselves. There was some nice, peaceful painting by Ro (well it was peaceful for her, I was actually a little freaked out by the enormous mess but managed to keep it to myself). It turned out really well, and the paint didn't permanently stain anything. I think I'm going to frame it. There was a whole lot of sister time. (Ree in purple, Ro in pink.): (I should note that for this next pic I was sitting on the ground and holding the camera in my lap shooting blindly. I woke up with a crick in my neck and couldn't bend to put my eye to the camera. I figured I'd probably just delete them all, but atually liked this one and the next one.) And there was a whole lot of laundry. (There's always a whole lot of laundry.) The house got trashed, and then cleaned up. Three or four times: The girls were quite busy for hours in the backyard making "meat" (a disgusting mixture of sand, ice cubes, water, and pieces of cardboard) for "their dog" (the brass dog that usually sits upstairs in the master bedroom) and having a party in the playhouse: We found an old milk sippy in the playhouse. No idea how long it had been there... Ugh. After the girls played with their "meat" long enough, they smelled, uh, not good. So it was into the tub. But before the bathing part, we tried round 3 of the rainy day shaving cream project (yes I know that time #1 and #2 were so so bad, but I am nothing if not stubborn). This time we went for a TINY amount, in bowls, that I doled out. I'll write a whole post tomorrow on how the project came out this time. Any guesses about what happened before I spill it? We had tv dinners (yes the lack of gourmetness is just stunning) and the girls watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. (They heart these tacky little wooden trays that I got at a garage sale decades ago.) Ro is on the left, Ree on the right. Then we went upstairs and I read them five or six books (I lost track), they climbed into bed, I kissed them goodnight, and then I came downstairs to watch Grey's Anatomy (I guess that part is the same as Friday). TubaDad is off playing the tuba, in case you were wondering where he was in all of this. So, did anyone else wear pajamas all day today, or do something equally decadent, lazy, or embarrassing?

Snapshots of an ordinary day

Shanny over at Bless Your Heart is having another one of her quarterly Photo Bloggy Days where you take a picture every hour or so to give a peek into your daily life. This time we did it mostly from Ro and Ree's perspective, so the camera stayed with them all day (even through preschool) and they took a bunch of the pictures themselves. I think you can tell which ones they took (the cropping is always more interesting than mine), and their sweet teacher even took a couple. Anyhow, here was our not-exciting-but-perfectly-nice day on Friday: So that was our perfectly ordinary Friday. It's interesting that the things I do nowadays are just a smidge different than the things I did before kids (heh), well with the exception of watching tv for relaxation. Which reminds me, the other day we were telling the girls it was so fun to spend time with them, and TubaDad said "Kind of makes me wonder what we even did before kids" and Ro instantly piped up "I know, sat on the couch and watched boring tv." Ha, so right!!! If you'd like to participate, just grab a camera and take a picture every hour or two of whatever you're looking at (or whatever's looking back at you). It doesn't have to be fancy, and the pictures don't have to be works of art. But it is fun to look back on.

Fashion friday: the kids take control of the camera

Well it's Fashion Friday, time to look back at the fashions the kiddos assembled this week. Most of the outfits were standard Ro and Ree—you know, bright, cheery, and, uh, "interesting." But then there was this day. Maybe I was just extra-uptight that day, but man, I really had to restrain myself from "fixing" anything, particularly with Ro's outfit. Trust me, they looked even worse in person, with the clashing pinks and reds, long-sleeved shirts and tanks (a look Miss Ree seems to gravitate toward), baggy tights that were three sizes too big and she stole out of the "when you're older" bin... Whatever... they were happy, and that's what counts, right? (clenching teeth) Anyhow, Ro is on the left and Ree is on the right, and we were on our way to soccer, where, by the way, Ree was the only one on the field wearing a skirt. A fact that did not bother her in the least. To mix things up a little, yesterday I asked the girls if they wanted to take their own fashion pics from now on, and they loved the idea. So I told them to figure out location/props/pose/whatever, then put the D300 on a tripod, plunked it where they directed, and handed over the remote. I think the shot they got was pretty dang cute. (I cropped it a little afterwards.) And these outfits seemed "normal" again, for some reason, but perhaps I'm just viewing them through chocolate-covered glasses—it's what I had for breakfast. Ree is on the left, wearing lilac shorts over purple flowered pants, a fuzzy striped sweater, and her purple kittycat Polliwalk shoes. Oh, and she has her twins Emily and Rachel in the stroller. (Apparently she's the only one who can tell them apart. Heh.) Ro, holding the remote trigger, is on the right, and is wearing her faux reading glasses, a turquoise velour hoodie, red shorts, turquoise leggings, and her blue dinosaur Polliwalk shoes. She also has twins in her stroller, named Raspberry Fruit Jar and Rose Fruit Mix. (?) Ree (left, holding the remote) was in charge of today's picture. She wanted bikes and she knew just how she wanted to sit/balance. When Ree put her outfit together today she looked up at me and gushed "Mama, I look beautiful!!!" Always, baby. Always. Ro, on the right, was apparently going for an "I dare you to try and ignore me" look. She's wearing her hoodie as head ornament, flung a tutu skirt around her neck, and then has wildly combined many boldly colored items that actually seem to have some complementary colors. That's certainly a look, sweetie. Cheers, and happy Friday!

A little bit of progress on the lifebooks, but not enough

I'm still dragging my feet on the actual writing part of these lifebooks. Why do I do that? As soon as something is the tiniest bit hard, I find a million "but, what if..." excuses to avoid working on it. Well, I'm rejecting the "what if it sucks, I can't start until I have it exactly right" excuse right now and just going to go with this outline that I've been kicking around. It's not perfect, but it's good enough to start with: 1. Date / Letter to child (this is the story of you...) 2. How families are formed (include kid-friendly definition of adoption) 3. It all started in china / World map 4. Before you were born, you grew in a special place (O'Malley words) / Your birthdate 5. Chinese zodiac (your birth year and other family members’ years) 6. Info about China (also include many of our favorite things come from China) 7. Your city 8. Why you were placed for adoption 9. Pictures of you as a baby and stories of date found 10. Orphanage information / Chinese name information 11. Foster family information 12. Process of adoption (from baby's point of view) 13. Orphanage director took steps to find a forever family / Finding ad 14. Monthly pictures for that first year (we received an album full of pics when we adopted the girls) 15. Adoption paperwork / What we did in the adoption process 16. Referral day 17. Choosing your name (american, chinese, last name) / Getting ready for the trip to China 18. Flying to China (grandparents came too) 19. Meeting the family for the first time (include details interesting to child) 20. Signing the papers / pledging and promising 21. Final adoption process and medical checkup 22. China experience 23. Travel group / Red couch photo(s) 24. Plane ride home / Family thoughts 25. Our promise, our family, we are the lucky ones Different pieces of this outline come from all over: I've signed up for the Asialifebooks.org online group, have purchased a used copy of Bath O'Malley's LifeBooks: Creating a Treasure for the Adopted Child, and have been privileged to view a few precious copies of lifebooks people have written for their children (thank you thank you thank you!). Last week, I took Ro and Ree to the store and let them pick out their own 3-ring binders that will house their initial lifebooks. (Ro chose a multicolor striped one, and Ree chose an all-pink one, if anyone's curious.) So I am ready to write and to gather pictures/documents! My goal is to knock out 2-4 spreads a week. Hey maybe double that if TubaDad isn't traveling. First two spreads/topics for this week are "Letter to child (this is the story of you...)" and "How families are formed (include kid-friendly definition of adoption)." So, I'd love to hear the wording that worked for you to: * Introduce this book to your child * Say how families are formed * Say what adoption is (in a simple, single sentence that a kiddo can understand and maybe even repeat to his/her friends) And if I figure out anything great, I'll share that in my next post. Until then, here's to some prolific writing!

Slinging mud at the weatherman

Our weather forecast said we were going to have 10 straight days of rain. And then, today, our sky looked like this: Which did not surprise Ro and Ree one bit. At the tender age of four, they've already drawn their own conclusions, as evidenced by these wicked zingers: Ree: "Mama, I think dat weatherman live in a house with no windows." Ro: "Yeah, and he don't live here, I think he live somewhere else, like maybe Chicago, or Times Square." Bwah ha! (Ro left, Ree right) I can't wait to hear what they have to say once they start paying attention to politics!

A rainy day project that was fun and didn't destroy my house! (crayon melts)

We've been making our way through the rainy-day project list, and with the slightly horrifying 10-day forecast showing nothing but rain, we might just get all the way through the list this week. I think (with the oh-so-notable exception of my shaving cream fiasco) all of the activities have been really successful. Here's the latest one we tried: Crayon Melts, as suggested by Alli. This was lots of fun, super easy, and had NO cleanup. First we dug all the old, broken crayons out of the bottom of our crayon bowl, which thrilled me to the bottom of my thrifty little heart. Then Ro and Ree peeled the crayons (there was some grumbling and complaining from the girlies when this took a little longer than they expected, but secretly I was all for anything that kept them in their seats and quiet for any length of time). We broke the crayons into the smallest pieces we could and threw them randomly into silicone baking cups. (Note: We got these cute flower ones from the dollar bin at Target yesterday, but you could use any silicone shapes or foil cupcake liners, just don't use the paper ones.) We preheated the oven to 250 degrees, then baked our little cups for about 10 minutes. (Ok, ok, actually we did about 15 minutes, but don't do that. We overbaked them a little and a bunch of the colors ran together and made sludge. See how the tops are all one color? So seriously, check them at 10 minutes and then keep an eye on them. You want things to be melty but not pure liquid.) Then we left them on the counter to cool and get hard again. (At this point we went upstairs to try round 2 of the rainy day shaving cream project, which was in the bathtub this time, and I STILL failed at it. Sigh. More on that later.) Once the crayon melts were cool and not squishy, the girls popped them out of the molds, and woohoo, we had multicolored crayons in neat shapes!: The resulting crayon melts were cool and fun, and the girls immediately started fighting because they both wanted the same ones. (If I hadn't made any sludgy ones I bet we wouldn't have had this problem...) So we played the Hide Fingers game (that's how we solve all disagreements lately, just hide a certain number of fingers behind your back and whoever guesses the right number gets to choose first) and Ree got first pick. Then they ran off to test out their new multicolored crayons at the art table. These are going to make really cute school-friend gifts for the next holiday. Yes it's true, I'm one of those mean ogre moms who refuses to bring candy for the school gift bags—I don't have anything against sweets (I guess that's obvious if you spend any time with me), it's just that I figure it's the parents' jobs to sugar up their own kids. ~~~~ PS: Wondering what went wrong with that rainy day shaving cream project this time? Well... keeping last time's fiasco in mind, this time I got only one can for each girl, set up the dry bathtub with non-slip mats and a little plastic bench to use as a table, restricted the number of implements, had the girls remove any clothes that would be a pain to get off later, and sealed the bathtub curtain shut with those little suction cup thingamajigs. Sounds foolproof, right? Yeah... Not so much.... I handed them the stuff and prepared to relax. And that was pretty much the last time I sat down for the next hour. They liked it. Really they did. I think they just liked it too much. They were so active and that shaving cream got flung around so jubilantly that I was constantly jumping up and getting shaving cream out of eyes. And then, once they were done, I still had a hard time cleaning them up, even though they were already in the tub: Turns out two cans was still too much—I needed a power wash to get that foamy stuff off them and down the drain. My wimpy little spray nozzle head was just not up to the task. So the poor girls stood there shivering while I slooooooooooowly got them and the bathtub (relatively) clean and then drew a nice warm bath. Hmmm. I guess I'm admitting failure on this one. I still think this project would work really well with kids who weren't so enthusiastic about completely immersing themselves and their siblings in the shaving cream—you know, kids who weren't Ro and Ree. Heh heh.

Fashion Friday (how can you go wrong with a doo-rag?)

It's fashion friday, time to take a look back at the fashions the girls have assembled this week. Fun, funny, funky little girls. They always make me smile. And it also makes me laugh that they haven't yet exactly repeated a single outfit, there's always some new twist. In the first pic, I like how Ree has added her rhinestone-studded faux reading glasses and Ro is holding open her t-shirt flap to show the baby kangaroo. In the second pic, I like how Ree is pretending to lick her icecream prop and Ro is wearing a polkadot doo-rag. In the third pic, I can't remember why Ro didn't want to do a photograph (I always leave the choice and the location up to them). And in the fourth pic, I like how Ree snuck in a pair of flowered bicycle shorts even though it's cold and cloudy today (she put leggings under them for a little extra warmth). Our current weather forecast is kind of depressing. We're all mighty glad we took full advantage of our one day of sunshine and went to the pool, and I'm seeing lots of rainy day projects in our future: If you have any friday fashions in your own house, a little outfit commentary on the above, or a rainy day project we haven't tried yet, please share! Happy Friday. PS: Shopping Alert! The cute little pink tutu bathing suit Ro was wearing in the previous post is available right now at Old Navy (online and in stores) for $16.50 in sizes 6mo-5T. Here's the ordering page. They didn't have the yellow version at my store, so I ordered that one online for Ree and we're waiting for it. The girls are about 39 pounds and 40.5 inches tall right now, and wear a 4T in clothing. I got these suits in a 5T, which is a smidge big but will last them through the summer.

I kinda feel bad that TubaDad had to wear a down parka today...

...while we spent the day in swimsuits and shorts. I'm pretty sure his high temp for the day was thirty-something. Plus, the weather was so bad at his destination airport that he spent three hours on the ground before they'd even let his plane take off yesterday. I think he got in at 3am and then had a meeting at 7am. Eeesh. But then, just when I start to really feel sorry for him, I remember that my day wasn't all that relaxing either. It went something like this: 3 am: First wakeup. Little Ree is inconsolable that she peed in her bed and I have to change all of the linens, clean her up, make sure she's not psychologically scarred, then stumble back to bed. (Note to self: the penalty for being stupid and giving her milk right before bed and then forgetting to have her use the restroom is a harsh one.) 4:30 am: Second wakeup. Ro bursts into my bedroom crying that her leg hurts. Sit up and concentrate on breathing and acting sympathetic. Give her a little Tylenol and send her back to bed. Lie awake for a couple of hours being pissed off that I'm not asleep. 7 am: Third (and final) wakeup. Wake groggily to hear Ree repeatedly saying "Mama? Mama, why you not awake?" Rrrr. Try to act loving, prop everyone up with pillows in my bed, and turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, hoping they'll just sit quietly for a little while. The show mentioned something about making smoothies, so I (not thinking) asked if they wanted to make fruit smoothies for breakfast someday. They instantly leapt out of bed and ran downstairs chattering and squealing that I should hurry up. I sat there in disbelief for a few seconds, wondering what was wrong with my brain, then went downstairs to start our day (which ended up being kind of busy, despite the fact that we didn't have any plans to start with). 7:15 am: Explained how to make breakfast smoothies (blueberries, a banana, milk, a strawberry/banana yogurt) and let Ro and Ree do it all themselves. Only one minor disaster with the yogurt, ho hum. 8 am: Tried out our new morning-time chart, which will let me actually take a shower in the morning while letting the girls feel good about being independent. Double bonus! I printed out a column for Ro and one for Ree, put pictures of the things they need to do in each row, and put it in a sheet protector. They use a wipe-off pen to put a mark in the box beside each task that they finish—brush teeth, get dressed, breakfast, shoes, hair, vitamin, etc. Their "marks" kind of crack me up, by the way. 9:30 am: Spent about an hour at the local bouncy play area. 11:30 am: Made quesadillas for lunch and attempted to sing Justin Roberts songs with the girls (they were, once again, astounded that I do not know all the words or any of the song orders). Noon: Played various wild games with blankets and stuffed animals. 1 pm: Went to Baskin Robbins for icecream. The girls got their current (mildly disgusting) fave of purple, green, and blue sherbet. I went with a classic—seriously, how can you go wrong with mint chip? 1:30 pm: Returned a couple of things to Target and bought a few more. Ensured the girls' compliance with the promise of one dollar-bin item each. (God bless that dollar-bin aisle and the genius who came up with it.) 2:30 pm: Went to the pool to take advantage of the only day of sun we're supposed to have in the next week. They swam, I took a few pics with my new birthday purse camera, which may or may not be staying (it's a Canon S90). 4 pm: Watched the girls play outside with their bikes, scooters, and chalk. Originally I watched from inside while I did laundry, until I heard them run through the house saying "we need car keys" and head for the garage. ???!!! Decided I should really take a more active role in supervising their play today. 5:30 pm: Made a nice, well-rounded dinner, and for some inexplicable reason the only part the girls wanted to eat was broccoli. They ate all of theirs, asked for and ate seconds, then asked if they could have the remaining green stuff on my plate. Nice, but weird... 6:30 pm: Played CandyLand for the six-hundredth time (wondered if the girls would even notice if the game just "disappeared"...). 7 pm: Put the girls to bed while they pissed and moaned that they were NOT tired and wanted to stay up later. Ree was asleep in 2 minutes, and it took Ro 5 minutes—I know because I walked downstairs, grabbed Ree's blanket, and immediately walked back upstairs to give it to her. 7:15 pm: Cleaned up the kitchen and family room. Decided the rest of the disaster zone could wait until tomorrow. 8 pm: Sat down on the couch (and groaned). Heaved myself back up, poured a glass of wine, then sat back down (and groaned again). 8:40 pm: Hit publish on this blog post and went to bed. (Ok, that last one probably won't happen, but it's sure nice to dream!) Anyhow, TubaDad, if you're reading this, I think we both deserve to have incredibly boring days tomorrow!

School pictures are an awful lot fancier than they were back in the 70s

Our preschool brings in a cool photographer every year to do "fashion" photos and the results are always so cute. This year I was a bonehead and completely forgot that it was picture day, so I guess I lucked out that the photographer took care of wardrobe and ran a comb through their hair. I dropped the pics into my FotoFusion program and made these quickie collages. Since I'm admitting screw-ups right now, I might as well come clean about something else. When it was time to pick which photos I wanted to purchase, the photographer spread eight different shots on the table and I grabbed two, thinking I had the best one of each girl. She said "Ok, so that's Ree, do you want any of Ro?" and I said "Oh no, this socialite one is Ree and this ladybug raingear is Ro." And she said (correctly) "Um... no... I think those are both Ree..." Gak!

First leg-sighting of the year!

Oh, oh, oh—not only did the rain and clouds stay away today, but we actually had genuine, warm, springlike weather. It was heavenly! Ree was so excited she immediately threw on a flippy spring skirt and bared her adorable knobby-kneed, bruised-up little legs. That girl loves her sunshine: You'll notice that sister Ro wasn't quite ready to believe the whole warm-weather hype the weatherman was feeding us, so she cautiously dressed in a few extra layers "just in case, mama." I was going to use these photos for Fashion Friday, but they just looked so cute in their hither-and-yon outfits (and I was so damn glad that we had honest-to-goodness sun for a change) that I had to share. The various pieces of their outfits come from Target, Hanna Andersson, and Mini Boden, and all work together somehow, if you ask me: The girls are both asleep, by the way, which is why I get to do an early blog post. Ree fell asleep during dinner at the Nordstrom Cafe (can I get an amen for Olive Aioli?!), and Ro fell asleep on the drive home. I'm guessing that their constant motion today had something to do with it. Seriously, they did not stop moving (or talking) for one second today. They played on a new playground for hours: Then found an old par course and did exercises that would have put me in the hospital: They climbed one of the exercise poles in the par course and wouldn't come down forEVER. I'm not sure if there was more movement or more talking in this video. What do you think?: Then rode their bikes around and around until I spotted (squeal) a field of dandelions: Total aside here: these girls have the most perfect lips I have ever seen. I know it would be way too boring for this daring duo, but if they ever wanted to be lip models it would pay their way through medical school and beyond! I almost got run down trying to get a shot of Ro's shadow here. Which reminds me, all of these pics except the first three were taken with a new purse camera I'm trying out. (Yes, yes, I have killed another one.) As usual, I'm initially dubious, and TubaDad thinks I just need to read the manual: Well that's our lazy President's Day holiday in a nutshell. TubaDad is getting on a plane tomorrow, so our idyllic family days will come to an abrupt halt. It's been nice. PS: Sorry to always bug you guys in the PSs, but questions seem to pop up at the end of posts. Anyhoo, we think it's time to get a little vertical in the backyard and get the girls a real play structure. Something that will offer lots of climbing, bars, and swinging. Does anyone have any advice, experience, recommendations, etc.?