Toast 2 Mom

My Final Graduate - Preschool Anyway...

We said goodbye to preschool today - though we will be back for camp. It was a very bittersweet goodbye (more bitter than sweet for this Mommy). We have loved every minute of the last four years at the girls' preschool. I'm extremely overwhelmed at the idea that four years has already come and gone. It really leaves me a bit speechless. 

I surprised our graduate today by pulling her big sister out of school to watch the program. Nice move on this mom's part - the graduate was elated to share the moment with her sister. 

Here are some moments from the program. The songs they sang and the final photos will forever be cherished! 

A Fast Five!

It's hard to say this and believe it...but see this picture below, I think when that was taken life was actually less busy? I don't know, it's hard to imagine that with a three month old and a two year old, things were easier than today. I do know one fact for sure, the days these days feel like they fly by WAY faster than they did back then. For it seems that all the time time now I miss a milestone here and a milestone there simply due to the fact that the days just race by and I lose track of time. 

There is another reason I have chosen this picture to post today. It represents the very first photo I had on this blog five years ago. Yes, three days ago marked my five year anniversary to starting this blog!! Very exciting! I thought about it about a week ago. And like most weekends, our past weekend was a whirlwind. So come time to celebrate my blogging milestone - well I missed it. 

A LOT has changed in five years. Look at these babies I used to have. Then it was diapers, nursing, ABC's, stroller walks, and daycare. Now it's grade school, swim team, math homework, reading and sleep-overs. 

When I began this blog five years ago, I was late to the blogging world. I saw it as an opportunity to keep my writing juices flowing. I wanted to network with others like myself. I hoped it would become a reading favorite to many - and perhaps be successful in some way. Though as it turns out, while my creative ideas were big, the best part to this blog has been my opportunity to snapshot and capture, as best as I can, how fast this little life we have goes by. I've been able to cherish each precious moment with my precious babes. 

I still wish I had more time to get more information down. But this will have to do. 

So to anyone who continues to read about our little life, thank you for your interest! We are grateful. And I am thankful to have had this platform over the last five years. 

Cheers!

Chinny Chin Chin Cheekers

It's been a long day - and it all began about 9 o'clock this morning when I dropped Cheekers off to preschool. Like a normal day, I dropped her off, put her lunch in her cubby, put her snack in the snack basket, put her water in the water bottle basket, talked to her teacher about the weekend and kissed my girl goodbye. Today the routine stopped at putting the water bottle in the basket. Cheeks was bouncing around the room, ready for Monday to begin. She was balancing herself between two tables, using the tables like parallel bars - swinging back and forth. Then in a flash, she fell flat to the ground, right on her chin. And that's how my day began. 

It was clear right away she'd need stitches. Her teacher and I got her all standing up, washed off and tears wiped. I drove straight to a med-check. It was a long wait, but our girl was SO tough. Daddio joined us to keep us both strong. 

After a long wait, our girl ended up getting three stitches in her boo-boo. That was definitely harder than the fall itself. They never can seem to get the injured area numb enough. And needles are the worst! Nothing is more heartbreaking - EVER - than watching your babies look at you and just sob in pain and you can't do a thing about it. 

But I mentioned our girl was tough. She's amazing. Three stitches later, and she asked if she could go back to school. It was nearly lunch time, and her lunch box was still at school, in the cubby. I took her back so she could hang out with her friends the last hour of school.  

On the drive to school, she asked if I would take her to a movie sometime soon. Sydney had choir today, which made her day longer; and since big sis didn't like movies as much, I thought today would be a great day for that movie request. After school was over, I picked up my trooper and we went to see The Croods. It was just what the doctor ordered. It was funny and cute and loving - like my girl. It was a great way to take the mind off the morning. 

After the moviewas over, Cheekers had one more request - a cherry slushie from Sonic. :) How could I resist?It was Sonic half price happy hour time too. A cherry slushie, a movie, lunch with friends. What turned out to be a bad morning ended up being a pretty nice afternoon. 

We kept things low-key the rest of the day. The stitches will be a part of Miss Cheeks' face for the next week. They'll tell a good story in her pre-school graduation photos being taken later this week.

In light of things happening in the world today, I can handle three stitches. For that only, I am grateful.

The Deal Maker

There are a few possessions that Cheekers has a great affection for. But there is nothing in this world that makes her happier then when her big sister is happy and willing to play with her. 

Every day my girls play together. They laugh. They pretend. This can go on for hours - and I am grateful. Then there are those other moments. These moments involve bickering, hearing "Mooommmmm," from the other room and the need for "alone" time. But of my darling duo, there is really only one girl that requires a bit of "alone" time - the older one. 

The younger one could play non-stop with the older one All. Day. Long.

And while Cheekers doesn't always have luck in having her sister partake in "play," she has recently developed a new strategy....and a quite successful one.

Sydney is a bit reserved. She a less willing to order at restaurants, less eager to talk to new people or introduce herself or to initiate anything new. Cheekers on the other hand has no problem approaching people, asking for something she wants and initiating something new. But with this bravery must also come reward.

From the youngest of age, Natty has negotiated for everything. "What do I get if I _______?" Just about every action must be followed up with something in return.

Her latest negotiations have been all about playtime. More specifically, she'll do just about anything for her sister if that means her sister happily and willingly will play with her.

Most recently we were at a restaurant. Sydney has taken to barbecue sauce for dipping her French fries. She didn't remember to ask for them when ordering. So we said, go up to the counter and ask for it from the waitress. She was not willing. Ding, ding, ding....Cheekers hears an opportunity. "I'll go ask for your 'barbie-cube' sauce"  She asks. She receives. She returns. "Here Sydney. Here is your barbie-cube sauce."  Now it's deal time.

"So Sydney, wasn't it nice of me to go ask for sauce for you? Now what are you going to do for me?"

"What do you want Natalie?"

"I want you to play with me without whining about it."

"Fine."

Deal done.

That deal lasted about two days; and Cheekers wants a longer contract. So today she told me, "you know that gift card to Target I got for my birthday. I'm going to go buy Sydney the Princess Kate pony and give it to her."

I said, "Natalie, that is extremely generous of you to buy your sister a gift with your money. That is so sweet. Why are you wanting to do that?"

She replies, "I want my sister to be happy. I want to do that because she'll be happy. And I want her to play with me."

At this stage I'm not sure which of my kids is brighter. I can't prove that Sydney knows she's getting these rewards and all she has to do is play with her sister...but she might know. And the fact that my five year old is working deals that comes very easily to her seems like a pretty successful strategy to me. Either way it makes for interesting observations and less of me telling them to go play. Cheekers seems to be making that happen all on her own. 

Guilty, Not Guilty

I think as mothers, parents, we find ourselves in positions all the time where guilt sets in - in some form or fashion. When we multi-task all the roles we have, we tend to neglect our children in some way. When we get mad at our kids for no other reason but that our lives are momentarily feeling out of control - later we feel guilty for our tone. But tonight I did something that at first I felt a little guilty. Then...I reconsidered my feelings - and thought, yeah, that was one pretty slick move this ole Mommy had!

Tonight was Taco Thursday (we missed it on Tuesday). I'm really trying hard (er) to get new fruits and vegetables into the mouths of my babes. I need to add them to mine as well. I had to do something with the hamburger tonight - and tacos are always pretty successful. What was also glaring at me were the sweet potatoes on the counter starting to get that worn out look. So I made them.

I peeled them, cubed them and roasted them with a little olive oil and salt. I considered going sweet on them by adding some honey and cinnamon; but I thought they'd be sweet enough.

It's plate time. I made each girl a taco - and bonus, I added spinach to the tacos instead of lettuce. For whatever reason, my girls seem to love spinach - so that's a good thing. My two sweet potatoes made many cubed pieces. I put about 10 cubes on each girl's plate.

Sydney's habit is to eat things in order - all of one thing, then all of the next and so on. She starts with what she likes least.

She took her first bite of sweet potato and got that gag look about her. Her first question was, "how many do I have to eat?" I said, "all of them." "What do I get if I eat them all?" she said. I said, "a healthy body." She was not amused. Her look did not amuse me. Then she said, "it tastes like I have vomit in my mouth." Oh good, I thought, what lovely dinner conversation. She ate the next one and chased it with her chocolate milk.

I told her to break up the dinner and have a bite of taco, then some sweet potato. Meanwhile, Cheekers is over there chomping away on the sweet potatoes, saying, "mmmmm, yummy," offering to eat her sister's potatoes for her. Whenever one of them is in trouble, the other one decides this is the right time to display some major angelic behavior. They take turns at this.

After some more gagging noises, I'd honestly had enough myself. So I said she didn't have to eat them. No dessert tonight or tomorrow night. Yeah, I'm hard core.

In the back of my mind, though, I had a plan brewing. I know Sydney always wants more than one taco. Tonight was no exception. When she asked for her second one, I came up with a plan to distract her. She had her art supplies still on the island. I had her draw me something.I took her plate, the one with the remaining seven sweet potato cubes. I grabbed a tortilla, put some cheese on it and put it in the microwave to melt the cheese. Then facing away from her, I took her sweet potatoes and mashed them up on her plate. When the tortilla was warm and cheese melted, I added the mashed tators on top of the cheese. Then I added the taco meat, finally topping it off with a couple pieces of spinach. I rolled it up tightly and handed it back to her with a smile.

She cleaned her plate.

So, did I have another guilty moment today? A little bit. Do I cherish the fact that I got my girl to eat the rest of gaggingly disgusting sweet potatoes - completely unknowing....yeah, you bet I do!

So tonight, the verdict....this Mom, NOT guilty! 

Brunettes Have More Fun?

You always want what you can't have....

For probably over a year now Cheekers has been asking me if I would dye her hair brown. I don't know why. Maybe a princess thing. Maybe a character on T.V. Maybe a way to be different from her sister and me? Don't know, but she wants it brown. 

It probably wasn't until my 30s that I started to accept my fair coloring. I did not enjoy growing up and being a blond with super fair skin. Most of my friends had brown hair and tans. It was always their moms that would envy my hair and skin and say, "oh, honey I spend a lot of money to have my hair your color." In fact, I still hear that quote even today. And who wanted to be like their moms?! :)

It's funny the world we live in. In theory blonds and white skin may be admired by many. But I always admired the opposite and felt like I was an odd ball - and different or didn't belong. Even Sydney, in the last year, had it pointed out to her that she didn't look like her friends who had brown hair and brown eyes. It wasn't malicious; but when you look "different," you can't help but feel different. And as a kid, that's a horrible feeling. As an adult, it can become a goal. 

So I've tried very carefully to make sure my girls understand that we are all different. We come from different places. We have different moms and dads. We act different. We have different interests. And that looking different doesn't mean anything about who you are inside.

I don't know how impactful my words will be. I know I won't be able to avoid the whole "you're different, so we don't like you" chapter in my daughter's lives - and with them being on both sides of the perspective of that. But I do hope I can get it engrained in their minds soonner than later that just because you're different doesn't mean you're too different. It can often mean you're better....so believe in it!

End of Summer

Sigh. Does it really have to be over? It really does feel like I just picked up my girls from school to let the summer begin. My heart ached many times today as I realized I have to share my time now until next summer. I know things will pick up - and busy and busier I will become. But I sure do love to spend all of my time with my blond lovelies.

We spent our last day of summer finally making a check mark on our list of something here in town we've been meaning to do for nearly four years. We went down to Barton Springs this afternoon and finally took a dip. This pool is fed from underground springs - and is about 68 degrees year round. Even on a hot day like today, the temp felt beyond refreshing. But it was a fun experience and one I hope to do again - sooner than four years. 

So tonight, lunch is packed. The backpack is on the counter, ready to go. The alarm is set. And I must not also forget my camera...and Kleenex - because here we go again....