Some Mauraisms

Maura: Mom, I wish there was only one girl.
Me: What do you mean?
Maura: Well, besides me. I wish we could just keep B and send Maggie back.


(I am trying to blow up a pool raft for Mags)
Maura: If you want to blow harder you need more energy.
Me: You are right. I do need more energy.
Maura: I will tell you Mom, that baby [in your belly] is not going to be happy with you at all.
Me: Why?
Maura: You are using all his energy to blow up a hippo [float].



Maura: If that baby is a girl, I am NOT going to be happy at all. We have enough girls.


(An Empire carpet ad is on TV. They come to your house and deliver carpet in one day)
Maura: Mom, you really should call Mr. Empire. He will just come to the house and you don't have to go to the mall.

Hats off to the Grad!

Today was Mo's graduation from Nursery school. It was very cute. beforehand, they had a little slide show going of the kids with "It's a Small World after All" as the soundtrack. The kids came up and took their places on stage. Mo was front and center. They sang about 5 songs. Maura was not the loudest, but she definitely had the hand motions down the best. They each got called up to get his/her diploma. Then we had a party in the classroom.

Maura sat down at her plate in the room and ate everything on it. She literally was still sitting there when everyone else was gone and all the other tables were cleaned up. I finally convinced her we could leave AND take her snacks with her. What progress she has made since December. It is amazing how much a few months of growing up makes at this age. Seeing how much better she is socially now makes me really wonder about her placement in Kindergarten. I had always wanted to push her ahead, but maybe letting her go when she should would be best. Ugh, more decisions. At least I have another year before I have to make this one.

Did anyone see a horse?

This weekend we took our second annual trip to the Radnor Hunt Horse Races. Last year the Shorts came up to attend with us, and we had a great time, but this year it was even better. We had five full carloads of people ready to spend the day tailgating and watching a horse or two run by every hour or so. We planned to meet up and caravan over to the infield at 10:45. Why 10:45, I am not sure, the first race was not until 1:30, but I did not find this out until we got there. Sean, the constant optimist when it comes to our kids adapting and surviving, said we would last until 3:00 pm tops. Well, the 12 kids under 4 proved us all wrong. They were troopers and partied until the end. We left around 6:00pm after the last race of the day.

The kids consumed great amounts of cookies, fruit snacks and juice boxes. They played ball, horses, tea party, and dolls. Their favorite was trashing my truck.. what is not to love about that? But, ultimately, they were great. We followed this busy day with a bbq at our house with the Shorts and the Smiths. The girls played on the moon bounce and swing. They played hard till the end. When we put them to bed at 9:00pm there was not a peep out of them. They all slept soundly until about 8:30 the next morning. If only we could entertain them this much everyday!

Last day of soccer

Tomorrow is the last day of soccer. Last Wednesday I almost threw in the towel and did not go to soccer, but then my Mother in law offered to watch B and Mags for me, so I had no excuse. I really did not want to teach Mo that quitting was okay, but...



Well, she did great. She took a little while to warm up, and luckily I was able to do it with her for the first 15 minutes. Then I stood back but still on the field. Then I got to go SIT ON THE GRASS WITH THE OTHER MOMS for the last 1/2 hour. She did great and loved it. We'll see how tomorrow goes...

On the go...go...go

B is officially crawling. She was nice enough to wait for Sean and I to get home from Ireland. At first she would kind of push off of one leg. It really was funny to watch. If you watched her closely it would look like she would not make any progress, but if you walked out of the room and back in, she would be clear across the room! She is now evenly on all fours and moving. When she wants a little more speed, she puts out that left leg for a little lift.

We had to put the gate back up at the top of the steps and start making sure all the little choking hazards are up off the ground, not easy in a house with two toddlers and two dogs (we are watching my parents' dog right now).

One morning when we were leaving for school Maggie walked outside to the car. I turned around to get something out of the kitchen, and when I came back into the front room...B was gone! I could not see where she went. The front door was open just a bit from where Mags had gone out, but I did not imagine that B could get out there.... well, she did. She was on the front step ready to greet the world. Or the concrete face first! She was saved just before she tried to go down the step. Whew!

Our own Super Model

Today was the Mother's Day tea at Mo's school. They had a little fashion show. At Mo's Christmas Show she was very quiet and did not stay on the stage very long. I could not imagine how walking down a runway would go... It went great! She did such a good job and really did enjoy her show. She was also very cute talking about it to Maggie, explaining to her why she had to change, so as not to mess up her modeling, fashion show dress. I noticed that Maura is getting much less shy as she gets older. It was very nice to see her shine today.

She also did a great job at soccer today, she actually did the whole class! I played with her for 15 minutes, stood back for about another 15 minutes, then the last 1/2 she was all on her own and I sat on the sideline. It was very helpful that Mimi came over and watched Mags and B. Thanks Mimi!

Mom and Dad at the Emerald Isle

Sean and I just got back from Ireland last weekend. We had a great time with John and Katie Short. We were very busy, 5 cities in six nights, but very fun. The girls stayed with my parents over the weekend and then with Sean's parents for the week. They had a great time with their grandparents. Maura and Bridget did it with little problem. I think Maggie had a little more trouble adjusting to life without mom and dad. I think she was already upset because Sean had been away for a lot of the two weeks before we left. She would whine for daddy all the time. I think when she got sad or hurt she would cry for Mommy. Nice to know she loves me, but sad for the little baby. She is so emotional.

When we walked into the O'Reilly's house Maggie really started to jump up and down. Yelling Mommy and Daddy. Maura looked up from the blocks and said hey mom did you have a good time in Ireland? When B woke up from her nap I went in to get her, and she was *happy* to see me, but was even happier to see Mimi come in and rescue her from me. She was very excited to see Sean when I walked her outside to see him.

That night we went to the carnival, which in our house is an event that is anticipated all year. we literally drive by the lot where the carnival is each year about 5 times a week. Every time we do, the girls get very excited and inform me that "that's where the carnival is going to be." We were lucky that it was in town one more night when we got into town on Saturday. It was rainy in the morning so I was worried we might not get to go, but it cleared up, and go we did. The girls went on every ride. Maura's favorite was the roller coaster (kid sized) mags was the little Ferris Wheel. Maura has always loved rides: the faster and bigger, the better. She always points to the crazy upside down ones and says that is the one I want. Sorry, sweetie, you are too little. We had a great time though and the girls got used to being with mommy and daddy again (although today Mo told me that Mimi is indeed more fun than I am... I already knew that!).