Why we don't lick shopping carts...

Grace and Andy have the flu - as in the real deal influenza that they were vaccinated against last fall. I ran into my new favorite friend Julie at Target this week and turned my back on the kids for 3.4 minutes of "hey!" (she is so wonderfully southern) and then turned back around to find Grace and Andy licking the shopping cart and laughing hysterically. Right. My "no no" could be heard from hardware to lingerie. The fever started about 48 hours after that fun game.

It has been a week. I think Scott and I got more sleep during the newborn phase but we're surviving. While a lot of the week was pretty miserable, there were some flat out adorable moments that I will forever treasure, like watching Andy and Grace taking turns "scwatching" each others back on the sofa bed. On Wednesday, Andy refused to let anyone but "Gacie" wipe his nose and she was the perfect little caregiver to him. Fevers are down considerably today and Andy attempted to scale the bookshelf again so I think he is turning the corner. I'd say that Grace has another day or two until she is back in top princess form. At any rate, it is Friday and I will be facing the next 48 hours with my team mate so I am declaring survival!

Just in case...

I've always tried to remove any identifying information from my posts but I just did a quick review and realized that I've fallen far short of that goal. The thought of securing this blog has always given me a good laugh - I'm pretty sure that the only person who reads it on a regular basis is my babysitter (hi Michelle!) - but just in case, I'm going private. All you need to do is email me at jennycommins@hotmail.com with "add me" in the subject line and I'll put you on the "non stalker" list.

Little Masterpieces

I've been hoarding canvases for years now waiting for things to settle down. We hit a wall last week - the puzzles had been worked so many times they were no longer puzzling, the toys were tired, the videos overdone. I threw in the towel and set up these "perfect for outdoors" easels inside and threw down some plastic and turned Grace and Andy loose with real paints (i.e. these don't come out in the wash), real brushes (still trying to get over that one), and real canvases (now I know what I've been saving them for). We even put on some soothing music in an effort to impress anyone who happened to come knocking. It was so fun - and so not a big deal. No paint went anywhere we didn't want it to go and Grace and Andy spent a solid hour working on these little masterpieces!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA ERN!!!

Birthday greetings from Ariel and "Key Key" the monkey! We hope you had a wonderful day!

Sweet Caroline

"Hey Grace, I hear it is Caroline's Birthday today!

"Hey Andy, let's fly to St. Louis and celebrate with her!"

"Where is St Louis? Better plot our trip on a map!"

"And we're off!"

"And we're busted. We tried Caroline, but mommy made us take our capes off. Apparently superhero clothes are not traditional children's clothing."

Birthday Blessings

I turned the big 36 on Saturday. Always thought I'd dread every birthday after 30 but I am officially declaring myself a celebrator - after all, being alive and healthy with a wonderful husband and two precious children is pretty wonderful. It was a birthday of birthdays. The party started Friday (one day early) when Grace couldn't bear another minute of waiting for me to open my big gift. I am now the very proud and very grateful recipient of a Cinderella Barbie doll. I was not Grace as a child - my favorite color was black when I was her age (not Grace's "pink with a little bit of purple and a dot of that light green color") and I spent most of my energy trying to convince someone to let me join the t-ball team - so Cinderella was not only the best gift I've ever gotten, she is my very first Barbie!

I was ordered to sleep in that morning - which really meant that I stayed in bed for an hour to enjoy Grace's q3 minute visits to show me the various Cinderella things she was wearing for me and to bring me every book, toy, magnet, etc with her royal highness's image. We had cake for breakfast - it was a feat of architectural brilliance and a virtual celebration of ho-ho's and marshmallow fluff. Grace insisted on a cake with Cinderella's castle...just in case it isn't clear in the pictures. The glass slipper was sculpted out of Glad Press and Seal. On Sunday, Scott surprised me with a trip to the Scandinavian Museum of Modern Design (Ikea) - we spent the day planning out the next house and letting the kids run wild. I love that store. We didn't buy much - just a few lamps and window treatments and a new trash can and a new toy each for the kids - it all came to around $12. What is not to love about that?!

Cinderella went everywhere we did! Of course.

Once again, the Greens joined in the birthday celebration from afar - you can always count on John and Andrea to join in the party no matter the miles that seperate you! How adorable is Caroline?! She turns ONE in two days!