Random!

Here is Miss Molly enjoying Ranch dressing on her pizza. Mind you, she only licks the dressing - the soggy dough is left on her plate. Who said Ranch isn't nutritious?

For those of you who hadn't heard... our basement flooded with all that rain last weekend. Here is a small sample of the things we lost. This picture was taken the Sunday night of the flood. Donny and I both missed work on Monday to clear the rest of the basement out. Thankfully, insurance replaced everything. And yes, for my fellow teachers among you, those are crates and boxes of textbooks, workbooks, and irreplaceable school papers :(

Two beautiful princesses...notice the darling shoes! Sarah sure has Molly in princess training camp!

One of my favorite pictures. Sarah and Molly at Uncle Dan's hockey game at the Q. This was actually the day after our girls night, so that explains Sarah's punk rock 80's crimped hair (remember the braids?)!

So sorry I haven't posted in a while - again, I find it hard to compete with MeMe! She gets great pictures! I refuse to stop trying, though... See you soon!

Miss Molly...hugs that hurt!

Molly...squeezing your guts out in her hugs!!  She says "I did it" at the end!!

When the boy is away...the girls will play!

Daddy was out tonight, so we decided to celebrate Girl's Night! First, we took a bath and got into jammers. Then, we ate dinner (chili, corn, oranges, and milk) while watching Little Mermaid. The girls each sang along while they began their visit to the Walton Beauty Shop! Each girl wanted braids and more braids, so while they ate, I braided!


Molly was quite excited to have braids in her hair!

After their visit to the hair salon, we had to do our nails! Sarah chose blue with sparkles, and Molly wanted princess pink.

Molly didn't sit so still...

Sarah, however, is an old pro to having her nails painted. She knows to keep her hands still on her legs!

We even took time out from getting gorgeous to pose for a pic! Molly...not so much!

Finally, after our hair and nails were done, I wanted a picture. Here is a true portrait of my girls' personalities! Sarah was more than willing to pose with her new braids and blue nails...Molly, once again, not so much!

Now, in case I haven't completely shared Molly's agression yet, she is a hitter. When something doesn't go her way, she is quick to smack whatever is nearby. She has hit her sister, the dog, a table, me, her daddy, the wall, ect. Anyways, Donny and I have realized that the slight spanking that used to deter Sarah from doing anything wrong, just isn't working for Molly. Not to mention, it's just encouraging her more and giving her the false impression that hitting is okay. So, we've opted instead for the time out corner.

Take it from me, Molly does NOT like being put in the time out corner.

Below is a picture of her in the time out corner because as I sat down to write this, Molly got angry that I didn't let her play Chicka Chicka Boom Boom...

Emotional Day

Today I am having a very emotional day. I don't know why these days spring up on me out of the blue, but I get them every so often. I find myself going from utter happiness and joy to severe fear and sadness. I love, love, love my children and am especially happy with where they are in life right now. I don't know of an age I like better than 20 months where I see Molly learning new things, saying new words, and becoming so independent. Sarah is so sure of herself and confident in who she is and that she will be marrying her daddy someday. I enjoy watching them learn from each other -Molly shows Sarah that she doesn't have to be so serious all the time, and Sarah teaches Molly how to understand things that she is doing. They are both so special to me and so different from each other. I am loving being their mom!
And then I flip. I almost go into convulsions thinking about how quickly they are growing and how little time I actually have with them. Will I remember what it feels like every time Molly says "Nuggle?" Will I regret that I didn't get Sarah more princess dresses? How do I know how I will feel when they are older and don't think the world revolves around me anymore? Will I wish I had spent more time with them? Will I regret the choices I'm making today when I no longer have the option? I hate that these thoughts pop up every so often and that when they do, they consume my every thought.
Sometimes I wish life were much simpler so that I could quit my job, spend all my time with them, yet still be able to provide them with the things that I want them to have and experience. I love my job and the importance of waking up and having somewhere to go each day, so does that make me a bad mom for not wanting to give it up?
I am sorry that this post is so depressing, but it is theraputic to blog about these thoughts, and I'm confident that I will read back over this one day and laugh at my craziness. The bottom line is that I love my girls and want for them to have the best life possible. I always knew parenting would be hard. I guess it's teaching me that I don't like to choose one thing over another. I want it all for my girls. I want them to have a well rounded, happy mom to look up to. I want them to be able to take ballet, swimming, and ice skating lessons. I want them to experience new things. I want them to be happy.
The question is...am I doing it right???

BUSY SUNDAY!

What a busy day!

The girls and I woke up around 7 to see Donny off to work for the day. We made homemade waffles and the girls soon took off to their playroom. I went up after cleaning the kitchen to find them standing on the windowsill looking at the "town!"

We met up with Aunt Bridget (Doodie) and Cayden for lunch at Ci Ci's Pizza. After lunch, Sarah invited them to come over to play, so Cayden and Aunt Doodie got an eye and an ear full of Sarah's rendition of Enchanted. So Fun!

Next - after a nap of course! - we headed to Drug Mart to buy ingredients for cupcakes because tomorrow is Grandma Carol's birthday! We couldn't escape without getting a new princess tiara and earrings!

Sarah and Molly helped mix, bake, and even taste test the yummy cupcakes! Hopefully Grandma will enjoy them tomorrow (if they last that long!).

Daddy's Girls

So, a breakdown of what has been going on around here...

Donny has been off of work since around Thanksgiving, so he has become Mr. Mom (Mr. Dad). The girls are learning amazing new things while staying home with him. For example, I could never teach my girls to make noises like a pterodactyl, draw faces on their hands and make them talk, or how to survive while tackling the dog. Molly has learned how to take out all of the wipes from a box and how to clearly demonstrate that she is just not happy with something. (Today she slammed Sarah's hand in a door.)

Along with all of these crazy things they are learning, they are also exploring their world through playing together, practicing clean up skills, and having the freedom to be princesses all day long. I've truly never seen them happier and while I am overjoyed to see the amazing relationships they are building, I cannot help but wonder what I'm missing out on. I fall in love with him all over again when I think about how great he is doing having been thrown into a situation where he is responsible for so many things. I see what a great man he is because he never complains, never needs a break, and never throws it in my face that I don't do anything around the house! I am finding myself wishing I could stay at home with them each day, yet feeling torn because I wanted to teach so badly. So, time will tell that my girls are well rounded people who can not only use manners and be polite, but can also crow like a friggin pterodactyl. That oughta score some serious points with future boyfriends...

(as I'm writing this, Sarah clears it up that pterodactyls don't crow, they coo. My mistake.)

Pictures

Sarah's vanity from Santa.


Sarah and Molly at Grandma's.



Mon-E!





Molly and Sarah (check out those dangle earrings!)