Oh so helpful (poor cats)

The girls really do want to be helpful.  Jordan decided I needed help making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch today.  She was trying to guide my knife hand as I spread the peanut butter.  As soon as Breonna saw Jordan was helping, she had to get in on the act.  She actually grabbed my hand to "help" and I ended up smearing peanut butter all over the counter.

We have cats - 3 of them and they have varying tolerance for the girls' antics ranging from Punkin who is very social and will allow them to pick him up or hug him.  Callie goes into hiding when the girls get up and comes out and snuggles after the girls go to bed.  Emmi is somewhere in between. 

I came into the living room and found this:

Yes, that is Punkin under a pink blanket.  Apparently he looked cold.

Corn on the cob

Corn is the girls' favorite.  So I asked them "Have you ever had corn on the cob?"  They asked "What's that?"

Really?  Of course I grew up on a corn farm and we had corn for almost every meal from mid July until mid August.  We had to get these girls some corn on the cob.

We went to a vegetable stand and bought a dozen ears of corn.  I brought them home and shucked them and got them ready to cook.  The girls were following me every step of the way "What are you doing now?" "What is that big pot for?" "What do you need all that water for?".

We got dinner on the table and I buttered and salted the corn for them and handed it to them - we even got out the little corn holders for them.  I put it on their plates and looked at them expectantly.  "How do I eat this?"  Breonna asked me.  Of course they don't know how to eat it - until recently they thought corn came out of a bag.  So I got my ear of corn ready and modeled eating it for them.  Once they figured that out there was no stopping them.  I had to make them eat their fruit and their hamburgers before they got another ear of corn.

I think that we will be getting more corn before the summer is over.

Drama Queen

We decided to take the girls to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cone. 

As we pulled in Breonna asks "Where are we?" 

Jason replies "Dairy Queen."

Breonna comes back "Oh, I keep thinking this is Drama Queen."

Domestic girl & swimming

Well, I was just domestic girl today ... I COOKED breakfast.  Bacon, eggs, and toast for Jason and the girls.  Then we watched the Prologue of the Tour de France.  During commercials I got up and cleaned in the kitchen and the living room.  After Tour coverage was over I made blackberry jam and a pineapple upside down cake for Daisy's party tomorrow night.

This afternoon we took the girls swimming at the Andover YMCA and Jason was amazed by the progress the girls have made in the pool.  Last time he went swimming with them they were clutching him for dear life even in shallow water.  Now they are paddling around, even in water over their heads, with only the aid of a noodle.  I hope this progress continues.  Breonna still doesn't like putting her face in the water, but I will be happy to get her so she can swim for survival.  Anything more would just be extra.

I LOVE the water slides at the Andover Y.  FUN!!  It makes the slide at the Coon Rapids Y look lame.  Mind you, I can only make use of them when Jason is around to watch the girls while I play (thanks Jason!!).  I guess I pay him back by watching the girls while he sits in the hot tub for a little bit.

It happens every July

In our house we don't really follow football, or basketball, or baseball.  We dig the Tour de France.  I have a feeling two little girls will be getting rather annoyed with their parents - probably starting tomorrow. 

I don't know everyone in the peloton.  I don't follow cycling year round.  I'm not a Lance Armstrong fanatic.  I dig the race.  It is different every year.  These guys are amazing ... climbing mountains, competing in sprints and time trials and this year they will be going over cobblestones on these bicycles that are made for speed.

Yeah, I know, I'm the one that can't be bothered to watch a football game during the season or the playoffs, but I'll show up at someone's house to socialize and watch the Super Bowl commercials.  I only vaguely pay attention to what my alma mater's sports teams do (it's not like I went to a big sports school anyway).  But the TDF - for 23 days in July I'll listen to Bob Roll, Paul Sherwin, Phil Liggett, and Robbie Ventura talk about the intricacies and strategies of Team Astana or Rabobank.  Will Mark Cavindish win the sprint at the end of the stage or will Stewart OGrady take it?  Will one of the Schleck brothers take the mountain stage? Who is going to get caught for doping?  Notice I ask who and not if? I don't know what it is, but I love watching it. 

Why do I know these people's names?  My brother is a bicyclist and he got both me and Jason hooked on the Tour when we moved into our house in July of 2003.  We have been watching ever since. 

I have a feeling Breonna and Jordan will think we are crazy for watching a bunch of guys ride bicycles around France for 23 days every July.  Maybe one day they will get it ... maybe not. 

Sleepy time stories

So every night we snuggle with each of the girls for about 10 minutes in their beds and then leave and let them go to sleep.  While we snuggle we have what we call sleepy time stories.  Typically Jason and I make up stories based on their stuffed animals or on their friends and tell them to the girls.  Tonight Breonna and I did it a little differently:

Me: Tomorrow we'll go to the Y and you and Jordan can go to Kid's Stuff.  Later this week we'll go swimming again.
Breonna: If we want to go swimming, I can take Jordan to the Y.
Me: Without me?
Breonna: Yeah.
Me: How will you get to the Y, it is a little too far to walk.
Breonna: I'll drive.
Me: You'll drive what?
Breonna: My car
Me: What car?
Breonna: My pink car with Dora on the side.
Me: You have a pink car with Dora on the side?
Breonna: Yeah, but it is in the shop getting fixed.
Me: So it is broken? How are you going to pay to fix it?
Breonna: I have money.
Me: What money?
Breonna: The money in the car.
Me: So where did you get the car?
Breonna: Someone gave it to me.
Me: Someone?
Breonna: Yeah, you don't know them. 
Me: So this is a real car?
Breonna: Yep.  They gave me a purple truck with princesses on it too.
Me: Where is that?
Breonna: I parked it so you wouldn't see it.
Me: OK - Why did they give you two vehicles?
Breonna: I don't know.
Me: Do you have a license?
Breonna: A what?
Me: A license - something that proves that you know how to drive (in theory).
Breonna: I'm going to school for that.
Me: Really? Where are you going to school?
Breonna: Well, you take a right and then at the stop sign you take a left (she is describing how to get to the elementary school she will be attending in September).
Me: When do you go to school?
Breonna: Every morning before you get up.  I get up when Daddy gets up to go to work and I come back before you wake up.
Me: Really? So does Daddy take you to school?
Breonna: No, I walk.

I think Breonna was telling me the story tonight.  I'm going to have to keep my eyes open for these strange people who give away cars though.  I need a new one with more space.

Serving with kids

I was just reading Julie's (The antics of the three 22nds) post about whether having four kids gives her an excuse not to serve (yeah, I know I'm behind). 

After we took custody of the girls and finally got them home, I suddenly got thrown into a world that I never had any reason to visit before - Children's ministries at our church.  Sure, I had tons of friends that have kids and they volunteer countless hours for the benefit of children in the church.  Julie is among those special people.  I can't think of anything more difficult than sitting with a flannelgraph and trying to get a dozen wiggly and distracted preschoolers to listen to you talk about God.  She does it ... and she does it well on top of everything else she has on her plate.  Scares the willies out of me.  Give me my computer and I can throw something up on the screen for the worship service - or let me take pictures or run the sound board.  Anything that doesn't involve talking in front of people ... even little tiny people.

This Sunday I spent my first stint in the preschool room.  The church is trying to give those who regularly serve a break for the summer and when I got to the room there was no one there.  Only one person had volunteered to supervise the preschoolers and she hadn't arrived yet.  However, the rule is: there must be two adults in the room.  Guess I'm working Children's Church beat.  What do we do? What do I say? Where are the crayons? Fortunately the other person in the room with me was a veteran - Val was a lifesaver - I was just the extra body there to keep us legal - she came in and she knew exactly what to do and where everything was.  I tried to help with the craft - messed that one up.  The kids were supposed to depict their families on a piece of construction paper using other little bits of construction paper that I cut up for them while they were listening to Val.  I cut the pieces WAY too big and most of their families came out looking like cubist abstract art.  I guess that's OK, they ARE preschoolers after all - what am I expecting Monet or DaVinci?

Over the course of the summer I will be leaping out of my comfort zone - VBS, Sunday School, Children's Church.  We'll see how it goes.

Oh, and to answer Julie on her post - if God gives what us what we can handle plus a little bit to push us to grow - I've got a long way to go to try to keep up with you.  Some people use their kids as an excuse, I'm hoping mine help me to stretch and grow in a lot of different ways including service.