More of the Same

"Up, Mommy" is now "Hold you, Mommy?"

How can I resist?

This is How It Starts

My five kids, me, friend's two kids, were at a park the other day. Big Sister hit it off quite nicely with the boy that is her age (which shouldn't at all surprise me since she had such a solid relationship with Little D last year).

They were chatting it up on the swings for a good long while. He even asked if we could all meet at the park again sometime.

In the car on the way home:
Me: Big Sister, it seemed like you and (boy) really hit it off.
Her: Yeah, he was nice. I told him all my secrets.
Me: Oh yeh, may I ask like what?
Her: Like my name and that I am in kindergarten.

Things I Love

...and don't want to forget because it seems it may be a while before I have to write (another) top ten list on these three:

10. Speed discovered the joy of helium balloons and vaulted ceilings recently.
9. Sunshine said to me this morning, when I was pulling out the pick to comb out her hair: But I LIKE my pops!! (pops = puffs...and that's the part I love)
8. If someone says the word "light", Chickadee starts a little dance because she wants me to sing a Christian rock song about "being in the Light."
7. There is a prayer (actually several) at church that include one girl's name. Speed gets pissed if I don't resay the prayer substituting HIS name where the actual word should be.
6.  Sunshine has become Stubby's best friend. She snuggles him and he tolerates it so well. She often says things like "We LOVE Stubby, don't we, Mommy?"
5. Chickadee about has a (happy) screaming fit just because I throw her washrag at her from up by the curtain rod. The anticipation kills her every single night.
4. Speed is currently obsessed with a pair of "basketball pants" he owns. They are super thin and not always appropriate for the cold Austin winter we've had, so they only sporadically show up in his drawer (thereby avoiding wardrobe battles in the morning). The other day, he wore them to a friend's where he played basketball with some big boys. He "got a basket" (read: his ball hit the bottom of the net). When I said "Good job!" his reply was: "It the pants, Mommy. I do that cuz I got the pants." Magic.
3. Sunshine is the queen of cutting. Every night when we come home, she pulls something, anything out of the recycling and snips it into little teeny pieces to be found on the floor later that night.
2. Chickadee sleeps with a bear ("Bear), a Woodstock ("Bird"), and a musical seahorse ("Horsie"). Every night when I put her in her crib, she arranges them so that when she falls asleep, there are four heads in a row: Bear, Bird, Chickadee, Horsie, without fail.
1. Some of us have already made Valentine's cards for next year because we loved the holiday so much.

It will not be hard to do more Tens when the kids leave, but for now, here's a good stopgap of why they are the perfect kids for today.

Oh, The Irony!

Text to Big and Little Sisters' dad, who is now flying solo with them back in Austin and who thankfully turns to his team of support so is not insulted by such texts:

"Hey (Dad), don't forget Big Sister has school pix tomorrow. Comb that mop and throw on a clean shirt."

Response: "Glad you reminded me. Thanks."

Big Sister, I am sure, looked awesome for school pictures last week.

Guess who had school pictures today? And guess whose mama had no idea until this afternoon when he admitted he didn't like getting his picture taken?

Yup. Speed. Wearing a superhero shirt and jeans.

Who's supposed to send me text reminders????