Poop Patrol

At the Thanksgiving parade, the kids saw a man with a giant broom and dustpan walking behind the horses and cleaning up the poop.

They all thought this was the coolest thing ever.

And they still do. Only now, Poop Patrol happens every single day in the playroom with one kid being some sort of animal and the other two cleaning up the imaginary poop with some sort of toy.

It's now extended to our bedtime play routine. Now they pretend to be goats while I clean up imaginary "baby ball poops" and give them goat treats for pooping in the grass.

My kids are freaks. Freaks with good imaginations, but freaks nonetheless.

Brave

I first heard this song in my car less than a week after my kids arrived. My kids who didn't talk even though two of them knew how.

I wouldn't hear Speed really talk for a few weeks. I wouldn't hear Sunshine speak her own words and not echo those of someone around her for over a month.

Speed will occasionally be brave enough to talk about his past. Sunshine still won't.

I'm still hoping they can keep finding courage as we navigate through their, now our, story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUQsqBqxoR4

A Very Talented Pre-K Teacher

This morning, in response to a question from Sunshine about where the eggs in the incubator at Speed's school came from:

"I didn't get to lay the eggs. Mrs. Teacher laid the eggs when I was at Miss Therapist's. I don't know how her lay eggs but her does."

Heartfelt Apology

from Chickadee, for biting my leg:

"Sorry, Mommy, for eating your leg right there."

So glad she didn't swallow it!

Crickets are Kind of Chirping

We've had to turn down a handful of kids since we went "back on the list". Mostly because daycare is full. And while I know I dance close to crazy all the time, I am just on this side of SANE to say no to something that will require 3 daycare/school stops twice a day.

Well, DUH!

Sunshine: Mommy, before we moved here, you was just a lady.
Me: what am I now?
Sunshine: a MOMMY, silly turkey head!

So THERE!

Speed is still upset about his inability to birth a baby when he's older. He keeps looking for ways to piss the girls off about something that they cannot do. Most of his attempts are things that he can do now just because he's older (ex/ bike with no training wheels).

This morning's dig:
"Well, Mr. Ryan say soon I grow up, I get a ADAM APPLE! Girls can't have ADAM APPLES, right Mommy?"
Right.
"Ha!"

Some Things Take Getting Used To

I'm sitting here working on Turbo Tax where the program auto fills things from last year.
Only, my kids' names are auto-filled as their old names. And finally, that looks weird to me.

Old names finally looking wrong. It's only taken five months.

Because really till today, if I saw their name attached to mine, it still looked funky.

When the girls and I walked into aftercare the other day and the teacher said: Now, THERE are the rest of the Russells!", I look around to see who he's talking about.

When people say to the kids something like: Give this to your mom. Instead of "Go give this to Tammy." I notice.

And today I noticed that the old last names look wonky and the new ones look just right. :)

His First Crush

"Ethan say Alexa my girlfriend."
Oh, yeah?
"Yeh, because he know I think her pretty. Her have pretty HAIR. And pretty FACE. And pretty BODY. And....pretty SHOES."
(And she gives him hugs every day when he leaves afterschool care AND hugs on the girls as well.)