Oh What a Day

Did I just say I was going to savor every precious moment of summer? Perhaps I woke up on the wrong side of the bed but I could not stand the bickering anymore this morning and refuse to have a summer full of nonsense fighting.  I had just gotten EB's hair into bun (dance recital practice) and Grant pulled on it.  She threw a big fit....drama, drama, drama (so much hairspray the hair didn't even move) then something about a green basket and Pumpkin's bath and this mama lost it.  Lost it big.  I sat them down and explained about children who have nothing and don't get cups of milk and juice delivered to them in bed while they cuddle with their mommy and watch TV and children who don't have food or clean clothes or toys to play with....etc....I layered it on them pretty heavy.  They were both in tears.  Then I informed them that I was not taking them to the library as planned, the TV would not be watched until after the weekend, iPads were not to be used and if they kept it up I was taking their beds away and they could sleep on the floor and wear dirty clothes.  I pretty sure I threatened to only feed them bread and water too.  I was mad.  Obviously their picking at each other had been building some hostile anger inside of me.  Oh I took Dozer and Pumpkin away too - pretty much anything I could think of.  This was 9am.

The morning consisted of running errands and misc. chores.  They cooperated fairly well.  Grant was still pushing his luck by putting things in the shopping cart, but he put everything back when I asked him.  He was just trying to be funny.  But then everyone got real happy at the post office when we found a lost dog.  Out of all of the people in there I was the one that decided to call the owners and get it back to it's home.  Max only lived a few houses down and had escaped.  A fellow USPS customer did get me a string/rope for a makeshift leash.  The kids had such a grand time escorting Max home.  The son met us at the house and that was our good deed for the day.  I love how dogs can make everything better sometimes!  Grant said as we walked away "I hate saying goodbyes" (poor guy).  Little did we know our animal day would not end there.  Next we had to take Jack to the vet.  Poor dog got swimmers ear from being in our pool.  He got a shot of steroids, ear drops and has finally stopped shaking his head so much (which can apparently cause an ear hematoma and result in a $600-800 surgery!) Guess we were lucky.  We were trying to let our poor arthritic dog get some good exercise in the pool!  Vet's words, not mine "Epic Fail!"  :)

We got home and I told the kids if they helped me pull weeds we could then swim.  Lo and behold we find a frog!  What fun!  We catch it and put it in the large bug house.  Then down a few more yards we find a robin's egg!  What fun!  Then EB says "Look there's the mom!" and I am really surprised because she is pointing really close and then realize it is a dead robin on the ground a few feet away.  Great, not so fun.  Of course the first thing I think is bird flu (is that even still around?) anyway we quickly dispose of the dead bird (I was gloved!).  Now what to do with this egg.  It is so pretty and perfect.  While we try to decide what to do with the egg I am looking for the frog under a tree because I had given instruction to put it in the shade.  I am informed it is in the house.  "Get the frog out of the house!"  

We decide to make the egg a little nest.  A tupperware filled with pine needles and topped with a few tissues.  (I really have no clue how birds do it with mud and sticks and string!)  I do some research.  A robin egg usually hatches in 2 weeks.  The mama bird typically does not leave the egg for more than 10 minutes a day keeping it warm at 104 degrees (her body temp).  Ok, I am not sure how we are going to do that.  I also ready that once they hatch they are fed by both parents ~40  times a day!  Ok, I am not feeding a baby bird around the clock.  Oh my!  The chances of this this hatching is very unlikely right?! If only we could find it a surrogate mom!  I should mention that Grant is convinced that the dead bird was not the mom of the egg.  And I surveyed the area, no visible nests.  No clue where this egg came from.  Stay tuned!

The Value of Money

Yesterday morning after the kids watched Strawberry Shortcake Elizabeth told me she wanted a Palace Pet. These are the latest creation by Disney and are the Princess' pets.  Oddly enough I've never seen these commercials on Disney Jr, but they sure are on Hub where they watch SS.  So I am immediately not thrilled that she is asking for something because she has seen it on TV.  Plus I know she knows two little friends who have a Palace Pet as well, but she didn't mention anything about that - thank goodness.  I can barely handle Sunday T-ball games I do not want to start the "she has it so I want it too" game!  I told her that if she wanted it she would have to use her own money.  I did some research for her so she could make an informed decision.  This was the breakdown:
Build A Bear Palace Pet
The Bear itself = $25
Scent (to make it smell good)= $3.50
Sound = $4
Outfit =$13-15
Shoes = $7.50 for two (they have 4 feet though)
Crown Set = $12

After discussing this with her and drawing her a diagram she decided she wanted all of that stuff (of course she did!) So to the piggy bank we go.  Surely she doesn't have $70 plus in her piggy.  Oh boy, the first two bills I pull out are $50's.  Ok, so she has the money for it, do I let her spend it? (and how did she get $100 in her piggy bank!)  It is her money after all but the problem is she has no concept of how much $50 is.  I am looking around the house trying to draw some kind of comparison that  will make sense to her and the best I can come up with is "I could buy 40 packages of hot dog for the cost of this Palace Pet!" Her response "Well I don't really like hot dogs, so that's not a problem for me!" I want her to be responsible with her money but I am really struggling on how to explain this.  I finally just  tell her that it is a lot of money for a stuffed animal, but it is her money so she can buy the Palace Pet, but she can only pick one accessory.  As you may have guessed Grant has been apart of all of this and his piggy is also spilled out on the ground and he is buying a Build A Bear too!  One thing is very clear- we must go to the bank!!! So I have them put their Build A Bear money aside and I tell them the rest is going to the bank.

At the bank I show them how they count the coins and how you earn interest and they are all quite impressed.  They just so happen to be having a youth "hunt for savings" program going on and because they made a deposit, they get to pick a trinket from the treasure chest.  Well they are really impressed now and the bank lady is really pumping them up for being such good savers.  I couldn't take it anymore, I finally had to tell her that they were spending the rest of their money on an over-priced stuffed animal! The bank manager walked up and encouraged them to come back anytime with more money and make a deposit - especially next Friday because they are having a big hoopla.  So any leftover change from the Build a Bear experience will be going back to the bank.  So thank you local bank for trying to teach my kids the importance of savings where we have thus far failed!! A small allowance program may be in their future :)

Grant: a lovely golden retriever  

Elizabeth: Cinderella's dog (she is giving it a bath)

Dozer and Pumpkin - welcome to our family!

They did have a lot of fun making them and I have a precious video of them making a wish when they put the heart in.   They were really into it, especially Grant - you have to love that.

T-ball is in full swing

Both kids are playing t-ball this year and games are played on Sundays.  This would not be my preference, but they didn't ask me :) Elizabeth initially had practices scheduled for 6:30 on Friday evenings and Grant on Saturday mornings.  So t-ball is going to rule our weekends - they are 3  & 5!!! This stuff drives me crazy!! Elizabeth's Friday evening practices were moved to Saturday mornings as well (an hour apart from Grant's) BUT then got moved again to Wednesday nights and then got rained out.  Is anyone keeping up with any of this yet? And is anyone going to actually understand baseball any better when this is all over??!!  Anyway, they like it - here are a few pics.  Ima is the official photographer.  Which speaking of photos, getting their team photos scheduled took three tries!  Yes, let's do it Memorial Day weekend when we have only 5 kids!!! Ugh! Ok the cute pictures...(so many more to come!)

This is Grant's "Ready position" which he is ALWAYS in, unless the ball comes directly to him! 

Kids had games at the same time so Johnny Pops coached 3rd base

This is Grant's new summer/baseball haircut (just like Uncle David - buzz cut for the summer!) Elizabeth's reaction: "Wow Pops, that is short on the side!" Yes my dad cuts his hair...long story!

Tea Party

Ever since we borrowed Fancy Nancy's Tea Party from the library Elizabeth has wanted to host a tea party.  I told her once we moved in we would.  Then it turned into once we got settled we would.  I could hold off no longer!  So a few weeks ago on a beautiful Friday afternoon we drew up her tea party plans.  This is what she wanted:
- jeweled doily placemats cut in the shape of butterflies
- paper fans
- a special drink
- strawberries with whipped cream and sprinkles
- ice cream parfaits
- chocolate fondue
- toothpicks with gumdrops

Ok....what we agreed upon:
- PBJ's in the shape of flowers
- Ham and cheese sandwiches on croissants
- Fruit Tray
- Whipped cream (with sprinkles they could use on whatever they wanted!)
- Carrots and dip
- Make your own fruit pizza sugar cookies
- Orange fizzaroo drink
- Doilies with their names in pink sparkly paper (thank you my dear silhouette!)
- Paper fans made out of doilies
- Gum drop/marshmellow kabobs scattered on the table
Crafts were a tissue paper flower with a pipe cleaner stem (it was not a real big hit) and make your own necklaces/bracelets (4-5 year old girls are so easy to entertain!)

Let me just say I think I had as much fun as the girls! Elizabeth invited Lauren from our old neighborhood, Elle from our new neighborhood and 2 girls from school.  I can't tell you what a delight they all were.  Very sweet girls.  After the food and activities they went downstairs to play and we didn't hear a peep from them for over an hour.  If they were having disagreements they were working it out themselves - which I happen to think is good thing.  The moms all socialized really well and we probably could have talked for a few more hours.  Perhaps next time I should feed them! I did all this work for the girls tea that I didn't really consider that a nice salad or something would have been a nice touch for the moms.  Next time ladies!!

School is out!!

Our new neighbors made this banner to surprise Elizabeth with on her last day of pre-school!  The kids were very excited!

We officially have a pre-school graduate on our hands! Elizabeth's school had a very nice ceremony for her last night.  As they walked across the sanctuary and the director announced their names all of the kids repeated the name.  It sounded adorable.  Then the director shared what each child's favorite thing was at school and what was the most important thing they learned.  Elizabeth said playing outside was her favorite thing and the most important thing she learned was her colors.  I was teary eyed just reading the program before it started, but I held it together.  Look out kindergarten here she comes! We celebrated with dinner at Tequila's afterward.

Singing "This Little Light of Mine"

Getting her diploma from Ms.Carol

Elizabeth and Julianna

Elizabeth & Ms.Carol

Grant finished up last week.  He brought home a really cute book of handprints that they had made all through the year.  His teacher got a little teary eyed when she hugged him goodbye, so of course I did too!  Thank goodness he still has two more years of preschool ahead of him!

Grant with his teachers Ms.Mandy and Ms.Stacy

Elizabeth's class had their end of year field trip to the local farm park.  It was a beautiful day and we all had fun.  She had a wonderful class, they were all such good kids.  I am certain I will miss the innocence of pre-school.

Feeding the goats 

Elizabeth & Julianna sitting in the old school house 

The must have flower petal photo-op!

Pops, she wants to milk a real cow at the fair!

These girls are going to horse camp (when they are old enough!)

I think both kids will miss the structure of school, but they are ready to swim and have summertime fun.   I will be soaking up every precious moment because darn it, they just grow up too fast!

R.I.P. Mr.Fish

Mr. Fish was Elizabeth's beloved beta fish that she got as a reward for potty training when she was two.  Ima came to feed it while we were gone and he was fine, but when we arrived home on Sunday he was dead.  Of course Elizabeth didn't going rushing in to see him after our week away so before bed we brought it to her attention.  She didn't take it well.  Not well at all.  Lots of tears.  She wanted to be part of the flushing process and we tried to give her closure.  As I was tucking Grant in she came in and asked if she not taken care of it well enough.  Oh Elizabeth! It was so hard to see her upset and then think it was possibly her fault.  I assured her Mr. Fish was old and it was just his time.  Grant then decides to chime in with some of his wisdom.  First he says that he noticed a lot of food in the bottom of the bowl and perhaps Mr. Fish was overfed.  I assure him this was not the case.  Then he offers that we can feed Mr. Fish when we are at the beach this summer.  We saw a lot of Nemo stuff at Disney and they talk about how all drains lead to the ocean.  Since we flushed Mr. Fish I guess he figured he would be out there somewhere in the ocean and we could toss it some food.  So cute - only the mind of a 3 year old! After his comments she started smiling and this morning there has been no mention of Mr. Fish - so I think we will all be OK.

Trip to Disney

Our Disney countdown - almost go time!

At the airport, bright and early!

We just got back from a week in Disney and we are all exhausted!! Not a trip where we got a lot of rest, but we sure did have a lot of family fun.  Keeping with the tradition of our vacations, we had plenty of rain.  I had packed four ponchos but they were not a high grade plastic (I think the garbage can liner in our room was thicker!) so we eventually ended up with the Disney Parks ponchos and looked like everyone else!  The hardest part was trying to keep our stuff dry.  The first downpour we were spared because we were in line for a ride.  The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh was not on the top of my list of must do attractions, but it keep us dry and when the ride broke down for 40 minutes, it keep us really dry as we stood there watching the puddles form!  Unfortunately, I had forgotten that the kid's autograph books were in the stroller.  Luckily, we didn't have many autographs yet.  Alice and White Rabbit from the previous trip and Duffy - the bear-y newest addition to the Disney family - so new we have no clue who he is - but we have his autograph...well kind of!  Lesson learned, new autograph books purchased and kept in ziplock bags.  The next problem with all of the rain was keeping the stroller dry.  The stroller we rented didn't come with a rain shield.  So we tried to re-use those cheap ponchos to keep the seats dry or looked for covered areas to park the stroller.  We spent a lot of time blow drying the stroller and tennis shoes.  At one point I overheated the dryer so I called for another one.  I was really hoping this would net in two blow dryers after the wall unit cooled.  However, the lady showed up with a bag of tools - so no extra blow dryer.  When it wasn't raining it was very hot.  Although we were ready for the heat, it zapped the kids pretty fast.  I had bought cooling/misting fans for the kids which worked out good until Grant realized his didn't mist as well as Elizabeth's.

We have lots of pictures and the trip is probably better shared with those.  We did a few fun character meals and the kids hung in there really well.  No major meltdowns.  Grant had quite a few stroller outbursts of "I not comfortable!!" but we just let him flip and fart around until his nest was fluffed!  Friday evening David and Sara drove over and met us for dinner and then did the parks with us on our last day.  It worked out really well and the kids had a blast doing the rides with them.  We even got Sara on a roller coaster - oh the guilt trip of a 5 year old!  Speaking of roller coasters, Grant has grown 2.5 inches since last June and he met the 44 inch height requirement for most of the big rides.  All four of the Pauli's conquered Space Mountain (multiple times!), Expedition Everest (a few times) and Tower of Terror (once was enough!).  The expressions on our faces are priceless!  When we had to say goodbye to them  I could tell Grant was about to breakdown.  He is very fond of his Uncle David and telling him goodbye just breaks his heart.  We told the kids we would see them again soon, and next time it would be on the beach and that seemed to help.  Later he insisted I text them and tell them that he wanted to build a sand castle with them :)

Although the parks were great and the kids got to meet a lot of special characters, I think they loved the pool the best.  Which I had read is often the case with the preschool age.  Grant decided water wings were ok and loved the independence they gave him and the water slide was a huge hit with both of them.

The first day we walked over 11 miles, and the last day we had almost 12.  I am guessing most of the days in between were around 7 or 8.  (my fitbit gave out on me!) My legs are still sore.  And the last day of 12 miles Sara and I did in wet tennis shoes, which must add at least 10 pounds!

Grant fell asleep on the Magical Express

On the boat to Downtown Disney 

Our resort 

Lego store at Downtown Disney 

Woody & Buzz Legos

Our dessert at T-Rex 

Oh let the rain fun begin!

How you hold two sleeping kids on the bus while daddy lugs the cargo/stroller 

Thank you strangers for taking our picture - sorry for not pulling Grant's shirt down! 

On our way to eat breakfast in Cinderella's Castle 

Main Street USA at 8:45 am

Space Mountain photo.  We rode it so many times EB started posing for the camera!

About to embark on Expedition Everest 

Brandon had to get a turkey leg! 

The Tree of Life 

Impromptu meeting of Buzz and Woody

Yay! Aunt Sara & Uncle David are here! 

The kids are under those plastic ponchos somewhere!

A moment when the rain wasn't coming down!

Ponchos ON!

Breakfast in bed?

The  flowers at EPCOT were beautiful! 

Duffy - anybody know who Duffy is?!

Grant sleep through a very nice Italian lunch 

3 year old boys don't smile for pictures! 

Wishes was truly spectacular!

Tea Cups! They say the purple is the fastest! 

Alice said that Elizabeth had very nice manners! 

Yes, please give my son a sword, that won't cause any problems at the princess breakfast! 

Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) 

Anna and Elsa!!!!

The car EB and I designed on Test Track.  Just for the record mommy got the highest total score each time ;) 

Lunch with Handy Manny, Doc McStuffins, Sofia and Jake

Grant really liked Uncle David's new Disney hat.

That was a yummy snack! 

Good-bye until the beach! 

We always said we would take the kids on vacation when they could haul their own stuff.  This moment lasted exactly until we got to the elevator! 

Grant with his Tomorrowland Speedway license 

EB being sassy for the camera

Sad to be leaving :(

The flights were all timely and the kids did good on the plane.  As we were getting ready to land Grant starting asking a lot of questions about heaven.  I don't know if it was because we had been in the sky or what, but he was very concerned about going to heaven and what it would be like and who would be there and when he was going.  Little did we know that when we got home we would have a dead Mr. Fish and the questions about heaven continue....