Chefs Bugordee

My little helpers tonight

Remember this peeler, Mom?

That'a girl, good cutting technique.

Eeeek! Watch those fingers!

We peeled way too many mashed potatoes that only Joe and I ate. Oh well, he'll have leftovers to cook up as hashbrowns. I also made beer-butt chicken tonight! Yummy! It wasn't as yummy as Ronda's but it was pretty good. The girls did a great job in the kitchen and Avery even set the table. We all ate with the tiny forks and they were just right.

I posted a new photo stream of the girls and their fashion statements, by popular demand. I decided a long time ago that matching clothes and shoes on the wrong feet is not a battle I need to fight. If it gets us out the door in the morning, I let them wear tennis-shoes with dresses and stripes with flowers. Enjoy.

Princess Twirly Hair

It has been such a crazy week. We have been running from sun-up to well after sun-down. One up-side of it all is that I have not cooked all week! Monday was leftovers from Sunday. Tuesday was dinner at work. Wednesday we enjoyed left-overs with friends from our "event" at work on Tuesday. SCORE! And tonight we enjoyed dinner with the Thornburgs because our carpet was wet from finally being cleaned. Double SCORE! We all enjoyed a giggle tonight about my eldest princess. We have catered to her in more ways than I care to admit. Her sister, on the other hand, is very self sufficient. My defense is just this....if we didn't do it for her we'd still be waiting. "Waiting for what?" you ask? Waiting for anything!!!

She never held her own bottle, ever. She would lie there playing with her mohawk.
The younger one was holding her own at around 4 months.
She finally held her own sippy cup at about 15 months when we took her to daycare.
Her sister started climbing into the fridge to get her cup, as well as her sisters, quite awhile ago.
When I am in a hurry and need to be driving to work (wherever work is taking me that day) I still shovel food in her mouth so I can get out the door.
AJ usually just takes hers with her, she doesn't mind getting a speck of dirt on her fingers.
I am still helping Kyndra put on her socks.
Avery won't let me near her feet on most days, her choice, and she will do it by herself (thankyouverymuch)
The latest is the car seat. The car will be rolling to a stop and AJ has already gotten her seat unbuckled. She still dilly-dallys getting out the door but she does it by herself. Her older sister, on the other hand, just can't even bring herself to try. She just sits there twirling her hair until one of us gets tired of waiting and does it for her.
The other day I asked the kids to clean up Kyndra's room because they were moving on to the next room and you couldn't see the floor. Kyndra has been a LOT better about participating in the clean-up so I was surprised to see her not helping. When I asked her why she wasn't helping she said, "Landon is taking care of it." Well la-tee-dah!

It's not her fault. It's not our fault. Well, it is our fault but now days I can blame it on time or not enough of it! If I wasn't always running late (I hate running late) I'd maybe let her sit in the chair or carseat or go sockless. I can't bring her to work so I can't threaten to leave her in the car until she does it herself. Oh well, it is what it is and they are who they are. Kyndra's not my favorite. Avery's not my favorite. I love them both and look forward to seeing who they become.

Take a bite!

Avery has been a pokey eater her entire life. There isn't a meal that goes by without someone saying, "Avery, take a bite." When she isn't the last one done at daycare it's a big celebration. She plays with her food, sings to it, goes to the bathroom, pokes her fork in her sippy-cup, whaterver, just doesn't eat.

This picture was taken over Labor Day. It's all the kiddo's lined up around the soda fountain eating dinner. Notice Avery in the far corner.
I walked back in awhile later and found my little girl, still chewing away, all by herself.
She cracks me up.

Ramblings

I haven't been blogging much. I just don't seem to have any funny stories, good pictures, or thoughts worth sharing in the last little bit. In fact, I am sitting here with my laptop burning a hole in my legs because I just don't know where to start. Work has been busy, really busy, tiring busy. It's good to be that busy but it came on early and fast this year. It has taken us all some time and tears getting used to going out the door early again. I admit, the tears are mostly mine and my youngest daughter's. It's true. She is so stubborn and independent. Here is a typical morning:

Me: What do you want for breakfast girls?
KL: *no reply*
AJ: I want banana bread.
Me: We don't have banana bread, we have waffles, pancakes, toast, or cereal.
Me standing 2 inches in front of Kyndra's face: Kyndra, do you want a waffle, pancake, toast, or cereal?
KL: *blank stare*
AJ: But I really want banana bread.
Me: We don't have banana bread, what would you like?
AJ: Banana bread!
KL: Just surprise me
I pick something for KL and she gets up and eats it.
I pick something for AJ and she rolls on the floor crying for banana bread.

Me: Do you want shorts or a dress today?
AJ: Shorts!
KL: I don't care, you pick.
Me: Here is an outfit for both of you.
AJ: I don't want that one, I want the shorts with squares.
Me: You wore those yesterday, they are dirty.
A: But I want to wear them! *still rolling on the floor*
KL gets dressed and AJ rolls to her bedroom and gets her favorite shorts out of the laundry basket. She picks out a flowered shirt that has one speck of color that matches the shorts.

This continues with shoes, hair doo-dahs, out to the car where she wants to sit on which ever side her sister's car seat is on, all the way to daycare. I usually break down somewhere between here and Heathers, and either yell, crank up the music, or just cry. It's not that Kyndra doesn't ever give me trouble, she does, it's Avery's turn right now, that's all. Also, why would Kyndra fight it if someone else (that would be me) will do the work for her? This is the kid that never, ever, would hold her own bottle or feed herself, she just played with her hair while we did the work.

I am so thankful for the 3 day weekend. We are going up the mountain for 2 nights are are going to camp...or not. We'll see tomorrow if we feel like packing the camping stuff or just sleeping inside the hotel. Maybe this is just what we need. I plan to relax, try not to worry about my parents and grandparents, get some fresh air and exercise, learn to knit (stop laughing...Ronda got me some knitting needles!), eat some excellent food, enjoy some good friends, and try not to get so irritated at the kids. That's my goal, relax, let them be kids, no rushing out the door (hurry and finish eating, we have to go, I'm going to be late, you have 4 minutes!). I plan on taking some pictures of smiling kids and knitting needles and be ready to face the first day of school next week! Yikes!