It never gets old in the minds of babes

What's that under there?
Under where?

YOU SAID UNDERWEAR!

(followed by a roar of laughter everytime)

Inquiring mind

Gavin is a boy full of questions about life. Here are a few recent and past inquiries.

How come Peter Pan wears tights?

Are we almost there?

Why do snowmans always have to be bald?

When will we get there?

What was the first day of the world?

How long will it take us to get there?

G- Is God everywhere?
Me- yes
G- In the car?
Me- yes
G- Is he even in my carseat? (asked as though he worried he might sit on God)

Are we almost there yet?

Is God making it snow? Why is God making it snow?

How much do I have to count to until we're there?

What is the biggest number in the whole wide world?

What's bigger than googleplex?

Backrub conversation with Gabbo...

after a bath

Me- Your head smells good.
G- How 'bout my breath?

How was your day?

I always ask the kids about their day at school when they get home. In no way am I trying to determine whether or not they were "good" at school. I'm only interested in what goes on in the 7 hours away from home and parents.

Gavin seems to think that I'm wondering about his behavior because his response is always either:

(9 times out of 10) No time outs!

or

I accidentally forgot to follow the rules about... and I had a teeny tiny time-out

Usually when there is a time-out, his response is followed by something regarding his friend Max. Max and Gavin get along splendidly, too well, in fact. Gavin and Max like to play around, sometimes at inappropriate times. Gavin adores Max. He even named his new webkinz Elephant "Max." His big neon green dog is also named Max.
Gavin (and Emma) were in a Spanish program last week. Max was also in the program. Mike and I noticed the strategic placement of the two boys. One at one end of the line, and the other at the other end of the line.

Found

One pair of blue snow pants

Style by Emma

Even though Emma has about 20 pairs of jeans (handed down from various relatives and friends), she has been adamantly refusing to wear them- due to lack of comfort she tells us. Today, she wanted to wear her new holiday dress to school to show her teacher. That's fine with me. I hate to spend money on something that's going to be worn once or twice. But, instead of tights or leggings, or even one of her pairs of comfortable cotton pants, she decided to wear JEANS under the dress to keep warm.

Go figure!

Inquiring minds want to know

A conversation taking place while waiting for the signal to change to green...

G- Daddy, how do the lights change? Does God do it?
Mike- A computer tells the lights when to change.
G- OUR COMPUTER!
Mike- No, a computer in the lights makes the lights change.
G- How do they fit a computer in there?

Lost and Found

I was preparing the dance bags for dance classes tonight (leotards/tights/dance pants/ballet and tap shoes) and found a lone tap shoe in Emma's bag. I didn't even bother looking around for it, assuming I would find it in the lost and found at the dance studio. When I dropped Lilah off (her class is at 5:00 and Emma's starts at 6:00) I looked in the lost and found box. I started digging, and located one of Gavin's many lost mittens. I dug some more, and found a match to the mitten! I didn't, however, find the tap shoe. But, when I got back in the car, I dug around under the seats and found the missing tap shoe.

I'm still wondering about two pairs of mittens and Lilah's snowpants. Don't even get me started on socks.

A chip off the old block...

I used to say that I liked to "leave a little part of me wherever I went." I remember at least one person at one time or another, telling me that I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached. Well, as time has passed, I'd like to say that my organizational skills have improved immensely. (Mike might not agree. Then again, he didn't know me as a child.) That's not to say that I'm going to win any kind of award in this category, but, I have come a long way.

It's funny that I have so little patience with my own children's chaotic, disordered way of living. You'd think I would be able to be show more empathy in this regard.

For instance..
Last Friday Gavin exited the bus, basically falling apart at the seams. His coat was unzipped, hat practically falling off, and his backpack flung over one arm, wide open. As I watched the bus drive away, I checked the contents of the backpack to find a lone shoe and a solitary glove. He just got a new coat and nice new gloves to match. We implore him to keep track of his stuff, to no avail.

Since this is his 3rd pair of mittens, I became a little frustrated with his inability to keep his things organized. He's even lost the mismatched mittens I've sent with him. I mentioned this to my mom, and asked, "was I this bad?" To this she responded: "Let me see. I remember the day you got your new 300 dollar retainer, and lost it later that very same day." O.K. so I'm not perfect.

Mondays are the days when I pick up the kids from school so we can get to Lilah's piano lesson on time. Needless to say, I went a few minutes early, so I could check the bus for the lost shoe and glove. As soon as the bus driver saw me, she got up and said, "You need a shoe and a glove? I try to stop him before he gets on and off the bus and help him contain all his stuff."

O.k., so at this point we found the glove and the shoe, and we're about to be on our merry way, but first, we need to stop at the lost and found to see if we can locate Lilah's snowpants, and possibly my hat that Lilah borrowed one day last week. The one that I bought specifically to go with my jacket. The one that has been missing for a few days. The same one that she promised she'd take care of, and is sure she did bring home. Neither are in the lost and found, so we decide to go to the car. As we're walking through the hall, I look down on the floor outside the office, and what do I see, the hat that I've been looking for.

The snowpants are still missing, but, maybe they'll show up too.

Sinter Claus

Yesterday, when Emma and Gavin came home from school, they kept talking about "Sinter Claus" and how kids in Europe refer to Santa as "Sinter Claus." They talked about how they made "wooden shoes" and left them out over night at their kindergarten class. They were hoping they'd get candy in their shoes instead of sticks.

Tonight we had a conversation:

Me: So, did you get sticks in your shoe?
E & G in unison- No
Me: What did you get?
G & E- Candy and a finger puppet
Me- Did anyone get sticks?
G- Nope! Not even Natalia!

Naughty or Nice

G- Mommy, do you think I'm on the good list or the bad list?
Me- What do you think?
G- The good list. Yeah, for sure the good list. If Emma's on the good list then I have to be on the good list, because we're twins.
Me- Who said Emma's on the good list?
G- Well, she has to be, because you have to do every bad thing in the world to be on the bad list.
Me- Well, in that case, I guess you guys all made it on the good list.

They would definitely be on the good list at any rate, because they've all been very nice.

Inquiring minds want to know...

G- How do babies come out?

(At this point I've got three sets of eyes staring at me, as if to say, "Yes, mommy, please enlighten us!" while I'm thinking, "Oh Crap!")

Me- Well, a mommy has to work really hard, and push the baby out.
G- But, WHERE, does the baby come out?

I'll spare you the details of my response. But I will add that I was utterly relieved that noone asked how the baby got in there in the first place.

This isn't the first time I've been approached with questions regarding human reproduction. I've been fairly clever in the past with my ability to skirt the issue/change the subject/or give just enough information to satisfy the burning desire to know the truth. I don't think I'll get away with these tactics anymore. I'm sure there's a book out there to help me figure out the best way to answer their questions. I guess I'm in the market for one of those.

And the fun begins...

Today on our way walking to the bus stop, Emma realized she forgot to pack her tennis shoes. I ran back into the house to get them, when I realized that Emma also forgot her hat and her lunch, and Gavin forgot his backpack. I couldn't find the tennis shoes, then I remembered that I had already packed them in her backpack.

The morning chaos was bad enough before adding snow to the picture. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. I think it's beautiful, and there are so many fun activities to do in the snow. It's just so much harder to get the kids out the door.

Before leaving for the bus stop at 8:05 we need to get a few things together.


1. Lunches made and ready to go
2. Backpack with contents for the day, including:
snowpants, tennis shoes, homework folder, Monday- Lilah's library book, Tuesday- Emma and Gavin's library books, Wednesday- Lilah's swimming gear in her swim bag (goggles, swimsuit, towel, swimcap) Spanish Folder and Dictionary (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
3. Winter Gear- hat, boots, mittens, scarf, jacket


I have taken on the responsibility of getting together all items in the above list. The three munchkins are responsible for:

1. eating their breakfast
2. brushing their hair
3. brushing their teeth
4. getting dressed


None of the three ever seem to exhibit any sense of urgency, Gavin being the worst. He likes to take in all life has to offer, and gets distracted easily. With this in mind, we have a system in place that Mike started last year when he was the morning adult assigned to getting-ready-for-the-day duty. The timer is set to go off at 7:59. Whoever has the 4 jobs finished gets 4 tallies. It works pretty well. If they're not done in time, we have a few minutes to spare, just in case we need it, which we always do. Getting 4 tallies is pretty important to the kids, so a friendly reminder every 3-5 minutes usually helps them kick things into gear. I'm happy to say that we haven't missed the bus so far.

Oh, I implemented the rule- No playing the piano until you have finished 1-4. Everytime we're in a hurry or a lot is going on, inevitably someone feels a sudden urge to play the piano, just to add more spice to the chaos.

On a more serious note...

A few weeks ago, Duncan's health was deteriorating, and we didn't know how much longer he'd be with us. Mike and I decided that we should tell the kids about his condition. I was apprehensive about this decision. I didn't want to scare the kids, and, I just didn't want to make them sad. They've never had to deal with anything like this before, so I didn't really know how they'd react. For Lilah, she mostly just became quiet and wanted to change the subject. For Emma, it was kind of like laughing at a funeral. She didn't really know what to do, except to try to be funny and make people laugh. For Gavin, it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. He was so sad, telling us to "I don't want him to die. Just take him to the doctor, the doctor can make him get better!" and "If we ever get another dog, promise it's going to look just like Duncan, act just like Duncan, and it has to be named Duncan!" (all of this said through tears he kept trying to wipe away) It was completely heartwrenching. It's hard enough for us to deal with the idea of life without D-money, let alone having to try to explain his mortality to our kids. Luckily, Duncan's health took a turn for the better. Even so, he still has difficulty breathing when he gets excited, especially when food is around.

Tonight, after watching Duncan hack a bit, Gavin came up to me, nearly in tears, saying "Do you think Duncan is going to live until Christmas. I hope he does. I think he will. Yes, he's going to." (cheered himself up with his positive talk)

All this being said, I'm really glad we gave the kids some warning. I think we've all (myself included) had some time digest the information and appreciate the time we have with our sweet D-man.

The Sensitive One

During a backrub tonight, Gavin and I had a conversation. We just got back from spending 4 days at Grandma and Grandpa Schulz's house for the Thanksgiving holiday.

G- Why did you guys move away from Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Me-Well, I never lived there. Daddy lived there when he was growing up.
G- Why did he move?
Me- He moved when he became a grown up. He went to college and then moved to Colorado. Then we moved here. Someday you'll probably have a family and live somewhere else too.
G- (fighting back the tears) Will I still get to see you and Daddy?
Me- Of course you will. I love you very much. We'll always be able to see each other.
G- (voice crackling, lip quivering, and still fighting back tears) O.K.

Skip to my Lou, my Emma

Emma learned to skip very well over the past couple months. She has become so good at it that she sees little need for walking. Skipping has become her main mode of getting from one place to another.

Superstar!

Lilah had her first piano recital on the night before Halloween. She rocked! She played all her songs perfectly. She played "Ode to Joy, Yankee Doodle, and My Invention." It was very sweet. The kids got to dress up in costumes. She dressed up up as a diva. I tried to record her playing the songs, but the batteries went out on the camera, so all I have is a picture of her.

I'm very proud of her. She eagerly practices the piano daily, without so much as a grumble.

Three-legged chicken solution

Rotisserie chickens are cheap. I bought 2 the other day and plan to make chilaquiles and chicken noodle soup with the rest of the chicken. Chicken carcasses make a great stock for chicken noodle soup.

As much as I try to rationalize buying two chickens by having a purpose other than not wanting to deal with sorting out who gets the legs, it really does comes down to that.

Special Friends

I've made mention to the fact that our household is blessed with an abundance of stuffed creatures we've acquired over the past 7 years. Some of them have been deemed worthy of a name that actually sticks...

Gavin's special friends:
Luke (as in Skywalker)- a spotted frog (webkinz)
Max- the big neon green dog Gavin received, not won, from the State Fair- (thanks to the kind girl who gave up her big stuffed dog to a tantrumming hungry/tired boy)
Teddy- the bear Mike gave him for Christmas a few years ago
Black Bear- the stuffed animal we got for Gavin after the dreaded flood in the basement
Groovy Baby- he used to like to sleep with this one- he has grown out of it, but we still have it
Ello- the giant stuffed elephant that sleeps with Gavin
Brownie- a chocolate lab stuffed animal

Emma's special friends:
Burp- a random doll she's become attached to- dresses it up in her old baby clothes she found in the box under my bed
Teddy- the bear Mike gave her for Christmas- same year Gavin got his
Snuffy- the dog Emma won at the State Fair
Build-a-Bear- she calls it that even though it's a monkey
Sarafina- the white fluffy cat Emma picked out after the dreaded basement flood
Simba- a lion webkinz

Lilah's special friends:
Renae- a black lab webkinz
Nikki- American Girl Doll
Little Lamb- a soft beanie baby she got as a newborn on the day she came home from the hospital
Lucy- a cloth stuffed doll- I can't, for the likes of me, remember where this one came from
Teddy- the stuffed animal given to her for Christmas by Suzy, her first daycare provider- Teddy is missing his nose and has been since his second day with us. Norman delicately removed the nose, and only the nose.
Warning- a stuffed dog that was lost in Grand Rapids, MN, the day Josh and Bri were married. Lilah had a hard time accepting that Warning was lost. We really did search far and wide to no avail. I include it because I liked the name. She really liked the dog too. It was named warning because of the "warning" printed on the tag.
Snowbell- the identical cat that Emma has- again, an attempt to appease the kids due to the loss of so many toys in the flood
Pooh- named for obvious reasons - Pooh survived the flood- he was the first thing I saw floating at the bottom of the stairs when I realized that the basement was flooded

I know there are more that I can't think of, because all too often, when we're getting ready to leave the house, someone will delay our departure because of the need to bring along a stuffed animal, referred to by a name that I've never heard of.

A quote from Gavin

Last night while I was reading to the kids, Gavin said this in the middle of the book...

-Mommy, pause the book. I need to go get a drink of water.


I think he's become too accustomed to the DVR

More Fall Fun

We went to Elian's house to do some pumpkin carving the week before halloween.

We had some eager beavers....

A watchful eye....

And one not even pretending to show interest for more than a few minutes...

Can somebody please tell me where I can buy a three leggged rotisserie chicken?

The kids have all just realized that they like eating chicken legs. I had to bribe with 5 tallies to whoever was willing to make the sacrifice and forgo the leg for a part of the breast or thigh. It took a long time, but Emma finally relinquished, but only if she could have one bite of Lilah's leg and one bite of Gavin's. She does like her tallies, but I think she likes to please even more. She was very proud of her ability to compromise.

Gone hunting....

Whenever I go out of town, Mike is always so thoughtful and surprises me, upon my return home, with the house in better condition than the state in which I left it. Well, Mike is out of town this weekend- opening hunting weekend. I mentioned to the kids that we should try to surprise Daddy and get the house really looking great. Emma responded:

"Yeah, he'll be tired form all his hard work shooting the deers."

Sounds like a sarcastic remark, but I don't think it was intended to be so. I guess she thinks he's out there trying to provide for our family.

Duncan

a.k.a.- D-money, D-man, Big D, D., Dunky, Puppy Dawg, Dumkin, best dog ever...

His current medical status has not suppressed his love for/obsession with food. He started following me around the house and moving his bowl around at 3:00 this afternoon. I have to wait to feed him until Mike comes home, because if I don't, he won't leave Mike alone until he's fed again. Sometimes I forget he's not a person, and try to reason with him. Today I said, "Duncan, it's not time to eat yet," which translates to our starving puppy dog as, "Duncan, waah, waah, waah, waah, eat, waah." He perked up even more during the "eat" part of the sentence.

I am happy to report that some new meds seem to be helping him with his breathing situation. He's running around a bit more, and enjoying life again. He even kept up with us during the trick-or-treating.

Fall Fun

We spent an afternoon at Minnetonka Orchards on a balmy day in October. The thing to remember about Minnetonka Orchards is that a to pick your own apples, a bag costs $24. They do have a lovely walking path, a train to climb on, a silo to climb up, scrumptious sugary apple donuts, a great mound of hay to jump from, and loads of fun to be had. Oh, and the many, many photo ops.

These pictures were taken on October 7. The temperature was something ridiculus, like 85 degrees!

Trick-or-Treat

Trick-or-Treating 2007 was a very positive experience. We hardly heard any arguing over whose turn it was to ring the doorbell. This year, the excitement of receiving the candy turned out to be more rewarding than the doorbell ringing.

Lilah, a.k.a Hannah Montana, a.k.a. Miley Cypres (upon removal of wig) had just as much fun passing out candy as she did trick-or-treating. She helped Daddy after making her way around our block.

Emma, motivated by candy, and Gavin, motivated simply at the notion of filling his bag to the very top, covered more ground in our neighborhood.

The fun didn't stop there. Daddy gave the kids 5 minutes of blissful pie-hole stuffing. And when that fun was over, the sorting began.

Inquiring Mind Wants to Know

Mommy, will Grandma and Grandpa be able to carry me when I'm 15?

(randomly asked by Gavin)

Another Quote from Gavin

G-Mommy, I just have to tell you one thing. I accidentally got in a teeny, tiny, little bit of trouble. I had a time-out, but just for like 5 seconds.

Apparently Gavin was hugging best friend Max, most likely at an inappropriate time. It seems like I'm portraying Max as some sort of bad influence, but, really he's a nice kid. They all just have so much fun together.

Bedtime Conversation With Gabbo

While I was giving Gavin his backrub, he was recounting his school day with me.

Me- Who did you sit next to at lunch?
G- I was supposed to sit next to Natalia, but it's a good thing I moved over and sat next to Ethan.
Me- Why did you do that?
G- Because I don't like Natalia.
Me- Well, don't you think it might hurt her feelings if you try not to sit by her?
G- That's ok because she doesn't like me either.

Missing teeth

Lilah lost another tooth last week. She says it's her 10th, but I think it might be her 9th. She's been losing teeth for over 2 years now. She lost her first tooth (pictured above) about a month before her 5th birthday at Grandma and Grandpa Schulz's house.

She wrote this note to the tooth fairy.

Dear Tooth Fairy,

I'm wondering if anyone has seen you. And this is my tenth tooth so I'm really excited. And can you give me a book instead of a doller. Thank you and there is a picture of you.

If you're wondering, she did get a book from the tooth fairy.

Gavin has also lost a couple of teeth. His first one came out on June 5. Although it has taken some time, Emma has gotten over her jealousy of this matter. When he first talked about his wiggly tooth, she could hardly stand it. In the past, she's been the one to accomplish new feats first, for almost everything. Like snapping and whistling, for instance. So when people acknowledged Gavin's missing or wiggly tooth, Emma immediately went into a snapping whistling frenzy, thinking... "Alright, his missing tooth is cool and all, but look what I can do."

Fashion Queen Part 2

Not only does Emma have a unique sense of style, but she also has particular sensitivities to certain articles of clothing. This started early in her toddler stage, when she had an aversion to socks. She used to get so upset about wearing socks- her very words "them get bubbles in them." Come to think of it, she found most clothes objectionable for quite some time. To this day, it's not unusual to find Emma watching t.v. in just her underwear. She seems to have gotten over her sock issues, but refuses to wear tights. This poses a problem for a girl who loves to wear dresses and skirts, as winter rapidly approaches. No worries though. She's a resourceful child and has found a way around this.

She just wears pants with a dress. Stripes were the obvious theme today.

She also has a problem with jeans. She won't wear them. So, it's all about stretchy cotton pants, dresses and skirts.

Money Well Spent

Here's Emma's first notebook entry.

If you need help deciphering:

I love my mom, dad, family. My dog is nice.

Worth a Raised Voice

There are varying degrees of arguing among the Schulz kids, however absurd the issue at hand happens to be. These range from raised voices, arguing, tattling, to yelling at each other. I'm happy to report that, so far, none of the kids use physical violence as way to deal with their issues.

Sitting down for breakfast- Lilah and Emma both have Blue's Clues bowls and Gavin has a yellow one. They are sitting at the island in this order- Emma, Gavin, Lilah

L- Look, I see a pattern here. Blue's Clues bowl, yellow bowl, Blues Clues bowl. And look, girl, boy, girl
E- Hey! I was going to say girl, boy, girl. (said in an annoyed-that-Lilah-stole-her-thunder kind of way)

Another quote from Gavin

Daddy, guess what, I know Max's last name and its well.

A quote from Gavin

While riding in the car at night-

Mommy, can you turn on the lights because all I can see is nothing.

A Tuesday night with the Schulz's

Last night we had a guys/girls evening. I took the girls to Target, and Mike stayed home and hung out with Gavin. Gavin cracked Mike up with his conversation:

G- I love that toothpaste.
Mike- Then why don't you marry it?
G- I can't marry toothpaste or else I would have to eat the whole thing every day. What's your favorite spiceness?

Mike and Gavin also had the fortunate experience of watching 4 raccoons scaling our fence. Gavin was the one who noticed them. He saw them out the deck door.

The picture is really dark, but you get the point. Duncan hung out outside with the raccoons, like they're good friends. He didn't bark or anything.
I had the lucky task of taking the girls to Old Navy and Target. The girls are really funny in a clothing store. So many comments- "Do you think this would look good on me?" "This would look cute on Lilah!" "I really need a new sweatshirt" "Do you like this one or this one?" "This dress is really cute!"

After Old Navy we headed to Target. We were were in the health section and Lilah brought a giant box of pantyliners to me (133 to be exact) and asked me if they were band-aids.

The main reason we went to Target was to buy a fancy notebook for Lilah. She wants to write about the books she reads at home. While she was agonizing over her choices- shimmery, puppies, flowers, or princesses, Emma was sifting through notebooks for herself. She brought one to me and said:

E-Can I get this one?
Me- We have lots of notebooks at home. Why do you need a new one?
E-I want to write things in it.
Me- Like what?
E- Um, like, I love my mom and dad.

Guess who has a new notebook.

Conferences

We had parent-teacher conferences last week. I'm happy to report that the teachers all said wonderful things about the kids, despite any nose honking incidents that happened prior to our discussions.

Here are a few of the positive comments:

Lilah- friendly, very nice, participates and puts forth good effort, cooperates, works well with others in the class, lovely, etc.

Emma- always happy, always smiling, follows directions, good listener, "can do" attitude, determined, eager to please, outgoing, caring...

Gavin-good at math and reading, high vocabulary, loves to talk, perfectionist, sensitive, curious, inquisitive (seeker of knowledge)...

Emma and Gavin's kindergarten teacher is a total gem. She does home visits for her conferences- for all 27 children in her class. She devotes an hour per child. We were the last on her Friday list of conferences, so we invited her to eat with us. The kids thought that was the greatest thing. They'll remember it always, I'm sure.

They had been planning all day for the visit-"decorating" the basement to look like a restaurant. They put together a menu for their teacher to order from, including many of the plastic food items from our giant plastic bin. The kids brought her downstairs immediately when she arrived. She and her student teacher came downstairs, sat at the table and checked off which food items they wanted. The kids "prepared" plates and served up the food, and the teachers talked up the dinner like it was the best thing they'd ever eaten. It really was the sweetest thing.

After the pretend restaurant visit, we had real dinner, then the kids went to the basement to play while Mike and I had a chance to talk in great length with the teachers. It was a lovely visit.

The advantage of having your twins in the same Kindergarten class....

Nothing is kept from me. For example...

While walking home from the bus today, Gavin shared some information about the school day.

G- Emma had a time out in class today, but I didn't. I never have a time out because I always do the right thing, except that one time at lunch.
Me- What happened Emma?
E- Um, I don't member. But, it wasn't really a time out. It was like, um, a break.
Me- Really? So what happened that you had to take a break?
E- Um, I don't member what happened.
Me- I think you should sit on the couch and think about your day so you can remember. We'll need to come up with some ideas to help you so you don't have to take a break again.
(Entering the house)
Me- Come sit on the couch with me so we can remember about your day.
E- Oh yeah, I member now. Max was trying to goof around with me.
Me- Really? Was there anything more?
E- Oh yeah, and I was honking his nose. And the teacher was reading a story.

By the way, Emma informed me 2 days ago that Max is planning on marrying her.

Dancing Queen

Look out Cheetah Girls, there's a new kid in town.



The lighting in this clip is really bad, but I think you can still see Emma's sweet moves.

A little breakfast conversation

G- Do even dark sunglasses help you see?
Me- Well, they help protect your eyes from the sun's rays.
G- Or help you get cool!

Last weekend we were driving through the town of Motley, MN. There are a bunch of permanent "no parking" signs lined up on the sidewalk along the main street of the town, spaced about 50 feet apart. Gavin pointed them out to all of us in the car:

"Look, no P's allowed."

Remembering...

We have always insisted that necklaces should never be worn to bed. Emma's necklace was overlooked once, when she was just turning 4 years old. She went to bed, forgetting to take off her necklace. When she woke up the next morning, she was playing with her siblings and cousins at "The Wilderness Cabin" in the WI Dells. We were there celebrating a big Schulz cousin birthday weekend. When she realized that she slept with her necklace on, her eyes got wide with enthusiasm and surprise. She ran to me and said:

Mommy, I sleeped with my necklace on and I didn't choke, and I didn't even die!

I can still hear her voice in my head, exactly the way she said it. It was so sweet.

Worth an Argument

I wonder when the novelty of pushing the elevator button will wear off.

I have to mentally prepare the kids prior to riding in an elevator. After 4 years, I think I have it down to a science. It usually goes something like this:

"O.k. guys. We're going to get on an elevator. Emma, you push the up button to get the elevator here. Gavin, you'll push number 2 on the elevator panel. Lilah, you push door closed."

Sweet Dreams

I think Gavin was dreaming about his birthday last night. He crawled out of bed early this morning, eyes half opened and approached me to say-

G-Mommy, I just want to tell you 2 things I want for my birthday. (not even a good morning preceded this statement)
Me-What's that?
G-Um, a mote control hellercopter and a mote control dragonfly. And there's just one more thing, a Ben Ten watch. (all of this said from one breath)
Me-We'll see about that.

I'm a little worried about having a remote control anything-that-flies in our house. Is there such a toy for little kids? He said he saw it on t.v., but maybe these toys were just figments of Gabbo's dream.

Speaking of dreams, I dreamed of pokemon cards last night.

Ooh, Ooh, Ooh, Mr. Kotter...

Last night while reading Jack and the Beanstalk to the kids, Gavin had a question about the book. Instead of blurting it out, he started waving his hand inches from my face and said, "Mommy, I'm raising my hand!" Apparently, kindergarten behavior is transferring to home.

Yanker Doodle Dandy

Important background knowledge: Last night, we were looking at pictures of Karen and Bob's new puppy. The kids were really excited for Isabelle, and can't wait to meet Stella, the very cute Chocolate Labradoodle.


I was giving Lilah her backrub tonight and asking her for more details about her day. She told me:
"Today, I told everybody at school that my cousin got a Chocolate Yankerdoodle."

Worth an Argument

Typically, the Schulz kids get along pretty well. On occasion, they come across an issue that is considered argument-worthy. These issues range from understandable, to trivial, to completely absurd.

Following is an example of absurdity:
About a month ago, we were going to go to the zoo. The kids were getting into the car and I was bringing our lunches from the house to the car. When I opened the car door I heard high-pitched shouts and cries of tattling. Whenever someone is tattling, they draw out the word Mommy- like Maaaahmmeeee-
G-"Mommy, Lilah wants to use one of my motorcycles and make a voice for it, but it's a motorcycle and motorcycles can't talk!"
L-"But he won't let me be one of his motorcycles, and he has two. I can make a voice if I want!"
G-"But, it's a motorcycle, and motorcycles don't talk!"

This went on, despite my attempts at mediation- "Gavin, can't she just be one of your motorcycles? Lilah, can't you just think of something else to play with?", until, finally, I actually pulled the car over and said something like, "You two need to solve this (I wanted to add in ridiculus here, but didn't) problem in 10 seconds, or I might be tempted to take the motorcycles and throw them out the window." I can't remember what happened next, but we still have the motorcycles.

Last night, I asked Emma to get me a kleenex. I thought she didn't hear me, so I asked Lilah- o.k. I'm a little lazy, but I'm sick and I was in the middle of doing something. So, Lilah brings me a kleenex and Emma comes running around the corner beginning to cry- "You asked me to bring you a kleenex first!" My response to this- "I'm sure I'll have the need for both of the kleenexes- thank you." Trying to outdo Lilah in her act of cooperation, Emma brought me the enitre box of kleenexes. It's funny how compliant the kids can be when they see helpfulness as a competition.

I think I'll regularly post some of the interesting argument-worthy topics of our household.- Anybody have a better title?- maybe I should just call it Crazy People

Relatively uncorrupted thus far

The kids went to a birthday party a few weeks ago. After I picked them up from the party, we were talking about all the things they did. I asked if everyone at the party was nice. Emma said that a boy said a bad word. Here's the conversation that transpired from this comment:

Me- What did he say?
Emma- I can't say, because you'll be mad at me.
Me- It was that bad?
Emma- Yeah.
Me- What did the word start with?
Emma- I think F
Lilah- Yeah, it starts with an F
Emma- It's kind of like a fluffer, but you don't like when we say that word.

We must cherish these precious innocent moments when the kids think that the bad word that begins with "F" is fart!

Fashion Queen

Emma has been dressing (and undressing) herself since she was about 18 months old. She really has a unique sense of style- one might call it eclectic. She likes a lot of action and pizzazz in the outfits she wears. She especially likes stripes and flowers, and if you put them together, that's what the girl is all about. She is very determined when it comes to picking out her clothes. She adamantly refuses any help from me or Mike. I just hope that it is apparent to the general public that I am not responsible for her ensembles.

Emma wanted to wear this Captain Morgan visor to school the other day. I denied her of this, for obvious reasons.
Emma likes to wear random accessories around her head. Shown above is actually a belt for a pair of Lilah's pants.

Stripes and butterflies

Accessories are an added bonus to any outfit.

Sun dress in the cold, no problem. Just stick a sweatshirt under it.
There's nothing wrong with wearing a swimming suit for carving pumpkins.

She even likes to accessorize D-money.

Bedtime Conversation

We have a bedtime routine that always ends with backrubs. Lately, I've been doing Gavin's backrub, and he's been talking my ear off. He starts most sentences with "Guess what" and "You wanna know what?"

Tonight, Gavin was rubbing his chin and started a conversation-

G- Mommy, am I growing a mustache?
Me- No.
G- Feel it.
Me- That's your chin, and men grow beards on their chins.
G- Will people laugh at me because I'm growing a beard?
Me- Well, you're not actually growing a beard. I think you have something stuck on your face.
G- Oh, guess what? You wanna know what? Somebody got in trouble at school today, and it was a girl and she always gets in trouble.
Me- Why is that?
G- Her brain doesn't tell her the right things to do. And guess what?
Me- Hmm?
G- My teacher read a story about a vulture and a crocodile and other animals. (starts to crack up remembering the story) It was really funny when the crocodile tried to eat the tiger. Do crocodiles eat tigers? How do crocodiles eat tigers?
Me- I'm not quite sure they do. - Did you play with anyone today?
G- I don't remember the guy's name, but he's the guy with the red coat and we played power rangers.

At this point, we ended the backrub with a guessing game.

A Calgon Moment

As boredom settles in during the middle of August, it becomes increasingly obvious that the kids are ready to go back to school. Either that, or they snuck into the liquor cabinet.

If you're wondering about the annoying squeaking, that's the incessant squeezing of Duncan's toy, brought to you by Lilah.



(Video taken on Aug. 8, 2007)

Persistence

Gavin has been a snugglebug since he was born. He wanted to be held and snuggled all the time as a baby. He slept best snuggled up next to someone. To this day, he'd prefer to sleep in our bed, disrupting our sleep, crammed up tightly next to one of us. Don't get me wrong, I do love to cuddle with the boy, I just can't take a night of sleep, or lack there of, getting kicked in the head and squashed until I'm barely holding on at the edge of the bed. Last week Gavin tried to convince me of letting him sleep in my bed.

Can I sleep in your bed?
No.
Why not?
Because you move around too much, and it's just too crowded with 3 people in the bed.
I promise I'll be very still.
No, honey. You need to sleep in your own bed.
Pleaeaeaeaease....
No.
Please. I promise you can sleep by yourself tomorrow night.
No, honey.
I promise I'll give you some of my candy.
No.
I promise, tomorrow you can sleep by yourself, and I'll give you some of my candy.
No, but I'll lay with you in your bed for a few minutes.
O.k. (with a frown)

Last night, after getting everyone tucked in their beds, I went to bed and started to read. After a few minutes, I heard Mike through the intercom telling Lilah to go back to bed- she gets out of bed a lot to tell us she can't get to sleep- A few minutes later, I saw a little head pop around the corner, and heard Gavin's little low voice say-

Mommy, can I sleep with you? (as he's climbing up into my bed before hearing my answer)

How did you sneak by Daddy? Speaking of Daddy, you'll have to go downstairs when he comes up.

Why?

Because it's too crowded.

(ignoring my response) Promise you'll let me sleep with you all night.

Gavin, please just lay down and go to sleep. I think Daddy might be upset when he comes upstairs and sees you in our bed. He's already talked to Lilah about staying in bed.

Will he yell at me.

No.

Will he yell at you?

I don't think so, but please go to sleep.

O.k.

Kindergartners Extraordinaire

Wasn't it just yesterday that these two were tiny little babies?

Emma and Gavin started Kindergarten on Thursday, September 6. The twins are really amazing kiddos. They are so confident in every situation, no fear at all. They rode the bus without any reservations. I even had to call Emma back to give me a hug and kiss goodbye. I followed the bus to school and watched them walk to their class and start their routine. They did everything like pros. Lilah was a great big sister, and proudly showed them the ropes of walking through the hall.

I'm interested in what my kids are learning in school and about what they experience during their day, so I ask questions. In the past, my conversations with Lilah about school went something like this-

How was school?

Fine.

What did you do?

I don't remember.

Can you think of one thing you did during the last 6 hours?

I had lunch.

In an effort to elicit more information, we're going to have "tea time" after school each day to talk about some of the things that they do at school. In our first little pow wow, they all said they really like school and they all like their teachers. Gavin had the most to report. He told me that his tower got knocked over and that 2 kids had a time-out. From his perspective, he didn't get to play enough. He also told me that he broke his leg. I'm happy to report that he didn't actually break his leg.

After tea time, I helped Gavin and Emma with their "homework." I interviewed them about their day. They were supposed to tell me about their first day of school by filling in the blanks of a questionnaire. One of the sentences to complete was- I played with _______. When I asked Gavin this, I said, "I played with blank," and expected that he would tell me the name of a friend. Instead he said, "Who's blank?"

Lilah Schulz- Second Grader Extraordinaire

Lilah started 2nd grade yesterday. She's growing up before our eyes. Our little girl is more like a pre-adolescent than a child. She acts so sophisticated. She's into things like Hannah Montana and High School Musical 1 and 2- (Her backpack sports a picture of Troy Bolton with "I heart Troy" written in small print. I was in a nice mommy mood when I allowed her to get that one) She's into clothes and friends. She wants to pour her own milk, no matter how much I protest.

Norman has been staying with us over the past few days. He is even aware of her grown-upness. In the past, Norman has always kept his distance from the kids. He's what one might call "skiddish" around children, and avoids them like the plague. He not only tolerates her presence, but actually seeks her out for love and attention. Here he is laying on Lilah's bed.

Lilah hasn't grown up so much, though. She still enjoys some of the finer things of her childhood. She loves dramatic play with Emma, including playing house, Barbies, dolls, and dress-up.

Monkey

This is how Gabbo typically sits while watching t.v.

Insanity

And now, for the State Fair:
We have made it a family tradition to go to the State Fair each year. We end up doing the same thing, eating the same foods, and seeing the same things every year. We even have pictures of the kids doing the same thing each year. I can't quite get the same effect from the barbeque booth as I got from 2005This would be our first year of going to the Midway to play any games. Yesterday, at Valley Fair, after 3 continuous hours of being asked to play another game, Mike told Gavin he would lose his opportunity to play a game at the State Fair if the question was asked again. He has trouble remembering even the most explicit directions when it goes against his plan. Lo and behold, Gavin couldn't stop himself from asking, so he incurred a loss of privilege. This LOP didn't sink in for him, since it wouldn't come to fruition until the following day. Today, as we were getting ready to go to the Fair, Emma felt compelled to remind Gavin about his LOP. It still didn't sink in for the boy. I was worried about the ramifications of the LOP once we got to the Fair, so Mike and I decided to discuss the situation with our son, reminding him about his behavior at Valley Fair, and reminding him about his consequence. I was mostly an observer in the conversation, since this was really Mike's battle with G. When G realized that we were actually going to follow through (or not), his eyes started welling up with tears, despite his efforts to fight them back. I almost started to cry, he was so sincere and so incredibly sad. I was waiting for Mike to cave, because I certainly would have. It's hard to say if it was the sad face or the prospect of having to listen to constant pleas and attempts to persuade Daddy to change his mind. Whatever the reason, Mike said, o.k. under the condition that he didn't talk about games until it was time to actually play the game. We came up with 3 agreements for Gavin to make. 1. Don't ask to ride any rides (we rode rides all day yesterday) 2. Don't ask to buy anything- unless you're hungry 3. Don't talk about playing games- we'll each play a game at the end of our State Fair experience if you remember about our agreements. I made sure that Gavin looked at me and could articulate each of our agreements. He got so good at it that he was able to teach agreements 1, 2, and 3 to his sisters.



After spending a lovely day at the Fair (5 hours), it was finally time to play a game. Gavin and Emma both chose the water shooting game, almost the same game Gavin won yesterday. I helped Gavin and Mike helped Emma- can you see where we went wrong here? I couldn't believe my eyes, but Mike and Emma won the game- there were about 10 other people playing the game, including adults and ambitious teenagers. Emma got to choose a large stuffed dog. (by the way, we acquired 5 new stuffed animals over the last 2 days!) Gavin became completely hysterical. He was pacing around. Tears streaked his very dirty face while he yelled at me, telling me why he should get to play another game, and how it was unfair that Emma won, and so on. I kept my cool and sat holding him, trying to console him, then finally, in a very calm voice, told him to sit down in the wagon. I noticed lots of people staring, I'm sure thinking, thank God I'm not her. After a few more minutes of insanity, a girl of about 9 years came to us with a big neon green stuffed dog and asked if she could give it to Gavin. At this point, I didn't care what lesson he was learning, I could have kissed that girl's feet. I talked to the mom of the girl, because, I really didn't want to take the girl's prize, but I just wanted Gavin to stop. I guess somebody gave her a life-sized gorilla to carry around for the rest of the day, and they wanted to share the love. Gavin did, infact, stop crying, and thanked the girl.

Here are some things we learned from all of this:
1. Mike always helps kids play the game
2. One family member playing a game at a time
3. Make your kid eat something more than a giant lollipop and some corn while spending a day at the Fair
4. LOP's must be immediate
5. Avoid the Midway at all costs

We did actually have a great time, tantrum notwithstanding. Some highlights:
*The Miracle of Birth Center (baby farm animals)

*The Giant Slide, The Sky Needle, and the Trampoline (those were the 3 rides we agreed to do because they're part of the tradition)

*Corndogs, cheesecurds, scotch egg, roasted corn, cotton candy (Lilah), Lollipops (E & G), chocolate chip cookies

*Little Farm Hands

*Again, the general enthusiasm toward EVERYTHING

*People Watching

*Big Neon Green Stuffed Dog