Cleaning day

They take this very seriously...

Until they realize there is a camara in the vicinity....

While busily cleaning their own kitchen, Ella sings "We're gonna clean all day and all night!" (which I can guarantee she has NEVER heard around here!) Ethan responds, "No Ella, not all night." And after a bit of a pause, with a look over to me "And NOT all day either...."

Those of you not interested in potty news, look away for this paragraph. We had a momentous occasion today where Ella (who is wearing underwear around the house) actually told me that she had gas and needed to go to the potty, and then actually pooped in the potty. I have no illusions of being done, but this is a welcome progression from her current status of either going in her underwear or saving it all day and going in her diaper overnight.

Ethan surprised me today with his impressive laundry folding skills. He's been my washrag folder for a while now (Ella is our sock sorter and dryer sheet disposal girl), but I will confess that it took every ounce of my self-control to not refold the rags that didn't match up (that kid gets some of his obsessive streaks honest). Today he brought them over to the couch and I was so proud to see how neatly he had folded them. It's a day full of high fives around here.

I think my feet are still cold...

The kids were good sports this morning for our scheduled activity of two different grocery stores. This was good, since 40 degrees and rainy isn't very convenient for loading and unloading those two plus groceries. Ethan wanted to hold the umbrella, Ella wanted to walk when it's easier to carry her and stand when it's easier to have her sitting, and nobody was happy that the cart only seats one in the front, but we'll take those challenges any day.

One day earlier this week as I sat in the rocker with Ethan before naptime he asked me if I had any kisses left for him. I told him that God makes sure mommy never runs out of kisses for him. He stopped and thought for a while then gave me a series of giggly kisses, and then said, "I took all your kisses. You need to pray to God and ask him to send you more, and tell him he can send some for daddy too."

Ella carried her Hello Kitty purse around all morning, and kept digging in it while mumbling, "Where's my kleenex go?"

If I ever wondered what I must look/sound like to God, I get some pretty good glimpses of it in my life these days. What a blessing to have a Heavenly Father who is patient and gracious! Today we had a fun morning playing with Ethan and Ella's friend Jacob here at the house. At one point Ethan had a major meltdown because his playdoh snake got "broken". It took an unfortunate amount of time to get him calmed down enough to comprehend that the whole point of playdoh is the fact that it can be fixed over and over again. Once he realized/remembered this, he really got into the idea of seeing how many snakes he could transplant together.

The three kids got into a discussion about who was a big kid. Ella was sure that Jacob was, but Ethan wasn't so sure about it (Jacob is in between our kids' ages). Ethan's big sticking point? "His head isn't as big as this one" while pointing to his own noggin. Not many are, my son. Later in the day Ethan (apparently still thinking about the finer points of this) let me know that big kids can chew gum, and he's pretty excited about when that day comes. It's good to have goals, right? I'll be more inclined to consider that possibility when he makes it through more than a couple days without a crying fit because he bit his finger or tongue while eating.

Nobody wanted to nap today (at least nobody shorter than 3 feet tall), so quiet time was short and not very quiet. Hopefully they'll be tired early tonight?

And we're back...

And somehow it's been over 3 months with no post. Oops! There are December pictures in the album on the sidebar.

Life has been a bit bumpy for our extended family lately. In the midst of it have been frequent reminders that God is good and we are blessed beyond measure. Ethan and Ella really enjoy each other now, and will often go off together into the playroom and play together happily for a while. This is a welcome respite for me, but doesn't always come without a cost. Somehow even with me staying within hearing distance they have managed some creative messes; our recent bouts into potty training with Ella have added extra challenges to this mix. The potty training is entirely at her request; she becomes indignant these days about putting on a diaper. She is relatively good about using the toilet, but again I am reminded that buying stock in the manufacters of oxiclean might have been a good investment. It works for all kinds of unimaginable (at least in my pre-children life) stains.

Ethan is still my constant sous-chef, and while Ella enjoys stirring things with us, she's more of a laundry fan. When our old vacuum died and we got a smaller, quieter model they both decided vacuuming was great as well. I see the humor in the fact that by the time they are actually helpful in these processes they will have absolutely no interest in helping me with them!

Ethan learned to hop correctly during our Christmas travels, and proudly does this all over the house. He loves to build elaborate structures with his blocks (frequently they're foundation heavy, and he will give you a long explanation of why you need a strong base for your towers). My brother in law Bruce might have said it best when he remarked at Christmas that Ethan often takes 5 sentences to tell you something a lot of kids would tell you in a few words. This was really validating to hear, as it frequently feels like I've heard far more than my quota of words in a day! He's really taken on the role of big brother, and loves to teach Ella things (and boss her around about them....)

Ella loves taking her of her baby dolls (and a dinosaur of Ethan's that she loves to bottle feed). Her vocabulary and verbal expression are just funny---you don't expect to hear such complex sentences consistently from a not yet two year old. Last week in the car she and Ethan were debating about whether we had gone through the gate at the park (which we had). Ella kept insisting, "We didn't go through the gate!" with Ethan getting increasingly frustrated as he told her that we did. I finally told Ethan to stop worrying about it and just let Ella talk. She repeats it again and Ethan protests...she then wails, "Ethan's not letting me say what I want!!!!" I think we're in for our share of challenges ahead.

Both kids are currently obsessed with listening to Peter and the Wolf, and will narrate the entire story to you as it plays. This leads to some funny questions that they repeat multiple times. You get some funny looks in the store when your kids keep asking, "What does greedy eyes mean?"

Hopefully I can get back in the habit of documenting our life on a more regular basis. So many funny little things happen that get almost immediately forgotten.

Off to make dinner before kids are up from their nap.