The Birthday Party Planner

    Yesterday morning, Keith went in later than usual which thrilled the girls. They don't usually see him until he gets off in the evening. Somehow, by intuition or something, Evelynn knew that it was Keith's birthday. She sang out the first 'Happy Birthday!' and was delighted that it was someone's birthday and that would be her Daddy.

    No sooner had Keith left for work, Evelynn called a meeting. "We need to make Daddy a cake." And she had it all planned out. It had to be chocolate. And she really, really, REALLY wanted it to be in the shape of a dragon. Toothless (from How to Train Your Dragon) to be exact. I agreed to the chocolate and added the idea of peanut butter frosting, but wasn't so keen on a dragon shaped cake. There were other things to accomplish before his return home.

    The lack of a dragon-shaped cake did not slow Evelynn's planning down any and she quickly thought to put her 'Toothless' toy on the cake. She went on a rampage looking for her dragon. Digging through one basket she found two of her other dragons and insisted they had to be present for the birthday. She finally found Toothless, but his wings were missing. It was a near crisis, but she was vigilant. She eventually found the wings and could not wait to see the cake.

    Then Evelynn asked me who was coming to his party. Well, we weren't exactly having a full blown party, but told her I would call some friends of ours to see if they would swing by for cake. Evelynn, the party planner, was pleased and began counting down to Daddy coming home. She even cleaned her room and was quite upset when Caelan messed it up a little by playing with her Barbies. Keith finally came home and our friends came over. Evelynn was beside herself with excitement and was so glad to plan this for her Daddy. The evening was a success and Keith and I have marvelled at the nature of her heart and her party planning abilities.

   

Belated Blog Birthday

I realized a couple of days ago that the first anniversary of my blog has come and gone. The first post was on February 2, 2010. In light of that, I put together a short video of the girls over the last six months or so. I don't tend to think myself too technologically challenged, but this video has been a bear in just getting it to upload. All uploading angst aside, I hope you enjoy!

The Values of Willy Wonka

   

    My children love the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and many of the characters have taken on 'family' meaning for us. I can guess that for those who don't know the impact this movie has had on the girls they would be slightly confused, if not concerned, upon hearing Evelynn say "Please don't put me in the trash" or "Please don't make me a blueberry" or "I don't want to be shrinked." But what it comes down to is when they are misbehaving selfishly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, or being disrespectful, I have only to tell them that they are behaving like Veruca Salt or Violet Beauregard or Mike Teavee and they completely  understand the seriousness of their offense.
    To be threatened with Veruca Salt, they know that because she was an ugly brat, she was pushed into the garbage chute. Her repetitive 'I wants'  were too much and the squirrels took care of the problem that her father would not.

    When the girls do not listen to me, I ask them if they want to be a blueberry. Of course the answer is always no and Evelynn, at least, says she does not want to be like Violet Beauregard. Evelynn calls it a 'Bloober' because of the British accent of Charlie Bucket. She insists the British know how to say blueberry more than I do. Oh, well. She neither wants to be a blueberry nor a bloober.

 

  For rude, hateful and disrespectful behaviour (I thought about correcting that 'British' spelling, but maybe Evelynn is rubbing off on me, so I left it), the culprit would be Mike Teavee and Evelynn does not want to be "shrinked".

 

   This is serious business, folks. As of yet, we have not used the lesson of gluttony that Augustus Gloop fell into (chocolate, if you remember). Of course, Charlie Bucket is the more disciplined character here and Evelynn thinks he is 'so sweet' and who could argue with that? The lessons that can be drawn from this movie are priceless. So if you hear my children beg not to be shrinked, turned into blueberries or thrown in the trash, it's not that I would literally do that. But as long as they get the point, I have no probem running with the concept.

The Irish and Those That Wish They Were

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter

Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.

Poems and songs with pipes and drums

A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.

Destinies, Elephants and Narnia

Random overheard conversations between Evelynn and Caelan:

~Evelynn: It's my destiny!!
  Caelan: It's your destiny?
  Evelynn: Yes!
  Caelan: I don't think so.
  Evelynn: You just ruined my life.

~Evelynn: I would love a talking couch.
  Caelan: Ok, here's one.
  Evelynn: You are so thoughtful.

~Caelan: I'm pretending to be an elephant.
  Evelynn: But I wanted to be the elephant.
  Caelan: But I am.
  Evelynn: Ok. I'll be a large hippo.

~Evelynn: Do you want a creature power suit? (a PBS Kids reference)
  Caelan: Yes!
  Evelynn: Ok, but after we wear our princess dresses.
 
~Evelynn: You know why they have to leave on that train? (explaining the the initial scene to Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
  Caelan: Because their Mom is waving?
  Evelynn: No, it's because of the airplanes. It's dangerous so they have to leave.
  Caelan: The airplanes have to leave.
  Evelynn: They won't, just Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy.
  Caelan: Oh. But why?
  Evelynn: I said it was dangerous.
  Caelan: Oh. Why are the airplanes there?
  Evelynn: I don't know. Mom?

~Evelynn: Are we going to dance or no?
  Caelan: No, we're going shopping.
  Evelynn: I wasn't talking to you. Mom, are we going to dance or no?
  Caelan: Mom said no, we're going shopping.
  Evelynn: No, we're not. We're going to dance.
  Caelan: And then shopping?

"Don't you have something to clean?"

    Whispers from Caelan's room: "Put that basket over there... yeah," "Ok, put all the pillows right there." "There's not enough pillows, where are the stuffed animals?" "Ok, try that." "It's too far away." "Ok, I'll move it closer." "Now it's too close." "Ok, I'll move it." "You want to jump first?" "No, you do it." "It's still too far away." "Ok, I'll try it."
    Enough to pique anyone's interest right? Especially if you're me.
    "Mom, why are you looking at me?" asked Evelynn, standing in an empty basket in the middle of the room.
    "No reason, just looking at my girls." I see Caelan crouched on the edge of her bed.
    "Oh, ok. Can you stop looking at me now?"
    "Uh, sure..."
    "You're still looking at me. Don't you have something to clean?"

Nice. I have the feeling they are up to something. I move away from the door, pretending to leave. I hear her start moving again as she says "It's too close now, I'm going to move it further away." I lean a little towards the door and she sees me again.
    "You're still looking at me, Mom."
    "Yes, I am."
    "Why?"
    "I'm not sure any more. What are you doing?"
    "Just playing."
    "Ok."
    "I have an idea. We will play while you bake us some cookies."

Uhuh. Sounds like a great idea. They are definitely up to something. I pretend to leave again, but tiptoe back to the door, staying just out of sight.
    "It's not big enough." "Yes, it is." "No, it's not." "It's not soft enough yet." "Yes, it is." "You try it." "No, it's too far."
I peek around the corner. Both girls are standing on the footboard of Caelan's bed. The object that is too far is a large basket with some stuffed animals and a couple of small pillows, and yes, it is too far away from the bed and lacks enough cushion to break the fall of a jump. Oh, my. Potential injury averted. Let's not jump off the bed into the basket.

Music, Dancing and Naptime

    I always feel a little bad that McKenna doesn't get a lot of blog-worthy attention. She is a happy, extremely laid-back child, so most of her days see her roaming around from one toy or book to the next, contentedly occupying herself for hours at a time. Maybe she's decided her sister move too fast for her, which they probably do. She approaches them and their antics cautiously, but is rarely phased when they overlook her attempts at playing with them. Evelynn is her buddy, though, and turns to her to give a good tickle or to share. Caelan, does not usually interact with McKenna unless McKenna causes her distress, like taking toys that are "Caelan's" or taking up too much of my attention that could be given to Caelan. Caelan has her random acts of kindness, and the two have learned to coexist peacefully for now. When McKenna is older, I'm sure she will be a lot more fun to her sisters. Right now, not so much.
    McKenna loves music, definitely finds a danceable beat, and is ecstatic over bedtime. Music is always playing in our home and she spends a lot of her time wiggling and bobbing her head in time with the beat. Being a child after her mother's heart musically, she prefers Louis Armstrong and Michael Buble. And after all the music and dancing, she's always ready for bed. Ask her if she's ready for "Night, night" and she starts shaking, her little hands flapping excitedly, even faster the nearer to her door we get. She lays down flat on her back and waits for the blanket to be thrown over her. She reaches for the blanket and snuggles it under her chin, her hands peeping out from the edge, waiting for her sippy cup. Once her cup is in her hands, she looks at me as if saying "All right, lady, turn on my music and then leave." I turn on her mp3 player and walk out, shutting the door behind me. And that's that. Later on, I will hear her turn the music back on and I know she's awake. Then I will hear her giggling and bouncing in her crib, the creaking of the mattress getting a good workout as she jives.

Where words fail, music speaks. ~ Hans Christian Andersen