Today is...

Today marks the day in 2008 when the average woman's wage finally catches up with what the average man earned in 2007. The Senate is expected to vote soon on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (H.R. 2831) which would make it easier to ensure justice for those who have been subjected to pay discrimination.

As a mother of two daughters and a feminist, I am convinced all women should be aware of this issue. Please contact your Senators and urge them to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.

As parents, it is our obligation to make the world a better place... why not start now.

Go here to sign the pledge and learn more.

Kindergarten or bust...

Today I registered Isobel for kindergarten.

I can't believe it is almost time for her to start school.

We arrived at 4:02 and we were out of the school by 4:20, despite a significant line. The staff was attentive, helpful, efficient and very nice. Everything you could ask for in a school.

Isobel was disapointed that she didn't get her face painted... which she is convinced will happen every day when she starts school.

Maybe the Krazy Karnival wasn't such a good idea after all...

All hands below...

We have recently started the pre-potty training initiative in my home. Eli will be 3 in May and he is starting to get to the point where he is willing to sit on the potty chair, but not a lot happens.

Today the kids ended up in the bathroom at the same time...

"mommy, why does Eli pee-pee out of his finger?"

I look at Isobel in absolute confusion because I have no idea what she is talking about.

"down there, he has a finger where he pee-pee's"

Ahh... now it all makes sense... but I am at a total loss...

Crazy love...

Today Isobel had a friend over after school; everything seemed to be going great. Eli, Isobel and her friend (we will call her B) were upstairs in Eli's room playing dress up... everyone seemed so happy.

All of a sudden Isobel comes pounding down the stairs "Eli is having more fun with B than me. I think he likes her more." She was devastated by this possibility. I assured her that Eli likes no one in the world more than he likes her (which I believe to be true).

My brilliant solution is to color; with Isobel this seems to be the solution to any problem... so I call B and Eli down to color with Isobel.

I set up the big paper scroll to cover the table and pull out three little stools for the kids to sit on. Isobel sat in one and Eli and B came running down the stairs to join her.

This is when the drama really began...

Isobel wanted to sit next to Eli and B. B wanted to sit next to Eli and Isobel. After much debate, in the classic “sit here”, “no sit here” kind of way, Eli sat down next to B. Isobel started to cry, and not the "I really want attention kind of cry", but the "you just pulled my heart out of my chest and stomped on it" kind of cry. She jumped up and ran away. Poor Eli was shocked, he didn't know what happened. He had a look of pure horror on his face and went chasing after her yelling "I want to sit by you Bel". Then he told her he was sorry gave her a big hug and kiss and pulled his stool around so he could sit next to her.

It was crazy sweet, emphasis on the crazy.

I can't decide if they will be super close when they get older or if he will get so annoyed with her dramatic tendencies that he will avoid her completely. Either way, it is fun to watch now.

April 15th...

Today is April 15th, the last day of tax season.

This was one of my favorite days as a child.

My dad is a CPA and his love for April 15th easily passed on to his children (or at least me, I guess I can't speak for my sister). No one had to work or go to school on April 15th. We all took a "Banker's Holiday" as Dad called it (hopefully this will not offend any bankers...). It was fantastic!

I would almost become a CPA just to experience the pure joy of April 15th again... almost!

A slushe by any other name...

Today, on the way home from picking Marley up at the groomer, we stopped at Sonic for drinks. Eli and I had cherry limeades and Isobel had a green apple "staci".

For those of you who don't speak Isobelean... staci translates into slushe.

How hard is it to remember the word slushe?

I believe the problem is that she has grown up with Icees. She has now morphed the two into one... this way she is sure to get a frozen treat, regardless of the name.

Emmy...

I really have nothing to post about Emmy. She is so laid back. She rarely cries, she eats everything we put in front of her, she is happy to sit in her pack and play for hours at a time and she sleeps so well. She really is the perfect baby. It is funny, Jon and I were convinced that Emmy would be a terror. Both Isobel and Eli were great babies. Thank goodness we were wrong... neither of us function very well without sleep... in fact we are absolute ogres.

I don't want Emmy to think I love her any less because there are no pictures of her on the blog. So, here she is...

Jealousy...

This is a picture of my beautiful daughter, Isobel. She is very angry that there are three picture of Eli on the computer and only two of her...

Is this another failure of my mommy's mind? I am giving into her fit so I don't have to listen to her complain. All good mom's are taking a collective gasp at my lack of discipline... oh well, without mom's like me where would Supernanny be?

A childlike obsession...

Spring means different things to different people. To me, spring is a time when everything is fresh and new. I love the smell of a spring storm, the sound of the birds at 5:00 in the morning, and all of the life that surrounds me.

To my kids, spring means they can go outside and ride their bikes. They have been asking my husband for months to unpack their bike helmets. Apparently a 2 and 5 year old think that once you have the helmets you can ride your bike (the chicken or the egg, kid style). On Saturday, Jon finally got the helmets out of a box and the kids got to ride their bikes.

The only problem is that Eli has become obsessed with his helmet. It is a battle to get him to take it off. We actually had to make new rules - no bike helmets at the table or in bed. I have heard of parents having a hard time getting their kids to wear helmets, but has anyone else had to fight to get one off of their kids?

This appears to be another example of the failure of this mommy's mind, because for the life of me, I can't come up with a solution. Of course, I am not convinced it is a problem. I can say, that there is nothing cuter then Eli "riding his bike" as he is doing in the above picture.

Standing on the sidelines...

It has been a bit surreal the last few weeks. Isobel and Eli have started really fighting. I can't quite figure out exactly what happens as this is what I always hear...

"mommy, Eli hit me"

"mommy, Bel hit me"

"Eli hit me first"

"Bel hit me first"

Then simultaneously they yell "him first" and "her first" while pointing at each other. They do this for about 2 minutes, start to laugh and run away. I don't have to do anything but sit by and watch the interaction.

Does this make me a lazy mom or a lucky mom? I guess only time will tell.

ROCK CHALK!!!

It took 20 years, but we are back on top!

ROCK CHALK, JAYHAWK!!!

This is love...

Yesterday, while changing a particularly foul diaper of Eli's, my husband cringed and said "yuck".

"you hate my butt, daddy?"

"no, Eli."

"you love my butt, daddy?"

"of course I do, Eli"

"you want to kiss my butt, daddy?"

Jon chuckled and said "not today, Eli".

I hate you...

What is the obsession with the phrase "I hate you" in young kids. Isobel went through that awful phase and now Eli is smack in the middle of it. With Isobel we just had to tell her that "hate" is a bad word and she should never say it. After a couple of reminders, she stopped. Eli, however, doesn't care that it is a bad word. If I remind him that it is a bad word he just gives me his little evil eye and says it again and again. The biggest problem is that it is rather comical. After we explained to him that hate is not nice and it makes people sad, he has started following it up with "I like you". Now, if you do anything that Eli doesn't like, his little eyes squint and he says… "I hate you, I like you".

So, I have exhausted my mommy's mind and I am at a total loss. I think I will just have to settle for "well, I love you, Eli."

Sweet or Manipulative... you decide.

This morning Eli decided he wanted to play on the computer. We have a small selection of computer games the kids can play on our old computer. Eli chose a Dora the Explorer game which is advanced for his skill level, but he really wanted to play. I told him he could and asked Isobel to turn it on for him. This was the conversation that followed:

"Eli, sweetie, this game is way too hard for two year olds. It is only for five year olds. You can really only play Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh."

"hmmmm.... want Mickey Mouse."

"Great choice, honey! That is a great choice. Just let me turn it on for you."

I am sitting in my office thinking "wow... I must have done something right... listen to how sweet she is... I am such a great mom." Then I hear this...

"Oh Honey, let me just show you how to play first."

It has been 30 minutes and Isobel is still showing Eli "how to play".

One would think that Eli would be screaming at this point... I expect to hear "I want to play, Bel, it is my turn"... but no, not my Eli. He is laughing and yelling "Good Job, Bel!”

So, maybe we did do something right after all...