Look Out, Paris (and Gaspard and Lisa): Here come Ma and Pa Diegel

Today is Monday.

I have Today, tomorrow, and the next day to complete a to-do list a million miles long. 

You see, Ma and Pa Diegel are headed to Paris.

Nope, not this Paris.

(Paris, Texas)

 

 

Nope, not this one, either.



(Paris Hotel/Casino, Las Vegas)

That's right - The REAL Paris,  like Paris, France.

The City of Lights.

The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Versailles, croissants - THAT Paris.

The FANCY Paris that little girls dream about their whole lives.

Hayden also informs me that Paris is where these little guys live.

(Gaspard and Lisa from Disney Junior)

She is quite annoyed that she is not going to be able to meet Gaspard and Lisa and will not be convinced that these rabbit-dogs (who according to the official website are "neither dogs nor rabbits, but residents of Paris") are only cartoons and that Daddy and I will not actually be meeting them or staying in their house, either.  This has been the source of much tension in our family lately.  She is picturing us running off and having a lovely holiday with Gaspard and Lisa without her. LOL Poor Hayden. 

Anyhow, that's why I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off.

I have laundry, shopping, cleaning, and worrying to do.

Remember when we went to Rome?  Remember what a nervous wreck I was? I don't think I am that nervous this time, but you know how it goes.  I have been in denial that it was happening until today, when I just can't deny it anymore.

My girls are going to spend 11 days with my parents.  It is easier not to freak out because they are going to be with people who we trust more than we can say.  My girls are happy and safe there, and they spend the night there a couple of times a month anyway, so they are used to it.  They even have their own bedroom at Gramma and Papa's!

I just hope that my parents are ready. These kids will suck the life-force right out of you. They are busy little bees.  I hope that my Mom and Dad have been eating their Wheaties and have been for several weeks months leading up to our departure.

I sure will miss these faces, though.

It is hard to "let go".  Leaving them with someone else is a big release of control for me. I do everything for them, and the idea of letting that go for a little while is hard.

In my head, I know that it is only 11 days and that it will fly by, and that they will be spoiled rotten happy and well taken care of the entire time, and likely will not miss us at all. But in my heart, I am their mom and I love them and they are my life, and to spend 11 days away from them feels like I will come back and they will be all grown up.  Hoot might be reading by then. Buggy might learn to drive.  You just never know. ;-)

However, I also know that I need a break. Taking care of two demanding little girls day n and day out is exhausting. I need to be an adult for a few days. I know that I deserve that. 

And, I need to be alone with my husband and remember what it was like when it was just the two of us - after all, someday it will just be the two of us again and we don't want to look at each other and go, "Who the HELL are YOU?" 

Maybe while we are in France, we could actually have a conversation. Like adults. With no interruptions.  What is THAT even like?  Funny that we have to be on a different continent from our kids to actually have a regular adult conversation with the man I married.   Hey, maybe our conversation won't even be about kid stuff. 

Right?

Oh, who am I kidding.  We will probably be looking for Gaspard and Lisa the entire time. Haha!

So is the life of the parents of little kids.

Well, I suppose I should get back to doing the mountains of laundry, running to the grocery store, packing my bags and the bags for the kids, cleaning up my house, running errands, and sneaking in LOTS of extra snuggles with my girls.

Sigh.

I have a million things to do.

Soon I will be in full vacay mode.

I CAN'T WAIT.

Who knows? Maybe we will meet up with Gaspard and Lisa for a glass of wine by the Seine River.  Maybe the little rabbit-dogs "residents of Paris" will buy me dinner, seeing as they are big Disney stars and all.  Maybe they will invite me to their house even.  Maybe we can spend the day at Granny Mathilde's in the country. Maybe we will all lunch together on Gaspard and Lisa's fave, cheese and baguettes. 

Oh, wait.  They are just cartoons. Rabbit-dogs in scarves are not real.

Okay. 

I have to go finish convincing myself my daughter of that now.  ;-)

Daddy's Girls

There are two things in this world that make my husband's heart race.

His girls and "man-toys".

Last summer, he added this thing to his collection of toys.

His love affair with RZRs started one day last summer when he and I went on a Garden Tour.  That's right a Garden Tour - like the kind where you drive around town and look at people's yards and drink iced tea. 

Somehow, that is far from what happened. LOL

At one of the stops on this garden tour, Garrett got to taking about dirt bikes and other toys with motors with the owner of this house, and the next thing I knew we were ripping all over the place in one of these things, and I was screaming and seeing my life flash before my eyes. 

Death defying, off road RZR racing was not what I expected ON A GARDEN TOUR.  Garrett says that it is all that made going on a garden tour bearable.  LOL

And the "next" next thing I knew, my husband was shopping.  He had to have one.  It became an obsession. He had to be a RZR owner himself.

We got our own just before Carly turned one at the end of August, and lemme tell you, this thing is pretty fun.  And I am not gonna lie - I have been scared half to death, weeping like a baby in there, too. 

Let's just say that my idea and my husband's idea of what is "fun" vs. what is CRAZY is far from simpatico.  (i.e. regular garden tour with flowers and ponds and iced tea or maybe a glass of wine = fun for me vs. jumping a RZR over a huge gap while going 70 mph with your wife screaming in the seat next to you = fun for him)

But I digress.....

Ever since we got it, Garrett has been planning all of the ways that it could facilitate "quality time as a family" and today was the first day that is plans really came into reality. 

Garrett and I have been out several times with no kids or with some friends, and we have taken the kids on quick rides around here and there, through the neighborhood or whatever.  They LOVE riding in it!! But today was the first day that everyone was old enough and it was warm enough for a REAL trip out into the hills.

We had a BLAST.

Hayden kept saying that she was ready for some "tooventure" (adventure) - we thought she looked a little like a girly Eric Church.

 

See the resemblance?

She didn't like when we called her "Chief" though. 

LOL

 

These girls had so much fun, giggling and squealing and loving every second of it.

 

 

 



We did a little "toosploring" (exploring) and we "toolected (collected) some rocks. (Hayden adds a "too" to the beginning a ton of words - tooventure, toosploring, Toopunzel, toonana, toosponsibility, toobaloon - the list goes on forever. We think it is so cute and dread the day she quits doing it because it is the very last "baby talk" thing she has left.  If that goes, we are officially talking to a tiny 30 year old. LOL)

Carly was even lulled to sleep by the bouncing and roaring engine. LOL

And we wrapped things up with a little picnic back at the truck.

Everyone had a great time - and we were back home in time for naps

I wish you could see my husband, all puffed up, happy as a clam about his little Daddy's Girls and how much fun they had on our ride today. 

He couldn't be happier with these girls. 

Or with his RZR. 

:-)

This is one of the simple joys of being a kid.

 

Who doesn't love sprinting through the sprinklers on a warm day?? 

 

Summer, we're ready for you!!

Super Girls and the Battle Against Global Bad Manners.

We are all going through a bit of a "Super Hero" phase.

It all started with a handful of $2 t-shirts off of the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. 

 

Ever since I bought these shirts for Hayden (and one Avengers one for Carly, too, after she cried that she needed "Hooper Roes" too) these girls are playing super heroes a lot.  An episode of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood where he wears a cape to the doctor's office added fuel to their Super Hero fire.

 

 

 This morning, they asked me for super hero capes.  (You may recall that is happened once before, but Hayden now claims that that is a "baby cape that will make her hair a mess" plus there isn't one for Carly.  How can I argue with that three year old logic?)

So off to the WalMart Fabric department we headed. And I had them all whipped up by the time they woke up from their naps.

 

 

Now, while these capes really are adorable, the story that I really want to tell you is the story of Super Hoot's adventures at Wal-Mart. 

Last week while we are at Wal-Mart (yeah, we go there a lot) the lady that checked us out was down right rude to me as she was checking my groceries.  I had chosen a water bottle that didn't have a tag on it and she was very put out and made several exasperated comments about it and finally at the end of the transaction, She barked, "So? What do you want me to do about this? (shaking the water bottle at me) Do you just wanna say forget it or do I have to deal with it?"

Uh, really? All of this drama over a water bottle? Give me a break.  I answered her, somewhat icily, but still very calmly, "I would like to buy everything that I had in my cart so I don't have to 'deal' with it later.  I didn't choose one without a price tag on purpose, so there is no need for you to be rude. Now would you like me to go get one with a price tag or would you like to 'deal' with it yourself?"

When we got in the car, Haydie commented that the lady had been grumpy.

I said, "Yes she was. Maybe she was having a bad day, but that doesn't mean that she can to be rude to others.  Even when we are having a bad day, we should still use kind words and be helpful."

Fast forward to today when we went to buy our fabric.  We get in line and the checker is the same lady. Today she is nice as can be. Maybe she is having a little better day, maybe she remembers that I called her on her rudeness, who knows.  Either way, I have put last week's episode behind us and I am also friendly.

Well, turns out that Super Hoot's super power is never forgetting a damned thing. 

Not. A. Damned. Thing.

EVER.

We are unloading our cart onto the little check stand and Hayden points right a the lady, and (so loudly that I am sure that she was heard in the parking lot) says, "Mom! That's her! Remember that time when she was so naughty to you!?  When she was RUDE?"

I look at the checker and she is kind of trying to pretend she doesn't hear my child, but she is blushing. 

I look at Hayden and I whisper, "Stop.  No more talking."

But do you think she listens? No. She keeps going. 

"But MOM! Remember when we got in the car after she was so RUDE? And then you said she was having a BAD DAY but it isn't okay to be so RUDE??  Is she still RUDE, Mom? It isn't nice.  It is  SOOO naughty! Is she a naughty lady? MOM!"

Here is where I died.  I shushed her. She kept talking.  I distracted her by having her help with the groceries.  She kept going.  I hissed at her to mind her own business. 

She. Just. Kept. Talking. 

On and on about how rude that checker was and how naughty it is to be rude to others.

The entire time we were checking out. 

What was probably three minutes felt like 30.  I joined that checker in pretending that I couldn't hear my own kid.

The worst part of it all is that, while it was very embarrassing, it was really FUNNY.  I was trying so hard not to laugh, it almost hurt.  I hope the rude checker didn't see me stifling my laughter.... or maybe I hope she does? I dunno.

Sigh.

My child, Super Hoot - ridding the planet or rudeness, one WalMart checker at a time.

Oy, vey.  :-D



Stuff My Kids Said: Installment #1

So, my kids are really funny.

They say funny stuff all the time.

Everyday we have some conversation that surprises me, or makes me laugh..

I want to remember these things, so I am going to start blogging about them in a series of short blogs called "Stuff My Kids Said" - so here is my first installment.

This afternoon, I was folding the never ending pile of laundry in my bedroom, when Hayden came in. I was standing with my back to the door and I didn't turn to look at her.

"Mom, I have a new horse," she said.

"Really?" I answered, "How fun."  I still didn't turn and look because I was busy and I know that she has a great imagination and while in her mind it was a beautiful horse, I knew that I would not be able to "see" it.

"Yup. Her name is LaToya."

This made me smile. Where does she come up with this stuff?

 "A horse named LaToya? That is quite a name!"

"Yeah!" Hayden said, "Isn't she beautiful?"

At this moment I turned to see Hayden standing in the door way, leading her sister around by a dress-up necklace, the end of which was clenched between her little baby teeth.  Carly LaToya was grinning, happy that her sister was playing with her.

"Wait, LaToya the horse is your sister?"

"Uh, yeah, Mom. Me LaToya. Horse." Carly said.

The looked at each other with that tell-tale "Geez, Mom, keep up here!" look on their faces and Hayden said, "Let's go, LaToya" and away they went.

LOL

These girls.  They sure do come up with some good material, don't they?

a little Sunday morning adventure

We woke up this morning and the sun was shining and we decided that we had better seize the day and spend some time outside. 

We were looking for some "adventure"...  of course the word "adventure" means different things to people who have two small kids in tow.  But I think we did pretty well.  :-)

We are so fortunate to live in a place where we have such easy access to so many neat outdoor activities, and today we were looking for something easy and spontaneous and close to home where our girls could run around, soak up some sun, and explore a little bit in the great outdoors.

We decided that we would venture out to Grimes Point/Hidden Cave and enjoy a little hike. It has several "easy" hiking trails and is only 15 minutes from home, so it was just the kind of "adventure" we were looking for.

 When we got there, I realized that I had forgotten to put the SD card back in my camera.  Am I the only one who does that ALL.THE. TIME?!?! So I took all of these pictures with my phone.  I was bummed at first, but they didn't turn out too bad actually.

The kids had fun hiking around, looking at the petroglyphs at Grimes Point and exploring the rocks looking for lizards and the like.

The petroglyphs are really cool.  No one knows what they mean, though.  Hoot was going to try to figure it out anyway.

There are these little signs everywhere explaining the different things around, telling the story of the ancient people that once lived here.  Carly kept telling us that they said, "BE NICE!" on them.  Who are we to tell the kid that she can't read yet?

 

 

When we went around to the Hidden Cave part of the site, we decided to take the hike around the Hidden Cave Loop.  It is around a mile and pretty rocky and steep - especially if you are only three. 

 

But my Hoot is a trooper.  She hiked every step of the way and we didn't have to carry her at all.  She never whined, she never complained - she just pressed on.  I'm so proud of her!! (She even peed outside, which on the way there she told us she would never do because "I'm not a dog.  People pee INSIDE." But when you gotta go, you gotta go - and she squatted behind a rock and went - and then happily exclaimed, "Dad! I did it! I peed outside like a dog!" LOL)

 

Bug rode on her Daddy's shoulders like the queen, pointing out rocks and grass and birds. 

 

It's so nice to just spend sometime together, doing something out of the ordinary.  It seems like you can really feed your kids' curiosity when you are outside.  You can really explore, talk, get to know each other in ways that aren't possible at home or even in your own backyard.

 

(She was pointing out a "troll" that "lives in this cave".  She was kind of mad that we didn't see it. LOL)

 

 



 

 My poor little Bug was so worn out that Garrett had to pack a sleeping kid for at least of third of the way. Poor little thing just couldn't keep her eyes open for another second.

 



 



 

We had so much fun.  We can't wait for summer! Now that they are a little bigger, we have some fun adventures planned!

 

These are the faces of some little outdoorsy ladies!!