World War Henry Sisters

I LOVE this sooo much!!

I know they love each other!!

I think I am on to something here!!
Give them mouths, just not the open with sound version!

I am a very proud Mommy of my beauties!!

Bear Bear looks like he's not dealing with the fighting so well either!

This to shall pass!

So I am aware as are my Mother and my Brother that I did NOT post a bloggity last week. (Thank you for calling me out on it guys!) Last week was horrible. Actually I don't even think horrible qualifies for a strong enough word!

Last week was a transition week for us. It was Grace's first full week of school, the previous week was a staggered start week. So, here is what happened. Grace goes to school, Jenni and I learn, play and work. When we pick Grace up from school, she is tired, she is ready to relax and take a moment to herself. I don't blame her, that is why I have a 'quiet time' in the house, Mommy need a moment to herself. Grace has a quiet time at school, but she has yet to nap while as school, causing a diva to show up in Grace's place on most days.

However, when Jenni sees Grace she wants to play with her sister, she has missed her all day. (Which is a really lovely notion)

So the sh!t hits the fan when Jenni wants to play with Grace and Grace just wants to relax from school. The war of words, tears, screams and hitting ensues. LORD I have been more of a referee for these past two weeks then a Mom. I am learning and trying lots of different things to stop the fighting, but nothing seems to work, I think the only thing left is to give Grace a beer to calm her down a little. Not that I would ever really do that, then I would be short a beer!

I know this is only a phase (well I hope and pray anyway) and a part of sisters being apart for a minute or two. I love that Jenni loves her sister, but I am seeing things in Grace which make me sad, but I understand where she is coming from. So we are working on a solution, it is a slow process, a long process. But when these girls are older I think I will be able to look back on this and think how much easier it was to handle this rather then them fighting over clothes, phone time, boys (Oh, Sh!t!), and all that other crap they will argue about. I will figure it out, as soon as I find that damn manual that they came with when they were born!

A Week of Big Girls!

Off on their journey of learning together!

Already not listening to me, going out with no jacket on! DUH! :)

Off to school we go!

Oh yes! They are daddy's girls!!

Love her!!!!

The bestie!

Grace started Pre-K on Monday. As always she was totally a cool chick and totally ready to go. Me, not ready in the least! The house was clean and rooms were all put back together and organized, clothes were washed, and her back pack was packed. I think I was in complete denial that she was going to be in school for a full day. I had thought this is what I had been waiting for, for Grace to go to school and get smarter and learn and make friends. When the day came, it went to fast, and now I feel like my right arm is missing.

Grace walked right into school like I never even existed. Right at that moment I had flashbacks of the moment she was born and how little she was and how much she needed me. Then I saw her with her best friend and I knew she would be ok and that they will take care of each other. As Jenni, Ryan and I walked back to the car Jennifer started crying, she wants so badly to go to school also. (This lovely distraction allowed me to not cry)

I told Jenni she has to go potty on the big potty and be 3 to go to school. That little girl came home and went potty, she really did! My Jelly bean is using the potty, something I(yet again) was not ready for. Damnit why are my kids not getting the memos I am sending out about growing up!

So, When she goes potty she gets gummy bears as does Grace and Mommy (I know I am potty trained, but they are such a fun treat!) As I am making lunch I wondered what Grace was doing at school, then I finally cried. She is gone, gone forever, never to return……..Oh, sorry wrong story :) I just can’t believe…… she is in school……for a full day…..I think Ferris Bueller was right on with “Life moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it!” I now know why my Mom still calls me her baby!

My reasons for being a Mom

Jennifer and her amazing slide for the ages!!!!

Testing the situation out.

The slide is discovered!

Grace had to get her shots before school starts, we practiced this move :)

Daddy and Jennifer waiting with Grace, I know this is exciting stuff!

My love bugs!

Although there are an abundance of reasons why I LOVE being a Mom, I think the biggest one is that I get to be a kid again. Yes, I know this is selfish, but I can’t live life backwards! I get to play go-fish, color in coloring books, and act silly when we play pretend restaurant or grocery store. I LOVE pretend restaurant, the dishes are always clean, and the food is already made. I like to be the waitress and talk in a funny accent and the girls just howl at me, it’s totally Oscar worthy! (No we have no pictures of this, thank goodness!)

When Jennifer came up to me on Sunday with her raincoat and asked if she could play in the rain, I said YES!! Now, clearly I would not let them go out in unsafe conditions, so we wore raincoats and umbrellas. If the umbrella was put down then the hood on the raincoat had to be worn, Hey, I have some rules around here!

Those girls ran and played, ran and fell, the deck was slightly slippery. Then they realized they could slide “like mommy in softball.” (1. They slide much better then I. And 2. I found out afterwards, the sliding was not a good idea on the deck, they could have gotten splinters.) They spent a good amount of time outside playing in the rain. When I finally had to drag them inside, we had warm baths to get the chill off and then had some cookies. (Once again, I swear I have rules around here about healthy eating too.)

Playing in the rain was totally one of my favorite things to do as a kid and even now :) I let then run and jump in rain puddles, and I don’t care when people give me dirty looks, that is what kids are supposed to do. I admit that I love being a kid with my kids and getting dirty and playing with them, I think it creates some awesome memories, for me more than for them!

Summer of 2011 is in the books

Playing and sharing on the beach

Bear Bear had a busy summer!

The Mighty Mac bridge!

This just makes me laugh!! Its Jenni, I am not sure if she is tired or sunning!!

Big sister helping the little sister, LOVE!

I think summer went by in one week this year. Summer is one of our favorite times of year! We never seem to be home. We always have plans on the weekends or at least it feels that way. And it never seems to be long enough. In comparison to the winters, where we live like bears in hibernation, summer is awesome.

This year we went camping, a lot. Spent a lot of time swimming in pools and lakes, and played in sand on the beach. We had fun with friends and with cousins. We made sure to eat lots of ice cream and play outside as much as we could.

The girls spent time with all of their grandparents and even great-grandmas. We did things just for fun, and sometimes we threw in a bit of learning just for good measure.

As the girls get older I would imagine that our summers will be more jammed with things to do, places to go and more friends to play with. The diaper bag will get smaller and smaller until I don’t need to carry one anymore.

This summer the girls were so much fun and they get along so amazingly well. When they spent any amount of time apart (which was few and far between for them) they always hugged each other like they had been apart for two weeks when in reality it had only been a few hours. They have bonded over the summer and even when they do argue it is only for about ten seconds. Even if those ten seconds seem to feel like forever for me, they always make up and hug and say I love you to each other. I feel like this summer has been a blooming flower of friendship between the girls. A friendship that I have never experienced but I love that I get to be front and center to the best show on earth.

My girls are my everything and I am looking forward to the future but I won’t lie, I kinda really like right where I am right now. They are really showing me who they are. Grace, she is really really head strong and independent, she is super creative and changes her mind just about everyday what she wants to be when she grows up. She LOVES to sing and dance, but she also gets dirty and like to play baseball and soccer. Jennifer is my goofball, she likes to laugh and giggle, she can go with the flow and adapts to any situation she just has to take her time to acclimate herself for a second. She loves to do things, anything really and LOVES to be outside, she is an excellent cuddle buddy if necessary.

Yep, they are growing up fast, faster then I am ready for, but I am moving as quickly as I can to prepare for that trip when they move away to college. I am not sure that I will ever really be ready, so I have to make sure I give them the right set of wings so they can make that flight on their own and soar as high and as long as they need to, yet know that Mom is home waiting if ever necessary :)