Caught in the Act!

Last night, I was in the kitchen getting dinner ready, and I knew that my older daughter was in the living room, and I was certain that my youngest (3) was in the family room playing.  I called to her, "Kenzie" and she immediately yelled, "Nothing, Mom!"  So, naturally, that sounded a little guilt-ridden, I said, "What are you doing?" and she yelled again, "Nothing, Mom!"  (Same "innocent" tone...)  I asked her to come into the kitchen because we were going to have dinner and she came right in, no harm, no foul as my husband would say.  Later on when we were putting the kids to bed, I opened the linen closet outside of the bathroom and ALL of the clean towels were kind of wadded up and on the next shelf down from where they normally are stored.  They were RIGHT in front of the laundry chute (which is curiously, inside the closet, in the back -- limits the amount of things one can store on the shelf -- but love the laundry chute, none the less -- side note, told my friend at work this story today, she said, "Yeah, my laundry chute is the open basement door -- I shoot laundry down there as I walk by!").  My girl LOVES to take the clean towels and toss them down the laundry -- Daddy just loves that!  So, I'm pretty sure that I caught her in the act!  Look at that sweet face though -- I have a feeling that will help to get her out of hot water with Mom and Dad a LOT in the future! ;)

Fall Favorites

Fall is by far my favorite time of year. I love all of the seasons, and love living in NY where we see the change of seasons, but there is something special about the fall! This time of year I feel very cozy in my home with my family -- whether it's the slight chill in the air outside, or the spicy scent of my cinnamon-scented votive candles burning inside the house -- autumn definitely signifies the warmth of home and family to me. My girls are both in school (3rd grade and preschool) and we have school pictures coming up, book fairs, school dinners, Girl Scout cookie sales! There are fall festivals and pumpkin and apple picking, cider and donuts, crock-pot dinners, Halloween decorations... This year we are going to visit out-of-town family for Halloween, which will be a fun treat! And soon after that, my favorite holiday -- Thanksgiving! Best wishes for a happy and cozy fall spent with your loved ones!

Speak VERY Clearly...

My friend Christine posted this funny (because no one was injured...) story on her blog about the need for being really clear and concise when speaking to your children! What parent can't relate to a situation like this? Just yesterday, my 8-year-old got off the afternoon school bus and came up to the already open door that I was standing in. She yelled, "Mommy!!" apparently excited to see me, and I put my finger up to my lips and said, "Shh... Your sister is napping." So my girl whispers, "Ok" and proceeds to stick her finger out and ring the doorbell!!! REALLY? Why would you do that? And she says, "I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure that my bus driver knew that you were here!" What? Does the doorbell ring on the bus? I'm not even sure what that meant... I must always try to remember to speak very clearly and to anticipate any and all possible responses when I am speaking to my girls. "Shh... Your sister is napping upstairs -- please do not yell, ring the doorbell, play a trumpet, bang a bass drum..." Really specific!

Happy Anniversary!

Grandpa and Gramby came over last night to watch the girls, and my husband and I had a lovely dinner at our favorite (grown-up) restaurant to celebrate our anniversary. Not a french fry or a pack of crayons in sight, and we only spent about a third of the evening talking about our girls! Everything went smoothly at home (we had no worries) and Gramby told us a cute story about bedtime when we got home. She had put our littlest one to bed, but couldn't find her "bink" (pacifier). Our girlie tried pointing her in the direction of where we keep it (up on a shelf on her wall -- we only use it for nap and bedtime, and we're trying to wean her off of it!), but Gramby could not find it. My girl said, "Maybe your Rick can help you!" and Gramby said, "My what?" And she said, "Your Rick!" Gramby laughed and said, "You know, my Rick is your Grandpa!" And my girl said, "I know!" Sure enough, Grandpa found it, so crisis averted! ;)

Today we will be celebrating with our girls - our usual dinner, dessert, wedding video! Our older daughter loves the video (so do I!) -- it will be interesting to see if her little sister is more interested this year -- she loves to dance and sing, so I imagine watching her relatives dancing on tv will be a new thrill this year! We enjoy our annual tradition of celebrating just the two of us, but also celebrating with our dughters -- after all, they are a very large, very wonderful part of our lives together!

We Still Remember

I just read last year's post and I thought I would share it with you again. Hug your families close today and please remember the people who were lost on 9/11, the people who lost them, and the brave men and women in our military who work so hard to make sure that this never happens again.