Note to Santa

Christmas Elf

Paparazzi ready on the way to her sitter- 

Choose the outfit herself ; ). Complete with the headband that was a gift

Phone Call

I asked Vivian to please use the potty the other day as we were (trying) to leave the house.  She went into the bathroom and then half turned to me, held up one finger and told me, "just a minute, I need make phone call."
While I tried to think of a response, she opened her purse (that she was carrying around the house), pulled out her toy phone, and said, "hello?  Yes..."

Gingerbread Houses

Some construction was a little more sound than others.  And one little girl wanted nothing to do with engineering concepts!  She was very pleased to dump all of her gingerbread people and candy into the house and then attempt to  balance the roof with a load of frosting on top.  It ended with, "ta-da!  You take a picture of me?!" 

Meanwhile, Sam was content to adhere candy on for hours. 

Christmas Cookies

I found an adorable reindeer Christmas cookie on Pinterest for which we had all the ingredients in the house.  I figured it would be easy enough to execute.  The kids had a great time but the cookies obviously turned out nothing like what I had hoped for.  Vivian promptly ate all of her decorations and balled up her dough several times to cook in a mound.  Sam took his duties very seriously but they both exercised a creativity to say the least.  I made some reindeer heads just to have a few!  

New boots

Little boots, little stinker. 

Bathroom Tantrum

Vivian wasn't feeling well this weekend, I thought her molars were coming in, but it turns out it was a bout of hand, foot, and mouth virus.  She was very sensitive to say the least and either wanted to be held or was crying about something.  
She's potty training, so she used the toilet and then got off.  I automatically reached over and flushed the toilet and she erupted in fury. 
"NO!!! I FLUSH TOILET!"
"Oops, sorry Viv.  I already did."
"NO Mummy!  I FLUSH!"
"Go ahead, do it now."
"NO! NO! You no do it!!!" she started crying and screaming hysterically so I tried to pick her up which made it worse.  She tried to push me away.
"Okay, I am going to the kitchen.  Tell me when you're ready and I'll come get you or you come to the kitchen."
"YOU GO!!!"
It was about the tenth tantrum of the day, so I was all set and left her.  She slammed the door shut behind me.
Sam and I finished our dinner while she wailed and cried.  I went back twice and she refused to let me push the door open.
After about 20 minutes (and me starting to feel bad for the tenants who could most likely hear the racket through the bathroom radiator), I got Sam to come into the living room, where we started loudly reading her favorite books about the five little monkeys.  She screamed louder initially, then there were pauses to her cries, then finally she asked me to open the door.  Turns out she had barricaded herself in with any movable object she could find in there. 


But she came out and read with us and then laid on the couch totally worn out.

Thanksgiving photo attempts

Little hams on Thanksgiving 

"Why are they Talking to Me?"

I switched on the tv for the kids to watch Curious George and TMZ was on. 

 Vivian glared at the screen, "mama, why are the mens talking to me?"

"It's Okay Mom..."

Yesterday Sam had an appointment after school which meant we had to leave the school playground earlier than we usually do.  I gave Vivian a warning that we would "only have short playtime at the playground, because we had to take Sam to an appointment."
She contemplated this briefly. "Vivian no go doctor?"
"No, it's an appointment for Sam."
"Oh."
and then after a minute she said, "it's okay mom, I stay at playground with man in the yellow hat."
"Um... no," I said, "you won't.  You'll come with mummy and Sam in the car."
"No.  I play," she retorted.
"Vivian, you are not staying with the man in the yellow hat at the playground.  You are coming with mom and Sam to the appointment, or staying with GrandJoe at his house."
"Oh," she said, "Man in hat not coming to playground today?" 
"Not today, Viv."
The man in the yellow hat is below- someone has been watching too much Curious George.

How Viv Feels

Vivian has been under the weather, this is how she was when I picked her up on Thursday, which was a pretty good indication she was sick when she wouldn't get down to play at the playground.  Naturally it was a beautiful day.  

She ended up having high fever, which is typical of her when she gets sick.  When we got home, she crawled onto the couch (I have learned the hard way to put towels down first I case anyone gets sick to their stomach, little people don't feel it coming).  She promptly ordered a Popsicle and Curious George and has been there for a couple of days more or less.  She has perfected the art of ordering things from her sick bed which is rather impressive for a two year old.  Sam has even been answering to her demands and somehow she has gotten him to bring her his own comforting items and stuffed animals.   
She is pretty miserable, so I shouldn't make light of it, but she's totally got this diva thing down!

Sam's Pockets

After a day at school he emptied his pockets onto the counter.  I can't follow the logic behind most of this...

Tiger Growls for Halloween

The kids practicing tiger growls- I think Vivian either forgot she was an animated mouse or is protecting herself!

Halloween trial

Sam is going to be a tiger for Halloween and Vivian is going to be Minnie Mouse.  They both tried on their costumes and have been wearing them around.  Sam decided he should have some prey to carry around with him.  "Good idea," I agreed.  "How about a stuffed animal."

"Great!" He said, then paused.  "Mom, do tigers eat mice?"

"I don't know, probably," I told him, not catching on.  Then realizing my mistake, I quickly added, "tigers certainly do NOT eat Minnie Mouse."

"Oh, he said, looking disappointed and slightly guilty.  

"Your sister is not your prey." 

He walked away looking thoughtful. : o 

Little Pianist

I have no clue where this child gets it from.  It starts with the announcement, "time to dance! Okay?"

First Day of Kindergarten

Bubbles

Visiting my brother's family, my sister-in-law and I each thought the other had an eye on the boys in the Whirlpool bath.  We could hear them shrieking in delight  and then a note of panic crept into their voices and I rushed in.  Apparently we should have taken the bubbles.  

"Mom! Mama! I think we need you!"

 

Peach Picking

Ready to go. I don't know where they get their fashion sense from. 

And at home peeling peaches for peach pie, I told Sam, "you're getting fast at peeking peaches."

"Yes," he replied seriously, "when super-heroes practice something they get very fast."

"What's Your Name?"

Vivian doesn't typically answer the question, "what's your name?"

She has a variety of answers.  Once, when I brought her into school to pick something up, a coworker asked what her name was. She replied, "Curious George."

Sometimes when people ask, she'll say, "Sam." (She also thinks she's five like him). 

Most of the time she says her name is, "Bethan." In which case I then need to explain, "that's my name, her name is Vivian," which people then think is hilarious.  

The other day a lady leaned down and said, "oh aren't you just adorable!  What's your name?" and Vivian gave her a charming smile and said, "Vivian."  Sam and I started cheering, the first time we had heard her say it correctly in response.  Vivian paused, "yes, name Vivian Bethan."  

Close enough. 

"Isn't this the Season?"

We were driving the other day through a city, when Sam asked, "mom, isn't it almost the season where raccoons start falling out of the trees?"

I started laughing, and asked, "what?"
"Yah, you know, when the little raccoons start falling, they look like they're falling from the sky."

"Sam," I said, "raccoons are animals. You know, the furry, black and white ones that come out at night… they have a black ring around their eye and big bushy tails…"

"Oh, they're nocturnal?"

"Yes," I said.

"No, these things aren't nocturnal.  They fall during the day too.  Actually they're not animals.  They're like those brown things, they're hard."

"Acorns?" I asked.

"Oh, yes!  Acorns.  Not raccoons!!!! HAHAHA"

Hide n' Seek at 2 and 5

One of the rare times they have gotten along lately:

Jet Pack

Sam was really hoping his homemade jet pack would propel him off somewhere cool, but unfortunately even full of "fuel" aka water + sand, it didn't work out.

Superhero Hygiene

The following conversation happened in the car today:


Sam:  "Mom."

Me:  "Yes?"

Sam: "I think that superheroes don't really take many showers or change their clothes."

Me: "No?  Why's that?"

Sam:  "Well because they're pretty busy.  They have a lot of rescuing and saving to do."

Me:  "Oh, I see."

Sam:  "So most likely they don't smell too great."

Me:  "Mmm.. right."

Sam at the Beach

A few years ago and now.  

              

              Not much has changed!

Vivian's clothes

She's decided t-shirts and boots are the best look and gets truly hysterical if we try to put pants or shirts on her.  Battles I choose not to fight ...

Fourth of July

My friend got Vivian to put on this dress for all of five minutes (she refused when I asked her too).  Just long enough for a photo or two.  She much preferred to wear as few clothes as possible all weekend.

Rowing to no where.

Vivian's Survey

I always find it amusing when the kids get mail addressed to them and not Chris or I.  This survey for Vivian to complete about her experience with swimming lessons was a good one.  

Family Beach Weekend

Sam loves the beach and was very busy.

The boys watch a sea bird trying to catch a fish.

Vivian explores the beach. 

   Some photos from our weekend away with the family.

The first evening, fog rolled in.

Nana and Vivian relax.

Sam hangs out on a rock.

Tired grandparents and grandchildren. 

Auntie's Coffee

We were away for the weekend with the family at a beach house for my parents' anniversary (photos to come).  Tessa met us there and Vivian and I picked her up from the train station.  Unfortunately, her iced coffee spilled on the train, something that Vivian had to talk about at length.  There were ten minute conversations at various points throughout the weekend about Auntie coming on the train and her coffee spilling.  She even started talking about it again this morning in the car.

Bird Feeders

I just found these on my phone.  After we made the bird feeders last week, Vivian and her buddy were pretty convinced they were purses.  So they walked around with them slung over their shoulders.  That was awesome because we made them by smearing peanut butter onto toilet paper rolls and then rolled them in bird seed. Then they would walk around occasionally picking off birdseed to snack on.  

Animal Adventures

Considering we live in a city/suburb, we have had some adventures with animals this weekend, luckily they were both outdoors.

A biker prodding trying to prod the turtle along with a stick.  The turtle
withdrew his head and hid.

The first one was on the way to soccer in the town that I grew up in.  We were driving down a main street when we spotted a rather large turtle trying to cross the road.  Or rather, on his way across the road.  There were three or four people trying to assist him and help him to avoid getting crushed by a car.  We pulled over to take a look, knowing nothing about turtles, I couldn't really do much to help, other than keep the kids out of the way.  There was extensive conversation about how long his neck was, whether he could be picked up by his shell, tail, by biting onto a stick and dragged, nudged by a stick, etc.  Eventually the crowd grew and someone grabbed the poor thing by it's tail and ran it over to the edge of the stream and deposited him there.  Hopefully his day improved.  Needless to say, we were late for soccer, but it's not everyday you witness a turtle crossing a street in these parts.

Someone eventually pulls over and picks up the turtle by it's tail.

The second instance was at our house.  We had made some bird feeders last weekend at a friend's house.  I finally hung them outside a kitchen window yesterday.  Since the kids got a large bird feeder for Christmas, that has been primarily ravaged by squirrels, I thought we'd put this away from the porch  where the squirrels run along the banister to jump on the bird feeder.  I also put it a distance away from the large trees, to stop them from jumping from the branches on them.

Our bird feeders.

So this morning we were preparing to leave the house when there was a loud thud against the window, which caused Sam, Vivian, and I to jump about a mile in the air and me exclaim a bad word.  We turned to find a squirrel splayed across the window screen, like a starfish, holding on for dear life.  (Did I mention we live on the second floor?)  After about 30 seconds of scrambling, the squirrel gained it's footing on the small window ledge and started munching on the bird feeders.  The unfortunate part was there was no way for the little guy to get down.  Sam suggested we let him in for a visit.  I explained why this wasn't a good idea.  I consulted Chris who was in the shower.
Silence.  "I'll think about it.  Let me see when I get out."

The squirrel (as viewed from the inside), happily munching.

A little while later we were all contemplating the squirrel, Chris and I debating what to do, when the squirrel suddenly lost his little grip and disappeared from view.  We froze and listened, a second or two of paws scraping and then nothing.  Chris and I exchanged glances.
"What happened?" Sam exclaimed.
"The squirrel jumped back to the tree." Chris told him.
"Squiwel?" Vivian repeated.
"Big jump," we said.
"So can, you like take a look for it when we head out?" I asked Chris.

There was no sign of the squirrel when we left, Chris checked the bushes and plants.  Hopefully it wasn't too injured.  I'm guessing he fell onto the overhang over the tenants' window and then scrambled down the house somehow.

The children regarding the squirrel.

I'm kind of waiting from some kind of squirrel revenge or retribution, the tree that is usually bustling with squirrel activity has been strangely silent today...