Where are the cameras?

Kira and Maia are very excited for Christmas this year! They've helped me decorate the house, shop and wrap presents. We even made a gingerbread house. Their minds have been racing trying to figure out all there is to know about Santa, the elves and the sleigh. We were sitting at dinner the other day and Kira asked me, 'Mom, where are the cameras?' Puzzled, I inquired about what she was talking about. She then said, 'The cameras that Santa uses to watch us to make sure we are being good! I know where they are at, at school. Where are they in our house????'

Kira is also very concerned how Santa is going to deliver the presents when our fireplace is 'locked' (it is a gas fireplace with a permanent window). She keeps making me assure her that Santa has a key and will be able to get in. I don't recall thinking that hard about Santa and how he was going to accomplish everything when I was little.

Cloudless sky

'Mom, God lives up in the sky in the clouds, right?'.

'Yes, Kira'.

'Well, when there are no clouds, where does he sit?'

Think fast Heidi...think fast!

'Honey, he sits by Grandma Linda's and Papa's house then because there are usually clouds where they live.' :)

'He can travel there fast huh? Because he is already up in the sky like the airplanes'.

'Good thinking, honey.'

Dear Santa...

I want a new Nemo kite. I would like you to bring my sister a new doll. Please bring my Mom a new purse. Please bring my Dad a new computer.

Love,
Kira

Star Wars vs. DWTS?

Brian and I were watching Star Wars - The Clone Wars on Sunday. Maia walks past and asks what movie we are watching. I tell her 'Star Wars'. She says, 'I don't want to watch Star Wars, I want to watch DANCING with the Stars'. I guess girls will be girls.

Kira's field trip to Gardner Village

Kira went on her first field trip back in October to Gardner Village to see the Halloween decorations. She had a great time. She was very excited to get to ride on a school bus for the first time and spend the day hanging out with her friends. I've posted a few pictures...let me know what you think.

We need to get some money

The other day we were eating breakfast and out of the blue Kira says to me, 'Mom, we need to get some money and take it to my school. Some people don't have ANYTHING! They don't have coats or food or money, so we need to give them some money, ok? Don't forget, ok Mom?'

Big Girl Potty

Maia went on the big girl potty all day yesterday!!! She has been going off and on for the past month or so, but all of the sudden decided she was going to use it all the time. I am so proud of her. She gets a huge smile on her face after she goes. She is very excited about wearing big girl panties soon. She of course likes to do these things by herself. She insists on getting her princess step stool, putting it by the wall and turning on the light. She then takes the stool and puts it by the toilet. Climbs up the stool and sits down. She even has to flush herself. If I try and do any of this for her I get the 'I want to do it by myself' talk. This is a talk that I get from her CONSTANTLY. Independence is supposed to be good though, right?

Baby Talk?

I've never been one for baby talk. Every time I hear a Mom talking that way to their child I cringe. I've tried to make a conscious effort to always speak to the girls as I would an adult. I've never really used simpler words in exchange for more complex ones. The other night, the girls were playing one of their favorite games, which is building a fort in the living room, creating a tunnel between the couch and the ottoman. Kira said something that caught me off guard. 'Maia, I'm quite nervous about travelling through the tunnel'. While this is a perfectly fine sentence for an adult, when it comes out of the mouth of a 4 year old, you have a tendency to stop and wonder...have I gone too far with the adult language? Am I somehow making them grow up faster than they should? I decided to listen for the next few minutes to see if this was just a fluke. Some examples I heard are, 'Wow, that was wonderful', and 'Maia, I am so proud of you. I love you so much.'. I decided that having a decent vocabulary at that age isn't the worst thing in the world.

Halloween

We had a great Halloween! The girls both dressed up as fairy princesses riding on unicorns. Brian and I went as vampires. We all get done up first thing in the morning and walked in the school parade and volunteered to help with Kira's school party. Kira loved the glitter make-up she got to have on, while Maia loved trick-or-treating. We all headed up the mountain to Mike and Susan's house for a party. The girls totally crashed after the sugar from all the candy wore off. Kira woke up the next morning upset because she said that it was going to take too long for Halloween to come again.

Before I forget, I want to record the costumes they have worn in the past:

2004 - Kira - a pea in a pod
2005 - Kira - dinosaur
2006 - Kira - Lion, Maia - Lion
2007 - Kira - Kangaroo, Maia - Kangaroo

Parent/Teacher Conference

We had our first parent/teacher conference for Kira in her Pre-Kindergarten class. Brian and I met with her teacher, Miss Knudson. She said that Kira is doing wonderful and that she is a joy to have in her class. I am so proud of her. They made a picture with their hand print and on the back it has a sentence to complete. 'With my hands I can...' Kira said, 'hold my Mommy's hand'. So cute.

Last night the girls and I put together a new dresser for Kira. It was from Ikea, so you can imagine the number of parts/time involved. Maia was so funny, walking around with all the bolts and a screwdriver putting them wherever they fit (it is a miracle we didn't lose a part). She kept saying, 'Excuse me Mommy' whenever I was in her way. Kira helped put together all the drawers. She was in charge of giving me the parts for them. By the time we were on the third drawer, I noticed that Kira had the parts ready for me in advance prior to me telling her what to get. Meanwhile, I kept having to refer to the 8-step instructions! I'm pretty sure I donated the majority of my brain cells to her upon birth. No wonder she has been beating me at Memory since she was 2 1/2.

A card from Great Grandma Lois

I thought of another funny story that I had to share quick.

As our normal routine, we had checked the mail on the way home from school/daycare. In it, there were two cards, one for Kira, one for Maia. They were Halloween cards from Great Grandma Lois containing a crisp $1 bill. The girls were so ecstatic to get something in the mail. They happened to be coloring, so I said to them, 'I think you should color her a picture and send it to her as a thank-you'. As per the look on their faces, they were very excited about this idea. You could see Kira thinking and she says to me, 'Mommy, do you think we should send her money as well?'

Finally

I've been wanting to start a blog for quite some time now. I was just at lunch with my friend Brooke and she has started one...and pointed me in the right direction. Time passes so quickly. I'd like to write down all the wonderful, funny, crazy things that my little girls, Kira & Maia do on a daily basis. I hope to write often, time permitting.

Where to start?

Kira is almost 4 1/2 already. She is such a smart girl, I forget that she is only four. Just the other night at bedtime, we having our usual chat...'what was your favorite part of your day', 'what friends did you play with', etc. She says to me, 'Mom, I love my friend Elijah. I think he is really handsome'. I was dumbfounded. What do you say to that? She then goes on to tell me that he has told her that when they grow up that she should only love him. Again, completely dumbfounded. I'm not ready for these kinds of conversations. I thought I had years to prepare for anything remotely like this. Rude awakening for sure.

Maia is almost 2 1/2. She is a total crack up. She doesn't like going to bed, as I'm sure most 2 year olds don't. Every night she suddenly gets extremely thirsty at bedtime...even though she has just had milk. Every night I try and tell her that she just needs to go to bed, but eventually give in and get her a glass of water. What is funny about this is that she gulps down that glass of water like she has been in the desert for days. In her haste to drink every last drop, she generally gets water on her jammies and insists that she has to change, as she is quite particular about her wardrobe. Needless to say, bedtime has passed, we've both had some laughs and she finally submits to snuggling into her little bed...with baby, monster, polk-a-dot bear, beaver and dolly.