My Mia

Before I was even pregnant with our twins, we went on a trip to Asheville with some close friends. My friend, Kellie, and I went shopping and we went into this little baby and children clothes shop and the cute lady working there had her daughter with her and I remember this precious little blond headed girl and her name was Mia. Immediately, I fell in love with the name. I knew that if I ever had a girl, Mia would be her name (who knew I would have 4 girls and would NEVER get to use my boy name, Charlie). Anyway, I digress...after looking the name up in a baby names book when I eventually did get pregnant, I found out that Mia means "mine" and it is also a derivative of Mary (a nod to my sweet hubby's Catholic background) and is also a derivative of Michael, Kevin's middle name. So many connections...

Well, "my" Mia, loves to please. She literally thrives on praise.

Earlier this week, I got very sick with some sort of infection (maybe sinus?) and I was out of commission for practically 2 days. I thought our family would turn into a Chick-Fil-A chicken nugget with the amount of nuggets they ate in those 2 days. So, last night, I was BACK. No more sick people in this house...no ma'am. This calls for a veggie stir fry.

Well, I made this amazing stir-fry with Gardein "chicken" for me and the real thing for the kids and Kevin. As soon as the girls came to the table, the tears welled up in their blue eyes and I just looked at them and said, "this is dinner...I just spent 45 minutes making it if you don't eat it or complain, my feelings will be so hurt." I am hoping that the Catholic guilt is genetic from my husband. I told them that they had to eat a taste of each veggie and eat all the chicken and the rice. So, Chloe, did just that (no more, no less)---did I mention she's a rule follower? An hour later, Mia and I are still sitting there.

Mia and Chloe had just had their swim class before dinner and Mia all of a sudden started complaining that her eyes were burning...(that's funny because as you were watching Scooby Doo, and I was cooking, they were fine). Then Quinnlan (who had not been to swim class) starts saying her eyes are burning. The 2 year old cracks me up.

So, I told Chloe to go and pick a candy from our "Candy Bucket" to put in her lunch for the next day and Mia is on high alert at that.

So I told her (calmly---even though I am so bugged) that she has to eat her broccoli, at least, and the chicken and the rice. So, she begins to eat the broccoli and...shhhh...I think she likes it! She ate the whole thing and I was going absolutely nutso! I'm hugging her and swinging her around and telling her proud I am of her and she is just beaming from ear to ear. Finally we fell on the kitchen floor with her in my lap and I just showered her with praise. She glowed as she picked out her candy for lunch and was still glowing as we went to bed...an hour past bedtime.

One more precious thing about my Mia...She has begun asking the most conscientious questions. Kevin will come in at the end of the day and she will sincerely ask him, "How was work today, Daddy?" or when we go out to eat she'll say, "How is your burrito, Mommy?"

I could just eat her up. She is growing into the most wonderful little girl.

I am so blessed.

"The King of all Bad Words"

We have 2 little girls (1st and 3rd grade) that live next door to us. They are always over and playing with Mia and Chloe. They don't exactly have the same Christian upbringing that our girls have...for example, the younger one went to church at Christmas with us last year and Chloe said, "We're having a Christmas birthday party at church!" And our little neighbor replied, "Who's birthday is at Christmas?" And Mia and Chloe both said, "Jesus!" and she just looked dumbfounded....like, wait a minute, Christmas is about something else besides Santa Claus and Rudolph?

Well, this year, the 1st grader came home from school with us and was saying that she was going to be in so much trouble because she had said the "king of all bad words." Then my girls started asking,

"Did you say 'Stupid'?"

"Was it worse than 'Hate'?"

I smiled and asked her what happened (thinking it couldn't be all that bad) and she said that she had said "What the f---!" in class...her 1st grade class.

I almost drove into my mailbox.

So, my naive girls said, "Did you say, 'Fired'?"...I quickly said, "Let's not talk about this right now."

Unbelievable.

A few days later, Mia and Chloe and this little girl were in our playroom and I heard Chloe say, "I called Mia the "S" word the other day and got into trouble." This little girl gasped...of course, she is thinking of the other "S" word and Chloe means "stupid."

That night at dinner I explained to them that when someone refers to the "S" word, they don't mean "stupid," and that it is probably not a good idea to tell others that you have used that word with each other. So, the conversation started spiraling from there...

Girls: "What is the "S" word?"

Me: "It is not a word that we ever say...you don't need to know, but you do need to know that it isn't "stupid."

Mia: "What is the "F" word?"

(At this point I was really wishing Kevin wasn't working late.)

So, I decided that they were probably going to hear those words pretty soon at the rate we were going and I wanted them to know that they were bad words when they did hear them, so, I told them what the "F" word was...I said it was like "Duck" but started with an "F" and that if I ever heard them say it or heard that they had said it to someone else, they would have their mouths washed out with soap and there privileges would be taken away.

Mia handled it pretty well...she went back to eating and then went to go play.

Chloe is another bird altogether.

She starts pacing the room and saying that she can't get it out of her head and that she just has to say it. At one point, she had her head under the couch cushion saying she felt like she was going to throw up.

Great.

So, I told her that she could whisper it in my ear and then we needed to "move on." So she whispered it so quietly and then she left the room. I thought, "OK, well, I guess that's that."

And then she comes back in and she has put handsoap in her mouth and has the nastiest look on her face. (at least it was that all-natural soap)

Her reaction really upset me and I thought I had made a really bad mistake telling them...taking away some of their innocence. So, I called my mom and she reminded me of the verse, Phillipians 4:8:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

So, it turned out to be a good learning lesson...even though it didn't start out that way!

My very 1st Student of the Month

Yesterday, as I went to open our front door to welcome Mia and Chloe home from school, I see Mia tearing across the yard with the biggest GRIN on her face and she was shouting, "Mommy! I'm Student of the Month!" I think I puffed up a bit right along with her at this pride-inducing news!

I have heard about this exciting honor since their classmate was chosen last month and had his picture on the bulletin board at the front of the school for ALL to see. Mia was practically bouncing hoping that she would one day be up on that board (she thrives on praise).

After I hugged her tight and told her how proud I am of her, I looked for Chloe to see how she was handling this first time of one sister being chosen and not the other. (I have spent their lives trying to make sure that everything is fair-and-square.) I was thrilled to see a grin just as big as Mia's on her sweet face! She was puffed up and so proud of Mia just like this Mama!

When she had put her school things away, she went and sat at the kitchen table and was just looking out the window with her hands cupping her chin and she said to no one in particular,

"I just feel so special!"

Well, honey, you ARE so special! Way to go!

The end of Summer brings lots of new things!

~Last day of summer---playing in the hot tub that Kevin filled with cool water~

Monday, August 9 began a jam-packed week for our family.

My girls' 1st day of kindergarten was that day. I have had mixed feelings about this. I know they are both over-prepared for starting "big kid school" (they just completed 2 years of Pre-K because of their late summer birthday).

But, still...these are MY BABIES!

My FIRSTBORN children!

Well, our best laid plans don't always work the way we want them to...Sunday night, Chloe begins to run a 102 fever. This is so typical for our academic history. She is what I (lovingly) call my Nervous Nellie when it comes to new experiences. So, we go to bed and pray that it is a self-induced "stress fever"---is that even a medical diagnosis?

No such luck. She woke up in the middle of the night after the Motrin had worn off with a 102.7 fever.

No 1st day of school for Miss Chloe.

I was especially bummed about this being that I did not want her to miss all of the introductions to kindergarten and her new classroom and teacher and the rules, etc. But, what can you do? Nothing.

So, Mia, Kevin and I headed off to Laurel Ridge Elementary School the next morning hand in hand. Mia was very excited. She received a new bookbag from the Birthday Fairy (we were in the middle of Birthday Week) and new super sparkly school shoes from her Uncle Ryan and his fiance, Monica for her birthday (check out the difference in my twins' styles just by taking a look at the choice in shoes. Chloe actually wanted all white, but couldn't find any, so she went with the ones that had the smallest amount of lavender on them. I just had to laugh.)

We have been looking forward to our girls starting school at Laurel Ridge for awhile now. It is a small little neighborhood school (reminds me so much of the school I attended for elementary school) that is practically across the street from our house. Over the years I have loved seeing familiar neighbor faces walking their children to and from school each day and waving to the wonderful crossing guard---this woman is seriously enthusiastic about her job.

SO, this was our, I mean, Mia's big day. When we get inside, we walk her to her classroom and it is empty except for her teacher. We didn't realize that if it is before 7:45am, the kids go to the cafeteria and wait for their teacher to come and get them to walk to class. Leaving her in an empty room made me feel sick. Mia, on the other hand, hugged and kissed us and waved goodbye and went to the seat with her name on it and had a seat with a smile on her face---Kevin said she probably loved being the only one in there---more attention for just her!

I thought I was doing well until we walked away from the class and I LOST IT in the hallway. Here I am, 10 months pregnant, a little hormonal, planning for the birth of our child THE NEXT DAY and I have just left my precious daughter in the hands of virtual strangers for 6 1/2 hours. I boo-hooed the whole way home. I guess this happens to us kindergarten newbies.

But once I got home, I went into final nesting mode to prepare for our next adventure---having this baby. It was surreal to answer people's question, "So, when are you due?" with "we're having the c-section tomorrow". For so long, August 10th has seemed like an eternity away (as all moms can probably relate to that waiting game) and now it was almost here.

Well, Mia had a wonderful first day. Kevin happened to be home between appointments to go with me to pick her up and she was bubbling over the whole walk home telling us every detail. I was so happy to hear all about it.

Unfortunately, Chloe did not get to join her sister until Thursday because of the fever, but it was a good day for her too, even if she had a hard time admitting it. (Kevin brought them up to the hospital to see me and the baby since she was now fever-free for 24 hours.) She says she doesn't like school, but I think it is mainly that she doesn't like being away from Mommy and "home". But, like we've told her, school is your job for the next few years and you can choose to be positive about it or not...but staying home is not an option. Sorry, kiddo :)

In celebration of Birthday Week, here are a few pics from the triple birthday party we had for all of our August birthdays (yes, all 4 kids have August birthdays!):

Quinnie loved all of the jumpies!

She also loves her cousin, Mae (they could be twins!)

Waiting for the birthday cupcakes---my 3 birthday girls!

Sisters---being silly

The fam---Quinnlan was NOT happy that we interrupted her jumping time for this pic

Lemonade Stand 2010!

We have been planning this Lemonade Stand for weeks now. It all started when Mia, Chloe and their 2 neighbor friends began to brainstorm about having a Milkshake Stand. They talked about it for 2 days straight. They could not understand that although a milkshake stand on a hot day would, of course, be refreshing, it wouldn't last longer than a few minutes. Also, where to plug in the blender?

So, they finally let me convince them that maybe, just maybe, a Lemonade Stand would be the way to go. Brilliant idea, Mommy.

Mia and Chloe discussed this idea with their BFF, Megan, and she was ON BOARD. They all got together and created some signs to advertise for the next day's sale. But, unfortunately, Quinnie got sick and then we had some bad weather, and then all of a sudden, it's been 3 weeks or so since we began talking about all of this.

Well, today was THE DAY and it was a blast...hot and sweaty...but a blast, nonetheless.

The girls made about $21! Holy Cow...I don't think we ever made that kind of cash with our stands growing up! We had many generous people stop and donate more than the 25cents for their little red solo cup of Country Time.

When we split up the money among the 3 girls, they each made about $7 and change. Megan was so sweet and was saying how she wanted to send all of her money to Haiti. As she says this, I'm looking at my girls, hoping they will chime in with the same humanitarian heart...uh, no. Mia says she is going to the Dollar Store.

Lovely.

Jennifer and I tried and talk to them (my girls, mainly) about helping others through giving some of the money to charity, and Chloe begins to think about it and she says she wants to help the children in Haiti, too. But, Miss Heart-of-Stone, I mean, Mia, says that she is, for sure, headed the Dollar Store with her cash ASAP.

Too funny.

What can you do?

I did lay on some guilt when Chloe gave me $2.25 to give to charity and Mia sighed and finally decided to give me 45cents. I guess you've got to start somewhere with a giving heart, right? It has definitely enlightened me to an area I need to be more mindful in including our children---our family giving is usually done by check through the mail and they have no idea of when/to whom this happens.

Here are some pics from our afternoon:

Mia flagging down customers

Quinnie tasting the goods

Chloe chatting up some customers (our friend, Laura)

Mia making the drive-through delivery

Allison and Quinn

I just had to include this precious one of my baby

Check out the cash!

Best Friends...and business partners

I can see clearly now...except for all this pollen!

We finally picked up Mia's new glasses and I just have to say that she looks absolutely precious in them...and she is amazed at how much better she can see everything around her!

But unfortunately, Sissy, is battling some pretty serious pollen allergies and can hardly see anything through the haze of yellow...

We just need a major rainstorm so things will be clear for both my big girls.

They really do love each other...

My Mia needs glasses.

She did not pass the eye exam with the lady that came to her preschool, so we went to see the eye doctor yesterday and they gave us a prescription and we took it to the eyeglass store today. Mia has been so excited about getting these glasses and so I was so glad that she had such a great outlook about it all. (pictures to come, they won't be ready for pickup for about a week)

As we were pulling into the parking lot, Mia told me that last night when she and Chloe were going to bed she was really scared about getting her glasses:

Me: Why were you scared? You have been so excited about this.

Mia: I was thinking that what if my friends don't recognize me when I'm wearing my glasses and what if people don't like me when I'm wearing them.

Me: Of course everyone will recognize you and everyone will love you in them. What made you feel better about it all?

Chloe pipes in: Well, I told her, "Mia, remember when our next door neighbor, Genevieve came over wearing her new glasses? Did we recognize her? Yeeeesss. And when Genevieve came over wearing her new glasses, did we still like her the same? Yeeeesss. So, Mia, it will be the same with you. Don't worry."

Mia: And it made me feel better.

Chloe is nodding the whole time like, "yep, I told her so."

I had no words. If I had talked, I might have started crying, it was so sweet.

Even with all the arguing they do sometimes and how different they can seem, they really do love each other.

Makes my heart melt.

Having a Ball

Mia and Chloe have been taking gymnastics for awhile and they enjoy it very much, but I have really wanted them to try soccer so they can have the experience of being a part of a team sport. Somehow I couldn't seem to get my ducks in a row to get them signed up before any of the deadlines (spring sign-up deadlines were in January???). Then we got a little card in the mail about Lil' Kickers soccer. They were having an open house with a free class and if the kids liked it we could sign up then and there. Sounded perfect to me!

When I talked to the girls about it, Mia was excited (she wants to do any sport where she may get a trophy at the end) and Chloe did not want to do it at all (which is pretty typical...if it were up to her, she wouldn't do anything but hang out at home with Mommy...she always has fun when she does her sports, though). I was hoping that Chloe would change her mind as the date got closer.

Well, that morning, neither girl wanted to do it. Tears everywhere...ahhhh, the joys of raising hormonal daughters! Finally, Kevin said that it was a beautiful day and so we were all going and if they didn't like it, we'd just pack up and go home, no big deal. So, off we went...

They. had. a. ball. (excuse the pun)

So, we signed them up! Yay!

Here are some pics from their first practice in uniform!

listening to directions from the coach

check out Chloe's mad skills :)

Mia having so much fun

Don't forget about me!

A soccer star "in training"

Haircuts and attack of the marker

Mia and Chloe have new haircuts and I (biased) think they look just precious...if you ask Mia, she says she looks like Kit Kittredge :)

Chloe

Mia

And I have to also post a picture of Baby Sissy from later that evening:

No, she's not all of a sudden into all things goth. She got a hold of this:

Thank goodness it's washable AND non-toxic!

The Prayer of a 5 year old

Back in December, we were saying bedtime prayers and Mia said this:

"Dear Jesus,

Thank you for a wonderful day.

Thank you for all the people in my heart.

Jesus, I think you are so nice---oh, and you, too, God.

I am excited about your birthday on Christmas.

Praise the Lord.

Amen."

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these."

Matthew 19:14 NIV

Quinnie is going to give Mia a run for her money

See for yourself:

We had an early Thanksgiving dinner over at my mother-in-law's house on Saturday evening. We also were celebrating Kevin's brother, Ryan's, engagement to his new fiance, Monica:

The 3 older girls (there are 5 girl cousins in all!) decided to have a talent show. Mia went first, then Katherine, my niece. Then it was Chloe's turn and Miss Q decided that, no, it was actually her turn. Too funny... I do wish that Chloe had gotten her turn to do her cartwheel, but she just became really shy after Quinnlan went (and stole her turn, in her words).

Then, the funniest part of all was that Sheila gave all the girls Thanksgiving gifts. So sweet. The first gift was a set of classic Christmas DVDs. The next gift was...wait for it...The Elf on the Shelf. No, I'm not kidding (even though Chloe wishes I was). She did OK, but she did come to me and (standing sideways being 5-year-old-inconspicuous) say, "She's not going home with us, right, Mommy?"

"No, she is not coming home with us. She's going right back up to the North Pole. Don't you worry."

My baby has lost a tooth!

I know when I say "Baby" I'm usually talking about Quinnlan, but this "baby" is my Chloe. She has been talking about her loose tooth for over a month and finally it was so loose that she could push it forward all the way with her tongue, so I convinced her to let me try and pull it last Wednesday. I really pulled, but it was not budging! Ugh! So, Thursday, I had Kevin try (don't worry, Chloe was fine with us pulling on it), and it still was not moving. Then Friday morning, she and Mia were watching Noggin as I was cleaning the kitchen (they both stayed home because of colds) and I heard her say, "Mia! My tooth just came out!" and I think I was just as excited as she was! So here's the before photo:

And here's the after photo:

That night, the tooth fairy showed up and took her tooth and left 2 dollars! (Picture a grandma rocking on the front porch with no teeth here) In my day, we only got a quarter and we were happy...darn inflation! The tooth fairy also sprinkled pixie dust from the window sill, where she came in, all the way up the bunk bed ladder and all over the comforter and all over Chloe's hair and face and pillow! Wow! (After the Elf on the Shelf debacle, she wouldn't even look under her pillow without me being there...she thought the tooth fairy might be hiding under it!)

Oh, and we can't forget...here's Sissy Mia who is having a hard time watching Chloe get a lot of attention:

She can't keep it in...she's gotta let it out

You know that Cat Stevens song, "Can't Keep It In"? Lately, when I am with Mia, I sing it in my head...and sometimes aloud, too. I have never met a child like her! One way to describe Mia is Full of Life. She is completely unafraid to show her emotions about anything and everything. The thing that she has begun doing over the past few months that just cracks me up is that she will just "woo-hoo" about anything:

Me: "Hey Mia, wanna go with me to get the mail?"

Mia: "Woo-hoo! Sure!" (as she runs out the door)

or

Me: "OK, girls, let's get ready for bed"

Mia: "Woo-hoo! Let's go!" (as she is bounding up the stairs)

or

Me: "Girls, why don't you go out back and play for a bit"

Mia: "OK, let's go, Chloe! Woo-hoo!" (as she is running down the back steps)

Cracks. Me. Up.

Can I please have some of that energy and enthusiasm for life???

She definitely can swing the other way, as well, don't get me wrong...because when she gets upset about something or gets her feelings hurt, she can all-out bawl her head off to the point where I've told her to "serve" her time-out in the bathroom in case she decides to throw up. You might say she has a tough time calming down once she gets in trouble and really gets going. The other day she sat in time-out for 30 minutes because I told her she could come out as soon as she was quiet for 30 seconds straight with no crying. It took awhile...

Good thing those moments don't happen too terribly often :)

Oh, I can't keep it in. I can't keep it in, I've gotta let it out. I've gotta show the world, world's gotta see, see all the love, the love that's in me...

Pancakes, Pumpkins, Party City and More...

This weekend we started off Saturday with a little pancake party. Mia was my sous chef and she had to wear her new Snow White apron that she received for a birthday gift.

My biggest challenge as usual was to keep her from eating the raw butter...yes I wrote "butter" not "batter". I remember eating butter from the giant brown Country Crock tub as a kid too, though.

Mia watching cartoons and stirring

Chloe chose to chill on the couch and watch "Max and Wooby" while Quinnlan played in the toy cabinet.

The pancakes were delicious even if they were a little overcooked on the edges.

After Quinnie's nap, we all headed to the gym and Kevin and I took a KILLER Pilates Sculpt class and I got so tickled doing all these funny moves next to him. I hope the teacher didn't think I was laughing at her or the class, but I literally thought I was going to start crying at one point because I was laughing so hard.

Then that evening, we walked to our great friends and neighbors, The Shokat's, for an Oktoberfest family get-together. It was a blast for kids and adults!

Mia---Tattoos all over

Chloe and Megan and their tattoos

Besides Georgia losing to LSU, we had a great time and seeing all the kids (12!) playing so well together was so cool.

Walkin' all over the place

Caden, Anna and Megan

Naomi, Chloe, Megan and Mia and their root beer floats

Quinnlan especially LOVED Angus, the Shokat's bulldog

Each family had a pumpkin to carve with the kiddos, but it ended up being just the Dads...typical :)

Daddy had some great helpers

Ewww...Pumpkin Guts

Sunday after church, I took the girls to Party City to see if we could find any pink hairspray for Mia's Halloween costume. We got to do a trial run with the girls' costumes and they enjoyed running around the yard (Mia's pink hair and all) while I decorated the tree and bushes with Halloween decor and "spider webs".

The countdown is on...26 days till Halloween!