Try*

Sometimes I find a song with lyrics that are perfect, like words I wish I could say to my future teenage daughters. Sometimes I find a video that is heart-warming, one that brings tears to my eyes without ever needing to explain.... Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Just like my Ellie and my Addie.

Oooh
Oooh

Put your make up on
Get your nails done
Curl your hair
Run the extra mile
Keep it slim so they like you, do they like you?

Get your sexy on
Don't be shy, girl
Take it off
This is what you want, to belong, so they like you
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Oooh
Oooh

Get your shopping on, at the mall, max your credit cards
You don't have to choose, buy it all, so they like you
Do they like you?

Wait a second,
Why should you care, what they think of you
When you're all alone, by yourself, do you like you?
Do you like you?

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to bend until you break
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
Yooou don't have to try

Noooo
Oooh

You don't have to try so hard
You don't have to give it all away
You just have to get up, get up, get up, get up
You don't have to change a single thing

You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try, try, try, try
You don't have to try
You don't have to try

Take your make up off
Let your hair down
Take a breath
Look into the mirror, at yourself
Don't you like you?
Cause I like you

*Lyrics to the song titled "Try" by Colbie Caillat

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is Addie's birthday and she assures me that she will not miss being two years old... "Maybe when I'm bigger I will want to be two years old again but not now. Now I'm almost free and now I'm almost five like Lori-elle. I'm catching up to her now! She's going really fast but I'm going faster and faster because I'm free. I don't want to be two anymore. Maybe when I'm older."

Deep Potty Thoughts

I suppose just about everyone does some of their best thinking while sitting on the can, and Addie is no exception...

"I was thinking about poo poo and pee pee.  I think the poo poo is the pince and the pee pee is the pincess and when I flush the potty they are married and they can live happily ever after!"

Wordless Wednesday

Tid-Bits

I love that Addie says "Is upside-inside" when her clothes are inside-out.

I love how the girls protect each other. If Daddy steals Addie away, Ellie will say "Leave her alone! You can have me instead!" to save her. Addie will typically take the "pulling Ellie's leg from Daddy" approach while saying "I will save my sister!"

Mommy: I will tell you what the surprise is after we do it.
Ellie: Ok. la la la. We're doing the surprise. (Pause) I still don't know what it is!

I love how Addie says "Noo-noll" instead of "Noodle."

I love how the girls enjoy playing a game where they sing a song together, taking turns with single words...
Ellie: You
Addie: Are
Ellie: My
Addie: Sun
Ellie: Shine...

I love the nonsense, funny made-up worded songs that Addie sings. They're fantabulous!

Speaking about our neighborhood girls, Addie said "Olivia (9) and Sara (12) are old ladies but they're still very nice."

Ellie: My listening ears are turned off so you can tell me out loud what the surprise is and I won't be able to hear you.

I love how when Addie walked into her old classroom, all the kids instantly stopped paying attention to the book their teacher was reading, jumped up and ran to the door to give her hugs and kisses. EVERY CHILD. Many of them said "I miss you and soon I'll be a Polar Bear just like you!" It's nice to know that Addie is loved all around.

I know that Ellie is "grown-up" because she can now eat a cupcake and NOT need a washdown afterwards.

I loved how on our train ride to Glenwood Springs (which happens to have lots of tunnels along the way), Addie would say "Watch dis. I can turn off the lights." Then she'd sit there mischieviously looking around waiting for the train to enter a tunnel. Too cute!
I love how proud Addie is to form "I love you" with her fingers and hold them up high for me to see.

The Beach

Once upon a time, a long long time ago (back in August), we visited Grandpa Lou.  Yes, I'm ashamed that I'm only just now writing about it.  It was actually a VERY good trip but the highlight was certainly the beach.

This was the first time we have been to the beach with the girls where it was a complete success.  Granted we don't get to go very often since we're a bit land-locked, but when we went with Ellie last time she was Addie's age and it was almost but not quite the complete opposite of a success.  This time, the girls had a lot of fun.  I enjoyed watching Addie be silly and seeing how proud Ellie was to make little sand castles.

Daddy showed the girls how to make their feet disappear.  Pretty silly stuff.  He also showed the girls tiny little crabs from the sand.  It didn't take long for him to perfect his crab-catching abilities because the girls enjoyed seeing the beach's version of a creepy crawly.  For me, I'd rather just pretend I didn't know they existed.

There is nothing better than photos of being surprised by waves.  They're a must-have when it comes to beach pictures.  Addie and I learned about checking for piles of sand in our swimsuits after sitting in the waves so many times, and Ellie discovered that she can write messages in the sand.  I love you too, sweetie!

Visiting the beach with my two little girls who enjoy it so much?  Well, that's just about the closest thing you can get to me being a beach loving soul.  In the end, any chance I get to have a family photo opportunity is one that makes me a happy camper.

Wordless Wednesday

Little Sister Quote of the Day

Addie: I like you Mommy. I like Ellie too.
Mommy: She's a good sister, isn't she?
Addie: Yeah, I like her all the week.
Mommy: You'll like her forever?
Addie: Yeah, for every day.

California Wedding

Addie: I'm back!
Mommy: But where did you go?
Addie: I just go to 'Alifornia to marry my pince.
Mommy: So you're married now?
Addie: Yeah, but don't forget I'm happily ever after too!

Keep an eye on your husbands!

Addie: I'm a pincess and I married Cinderella's pince.
Mommy: Does that mean you're Cinderella?
Addie: No. I just married her pince when she was not around.

Addie's Self Portrait

Addie's first self portrait. Not too shabby. She was the one who insisted that she have legs and arms. When I told her to draw fingers, I simplified the directions, which resulted in 3 fingers. She looked at it funny and said "No, I need 5." Wow. That's actually quite an insight!!

Recall Ellie's first self portrait? I find it interesting to compare.

Family Trip

Last weekend was perfect for me.  We took a long weekend and went on a mini family vacation.  It was mini in the sense that it was JUST the four of us AND we did NOT visit ANYONE.  It was history in the making.  For our first mini family vacation we decided to ride the train... or correction:  Addie insists it wasn't a train.  It's an air-train.  How cool does that sound?  ...  We decided to ride the AIR train to Glenwood Springs.  It was the first time any of us have been on a train in the US and I must say...  Wow.  They give you LOTS of space!

The girls loved to watch the scenery as we went by and it was worth watching.  Their favorite part was passing by the people on rafting trips who decided to moon the train.  Ellie thought it was hysterical at first but then after some consideration she announced "It's a little bit funny but I don't think it's very polite."

The girls look so tiny next to the train, don't they?

Glenwood Springs has a little amusement park that you have to ride a tram to get to.  Of course this was a fantastic thing for the girls.  Very exciting stuff.  I get a kick out of how they enjoyed waving to the people in the other cars.  And to the ghosts in the empty cars.  Addie loves to say "Hi" to just about anything.

The view from the top...  WOW!  This is a happy happy Niffer.

Fairy Caverns is located at the top too and the girls were impressed though a bit disappointed that they didn't see any real fairies.  Only a little.  I'm sure they were hiding.

Mommy and Daddy's favorite part was this stelagtight (which apparently the spell checker wants to change to "tight fisted").  What was neat about this is that you could watch the water drop onto the formation.  You could watch it being formed (very very very slowly) right in front of your eyes.  Michael took a great photo of the splash from the water dropping down.   Pretty cool.

I suppose any visit to Glenwood Springs wouldn't be complete without a trip to the hot springs.  The girls enjoyed how hot the swimming pool was but commented on how the water tastes a little funny.

And I suppose any visit staying in a hotel wouldn't be complete without the girls wrestling with Daddy on the bed.  What is it about a Daddy relaxing on a bed that seems to scream "Please, tackle me!"???

I love the magic the girls bring to everyday life.  While waiting for our train to arrive for our return trip home, the girls turned these yellow lines into a stage.  They danced and performed for me.  Everyone commented on how well behaved they were.  Magic has that effect on young children.

All in all it was just what this Niffer needed.  A trip with my very own mini family.  I'm thinking there are many more to come!

Special Surprise

A week or so ago we gave the girls a big surprise. We told them it was coming but we didn't say what it was. It drove Ellie BONKERS. Finally the day of the surprise we told them they had to dress up as princesses and both girls jumped at the opportunity. For real life. Really they did.

They even let me braid their hair into pretty heart braids. Well sort of. Ellie had a full heart but Addie decided she was ok with just half of a heart and insisted that it looked better. Uh. Ok. Whatever.

The surprise was Cinderella at the Boulder Dinner Theater. Oh my goodness were they excited when they finally found out what we were doing.

Nana and Grandpa joined us. While Ellie and Addie were mesmerized by what was going on up on stage, I'm pretty sure the grandparents were mesmerized by the girls.

As for me, I loved watching the girls too and the show was pretty good. One thing that I particularly loved was that Cinderella (or I should say the actress who played Cinderella) had some sort of minor disability and had a bit of difficulty walking, and certainly couldn't do fancy footwork in a dance routine. I loved the fact that it showed my girls... no, I'll correct myself... it showed ME that my girls don't care about that sort of thing. She was still a perfect pretty princess in their minds.

Wordless Wednesday

Travel Buddies

Ellie was Daddy's travel buddy and was so proud to be chosen as his special travel buddy. He would say "Where's my travel buddy" and Ellie would jump to attention, "I'm here! Here I am!"

Addie wasn't so keen on being my travel buddy...
Addie: I'm not your travel buddy!
Mommy: Why not?
Addie: Because dat's a boy! I'm a girl.
Mommy: Oh, is "Buddy" a boy's name?
Addie: Yeah, but I can be your travel bear 'stead.
Mommy: Works for me, Travel Bear.

The infamous sheep-skin rug

There is just something about the sheepskin rug that Grandpa Lou and Grandmommy Jeanne have at their house. Ellie commented on it years ago, and this time it was Addie's turn. When she saw it spread across the back of the couch, she asked in a concerned voice, "Is dis part of Mernin?"

Definition of Fun

After a few days of picking head bugs (were they lice? I'm not so sure) out of not only Addie's hair, but her eyelashes as well, her definition of "fun" has changed.

Mommy: Did you like the boat ride?
Addie: Yeah! It was SOOOO fun because it didn't hurt me!

With such low expectations, I'm thinking she's going to have a blast with all the nominal activities we have planned for the weeks to come!

Rain Fairies

Without going into details of why I was in a bad mood, I'll set the scene for you. Picture us standing under a tree trying (but probably miserably failing) at staying dry in a torrential downpoor of rain, followed by a sprint to get to the bathrooms in teim. I'm in a bad mood as it is, completely drenched and wearing my favorite sundress - one that apparently clings to my skin when it's wet so as I'm running the dress is creaping up my thighs to become a nice-form fitting mini skirt that barely covers my @$$. It's not a pretty scene but it's a realistic one.

Ellie: STOP!!! Mommy, STOP!
Mommy: Ellie, we have to hurrry so that you don't have an accident.
Ellie: But Mommy, this is IMPORTANT! PLEASE stop!
Mommy: Grrr. OK. What do you want?
Ellie: I think I need to turn you into a rain fairy!
Mommy: What? No, Ellie we don't have time. We're getting very wet.
Ellie: But Mommy, we're already wet and if I turn you into a rain fairy that means you will like the rain and you can be happy. We can still move really fast if we dance and skip!

Leave it to my daughter to remind me that magic can be found in even the most frustrating of moments. She turned the three of us (Addie included) into rain fairies and sure enough we danced and skipped through the downpoor and made it to the bathrooms just as quickly, if not quicker.

It was a blast. That's REAL magic for you.

Little Sister Quote of the Day

Overheard from the next room over...

Addie: You are a good sister and you are mine!

A Princess Tea Party

A couple of weekends ago we took all the girls and had a wonderful princess tea party. Though it wasn't what I had expected (I was focused on the "tea party"), it was a lot of fun to dress up as princesses for a day.

First we all picked out fancy dresses to wear. Then we got our hair and nails done, all the while the girls put on dance shows for us with their pretty outfits. After we were all ready, we gave a fashion show and showed the girls how to properly show off their stuff. I absolutely love how the photos show each girl's personalities. Some quiet and shy, some more goofy and others think they're prim and proper. Too cute.

There is just something about little girls feeling like they're special that makes my heart sing. What about you?

Our princess adventure ended with a tea party. I LOVE myself a good tea party and though this one didn't have the tasty finger yummies that I would typically drool over, it was still fun. I especially loved how big and grown up Addie felt having tea with Gramma and I loved how Ellie would dance with me to the music. I'm trying to teach my girls that life isn't always serious. Sometimes even a pretty princess needs to be goofy.

After our tea party, we had to get back into our peasant clothes. We all agreed (some more strongly than others) that it was a shame we couldn't always wear princess gowns all day long.