The power of a song

Last night we were listening to Peter, Paul & Mary's version of Leaving on a Jet Plane...

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin', it's early morn
The taxi's waiting, he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could cry.

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
(oh, baby, don't let me go!)
I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I think of you
Every song I sing, I sing for you
When I come back, I'll wear your wedding ring.

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
(oh, baby, don't let me go!)
I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Then close your eyes, and I'll be on my way.
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say,

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
(oh, baby, don't let me go!)
I'm leavin' on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go.


Ellie was laying on the couch and was very quiet. I went around to see if she was ok and she had great big tears in her eyes. "Mommy, it's like they knew how I felt. I miss Daddy so much! That song was so sad that I can't help but cry even though I didn't think I was sad before I heard it."

Sigh. Daddy we miss you already.

Real Magic

As Addie leaps around the room in her princess gown, holding a wand...

Addie: Look, Mommy, I'm putting magic all over the place!
Mommy: Is that your magic wand?
Addie: No Mommy! My magic is in my smile!

Permission

Addie: Mommy can Bella spend the night yesterday?
Mommy: Maybe another time.
Addie: OK. Daddy can Bella spend the night anodder day?
Daddy: Sure. Let's talk to her mommy.
Addie: Bella! If you want to ever spend the night at here wif me, just ask me! OK?

Tid-Bits

I love how proud Addie is to give the best squeezes of anyone else around. If I'm sad, she'll ask me "Mommy, do you need one of my super squeezes?" Of course I do, Sweetie. Always. Especially with the trademarked super squeeze grunt that comes with them.

I love that when Daddy took Ellie to the store as a special treat to buy her a new game, it was HER idea to get Addie something special too. She looks out for her sister, doesn't she?

I love that Addie picks a new stuffed animal to sleep with every night. It is never the same animal two nights in a row. And she can only sleep with one at a time.

Ellie, on the other hand, sleeps with lots of animals in bed with her, and still insists that one of them is Bun Bun.

I love that Addie calls Jasmine "Jazz Man" and that Silvermist (Tinkerbell's friend) is always "Silverware."

I love that Ellie wanted to write Santa a "thank you" letter for all her wonderful gifts. I wonder how many children are thoughtful enough to actually THANK Santa.

I love that Addie always speaks of her other house. "I have a baby broder at my odder house!" Whatever she lacks in this house, it's ok because she has it at her other house. She even has a mommy with curly hair there. When I asked her where her other house is, she responded with "Oh, it's far far away."

I love that when coming up with ideas for good deeds, Addie and Ellie decided to give away their two balloons to other children.

I love how proud Addie is of her hugs. "Mommy, do you want a squish?" Then she squeezes with all her might and all her vocal umphs just for that extra special effect. Perfect.

I love that when we miss each other, Ellie tells me that we can always hug each other in our dreams.

Addie puts on a dress and says "LOOK MOMMY! I look zactly like a girl wearing a dress!"

I love that when Daddy took Ellie to the store to get a special treat (new LeapPad game) she insisted on getting Addie something too. She came up with the idea herself.

Addie Counts

"1 goes to 2
2 goes to... umm... 1 2... 3!
3 goes to... 1 2 3... 4!
4 goes to... 1 2 3 4... 5!
5 goes to... 1 2 3 4 5... 6!
6 goes to... 1 2 3 4 5 6... 7!
...
...
10 goes to... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10... 11!
Look Mommy! I can do maff just like Ellie!"

Wedding dress made of... silverware

Addie: My prince name is Ronald and he is taller den me. My wedding dress is a bootiful gown and it was pink until one of my fairy ladies turned it blue. Then they couldn't decide what color so then my dress turned silverware. I married my prince in my silverware dress. It sparkled lots and lots!

It was never meant to be

Addie: Mommy, want me to read you a book?
Mommy: Yes please!
Addie: Ok. This is a book about Sleeping Beauty. Ready?
Mommy: Yep.
Addie: Once upon a time there lived a princess who ran away from her prince...

Addie's Sleeping Beauty Story

It went something like this...

Once 'pon a time dere lived a boo-tee-ful princess named Sleeping Beauty.  She wanted to wear a bee-eww dress but the only dress she could find was a pink one.  She put on a dress and it was pink but she wanted it to be bee-eww so she took it off.  She got anoder dress and put it on but it was pink too so she asked her fairies for a bee-eww dress.  They used dere magic to make her a bee-eww dress but when she put it on it was pink! 

And den her prince came.  His name was Pince Feet.  Pince Feet loved her very much and dey lived happily ever after. 

Dee End


Hmm....  Prince Feet, eh?  I suppose there are worse names to marry into.

Ellie's Sleeping Beauty Story

It went something like this...

Once upon a time there lived a beautiful princess named Sleeping Beauty. She wanted to wear a pretty dress for her wedding. She wanted her dress to be blue but the fairies kept saying "how about a pink dress instead?"

"No," she said. She wanted it to be blue. So the fairies made her a blue dress to try on, but just before she put it on, they used their magic to turn it to pink. When she looked down and saw it was a pink dress, she decided not to put it on.

Then the fairies tried to convince her that a pink dress would be better than a blue dress. Sleeping Beauty kept saying no.

Then her daddy came out. Her daddy was the king and he said he would like her dress to be pink too. Sleeping Beauty told her that she wanted it to be blue. "Can it please be blue?" she asked.

Then her mommy came out. "I have a pretty dress upstairs that you can use. You can wear it only one day but it is white."

"No," said Cinderella. She wanted her dress to be blue but she didn't know how to tell them this, but then her prince (his name was Prince Philippe) came to her rescue and took her away. She didn't have to choose a dress after all.

The End


Hmm... A princess eloping? Here is Ellie's Mommy, making a mental note to hold my tongue and my opinions when it comes to Ellie's wedding dress.

Ellie's First REAL Punishment

For her date with Daddy, Ellie went to the Denver Science Museum. They had a blast, all the way up until she attempted to steal a stuffed deer from the gift shop. Yes, our sweet Ellie tried to steal something!! Daddy gave her enough time to see if she'd think better of her plan, but they got all the way up to the door before he finally admitted he was on to her.

I'm told he kept his cool and did not get angry, but rather told her that he was terribly disappointed in her and would have to talk to Mommy about a consequence. Once they got home, it was very apparent that Ellie felt ashamed of her behavior.
She told me what she did, with great big tears in her eyes, and then informed me that she didn't want to talk about it anymore but needed to be alone for a while.

The following day we told her what her consequence would be.

Since she tried to steal the stuffed animal because she wanted yet another to add to the many many stuffed animals she already has at home... we decided to take them all away. We took every stuffed animal except for one and put them into a trash bag in our closet. She will be able to earn them back every time she fills up a line on her chore chart.

She was devastated but understood. At first she didn't hear that we had agreed to let her keep one, and she was terrified about the idea of giving up Bun Bun. Yes, after all these years, Bun Bun is still her most favorite. The first thing that came to her mind when faced with the idea of having **NO** stuffed toys to snuggle with, was Bun Bun.

In the end, she snuggled with Bun Bun as her one animal she got to keep. By the end of the day, she had already earned another animal back by filling up her chore chart.

What do you think? Too harsh? What would you have done?