Enough of this monkey business!

Monday was Laundry Day and I think Vivien's Monkey had been truant from Laundry Day for several weeks. I had thought that I had plenty of time to give him a bath, dry him off, and return him safely to her bed before her afternoon nap. What I didn't take into account is the fact that we have become sort of lax about our no-taking-lovies-out-of-bed rule lately. Anytime, we are in the back of the house and her bedroom door is open, Vivien inevitably goes in and reaches her arm through her crib to pull Monkey out. When we ask her to take him back, she happily says, "Okay!" and complies UNTIL the next time she is in her room.

Monday morning, for whatever reason, she wandered into her room and discovered Monkey was not in his usual place. Being the psychologically-inept mom that I am, I walked her into the laundry room to show her that Monkey was just taking a bath.

Apparently, that was not comforting!

After many minutes of this, I went out to the car to retrieve one of her Lion lovies. They are on the B Team when it comes to lovies but they allowed her to go about her morning.

When we heard the lovely music coming from our dryer, I told Vivien that Monkey was "all done". She ran in to look in the washer. She was a bit confused when I opened the dryer door but she quickly pulled out the sheets until she saw that familiar soft brown paw.

A joyful reunion it was! Now, Vivien, go tell Monkey "night-night" and put him back in bed!

B-I-B-L-E

Last spring I was trying to get up at 5 am to do Bible study and exercise. It was a struggle and felt more like duty than delight, which just happened to be the name of the Bible study I did with a group of MOPS friends this summer. So, I've decided to use the early morning hours for sleep or other tasks like cooking or cleaning. Dennis and I have started doing workout DVDs at night once the girls are in bed. AND I decided to invite the girls to join me for some "Bible Time" every morning after breakfast. We started at ten minutes and have worked up to 20 minutes thus far. They each sit on a blanket and I divide up our collection of Bible storybooks among them for them to look at by themselves. Some days, I'll hear Amity retelling a Bible story as she looks at the pictures. They are not always 100% accurate but God is always the biggest and strongest and helps us so I think that's okay! I want to add a little photo prayer book and some Bible stories for them to listen to on the iPod to keep them interested. Thankful for this way to start our day!

Hair Angels

As of last week, it had been three months since my last haircut. With hair as short as mine, that is too long. But, our budget and our schedule had not been conducive to making the hike up to Richland Hair for my typical Saturday afternoon haircut. At Eiley's birthday party the Saturday before, I asked a mom where she got her daughter's hair cut. She had the same precious bob that I like for my girls and have paid $18-20/each for at Cool Cutz. She didn't remember the cost of a child's haircut because she said she got her hair cut at the same place. What place was that I asked? CHARLIE ANGEL SALON. Please note that Charlie is not possessive and his angel is singular.

Last Tuesday, I booked an appointment for myself at Charlie Angel. After nap, I took the girls with an armful of snacks and activities to entertain. We ended up being the only ones in the salon for the entire hour we were there. A suggestion was made by one of the angels that Amity might need a trim. When I heard that a child's cut was just $10, I let her be whisked away to her own seat while my hair was shampooed. Vivi just sat in the waiting area, eating her Teddy Grahams, and taking it all in.

Amity, my child with the most tender of heads, sat very quietly and did not complain even once. I didn't have my camera with me when she was getting her cut but she looked so grown-up and cute! When she was done, Vivien marched right over and let them put her on a booster in the grown-up chair too. She sat perfectly still, even when they used a FLAT IRON on her hair. I thought it was already pretty straight but then I'm not Vietnamese!

Our experience at Charlie Angel was a total success. Amity did not want to leave. Both girls received two suckers a piece. My hair can no be dried in less than five minutes. When I told her that Richland Hair (another Vietnamese salon) had been the only place where they could get my hair to be so thin and straight, she explained to me that it is because I have Asian hair. She said, "You no have Asian height but do have Asian hair!"

Thank you, Charlie! We'll be back!

Sister Time

I am still figuring out what to say when people ask how these two sisters get along. On one hand, there are moments of brilliance when their sisterly love shines. On the other hand, there are many moments where I think even Oprah could be convinced that we are all born with a sin nature!

I am finally taking the time to upload some pictures and catch up on our blog. I discovered these from one morning a few weeks ago. Amity was very gently "fixing" Vivien's hair and Vivien actually sat still for a few brief moments.

There are many times throughout the day when I wish they would each go their own way and enjoy some time apart because I know that time together inevitably leads to someone crying. Then, I look at these pictures and I remember that this is a precious time when they want to be together and they can. No one is going away to school. No one is moving out of the house. They have this time to just be sisters.

Wigging Out

Anyone who has spent anytime with Amity in the past month knows about her fascination with long hair. She will tilt her head downward while pulling on her hair and tell me, "See Mom, my hair IS getting longer!" Recently, upon hearing that her granddaughter was distraught that her hair was not long enough to slide down, KK ordered a wig for Miss Amity. It arrived soon after and this is what it looked like:

After modeling it for a few minutes,

she disappeared into her room and I found her doing this:

Followed by this:

Can you guess what she is trying to do? Trying to let her hair down "just like Rapunzel"!

Go Team Go!

A couple of weeks ago, Dylan was competing in the championship game of his soccer league and they invited us to come cheer him on. We kicked off (ha! ha!) the night with dinner at the Forney Dairy Queen and then headed over to the field. Being outside in the 100+ weather did not sound particularly exciting when we committed to go but the temperature ended up only feeling like 90-something when we were out in the field and under the Connells' new umbrella shade.

The fan were pretty cute and sunglasses were a must!

This was a BYOT (bring your own toy) type of event. Notice how much they are paying attention to the game!

After awhile, Eli retrieved his soccer ball and the kids found their own place to play.

Even this little one!

All of that running made her thirsty!

It was a fun time AND Dylan's team won! Unfortunately, I failed to get a picture of the champ! I am sure he was very disappointed!

Sugar and Spice

Every morning, Amity asks if she can "wear [her] ballerina". Depending on our plans for the day, I may or may not give her approval. I have consented to let her still wear a tutu over her normal clothes. I have come so far! :)

While Vivien does not necessarily request to dress up all the time, she does seem to like looking like her sister. Yesterday was going to be a stay-at-home Saturday with the exception of a family trip to Sam's so the girls wore leos and tutus the entire day. Amity said, "Thank you, Mommy!" with such a grateful voice. It's the little things!

When playing out in the living room, Vivien likes to push the stroller around and Amity pushes the shopping cart.

She goes around and around.

Capturing a picture of these two is hard work.

But spontaneous moments like these are pure bliss!

Right now, this little one-year-old is a little more spice than sugar but we love her so!