Andy's passport

Alli found Andy's passport this morning. She burst into laughter when she opened it up.

"Mom, look at Daddy's hair! Isn't it crazy?"

She thinks Daddy is pretty funny.

Can you tell by the picture that his passport is about to expire?

Dental Hygiene

Ruby's favorite toy right now is her toothbrush. She carries her toothbrush around everywhere she goes, and she has a mini-tantrum when I take it away to clean it. She is getting an early start to proper dental hygiene. And she does have very white teeth.

(drum roll) TA DA!

Saturday morning a rare window of free time opened up and we were able to install our backsplash. We picked out the mosaic marble tiles weeks ago, and they have been patiently waiting in a stack in our kitchen. We made a bit of a mess. We learned much about tiling. Alli and Ruby cooperated pretty well (Ruby tried to taste the paste). Now Andy and I can put the tile badge on our do-it-yourself sashes.
It is so wonderful to have a finished backsplash!

I Love You

Alli came running to me this morning and exclaimed, "Mommy, mommy! I wrote 'I love you' on the floor with a marker!" Her tone seemed to indicate that she was expecting an "oh-I'm-so-happy" response. She took me to see her handiwork.
There on the hardwood floor in pink marker were lots of lines and scribbles. She looked up and smiled and said, "It says I love you mom." I smiled and said, "I love you too. Clean it up."
She cleaned it up. Thank goodness for washable markers... and wet wipes.

fashionista

I could keep an entire blog of the exciting outfits Alli puts together everyday. Every morning I look forward to seeing what she will wear.
She matches, accessorizes, and coordinates to get the perfect look. Lately she has been especially keen on sunglasses (she has a huge collection... thank you Grandma) and jeans. Alli goes all out on her clothes and accessories, but she prefers her hair "plain." Go figure.
She has her own style, and I love it.

How much is that baby in the window?

Yesterday as I was returning from taking the garbage out to the alley, I was greeted by two silly girls making faces at me in the window. I just had to run in to get the camera. Trash removal is low on my list of favorite chores, but the girls made it much more fun yesterday.

Sisterhood and Ruby's new teeth

I was trying to snap a few pictures of Ruby's two new top teeth, and Alli jumped in to help. She reached over and held Ruby's lip up. Moments later, Ruby returned the favor by reaching up and yanking Alli's ponytail.

Ruby's grin is much more toothy with two new pearly whites on top. Two more will be appearing soon.

Easter Weekend Recap

We had a wonderful Easter weekend. On Saturday we had dinner and an egg hunt at the Seamon's house. The Dads hid the Easter eggs, then the kids were set loose. Clara, Allison and Annaliese enjoyed running around collecting the eggs. Clara would pick one up and yell, "Yeah! I found another one!" She said that after picking up each egg.

It was very cold Saturday night. We were all bundled up, but still freezing. After a few minutes of watching the girls collect eggs, the parents started helping a bit. We wanted to get back inside.

The girls really enjoyed opening their eggs to find the candy inside. Alli, Clara and Annaliese were very protective of their little stashes. Clara did share with her little brother; Sam got his first peep. He devoured it.

On Sunday, Alli dressed in her Easter best: a blue "puffy" dress with a pink cardigan, a hot pink undershirt, blue Cinderella gloves, an Easter hat, magenta sequined shoes, and jeans underneath. We did manage to get the jeans off of her before church. She has her own style.

Ruby wore an adorable little sailor outfit. Unfortunately we didn't get pictures before she got it all messy. Ruby really enjoyed all the candy dropped on the floor at home and at church. She loves jellybeans. She defended her candy with her sharp teeth and strong jaws. Today she has enjoyed finding strings of Easter grass everywhere. Fun.

We told the Easter story on Sunday. If you ask Alli what Easter is about, she will say, "Jesus died and was resurrected." Andy told Alli that the Easter Bunny is pretend. She is fine with that, but when our neighbor asked Alli if the Easter Bunny came, she said, "The Easter Bunny isn't real, but I got an Easter basket anyway."

A Three-Year-Old With a Record

This morning I had to run an errand north of the city, so I thought afterwards we could stop at a regular mall (an indoor mall with ample parking) for a little while. So I took the girls to the Lincolnwood Mall. I put Ruby in the umbrella stroller and Alli put her baby doll in a little doll stroller and we pushed our babies around the mall for a while.
Alli is really into copying me and matching me (ie- when I wear jeans, she wears jeans). She wanted to carry one little shopping bag on her stroller, like me. We browsed through several stores and then we had lunch at the food court. We had a very enjoyable time. I loaded the girls up in the car and went home, pleased with our little outing.
When we got home, I was putting some things away and I discovered a stow-away necklace in the shopping bag that Alli had on her stroller. My heart sank. I asked her about it and she said that she took it. We had a long talk and then I loaded up the girls again and drove up to the mall to return the stolen necklace.
I was not in a great mood. Stolen goods. Traffic. An all-day event.
We took the necklace back. The girl in the store thought Alli was so cute. She said, "Oh don't worry about it. It's okay." It was not okay. I know she was just trying to be nice, but I was trying to teach my 3 year old a lesson.
So since we were at the mall again, I decided to stop at a department store to get an Easter present for Andy. We were in Carson's for just a few minutes, then we walked back through the mall towards where we parked. Alli had to pee, and if you have ever had to find a bathroom in a department store with a freshly-potty-trained kid, you will know how frustrating and difficult it is (bonus: we had to find an elevator because we had a stroller and there was only a restroom on the second level... who designed this store!?).
Anyhow, I eventually got the girls out to the car again, loaded them up in car seats, and as I was folding the stroller, I discovered a nice pink tie tucked away in a pocket on our stroller.
The shoplifting bandit struck again.
We had a talk again. I got the girls out again. We went into the store again. Alli apologized again (luckily for me it was a different store). Again the nice lady at the desk said, "It's okay." Again, stealing is never okay.
Alli's total for the day was about $60 worth of goods.
I think we will be having a longer, more thorough talk with Alli.

What to Wear

Alli dressed herself on Sunday. I am always entertained/amused/amazed by what she chooses to wear. She likes bright colors, textures, and bold patterns mixed with reckless abandon. She always includes accessories with her outfit. Usually she has necklaces and bracelets, on Sunday she wore garden gloves and a sun visor. Tres chic.

Pinch me!

Ruby has show-stopper cheeks, and she knows how to use them. We did lots of running around today, and everywhere we went people just wanted to pinch her puffy little... I mean ample... cheeks. Ruby is a flirt and loves all the attention. She gives a huge gummy smile and cocks her head to one side and smiles more. She snuggles into my neck and then looks back to make sure her admirer is still looking. The most common comment I hear about Ruby: "Look at those cheeks." She knows how to accentuate the positive-- just smile.