Funny Things

Forgotten blog post - written April 14, 2010

I'm not sure if I've changed my attitude or if the girls are just going through a more "fun" stage - but I'm really enjoying them right now. They're funny. And.. one should remember funny things.. it helps you get through the rough times. So.. here's a few things that have happened and been said around this house lately.

Kelsey.
The other day Marco and I were sitting around chatting after he got home from work. Kelsey was sitting in the rocking chair, insessently asking to go to the park. "Mom.. I think we should go to the park." "Dad, can we go to the park today?" "Hmm.. I think it would be a good idea if I go to the swings today." (you get the idea). Marco and I were trying to talk about something else. Finally, I turned to Kelsey and said, "Please don't ask again, daddy and I will talk about it and let you know!" So, I turn back to Marco and as we're gathering our thoughts, Kelsey says - with her arms folded in front of her sitting on my rocking chair like a little madam - "I don't hear any woo-ords". We almost peed ourselves.

 Kelsey is also jsut starting to use her imagination - although its funniest because its still "real" play - just imitating things that she's seen or have happened to her. So, yesterday, she was playing with her dolls. She lined them all up on the couch and first htey were crying, so she was breastfeeding them. Then they had to go to sleep.. but then.. then, they all started being "naughty". So, one by one she'd pick them up and tell them they were being naughty and needed a smack! Then she'd take them to her room and have a "chat" with them. "I told you no and you were naughty. You have a bad attitude so you need to sit here until I come back" Then she'd step out of the door and go back in and say, "now say sorry and give me a hug and a kiss". I was killing myself laughing. Maybe something is getting through to her!

Morgan.
Obviously, Morgan doesn't say cute things.. but she's still so funny. She's started this thing at the table where after I pray for the food, normally she's just supposed to say Amen. But she started to notice that we sometimes let Kelsey say her own prayer, and I guess she thought that looked pretty easy, becuase now, whenever I (or Marco) am finished praying she first looks at us, then puts her chin on her chest and mumbles to herself, then throws her arms in the air and yells "AMEN". So funny.

You know how when kids are learning how to walk they hold their hands up in the air - almost as if they're balancing themselves. Well, that's how Morgan walks - most of the time. The other day I caught her walking with her hands behind her back , strutting around the room like she owned the place and was overseeing everything. She has that air about her. We've also caught her walking around with her hands on her hips.. so cute!

Marco started teaching Morgan to say "Yes Dad/Mom" but since she doesn't say enough words, she just needs to nod.  So now whenever he is (or I am) telling her off, she's nodding her head like a little bobble head. makes it quite hard to keep a straight face!

Trio of Terrific Tools!

Occassionally, I have brilliant ideas that make my life - and occasionally, the life of my family - easier.  Most of the time, though, I just copy my ideas from other people!! Here's my latest three ideas we've incorporated into our home.  

Countdown Chain   

  This idea is TOTALLY not mine. I got it from here: Children's Learning Activites: Countdown Chain . But, its totally cool. We're heading "home" to Canada in a few weeks and despite my best efforts NOT to tell Kelsey about the trip until we were in the air - Grandma's have a way of letting the cat out of the bag. So, here we sit with a 2 year old who everytime we put our shoes on, says, "Is it time to got o Canada now?"

Funny side story: We were getting ready to go for a walk yesterday when she (kelsey) comes up to me and says, "Mommy, I'm just going for a little walk to Canada now. I'm going to give Grandpa a big hug and a kiss. But I'll be right back.". Yep.. so something had to be done. So, this chain was the answer. I cut up bits of paper in varying colours. Wrote the necessity things on a few - Go to Canada, Preschool and Church and while Kelsey was decorating those ones, we talked about diffferent things she could do on the other bits of paper - things like, Vaccuum bedroom, make bed, Hug Daddy, Skype Grandma & Grandpa etc. So, as she decorated the bits of paper, I wrote the words and then stapled them together to form a HUGE chain.
And now, every moring at breakfast, we take off a chain and that's Kelsey's "task" for the day. Unfortunately, every day when I ask her to "read"  her paper, she insists it says, "Go to Canada"!! Soon, Kelsey.. soon!!

Meal Plan 

We've been meal plannign for a while now. The worst thing for me is standing in the kitchen at 4 or 5 pm and wondering what to make for dinner. I also hate making grocery lsits, having to go to the store for just one thing.. so.. to combat all those things, and to try to save money, we meal plan. I've always done a weekly plan. But its hte worst 1/2 hour of my week. Trying to come up with 7 meals that I want to eat at a time when I'm not hungry or motivated. Then, I had a brain wave. I thought, what if I had 4 weeks of menu's planned. I still shop once a week, and it was planned in such a way that I could still tweak the menu and have flexibility. Could it work?   So, I sat down and wrote down all my meals that I make. All the meals we like etc. At first I could only come up with about 14. That sucks -s o I checked with the hubby. He haed a few more ideas. Is tarted to throw them into a 4 weekly plan and suddenly, I realised I was done. I had done it. I had created a 4 weekly meal roster with flexibiltiy, but structure. There are a few repeats - we have always had pizza night once a week - however, even our pizza night can have variations. Firstly, its not always on the same night, sometiem we do mini pizzas, big ones, make our own crust, buy a crust, buy a hwole pizza, do a calzone etc. So many variations. 

Anyway, here it is for you:

Meal Plan

Just so you know, MPV stands for meat, potato, vegies. Talk about the ability to have variations!! 

Anyway, so far its working pretty good. Its not great for saving money, as you can't always predict what's goign to be on sale, however, if I know that next week we need a roast chicken, and its on sale this week, I can buy it early and freeze it. But, there are a few glitches to work out in that department - either that or I need a bigger freezer!!  

Magnetic "Schedule"

Finally, my last brilliant idea (or this week, anyway). I'm a sucker for structure. I love the idea of having a schedule for my kids, my cleaning, my work etc. I love routines, lists etc. I love knowing what I'm going to be doing, and I love knowing that if I do this thing now, I'll have time to do that other thing later. 

However, all that being said, I'm HORRIBLE at sticking to a schedule. I've made up so many schedules for me and my kids and stuck to none of them. They just don't work. My excuse is always that Marco's work roster interrupts my schedule, but, they jsut don't work. 

But now, I have a 2 year old. And there's something peculiar about 2 year olds - maybe especially first born two year olds - but they really like to have routine. They too, like to know what's coming next, what's going to be happening etc.  So.. I've done it.. I'm come up with somethig that gives my 2 year old the knowledge to know what's coming next, but me the flexibility to live our life. 

So.. here it is.. my magnetic schedule!

I made up all these little cards with the different things we do all day: One for each of the meals, tv time, Bible time, story time, nap time, roomtime, art time etc. I also made up some cards for different places we go to: Grocery store, Preschool, Church, Park etc. And on the back of each one, I stuck a peice of magnetic tape (which I had tonnes of lying around) I was going to do it with velcro, but I had the magnetic tape, and velcro dots were expensive! I painted a board from our shed, and my dear husband cut up some strips of metal and stuck it to the board so the magnets would have something to stick to.  Now, every morning I put up a few cards and go throught eh morning with Kelsey. First we'll have breakfast, then we'll watch tv, then we'll do some chores. Then we can do it again in the afternoon. I didn't want to have to do a whole day at a time, so I decided to only make the board big enough for a couple hours at a time. Kelsey absolutely loves it. The other day she says to me, "Mom, where's the black stroller?" I said, "Its over there. " She says, "NO, mom, the stroller on the card". She wanted to go out for a walk and wanted me to put up the "Walk" card first!! Isn't that cute?

Anyway.. that's it. These idea may be boring and stupid to you..but they've made a HUGE difference for me this month.

Morgan - 15 months

Well.. Morgan is 15 months old now. OK.. has been for a week or 2. She's fully done for her shots (until she's 4) and now that she's walking 90% of the time, i think its compeltely official - she's a Toddler!
We had her 15 mo plunket visit the other day (Plunket is the well-child nurses. You go there - or they come to you - at set intervals to make sure you don't have any questions and to make sure your kid is growing and developing normally). Anyway, she has 7 teeth (4 top, 3 bottom), with at least 2 more nearly through. She is 76 cm tall and weighs 10.24 kg. Hard to believe she started off at 3.5 kg and 51 cm!

Kelsey was along as well.. and thought it looked like fun to get weighed and measured - So, at 31 months she's 13.8 kg and 92 cm. At Kels's 15 mo check she was 10.12 kg and 77 cm - I guess they're WAY more similar than I thought. For some reason I think Morgan is a lot taller and skinnier than Kelsey.. but I guess not.
Morgan is also learning to talk. yesterday she said "Kelsey" for the first time. That was exciting. She loves saying, "Mommy" and "Bye bye" and she's said, "Amen" for ages.  but she refuses to say, "daddy" or "Gramma". She's quite stubborn!!

She also does whatever her big sister does. Lately its feels like I have twins around here. Whatever one does, the other imemdiately copies. One takes off her socks, the other socks are close behind. One starts screaming or shaking her head "no" - the other thinks its a fun game and is close behind. We certainly try to encourage their getting along, but some days.. well... they're a little too close for comfort!!