Merry Christmas!

Not surprisingly, the spoiled children did pretty well for themselves today. Apparently Reagan was very concerned that Santa wouldn't bring her everything she wanted because she might not have been good enough, but it wasn't really a problem. We had a great day with all our visitors, and now I'm so full I can't move.

Here are a couple pictures from the day.





And thanks to Mario, it is now easier to get to our blog, photos, and videos. He purchased euregirls.com for us for Christmas, so you can use:

www.euregirls.com for this blog
photos.euregirls.com for my flickr photos (more Christmas pictures are there)
videos.euregirls.com for our youtube videos

Exciting!

Wii Fun

Note to myself and everyone who reads my blog and may be here over the next few days:

We seriously need to take pictures and video of some of the fun that we can have on the Wii together, such as:

-We already know that Rock Band is the most fun. And downloadable songs are supposed to be available for the Wii really soon! And it's possible to capture the most awesome expressions when we're playing.

-Disney Sing It is a great game. For some reason (mostly because I can't sing), I was very hesitant to do any singing on Rock Band, especially when there were actual good singers in the house. But Reagan and I aren't afraid to duet on some great songs on this game.

-Wii Fit is going to be the secret answer to me getting in shape. Of course, I'll probably be over it by the end of the week, but based on my 2 days of Wii Fit experience, I love it. And I want to unlock everything! While it has kindly informed me that I'm overweight and need to lose some, it has also correctly informed Jenny that she is a healthy weight. And all the balance games are fun to watch. Apparently Jenny and I are both very unbalanced and unable to avoid a soccer shoe in the face in the soccer ball game.

It's going to be so much fun over Christmas! I didn't even mention Dance Dance Revolution 2 that I haven't opened yet!

Performances

Both girls have had performances at gymnastics and dance over the last few weeks. And obviously (from my other post) I spent a lot of time uploading videos to youtube last night!

First, Jenny's gymnastics performances.

Floor:








Bars:




Balance Beam (this one's from far away, but you can still see her):






And Reagan's Christmas performances (note that Reagan has decided she doesn't want anyone to see her back, so she always has to wear a shirt over her leotards):

Video Time

These are a few videos that Jenny recorded over Thanksgiving. Mostly things that don't really need to be shared with the world, but that will amuse some people. Keep in mind that these were all taken before Charlotte cleaned the house.

War

I just got home from some shopping, and I came in to find Lee and Jenny playing War (the card game). I've been working on dinner, and I just told them that it was about ready, so they shouldn't play another game.

Jenny: Can we play more later?
Lee: Probably after dinner.
Jenny: Then I'm gonna kick your ass.
Lee: What?
Me: What did she say?
Lee: She said she's gonna kick my ass.
Jenny: I meant to say B-U-T!
Which causes us to laugh. Followed by:
Jenny: I meant to say B-U-T not A-S-S-S.

So now we're pretty sure she probably uses that kind of language with her friends.

Name Change

I did a terrible job of blogging while we had family visiting (and by visiting, I mean being awesome and helping out), so I'm just going to get right back to it.

Today, in the car on the way home, the girls and I had the following discussion:

Reagan: Mama (in a really whiny voice), I wish we could just change my name.
Me: Why? What kind of name do you want?
Reagan: I just don't want to have a Disney name anymore.
Me: Okay, what kind of name do you want?
Reagan: I wish I could just be named Selena.
Jenny: Oooh! Can we change my name to Jennifer?
Me: Why do you want to be named Jennifer?
Jenny: I just love the name Jennifer.
Reagan: I just wish I could be Selena.

Charlotte took lots of great pictures for us this weekend, and I used some for Christmas cards. I was going to go through and pick out my favorites to post here, but I think I'll just do it later!

Note from Jenny

Jenny asked me to give her all the phone numbers of our family members and her friends the other night. I told her no because I caught her on the phone twice without asking just a couple days before. The following note was her response:

I feel like you Don't trust me.
besides it is to late to be calling people.
I just needed to say how I felt.
if I told you my self I thought you would get mad at me.

I informed her that I in fact don't trust her because she repeatedly does things I tell her not to do.

Officer Thing

Jenny had a lesson about drugs at school today. She said that she learned there are three bad drugs you should never do. The first is alcohol, and you can't drink it until you're 21. She shouldn't smell it or touch it or drink it before then. The second, according to her, is tangerines. I asked her to explain what tangerines were so that I could try to figure out what she actually meant, and we managed to figure out that she meant tobacco. The final one was magic, or marijuana, upon further explanation. You're never supposed to eat or drink marijuana. It's against the law.

When she got home, she was explaining all this to Lee. He told her to come smell his drink so that she would know that it smelled bad, and she said that she wasn't allowed to because Officer Thing said so.

I'm uploading some pictures to flickr right now. Mostly funny pictures that Jenny took this evening. There are some winners!

Diary!

So Jenny just brought me the diary she started a couple weeks ago and told me I could read her secrets. I've interpreted that as permission to share her secrets with the world. By the world, I mean whoever reads my blog.

Most boys are cute to me.
I am in love with some one.
It is a boy.
His name is bradon.
I love Bradon. It might
brake Emmas heart to
no that her best friend
loves bradon because
she has a crush
on him to. I kind of
fill gilty. I
hope he is not like
Calab.
If you want to no how I
no he has a crush on
Emma. I will tell you
why. And here it is.
He is all ways
staring at her. One
time I thought he
was staring at me
but Emma sits beside me
and that is a hole nother
story and he is all ways
chacing us out side.
One time boys
had to pick a girl
as there partner. He
picked Emma Caleb
picked me. Caleb
liking me is a hole
nother story. Emma
kind of of got in baerist.
Laurel had told
every boddy at the
lunch table. I fill
bad for her even tho
I am kind of jellous
that she has a crush on
bradon to. any ways
she is my
best friend yes she is!!!!!!!

The next page is a drawing of a boy and girl holding hands and looking at each other with a caption that says "Jenny and bradon kiss. I would love that."

I just don't know what else to say.

New Table Topics

I tried to pick out some that we haven't done before, so here goes.

Q: What's the first thing you'd do if you were president?
Jenny: I would make it so on the fifth day of the fifth month, we always celebrate with a party and fireworks.
Reagan: I would want to make it so that everyone had to take food in the family room and make a big mess.
Katie: Make everyone read Twilight.

Q: If you could rename yourself, what new name would you choose?
Jenny: Jennifer!
Lee: Luke Skywalker.
Reagan: Selena.

Q: What one goal do you hope to accomplish this year?
Jenny: I hope to make it to Level 2 in gymnastics, and I hope to get good at playing tennis. And good grades in school of course.
Reagan: Stay home and play with my dolls.

Q: What would you save first if your house caught on fire?
Jenny: My family and my pets. (Lee added the rule not people or animals because they're obvious.) The computer. I can't live without my computer.
Reagan: Food and lots of dolls and our whole kitchen.

Q: What would be on the menu for your ultimate birthday dinner?
Jenny: Cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza, and bacon pizza. Macaroni and cheese. Chocolate milk or purple cow milk. Which is absolutely good. And cake.
Reagan: Cake, pizza, and um, hmm, a hamburger. And beans. And some potatoes and one little Sprite. For my drink.

Q: What new person would you like to have as a friend?
Jenny: Lilypad. There's a girl in my class named Lilypad. Her name is Lilibeth, but for some reason Mrs. Elmore told us to call her Lilypad. She didn't have any friends, and I wanted to be her friend.
Lee: Barack Obama.
Reagan: Zoe from my school.
Me: Stephenie Meyer (because Lee wouldn't let me pick Edward because he's not real).

Q: If you were leaving your state, which part of the country would you want to move to?
Jenny: Mississippi.
Reagan: In America. Beach.

Q: Should kids be forced to try foods?
Jenny: Yes, because if you won't try them, how do you know you won't like them?
Reagan: Cake.

Q: What would you do for fun if you had to give up tv and electronic games?
Jenny: I'd do my homework. I'd read and study and study my spelling words every day and go jump on the trampoline with Brittan. And in the summer I'd swim in the pool.
Reagan: I would rather swim in a pool or jump on the trampoline with Brittan. Swimming in the pool sounds like I'm going to drown, so I'll just pick trampoline.

Q: What's the nicest thing you've ever done for someone?
Jenny: I can't tell you that. It's a secret. You'll have to wait for that for Christmas.
Reagan: Get them a present and share cake with them.

Q: What three things would you like to change in the world?
Jenny: I'd like to change it so that when you go to bed, you have to use mouthwash and you have to brush your teeth. And the second thing would be is that you had to make sure you had breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, dessert. And the third thing I would do, if you get a money, your parents have to give you ten more dollars.
Reagan: The winter to sunny. Move the toybox up into my room. Have my room so clean and have it painted pink and blue and purple.

Q: If you could would you rather live in a boat or a treehouse?
Jenny: I'd rather live in a treehouse only because if I live in a boat, one day, it's gonna sink. And you can make your treehouse as big as you want. It can have a bed and everything. It can have food.
Reagan: Okay, so everybody's gonna have a treehouse. Oh my god, like everybody's picking treehouse. If you picked a boat, you would drown.

Q: In what language would you like to be fluent?
Jenny: English and Spanish.
Reagan: Umm, I would pick, umm, I would like to pick like, umm, I would like speak Anglidge. Now let me find my way out of here so I can go potty.

Q: What would your life be like if you had all of your wishes granted?
Jenny: I'd be a pop star!
Reagan: My life would be like a pig.

Q: Which character trait of your brother's and sister's would you like to have?
Jenny: I'd like to have the couragement to sometimes just...I can't answer that, I just don't know.
Lee: I wish I was awesome like Justin.
Reagan: Fun gym.

Q: What's your favorite ride at an amusement park?
Jenny: That is so easy. Roller coaster.
Reagan: Ferris wheel.

Q: If you could have any view from your bedroom window what would it be?
Jenny: Oh, that is easy. Carowinds.
Reagan: Hmm. An island, a sparkly island with lots of hearts and lots of princesses and lots of elephants and lots of friendly friends.
Lee: That was nuts.
Reagan: I'm sorry. That was something meant for girls.

Q: How did your family decide to settle in your hometown?
Jenny: I wasn't alive for this, so you two have to answer that.


And one funny from this morning that I don't want to forget:

In the car, Jenny was filling out a High School Musical book that was telling her future. One of the questions was whether or not she would have talent. The first response she uncovered was Nope. She decided to do another one because, "I already have talent, so why would I lose it? That doesn't make sense." She did three before she finally got Yes.

Can't a Girl...

Here's a phrase everyone may want to add to their regular lines. Any time you're criticized for doing something, try Jenny's approach:

-Can't a girl just not want to eat this dinner?
-Can't a girl just want to throw her jacket up in the air?
-Can't a girl just want to eat more candy?

I'm not sure why she's started this, but I shared it with Charlotte a little while ago, and I know she wants to try it, so I thought everyone else might want to.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time trick-or-treating (most of us). Brittan, Elise, and Aidan joined us. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the night. There are a lot more on my flickr site.









Reagan did start complaining once we had finished our street. She said, "You know what's more fun than Halloween? Staying in my house." So I went ahead and brought her home to sit on the couch and eat her candy before I took the other kids back out.

Notes from Jenny

A couple nights ago, the girls snuck into our room to sleep on the floor after we went to sleep. This is pretty much their goal every night, but sometimes they fall asleep before us so they miss their chance.

Last night, they were working on their plan to sneak in, which mostly involved coming into our room approximately every two minutes to lay down on the floor. Their sneaking is really loud walking into the room while giggling, so it's not exactly stealthy. We asked why they want to sleep on our floor.

Reagan's response: "Because it's so warm and comfty there." (not true; it's freezing cold)
Jenny's response: "Because it just feels right."

Anyway, after all of that, I got rid of them repeatedly last night, and then eventually came downstairs for a little while to play on the computer and watch TV like usual. They kept coming down to ask me things, and I kept yelling at them to go back upstairs and go back to sleep. So they finally decided to listen and stay upstairs.

When I went up to bed, I found the following three notes on my pillow:

Note #1
reagan threw up on
the tish you.
I think she is sick.
I hope yoe fill
better tommarow.
from,
Jenny,reaagn

Note #2
We are sorry for disobaying yoe.
by coming down when you said no!
Sorry!

Note #3
We're sorry!
Love,
Jenny, reagan

I checked on the girls. Jenny was asleep. Reagan did not appear to have a tissue full of throw-up, and she seemed fine. So I went to bed and went to sleep.

Happy Birthday, Uncle Mario!

Everyone can just pretend this post made it on here yesterday like it should have for Mario's actual birthday.

So Mario had a birthday wish to have a video of the girls singing Dayman from It's Always Sunny for him. They know it, since Lee sings it all the time, so I thought we'd be able to manage.

Here's the official happy birthday version:






And a couple outtakes. The first is the first attempt, when Lee had to help them out a little. And the second is Jenny once she improved some.





So happy birthday, brother. Hope you enjoy!



And everyone else, if you don't watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and therefore don't know where this is coming from, you should.

Election

Jenny has been so funny about the election. First of all, she's been upset for months now that we will be voting for Obama when all her friends say he's a terrible person. Now, she's on board with Obama, but she gets really upset with all her friends who disagree. This week, Emma (whoever she is) told Jenny that Obama hates Christians, and he's a liar, so why would Jenny vote for him.

Plus, she's really into the yard signs for McCain or Obama. She's concerned that Obama's not going to win because there are so many more McCain signs than Obama signs. I explained that everyone in the country votes (well, not really everyone, but you know what I mean), and what matters is who wins the entire country, not just who wins this city, or this state. I don't think she gets it though.

On the way home, we passed an Obama sign, and Jenny said, "There's an Obama sign! Person with the Obama sign, you rock!" And Reagan said she's sick of all these McKayla signs. I don't think McKayla's going to win.

Halloween Preview

We went and got the girls Halloween costumes this weekend. They didn't quite stick with the vote (mostly because I didn't order the costumes, so we were choosing from what was in the Halloween store).

Jenny will be what the package calls Charm School Witch, but what Jenny thinks is Hermione from Harry Potter.


And Reagan decided to be a cheerleader, even though I tried very hard to convince her to be a vampire.


We went to Olive Garden for dinner yesterday, and I had so many great conversations with Reagan that I can't remember, but I do remember a long discussion about how "natural" Olive Garden is. I asked Reagan what she meant, and she went on forever about how princes and princesses would never go somewhere like that because it's so crowded and noisy, you know, "natural." Who knows what she actually means.

And here are a couple pictures of Jenny at tennis today. This was her second week, and she's really enjoying it (and looking stylish while she plays).

Concerns

Jenny had some concerns to discuss with us this evening.

Jenny: When you guys get divorced, which one of us is going to live with each of you?

Lee: You think you would be split up?

Jenny: Like Parent Trap.

Lee: I'm not going to answer that because mommy and I aren't going to get divorced.

Jenny: I'm just saying that one day you're going to meet a cute girl, and mommy's going to meet a cute guy. Not now, but in like a couple years.

I believe this conversation started because I was teasing Lee about his girlfriend (who's obviously not real). Jenny said, "Daddy, you're treating on mommy!"

I said, "Yeah, how could you be treating?"

Jenny did correct herself - she said she meant cheating.

Lee let her know that we don't have any plans to split up so she moved on for now.

Fair

We just got back from the fair. It was fun, as usual.

On the way home, we were talking about what a cool fair it is, and how big it is. I said that I didn't have a fair that big close to me when I was growing up.

Jenny said: "Aren't you glad you didn't die when you were little? Cause then I wouldn't be here. And you never would have seen this fair."

Yes, I am glad.

Also, I hope you notice Jenny's cool Nick Jonas t-shirt.

Reagan

has to lose the bathroom.

Why is that the only thing she can't say right? Is she ever going to?

Wild Children

After I picked up the girls from daycare today, we headed to Chick-fil-a to pick up dinner. I was apparently a little slow to go at the stop light we were sitting at, so someone honked. Jenny asked what that sound was, and I said, "Just someone rude honking at me." I didn't really care, but Jenny turned and yelled, "What's wrong with you? Can't you see she's just a mom trying to take care of two wild children?"

Another funny one from last night. We went to Olive Garden to celebrate the first day at their new daycare (since Jenny was a little sad about it). At one point, Reagan had to go to the bathroom, so I took her (Jenny had of course already been on her own twice at that point). On the way back to her table, she made me feel really good by saying, "Her comes our fat selves." Maybe she was just talking about her.

And finally, one last little treat. Jenny's planner has a section where you are supposed to list all the words you can make out of a particular word. This week's word: sandwich.

Jenny's responses:
wich
and
sand (with the s written backwards)
ich
dwich
an

And that made me think of the real last thing I have to say tonight. This weekend the girls made Lee and I several "presents" that we didn't want. And then they decided they would be our presents, so they put Christmas gift tags across their mouths and came to present themselves. Reagan's tag said To Katie From Reagan, so it was fine.

Jenny's tag: To Jee From Lenny. Because she has so much trouble with writing her J's and L's backwards! It's so annoying! But it was funny - Lee saved it.

Table Topics Are Back!

Jenny just found the box of Table Topics again, so here we go.

Question: How is your family different from other families and does it bother you?
Jenny: Some families have five people, but ours just has four. And ours has twins.
Lee: You and Reagan aren't twins.
Jenny: But we mostly look the same except for the age and my hair is curly.
Reagan: And our feet.

Question: What do you like best and least about your life?
Jenny: The best is my wonderful family. The least thing is that when I get in bed, Reagan kicks me off the bed. That's the thing I hate.
Reagan: I like my daddy and my mommy and my sissy. I don't like the way Uncle Marcus treats me. Cause he calls me names. I hate it.

Question: Which gift would you prefer: a toy you've wanted or a vacation with your family?
Jenny: I've always wanted to go to Hawaii.
Reagan: A toy. A pony.

Question: Which TV show would you pick to live inside for a week?
Jenny: I'd probably pick to be Hannah Montana, and I could sing and dance all night.
Reagan: The Suite Life on Deck.

Question: What one thing would you like to know about the future?
Jenny: I would like to know if I'm going to become a tennis player.
Reagan: That My Little Pony is a movie.

Question: Would you rather have no rules to live by or rules to live by?
Jenny: I'd rather have rules because if someone comes in here, I want to know rules to do. If someone comes in, the rule might be to stay in your room and lock all the doors.
Reagan: I think I would need rules if I had my own house just in case creepy things come in like spiders. You know, crabs.

Question: What is your favorite summertime activity?
Jenny: Going to the beach and visiting my cousin Lucas.
Reagan: Watching My Little Pony.

Question: What's the best birthday party you can imagine?
Jenny: In this house and it was all colored pink with purple polka dots and blue stripes and all the girls in the entire world came and bought me the best birthday presents.
Reagan: I imagine it like being a My Little Pony movie. I mean being a Cinderella birthday party.

Question: If you were leaving your state, which part of the country would you want to move to?
Jenny: I'd stay on this side of the country and probably move to New York and hang out with Marcus and Justin and Nicole and Catherine.
Reagan: I would move to Mississippi with Jo-Jo. I miss Jo-Jo.

Question: What would be on the menu for your ultimate birthday dinner?
Jenny: I'd probably go to Jersey Mike's and get some sandwiches, and then go to Olive Garden and get some mints, and then go to Papa John's and pick up some pizza.
Reagan: Applebee's.

Question: What was your favorite family vacation?
Jenny: Going to the comic convention.
Reagan: Going to Hawaii. (where we haven't gone)

Question: What would you save first if your house caught fire?
Jenny: First I would make sure all the pets were outside. And then all the babies and then all the kids and then all the grownups. I'd make sure I did not lose my Nick Jonas shirt. That's not going to waste in fire. And I'd have to get the library books so we can get some more. And the keys so we can drive and go to the Y. And my comics.
Reagan has departed at this point.

Question: What one goal do you hope accomplish this year?
Jenny: This year I hope to get gooder at playing tennis. I'm hoping to start winning a few games in tennis this year.

Question: How was your grandparents' childhood different from yours?
Jenny: I can't answer that. I don't know.

Question: What would you like to change about your school?
Jenny: I wouldn't want to change anything about my school. School makes you smart, it makes you talented, so I wouldn't change it.

Question: What do you most worry about?
Jenny: I most worry about my family because your family, if they're being hurt, you might want to worry about that.

Question: What would you most like to do for someone else if you had the money and time?
Jenny: I'd ask them if they could do something for me and I'd help them. I'd make them give me ten bucks, and I've them some money.

Question: If you could rename yourself, what new name would you choose?
Jenny: Jennifer.

Question: Would you travel into space if you could?
Jenny: No. You could probably die there. I can't relax with that big thing on my head.

Question: When are old things better than new things?
Jenny: Old things are never better. Well, they are better. Old things, well like, you can actually say old things are like something you've had for a long time and you take care of them.

Question: When you receive two invitations at the same time, how do you decide which one to accept?
Jenny: Most of my invitations, they'll like tell me where it is, and if I'm like hurt, my finger, and it's bowling, then I wouldn't. At that moment, depending on what I feel like doing that day, then that's what I would do.

Question: What's the first thing you'd do if you were president?
Jenny: I'd make it that when you become president, you have to make one of your family members your assistant.

Question: What would be the positives and negatives of having a new baby in your family?
Jenny: You'd never get sleep because it'd be crying all night. Another thing I'd hate about it is you'd always have to be babysitting and you'd never have time to hang out with your friends because it's too cute to go away from. The good is that it will always hang out with you and it has cute little fingers.

Question: What's the best thing and worst thing about your position in the family birth order?
Jenny: Well, the thing I would like is to be the littlest so I wouldn't always have to be the one doing homework.

Question: If you wanted to earn $50.00, how would you like to do it?
Jenny: I would do it by playing tennis.

Question: What would you like to be able to draw really well?
Jenny: I would like to be able to draw my whole family really well. I would like to draw a picture of this whole family and of each one of us looking exactly alike.

Question: Would you choose to be the worst player on a winning team or the best player on a losing team?
Jenny: Well, you know what the best thing is about being the worst player on the winning team? Because one day you might do something good. I am not a loser, I'm a champion. I would be the best player on the losing team.

Question: When was it most difficult to persevere when you wanted to quit?
Jenny: That probably happened, you know, while I was playing soccer. It got tiring, and I wanted to sit out all the time, and I wanted to quit the game and stuff.

Question: In what way are you generous?
Jenny: I'm generous because last Christmas I took a few toys and I made presents for some people.

Question: How did your family decide to settle in your hometown?
Jenny: I can't really do that because I wasn't born.

Question: What new person would you like to have as a friend?
Jenny: I would like another baby, a little baby boy to be my friend.

Question: How did your parents meet and fall in love?
Jenny: Oh, I don't really know that.
Lee: You don't know how your parents met?
Jenny: Oh, I need to go watch this. It's the new Suite Life on Deck.

And she's gone and doesn't care about her parents' love story.

Accents and Other Zaniness (I don't think that's a word, but I use crazy too much)

The girls have had a couple new or substitute teachers at daycare the last couple weeks. When I got there to pick them up today, Jenny said, "There she is - ask my mom!" The Jenny told me that her teacher didn't believe they were born here because they have British accents. I told her that they were in fact born at the hospital in Winston-Salem, and they just sometimes have strange ways that they talk. Jenny talked about her accent all the way home.

Last week, Reagan's teacher told me what a trip she was when I got there to pick them up. Reagan told her the following things:

-Her mom is named Katie, and she's 40.
-Her dad is named Lee, and he's 30.
-Her dad's dad died.

Her teacher noticed that I didn't seem to be 40, and then told me how sorry she was to hear about my husband's dad. I told her we were doing okay since that happened 15 years ago. And then Jenny yelled at Reagan and told her they weren't supposed to talk about things like that.

Reagan is suddenly obsessed with her dead grandfather for some reason, and she calls him Brankley. Yesterday, she sat with me looking at pictures on Charlotte's flickr site, and telling me how much she misses Brankley. I said, "Really? Cause you didn't know him?" And she said, "Well, he is my granddaddy. Of course I miss him." Sweet, but odd.

Halloween Vote

We need a little help picking Halloween costumes for the girls, so we've decided to put it up to a vote. Let us know what you think!

For Jenny:

Choice #1 - Gabriella (from High School Musical)


Choice #2 - Glamour Witch


Choice #3 - High School Musical Cheerleader


Choice #4 - Pink Wonder Woman


Choice #5 - Purple Rhinestone Gown


Choice #6 - Sharpay in Golf Outfit (from High School Musical 2)

And for Reagan:

Choice #1 - Gabriella's twin, Gabriella


Choice #2 - Flower Girl


Choice #3 - Gothic Vampira


Choice #4 - Prima Ballerina


Choice #5 - Sharpay


Choice #6 - Supergirl

There you have it! Comments required!

New Class

Here are a couple pictures from the first night of dance and gymnastics this week - Reagan's starting dance, and Jenny's continuing with Level 1 gymnastics.

Reagan's teacher was very impressed by her brain - she apparently was the one who remembered everything taught in class. We'll see how next week goes.



Jenny also made Lee very proud this week by reading a kid's encyclopedia-type book, so that she could study about the presidents and be ready for Presidents Day.

The Sky

This evening's car conversation:

Reagan: I can't wait until I'm as old as Jenny.
Lee: You'll never be as old as Jenny. She's older than you.
Reagan: But I'll be as old as Brittan when I turn 5.
Me: For a few months.
Lee: Like mommy's always younger than me.
Reagan: No. You're older than mommy.
Jenny: Reagan, that's the same thing.
Reagan: But the sky is bigger than everything.

So take that. Way to win that argument.

First Day of School

Jenny's first day of second grade was yesterday. She had a great day, and seems excited about the new school year. Here are the highlights:

-Her worst enemy, Lorelai, is not in her class.
-She thought the boy who kissed her last year, Caleb, was in her class, so she was a little worried, but she found out yesterday that it's a different Caleb.
-She likes her teacher, Mrs. Hale (who she continues to call Mrs. Hell - even though I keep trying to correct her).
-There is a student teacher from Wake in her class who's a cheerleader, so she's hoping to learn some cheers in class.
-She's already made a new friend named Emma. And Emma came to her to ask to be her friend. Jenny didn't even have to ask.
-She got a compliment from her teacher on the first day for being good in the hallway - that's exactly how Jenny put it to me - she couldn't believe she got a compliment on the first day.

And making her first day even better, she pooped out the marble that I forgot she had swallowed Sunday night! She came and told me after she was in bed (of course) on Sunday that she had swallowed a marble. I told her that there really wasn't anything I could do about it at that point. She was playing at Brittan's last night and went in to use the bathroom. She came out and told me she had to tell me something, and then she whispered, "I pooped out the marble." It was hilarious, especially because I'd totally forgotten that she swallowed one!

Wet Bed

This morning when I woke up, I found the girls asleep on our bedroom floor, at the foot of our bed. It's a really stupid place to sleep because it's right where Lee has to walk through from his side of the bed, so he's pretty certain he probably stepped on them three times last night, but they don't care. Anyway, I asked them why they were sleeping in our room. It's not exactly rare, but I was curious what prompted last night's visit.

Jenny - Because of our bed.
Me - What about your bed?
Jenny - It was wet.
Me - Why was your bed wet?
Jenny - Because Reagan poured water on it.
Me - Why?
Reagan - I didn't pour it. It just spilled.

Why do my children do things like this?

And one other quick one from earlier in the week I forgot to post. Reagan and I were running out somewhere, and she said she wanted to put on her seatbelt herself. I was waiting for her, and asked if she needed any help.

Reagan - No, this is how I rock.
Me - You mean, this is how you roll?
Reagan - No, I mean rock.

I just thought it was cute.

And for anyone interested, I just finished reading the Twilight Series (the Stephenie Meyer teen vampire romance) that people were all crazy about. I saw a lot of people had a very strong (negative) reaction to the last book when it came out a couple weeks ago, and I decided to see what it was all about. Anyway, I really enjoyed the whole series, even though I didn't think it would be my kind of thing. Now I'm trying to convince Lee we should read it together, but he's not really going for it.

Graves

You would think this conversation would be one I'd have with Reagan, but it was actually Jenny for a change. She and I were headed out to the store yesterday and had the following conversation (or close enough to this).

Jenny - What's under graves?
Me - Dead bodies.
Jenny - Souls or just bodies?
Me - Just bodies.
(Pause for a couple minutes while we just innocently listen to music.)
Jenny - So she just died with a paper towel in her hand?
Me - What are you talking about?
Jenny - Grandmommie. She just died with a paper towel in her hand?
Me - Seriously, what are you talking about?
Jenny - I remember Grandmommie had a paper towel in her hand at her funeral.
Me - Oh. It was probably a handkerchief or something.
Jenny - So she died that way?
Me - No. Sometimes when people die, their relatives want to have a chance for everyone to say goodbye to them, so they take their bodies to a funeral home where they fix them up to make them look as good as they can and put them in the clothes their family picked out. The handkerchief must have been part of what Uncle Taze picked out.
Jenny - Ooooh. I thought she was just walking and fell down and died with that in her hand.

One other little note from the weekend. We went to Build-A-Bear yesterday with Brittan for her birthday. After you make your bear, you sit at a computer to make a certificate with the bear's information, and you give the bear a name. Jenny went first and named hers Angel. Then it was Reagan's turn. I asked her what she wanted to name her bear, and her immediate response was "Chickenhead." I vetoed that one, and after also rejecting Angel since that was the same name Jenny gave hers, we settled on Katie.

Just so you know

I think it's going to be hard for me to decide if it's more fun to play Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero on the Wii. I think I'm better at Dance Dance Revolution. But I want to get more songs available in our Guitar Hero game. And I also want to get more songs unlocked on Dance Dance Revolution. Really today was my first day on Guitar Hero, but I think those games are somewhat similar.

I know this post is totally unrelated to the children, but I thought I'd share anyway. And it is sort of related because, as Jenny points out fairly, often, it is her Wii, not mine. But Jenny doesn't come home from Hilton Head until tomorrow, so it's mine for now! Though Reagan did attempt Guitar Hero, and I wouldn't say she was a Hero.

Insanity

So Jenny's headed to Hilton Head for a visit, and all of our fun company is gone, so it's done to me, Reagan and Lee. We're sitting here eating and talking, and I realized I needed to attempt to transcribe some of this. I've already missed so much of what's been said, but I'll try to re-create some.

We spent awhile talking about how she wants to go see Dark Knight, but we don't think that would be okay for her. She says she still wants to see it, and she would hide during the bad parts when the Joker eats people because he eats so many people. We explained that he doesn't really eat people, but she doesn't believe us. So she moved on to say that if Wilson went with us, he would be scared that the joker would eat him, but Wilson would eat the Joker.

Just now, randomly, Reagan asked, "Don't you wish that this house got smashed and came back up? I don't wish that, I'm just asking if you do."

Reagan: Mama, what's your name?
Me: Katie.
Reagan: I meant your real name.
Me: That is my real name.
Reagan: No, that's your middle name. Your real name is Mommy. And Daddy's name is Daddy.

(picture stolen from Charlotte)

We're Back!

We took a quick weekend trip to Hilton Head to celebrate Dad's 60th birthday. I just posted new pictures on Flickr. We brought Jenny and Reagan's friend, Brittan, with us, and they all had a great time.

Here's the funniest Reagan story from the weekend. She and Mom went to the bathroom at the beach this morning, and they were gone quite a while. When Mom got back, I asked what went on while they were gone. Here's what I remember from Mom's story of the conversation.

Reagan: You know what I wish?
Mom: What?
Reagan: I wish you were my mom and Pi-pa was my dad.
Mom: What about your mom and dad?
Reagan: Hmmm. You know what I wish?
Mom: What?
Reagan: My mom can marry you, and my dad can marry Pi-pa.
Mom: That doesn't really make sense.
Reagan: Well, my mom can dress up like a man, and my dad can dress up like a lady, and then we'll have a big wedding! And then we'll all live together.

Birthday Weekend

We had a fun and eventful weekend celebrating Jenny's 7th birthday, and the pictures are finally on Flickr to prove it.

Jo-Jo arrived on Thursday evening, so the celebrating started early. The girls love having her visit and being spoiled.

Friday morning, Jenny got up to start her big day.

She's still looking a little rough at this point, but she was ready for her day. She got a little mad because I told her that she wasn't really 7 until about 6:30 that night because that's the time of day she was born. She acted like I stole her birthday when I told her that, but we were able to move on. We stopped on the way to school to pick up cupcakes so she could celebrate with her class.

Jo-Jo picked her up so she could get started early on her birthday evening. She invited her friend Elise to spend the night, and since Elise is 9 years old, she felt very cool. They ate junk food, played on the Wii, fixed hair, painted fingernails and stayed up until midnight. A perfect sleepover. And I continued to prove that I'm so much better than them at Dance Dance Revolution, which is definitely my favorite Wii game.



On Saturday, we got up and went to get bagels for breakfast - cinnamon sugar with strawberry cream cheese is Jenny's new favorite breakfast. Then we had her actual birthday party at her gymnastics place. They got to do cool stuff like jump in a pit filled with foam blocks, play with a giant parachute (like from elementary school!), play in a giant inflatable and on gymnastics equipment, then get gold medals and eat cake! It was lots of fun - and then we got to come home and open all the presents and relax.





She finished the exciting birthday weekend by returning one of her gifts at Target on Sunday. She was so excited to go up to the customer service counter and tell them she wanted to "inschange" a present she didn't want. Then they gave her a little giftcard to spend and she got 4 things for the one she exchanged. And we went to the used book store so they could spend some of my credit - it was just amusing because Jenny got tons of little girl chapter books like Mary-Kate and Ashley mysteries and Lizzie McGuire stories, and Reagan got a whole bunch of science kinds of books.

And that was pretty much the end of the fun. It obviously wasn't enough for Jenny because she did cry yesterday when I said that I didn't want to go to Olive Garden for dinner like she wanted - she just wanted to do that one thing for her birthday. As opposed to the 10 other things we did just for her birthday.

Wii Cow Racing

This is a quick video of the girls doing a cow racing game on the Wii the first night we got it. Jenny is just silently playing the game, though she does move around a bit, and Reagan is yelling lots of crazy things, and possibly swearing - I can't really tell.

Reagan

I can't even come up with a better subject than just Reagan because there's just not anything else to say. Here are two little gems from this weekend.

One is from a few minutes ago - "Girls shouldn't hit their moms or call them bitches, right?"

I said that was right.

And one from a couple nights ago. She came in our room after we were all in bad to ask what kinds of things are bad for you. Lee told her that alcohol and drugs are bad for you. Reagan's response - "I'm definitely not eating alcohol or drugs because they're driving me crazy and dragging me everywhere." I laughed for so long at that one.

We gave Jenny her Wii for her birthday a few days early on Thursday, so she's playing it constantly (maybe I am, too). She's made Miis for just about everyone she can think of (I hope), and I think it's funny that she actually recognizes each of them when they pop up even though half of them look the same. Then she uses various Miis to play all the different games to see what they're good at - she really believes that each individual Mii has skill, and that it has nothing to do with her play. I think we're definitely going to have a lot of fun with the Wii.

Understanding Songs

When we were on the way to school this morning, the new Cheetah Girls song came on Radio Disney. I hadn't heard it before, but I thought maybe it was old. There's a new Cheetah Girls movie coming on next month, and it's set in India. Jenny told me that this song was the new one, and she knew. She said, "Can't you hear how it sounds Indian instead of like hip-hop?" I didn't know she knew the difference.

Jenny's also unreasonably excited about the fact that she got an early birthday gift yesterday from someone who won't be in town for her party. It's a little High School Musical bra and panties set, and she just can't believe that she has her own bra. She's decided she's old enough and is going to wear it every day now. We had lots of discussions about this last night, which just caused Reagan to say she was glad we were having a "boob talk."

Superpowers

You guys might want to remember this post in a few weeks. We were just heading out to attempt to play a little tennis with the girls, and we had the following conversation in the car:

Jenny: Mommy, do you just want to have regular girls or girls who have superpowers so you can have everything you want?

Me: Well, I guess I'd want you to have the superpowers. Is this something I need to really think about? Do you really think you'll be getting superpowers soon?

Jenny: Yes, in three weeks.

Me: Oh. So what will your superpower be?

Jenny: I will be able to get people to do anything I say. So if we're in a store and I want something, I'll be able to get them to give it to us.

Me: So you plan to use your superpowers for evil to steal from stores?

Jenny: Um, yeah, I guess so. And money! We can get people to give us money so we'll be rich.

We talked about that for a little bit and how she might want to have some other power.

Jenny: Oh, I know what I'd want instead. I'd want to be able to read people's minds. Then I'd be able to see if Brianna was mad at me because sometimes I think she is, but I'm really not sure, but I'd know if I could read her mind.

Me and Lee: Oh, Jenny.

Reagan kept saying that she was also going to have whatever superpower Jenny said she was going to have, which really made Jenny mad because she's selfish with her superpowers. I felt like it probably wasn't an issue we'd really have to deal with.

Rough Day

Jenny just informed me that this has been one of the worst days of her entire life because it's been the most painful day of her entire life. And it's close to her birthday (that's what she said, not me). She has her first case of swimmer's ear, and it has been rough (for me). She has two hour windows about half an hour after taking Tylenol when she feels okay, and spends the other two hours really sadly crying about her ear pain. I let her stay home today, and stupidly let Reagan stay home, too. I was hoping we'd all get some sleep since we were up most of the night - Reagan because she's crazy and never sleeps, and Jenny because she kept waking up in pain. But that didn't happen, so hopefully we're off to bed shortly once Lee finishes watching Star Wars: Episode II for the trillionth time.

Reagan also told me earlier that she had the worst day ever because Brittan fell in love with Noah today. Those are a couple of her friends. First of all, I don't think it's true. Second, I don't think she should care unless she's in love with Noah (or Brittan) also. But no one can ever really understand what Reagan's thinking.

We had long detailed discussions about Hellboy last night because we saw a preview for the movie. She asked a lot of questions about his horns, and some other funny things. What made it even funnier was that she called him "Ellboy" the entire time, like she's British.

Maybe we'll be back to normal life tomorrow! If there is such a thing.

Summertime

We're in full summertime mode here, which means we're back from all our trips and settled in. And it means the girls are spending all their time across the street at Brittan's new pool. Reagan's finally gotten brave enough to be in the pool, but only in a float.

I've been spending time uploading a lot of pictures to the flickr site that I started, so there's a lot there, and I'm still working through the pictures on this computer before I start on older ones. Here are a few from the last week though:

With Iron Man at the convention - they took a picture with him both days. They really didn't do many pictures the whole time though.

After jumping on the Heavenly Bed in the hotel, while wearing the Owly shirts we got to be nightgowns since they forgot to pack any.

Jenny and her friend Elyse in the pool - after they've traded bathing suits. They seem to always want to trade for some reason.

Reagan in the pool! So pretty.

I'm including this one here so someone else can see one of Reagan's crazy outfits. Jenny's is a little weird, too, but it doesn't compare to Reagan's. Note the following:
1. Fancy dress is the base of it all
2. Jeans she wanted to wear with it so I'd be proud of her because she never wants to wear pants when I want her to
3. Cropped jacket to stay warm in upper 90 degree weather
4. Purple socks
5. Shoes on wrong feet
6. Totally unbrushed hair (that part's my fault).

Our other awesome summertime activity - riding around with the windows open and listening to New Kids on the Block's new song, "Summertime." It's so good. We're the coolest girls in Winston-Salem. We just found out that New Kids have added a Charlotte date to their tour, and tickets go on sale on Jenny's birthday. I've turned Jenny into a fan, so we really want to go!

Back from Philadelphia . . .

and heading to Charlotte to the Heroes Convention in the morning.

I will have a lot to post about our Philadelphia trip when I have more time, but I wanted to go ahead and post this link to the new flickr account I created to share some pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/euregirls/

I don't know how many will get uploaded this evening, but it's a start. Uncle Mario will have to share some of his photos, and so will Nicole - there's a lot that went on while I was in my conference, so I know there are some other good pictures out there.

The girls had a good time - Reagan wants to move in with Uncle Mario in Philadelphia. Her big concerns there were about all the dead people - especially Ben Franklin. Jenny said her favorite part was when she got rained on at the zoo because all she wanted to do was get wet. Hopefully we'll come up with more than that once we've talked about it some more. All in all, we're happy to be home for this one night - for Lee's birthday!

Going on a trip

Reagan and I are up early this morning, and we were just talking about how we're going to Philadelphia tomorrow. She just got so excited that it's finally so close. And then she said, "My blood is going to go crazy when we're in an air balloon." I have no idea what she means.

Anyway, we're heading to Raleigh to the airport early tomorrow morning, so we should be in Philadelphia by noon. Mario's going to pick us up at the airport, and Nicole's going to meet us a little later, so we'll have a fun day! We're taking the train back on Thursday, and then heading straight to the comic convention on Friday, so this will be our busiest week ever!

I Don't Wanna Grow Up

Reagan just suddenly became concerned about when she grows up and has to move out of our house. Apparently she doesn't want to live alone. And she's upset that we won't have a daughter anymore. We've tried to reassure her by telling her that she's only 4, and we won't make her move out for a long time, but it's not helping. We also told her that she will always be our daughter. And then we called my parents so my dad could explain that I'm still their daughter even though I don't live with them. And we told her that by the time she's old enough, she may feel ready to move out. That still didn't really help. She's left the room, distracted by the Disney Channel, so maybe we can move on from this for now.