Wild pack of redheads

A couple days ago Jen posted this enlightening Mommy article on my facebook wall (click on the link for a quick read of it). It was just the article I needed to read that day. It is basically about how your kids enjoy the little inconsequential moments you provide for them as much as they enjoy the "big" events you set up like trips to amusement parks. The author's main point is that you need to ditch the to do list at times and see the slices of pure joy in your children. The other day I was trying to do all my spring cleaning in the house and accomplish an unreasonable To Do list.  While I was doing all the sheets the girls decided to steal our king sized sheet and turn into a Chinese Parade type of dragon. They were hilarious running around the house and played with just a sheet for 30 minutes. This was one of those moments that the author of the article described that I realized how blessed I was to spend my days with this wild pack of redheads. Nothing makes my heart swell more than seeing them so joyful just playing simple games together. 

The Dragon emerges from it's slumber....

Right after I cleaned their room and had folded and put all their laundry away, I hear a commotion and find the girls in their "boats" (Ellie's drawers) in their bathing suits "swimming" in the ocean (Ellie's clothes). 

Here Ava is "swimming". At first I was so mad that steam was coming out of my ears. Then they played in their "ocean" for about an hour and let me cool off and tackle other things. Their imaginations at work and enjoying each other was worth folding the laundry a second time. 

My main form of  stress relief these days is biking. The girls really enjoy it and the motion knocks them out into a nap. Good thing they are harnessed in there! This is usually the only time of day I get to have peaceful reflection time. In conclusion my To Do list is still almost the same gigantic size each day but my priceless moments list is just as long.

Never Fear Aunt Jen is here!

I was having one of those weeks of crazy single mothering when Jen came to town to rescue my sanity. It is so nice having her visit because I don't have to prep for her arrival, she made dinner for us, and she will discipline the girls so it doesn't feel like single parenting anymore. Sweet little Ainsley makes all days brighter and makes me even more excited to have an infant in our house again in a few months.  It was an action packed Saturday with the Zoo and a relax and enjoy the 70 degree weather on Sunday. I still have yet to figure out how to be a successful military wife without Jen in driving distance and I'm dreading when they move back to the East Coast in December. 

The girls with their second Momma

I get to sneak in cuddling time with Ainsley when the girls are in bed

Ava woke Jen and Ainsley up at 6 am by "singing" outside their door

Zoo trip!

Ainsley was all smiles and rolled with the punches all weekend

It looks like Ellie and this Llama are annoyed with each other

Petting Zoo time- Ainsley wasn't even hesitant around the large strange animals. Let's face it, the Valdez Zoo is scarier than the Fresno zoo.

The craziness of the sissies captured

Feeding Giraffes!

Poor Jen and Ainsley got sneezed on by the giraffe- blech! 

Ava did not trust the giraffes a bit and decided to let Ellie feed them. Ellie didn't like how quickly they ate the first branch of leaves so she picked them off one by one for the giraffes to eat slower. This child cracks me up!

Ellie entertaining herself in the car

Sunday we headed to the park and Ainsley is now big enough to start participating in the fun.

She is one fearless girl! Ava absolutely loves being a nurturer and tried to make Ainsley comfortable in every situation. 

Big girl!

Snagged her!

We rode our bikes to the minimart for a special lunch at the Zoo and the girls walked around like they owned the place. Ellie does not understand that you can't fit everywhere like you usually do when you are wearing a helmet. 

We ended the weekend watching the Oscars and doing mani/pedis. 

xoxo Ainsley Jane

Sanity Shortcuts

Back in single mom mode I am looking for all possible sanity shortcuts. One that we do frequently is have lunch and dinner picnic style if it is about 60 degrees outside.  Minimal kitchen clean up with no floor sweeping, wiping down, or dinner plates because we go the paper plate route. The girls love the sunshine and talking with the neighbors. Another sanity shortcut I have found when the girls are wound up is to become Mommy Manicurist. They understand that if they want to have pretty nails that they have to sit like statues for awhile.  It is very rare that a two and four year old will sit still for 30 minutes at a time so I welcome this activity. It is a great bribe to hold them in line behavior wise all day. Another reward for "good weeks" have been going to get new nail polish colors of their choice.

 One of Ellie's rewards of becoming a "Big Girl" (being potty trained) is that she has graduated to manicures rather than just pedicures. She was thrilled.

What a great "statue"

 Girls excited about their new sparkle nail polish

 sweet little hands

Single Mommy loves statue time

Let's check in our friends at the ER....

The ER doctors greeted us by name this morning, now having seen us 3 times in 2 weeks.  Poor Ava had 2 days of diarrhea and staying up all night. This morning we finally thought we kicked it but then she woke up with this crazy rash all over her torso. We spent 4 hours in the ER waiting on all kinds of tests. Luckily, today they ruled out all the scary things by taking a blood test and urine test. They have concluded that it is an allergic reaction and I need to continue on with our regular doctor if the problem persists for testing.

The only bonus of the day was that BOTH girls took a nap at the same time in the house (usually this only happens in the car) and this hasn't occurred in six months. I would have been totally wiped out today if Greg hadn't come home this past weekend allowing me to get some extra rest in. This nap gave me time to read the book I'm currently devouring, "Divergent". 

The diarrhea has subsided for 24 hours and the rash looked significantly better after a few hours of Benadryll. It is true, the crazy stuff only happens when the guys are gone! I'm crossing my fingers the rash will be gone by tomorrow am so we don't have another week of quarantine and doctors appointments. It's true that only the crazy stuff happens when the guys are gone. As much as I would have loved his support and him entertaining Ellie, I am happy that this happened after he left so we still had our blissful family weekend. Our sensitive, fair, redheaded skin is just not liking this dry California environment!

Spring: the perfect Over the Counter Med

We were a bit emotional this morning having Daddy leave us and Ava had a fall again. Ava is having an especially rough time with him being gone so I figured we were in need of a big distraction. It was BEAUTIFUL outside today at 65 degrees so we decided to spend the entire day out. 

 picnic time for lunch

 We took our maiden voyage in the bike carrier and it was a great adventure. All of the neighborhoods and streets on base have sidewalks so it is perfect for beginners like us. We were so thankful Greg took the time last night to put this all together for us.

 The smiles came back!

 On base there are literally about 20 parks (several for each neighborhood and a few main ones). We decided that we would ride around the entire base and they could chose 3 of those park they had never been to and try them out. They are quite the daredevils.

The long ride knocked them both out and I was able to get in some exercise for the day. Spring and exercise did the trick and we were all in chipper moods when we got back.