Arrested!

From time to time my sweet daughter decides to remove her safety belt while the car is in motion. I may have said to her once or twice that if she did not sit in her seat and keep her belt on that I, her precious mommy, could be arrested. About 3 months ago, I got pulled over. It's no secret that I have a bit of a lead foot. Always have. Anyhow, when the officer approached the car, Ava blurted out, "Are you going to arrest my mommy?" The officer answered, "We'll see" and then took my license and registration back to his car. When he returned my paperwork with a warning, he let Ava know that he would not be arresting me that day. Nice. Apparently my knack for flying under the radar had run out, and later that week I got pulled over again. This time I was slapped with a ticket and a court date. Needless to say, I am reformed (by force of the law and insurance premiums).

Now fast forward to Career Week at Ava's preschool. The assignment was to talk to your child about your job. Then the kids shared what their parents do for a living during Show and Tell. At breakfast on Wednesday morning Ava announced, "Billy's dad is a COPS."(I'm not sure why she was using the plural for cop, but it was pretty amusing.) She went on, "HE arrests people. Cops is another name for a police officer." I told her she was right and went on making breakfast.

On Thursday afternoon the twins in Ava's class had their 5th birthday party. The whole class and most of the mommies were in attendance. While the kids ate their pizza, the moms sat together, catching up. We were talking about career week. I shared the "Billy's dad is a cops" story. Including the part where Ava said he arrests people. Thank goodness I brought it up because that's when Katie's mom said, "Yes, I heard that at dinner last night... right before Katie told us that 'Ava's mommy got arrested'."

What?! Apparently, not to be outdone, when Billy said that his dad arrests people, Ava blurted out, "Well, my mommy has BEEN arrested!"

Great. I wonder what her teachers think I got arrested for...

At least I got a chance to clear my name with the other moms.

Valentine's Party

The Friday before Valentine's Day, I had the opportunity to chaperone Ava's class Valentine's Party. Emily had just as much fun as the preschoolers and Ava was so excited for the opportunity to show off her baby sister.




I was in charge of making a game, so I came up with "Fishing for Valentines".


The kids really seemed to enjoy it. Ava thought that because her mom brought the game, that she was supposed to be in charge of it. She was assisting and directing the kids into the line, making sure that they took turns, helping to place the Valentines back on the ground. Clearly, my "Type A" is rubbing off on her. When musical chairs began across the room, Ava looked at me and very seriously asked, "Mommy, could you please do my job for a little bit? I'd really like to go over and play musical chairs." I answered back with a straight face, "Yes. Of course. Go have fun!"


Snack time!


Ava and her friend Katie decorating their cookies.



Would you like to see my 4 year old's Valentine? Here he is. Michael from my "Across the Breakfast Table" post about Ava's first kiss. Short, dark, and handsome. He gave her a Super Hero Valentine. It was a big deal. Apparently, her affections are being reciprocated. Michael's mom shared with me recently that they have to drive home a different way now so that they can drive by Ava's house. Too cute!

It's too short to do any one thing...

with Emily's hair. So, I did lot of "things".

First Field Trip

Emily and I accompanied Ava's class to their first field trip at the fire station. It was pretty cool to go behind the scenes. I was impressed by how nice and clean they keep the station, especially the living quarters and the garage. I wish my house were that clean! I think that Emily had more fun than any of the pre-schoolers. She loved it! I wish I had more pics. They didn't let the kids get in the trucks or put on the fire fighting gear...those would have been some fun pics. I was grateful that the fireman giving the tour kept pointing out how important it is to help their mommies and put away their toys. It seems to have made an impression.

Snow Day

Great. So now the snow is taller than our children. Heaven forbid they wander out into the cold (which would imply that I am not watching them...I promise that I am Mom...and Mike) then I might not find them until Spring thaw. It did make for some fun times digging into the drifts. And the upside is that Emily is getting some practice moving around in her hated snowsuit. She's improving beautifully. Loves the new found freedom, even if she does face-plant into the snow every few minutes. It's a little deep and fluffy for sledding, but we had a few runs down the hill before Ava got snow in her glove and launched into the most dramatic tantrum I've seen in quite some time. That was fun. Carrying both children back to the front door while trudging through the knee (sometimes waist) deep snow. Man, if the winter keeps going this way, our mailbox will be buried next storm. That's the mailbox behind Emily in the picture below.

My Nerd Herd

 

My very first pair of glasses from way back in my sophomore year of high school somehow made their way into the tub of dress up clothes in our play room. Both girls had fun mugging in my old specs. These are possibly the only pictures in existence of the glasses. There are certainly no pictures of my 16 year-old self modelling these shiny, round frames. I only wore them when absolutely necessary...when driving at night. Actually, less than that. I only wore them when driving at night through the country. If I were "in town" where someone might see me, I always took them off. We used to go cruisin' back then. I had an image. Ha ha. Ah, the hobbies of a small town high schooler. Heaven forbid that I should look "uncool" at the price of my safety.

Well, I'm glad that the glasses are bringing someone a little joy.

Daily Dose of Wisdom from Ava

 

Have I ever mentioned that disorder makes me a little grouchy? Well, yesterday we were having a clean up session in the family room. Pieces of Ava's fishing game (in addition to lots of other toys)were strewn all over the floor. "Avy!" I said, more sharply than I'd like to admit. "Where is the box to this? We NEED the box!" She just sat there, staring at me. "Why?" She wondered. "Because if we don't have the box we won't know how to play. Without the box, there's no object. Without the box it's just a bunch of cardboard fish and a plastic pole!"

She looked right into my eyes and in a calm, quiet voice said, "Mommy, it's not about winning. It's about what's in your heart."

Well that just took the wind right out of my sails. "You're right," I acknowledged. "Where'd you hear that?"

And then she said...."Mommy, I learned it from you."

I win.