Emily asleep!
Madeleine sleeping!
Two family members who never experience sleep deprivation. Lincoln is black, Lucy is tortoise shell.Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we may have success with our sleeping arrangements. Generally, the girls are doing much better both staying in their beds and going to sleep within a somewhat reasonable amount of time. We did have to break down and use bribery (I am indebted to the inventor of the sticker so many times over). We have charts on the wall and when we put the girls to bed a smiley face (or "smimey face") is put on the chart, we come back to the room once about 15 minutes after we intially left, to tell them "play time is over" (seems you must use those exact words) and if they get in bed and go to sleep at that point, they get to keep the smiley face. IF parents have to make another curtain call for anything other than an injury (which shouldn't occur if two young ladies are lying in their beds, but we have yet to address this technicality) - you lose your smiley face! If Emily and Madeleine accrue three smiley faces they get a "fancy sticker" from the sticker store. So far - bribery has worked. This week I introduced a kitchen timer and the theory is...we set it and leave the room, when the timer "goes ding" it means play time is over and the girls are to get in bed on their own. It has worked once, but I have not completely given up hope.
We have had a couple of adventures. About two weeks ago on Saturday night Madeleine ended up with a small cut on her lower lip and hysterics commenced. Ice was applied (the very first time this first aid technique has been permitted and I am thrilled to have picked up the ice pack shaped like a kitty head, on a whim, the previous day) and the minor bleeding was stopped. However, the girls flat-out refused to tell us what caused the injury (very unlike them as normally they tell readily and even offer a reenactment on occasion). It was obvious Madeleine's lower lip had been bitten by one of her upper teeth, but we weren't sure how. The next day I took the girls upstairs to put them down for their nap and was treated to the following performance (video) which obviously explains how a lip was bitten. Emily is in blue and Madeleine is in purple (sorry the video is so dark - their room is honestly well-lit, but the blinds were closed and I can't edit the light on a video..).
On another occasion when I poked my head in to announce "play time is over" I was handed a screw by Emily and told "The light is broken". There is a small door near the girls' beds that leads to some storage space over the garage. The girls never noticed the door before the arrival of Big Girl Beds (in fairness I painted it the same color as the wall and it used to be behind the dresser). Anyhow, there is a light in the storage space and the switch is now at the foot of Emily's bed. We have a ceramic Peter Rabbit switchplate cover and somehow the two of them got the bottom screw out. When I put it back in, to see if it would stay, I had to use a screw driver to get it back out - but not these two, fingernails are enough. I removed the screw from their room as this would be an ongoing issue if it had been left and searched for both tools and maps of any local banks. I came up empty-handed, but that doesn't mean they aren't in there.
Per our young ladies' request last week we had another Friday of "alone time". When Madeleine was at school Emily and I took clothing to the clothing bank, stopped at a book store, and tried to pick up a few items at a grocery store that carries things the "real store" doesn't. The highlight for Miss Emily was getting to sit in the front passenger seat of the car (while it was parked and locked!) to eat her snack before she went back to school. While Emily was at school Madeleine and I went grocery shopping for the week and took the food home and put it away. She had a great time dragging bags of groceries from the door leading into the garage to the kitchen and then handing me items to put in the cupboards. Saturday, Madeleine and Daddy had a muffin at a "cafe" (really the one in Barnes and Noble) while Emily and Mommy walked around and watched them take apart the truck that used to be in the middle of Old Navy. Then the girls traded grown-ups and Emily had a muffin with Daddy while Madeleine and Mommy looked at a couple of books and checked-in on the progress of the truck removal.
Madeleine with her valentines.
Emily discussing her valentines with Madeleine.
Madeleine and Emily celebrated their third Valentine's Day and it was a hit! When they came downstairs and saw the tablecloth with hearts, and cards waiting for them, they literally giggled out loud and danced a bit - seriously haven't had this much excitement since Christmas. They had a great time picking out valentines to take to school and think receiving the little cards, and occasional piece of candy, from the other students is the best thing they have encountered in quite a while. In addition they were also sent cards in the mail and got a package from Mama and Bapa (Grandma and Grandpa); a good day overall.
These boots are made for walking? Emily in black pants and Madeleine in lavender.
Valentine's Day brought a little bit of snow to Williamsburg (less than an inch), so we put on all our snow gear (it was cold and windy) and headed to Colonial Williamsburg to play in the snow. I had bought the girls snowboots for next year (I try and do a lot of end of season buying with an eye toward the next year's season) - last year in Spokane, the girls didn't play in the snow for any length of time, so the old bread bag over the socks trick worked pretty well. This year we tried the bread bag trick again (it is hard to justify buying two pairs of boots to be used for only two weeks), but I realized as the girls had gotten older, they were more able to stay outside and play in the snow. So...boots have been purchased for next year, but of course they are too big at this point. In an effort to rectify this situation, I put three pairs of socks on each child. There was initial difficulty walking in the boots (and probably too many socks) as the girls aren't used to that much bulk around their ankles and calves, but we finally succeeded. There wasn't a whole lot of snow to play with, but we did have a blast stomping in puddles (something that is normally forbidden). We found the best puddles were actually in the grass itself - video and I would like to point out, that while they are not worn in the video, we did bring - and wear some of the time - mittens. Unfortunately, the stomping in puddles went a bit far when Madeleine elected to sit in one - video.
I was informed this wasn't "real snow" and so show some highlights that haven't been posted from Spokane's "real snow". Last year Madeleine sledding with Grandpa and thinking it wasn't the best of ideas (the girls laugh out loud when they see this) - video. This year Madeleine sledding with Grandpa and deciding it was worthwhile - video. Emily sledding with Grandpa - video. And lastly, the girls sledding on their own on their tummies - Emily first, then Madeleine - video - the requests for "I want do that again" express a definite increase in sledding's approval ranking from the previous year.
Emily in front and Madeleine in back, sledding on their own in Spokane.
Madeleine, on left, with Grandpa and Emily looking down from Grandpa and Grandma's balcony.
