Sassy Maddie!

Driving home from Shoppers while the girls looked at sticker books I made the mistake of speaking to which Maddie replied "leave me alone mama I am reading my magazine. You just drive by yourself and don't talk to us." Uh-huh. Sassy little pixie!

The girls had a great Christmas. They were so excited that Santa ate the cookie, drank the milk and the "reingoats" ate the celery that they didn't even notice their stockings! They got so many lovely things and haven't tired of any of their toys yet (a new record)! They loved being at grandma and grandpa's. We all shared a room and in the middle of the night and in the wee hours of the morning the girls would say "Can I go see grandma andf grandpa now?" I think they were more excited about that than about Christmas! Maddie cried as we were leaving. The sentiment was real initially and then she did her usual "for show" cry once she gets a reaction. She is a funny one! They were great on the car rides there and back, thankfully. Maddie napped, Emma didn't. Today we are off to the Disney Princesses on ice show. They are very excited and are wearing their Belle dresses downtown. Hopefully the show will live up to their expectations!

We took the girls tobogganing for the first time with John and my dad. They had a great time. Maddie was nervous at first but they both went down the hill on their own. The hill wasn't that big, but it was big enough that I was nervous and would sort of run after them at first! We wanted to take them skating but the canal hadn't frozen yet. Maybe in February.

The girls were chasing the cats as usual, but are a bit calmer now and understand the need to be slow and quiet, even though they don't always follow that rule!

I am looking forward to being home with them this week. We have lot's planned (Princess and the Frog movie, play dates, celebrating New Years etc).

Maddie and the neverending cat questions.

As I put the girls to bed tonight they asked if we were going to Ottawa tomorrow. I said yes. I then proceeded to receive a slew of questions and comments about Rocky and Bailey (the cats)from Maddie. Among them were: Does Rocky have big teeth like a shark?Are his teeth yellow?Does he bite like Bruno?Do we have to talk quietly and walk slowly?Does Bailey like to be under the covers and we can pet her bum-bum?Does Rocky eat human food or pebbles?Do they drink water and not chocolate milk?Is Rocky going to run away?Do the cats like me?Does Bailey have to stay inside because of the snow?Is Santa going to bring the kitty cats a present too? My goodness I had to cut her off, she would have gone on forever. No word of a lie, she said/asked all of these things one after the other barely waiting for me to answer. Emma (for once) could not get a word in edgewise. I walked by their room 10 minutes later and she was STILL talking about them! lol

More funny things!

I love being home with the girls as it increases the chances of me hearing them say funny things. We were talking about Santa (we talk of little else these days) and Maddie asked if she could share her chocolate with him. I said that we leave Santa milk and cookies, and we leave a carrot for the reindeer. She said "no carrots mama." I asked why and she responded with "cause only bunnies eat carrots, not reindeer!" I asked her what reindeer eat and she said "things that are green and yucky!"

Aunt Sue is taking the train up to Ottawa so last night she dropped off some gifts for us to bring up in the van. The girls were awake and saw the bags of presents and we told them they had to wait until Christmas. So this is the conversation I had with my daughter, Miss Maddie, this morning just after 7 when she appeared at my bedside:

Maddie: Mummy, now can we open Aunt Sue's presents?
Me (still half asleep): huh?
Maddie: Aunt Sue's presents. Can we open them now?
Me (more fully awake): no
Maddie: (some sort of grunt or growl): but I want to open them NOW
Me: No Maddie, not until Christmas. 3 more sleeps.
Maddie: I don't want 3 more sleeps.
Me: Maddie, mummy said no. Go watch tv.
Maddie: grunt, scowl, growls out of the room!

Funny! She hasn't mentioned them since. The girls are colouring and I decided I would try and have a shower. I said "girls, mummy is going to have a quick shower. Will you be ok here for a few minutes?" They said yes. As I was walking up the stairs I heard the pitter patter of little feet. Maddie was at the bottom of the stairs and she yelled "come back soon mama, don't be too long. We are down here if you need us!" lol What a cutie!

Dad, you stink!

So after a night of hockey (and probably a couple of beers), Emma is sitting on John's lap the morning after. She says "dad, you smell awful. Mama smells just right!" Too funny!

The girls are super excited about Christmas. Every day for the last week they've been asking "now we go to grandma and grandpa's?" There was a moment of uncertainty as to how Santa would know they are at grandma and grandpa's house, and would he bring their presents there? I assured them that Santa knows all and he will bring their presents to Ottawa! The whole naughty and nice list has worked fabulously this year when they aren't on their best behvaiour. We pretty much just need to say "hmmmmm, would Santa think this behaviour is naughty or nice" and it usually nips it in the bud. At night they ask if they are on the nice list and I assure them that they are. Then they proceed to name everyone we know and I have to say whether they are naughty of nice. Maddie insists that everyone is nice but Frank (John's friend) is naughty! ha ha!

Dreams and Shenanigans

The other night around midnight Emma came bolting into our room. John was watching tv downstairs and I was in a deep sleep. When I woke up a little bit, Emma was crying and saying "I lost Queen Clarion." For those who aren't "in the know" Queen Clarion is the Queen in one of the Tinkerbell movies. I said "Emma, you don't have Queen Clarion, Kristina does and you left it at Auntie Julie's." She said "oh yeah" and proceeded to hop back into her bed. I am not entirely convinced she was awake. It seemed to be a state of half-sleep. She didn't remember it in the morning.

Today I am home with the girls and we got to colouring in new colouring books. I was on the computer in the next room when I heard "Mads, check out my tattoo." I went over to check out said tattoo and found a shape on Emma's belly that she drew on with her marker.Apparently it was a mermaid. I proceeded to check the rest of her body, the walls and the floors. Never assume your daughters are actually colouring in their colouring books!

3 Cousins

We took the girls to the Rogers Kids Christmas party today. It was fun but they were pretty wiped by the end of it. They went on rides and Maddie loved all of them this year, except for the merry-go-round. Last year she was very leery of most of the fast ones, but this year she was excited to be on them. The girls even went on some by themselves, without us. Maddie was also tall enough to go on all of the rides, and the look on her face was super cute when she realized this. She said "I bigger." They wanted to see Santa again but the line-up was too long so they agreed to just go over and wave to him. They asked again if he would be getting Holiday barbie for Emma and Rollerskate barbie for Maddie. We will see what Santa can do.

After the party we had a dinner for Sue's birthday. Jenn, Jeff and Katie were there and the girls played really well together. At first Katie was a bit shy as she had just woken up from a nap in the car. But after a few minutes they were off and playing. They were even upstairs for a bit by themselves and everyone shared and played nicely together. It was great to see.

3 Cousins

We took the girls to the Rogers Kids Christmas party today. It was fun but they were pretty wiped by the end of it. They went on rides and Maddie loved all of them this year, except for the merry-go-round. Last year she was very leery of most of the fast ones, but this year she was excited to be on them. The girls even went on some by themselves, without us. Maddie was also tall enough to go on all of the rides, and the look on her face was super cute when she realized this. She said "I bigger." They wanted to see Santa again but the line-up was too long so they agreed to just go over and wave to him. They asked again if he would be getting Holiday barbie for Emma and Rollerskate barbie for Maddie. We will see what Santa can do.

After the party we had a dinner for Sue's birthday. Jenn, Jeff and Katie were there and the girls played really well together. At first Katie was a bit shy as she had just woken up from a nap in the car. But after a few minutes they were off and playing. They were even upstairs for a bit by themselves and everyone shared and played nicely together. It was great to see.

I'm not even second behind Santa? I'm 5th?!?

Here is the conversation the girls and I had this morning. Priceless!

Maddie: Mummy, I love you. You are first.
Me: I love you too Maddie. You mean I am number one?
Maddie: Yes, you number one.
Emma: No Madison, Santa is first.
Me: Ems, you mean you love Santa more than Mummy?
Emma (to her credit, she did seem to ponder this for a few seconds): yes because Santa brings me presents.
Me: well mummy gets you presents too.
Emma: But Santa has a roly poly belly and says "ho ho ho."
Me: Am I next after Santa then? Am I second?
Emma: no, you five.
Me: 5? Who else is before mummy?
Emma: Santa's "rein-goats".

Well, at least I know where I stand: behind Santa and 4 reindeer! Thank goodness Maddie still thinks I'm number one!

Proud Mama!

I am so proud of the girls. Today we went to the toy store to pick up some toys for children who are less fortunate (for the toy drive that we donate to each Christmas). They chose very carefully; a dolly for a little girl and two fancy cars for a boy. They did not once ask for something for themselves, which is quite remarkable considering a) they are 3.5 and b) we walked through the barbie aisle twice. I kept reinforcing that some kids have no toys and that we need to be nice and give them something to open for Christmas. They were really into it and seemed to get it. What lovely girls I have!