So, I took Maggie to her 2nd piano lesson tonight. I was blissfully alone in the waiting room. Chris was home with the little girls.

As I listened to the lesson in the next room, I couldn't help but send Chris this text

"Maggie is way chatty! she needs to talk less"

His loving reply?

"Apple, meet tree"

True love I tell ya!

But seriously, every time the teacher made any comment, Maggie had an elaborate story to tell. Or if they moved from one song to the other, Maggie had to tell her everything about the song, how often she practiced it, that it was Abby's favorite, that her Daddy had played the duet part, that she had tried to play along with the CD, ANYTHING! The good news is, she LOVES her lessons! She is so excited to be playing "real piano" as she calls it. We'll just have to work on the chattiness!

One of the perks of having 3 girls is the clothes. Not just having fun purchasing the clothes, but having fun watching clothes go from one daughter to the next. Seeing how some things hold up so well, and others barely make it though one child. And comparing the skills/abilities/personalities of each child as she wears a certain outfit. I can't help it, I have an emotional attachment to the things they wear.

For instance. I can tell you that Chris chose these purple athletic pants for Maggie when she was 2. I believe he was tired of all the pink and girly stuff - he wanted her to have athletic pants. Not sweat pants. She loved them, although she was so skinny that they NEVER stayed on her hips!

Maggie, 1/2006

Along came Katherine who also enjoyed the purple pants. (Pretty sure that under her sweatshirt is the same Elmo shirt, I can't be positive though) (and why did I take a picture of them picking their teeth?)

Katherine and Maggie 1/2009

So, put yourself in my position. Earlier this week, as the temperature began to drop, I frantically went to my trusty Rubbermaid storage bins of clothes, searching for warmer items, and I found PURPLE PANTS! (And Elmo shirt)

Abby 9/2011

Abby has been similarly impressed with her purple pants today. She even told the grocery clerk about them. "I -a- purple pants today, see?"

So, you'll understand why I had to grab my video camera when I found Abby sitting on the floor, talking to her pants. I could hear her talking, but it took me a minute to figure out she was muttering "Ahhh, Pockets, Pockets" while trying to open the velcro. Here is what happened next.

Ahhhh, the circle of life, or in this case, pants.

Dear Maggie,

I took this picture to prove that once upon a time you loved your family. I remember enough about my tween-teen years to know that someday, you might need this reminder. That one morning, before second grade, you chose to declare your love for your family.

I also know that I might need blackmail photos some day - which is why I took this picture of your awesome bed-head this morning. This bed-head, which has become a daily struggle, requiring a morning shower to control. I only wish I had been able to fully capture the perpendicular nature of this hair.

Oh Maggie, please don't grow up! You're much to sweet right now at age almost 8!

love,

Mom - the one you love, remember me?

Katherine's wisdom: 2 gems from the last 2 days.

While I was changing Abby's diaper tonight (yes, diaper, please don't ask about potty training!) Katherine told me, "eww, that's gross....it's worse than a pee diaper......but not as bad as fro-ups at church right?"

(Abby threw up at Church yesterday, which was quite a scene, especially as the older sister!)

Also her theory as to why the Brewers were losing so many games? The philadelphia pitcher wasn't aiming the ball at the bat, he was throwing it away from the bat so the Brewers couldn't hit home runs.

Let's talk about poor Abby. In all the excitement of back to school, you might worry that she'd get forgotten. But not to worry, she's created enough excitement of her own during the last week!

On Friday, Katherine was home, so we decided to meet friends at the park for a picnic lunch. It sounds so simple. But, just as we sat down to eat, a bee flew near Abby. She's very skittish around bugs so she started swatting her hands shouting "GO AWAY BUG" and, as only my child could do, she smooshed the bee into her forehead, essentially stinging herself.

Enter parental panic. What do you do? I grabbed anything cold from our lunches to try to ice the area, but it was huge immediately. She was screaming and crying. We abandoned our picnic and went home.

(shortly after the sting)

After quick text consults from 2 of my nurse friends, I gave her expired Children's Claritin and Ibuprofen and tried to keep ice on her face. She has always believed in the magical healing powers of "Cinderella Cold." Cinderella is a small re-useable ice pack meant for minor injuries. For Abby, she's always been the magic healer - a quick visit from Cinderella Cold and abby would tell you "All better" and go on with her life. At some point during our treatment, Katherine was holding Cinderella, and managed to squeeze it hard enough to break it - causing gel to ooze out all over. I was annoyed about the mess. Abby, however, was DISTRAUGHT that Cinderella Cold was broken and heading to the garbage. For awhile there, she was far more upset about Cinderella than the bee sting. I figured she was fine and sent her to bed for her nap.

(just after nap, swelling is better!)

After her nap, the swelling was better and she was pretty happy. And, she was essentially fine that night - a little whiny, but overall she was fine. Gave her more Ibuprofen and sent her to bed.

(Saturday morning, swelling beneath eyes)

Saturday morning she woke up full of energy, singing and dancing like nothing was wrong. But she looked weird. It seemed like the swelling was more around her eyes than on her head. She didn't look right. More medicine, continued to watch her.

(after nap on Saturday, bad picture, but huge swelling, she didn't look like Abby)

After her nap on Saturday I got worried. She woke up completely swollen, so much so that the big girls were freaked out that she didn't look like Abby. She couldn't open her eyes all the way, and she was clearly uncomfortable. I called the pediatrician on call and he advised a more aggressive medication schedule. He also said he'd call in an Epi-pen just to be safe. He said one reaction like this does not mean that a future sting will be worse, but he would rather be safe than sorry. He also said sometimes it could take up to a week for the swelling to go away.
Luckily, by Sunday she was feeling much better - and even felt spunky enough to accessorize. (those are her princess shoes and tutu)
Monday she helped make the Labor Day pancakes. This was our way of bribing the girls into good behavior before we dropped the bomb - we were going to spend the day cleaning their rooms! HORROR! Actually they left us alone, helped as needed, and it was fairly painless. And a huge garbage bag was filled! Hooray! Fresh clean house before back to school on Tuesday!
Tuesday we needed sweatshirts at the bus stop - Delightful! Actually - Katherine spontaneously started doing jumping jacks and, well, then I had to pull out eh video camera. What do you get when you mix chilly weather, nervous excitement and Katherine? You get this. She really just makes me smile!

So with 2 girls off to school, and a gorgeous day to enjoy, what did Abby do? She took me to Starbucks and then insisted that we eat cookies, and drink our drinks outside. Then she announced it was time to practice our baseball. You never know when the Brewers might need an extra hand! I'd say Abby is just about ready to join the team.....what do you think?
Today was Katherine's last day home before her regular schedule of all day every day Kindergarten begins. It was a perfect weather day, so I thought she'd like to go to the zoo. But she told me instead, she'd really like to go to a park, and snuggle this afternoon. That was a hard sell! Ha! We went to a "new" park and had a blast. Then we came home for a quick picnic on the driveway, played with the neighbors, and then.....another Abby Injury! Katherine managed to bump into her while Abby was pushing a shopping cart. Somehow, she managed to bloody both of her thumbs. I had to put large band aids on both thumbs due to the bleeding. I don't think she minded the blood as much as it bothered her that her thumbs were immobilized! She cried herself to sleep, but woke up slightly better and was fine by bedtime tonight. Katherine and I had an hour of snuggles on the couch - I am going to miss those afternoon snuggles!

Tomorrow 2 big girls go to school and Abby will spend the afternoon at Aunti's (our sitter.) And hopefully, no one will get hurt in the process!

We survived the first day of school today! So many stories, but first, jump back to yesterday. We decided to visit Discovery World to celebrate the end of summer. It's so fun to go there because even looking at the same exhibits, it's a new experience every time. The volunteer divers were in one of the large fish tanks, scrubbing and cleaning. An official-loking gentleman stopped to chat when he saw the girls watching. He explained that the divers were sending lots of algae into the water and showed us that the Paddlefish was swimming with its mouth open, gathering all that yummy algae.

Have you ever tried to explain what a pay phone is? Or a phone booth? You should try it - it's pretty interesting!

After 2 injuries in the museum (non life threatening, but dramatic nonetheless) I thought we might benefit from going outside. We made it as far as this cool sculpture area before the whining was overwhelming and we went home for lunch and rest time.
HA! Apparently I was the only one who missed the memo that there would be not a single nap enjoyed. sigh. Instead the big girls got freshly painted toes and I baked cookies for back-to-school lunches.

Because of the no nap afternoon, all 3 girls were bathed and in bed by 730. I left to go exercise and returned about 845. I found the lights on, but no Chris. I looked all over until I found him in Maggie's bed. Clearly they had been too chatty and he went up to enforce bedtime. He fell asleep too! (possibly before the girls, but I'll never know for sure!)

This morning everyone was up just before 7. Daddy got plenty of back to school hugs before he left for his first day with students.
Then I managed to contain the excitement until 0825. Then, I gave up and went outside for pictures. I took as many as I could to kill time, but we made it to the bus stop by 0840 - a full 15 minutes before the scheduled bus.





Luckily the bus was on time, and off they went! Abby and I jumped into our car and followed the bus to school. Then it was a long wait for the bus to release the kids - always a lot of confusion on the first day.
Maggie jumped off the bus and ran inside, barely stopping for this picture.
The Kindergarten class takes a little bit of time to collect everyone, allow parents to take pictures and say good bye. Katherine knows about 7 little girls going into Kindergarten - so she had no qualms about leaving me. In fact, I had to laugh at a picture I saw from one of the other moms. As the class lined up and walked into school, the single file line stretched 4 girls wide as they held hands and walked in together!
When Abby and I pulled into the garage, it looked so empty in the back seat! She asked on the way home if the girls were coming home from school yet. I thought it would be a long day.
But we went to the library where she enjoyed playing with trains and choosing her own books. And then off to the grocery store before coming home for lunch and naps. Pretty exciting.
Abby took a delightful nap and I enjoyed a quiet afternoon. I pretended to be a Food Network Star - I harvested basil from the deck, and made pesto sauce for a chicken pesto pizza. (It was awesome)

Soon enough it was 4pm and time to meet the bus.
Katherine says she was running to Abby, but I know she was running to me! She and Maggie were bubbling over with excitement about their days. I don't think either could think of a bad thing from the whole day.

Really the only sad part of the day was katherine crying in her bed. She actually doesn't go back until Tuesday now. (The class of 24 is split into 3 groups, each going to school for a day to give the teachers time to assess skills, get to know the kids, allow the kids to be familiar with school in a smaller group setting) Tomorrow she'll be home with me. She cried from her bed "But I just want to go to school every day!" I promised her that she had 175 more days to go and she accepted that answer and promptly fell asleep.

I'd say it was a pretty fantastic first day of school!