My girls are so funny! Chris went to church tonight. The girls were having a little downtime with the TV while I cleaned up dinner. The doorbell rang, and when they saw that it was UPS, there were shrieks of excitement.

"It's for us Mommy, NOT YOU, Don't even come to the door Mommy!"

Of course I opened the door, but played along with them.

Maggie said "Don't even look or touch Mommy, I've got it!"

However, the box was too large and heavy for her to actually pick up.

After letting them try to figure out what to do, I offered to help. They were distraught; they needed help, but did not want to ruin my surprise.

"Ok Mommy," said Katherine, in her most serious voice,"you can help, but first, close your eyes."

So, I closed my eyes and they let me out onto the porch, and guided me as I bent down to pick up the box. Then I had very careful (but somewhat conflicting) directions on how to get it into the house and up to their room, where they were going to put it under their bed. I did as I was told, putting it down in their room and leaving without opening my eyes.

They've now been upstairs for a solid 10 minutes pushing this box around, trying to find the best hiding spot - it doesn't fit under the bed as planned.

"Not in there, she'll look in there!"

"But she looks everywhere, and she knows EVERYTHING!"

I just called up and suggested that they take a blanket and cover the box and leave it in the corner of their room.

"But you'll peek!"

I promised I would not peek.

Katherine was still hesitant, "Do you REALLY promise? Or are you pretending to promise but it's not really real?"

I gave her my word, my 'for real' promise.

Now they are fighting over which blanket works the best and how many blankets they should use. I am so amused by all of this! The box could be full of dirt and it wouldn't matter - this has been entertaining enough!

And, as long as I'm posting, in other adorable news, Abby came up with a new way to alert me that her nap was over today. She stood at her door, behind the gate, and sang "Are you sleeping, Are you sleeping, A-bi-gail?" (pause) then shouted "I NOT SLEEPING MOMMA!" It was hilarious.

Well, now I'm hearing more fighting than before, it must be time to intervene upstairs. Thanks for joining me in this live-blog event. Tune in Sunday to find out - what is in the box?

*update*

I didn't say a word about the box. I went up and helped the girls get into pajamas, but I pretended that the box wasn't there. It killed them. They just wanted to talk about it and have me guess what was in it. And, it's covered in at least 3 large blankets, all tucked carefully so the box is completely hidden. While Katherine giggled, Maggie barely took a breath as she explained "I mean, Mom, it's not for you anyway, the box says 'CHRIS SEPERSKY' and that's Daddy, not you, so it's not even for you, it's for Daddy, but if it WAS for you, I don't even know what it might be, I don't know if it's something for the kitchen or cooking, I just don't know what it would be, we didn't order it, so we don't know, but it's for Daddy, not for you!"

I love these girls!

I can't commit to doing a picture every day, but this one just seemed perfect today. Chris took this shot of Abby this morning. What was so terrible on this Monday morning? Was she depressed that Spring Break was over and everyone would go back to school today?

No, she was upset that Chris had retrieved her milk from the microwave and then attempted to hand it to her. She wanted me to do it. She refused to take it from Chris. He left it on the floor so she could pick it up once she calmed down.

Oh, it's hard to be 2!

So there are 4 hours left in the month of April. I have to get this blog updated in Abby's birthday month - since I didn't quite get it updated ON her birthday. Sue me!

Let's go back 2 weeks to Sunday, April 17. We decided to dye Easter Eggs as it was the only day all week that we'd all be home together. Just dyeing the eggs wasn't exciting enough, so Abby decided to taste the purple dye tablet. I called poison control and discovered that eating one tablet was not harmful, and I was advised to watch for color changes in her diapers. During clean-up we found some partially dissolved pieces of the tablet on the floor, so we believe it tasted so bad that she spit it out. We never saw any color changes in her diaper. As it turns out, the real tragedy was that Katherine's favorite color is purple, and she didn't get to have a purple egg.

Once the eggs were dyed, we were able to concentrate on the real holiday of the week - ABBY'S BIRTHDAY! Maggie and Katherine were especially excited and eager to make Abby's birthday special. Chris took them out to shop and they each chose a special gift for Abby. They also enjoyed baking and decorating her cupcakes and choosing a birthday balloon.
Abby was also very excited about her birthday. We started early in the day, because it was Holy Thursday, and we weren't sure if Chris would make it home between school and church that day. So when she came downstairs, she saw "PRESENTS!"
Then we had birthday pancakes and cupcakes for breakfast. She LOVED the candles and singing, shouting "More candles" after blowing them out.
The sun came out just long enough to enjoy some time outside on her birthday. There was a part of me that wanted to take her out someplace exciting, to make the day extra special. But really, at 2, all she wanted to do was stay home and play for the whole day. So we stayed home, played inside and out, and then had cupcakes again with our dinner.

Overall I think it was pretty great day for Abby. And it was only the first of her birthday celebrations. She had 2 more to go!The Easter Bunny arrived on Sunday, bringing lots of eggs and a few other surprises. The Hula Hoops were a big hit - though 3 girls with hoops got a little crazy in our living room.

Then we went to West Bend for the day where Abby had her second birthday party at Boom Boom's and the big girls got to hunt for more Easter eggs/treats.
On Monday we enjoyed the first full day of SPRING BREAK! The weather was just barely nice enough to head to the park and try the new kites that the Easter Bunny delivered. They weren't very strong though, so Chris was able to get them flying, but they both ended up crashing soon after take-off. As Maggie pointed out "They were only $3!" I think the Easter Bunny should check for price tags next year!
The rest of our week was spent hanging out. Gram and PopPop came up on Wednesday for Abby's third birthday celebration. Chris enjoyed cooking a true feast and we enjoyed eating it!
On Friday, the sun finally came out! We went to the Zoo in the morning to take advantage of the warm weather. I think that 1/2 the city was there too - everyone felt the need to come out from hibernation!

In the afternoon we picked up the new dresser for the big girls' room. As we transition Abby into a "Big Girl" room we've been moving some furniture around. The dresser is exactly what we needed in the room, but the mirror that attaches arrived with a crack down the middle. So we'll wait another 2 weeks for that project to be complete.

Finally, this morning I joined a few colleagues and participated in the March for Babies in Milwaukee. It was very windy, and cooler than we might have liked. But, since it wasn't raining or snowing (as it was in Iowa 2 weeks ago) we tried not to complain and instead just enjoyed being there, walking for such an important cause. Thanks to all of you for your support!

Last weekend, Abby had a terrible runny nose. It was constant and messy, both gross and adorable. Monday I had a stuffy nose; I was not adorable. Wednesday I lost my voice. And by Thursday night into Friday it was a full blown monster cold, the type I get usually only once a year. But the one that sends me to a doctor because of my asthma. I actually thought I was doing well, using my tricks to conquer this cold. I stayed home from work Friday, but thought I'd be able to go back today.

Until I woke up with pink eye.

So, instead of work, and instead of Palm Sunday Mass, I went to urgent care at 8am. With my 3 darlings. I left with Bronchitis, Pink eye, and so many compliments on my adorable, well behaved children, I wondered if they were really talking to me. I'll be fine.

But these well behaved children? At least one of them has been a real stinker lately!

That sweet face, who yesterday climbed over the guard rail between the upper bunk bed and the wall, "just because" and got completely stuck.

Or how about today, after a trip to the Doctor and the Pharmacy, and after a special treat of McDonald's for such good behavior (and let's be honest, limited lunch mess for me to deal with.) I was on the couch, resting. The girls were happily playing. I overheard Maggie and Katherine decide to see how far they could throw a small ball. I interrupted them before they could find out, and asked them the questions that have been used quite a bit lately, "WHY?" followed by "What did the little voice in your head tell you about that?"

Maggie hung her head and replied that her little voice had told her "We're not supposed to throw things in the house, this isn't a good idea."

Katherine looked me straight in the eye and reported that her voice had told her "Mom's eyes are closed, She won't know, go ahead and do it!"

*sigh*

The birthday girl, Abby, she'll never be sassy like that, right? Look how grown up she is with her mini-laptop. She'll always be mature and easy to handle, right?

WRONG! Look what happens when I let Katherine outside to play before Abby, while Abby was happily coloring at the table.....

She took the container of crayons and dumped it on the table. And when I turned around and said "ABBY, what did you do?" She looked right at me and used her hands to push the crayons all onto the floor.

*sigh*

Maggie is grown up enough to be trusted, right? Look how studious she is at Science night, studying the colloids that she and her friend Clare made with the "Mad Scientist"

We won't discuss how moments after arriving home with "SLIME" in a jar, (which the scientists strongly advised to keep away from carpet,) she opened her jar and slopped slime all over the living room carpet.

*sigh*

I guess it's a good thing that they are usually so adorable. Last Sunday it was nice enough to wear summer clothes and sandals to Church. When Maggie learned that she didn't need to wear tights or a coat, she shouted, "I feel like a brand new kid!"

Abby wasn't quite ready to give up wearing her winter hat. In fact, she continues to pull it out almost every day. Earlier in the week she did NOT need it, but we had snow yesterday and more in the forecast for overnight tonight, so we haven't put our hats and mittens away yet.

Katherine is improving her reading quite a bit. She is sounding out words, but also memorizing a few of her more favorite books. Still, she is quite proud to take Abby and read to her "Like a real big sister." And earlier today, while I was on the couch, she brought me 2 books and told me "Mom, I'll read to you, because you read to me when I don't feel good."

Yes, I'd say, even at their worst, I'm pretty lucky to have these beautiful girls in my life.

This morning started out a little rough. For unknown reasons, all 3 girls were particularly crabby and each had found a reason to cry before breakfast. It was just one thing after another and nothing I did made anyone happy. It made for a frustrating morning. But then, we decided to walk Maggie to the bus since we had nowhere to rush to this morning. And as we set off down the block Katherine called "LET'S SKIP!" Watching my 3 girls skip (or desperately try in Abby's case) made all of the crazy disappear. Let's hope for more spring weather, more time outside, and less crazy crabbiness!

2 weeks ago our good friends Phil and Stephanie came to visit from Green Bay. We declared it to be "Sepersky Family Mental Health day" and everyone stayed home from school to play with the Hart family. We went downtown to Discovery World where Abby once again overcame her fear of fish

and went to the Mitchell Domes on Saturday.
Sidenote to their trip. On Friday, while crossing the street in downtown Milwaukee, Katherine tripped and fell. She had pretty impressive scrapes on her left 4th and 5th fingers, but was fine once we were able to clean and bandage them, and life went on. 3 days ago(10 days from the injury) She woke up complaining that her left arm hurt. As any good Mom would do, I gave her a little sympathy and then went on with the day, no big deal, she had just slept wrong, right? Except that after her bath that night, it was clear that her left ring finger was red and swollen. Hmmmm. Tuesday morning when it had not improved, she was taken tot he doctor, had xrays of that finger, and was diagnosed with an infected finger, though luckily not a bone infection. She's now on a 10 day course of Augmentin to clear the infection. She is still babying the finger, and says it hurts. But she's also using it more and more, so I do think it is healing. What's that phrase? Never a dull moment!

On Monday, the 28th, Aunt Nora came to visit. We were all thrilled to have some extra time to just hang with Nora. Katherine enjoyed reading books,
Abby pulled out her fanciest costume,
And Maggie and Katherine discovered that Aunt Nora is talented enough to give simultaneous back tickles. What a treat to have her visit, Hooray for Spring Break in the Midwest!

Katherine is somewhat obsessed with my camera these days. At first, she was taking pictures of furniture. But now that she's mastered the self-portrait, this is what I find on my camera. Every time.

Sunday was the Award Luncheon for Chris' Kohl Fellowship Award. We drove through a massive hailstorm to get there and had a great time celebrating Chris. The soggy croissant sandwich and pasta salad lunch wasn't too exciting. But, it was very exciting to share the moment with Chris, being recognized for all of the hard work he does. His 2 principals, 2 fellow music teachers, and the Superintendent of his district joined his mom and me in clapping for him.

Speaking of major accomplishments, Chris' building project for Church is almost done. He had a "soft" grand opening 2 weeks ago and the response has been fabulous. It is a beautiful building and the parish is grateful to Chris for his leadership. The official dedication is May 1. You're all invited!

Hey look at me - It's March 17 and I'm outside with no coat! And I love to be outside, there is nothing I'd rather do. Don't tell anyone, but my Mom closes the garage door as soon as the car pulls in, so that when I get out of the car I don't run out into the driveway and then refuse to come in the house!Hey look at me, I'm riding my bike, with no coat, and no mittens! I am wearing boots, but only because we still have plenty of snow and I like to crunch through it and splash in the puddles
Hey look at me, I'm wearing a sweater my Mommy used to wear, and I look so grown up that my mom keeps telling me I have to stop growing!

It's St Patrick's Day and we have had a great day. We woke to find that the neighborhood cat had visited and left a surprise on our front porch. The cat goes between our house and our good friends next door. It's always fun to see what "Kitty" has been up to when she comes back. Inside the large beer mug was an empty bottle of Jameson - apparently Kitty started the party last night!

I spent the morning in 1st grade cooking potatoes with 2 other moms. It was actually pretty fun although we felt like we were on a Food Network show, trying to cook about 800 pounds of potatoes in a tiny faculty kitchen with limited utensils. We probably cheated by sending one mom home to get a mixer to mash the mashed potatoes, but heck, we got the job done. 8 pounds of hash browns, 2 huge stock pots of mashed potatoes, and 4 trays of baked potato pieces. The idea was the kids were going to taste each kind and then the afternoon math lesson would be tallying favorites and making graphs. Maggie reports that they never got to that lesson because of the Irish Dance assembly in the afternoon. Maybe tomorrow. I was just happy that of the three options, my hash browns were completely devoured.

We had naps this afternoon and then had an hour or so to play outside as it reached 68 degrees today - Heaven! It feels so good to be outside!

On Sunday we visited the Mitchell Domes for their annual Irish Festival. Traditionally, I have been at work and Chris has taken the girls to this event. But we raced from Church to get there so I'd be able to enjoy it before work. It was very fun and the girls were so taken by the dancers this year that they will probably take an introductory class with the Glencastle Dancers this summer.

The past few weeks have been quite busy. The construction project at our church, which Chris is managing, is almost complete. But there are hundreds (thousands?) of details that have to come together at the last minute, so he's been spending a lot of time there.

On top of that, his students had 2 concerts in the last 2 weeks. Concert season is a busy time, but it is very fun for the girls to see Daddy with his students. All three sat very well through the 2 concerts. And they were rewarded by having some free time with the instruments after each concert.

Chris also received the exciting news that he was chosen as a Kohl Foundation Fellow, which is a very prestigious teaching award. As his principal explained to his students, "It's like winning the Super Bowl for teachers" Perhaps not the Super Bowl, but it is always nice to be recognized for hard work, and I think we can all agree that Chris works very hard in everything he does, Hooray for Chris!

And finally, after my last blog about farts, how about some poop? This evening, Abby came over to me saying "STINKY STINKY"

I offered her the potty, and she agreed and had success! Hip Hip HOORAY! YAY!

Knowing that we were about to go up to bed, I let her run around for a few minutes without her diaper on.

Bad choice!

A few minutes later, Katherine exclaimed, "WHO POOPED ON THE FLOOR?"

A post about Katherine....

I wasn't sure if I should share a story about farting on my blog, but a much more experienced blogger advised that it's my blog, and I will want to remember this story in a few years. If farting offends you, skip down to the pictures.

So, every morning we pile into the car and drive to the end of the block to wait for the bus. We could walk, but usually we are on our way to our next destination (preschool, gymnastics, etc) so we drive. Maggie's bus is NOT consistent. Its arrival varies by as much as 10 minutes. Some days we're barely there in time, other days we sit and wait for far too long.

Thursday was a sit and wait day. Abby was squirmy, so I tossed her the ipod. Maggie and I chatted about her day, discussing things in her backpack, that I'd be at work after school, yadda yadda. After the first 2-3 minutes of waiting, Katherine started wiggling and whining a little. I ignored it. Then she did it some more, and I asked "What's the problem?" After a bit more wiggling and whining, she said "Someone farted and it was Maggie and it smells bad!"

Maggie denied it, and Katherine moaned that it smelled so bad she couldn't stand it. She was wiggling, as if trying to escape her car seat. She looked like a tortured prisoner. I will admit the smell was not pleasant, but in the grand scheme, I've smelled much worse. She continued her wiggling and moaning about the smell until the bus arrived. When I got back into the car after getting Maggie out, the smell had intensified, and I wondered aloud if Maggie had left us one giant fart when she got out of the car? Katherine said she thought so.

But then, as I was helping Katherine out of the car, she let out a loud fart.

Turns out, she'd been farting all along, and just couldn't stand her own stench. She tried to blame it on Maggie, and failed. I wish I could have taken a picture of her face as she realized she was busted, it was just too classic!

Now, lest you think that Katherine's only claim to fame this week was her bodily functions, I will share with you one of her other accomplishments. While I was doing laundry, she asked if she could go up to get some plain white paper from the printer. We've been trying to discourage this habit, asking the girls to use the back of other paper for their drawing. She insisted that she was going to write a whole book, and therefore, she needed plain white paper. A little while later, she came to me with the following story.

Here is a girl and her house is on fire and she is sad and the siren is purple and the sky is blue.

This is the firetruck, but the firefighter is sad because she is all alone and she lives so far away from the fire and she has no other helper firefighters and her truck has a ladder and wheels.

This is the firefighter using her hose to shoot the water on the fire and she is happy because she put out the fire and saved the girl.

I think we'll keep her, farts and all!