I'm having a fun night with the girls, and as I thought about posting on Facebook, I said to myself, "Self, it will take you 5 minutes more to blog. Update your darn BLOG!"

Chris isn't home tonight, due to Confirmation at Church. I knew from the past 2 days that the girls would be whiny after school, so I planned a surprise of McDonald's for dinner, added to time riding bikes outside, and perhaps dessert while we watch a little of American Idol tonight.

Then Maggie came him with a Math worksheet that required her to copy a recipe with fractions (3/4 cup) and I thought, "sounds like a reason to make cookies!" So after our dinner (and Facetime with Daddy) Maggie and I made cookies.

While Katherine practiced some Yoga poses from a library book I brought home today, and
Abby dug through the Library Book Bag (the newest version, twice as large as the old one which developed holes from repeated overstuffing.)
It's been delightful night. I'm pretty sure that there will be tears before bed for one reason or another, but such is life.

Earlier, while riding bike in the cul de sac, Maggie showed Katherine how to ride a bike with only 1 hand. Both girls rode in circles beaming with pride, and setting goals, "I'm going to go all the way around with only 1 hand." "I'm going to ride to you, Mom, here I come, 1 hand only!" They thought it was the coolest thing ever and I remembered riding up and down Washington setting similar goals. 'Ride to the driveway, Ride to McGinty's, Ride to the corner and turn!' I hope that my girls will have such happy memories years from now.

Once upon a time, in August 2006, we took a chance and took a vacation with Maggie who was not quite 3, and Katherine who was 2 months old. We went to Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan and had a fabulous time. We took this picture of the girls on the shores of Lake Michigan, and it is still one of my favorite pictures.

So of course, when Abby was a baby, in August of 2009, we went back and did it again. And of course, knowing how much I loved the other pictures, I tried it again, capturing this classic of my 3 girls.
As we thought about our Spring Break plans, we found a great deal online, and booked a night at Blue Harbor - for Easter night. Chris would be done with all his Church stuff, I don't work til Tuesday..... we'd escape for a night. It's not quite warm enough for sitting on the beach, but you can be sure I didn't miss the opportunity to put my 3 girls in a white Adirondack chair!

I stepped out of my denial for a minute and checked on the blog. I hadn't realized it was February the last time I updated. Oops. So I went to look for pictures from March, and I realized just how busy March was. And then I got overwhelmed.

So, I'm going to wrap my head around all the funny things I want to tell you about, and the pictures I have to share, and one of these days I'll actually write a real post.

But today, if you're feeling generous, please click on the button on the right side of the blog and donate to the March for Babies! I'm walking with a group of friends from work on April 28. I may or may not have the big girls with me. I truly appreciate the support, and I'll be back one of these days with a real post!

So many thoughts that run through my head on any given day - so many moments thinking "Must remember to blog about this!" And yet, it's been almost a month since I've updated. Again. Sorry.

In the interest of using the blog to remember important milestones, here's a quick update.

This is the week that Maggie had her first "fight" with her friends. I certainly had my fair share of friend drama when I was in school - but I don't remember it starting until 4th-5th-6th grade. This is pretty crazy in 2nd grade! It actually started last week when Maggie was out Monday afternoon for the doctor ( remind me to blog about the wart story!) Her "best" friend spent the afternoon being "best friends" with another common friend and then the next day Maggie felt left out. No biggie. We talked about it briefly and let it be.

Until this morning when we were talking during breakfast. I had been at work last night, so I was getting the update about yesterday. All the usual topics, no big deal, until Maggie blurted "Lauren and Makenna were so mean to me it really hurt my feelings and now they aren't going to be my friends anymore because they say I'm too mean!"

Sigh. Really?

So we talked a little more, and then moved on. Because what can you say to an 8 year old? What do you say when her friends tell her she's mean because she has snow pants and they don't? I left it at, you can only control your own feelings and your own actions. You can't make another person play with you. You can just work on bring the nicest person you can be, and play with other people who are nice as well. (We use the terms "Bucket-fillers/dippers" based on a book Chris read for school) I reminded her that she's been friends with these girls for a long time and she'll continue to be friends with them, but sometimes, it's OK to take a break.

I don't know the right answers. And I know the questions/conflicts are only going to get 'harder' as she gets older. I really thought I had a year or 2 before she'd get so involved in the girl-drama.

Today was Maggie's First Reconciliation. She's been quite laid back about it, seeming totally relaxed anytime I mentioned it.

In the car on the way there, Chris and I were quizzing her a bit - but she got almost all the answers right, like it was no big deal.

So it surprised me, and made me want to both laugh and hug her tight when she turned to me, with panic in her eyes, just before the children were called to the front of church, and whispered "I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY!"

I said, "There's a card on the chair, just follow the words, and the priest will help you."

And she replied, still with panic, "BUT WHAT ARE MY SINS?"

Luckily, she was sent to Fr Bob, our Pastor, so that put her at ease. (There were 4 other priests there who were unfamiliar to her)

Yes, I was that Mom and I snapped this picture. But you can see I was far enough away that while the picture was taken, it was not an invasion of her privacy. Blurry due to distance and no flash.

Her face was completely relaxed as she walked back to our pew and she beamed with pride that she survived.

I still remember her Baptism like it was yesterday, how can she already be so grown up?

Another Friday, another blog post. This time is not so fun. Abby's got the " Fro-ups."

Of course it's never fun to have puking in the house, but even less fun is puking with the youngest, most inexperience kid. She has no aim, she's scared of puking, and her coping mechanism is to run around scared while she's puking.

Aren't you glad you're reading this?

But here's a funny story.

The big girls are off at school, and she'd gone more than an hour without incident. So I thought we might be OK. (Spoiler alert - we weren't!) My coffee was kicking in with an energy burst, I have my 3rd load of laundry running, so I thought - hey, why not clean the bathrooms as long as we're stuck at home and I have energy?

Then, I had a second brainstorm. HEY! I got new running shoes yesterday - I should wear them here in the house to make sure they feel good before I take them to the gym tomorrow!

(Insert visual of me excitedly lacing up my new shoes.)

I came downstairs, checked to see that Abby was still fine, and set about gathering my supplies. Abby came over and clung to my leg, whining about wanting food. I explained again that any food would make her have more 'fro-ups' and picked her up to give her a hug and take her back to the couch.

And then she puked. On me. And I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that I tossed her out of my arms, toward her bowl, shouting "IN THE BOWL, ABBY! IN THE BOWL!" while I assessed the damage to my BRAND NEW SHOES!

The shoes miraculously escaped the mess. The rest of my kitchen floor was not so lucky.

As I was cleaning up, she shouted "I NEED TO PEE!"(relieved that she's not so dehydrated that she can't pee) so we ran to the bathroom, where we discovered she had some mess on the legs of her jammies. She was sad to have to switch jammies (for the 4th time today) and I said, "See, Abby, that's why you have to put your throw ups in the bowl, then it's not so messy!" Her eyes lit up, and she said in amazement, "Mommy, that's a GREAT idea!"

So, we'll see what the rest of the day brings. Maybe by the end of today she'll have expert skills. I can only hope!

Nothing like a day at home to jump start the blog again. Certainly I could write every day - but where would the excitement be in that?

Today was a scheduled day off for the big girls - end of the quarter. It also ended up to be a semi-snow day. So we decided to stay home and just enjoy it. The girl got "dressed" in jammies and we spent the day doing fun things at home.

First, they watched TV while I took a shower.

Then we declared it was "CRAZY HAIR DAY" - because Maggie had gone to bed with wet, uncombed hair last night and it was WILD! They asked for multiple pony-tails and I let them do the same to me. Abby resisted.

After all that hair-styling it was time for "CRAZY SNACK!" Who knew it could be so funny to mix teddy grahams, cinnamon toast crunch cereal AND granola bars in one bowl? CRAZY!
Next, they convinced me to open a project - they chose "bake and decorate animal cookies"
So we mixed the dough, cut the cookies, and watched them bake. And then it was a LONG time to wait before we could frost them!
But we weren't bored! The girls unloaded the dishwasher! Kit, Ruthie, and Rapunzel also entertained the girl quite a bit today.
We also ate lunch and then, wait for it, TOOK NAPS! Yes, all 4 of us slept for at least a little while this afternoon. Abby won by sleeping until after 4pm. I knew that the big girls were tired from school and activities, but I was shocked that they actually fell asleep! I did NOT complain though. Once everyone was up, it was time to PAINT!
The cookie project came with edible watercolors. The girls were in heaven! While they did that, I made yummy chocolate chip cookies (the animal cookies were NOT excellent)

While they were painting, I heard Katherine say something about a Cookie War and I jumped right in and said" NO WAR!" I thought they were going to throw cookies! She laughed and said, "No mommy, Cookie wars would be like Cupcake war on TV!" We decided that once Dad got home, he could be the judge of all the cookies.
Late afternoon TV watching and book reading.
After dinner, we had the competition. Chris decided that the girls won for creativity but I won for taste. I'll accept that!
After the competition we played LIFE (I won!) before opening a surprise package from Gram and Pop Pop. Recycled magazines from the Library! WOO-HOO!
After a thank you phone call to Gram and PopPop, and plenty of research from their magazines, it was finally time for bed.

It was a pretty great day, and I'm a pretty lucky mom that I was able to share it with these girls.