Sleepover at Grammy's

Friday night, the girls and I stayed at my mom's house for the night.
Look how peaceful they are... so sweet!

Does this say it all or what?

Another Try at the Dentist

Here we go. I am about to leave to go pick up Maddy from school (a little earlier this time so there's no speeding through school zones) to bring her to the dentist for a second try for a cleaning. Peter was going to take her but it turns out he can't because he has a phone meeting for work. Let's see if she cooperates this time. I don't know what I will do if she doesn't.
Wish me luck!

Maybe One of These Will Work

Ok, with Maddy not eating at school, I have got to find a way to get her to start eating healthfully at home. I saw an article in one of my magazines with Jessica Seinfeld (Jerry's wife). She has a new cookbook coming out (October 5) called Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food. The description on Amazon sounds cool. Here's a excerpt from Amazon:

As a mother of three, Jessica Seinfeld can speak for all parents who struggle to feed their kids right and deal nightly with dinnertime fiascos. As she wages a personal war against sugars, packaged foods, and other nutritional saboteurs, she offers appetizing alternatives for parents who find themselves succumbing to the fastest and easiest (and least healthy) choices available to them. Her modus operandi? Her book is filled with traditional recipes that kids love, except they're stealthily packed with veggies hidden in them so kids don't even know! With the help of a nutritionist and a professional chef, Seinfeld has developed a month's worth of meals for kids of all ages that includes, for example, pureed cauliflower in mac and cheese, and kale in spaghetti and meatballs. She also provides revealing and humorous personal anecdotes, tear–out shopping guides to help parents zoom through the supermarket, and tips on how to deal with the kid that "must have" the latest sugar bomb cereal.

But this book also contains much more than recipes and tips. By solving problems on a practical level for parents, Seinfeld addresses the big picture issues that surround childhood obesity and its long–term (and ruinous) effects on the body. With the help of a prominent nutritionist, her book provides parents with an arsenal of information related to kids' nutrition so parents understand why it's important to throw in a little avocado puree into their quesadillas. She discusses the critical importance of portion size, and the specific elements kids simply must have (as opposed to adults) in order to flourish now and in the future: protein, calcium, vitamins, and Omega 3 and 6 fats.

Another cookbook my mom saw at the bookstore recently is called The Sneaky Chef: Simple Strategies for Hiding Healthy Foods in Kids Favorite Meals by Missy Chase Lapine. There was no description on Amazon but the reviews were good.

When Maddy started school, and I mentioned the whole picky eater thing to her teacher. One said, "You'd be surprised how much they eat. It's more of a social thing." I walked out of there saying to myself... "you don't know Maddy..."

Well, here it is almost 4 weeks later, and she still hasn't eaten from 8-2:30. Ok, truthfully? She's eaten. She's eaten a couple cookies, 1/4 grilled cheese, mashed potatoes one day, and today a turkey sandwich (it was supposed to be bologna). That's it! In almost fours weeks, I can count on one hand the amount of food M has eaten at school. That's pretty bad.

I really need one of these books!

Cute Little Brits

Charlie and Lola

Have y'all seen this show? I know I have posted about them before but watching it again this morning with the girls, it just made me love it even more.

I wish M & K would get along as nicely as these two do.

Maddy & Aiden Sittin' in a Tree... WHAT?

Maddy: "Aiden's in my class mom."

Me: "Oh yeah? That's cool."

Maddy: (giggling) "Guess what I did?"

Me: (inquisitively) "What?"

Maddy: (now laughing very excitedly) "I TRIED TO KISS HIM!"

Me: "What? You did?"

Maddy: (still giggling) "Yeah, I kissed him twice. Once on the head, and then on his cheek!"

Oh crap, she's only in preschool. It's those darned princess movies!

Pool Smell

Since M has been at school this week, I 've been trying to do stuff with K. We've been running errands together, been to the movies, and to the pool. Well, Maddy hasn't really figured out that when she's not here that K and I spend time together. Until today.

We're sitting on the couch this afternoon and I gave her a hug and she says "Hey, you smell like the pool. Why do you smell like the pool?"

I was like, uh-oh, this might not end well. Kenzie answers her "Me and mommy went to the pool today." I was so glad she didn't say that Kailey, Caleb, Sophie and Zoe were there too.

It turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

Maddy 1st Day of School

Maddy had her first day of Pre-K today. She is going from 8-2:30. My baby is growing up so fast. One of the women who works at the school used to work at the daycare that Maddy went to from 5 months old to 15 months (til K was born). She said today "I can't believe that's the baby!" No kidding. I feel the same way sometimes.

The school serves breakfast, lunch and snack - it's the Georgia Lottery funded pre-k so the class is free but we pay for the food. Unfortunately for us, Maddy is so picky that we're probably wasting the money. I fed her breakfast at home today because I didn't realize they served it at school. Today's breakfast was waffles, she ate a bite I guess. Lunch was beenie weenies, tater tots & pineapple chunks. Did she any of it? NOPE. Snack was crackers or something. She did eat a couple of those. Tomorrow will be another day of not eating for her since cheesy grits (breakfast) spaghetti, peas and peaches (lunch) is on the menu. Oh boy. I really hope this will get her to open up and start eating more things. Keep your fingers crossed.

Here are some pics from this morning.
watching a little tv before school

gotta have the backpack picture

Maddy didn't have a problem us dropping her off. She went right for the toys and found the Ariel crown right away
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Kenzie and I had a great day together. It was so weird having the whole day just the 2 of us. It was definitely a quieter kind of day :-) We just ran a couple errands in the morning, came home to do some chores around the house while K played all by herself. Then we went to the pool for about an hour. It was a nice day!

Slumber Party

Maddy is having her second sleepover this week. Monday night she slept over Kailey's house and tonight Kailey and Caleb are sleeping here (Josh and Casey are out celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary - Happy Anniversary guys!).
(these pics are from Feb)

look at those eyes on Kailey

Hula Girls

This was shortly before we went to get haircuts, so you can see the difference in length here (in Kenzie's hair anyway)

New Haircuts

I finally decided to get haircuts for the girls last week. What do you think?

Happy 2nd Birthday to Caleb

and

Happy 4th Birthday to Kailey

Peter the Entertainer

Peter entertaining the neighborhood kids

Strip Waterhose...?

Now that I think about it I think the water ban was still in effect and here we were wasting gallons and gallons... oh well!

M is the first one to take her shirt off...

...then Cian

...then Ben

...then Declan and Kenzie

And there's the whole crew

A Visit From the SC Mooneys

Mark and Amy came down from Winston-Salem to visit us over Labor Day weekend. We had such a fun time!

Cian and Declan playing with the dollhouse

Ben, Declan and our friend's daughter Anna playing Legos

Ben's masterpiece (he's so adorable)

This was at a park Peter has heard is the "largest playground in Georgia"

Maddy posing for the camera

Kenzie

Cian, Amy and Declan - great picture!

Ben wouldn't open his eyes for me so Mark was trying to pry them open

Ha ha Ben, GOTCHA!

The little flirt, Declan

Mark was being a big meanie and honking the horn while K was in front of the van

2 Yr Old Picasso

I was talking on the phone one afternoon and it was a conversation that I couldn't have the girls interrupting me and yelling "Mom, excuse me... Mom..." Well, I guess Kenzie got a little mad at me for locking myself in the bathroom and decided to exact revenge.

Gymnastics Class

I wasn't able to get any pictures of the girls doing gymnastics yet but here are a couple pictures of them at class.

First day of Preschool

Monkey Joe's

Nancy and I took the girls to Monkey Joe's, an inflatable playplace. It was fun. I always have fun when we go because I get to go on all the things too.