A recital by Audrey

Here is Audrey's rendition of "There Once Was a Puffin," by Florence Page Jaques. It's a family favorite, and I think my mom taught it to Lili when she was 4, too. Here's the text.

Snuggling Sisters

After a late night at the VDM dinner, I had Lili hold her sleeping sister while I got ready for bed, since Luke was still out, and she fell asleep too...I had to break out the camera, which is how I discovered the photos in the next post.

Why I don't take naps...

So, naps for grown ups are a rarity in our house. I guess that makes them all the more valuable; if Christmas came every day it wouldn't be so special. Anyway, I tried to take a nap with Kateri today after taking the girls swimming with Luke. He was watching some ball game on TV and the girls had the VDM fundraiser dinner to go later that evening, so I got the girls showered and in PJs with the hope of everyone sleeping. I tucked them in bed and closed their drapes and tossed in the bargaining chip of watching a movie that night. I even took out my contacts and got into PJs myself. So it was with high hopes I snuggled up to my slumbering baby. I drifted and dozed for the next half hour, all the while hearing little voices now and then from the next room. I finally fell asleep, and the next thing I knew Audrey had run into my room wailing that Lili had broken the head off of their Statue of the Blessed Mother even though, as Audrey said, "I TOLD Lili to just leave it on our dresser and not touch it AT ALL and we're super duper sorry!!" (By the way this is the second statue of Our Lady my children have destroyed in a little over a week...I'm sorry again, Dan and Erika!) It is now 9:45pm, and I have just discovered these photos on my camera from their supposed nap time. No, they are not allowed to take my camera and use it, in case you were wondering... Here's a lovely shot of Lili and her favorite toy of late: a porcelain doll she bought at a Massachusetts consignment shop for six dollars. She pretends that it is the American Girl doll Samantha wearing her "First Holy Communion Dress." I'm glad to see they at least got some prayers in. Audrey is the picture of innocence here, but I can just see Lili staging this down to Audrey's reverently closed eyes.

Apparently, Audrey's beloved "Koala" was the only one who actually got some rest. Audrey took a picture to prove it.

They are such stinkers sometimes, but I can't help but be a little amused by their antics....sigh...time to break out the super glue and see if we can fix poor Mary...

Poor Lili...

It has happened. It was always going to happen, but its inevitability did nothing to prepare me for this sad, sad day. I have embarrassed Lili for the first time.
I did "lunch duty" today at Lili's school, which entails watching the kiddies eat and then supervising recess. Later on, Daddy was playing basketball as the girls and I sat at the dinner table when Lili decides to shatter the peace by asking quietly, "Why did you have to ask the fifth and sixth grade table how their day was going?" I asked, nonplussed, "Why did that embarrass you?" To which she nodded, her eyes on her plate. "Did it embarrass you when I asked YOUR table how your day was going?" "No," she replied, "But they are just...older."

Now let me just say that, as a kid/teenager, I got embarrassed very easily and very often. Let me just paint a picture for you. I think it was probably my 13th or 14th birthday, and my family had all gone out to eat at Chili's to celebrate. Our waiter had been a somewhat attractive young man, and so my Dad had tried to make me enjoy my birthday as much as possible by telling me regular intervals throughout the meal that he was going to give our waiter 20 dollars to personally sing me happy birthday, which as you can imagine horrified me beyond belief. We got through the meal, and I raced to the car, happy to have escaped. My Dad and older brother followed a few minutes later and told me as they were getting into the car..."We gave him the twenty, he's coming out to the car to sing to you." Of course they had done nothing of the sort, but as fate would have it, our waiter walked out of the door and towards the parking lot just as I turned around in my seat to glance back at the restaurant. I immediately panicked, burst into tears and I'm pretty sure I tried to wedge myself under the bench seat in the back of our minivan...it was the only hiding place I could think of. My Dad and brothers guffawed, Happy Birthday to me.

So anyway, I can empathize with getting embarrassed over little things, but I really thought I had a few more years before this started happening. Anyway, back at the dinner table I told Lili, "I'm sorry. I was just trying to be friendly...the other moms don't do that?" "No." came the curt reply. I said, "I won't do it anymore if that embarrasses you." At this point Audrey got involved, "No Mom, you HAVE to be friendly." She turned towards Lili and, in typical Audrey style, advised Lili bluntly. "Next time you get embarrassed, Lili, just eat your lunch!"

So anyway, that was my funny story of the day. I embarrassed Lili for the first time today. Sadly, it won't be the last.

Audrey and Kateri

This morning, I was holding Kateri just after she had woken up from a nap and Audrey was sitting next to us on the bed. Maybe it's the killer bedhead, or the one flushed cheek, or the way they are happy to snuggle up with you and just be held, but babies who have woken up happy (but still a little sleepy) are so sweet. Audrey must have been feeling the same way, because she put her hand on Kateri's cheek and said, "Mom, I'm going to miss Kateri when she grows up and is a kid and not a baby anymore..." So I said, "Yeah, me too, but maybe when she grows up and is a big kid like you God will give us another baby..." Audrey grinned at this for a minute before her face got serious again and she patted Kateri's cheek again and said wistfully, "Yep....but it won't be Kateri."


So after I stopped bawling I decided to record the conversation on my blog for posterity. And by posterity I mean Audrey and Kateri when they are angsty teenage girls who argue over borrowed clothes or someone taking too much time in the bathroom or whatever...

What the kids have been up to...

Lili is back to school, which she loves, but it is kind of sad for us, since we say goodbye to her at 7:15 and she doesn't get home until 3:45. We are settling into our routine as well. Audrey and Kateri have been having fun at home. Kateri has learned how to open our trash can and throw things away...she is very sneaky, yet when I have caught her in the act she seems very proud of herself, almost defiantly so. Yesterday she threw away one pair of Mr. Potato Head eyes, one kitchen dishtowel, one of Audrey's flip flops, and two mini pretzels that she seemingly only begged me for so that she could throw them away...
I have to say a little bit about one of Audrey's favorite games. Whenever I sit down on the couch in the toy room to look at or read something, she pounces on me as potential patron of her restaurant. I am usually a little distracted, but manage to order a meal nonetheless. Sometimes her meal selections are just hilariously bizarre enough to make me pay attention. Here was our conversation yesterday
(I plop down on the couch to read the mail)
Audrey: "Hellooooooo and welcome to our restaurant! Would you like an appetizer before your meal?"
Me: "ummm....sure...what do you have?"
Audrey: "Well we have cheese sauce with plain apples or secret melon with frosting..."
Of course I had to try the secret melon with frosting...such a delicacy...

Thanks Grandpa

Thanks for the monkeys, Grandpa!!