California

Ben is going to California today.

I think Isaac knows that he was born in California. However, I found out Lizzy's extent of knowledge on California while at the airport this morning.

"Where are you going Daddy?"

"I'm going to California for work"

"Oh. California! That's where the Cars went"

After a moment of confusion, Ben realised she was referring to the movie "Cars".

"Yes - Lightning McQueen went to California didn't he? But Daddy is going for work, he's not going to race in a car"

Tap Dancing

Yesterday was Sunday. We go to church on Sunday, and Elizabeth chose to wear a dress and her "dancing" shoes.

As she was walking down the steps she turned to me and said:

"I'm going tap dancing with Jesus!"

Wrapping Presents

Last week I finally made a craft drawer. It has been a hit, providing hours of entertainment.

Today Lizzy discovered that she could wrap presents with the colored paper. She has been collecting books, necklaces and other little odds and ends and wrapping them.

Some have been given to me, some to Isaac but the majority have been wrapped for her preschool friends.

Let's just hope that she forgets about this before Friday, as I'm sure that quite a number of things are actually Isaac's.

Australian Words - Part 2

Today, we went to Home Depot.

Lizzy, as usual, asked me "Where are we going, Mummy?"

"Home Depot"

Isaac pipes up and asks "How do you say Home Depot in Australian?"

Without a moments hesitation both Ben & I reply:

"Bunnings!"

And both grin at each other.

Australian Words

Today, Lizzy corrected me on how I said "Hurray!" I said "Hurrah" and she told me "It's not Hurrah, it's Hurray".

This all led to a discussion on how different words can be said in different ways - and that Mummy often says words the Australian way while they say them the American way.

This is where the confusion began. Lately Isaac has been asking "How do you say 'x' in Spanish?" We had been talking about tomato sauce being the same word as ketchup when suddenly Isaac pipes up and asks:

"Mummy, how do you say tomato sauce in Spanish in Australia?"

Questions could be asked forever at this age.

Daddies are amazing!

Daddies are amazing. Did you know they can make apple spaghetti? Well, according to Lizzy her daddy can make it.

We have an apple corer, which peels the skin off the apple as it cores. It becomes one long twisty piece of apple skin. The result is apple spaghetti and a very happy Lizzy.

We love...

We love lots of things, but maybe instead I should be calling this post "Wii Love".

Yes...we finally have our Wii. We've been trying to get one since prior to Christmas, and finally we managed to get our hands on one last week. It arrived late yesterday afternoon.

Last night Ben & I were playing, and this morning Lizzy was introduced to the Wii. Isaac will find out about the Wii today after preschool.

Both Lizzy & I love boxing. It's definately the easiest game for a 3 year old and the most active game for me. Lizzy loves to knock her opponent down and at the end yells "I won, I won!".

I can't wait to see Isaac play.

Blatant Advertising

Ben's book gets released today. Go on - I know you want to buy a copy.

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Microsoft-Virtual-Server-2005/dp/0470109173/ref=sr_1_1/102-7077579-5168937?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1176133589&sr=8-1

Just look at that smiling face...don't you want it to be on your shelf?

And if that doesn't convince you....I'll use "the force" in recognition of Isaac's milestone.

"You will buy the book".

Milestones

When our children are babies it seems like they hit milestones every week. As they grow, the milestones seem to space out. Therefore it was a big weekend for us as both Elizabeth & Isaac hit milestones that we just had to write about.

Lizzy's milestone is that she worked out how to swim! Yeah! It was quite funny to watch. She has always loved the water, but all she wanted to do was float on her back. She was flat out refusing to put her head under the water. However, last week at swimming lessons she suddenly discovered putting her head under was fun. This week she discovered that she could float on her belly, kick her legs and put her head under at the same time - and wala - she could move. You would think that she had found the cure for all the world's ills with the amount of excitement this caused her.

And Isaac's milestone.....

He watched Star Wars for the first time. Yes, I know some of you may not think of this as a milestone but Ben & I thought it was worthy of note. Our boy was entraced. We watched Episode 1. You could tell he was a little bored when there were serious or sappy moments, but his eyes were alight when ever there was action.

I've been trying to work out when Owen first watched Star Wars - I'm not sure which episode - but he must of been of a similar age. I remember that Mum took me to see Humphrey the Bear Live while Dad took Owen to the movies. I also remember feeling at little sad that my big brother was going to see Star Wars (although I have to admit that Humphrey was a pretty exciting alternative). I think Elizabeth felt much the same way when we told her she needed to wait until she was five too. She excepted with good grace - however, unlike me, she missed out on a fun alternative. Instead she went to bed.

Conversations

It is funny how sitting in the car seems to be the place for "deep and meaningful" conversations.

Yesterday, as we were driving along Isaac suddenly asked me "How many birthdays do you need to be dead?"

Wow....where did that one come from?

I responded somewhere along the lines of that we hope to have enough birthdays so that we can be mummies and daddies, then grandmas and grandad's and maybe even great grandparents.

That seemed to satisfy him, but then he started chatting about being a daddy one day. I explained that if he or Elizabeth had a baby, then I would be a grandma and grandma would be a great grandma.

At 5 years old, however, you are full of knowledge and know exactly how the world works. So when he told me that he was going to have 2 children, one a girl and one a boy, I decided that he really didn't need to know that he had no control over that. So I just replied "That's wonderful Isaac. I'm sure I'll love being their grandma."

Baking

I have always enjoyed baking. I remember many happy hours as a child, baking cookies with mum and as a teenager, baking for my family. Ginger nuts, ANZAC cookies, chocolate cake and the such were my favourites. Still today, spending some time in the kitchen will lift my mood. It's not surprising then, that my children love to cook already. I hope too, that they will have wonderful memories of spending time in the kitchen making cookies and cakes and other delights.

Both come running at the suggestion of cooking. Isaac loves to measure and Lizzy loves to tip. They take turns stiring, and generally manage to create a big but fun mess. However, I think for both of them their favourite time is at the end when they are allowed to lick the bowl.


Today we made chocolate cookies.

School

Lizzy has been having a tough week, and many things have brought tears to her eyes. But her saddest moments have been when Isaac has been going to school.

"I want to go to school" has been said numerous this week. On Thursday, Isaac had a teddy bears picnic, and had packed his favourite bear into his school bag. Lizzy was so excited and went searching for her bag and teddy. I was told "I love my teddy so much" as he was stuffed into her backpack. The disappointment was great when I told her that only Isaac was going to school.

Today was Lizzy's preschool day. The smiles lit the room when she realised it was Friday and her day for preschool. Luckily, Teddy had been forgotten as she happily skipped off to class.

As Overheard in the Backseat

You may remember the other day I posted that Isaac wanted to be a race car driver. As a continuation - this is what was overheard in our backseat.

We had all been talking about the moon, and Isaac starts out with a well known fact.

"I don't want to be an astronaut. I want to be a race car driver and drive really fast on a race track."

Then Elizabeth joins in: "I want to fly in a space ship."

"You want to be an astronaut?"

"Yes. That would be very fun."

So it looks like we may have an astronaut after all. Well, at least for this week anyway.

Emotions

You would think, being female, that I would have anticipated the sensitive, emotional response a little girl might have to daily situations. However, I was quite unprepared for today's emotional outburst.

We were at Mommy & Me - when suddenly Lizzy ran over to me crying. As I hug her, I ask what is wrong.

"Nobody wants to play me with."

Ahhh. I have to admit I didn't anticipate that one for another year or two.

I quickly glance at where she'd come from, and realise that "nobody" are the 5 & 8 year old sisters who are happily playing together and appear to uninterested in the play of a 3 year old. It was not really surprising they didn't want to play with her, as they were doing "big kid" stuff.

As I bumble over an answer, I point her in the direction of another little girl, closer to her age. She happily heads off, emotions in control. For now.

Girls only

Lizzy refused to give Ben a goodbye hug and kiss today. She refused with great charm and sweetness. So naturally Ben pounted and said "I'm sad".

"No Daddy. Only girls can be sad".

Ummm...I'm not sure on how well this reflects on her & I.

When I Grow Up....

Today, Isaac & I were looking at his Atlas of the Universe book, reading about space probes. It's one of his favourite books right now. I decide to cast noble thoughts about his future. "One day Isaac, perhaps you'll be an astronaut." Then I remember he's told us that he wouldn't like to be an astronaut, so I add "Or maybe a scientist who makes those space probes?"

"No. When I grow up I'm going to be a race car driver because I want to drive really fast".

So for now my super cautious boy want to drive fast.

My Favourite Man

Ben rarely gets a mention, let alone a whole post here. So I thought I'd share my favourite man with you.

Praise

Who ever said that being a mother was a thankless job never had Elizabeth as a daughter.

Her latest saying is "Great job Mummy". Today's praise was because I managed to find her pirate patch and helped her put it on.

It's those little moments which make you think that you are doing something right.

I Spy

We often play the game "I Spy" with Isaac and Lizzy. We usually play it with colors (eg "I spy something yellow"). Today I upped the stakes and used letters.

"I spy something beginning with B. What starts with a b sound"

"Table" shouts Lizzy.

Ben & I grin at each other, but when I grin a flood of memories come back.

I remember driving in the car, when Anita was Lizzy or Isaac's age, playing the same game. She would say "I spy with my little eye something starting with B". We would reply with words like "bird", "balloon", "book" and so on. Finally we'd start saying "tree", "road", "flower" - to which she would exciting laugh and say "Yes, it's a flower" or we'd give up and she'd tell us it was a mailbox or some other object which definately did not start with B.

I loved having a little sister. Now it seems strange to be playing those same games and seeing the same responses from my own daughter.

Quote of the Day

"My hungry tummy could eat as much as an eleven year old hippo."