Mommy/Daughter Date Night

Curly Girl and I had a Mommy/Daughter Date Night tonight at Barnes and Noble. They usually have a family game night the last Friday of the month. This time, however, because of the holiday weekend they decided to do it last Friday so we missed it.

We decided to make the best of it so Curly Girl picked out a game that she wanted and a stack of books. She used some of her birthday money to buy the game and three books. We then went to the cafe to read some others.

The first thing she wanted was a giant sugar cookie (her favorite). I had a Godiva hot chocolate made with skim milk. They are sooo good! When Hubby and I used to hang out at B&N before kids that was our ritual. Get a huge stack of magazines, I would have the hot chocolate and he would get a cafe aulait.

Anyway, back to tonight. We settled in, Curly Girl ate 95% of her cookie (I had a little bit of it) and some milk. I gave her the money to pay for it and let her go up to the counter and order. She was so proud of herself. I showed her how to pay and get the change back.

We sat and read some books. She's doing so well reading the Stage 1 books. I'm so proud of her! We've always tried to encourage our girls to read and have always kept plenty of books around the house. Before we went to B&N we stopped by Toys R Us and after walking around every aisle she chose not to buy anything because she wanted to go to B&N.

While we were sitting there she says to me, "Mommy, I'm a grown up now so I have to tell you something."

I said, "What's that?"

She says, "Well, when I was a little baby you told me I can't say hate because that's a bad word. Well, now that I'm a grown up I just want to say that I hate hot chocolate."

Trying not to laugh out loud I said, "That's ok. I guess you are grown up enough now to use that word." A woman that was walking by glanced at me and smiled.

She ended up buying the game and three books and I let her pay herself. Just watching how confident she was handing over the stuff to the cashier and waiting to be rung up made me realize just how grown up she is now.

We just got home a bit ago. As we were walking in Munchkin heard the dog bark and knew we were home so Hubby let her come down from bed to say goodnight to us. Curly Girl and Munchkin gave each other a big kiss and hug and Curly Girl helped her baby sister get back into bed.

Things like this just make me so happy and I just want to remember these moments the rest of my life.

A ladybug on her finger

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's birthday. She's always been my best friend, my closest confidant, my partner in crime, my Mom. She always knows when I'm having a bad day and when I just need a swift kick in the butt.
She has nine grandchildren but still manages to make each one feel like they're the most important. Everyone wants to go to Mom-Mom's house. She's taught each one of her granddaughters the fine art of shopping!

She always makes sure that we all have what we need because that's what a Mom does. Sometimes she worries too much about us but again that's what a Mom does.
She's taught me what it means to be someone's Mom. To be there for your children, to catch them when they fall, to let them make mistakes on their own because that's how they grow into independent adults. Because no matter what your children do they will always be your babies.
So Happy Birthday Mom! I love you so much and thank you for everything you've ever done in my life. Thanks for loving me even when I'm not perfect. And always being there to catch me when I fall.
Thanks for being the best Mom-Mom my kids could ever ask for. Thanks for all of the little and the big things you do for us every day.
Thanks for teaching my brothers, my sister and me what it means to be a family. You've taught us that we can always depend on each other. You are truly the matriarch of the family!

Thanks for letting me make mistakes and thanks for picking me back up when I fall. Most of all, thanks for showing me how to be a great mom to my own kids. I love you!

Wordless Wednesday: All tucked in

I love lists!

Hi, my name is Supermommy and I'm addicted to making lists.

Yep, that's me. I LOVE lists. I make lists for the food store, I make lists of things I have to do, I make lists of books I want to read. I even have a list for all the things I want Hubby to do around the house (can't have him get bored, ya know!). I think I even have a list of lists around here somewhere.

I have a big five subject notebook that I keep next to my bed so that when I'm lying in bed at night and a thought hits me I can just pop it into the appropriate list.

My favorite place to keep my lists though is in my Palm Treo smartphone.
I love my phone. I got it about three years ago and it has my whole life in it.

Time to go, I have to write a list of things I need to do today.

Sidenote: Curly Girl had her four year checkup yesterday. She's now 40 inches and 31 pounds, about 75% for heights and 25% for weight. She's a tall, skinny girl! She also got three shots which was REALLY fun (said sarcastically).

It's Party Time!

Today was Curly Girl's birthday party.
There were water balloons,
there was a pinata,

there was a water slide,
there was cake, there was singing,


there was candy,


there was lots of food,



there was lots of love all around.




The birthday girl had a great birthday. "The best birthday ever.", according to her.

Losing your heart

When we went to Sesame Place the other day I had just a taste of what parents must feel in that moment when they realize they can't find their child.

I was playing with Munchkin in the little kid area. Hubby and Curly Girl were off climbing in the nets and tubes. There were so many little kids in the play area where Munchkin and I were that it was hard to tell whose kid was whose. One of the dads walked in front of me and momentarily blocked my view from where I was sitting, it was maybe ten seconds or so. In that small amount of time Munchkin decided to take off to somewhere more interesting.

Suddenly I realized that she wasn't there. I swear she was only about five feet away from me and that quickly she was gone. I started to panic and call her name. I asked a few people if they had seen her and I realized that I couldn't even think of what she was wearing. I started running around calling for her and I went over to another section just next to where we were playing that had a slide and climbing set on on and I find Munchkin climbing up the slide, totally oblivious to how she freaked me out.

This really made me realize just how quickly they can disappear. She was just five feet away from me! It's so important to never take your eyes off of them for even a split second, especially when there are so many other kids around and everything is the same bright primary colors of the clothes they are wearing.

I hope that I never have to experience that feeling again. In just the 30 seconds or so that I thought I'd lost her I had so many horrible thoughts go through my mind. My heart goes out to those parents who have lost a child.

I just thank God that I found her when I did. I don't want to lose my heart ever again.

Welcome to Elmo's World!

Yesterday we took Curly Girl and Munchkin to Sesame Place for the day. First we started off the day with some presents and balloons for Curly Girl.

Then after a birthday breakfast of pancakes we packed up and went to Sesame Place.

We've never been there and when both girls realized where we were they were so excited. While Curly Girl and Daddy went on the roller coaster, Munchkin and I stopped to visit Super Grover. She was brave until we got up close to him.
We then went over to see the Elmo's World show. We just made it in before the show was full so we ended up sitting in the nose bleed section. Curly Girl's not a huge Sesame Street fan, she thinks it's for babies, but both girls really enjoyed the Elmo Show. They were singing and clapping and dancing. Munchkin was so excited she stood up on my lap and danced the entire show.
After the show we stopped to watch the parade on Main Street. First we hit the merry go round though. Munchkin sat on my shoulders and danced, clapped and sang the whole time. Curly Girl had a bird's eye view from Daddy's shoulders.
After the parade we stopped and had lunch. We then headed over to the huge play area with climbing nets and all kinds of equipment for kids and grownups to climb on. Hubby took Curly Girl to climb on the nets and I took Munchkin to play in the area for the smaller kids. Then we met back up and I took the girls on a ride together.

The girls then went in this play area called "Ernie's Bed Bounce" , they had so much fun there!

We then went to cool off a bit and splash around in the water. I didn't think to wear my bathing suit so Daddy had to take the girls in the water.
After all that we were totally tired and it was dinner time so we packed up and went to Red Robin for dinner. We've never been there and we were not disappointed! They have the best hamburgers! The waitress even brought out ice cream and sang Happy Birthday to Curly Girl. She didn't forget Munchkin either. She even got her own ice cream.
We had an awesome day! We finally made it home just in time for bed. It was a great way to celebrate Curly Girl's birthday. We'll be going back in October for Munchkin's birthday for sure!