Big words

The Dora kitchen has been on the fritz. I finally opened up the battery compartment to find that 2 of the 3 batteries had leaked all over inside. Mina is my big helper when it comes to anything with tools. So she stood behind me and handed me the screwdriver and cheered me on. I cleaned out all the gunk, put in some new rechargeable batteries, (yah) and then had her check to make sure it now worked. After we listened to Dora's line and a little salsa music Mina said, "Eureka, you've done it."

Every day is a holiday

Last night Mina was jumping on the trampoline. She stopped mid jump and said, "mom, is today Kyan Day?" Which made me laugh because it was as if she had declared any time she got to see her friend Kyan as some very important holiday. I love that. I told her she would be seeing Kyan soon and she grinned from ear to ear.

Great Minds

Last night Ari and I went to pick up take-out from her favorite place Noodles and Company. Somehow, a bean sprout got put in to her macaroni and cheese by accident. I looked at it and said, "Oh, I haven't been over sprouting the mung beans they all have little leaves." And I honestly felt much better about my mung bean sprouting which I thought was going terribly.

She picked it up and said, "Take me to your leader." while making it do a dance. I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. I have thought just about that same line every time I have looked at the beans I have been sprouting.

How have I never seen this before yesterday?

From one of my favorite minds Albert Einstein comes this quote that I LOVE:

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will spend the rest of its life believing that it is stupid.

And that my friend sums up a ton of the choices we as a family have made.

Rainy Days

You know that song, "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down"? I just cannot relate. Some of our best days are the rainy make-your-own-fun days. We usually spend some portion of rainy days outside too. Yesterday was a lovely rainy day.

Ari announced it was Ella's birthday early in the morning and requested supplies to make birthday soup. You might wonder what ingredients are in birthday soup that you make for a stuffed BFF. Well, there was cake mix, apple cider vinegar, baking soda, sprinkles, colored sugar and lots and lots of water. And she gathered all Ella's friends to the table for soup before dressing them all warmly and heading outside to swing and slide. Then it began to rain and they all came back in.

Meanwhile, Mina asked to make a real cake for Grandma Lois, who she adores. So we made one.

When everyone was back in the house the girls played with macaroni, cereal, and other dried bits and glued them to a big sheet of plain paper that we taped to the table for Ella's birthday party earlier. Ari made all kinds of animals and such and Mina just made a huge mess (because that is what 2 year olds do you know).

Then there were friends and naps and noodles and a slumber party in the basement while watching movies.

Have I mentioned that Ari is quite the computer game connoisseur? She has tried many. Keeps the one she likes. Moves on from the rest. Her current favorites are Wizard101 and Spore.

Rainy days are some of the best.

Moments

Today was filled with eggs, candy, and cousins. But the moment I will remember most is tonight while Mina was in the tub she said to me, "Come on in mom, the water is fine." Where do they learn this stuff?

Sit, Roll over, Make me some macaroni

The other night Mina and I were laying in bed and I was telling her how happy I was that she was my daughter. She interrupted me and said, "I am not your daughter. I am your owner."