Man Up! Four-Year Old Girl

For those of you who have two-year olds and are experiencing the terrible twos, I have a little more "terrible" news for you. That behavior we all love so much, does not disappear magically when said child turns three. I'm just giving you fair warning....

Kristen, who will be five in April, has started a new phase of whining and crying. Maybe it is just hormones kicking in, who knows? Chris' attempt to deal with her behavior is to tell his four-year old daughter to "man up" 'cause he's tired of hearing it.

Velcro

Kristen loves to sit on her dad's lap during church, and as she snuggles in, her hair inevitably touches Chris' face and is caught. They say that the man who invented Velcro, George de Mestral, came up with the idea because of his dog and burrs. I am thinking that he might have also had a daughter with long hair to give him a little inspiration as well.

Sickies

Over the past month, we have had round one of colds and even round two for some, but through it all, Misha has stayed healthy. Until today. She woke up with a sore throat. The same sore throat Chris had last weekend. The good news is it didn't last too long and he didn't have a stuffy nose. The bad news is that it hurt.

Beware the OJ

Kristen just walked in to the office and said, "Mom, my boobs hurt." I'm not so surprised by the comments coming from my girls anymore, so I ask, "How come?" Her response, "From drinking too much orange juice." I'll admit, I laughed out loud. "I don't like it when people laugh at me."

Bracelet

Put my new craft room to good use this afternoon by making a bracelet for Kristen. My first attempt turned out a tad too small. Practice makes perfect. Kristen told me she doesn't EVER want to take her bracelet off...except...at night when she goes to bed and then she wants to put it back on in the morning when she wakes up.

Ta Da

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas to me! I think Chris cringes when he asks if I have any gift ideas for myself. Have I? When he asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I suggested that I would love to have a closet system in our bedroom or have my sewing/craft room finished. The closet system will just have to wait for another year...

Kudos to my husband for such an amazing job. It took two Saturdays of his time (though he did have a little fun using his power tools). Thanks Sweetheart.

Denver Museum of Nature and Science

We are planning some fun trips for a family this Spring and Summer and happily learned that if we have a family membership to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, we can use that same membership at other affiliated museums around the country. Our next trip over Spring Break is to a surprise location, but because of our previous "surprise" trip last December, our girls have already narrowed down a few key clues. It also helped for Amy to see us on the Southwest Airlines website! So far, they know that we are: 1) flying somewhere, 2) it is out-of-state (obviously), 3) we will have a rented car while we are there, and 4)it is during Spring Break.

For any of you out there who can fill in the blanks to the name of this museum, you'll know where we are going. E_ _lo_ato_ _um. If you do figure it out, don't tell our girls! They have fun piecing together clues.

So, we went to the Denver Museum on Monday--Presidents' Day--along with thousands of our best friends. It was pretty crowded, but I figure we can go back any time now and not feel as though we have to see everything to get our money's worth that day. We spent most of our time in the body, health and fitness exhibit. I think the favorite part for the girls was doing the science experiments:







And yes, Misha does love her hat!

There was also an exhibit there that aged your face to give you an idea what you would look like up to 70. I chose not to do it, because truly, it was not kind to any face. The line was long so only Amy and Chris participated:

It's a Tumor!

I was just experimenting with my bread machine the other day, mostly out of necessity, I suppose, since it has started to smoke when I use it to actually cook the dough. I can mix dough for rolls, bread or pizza no problem, just not cook it. That's fine, though, since I prefer the bread out of the oven instead. So I wanted to try mixing bread dough on the "pizza" selection which takes 45 minutes instead of the "bread dough" selection which takes over two hours. It worked fine for mixing and rising for 45 minutes, I just should have made two loaves. I thought it looked as though it had a tumor; the girls said it looked like a mushroom. Regardless, it tasted yummy.

Valentine's Day

A couple of years ago, Chris and I decided to take turns planning Valentine's Day. Last year we were fortunate to have his mom visiting for the weekend and were able to get away to a Bed and Breakfast. I knew that we weren't lucky enough to have Grandma visit this holiday, so our plans were a little more localized.

We talk about going to a dinner theater regularly, so I decided to make reservations at the Candlelight Dinner Theater in Johnstown. It is fairly new and our only other experience has been at the Boulder Dinner Theater. The theater itself is lovely and most seats offer a fairly descent view. The meal was okay, not stellar, and similar to Boulder Dinner Theater, you are not offered a lot of choices. The play was enjoyable.

I think we had more fun at the Stake Adult Valentine's Dance. This is the second year that we have attended. The planners do an amazing job in decorating and preparing. Chris is not a huge fan of dancing, but we have so much fun with friends and fun music. Plus he knows that I enjoy dancing...he sacrifices for me.

Sweet tooth

Yesterday as I was combing Kristen's hair she asked, "Which tooth is my sweet tooth?" I tried to explain (after laughing a little bit) that she didn't really have a "sweet" tooth per se, all of her teeth loved sweets just the same.

Really?

Kristen was playing with her friend Grace today. They had to clean up so that they could have a snack. I asked, "Is your bedroom clean?"
Kristen: "Yes."
Me again, "Really?"
Kristen: "Yes."
Me, "If I go check....?"
Kristen: "No."

Can you spell....?

The other day Kristen asked me how to spell Misses Hippy.

Defining Moment in My Life

When I was 20, I was living at home, working, and trying to decide what to do with the rest of my life. One morning in December while I was at work, my boss found me and said that my father had been taken by ambulance to the hospital and that I needed to come with her right now. We normally carpooled to work together, so she drove me to the hospital. My father, who was 50 at the time, had had a heart attack. If you saw my dad in a crowd, you'd never pick him out as one who would have a heart attack. He's trim, fit and has worked hard all of his life. It was a defining moment in my life. From that time on, being healthy and fit was a constant goal. More than that, it became a lifestyle. Some are amazed that I get up at 5:20 most days to exercise, but what they don't realize is that I do it to save my life. I encourage those I love to exercise and be healthy. I challenge you to get healthy. Start by adding one more component of a healthy lifestyle in to your life.

PS I commend all those in the area who participate in 'Biggest Loser' competitions and run marathons. It is great to see so many people trying to be healthy.

Proud of Misha

I was going through/unloading Misha's backpack Monday morning in search of papers that might be important for me to have. I came across a birthday invitation. Monday was February 1st and the birthday had been held over the weekend. I held the invitation up for Misha to see and asked, "Did you forget to show me this?" Her reply, "No, it was for Sunday so I already told him at school that I couldn't go." Way to go Misha. I'm proud of you.

New Breakfast Nook Table

I love Costco. We bought a new table yesterday. It was originally priced $100 more, so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked out of Costco and looked at the receipt. Now Chris and I can BOTH sit at the table, eat breakfast, AND read the newspaper without using the milk jug to prop up the newspaper because there is no place else to put it.

The High Road

Chris and I were talking with our girls about some of the challenges they might face with their friends as they grow up; we suggested that it was up to them to take the "high road" even though it might be hard. Our discussion then turned in to a definition of the "high road". Kristen piped in and said, "I'm too young to take the high road."

3rd Grade Showcase

Misha was nervous this year. She was part of the "Cotton-Eye Joe" dance and hoped that she wouldn't make a mistake so that everyone would focus on her. Glad to report that she performed very well.

Loser Song

I could hear Kristen playing around on the piano when she ran into the office and said, "I can play the Loser Song on the piano!"

Loser song you ask? Come on, you know the one, it goes, "neener, neener, neener"

Now she's trying to pick out "Jolly Old St. Nicholas".

Happy Birthday to me!

Another year, another birthday. Sadly Chris' Thursday evening flight had been canceled and he wasn't able to make it home until Friday morning, but I was just glad he got home. Last year, we had to celebrate without him. Regardless, my girls still felt it was important to adhere to birthday traditions--candles and making a wish--in my oatmeal no less. The candles melted from the bottom and the top! Yum.

Look Mom, She Has a Kitty Too!

When we went to visit Grandma Ball last December, she gave each of my girls hooded vests with fur around the face. They quickly became known as the "kitty coats". Today when we were walking into Target, Kristen noticed a lady with a similar jacket and said, "Look Mom, she has a kitty too!"

And a little bit later (nothing to do with kitties), Kristen said to me, "Mom, you're always a good mom sometimes."

Kline Family Fitness Challenge

With the benefit of our new Wii Fit Plus, the Kline family is going to be getting into better shape--from the oldest to the youngest. For some, that just means making better food choices, for others, good food choices and exercise. Amy made up charts tonight for her and Misha to help them eat a balanced meal. The focus is on having a serving of fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, protein and water(throughout the day) with every meal. I was impressed that they were asking, "Does this count as a carbohydrate?" And, they both chose to have a banana. Yay for them!

A Happy Change

Except for the "Sun In" fiasco when I was 14 or 15, I haven't ever colored my hair. I figured with an upcoming birthday, I was ready for a change. I didn't tell my family that I was going to do it, hoping to surprise them. So last Friday, I took the plunge and was pleased with the results. Though next time, I'll probably go darker. I didn't want to make such an obvious change that people would look at me and say, "Oh...."

I met Chris at the temple on Friday night. I caught a ride with Loves and Chris came directly from the airport. Such is our life now. Anyway, we didn't have much of a chance to talk until after our session. I know that his mind was preoccupied with the craziness of work and truthfully, my hair wasn't extremely different, so I told him. I mentioned that I didn't want to be up in a wad because he hadn't noticed. He looked at me and laughed, "You did not color your hair." But later said, I kept looking at you in the temple and thought something was different but that you looked great. See, the change was subtle but a good beginning. Next time I'll be a little more adventurous...maybe.

Crazy Kristenisms

Alligators are animals. Escagators are to ride on.


Chris and I were decluttering the paperwork in the office over the holidays. Kristen asked, "What are you doing?" Chris' response: "Throwing stuff out that is old." Kristen's query, "Like Grandma Andrews?" No offense to Grandma Andrews whatsoever!


Kristen's view on the wonderful world of being a princess: "Mom, princesses don't really have to go to the bathroom."

"Well, I'm sure they do honey. Just like everyone else." I replied.

"No, all they do is get locked up in a tower and sleep, or get a glass slipper, or be like Sleeping Beauty."

Superhero

Even superheroes eat lunch.

Playgroup

I have three extra little girls here this morning. Right now they are running around screaming as they are supposed to be playing tag. Kristen stops them and says, "Let's play a game called 'Running Around Screaming'!" I laughed when I heard, "No, that's no fun." At least the screaming stopped.