Mamma Mia!

7:30 am may not be the ideal time for a dance party. Believe me, the last thing I feel like doing in the early morning hours is dancing.

But this is when the Bowcut girls get their groove on. After breakfast is done, they run upstairs and pop in the Mamma Mia soundtrack. Pajamas are shed, and flung in the air. Electric "air" guitars are strummed (did Abba even play electric guitars?), outifts are selected and then the real dancing begins, as they re-enact this scene:

And believe it or not, beds do get made by the time it's all done. Gotta hand it to them--they've found a way to make their morning chore enjoyable.

In case you're asking yourself why my daughters are so familiar with Meryl Streep's dance moves--I left the girls with my mother for an afternoon, and when I returned my girls had viewed the movie Mamma Mia from start to finish, were singing Abba lyrics and questioning how that girl didn't know who her father was? How can you NOT know who your Dad is...duh! Great movie choice, mom. Their first PG-13 movie.

Their love for Abba is actually quite endearing and we enjoy listening to it much more than one of those painful Barbie movie soundtracks. And Samantha's marching around the house singing "you're so hot, teasing me" may be completely inappropriate, but it's really, really, funny.

Forgiveness

Samantha and I picked Ella up at 4:30 today from basketball. We found Ella in tears because the ball had just hit her in the head while shooting around waiting for us. After consoling her we went to gather her things. Samantha, who has a bit of a "kick her while she's down" personality, out-of-the blue hit Ella and grabbed the NBA basketball card Ella's coach had just given her. Ella, who under normal circumstances could have handled the situation, melted even further. Although I addressed the situation, Ella was downright angry with Sam. She refused to sit with her in the van, declared she no longer wanted to share a bedroom with her, and demanded that she needed alone time away from her when we got home. In order to give Ella some regrouping time, I kept Sam occupied downstairs so Ella could be alone in her room for a little while. I got started making dinner, while Sam sat in the kitchen, lamenting that she had no one to play her Dora memory game with.

After a little while, I suggested to Sam that she go upstairs and invite Ella to come down and have an M&M yogurt with her (a prized treat in our house), which she did. The girls came down, with Ella still a little pouty. They, on opposite ends of the kitchen table bench, began to eat their yogurts. It took no more than 2 minutes for their little hearts to soften. I was a mere observer as I was busily putting dinner together, and I watched the hurt between them evaporate. Ella counted her M&M's and portioned out some to give Sam, so she could have some extra. They gradually scooted closer together on the bench, and in no time, Sam's arm wrapped around Ella, leaned her head on Ella's shoulder and said "I love you Ella". They slurped up their yogurts and ran off holding hands, while making plans of reading books together and making a fort upstairs. It was classic. A little moment that makes you feel like you are hands down the best mother to grace this green earth.

And so this evening I thought about how many disagreements and arguments are in their future. I realize the arguments will only increase in intensity: a missing sweater, hogging bathroom time, an older sister refusing to drive a younger sister somewhere. In fact, even when you're all grown up, there will always be differences. I wrote my sister an e-mail just last night begging for forgiveness for changing my mind AGAIN regarding our summer plans. I asked that she not be mad at me and reminded her that she is stuck with me forever. F-O-R-E-V-E-R. And does she really want to spend forever mad at me? (She wasn't mad at all and was quite gracious and understanding about the change.)

I know that all the little disagreements in my girls' futures will only bind them closer together. Funny how forgiving someone does that. That's not something I can teach, just something they'll have to learn for themselves. For now, my job is to have a lot of M&M yogurt on hand.

Love and Science

See...I told you the Bulletin was back.

It was a busy week, complete with Valentine's celebrations and a science fair. Sam, Lucy and I joined Ella for some of her V-day class party. When we arrived, Ella quickly went and found a chair and pulled it up to her desk for Sam to sit on, which made Sam feel about two inches taller--I love those girls.
Ella's desk mate at school is also our next door neighbor--while chatting with his mom at the party, she commented how valentines are "such a big deal to them." It's funny how much they love those little cards from their friends. Ella sorted and re-sorted them, reading their little messages over and over.

My Mom and I have decided that since Valentine's Day is usually on a weekday, and going out is generally difficult, we combine forces and put on a dinner together for our beloveds. I requested she make her special pork chops that Brian loves. See how that works? I get credit for remembering one of Bri's favorite meals, but don't have to make it. It's great to have my mom around.

My on-line cupcake deal was a bit of a bust--a dozen cupcakes delivered to my door for $5. They were delivered, but bite size. It's not like we need the extra calories, right? I suppose I've learned not to depart from Georgetown Cupcakes--it will only lead to disappointment.

And my Mom has discovered the way to Lucy's heart is with a bowl of ice cream.

Mid-week was the science fair. The fair is completely voluntary, and Ella was one of three kids in her class who did a project. It of course required significant parental involvement, but she was diligent and even typed out her entire project on the computer (edited by me)--quite a feat for a 7-year old with no keyboarding skills.

I was surprised by how much she enjoyed the experience. Visiting (parent) scientists circulated through the fair and questioned each child about his/her project, and presented them with a certificate. Way to go Ella!

The night before the fair, as I was up late editing Ella's typing, I commented to Brian how much I dreaded science fairs as a kid because I always waited until the last minute to do them and it became stressful to get it done on time. And there I was, 33 years old, working on a science fair project the night before it was due. I suppose I'll never learn.

Oh, and then there was our 70 degree February weather this week! Delightful.
But you don't need to be jealous, because it was cold again today and we're supposed to get snow this week. I'm craving spring in a big way.

The update the world has been waiting for.

It may appear that time has frozen at the Bowcut household.

To the contrary. Lucy is no longer 10 months old and the warm, sunny weather I was pictured in with my children has passed. Life is busy and like most moms, I feel spread very thin. Motherhood leaves you with the constant turmoil of how to make best use of your time. Oh, how I wish I was a better friend and multi-tasker. Although there are times I'd like to freeze my days of having young kids, I also look forward to days of them being more self-sufficient. As I was wading through pictures this evening, I came across this picture I snapped this fall of the front seat of my minivan. (While waiting at a red light of course--I may text while I drive, but I don't snap pictures.) It summed up some of the craziness of my life so nicely.
Blogging has sunk low on the priority list, which makes me sad, because I know I'm allowing memories to escape me. And I'm depriving far away grandparents and other loved ones to peek into our lives. So here it goes again.

Below is an update covering the last 4-months...somewhat. I'm committed to finishing this post tonight, so I will try to restrain myself in writing much text. Feel free to skip over this-- as this is really more for our record keeping.

Another soccer season passed.

Ella turned 7.

Complete with a Harry Potter themed birthday party. (Ideas compliments of Jenn Kirwan.) My attempt at a snitch cake.

I realized I failed to get many pics, but wizards in attendance were taught Quidditch, herbology, potions and defense against the dark arts (pictured below).

And they reaped the fruits of their hard work with the destruction of Lord Voldemort.

Ella's actual birthday was several days later--

And was a little upset that her big day was the same day as the school fun run. Each class runs a mile through the surrounding neighborhood.

Samantha was insistent on holding the sign while clapping at the same time. She was a devoted cheerleader.

And Ella of course did great--and crossed the finish line with her best friend.

We returned to school a couple of hours later to eat lunch with Ella and bring cupcakes for her class. She was allowed to buy lunch that day and I tried not to be too disgusted with the pizza and strawberry milk.

And her evening celebration with her grandparents was a success.

Her main gift being a new bike (without training wheels!!!) which she learned to ride on the field near our house. Hooray!

The passing of Ella's birthday means raking leaves

And my birthday.

But...hmmm, I can't seem to find those pictures. Maybe it never happened. That would be okay.

And then of course Halloween. Halloween festivities this year consisted of a ward Halloween party on Saturday in place of trick-or-treating on Sunday.

We contributed the Hermione and bumblebee.

And the butterfly.

Thanksgiving was a blast as we got to spend it with the Kirwans. We drove 12 hours over two days to Champagne, Illinois. They stuffed us with way too much food and they showed us around their new environs, which includes a fun college town.

The weekend included chocolate pilgrim hats

Wrestling matches

a trip to a children's science museum

and ice skating--not pictured. Thanks again, Kirwans for a fun time. We'd do the drive again and again.

And then Ms. Lucy...is now our big 1 year old.

She refused the bib, and turned out to be our most aggresive one-year old cake eater yet.

Lucy's birthday happened to overlap with our big chocolate making weekend. My sister, Jen and sisters-in-law, Janene and Chloe all flew in for the weekend. Here we are watching the head chef do her thing.

It was a huge success--we made more than ever this year and experimented with some new recipes, which were great. It was chocolate heaven. We decided that when you combine the $400 worth of ingredients and all the air fare of the women, these are pricey chocolates. That could buy a lot of Godivas. But we're quite proud of our creations and love the time together.

Plus...we have another generation to train.

Our chocolate making was the kick-off to our Christmas season, and just the beginning of the sugar consumption. Below is Ella and her good friend who lives two houses away.

This Christmas may have been our best yet--I'm a HUGE fan of staying in my own house for Christmas. My parents also stayed in town and spent the night at our house so they could be there for Christmas morning. Lucy awoke an hour before everyone else and we found ourselves watching the clock, waiting for Ella and Sam to wake up.

I made an ABC scrapbook for Sam which was a huge hit--pat on the back to me.

Lucy enjoyed the destruction of the morning and her sisters' things more than her own. Santa did bring her a new carseat which she loves.

I failed to take a picture before the destruction, which is too bad because it was quite lovely.

Christmas breakfast is only complete with our traditional orange rolls.

And we did get a pic before gifts at my parents' house. Sam is sporting one of the three princess dresses that Santa brought her, which she rotated through that day.

New Years was spent at our temple visitors center for a chinese dancing program--the girls were thrilled--our y chromosome friends and fathers, not so much.

Ella-bless her heart, was a trooper. December 28 she had her tonsils out and we dragged her out. She wanted to be out and about, but could still barely talk. Winter break was the perfect time to do the tonsils and she's glad its behind her.

In more recent news...

Lucy finally started to pull herself up at 13 months. She is now showing a little courage in letting go, but I still think we've got another month or two before walking is a reality. My girls are slow movers.

We've had 4 snow days so far this year. I don't win any awards for creative entertainment for my children, other than helping them into their snow gear. However, the girls took matters into their own hands and figured out that with some re-arranging, the hall linen closet served as the perfect hide-out, with built in bunk beds. Blankies, pillows, books and flashlights were gathered to complete the fun.

Snow days also mean lots of pajama time and hanging out in Mom and Dad's bed.

Although not pictured, our front yard was the sight of the fort which all the kids on the block worked together to build. Our last snow fall was extremely wet, great for packing and the kids spent hours and hours outside over several days. The last snow fall also brought ice, with many downed trees and branches. Our power went out for 3 days. We toughed it out the first night and slept in the house--which was cold, cold, cold. My parents fortunately got their power back late that night and we moved in with them until our power came back. Miserable.

This crew is not only the source of my busyness, but also the source of my happiness. I adore them.

Brian tells me Ella looks just like me. But...

And Samantha spends a lot of time as a princess hosting tea parties. She is a board game addict--and her favorite line of conversation is, "when I'm a mom"... I'll drive, I'll put the soap in the dishwasher, I'll wear those earrings, I'll read the newspaper, I'll have a cell phone...

Lucy, although still a mama's girl, is beginning to lighten up a little. She will now tolerate my mom and ventures out of my sight a little more. Although she has a total of 12 teeth, she still prefers soft, pureed stuff, which I don't get. Her words are "Uh-oh" and "Ma Ma". And she is a total poser for the camera--

And I'm realizing that she is really starting to grow into her own distinct look.

There you have it...the Bowcut Bulletin is back.