The Magic of Wee Willie Winkie Wanes

For the last 2 years or more, I have ended the bedtime stories with the twins by reciting Mother Goose's "Wee Willie Winkie". For those of you who don't remember, this is how it goes:

Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town
Upstairs, downstairs in his nightgown
Rapping on the windows
Crying through the locks
"Are all the children in their beds
It's past eight o'clock!"

I knock on the wall without the twins seeing me, gasp, and cry out "It's Wee Willie Winkie! Run!". My little angels leap into bed and demand hugs and kisses.

The other night the twins and I read books on Katie's bed. When we were finished, I recited the poem, gasped, and warned them of Wee Willie Winkie's imminent arrival. Bethie raced to her bed. Katie yelled "Don't worry, Bethie, it was just me". She then knocked on the wall to demonstrate. Bethie, feeling very much relieved, climbed back into bed with Katie.

Another "Girls Day"

When the twins don't go to daycare for whatever reason, I tell them we are having a "Girls Day". They love this! They feel special because they think that I am desperate to keep them home and to spend some quality time with them. Emilie has been sick for the last two days, and called today to say that daycare would be closed on Wednesday too. I am sick of having Girls Days! After having spent two days alone with all three girls, I have two requests to make of all of you who are reading this:

1. Please forward me a quick and yummy recipe for sugar cookies so I can make cookies with the kidlings. I got a super cool cookie cutter thingy for Xmas and they would love making the shapes!
2. Pray that Emilie makes a speedy recovery!!!!

Strange Bedfellows

These are the toys that the twins need in their beds in order to sleep! Please note the BALLS!

Love, Katie

Use It Or Lose It

Some people expressed disappointment because of the way I ended the "strike" (for those of you who need a refresher, please refer to blogs "Day 8 of the Strike" and "Day 23 of the Strike"). Yesterday, I was reminded of the expression "He who laughs last, laughs loudest".

We had a couple who were interested in buying our spare crib come to our home. When they arrived, all of us (including my three children) went up to my bedroom. Bethie walked in and shouted with delight, "Daddy! You cleaned up Mummy's bedroom". She spread her arms out and twirled around, like Maria Von Trapp on the mountain tops in The Sound of Music, and said "Look everybody, Daddy cleaned up the bedroom! Doesn't it look nice?". Yup, I was super embarrassed!

The couple liked the crib and decided to buy it. As Dan was taking it apart, the woman asked if Dan's dresser was for sale. I told her it was. This caught Dan's attention. He expressed some concern and said, "I still need it!". To which I replied, "No you don't". Then I sold his one and only dresser. In the blink of an eye, Dan lost two of the three places where he stores his clothes: the crib and the dresser. If only I could sell the floor...!

I confess, I felt a little bit sorry for Dan as he emptied his clothes onto the bed and said rather pathetically "Where am I going to put my clothes now?". I replied "With the rest of them, on the floor!".

For those of you who may feel sorry for Dan (you must be a man!), we had purchased a bedroom set on Sunday and I was going to get rid of his dresser anyway. I had intended to wait 6-8 weeks until the new dresser was delivered, but Dan will muddle through.

A side note from Dan: He thought the name of this entry should have been titled "Use It And Lose It Anyway".

Musical Genius

All my kids love music. From well before they could walk, they would bee bop around. They love to sing and to dance. And they love to play musical instruments! Sarah is no exception. This morning, Sarah figured out how to play Bethie's recorder (or "clarinet" as we call it in our house). I couldn't believe it! She plays as well as the twins. Sarah loved being able to produce a noise, and changed her own pitch to effect the sound coming from the recorder!

Sarah plays with the pianos, the guitars (so does Dan. Great gift, Dad!), and now the recorder. Watch out Katie and Bethie, she's moving on to the xylophone!

Don't Jump on the Bed!

Yesterday, Dan and I went shopping for a new bedroom set with all three girls. From the moment we entered the store, every third sentence out of my mouth was either "Don't jump on the beds!" or "Get your boots off the sofas!". Finally, I took their boots off and the focus became keeping them from jumping on every bed in sight. In order to allow Dan and I 5 seconds to look at the beds, the salesperson, Sandi (with an "i"), took the twins for a walk around the store and gave them each a helium balloon on a stick. I found the twins wandering the store ALONE (thanks, Sandi) calling "Mummy, where are you?".

Within minutes, Katie's balloon came off her stick and floated to the ceiling. Katie, Bethie, and I panicked and demanded that Dan use his superpowers to retrieve it. Dan masterfully tried to reinsert the stick back into the plastic thingy that was attached to the balloon. He almost had it (I was super impressed) but, alas, it bounced away. The panic levels increased dramatically! The balloon had stopped above a an expensive display bedroom set. I told Dan to stand on the bed and grab it. Dan really didn't want to do it, but his love for our family won out. So my 35 year old husband stood on the bed, reached for the balloon, and knocked it a little bit further away. He jumped on the bed, and missed. He jumped again and Our Hero caught that naughty balloon! The girls were thrilled. So thrilled that they shouted "GOOD JOB JUMPING ON THE BED, DADDY!". The funny thing about our girls is that they kept repeating this until Dan said "Thank you", but all Dan was saying was "Stop saying that! Don't shout!". I was no help. I was bent over laughing!