OOPS!

Royanne pooped in her diaper right before bedtime. 

I said, "I think that was your last diaper!!!"
And she said "That's ok, I'll go and get you a 

pull-up you can use from my cosit" (closet)

Barbie Kitchen Completed

The Barbie kitchen is all completed. The wall
Bruce added is wallpapered in blue stripes.
The gold table and chairs are 40 years old....
I hope they survive! The drawer pulls
out and holds silverware, the shelves
hold cups and plates. Too cute!

Boys

VINCENT & LIAM



DYLAN AND ANNIE
[dancing with a penguin]

ANNIE AND CONNOR

CARTER



Bruce's cousin, Rachel lives close to
us, and her son's name is Carter. Royanne
couldn't remember his name for a while, because
it is so similar to Connor, so she
always would ask me, 'What's my boy's name?"
She loves to play with Carter. He is very
patient with her. She has a lot of friends
that are boys, and she plays rough with
them, trying to keep up. [cousin Liam and "his boy",
as she says, Vincent; Connor, her nephew;
and Carter, her third cousin and a friend
from church, Dylan].

I hope she still turns out
to be a girlie-girl.

Fried Chicken = Heartburn

So, I had this bright idea to get some fried
chicken on the way home form getting Royanne
from pre school, since Bruce was home
early. Then we could eat and ALL play
before bedtime, no cooking, no dishes.....

Well, about 30 minutes after eating, I
developed this terrible heartburn!
We were watching Max & Ruby, and I
sighed and said, "Man, do I have
heartburn!"

About an hour later, Royanne let out this
over exaggerated sign and said,
"Mom! I have heartburn and my
stomach is really on fire!"

Imitation reminds me to be on
my toes and always try to remember
to think before I talk!

Mud, Again

We got back from the grocery store, where
I had the company of one very weepy kiddo,
and I told her all I wanted to do
was have a bit of ice cream and be with my
computer for a moment.

I went to Britney's blog and got as far
as the snow day pictures, when she
came to the gate and told me she'd
pooped in her panties.
I got up and as I went through the
living room, I saw the puddle of pee-pee
on the carpet, the bulge at her rump,
AND the puddle of Coke on her little table.
I said "Oh, you didn't tell me you
spilled your Coke!"
She said, "My name is mud again"
Ba-haa-haa-haa!

New Recipe

Royanne helps in the kitchen very often,
and even when you don't need assistance,
she'll climb on the island anyway.
This Sunday afternoon we made BBQ salmon
with a recipe from my secret sister.
Very tasty!

Growing Up

Last night we were playing in Royanne's room.
She was making dinner with dried navy beans & red
lentils (great play food, by the way!)
and I started to pretend cry.

She said, MOMMA! What's wrong?!"

As I held a sweater that was hers when she was
6 months old, I said, "This was yours when
you were a baby! Now it is for your dolls. Don't
you see why I am sad? You are growing up! You were
this small once upon a time! I miss my itty-bitty
baby!"
and I boo-hooed some more.
She came over, hugged me and patted me and said,

"Oh, mom, I'm sorry, but I have to grow up!"

One Very Sick Baby

Wednesday night Annie's temp was 102.6, then
103.2, then 100, then 102.9. Complaints included
headache, stomach and ear ache, sore throat, sore nose from
blowing....went to doctor Thursday.
Of course, her temp there was 99.9!
Ear infection, red and white blotchy
throat -- waiting for the call to see if it
is strep. Generic med cost $45!

Then, Thursday,

for almost an hour, she and I wrestled over the liquid
Tylenol in the kitchen. She was screaming, then too snotty
to breathe, then we'd blow, then she'd scream.
So then I changed from bubble gum
Tylenol to berry Ibuprofen. NO WAY! More kicks
and screams. What happened to my little
cherub ? So I got her settled down and she took
her antibiotic even though it was a bit
early. I got down the chewable Tylenol, crushed
in spoon, added Pixie Stix to it, she threw it up and
the antibiotic! I caught it in my cupped
hands! All the while Bruce slept away!
Re-administered the antibiotic, then some sprite.
Because her temp was 102 +, she talked in her sleep
and kept me awake. She wanted
to share my pillow. She found lucky pennies
and talked to the guys at MAACO all night! She
always can tell when I get up, and wakes up, so we
stayed in the bed until noon. We're rested....getting ready
for another Tylenol attack!
And there was no strep. WHEW!

Dressed to go to the Doctor

She really likes her silky heart nightgown,
but she was a bit chilled from her
fever. So, she wore both!

She Hears Everything!

We were at MAACO yesterday, Royanne was
playing with some items we have there for her
entertainment: toys she doesn't have
at home. She was having little
conversations with herself, playing some
make believe something or other. I was smiling as
I was listening to her,
organizing some invoices to be paid, some
receipts to be filed, and then Royanne says,

"Jay messed up again!"

Jay is the salesman and he has been known to
under quote and ALOT!
Guess we need to watch our conversations
about MAACO, because she is listening.....
no doubt!

Then, later that day at home, the timer
was in two pieces and she said she didn't
know where the battery was.
I told her I didn't drop it or break it,
that she must have, and to find the battery.
I then added, so she'd be sure to do it,
"If you don't find it, one of the cats
might eat it and get sick."

After a few minutes, she said, under
her breath,
"I've looked everywhere in this house!"


Man, she keeps me laughing!! :)

Super Hero!

Friday night we went out for Chinese food
again. We've been going to the same place
for 8 years. As best as they can communicate
with us, conversations about food come
easier for them, they remark and comment on
Annie's growth and charm!

She coaxed a few extra fortune cookies
again, and this time, all her fortunes said:

"You're a great super hero!"

[what a great idea: making up your own fortunes!]

It Happened Feb 23 !!

When I looked outside, and it was snowing,

I could hardly contain myself until it was
not too early to wake up the short one
and show her the snow. We'd been telling
her it was gonna snow, but that the
weather man might be wrong.

She was looking at her footprints and
then she asked me if Santa was coming.
You see, it snowed Christmas Eve.
She remembered and she wanted Santa!

I am not sure why she was so thrilled
to stand beside the wagon for so long,
but she really hung out there.

After a few moments, she decided she
needed a coat after all....And a hat, and
sunglasses, so she could look up and
catch a flake without getting any in her
eyes.

The view from our sidewalk.

Another direction. The flakes were
really big!

Ditching the umbrella in the corner.

We came back outside a little later, and she
cleaned off the car. We called Bruce and
he decided to try and come home early
to build a snowman!

Since the depth of the snow on the
car was more than the grass,
which measurement should we go by?

Her idea, not mine!

Car window.

Mr. Snowman started out with a full
sized carrot. He got robbed.

The next day, Frosty was losin'
his shape!

Today is March 10 and spring is in full swing.
I wish winter was longer around here.........

Kitchen Construction

About 2 weeks ago, I dug through the garage and found

my Barbie dolls. From the 70's!
A lot of the clothes my mom made, and they
brought back memories as I looked through
them and remembered the different fabrics.
Some were damaged
from years in the garage's Texas heat.

Kay gave me some real Barbies & some knock off
ones. Some were Amanda's, I guess. Some Kay
grew tired of picking up from the
floor in Abby's room.

Annie was a little bored one day, so I
brought the whole kit and caboodle out for
her delight! She was so excited.
The dolls! The clothes! The shoes! The fun!


One afternoon I stopped by a Goodwill store to peruse
the castoffs......you never know what you'll find. You
have to be creative when you go from 2 incomes to one.

Imagine my delight when I found this portion
of a Barbie doll kitchen! The doors don't open,
but the oven door does and there are cute
little shelves above the sink. The fridge opens!

What a deal: a buck ninety-nine! A little bleach
and it is ready for a new home!

Bruce glued a support wall to it. Here it is on the
dining room table while I studied how I
could improve it.

Here you can see where something - that got lost -
slid in above the sink. There were also 2 something-
or-others missing in the two holes on each side
of the space above the sink. The little pink drawer
slides open and the railing on the shelves is
too cute!

Bruce suggested the space above the sink
could possibly be a window, so we hunted for a
picture of a tree.

The flash was messing up the picture, so this
picture is a bit yellow, but you can see the
tree through the window! I also found some
scrapbook paper that was the colors of the
kitchen - yellow, blue, pink, green -
and used it like wall paper. I put it around the
window and above the shelving.

The fridge door is open, so you can barely see
the wall paper behind the shelving
above the counter/sink area.

Royanne's Barbie family.
I think Ken feels really lucky!

In her little doll house, she put the babies
around the table. This was the first time she
positioned them. So cute!

After I decide on the wall paper for the wall
Bruce added for support, I will show you
the finished kitchen decor!

Bed Rail Removal.........NOT!

For SOME reason, I don't remember
what it was, Bruce and I decided on a
Saturday night it was a good time to
take the railing off of Royanne's bed.
I don't know if it was the fact she's started
using the potty more or not. Because she'll
be wearing diapers at night for a longggggg
time, until I feel certain
(yeah, right...)
she can hold it all night.
So, having nighttime access to the potty
couldn't have been it. But in any event, we had a
small talk with her and she thought it would be
a great idea.

I might have accidentally talked
about the very real possibility of
falling out of the bed a little too much.

8:45 P.M. : She got out of the bed to gather some items,
and started playing instead of settling down.

8:49 P.M. : I tucked in her blanket like a bedspread.
Then she was sitting up,

and then she got out again, so I told her to stay
IN THE BED!

8:52 P.M. : Bruce put a pillow on the floor.

8:55 P.M. : She stayed down a while but was
jabbering and jabbering.

9:15 P.M. : Then she wanted another story.
I said GO TO SLEEP!

9:30 p.m. : Then she got really sad. And she cried.
And she called for me over and over.
I was asking myself Why did I do this on Saturday
night?! Sundays mornings are sleepy enough!

9:55 p.m. : After she got up again, we gave up and
put the railing back on.


She was asleep in 2 minutes!

MUD!

Royanne had a 7-Up yesterday

because she had a cough. She had it in the

living room & I told her if she knocked

it over, her name would be mud. Well, she

knocked one over this morning and she said,

"OH NO! Now my name is mud! I don't like the name 'mud' !"

MAACO Discussion

Bruce came home early today, about an hour,
because his back was really hurting.
He was on the bed, vegging to the Food Channel,
and Royanne went in our bedroom.
(Keep in mind she's only 2 and 1/2)

Royanne: Daddy, how was your work today?
Bruce: Would you like to jump up here and I'll
tell you all about it?
Royanne: I'd love to!
[She climbs up on the bed and lays on his shoulder]
Bruce: We only painted 4 cars today.
Royanne: Were they for Uncle Roger
and {some name he didn't understand}?
Bruce: No, they were for our customers.
Royanne: What's 'customers'?
Bruce: Customers are people who come to us so
we can paint their cars.
Royanne: OH!
[and she jumped down and ran off.]