The Rodeo

I give the kids a bath once a week as part of my job description. We do it in the late afternoon before dinner and I have always just put them in their pajamas after. Last week was a little different, for a few reasons.

You see, we have a bit of construction going on here. Two out of the three bathrooms are no longer in order. Last week while the family was away at Disney, their bathrooms with the bathtubs were torn out to make way for new and improved bathrooms. Sounds kind of like Extreme Makeover huh! :) My bathroom, which only has a shower, is now the go-to bathroom. (I grew up in a house with 7 people to one bathroom, so this doesn't bother me. However, Annie and Peter are a bit skeptical.) Anyway, I have to give the kids a shower now, as opposed to a bath. I had to explain to them that I didn't need a shower and I didn't want to get wet. We have the removable shower head, so this is possible! Also, we couldn't have a half hour shower like the usual half hour baths because that would waste A LOT of water. The kids didn't take to this idea very well, but we made it work. I managed to only get a tiny bit wet and they had a grand time (as per giggling quota)! Once out of the shower, as usual, I had pajamas ready for both children. Aliya protested saying, "I'm not wearing pajamas. I am going to the rodeo with my boyfriend!" She raced past me and headed upstairs. I finished getting Matthew in his and we headed upstairs. This is what we found.

You can't see it, but she has on a little jean skirt with cowgirl boots along with her suede jacket and cowgirl hat. She came to me with the bandanna and asked how cowgirls wear them. Meanwhile her parents called and were coming home to get the kids and take them to dinner. So I have one child in pajamas and one dressed in full on cowgirl gear. Aliya keeps insisting that she is going to the rodeo with her boyfriend (Eric the imaginary one I am assuming) and now has added a horse and lasso into the mix. (Have I mentioned before that she is so much like Bernice Matisse from Hope Floats! Such an imagination!)

I changed Matt into regular clothes and transferred watch of the boy and the cowgirl to their parents! I love my job! :)

Aliya and the Chipmunks

Aliya got a new CD for selling a Reader's Digest in the school magazine sales drive. It is the Alvin and the Chipmunks CD. I have heard the entire CD 4,256 times through, (that's estimating) and a few select songs more than that.
In a way, Alvin's character and the CD are appropriate representations of our little life here. Instead of the well known "AAAAAALLLLVIIIIIIINN!!!!!!" that Dave yells to get Alvin's attention when he goes off on a tangent, I often find myself saying (not yelling so much as being obnoxious to actually get her attention) AAAAALLLLLIIIIIIIIYYYYAAAAAA when she goes off on a tangent. These tangents are usually after a task has been discussed (clean up time) and involve escaping to her bedroom, making a new mess, and/or hiding toys as a way of 'taking care of them'. Much like Alvin, Aliya has always got an agenda, her enthusiasm is boundless and despair bottomless. She always has off-the-cuff play ideas, which she narrates to her brother, (so he'll know what to do) and can come up with an injury that is probably the worst anyone has ever had. She often forgets to limp or baby her injuries and then forgets about them before too long, or until next time. Never and always are well used words in her vocabulary! "I never get to play what I want" and "he always gets to pick first" are some examples. Also, like Alvin, Aliya is the leader of the group she is in. She'll take the lead and start playing, dancing, singing, marching, etc.
After 2,225 times of Alvin and the Chipmunks playing through, I asked Aliya what she knew about the Chipmunks.
Aliya: "Alvin is aways getting in trouble, Simon is smart, but Theodore is the smartest and nicest. He is always reading a book. "
Me: "Oh I like him the best then. We want husbands like that someday, dont we?! A smart and nice man who reads a lot."
Aliya: "Well, um, Eric is like that Tarsha. He's smart and nice. He can dance and sing..."

She lost me after that. I am so glad her Eric is everything she wants him to be. I hope she finds this in a real man someday and is not disappointed! :)

I rented the Kit Kittredge movie from redbox for $1 a night! I had the kids later last night, so after dinner we watched it. Kit lived during the Great Depression and her parents took in borders to make ends meet. One of the borders -a lady- was always introducing herself to men, mentioning she was Miss not Mrs., and inquiring about if these men had wives. Kids don't notice these things, but after several obvious gestures, I giggled and said, "She is looking for a husband!" Matthew didn't miss a beat and said, "Just like you!" Yup, just like me... but I hope I don't act like this lady did, she was truly obnoxious!

The boy is feeling better. He missed soccer yesterday but cried when I said skiing would be a lot of work for him. He chirpped up after getting his sister at school and so I got him ready for skiing lessons. I figured the worst that could happen was he would need to stop lessons early. Oh no, he got through lessons like a champ and did great. I caught some on camera and will upload later.

Babies, Boyfriends, and Diets

"Oh, I can't eat those cookies Tarsha, I'm on a diet!" Momentarily stunned because what does a 6 year old know about diets? So I ask. "Its when you don't eat some foods, like Daddy is trying not to eat salt. I'm not eating anything bad for me." She didn't say anything about losing weight or being fat, so I won't go there.

Before

After...meet baby at dinner

Aliya had a baby this week -a baby elephant of course. She asked how long babies take to make, but decided against waiting 9 months. She delivered and baby elephant had dinner with us that very evening. Elephant was on the table, but being the mean nanny I am, I requested (s)he get their own chair (to avoid having to clean baby up after dinner). Being the clever little girl that she is, Aliya put elephant thisclose with trunk on table!

Matt and Aliya had a Ball one evening this week. I didn't get pictures because things were messy and I was busy keeping Matt and Aliya from making one another cry. You see Matt was a wee bit jealous that Aliya was only dancing with Eric, her imaginary boyfriend. Matt kept saying (and pushing Eric away) "NO, DANCE WITH ME ALIYA!" I suggested he get his own imaginary girlfriend and so he said he would. He named her Cinderella, (how original) but apparently she wasn't cutting it. He quickly went back to getting in Eric and Aliya's faces saying "I can be your boyfriend too!" Not very often a girl has someone saying they'll be her extra boyfriend! :)

Matt became obsessed with golf this week. He got some golf balls and tees from the army guys at the Museum of Science and insisted that his Dad or I take him to the golf course to play. We searched for golf clubs and found some cheap ones to practice with at Target. When we got home, Dad said he already had those very same clubs. I guess we'll find those ones and return the new ones to Target.

Matt and I made several trips to Targets this week. I was searching for a certain toy for a certain little girl in my life and Target carries it. I have 4 Targets within a 15 mile radius of me so Matt and I hit a couple of them a day. Don't worry, he made out too! Pictures coming soon of Matthew and Aliya with their new puddle boots! Matt put them to use right away, jumping in 'puddles' half the size of his feet. :)

I'll leave you with a song the kids and I sing to each other. I started singing it to them and now they start singing it and we all sing together.

Skidamarink a dink a dink,

Skidamarink a doo,

I love you.

Skidamarink a dink a dink,

Skidamarink a doo,

I love you.

I love you in the morning

And in the afternoon,

I love you in the evening

And underneath the moon;

Oh, Skidamarink a dink a dink,

Skidamarink a doo,

I love you!

I add a little 'whoop de doo' to the end and it always has the kids giggling and saying 'again'! Love those giggles!

Imaginary Boyfriend's, Chess, Friendly's and IKEA

This week Aliya was talking about 'Eric' a lot so I asked who Eric was. She sorta let out a sigh and a giggle at the same time and said, "Oh Eric is my imaginary boyfriend. He is so fast and when he runs he forgets where the finish line is." I also got from her ramblings that Eric is a good boyfriend. They hang out a lot, he is a good listener and her brother likes him. All good things of course. I got thinking...I gotta get me one of those! I mean what do I have to lose? I think mine would jump from airplanes and write me messages in the clouds. Oh, to be 6 years old again!
On another Aliya note, we set a goal together this week. You see, Princess Aliya doesn't pick up her toys (I mean what Princess does right?) and this girl plays hard! She mixes and matches, cuts and pastes, and borrows from anything in sight. This means we have rocks, gems, Barbie's, cars, scrap pieces of paper, books, dice from a game, crayons, a puzzle piece, and you name it-we could probably find it in her creations. Then she moves to another room or another floor for another experiment, usually bringing her very expensive poodle along! I'm sure she has fun and I am all for her imagination running wild, but I am nanny Tarsha, not maid Tarsha! So I asked her what place she would like to go to that would be special and fun for her. She said "do you know a place called IKEA?" I laughed that a 6 year old would even want to go to IKEA but thought I would capitalize on it. We decided that if Aliya picks up her toys for 5 consecutive days, she will earn a trip to IKEA with me. We talked about taking care of things where they belong (like things with like things- not all of it in one box), a time limit (she gets distracted and begins creating again) and 5 days in a row (if she does it for 3 days and then not on the 4th, it starts over). She seemed ok with all the clauses and we made a deal. She told me to use my phone to find directions. I hope to be going there soon!

Matthew and I went to the library on Thursday. After story time, we 'played chess'. Seeing as I don't have a clue how the game is played and Matthew doesn't either (he just thought the horses were cool), we moved the pieces around jumped over each others. Somehow Matthew won and I'm okay with that. But I laughed and grabbed my camera when he started looking strategically as if to say "what piece do I move next?" Matt loves Friendly's because he likes the Ice Cream. His favorite is the chocolate with M&M's. I know this because he has mentioned it MANY times. Today, after I picked him up at pre-school, we went to Walmart to look at birthday party supplies for his 4th birthday on October 4th! Guess what is in the parking lot of Walmart? You guessed it -Friendly's! I asked Matthew if he would like to go on a lunch date with me there. He said yes, but also mentioned the neighboring restaurant, (the one with with golden arches a 1 year old recognizes and fake chicken nuggets) is where he goes with his family. Right, because McDonald's is a nice family restaurant and you shouldn't go there with your nanny. He thoroughly enjoyed his real chicken nuggets, one of my mini cheeseburgers, and his chocolate ice cream with M&Ms at Friendly's.

We have a lot of fun together playing the state game (we are learning 2 each week), trains, cars, eating, negotiating (he is a master negotiator!!) but I have come to the conclusion I will never be good enough or match Joycie in Matthew's eyes. Joycie this and Joycie that. Why did you change Joycie's room around? Why did you take Joycie's pictures down? Joycie is coming back someday! I want Joycie to do it, Joycie didn't do it that way. I have to laugh when he says these things because the poor little guy just misses Joycie and here I am taking her place. Aliya doesn't seem fazed by it and actually thinks her parents hired me to be her friend. I can handle that.