Toilet terror

I give up.

I'm just going to invest in Pampers and call it a day. Penelope is untrainable.

This morning was traumatizing for the whole family. Penny screamed so piercingly at the suggestion that perhaps she just sit on the potty for a moment that Carolyn came in and said, "Mommy, stop hurting Penny. She doesn't like it."

And it's not as easy as just letting her run around without diapers, which is what I did with Carolyn. Just being without a diaper is enough to send her into fits of hysteria.

So what's a mom to do? Patience? Stern talkings to? Lots of vodka?

Or maybe I'll just try again next week. I just can't stand the screeching.

Easter Eggstravaganza

We went to the city's Easter egg hunt today. While it was about 34 degrees below zero and the hunt was situated on possibly the flattest, windiest spot in the Midwest (and that's saying something around here) we had a good time.

I was a little worried Carolyn would be overtaken by the older kids. She was in the 4 to 5 year group and typically not the most aggressive of kids. But as you can see, she's all about the egg hunt.
* Note: That bit at the end is a little jolting, but she's totally OK.



While I did not get a picture of Penny because we were late and she needed quite a bit of help with the hunting, but here's a cute pic of the girls before we left the house.



Happy Easter everybody.

The limited memory of a wine-soaked SAHM

Seriously, if it didn't happen yesterday, it's a distant memory for me. So I feel a little bad I haven't blogged more lately (I've diagnosed myself with chronic cabin fever) because Carolyn is so funny I should be writing these things down because if it didn't happen in the last 25 words, it's a distant memory for me.

Like today, I said, "Carolyn, come here. I'm going to fix your hair."
She says, "I like it broken."

See. That's 4-year-old gold. Also, she calls me Mom now. And she says it really dramatically, like, "Right, Moooooommmmm."

Penelope is quite funny as well, but in a more visual kind of way.

Plus, I'm getting a gold tooth because I grind my teeth too badly to get a tooth that isn't bling.

Happy spring everybody.

Is that my daughter's Barbie in there?

It's 47 degrees outside right now which can mean only one thing — summer's here.

Well, it's sort of spring-like, so Carolyn and I tackled the biggest issues facing our backyard: the dog poop, the sticks and the log cabin. There was really nothing we could do about the mud so we were just thankful for rubber boots.

In the midst of the log cabin cleaning, we found everything in pretty bad shape. It has been a long and wet winter, even by Midwest standards, so we really haven't played in the backyard since last year. But even I was not prepared for the horror.





Oh the horror



I will say, at least it was Barbie, whose dimensions I secretly covet for my own post-children bod. And plus, Barbie's a fighter. I'm pretty sure with a good scrub, and maybe a haircut, she'll be good as new.

Maybe a little therepy as well.

It's movie night

In winter, we take what little pleasures we can get. Tonight — Snow White. It's kind of funny how much more violent story-telling was years ago.

Today at the library, I got some fairy tales because Carolyn has this new obsession with The Three Bears so I thought I'd introduce her to some of the other classics.

Did you know that modern-day Three Pigs story is actually a lot more gruesome. The wolf eats the first two pigs and ends up trapped in a boiling pot. And the kicker? The third pig eats him.

Ewww.

Our lives here in Normal are pretty blah right now. It's still cold, even 30s starting to feel like shorts weather. Today I asked the girls if they wanted to go for a walk around the block. No, they said.

But don't you like to go outside? No, they said. What about the playground?

"I like the playground when it's warm outside," Carolyn said.

Here, here sister. But spring is on the way. I can feel it.