bedtime

I'm sure you have always wondered what goes on in our house at bedtime, well, today I'm going to tell you. Aren't you lucky? (Does keeping a blog ever seem a little narcissistic?)

Well, after we read books, brush teeth.... la-dee-da-dee-da... kiss the girls goodnight and leave. Normal stuff right? This is when the parent gets time to themselves to do whatever they please right? Wrong! 

Maddie falls asleep pretty fast. She's had a little more practice. Tara was having a pretty hard time staying in bed or quiet or both. After weeks of turning the lights off when she gets out of bed (they like to read at night so we leave the lights on until they fall asleep), and listening to her scream her guts out, she has discovered that it is actually better to stay in bed and quiet. But remember how when the kids are quiet you know somethings up so you better go check on them. This still holds true with Tara.

Case and point:

 After I thought the girls had gone to sleep seemingly well, I actually had a few hours to get a few things done around the house (by this I mean I didn't have anytime to actually do something productive because I wasted it all on Pinterest or Hulu), then I went upstairs to go to bed and I found this loveliness.

 wowsers

 She didn't just take all of her clothes out of her drawers but she laid them all out nice and flat.

In the morning when I made her clean up this mess, she told me she made a maze. She was so proud of it.

Here is another one for you.. Tara did come down stairs this night. I had put jammies on her before she got in bed but she came downstairs dressed. I brought her back upstairs to put her jammies back on and put her back to bed and found this.

She tried to get Maddie dressed too. Ha Ha Tara, you crack me up!!

Pop

Aaron bought some pop. Tara LOVES pop (anything liquid actually). She keeps asking for it. She opens the refrigerator and brings me one of Aaron's pop a few times a day. She asks Aaron a few times a day too.Thing is, Aaron's pop is caffeinated. Tara does not need caffeine. We tell her the pop is not for little girls. She say's "I not a little girl. I big girl." She is wearing big girl underwear and we do tell her she is a big girl (she handled potty training like a champ!) This logic is obviously not working for her. So, Aaron told her tonight at bed time that he would buy her some pop. She was pretty excited. When I went to check on her, she exclaimed, "I AM a big girl, daddy buy me pop, pecial pop!"
So there mom!

p.s. Maybe you noticed I started blogging again. I'm backdating and theres lots more to come. Stay tuned.

Masterchef Audition?

Hello! and welcome to Cooking with Maddie and Tara. We are so glad you could join us!

(princess dresses welcome)

 Today we are making muffins.  Have your mom sous chef lay out all the ingredients you will need...

 then, just start dumping them in bowls

 any way you like

 its okay to use a few sprinkles

actually, don't leave any behind

 mix well

 oh yeah, you'll need an egg

 don't worry about the shells

 line your muffin tin

 then, start scooping

 my motto is the messier the better

 pop them in the oven

 and viola! 

and they taste just as lovely as they look!

(Sorry no recipe; its a family secret!)

 Thanks for joining us! Happy muffin making!

happiness is...

having a big ball.

Oh Tara!

(noise from the basement)
Tara: "A monster is coming"
Maddie: "no, that is just the dryer."
Tara: "oh..... jus kidding!"

Tara is knocking on the door and saying: "who's there? hello? who's there?" long pause. "Oh its me... come on in!"

Tara's prayers usually sound like this:
"Fader in Heaven, BIGGG hug, name of Jesus Christ, Amen"
"Fader in Heaven, ganks for tha day, Amen. I mean Jesus Christ, I mean name, uhhhh Amen."
"Fader in Heaven, mommy song? uhhh.. daddy too and Maddie too, and Tara too, uhhh.. Amen."

me: "Tara, will you please pick up your spoon and put it in the sink?"
Tara: "No! mommy do it." and she throws it at me.
me: "please try that again."
Tara: "okay! I put it in the sink ack-a-chee (actually)"

Love that girl!

Happy Birthday Tara Dear!!

Can I just say that I love this girl!! and I can't believe she is two!!

Last night, Aaron and I blew up a kazillion ballons and shoved them all in her room! When she woke up she was just grinning from ear to ear. All morning she said, "mine balloons!!" She loved it!

 After breakfast, we just couldn't wait to bring down her gifts so we let her open them right away. We wanted her to get a chance to play with them on her birthday. We got her a Melissa and Doug shopping cart and she loves it!!  (remember how she has been praying for one since her shopping cart from Santa broke?) Well, she was one happy girl when she opened her new one and this one is definitely a little more durable. As soon as she opened it she pushed it to her room and put her baby in it then pushed it back out to the living room to open the rest of her gifts.

 Later, we meet up with some friends at the park and shared a few mini cupcakes. 

 I made her a crown she wore all day.

 Aaron bought a $100 dollar shopvac for $20. Its huge. 

It holds 12 gallons and I'm pretty sure Tara can fit in the tank. (I know, pretty random. Aaron called me while we were at the park and said I needed to go home and check out the shopvac on slick deals because it was going to be gone soon. I told him I wouldn't be home for at least an hour. He called me back a little later and said he just went ahead and bought it. We picked it up at Home Depot after Tara woke up from her nap! ha ha. Love that man)

 Tara picked out her outfit by the way!

 We did donuts and ice cream instead of cake. The girls are talking to grandma and papa on skype.

 I think the donut sprinkles were a hit!

Right after she was done she said, "A needa wet wipe!" She doesn't like messy hands.

So in honor of my baby girl turning two, here is my list of things about Tara at two:

1. She definitely has a few opinions about clothes such as...

2. she likes to pick out her own clothes and...

3. she likes to change those clothes at least three times a day.

4. She will not wear any kind of pants with any kind of structure (only stretch pants).

5. She must pick out her shoes; she loves flip-flops and crocs

6. She loves cardigans (thats my girl!)

7. She loves vests.

8. Her pajamas have to have a matching bottom. She does not like it when I mix them up.

9. She prefers her cupcake pajamas even if they are dirty
10. she prefers clothing with food or hearts on them.

11. She likes to wear underwear over her diaper.

12. She likes to be a nakey girl.

13. she likes her nails done.

14. steak, dried mangos, and pasta are her favorite foods

15. she likes to say "mine..." as in; "mine daddy", "mine baby", mine food"

16. She loves binky's. She finds toys and things to be her binky and walks around with them halfway in her mouth.

17. she is an excellent climber. She can climb on top of our fridge if she knows there is candy up there.

18. whenever she hears a fire siren she always thinks someone is hurt. She is always so concerned.

19. She likes to sleep with a toy or stuffed animal. Its not always the same one but she knows exactly which one she wants.
20. she strongly dislikes blankets

21. She likes us to make up songs for her. She tells us a subject and then we have to sing about it.

22. She loves Amelia Bedelia books
23. She likes to pretend to eat the food in books we read.

24. You only have to say a word once before she incorporates it into her vocabulary.
25. she only like tiny bits when eating. If a bite is too big, she spits it out and says, "too big, too big"

And she is pretty much amazing!! I know she will not likely remember this day but we are so grateful to have her in our little family! Love that girl!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TARA!!