Mice for dinner

Abby made mice for dinner. Yep.  She followed a bit of creative motivation and Chloe and I came home to her in the kitchen - not an uncommon event.
She hollered: "Wait! Don't come in here yet!  I've got a surprise for you!"
So we waited excitedly until she was ready. 

When Abby presented us our dinner, we had some delicious BBQ'd buffalo burgers with smiley face buns, baby PURPLE potatoes, and ...a plate full of mice!  Strawberries with almond ears, clove noses, and spaghetti tails.  Our mice even had triangles of cheese to snack on. 
Chloe was so excited about her fun, friendly dinner. 
But that wasnt the end of the surprise!  About half way through the dinner Abby said: "Chloe, did you know that when you eat mice, your mouth turns blue?"
She was doubtful and surprised.  So Abby and I both showed our tongues and we all started laughing.  She ran to the bathroom to see her evidence. 
Sure enough, she'd eaten a mouse!  ...giggles.
(Not long after, She discovered the blue food coloring hidden on the clove-noses.)

We are all excited for the next installment of fun family food! 

Shy observation

I picked Chloe up from her YMCA camp. As we were walking out to the car she told me that she's noticed something about her shyness.  She sais she's only shy when me or another parent or grandparent is around.  She's not shy when she's on her own.

I've noticed this before- She is there, well adjusted all day, then when we pick her up, she doesn't want to say good-bye or wave or talk to anyone. They always seem a bit confused as to why she is suddenly not talking to them as before.  I'm sure it was this transition dynamic that sparked her to notice this about herself. 

I asked her a couple questions about it and told her it was good that she noticed something about her feelings.  She didn't seem to know why this happened, or how I could help her feel better while she was around me.  But I told her I'd try.  And I do, I will.  I didn't continue to press the conversation, I just wanted to leave it where she felt good about observing herself.  An important lesson. 

There is a balance there, somewhere, betweeen pushing her too much, and "enabeling" her too much in these social situations.  Abby and I strive to empower her, and stoke the fire from within- while also teaching her about social graces.  Admittedly, this is one of the balances that has been challenging for us to find.  We hope that at the end of the day, she knows we are on her side.

That Girl's Got Jokes

Chloe has a long way to go before she becomes an award winning actress, but what she lacks in believability, she more than makes up for in her dramatic displays. ;)

So, this evening I said something that she didn't like very much, and she let out one of her signature fake cries. (If you've ever spent more than an hour with a 7-year old girl, then you know what I'm talking about.) It's like an overly dramatic death scene - you saw that guy get shot in the heart, and, maybe at first you felt a little concerned about him, but now that he's sputtering, stumbling, and spewing repent...you're over it. A child's fake cry is eerily similar.

So, anyways, while I was "looking at the ceiling", Kendra called Chloe over to her and asked, "Honey, you sound sad. Are you real sad or just pretend sad?" Chloe said that she wasn't sure and Kendra scooped her up onto her lap. Then Kendra made eye contact with Chloe and said, "Maybe I should tell you a little joke...to...ge-". As soon as the word "joke" crossed Kendra's lips, Chloe was completely buckled down in laughter. She couldn't stop and it only got more uncontrollable as Kendra implored her to "go ahead and stop laughing if you can...oh yeah, that's okay, I'll wait right here while you finish up." ;) When Chloe settled down just a bit, Kendra would say "joke!" and it would start all over again.

When you're an active parent (as we are), it can be easy to over think things. Sometimes, you just gotta stop thinking all at once and ride a different wave for a bit. I was happy to see Kendra and Chloe riding the same silly wave tonight.

Her vote counts for Pride.

One of the things we've wanted to do for Chloe is to be the first to talk to her about Gay and Lesbian issues, laws, etc.  We want to be sure that she has confidence and knowledge around these topics before any unsupporting people talk to her about them.  So, one afternoon, I started a conversation with her about what it means to be gay, and that she has a home with two lesbian moms.  These are things we've talked about before, but I wanted to start off on common ground.  She remembered well, and approached the entire conversation as if it were no big deal.  I was relieved, of course, and didn't try to make it any more of an issue.  Then I asked her if she knew that some people didn't think that lesbians or gay men should be couples. She said she'd heard about that before. She told me that she knew they were wrong, because she loves our family, and she said "I don't really care if Abby is a girl or a boy, I love her just the way she is- and I love our family just the way it is."  I smiled and squeezed her.  I told her I love our family, too. Then I asked her if  she knew that right now it is actually illegal for us to get married.  She whipped her head toward me with big eyes and said "huh?" in a little squeak.  She was so surprised. I told her that years ago, a lot of those people who didnt want gays and lesbians, made a law that said we couldn't get married like everyone else. I explained to her about the laws and how getting married isnt just about having a wedding.  Then we talked about how now, all the people who know it's right to allow everyone to get married are working really hard to change the law so it is right and fair. She was immediatly relieved and happy. We talked about the upcoming vote in November and how it will be wonderful for everyone to be able to marry anyone they love, no matter what. 
I explained voting and how we need to make sure everyone who wants the law to change absolutely needs to vote.  She said, "How do you vote?  Raise your hand?"  I giggled and explained it to her.  When I told her that anyone who is older than 18 can vote, she was surprised and dissapointed that she couldn't.  I assured her that Abby and I would take all of her voting energy and add it to our votes.  That way hers could count through ours.  She knew it was a bit silly, but she felt a bit better. 

It was a short conversation, but an important one.  We are making sure to talk to her about important stuff in short talks but frequently enough for her to remember the last time.  Each conversation has a little bit more detail and she is doing really well. 

A new family favorite

Abby heard about the idea to make home made pizza on the BBQ. So we decided to give it a shot! We got a simple dough recipe from a friend with minimal ingredients (yay for no chemicals and preservatives), then made a stop at the store for some toppings.

Abby and Chloe flattened pieces of the dough with some flour, and Abby BBQ'd the crust. Meanwhile, Chloe and I got the toppings ready. We all came inside and topped our dough before putting it back on the grill to finish up.

And it was SO good. It was among the best pizza we've ever had. And we had a great time making it together! We all agreed that it is now one of our favorite family dinners.

Then, with the leftover dough, we gathered some dessert ingredients and made some individual dessert pizzas! I used cookie butter and some sugared oats for mine, Abby used butter and strawberry/vanilla sugared one of her ideas, and Chloe decided to squeeze some of her liquid strawberry lollipop on hers, then added marshmallows, mint cookies, sugar, and cinnamon. It looked...thorough. We also made a family one that we all thought of together... Cookie butter, crumbled nutter butter cookies and marshmallows. Chloe got nervous about her own very creative dessert pizza, and all of its varied toppings. She did end up eating a couple small pieces of it, but she mostly enjoyed the family concoction.

Watermelon

She never gets tired of watermelon.

A good helper

I remember pushing the grocery cart for my mom. I always thought she was being nice and letting me do it. Now I know whats true! She was happy the day my brother and I were big enough to push for her and glad to pass it along. I had that day yesterday. It's so helpful to have someone so enthusiastically following you with the cart while you shop with your hands free, and at the same time have your kid occupied and entertained!! At first Chloe thought she couldn't do it, but with a little bit of encouragement, she was excited. She was playing a lot, but the store wasn't too busy and I didn't want to ruin the moment. She needs practice on turning, stopping, and going slow...okay, it was kind of a mess a couple times, but she did good for her first try and considering the fact that she can barely see over the handle. I even let her "ride" on the back a bit as she was pushing. I remember my brother and I got pretty rowdy with those things sometimes. I don't think I'd be able to handle watching her do anything super dangerous, but I was smiling watching her have fun and mess up and practice. She was getting grins and smiles and words of encouragement from other shoppers.
One of the rules we have when we are out at stores is that she can't ask for things. If she does, the answer is no. This rule has one exception: if she's asking for fresh food. We will always buy fresh food for her within reason, so to be sure it won't go bad. This time she asked for watermelon, oranges, bananas, a cucumber, and kale. We got one of the little seedless watermelons, and considering we no longer get plastic bags from the store I of course, forget my reusable bags, we carried our food in our hands. I have Chloe her watermelon she wanted. About half way to the van she wanted me to carry it and let me know how tired she was getting. But I had her stick it out. When we got home she started asking if I'd take the watermelon, then she stopped and said she was going to take the melon and the cucumber at the same time. I told her I was glad she changed her mind and decided to try hard.

Molly

Chloe's got a new baby cousin! She was so excited while they were at the hospital.  We were waiting and waiting to find out if she was a boy or a girl.  Chloe said "I really want it to be a girl, but I think it's going to be a boy." She smiled so so big when I told her the news. 

And such a sweet sweet baby.

Chloe hasn't had a chance to meet Molly yet, but Abby and I have swiftly fallen in love. 

It will be fun to begin collecting stories of Chloe and her cousin together. 

A note about dinner

Chloe just "LOVES" French dip sandwiches; and Abby is still the best cook in the WORLD!!!

Creationary!

Abby and I had had our eyes on this family game for a while. We're glad we decided to finally pick it up! Creationary! It's like Pictionary, except instead of drawing your word, your build your picture- out of Legos! We had a fun time playing for the first time! Chloe's first clue to build was a turtle, Abby built a screw driver, and I got stumped while trying to build the Eifel Tower... Later Abby figured a clever way to make a peacock, and Chloe did a solid job on building a chair. We think we'll keep this one around for a while. Maybe next time we'll take some pictures of our creations- its quite a challenge and had us laughing a lot.

Not a healthy store

Chloe and Grandma Vicki unexpectedly needed to find something to eat for dinner. So they stopped by a corner store because it was the only place available. As they walked in the door, Chloe looked around at all the packaged, processes food and said "Grandma...this is NOT a healthy store."
It makes me smile. She ended up picking something, but it's so good that she can recognize when she's sacrificing health for convenience.

Out to lunch

We walked on the trail to have some lunch at Jalepenos in Barkley village. At first Chloe wasn't too sure about our restaurant choice, but before we were done with lunch she said it was her favorite place. It might have been the Shirley Temple and all those yummy cherries, or the food she gobbled up. Either way, she was happy with herself for trying he mild salsa and for giving the restaurant a chance. She ended up really liking both of them.

Chores and attitude

So, we have a few big projects we are working on in the yard this summer, extending the deck, building a fence and shed. Needless to say we are working hard to make progress on the construction as well as keeping up in the house chores.
What Chloe is beginning to learn is: when the work load gets greater on the parents, the work load gets greater on the kid, too. In a good, wholesome, character building sort of way, of course.
We'd woken up, made breakfast started laundry and I asked Chloe to please FOLD her laundry, and put it away. She wasn't too happy about me adding the folding part onto her chore load, and she let me know abut it.
"But THATS not part of my normal chores!!!" She yelled at me in the kind of whining cry that I think comes in the manual for young children.
I admit, I was a bit offended at her attitude. I mean, I do so much for her. And now, she complains when I ask her to do her OWN laundry!? So I pause and say
"I know. And they are your clothes, you know how to do it, and today, we are all doing more, so I'm asking you to do more."
Normally, this would have been enough to change her perspective. But this time, she continued to resist, complain and yes, cry at the absurdity of having more chores to do.
So, I did what any good parent would do. I firmly enforced the boundary she was testing. I turned up the heat. I raised my voice and told her that we all live in this house together. I let her see and hear the frustration in me over her not responding to my calm and fair requests, her unwillingness to pull her own weight and step up to a change in routine. I scolded her when she interrupted me disrespectfully, and explained my intensity. I told her what I was going to do, and what I expected her to do, first second and third. She sat, wide eyed, in front of me and listened. I turned around and left her there to decide what to do next.
I went to work. About a half an hour later she came and found me. She said:
"I folded my clothes and put them away like you asked. Then I also cleaned my toilet, washed my sink and counter, cleaned off the stairs, and brought down my dirty laundry- and is there anything else I can do or help you with, Mom?"
...I smiled.
I knelt down and put her on my knee. I thanked her and told her I was proud of her for changing her attitude. I gave her a big squeeze and I could tell she felt good about it too.
And I definitely found something she could help me with.
We hauled bricks and wood. Together.

Way more than dislike you

Three of us were walking on the trail by our house and having fun chatting, playing and munching on the thimble berries. We started talking about the words like, love, dislike, hate...etc. we were deciding which words correlates with different levels of liking and disliking. Love is more than like, and way more than dislike, and way WAY more than hate... We all got a good laugh when we decided it would be funny if, instead of saying "Goodbye, I Love You!" we said "Goodbye, I way-more-than-dislike You!!!"

Working together

So, after Chloe finished her inside chores, she came outside where Abby and I were working in the back yard. She asked if there was anything she could help me with. So, we moved a brick pile and a wood pile to the other side of the house together. She was trying very hard and I told her I noticed what a hard worker she was. She would challenge herself to see how much she could carry at once. I was also proud about how she piled everything she carried into neat piles, instead of doing a sloppy job. She is very good at making sure to do things neatly.
We talked about working hard and what our goals were for all our hard work. We though about how much fun it's going to be when we have the new deck done. As we were carrying the bricks we were talking about parties and BBQs we can have and how it feels good to be all working hard together. Even though the work isn't the most fun thing to do, it's going to be worth it. She was getting very excited about it all.
We also needed to move a bunch of dirty grass clumps. At first Chloe didn't want to get dirty, so we took a break from moving the grass and rubbed as much dirt on our arms and legs as we could. Then while we were working, it didn't matter how dirty we got. It worked like a charm. Though she did ask to take a bath the minute we were done moving the pile. I had her wait until the afternoon outside was done.
Abby and I had talked ahead of time about making sure to include Chloe in the work we've been doing. The hope was, of course, that she'd begin to feel the value of working hard and exerting herself, and also feel some ownership in our projects and family unit.
So naturally, I smiled and encouraged her when she said, "This is a different kind of family time together, but I really like it." and a bit later when she said "This makes me think it would feel good to put my laundry away more often."

My Surprise Birthday!

Ever since Chloe missed my birthday, they'd been planning to surprise me. That's just what they did last night. Abby called to tell me she was going to pick Chloe up from camp, so I met them at home. When they got home- Chloe asked me if we could do some reading together- something we do often, so I went right with it. We went upstairs to her room to choose some books and Abby was going to unload the truck. After a few minutes Abby called up to me and asked for some help with something.
As I came down into the living room, I noticed a huge rice crispy treat cake with burning candles and a big gift from both of them.
They said "Happy Birthday"!!! With huge, proud grins on their faces.
I was so so surprised! I got huge hugs and kisses and blew out my candles.
My gift was WAY better than the tube of paint I'd asked for... It's a beautiful, wooden, portable easel with a hidden drawer for supplies!!
I'm so excited to have something to bring my art with me!! I can go to the park, or camping, or out in the yard. They are so thoughtful and generous.

Then we took some fun pictures in the dining room mirror, and we each gobbled up some of the yummy treat-cake.