Little Sister's little memories

When Big Sister was a toddler, there were two especially amazing things about her. The first was her vocabulary. It was ridiculous. But the second was her memory. She could (and still does) tell us things we didn't even remember saying. Of course, now that she's almost five, she can't remember not to push her sister, but that's another story.

Little Sister is also quite the talker, but it's not her vocabulary that will get you. It's her conversational skills- the way she says things that are so spot-on, so appropriate, even funny, although she just turned two.

But she also has the memory. She has recently started recalling things more and more frequently, always starting with "'member _______?"

Sometimes it makes complete sense, like when we read a Disney princess story and she remembers something from our trip. Or when we see fireworks and she remembers the wonderful show at Cinderella's castle. She has recalled numerous times (and to numerous people) how Sophie's leash got wrapped around her ankle and left a terrible rope burn. And the other night when I tucked her in, she was busy recalling (and digesting) the story we read and the episode of Dora she watched earlier in the evening. (" 'Member Swiper took the flower...")

Other times, her memories are quite random. And quite entertaining.

One evening we were in the gym at church, having dinner before VBS. The director got up to make some announcements and then lead the group in prayer. The girls sat angelically in their seats, even folding their hands, but started to get restless as the prayer went on. Something reminded Little Sister of something she just couldn't help but (loudly) share:

" 'Member when Goofy fell down?"

What? I figured out it was from a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Dvd they've been watching lots lately. But still- it was very out of the blue.

Another random memory came late last night. The girls were super restless and waking up numerous times. Once I was holding Little Sis and thinking that I was getting her settled back to sleep. Instead, I was surprised when she lifted her head from my shoulder and asked, " 'Member that turtle said 'dude'?"

She had me. Crush is probably my favorite Disney/Pixar character. And she said "du-u-u-de" perfectly. We spent the next few minutes recalling the Nemo ride at Epcot, the movie, the beach, and so on. Big Sister joined in too.

Bedtime (or going-back-to-bed-time) was postponed, but oh, the memories.

Both recalled... and created.

Song for Sunday: I'll tell you why

One night after VBS, Big Sister sang this from the time we picked her up, got all of our stuff together, loaded into the car and got carseats buckled, got back out of the car and ran back in to the bathrooms, got back into the car and drove home, until it was time for bed.

It's like the Jesus version of "The Song That Never Ends."

But it is sweet. And true. And it goes like this:

I am so H-A-P-P-Y
and I will tell you why
I know that my God loves me
'Cause He shows me all the time.

And repeat.

CVS Follow-up

I went to CVS tonight, only to find out that they recently decided not to start the coming week's promotions on Saturday night! They decided it wasn't fair because people were buying out stuff before the Sunday paper even came out. I completely understand that- it's why I started shopping on Saturday in the first place; I went in on a Sunday to get one of the free after ECB items and it was already gone, and the salesperson told me they started Saturday night.

Not any more!

Anyway, I was fortunate tonight because they went ahead and printed my ECBs even though they weren't printing automatically. And both of my CVS coupons worked!

My $3 off Pamper's Coupon was only for the Cruisers kind, which have fewer diapers in the box than the Baby Dry. So instead of 80 something, I ended up with a box of 60 something. Boo.

They didn't have the kind of wipes I wanted either (to use my other coupon), but since I needed a pack for Big Sister's kindergarten supply list and a small pack for Little Sis at school, I took advantage of a Buy 1, get 1 50% off sale on the CVS brand. When all of my coupons were scanned, I paid $11.58 including tax for a box of diapers and two small refill packs of wipes. And I got $11 back in Extra Care Bucks.

I paid $0.58 for a box of diapers and some wipes!!!

Not too shabby!

Why I'm looking forward to CVS tomorrow...

Everyone who even slightly dabbles in "couponing" knows that there are some deals you just get really, really excited about.

Well, there is such a deal for me this week at CVS. They have the big boxes of Pamper's diapers for $21.99 (not great, yet) before an Extra Care Buck (ECB) reward of $10. So really, they're only $11.99. That's like paying less than $0.15 a diaper.

But THEN, the little scanny thingie (such technical terms because I am a PRO, don't you know?) printed up two relevant coupons for me in the past couple of weeks. One is $4 off of a Pamper's big box. It expires on Saturday, but most CVS stores (ours included) start the next week's deals on the Saturday evening before.

The other one is $4 off of a purchase of diapers and wipes.

I also have a $3 off manufacturer's coupon (a catalina that printed at the grocery store) for any Pampers.

And I have $0.50 off of a pack of wipes (which will probably cost me around $3).

Oh- and I just checked my inbox for $5 off of a $25 purchase.

SO, I should be getting a pack of diapers and wipes for about $25 before any discounts.

Then $5 off my purchase (making it $20)

Then $3.50 off with manufacturer's coupons (making it 16.50)

And then at least $4, possibly $8 more off if both CVS coupons work together. (I think they will, most deals at CVS overlap like that- it's why it's the one place I HAVE to go almost every week. If so, the total will be $8.50. If not, $12.50).

Then, I'll get $10.oo ECB printing for the purchase.

SO (are you still with me?!) I'll either pay $2.50 total for a BIG box of diapers and a pack of wipes, OR CVS will pay ME $1.50 for taking them off of their hands.

Oh yeah. And I should get 1 more ECB for my Green Bag Tag this time around! Wahoo!!!!

Finally, there is a good deal on 12 pks of Coke products so I'll probably just turn around and use those ECB to stock up instead of taking a chance on losing them. Not that I'd ever be so disorganized... ha!


There are other freebies at CVS this week, too. Check out Southern Savers for complete CVS coupon match-ups.

Happy saving!



*If you're wondering, we are still using cloth diapers (and wipes). Actually, Little Sister is basically potty-trained except for wearing diapers at naptime and overnight. When she is home, we use our cloth. I still love them. But at school, she has to use disposables. We're almost out, but a box should get us through 4 or 5 more months at school! These might be the last diapers I ever have to purchase. That's one milestone with which I'm COMPLETELY okay!

This is bigger than rules...

A few weeks ago, as I walked up the steps with a basket of laundry, I heard the girls fussing at each other. It was early in the morning; they had just gotten out of bed and I wasn't there to greet them and set the tone for the day. Obviously, they chose a tone of their own: UGLY.

I got to the top of the steps just in time to hear Big Sister growl, "NO! You aren't supposed to take that much toilet paper! Mom is going to be REALLY MAD AT YOU!" followed by a thump, and finally crying. I ran in to find Big Sister still fussing at Little Sis, who was sitting on the floor in tears. Unrolled toilet paper snaked from the holder, around the stool where Big Sister stood, and stopped where Little Sis held it bunched in her hands.

"WHAT is going on?!" I asked.

Immediately, Big Sister let me know that Little Sis "took way too much toilet paper and she's not supposed to do that and you (me) don't like it when we do that and she wouldn't stop."

"And so you pushed her down?" I asked.

"Yes," she readily admitted. "She took too much toilet paper."

"Do you think I would be more upset about running out of toilet paper or seeing one of you girls hurting the other?"

I thought it was a no-brainer. But I watched as Big Sister thought for a moment, and a light-bulb seemed to blink above her head.

"Were you just trying to get some toilet paper to help Big Sis while she was on the potty?" I asked Little Sister. She nodded pitifully, her feelings still hurt from being fussed at and pushed.

I turned back to Big Sister. "Do you see that I care a lot more about you both than I do about toilet paper? I don't want to waste it and run out when we need it. And I don't want to clean it up after you guys make a big mess with it. But I would be WAY more upset if something happened to one of you. Hurting someone is worse than taking too much toilet paper."

I thought later about how little kids don't really see the "levels" of our expectations. As they grow out of their ego-centrism (Piaget), they start to see how what they do effects other people, and it's our jobs as parents to help with that realization. But a lot of times, they just follow the rules because they are the rules. It's that "concrete operation" thinking (Piaget again) in them. It never occurred to Big Sister that one rule might take precedence over another.

Today, I realized that as believers, we're often the same way. Jesus made it really clear what he thought the greatest commandments were. He said, "the greatest commandment is... and the second is like it..." lest there be any confusion. What were they? To love. Love God, and your neighbor.

He said the rest of the law and the teachings of the Hebrew prophets hinged on those two ideas. Those two simple rules guide the others. It's the same way that we don't waste the toilet paper because we might not leave any for others or cause someone to have to work extra to clean up the mess. We want to be considerate to the others in our house. Because we love them.

How many people in the church are yelling and fussing and knocking each other down over silly, secondary issues? How many of them are feeling quite justified in doing so because "it's the rules!" or "The Bible says it's wrong."

I'm not saying love rules out correction. Certainly, when we love someone, we uphold them and correct them and encourage them to do the right things. But we have to start with the love.

The rest of the stuff, the details, the toilet paper... can come later.



PS. Who can be the first person to identify the movie from which I borrowed the title? Here's a hint- it is spoken by another farm bird...

Yeeehaaaaw!

VBS is finished.

We had lots of kids. A few kids got to know Jesus for the first time. Other kids got to know him better.

My kids had mixed feelings about it. Little Sister kept saying, "No. I doh' like my class" when we dropped her off. But when I peeked in she was doing just fine. Big Sister almost cried last night when I told her today was the last day. But she is completely worn out.

I'm glad we only do this once a year.


And I think I heard next year is a NYC theme? I'm not much of a cowgirl, but Broadway and museums and Times Square and hot dogs and Central Park and Little Italy and Greenwich Village and NYU and cheesecake (should I go on?) might be enough to rustle this tired music teacher into the saddle for another year.

Yeehaw.

Things I find on any given day...

Motherhood (and pet ownership) certainly keeps things interesting. Here are some of the things I picked up and/or put away yesterday:

• A Ken doll laying naked and alone in the middle of the hallway
• Tiny pieces of what used to be a pouch of fruit gummies. My best guess is that the girls ate the food and Sophie ate the packaging.
• Every throw blanket, at least twice.
• A cereal bowl filled with cotton balls, a valentine's day decoration, and Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumbs. (?!?)
• An empty basket that used to hold my coasters. I have no idea where they are.
  
• More dishes than I could count
• Throw rugs- once to wash, and then once to put them in their correct place after someone "helped" put them back down for me.
• A towel on the bathroom floor that was obviously used to mop something up. I'm afraid to ask what. Okay, actually, I walked past it a few times and prayed it would go away first.
  
• One shoe. Repeat. Repeat again. None of them seem to be mates. What is going on?!?
• Someone's wings. These may go in the trash. No doubt, as soon as they do, Big Sister will begin to look for them.
• Gigantic clods of dog hair. I'm thinking of building a new German Shepherd to leave on the porch and scare off would-be intruders.
  
• Five pairs of my own flip-flops. I vow not to complain about my kids' shoes being left around the house anymore. Apparently they come by it naturally.
• A sippy cup that contained milk. A long time ago. At least, I think that was milk.
  

A friend shared this article on Facebook. It's hilarious and worth the read, especially if you wonder what moms do all day and why your friends don't call you during naptime or always want to hang out in their rare kid-free moments.

Plus it's by a Washington Post writer, so maybe if I leave it up, my husband will think it's about the 'Skins, read it by accident, and hire a babysitter for the evening.

Wishful thinking, I know.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I just spotted Ken's shorts.