Blankie Boy

So this past week I got the Spring Cleaning Bug. Unfortunately Lincoln got a different bug. My desire to go through closets, clean walls, organize cupboards, scrub everything, weed flowerbeds, etc was placed on hold. My little guy had a fever and he just wanted to be held. So I got cuddles with my blankie boy and stared at everything that needed to be done. Hopefully now that he is feeling better, my bug will stick around another week so some productive work can take place! But even if it doesn't- I know that snuggles are way more important than messy closets!

10 Down- 20 To Go!

So most of you know that Rylin has never been a good sleeper! At 4 1/2, we are feeling a little defeated in this area. You know the term "slept like a baby"? Well this has never, ever been said about Rylin- not as a baby, a toddler or a 4 year old. The girl is a super light sleeper, she has a tiny bladder, she cries while sleeping for no apparent reason, she sleep walks into my room, and she loves to climb in my bed to snuggle. I feel like we have tried nearly every theory in credited books to teach her to stay in her bed. We have tried discipline, we have tried ignoring her, we had her tonsils and adenoids out, and yet the girl still comes and wakes me up an average of 3 times a night.

We don't get it. We're frustrated. But at this point it is what it is. And so we have turned to bribery! Last spring we told her that if she stayed in her own bed and did not wake me up for 10 nights she would get a scooter. It took a really long time to get to 4, (we're talking weeks!) but the rest were nearly consecutive. She eventually got her scooter, and we were hopeful that this new habit might stick around. It clearly did not!

So in January I told her that if she stayed in her bed for 30 nights she could get her own bike- rather than use Kacia's old one. She got super excited, and still is. Yet here are nearing the end of March and she just got star number 10. The girl is ecstatic that she only has 20 more to go! Clearly the mind of a 4 year old cannot grasp how long it will take her at this rate! I was hoping that like last time- once she had done it a few nights, she would be able to do more, and it would eventually become a habit. This clearly has not yet happened! But maybe our daughter will get a bike by her birthday- by her 6th birthday that is!

Kacia's New Obsession

Kacia is absolutely obsessed with reading! So as far as obsessions go, this seems to be a pretty good one! It all started last week. Kevin & I went to her conference at school, (at which the teacher informed us that she is "perfect"- she honestly said that word more than 3 times, at which Kevin and I said she is most definetely not perfect, but at least she can behave well at school!) and then we stopped by the book fair on our way out. We got her a little princess chapter book and Rylin a new Fancy Nancy book, and then headed home.

It was about 4 when we got home and gave the girls their new books. Kacia sat and read that book for hours! I am not exaggerating! We had to take a break for dinner and for Girl Scouts, and when we returned she wanted to read more, she even hid the book under her pillow at one point (sneakiness is clearly not perfection!). She was disappointed that I made her go to bed before she finished it, but I assured her that 7 chapters was a lot of reading in 1 day, and she only needed to read 3 more tomorrow in order to finish the book in 2 days!

She took the book to school, and by the time I had picked her up, she had finished the book and started it over. She read the book twice in 3 days, at which point I was finally able to encourage her to pick up a different book!

I have to say that I am loving this new skill! It is such a quiet one!! And when she wants to go in her room to read, Rylin wants to too! It is absolutely wonderful!

So she has one very, very loose tooth and 3 more that will be getting close, so she is hoping that the Tooth Fairy may want to bring the rest of the books in the series and the Tooth Fairy thinks that is a great idea (and just got done ordering them from Amazon)!

Craving

I currently have a craving for my mom's fried chicken and country gravy. I have never been able to reproduce her creamy, yummy, really-bad-for-you, chicken gravy, but right now I would love some on a big pile of mashed potatoes!

I don't know if this ever happens to you, but every once in awhile I get a weird, out of the blue, craving for something I ate in my childhood. My mom was a good cook. She was very good at making those rich, heavy, home-cookin, kind of meals. So today as I am cooking dinner, despite my craving, I will bake my chicken with a panko crust rather than fry it in crisco with a saltine crust, and I will make gravy from chicken broth, because this is what I know how to do. But, I did look up on FoodNetwork how Paula Dean makes country gravy, because I'm sure if my mom had ever seen her show, she would probably be annoyed by how loud she is, but she would agree with her that more butter is always better. But after looking at the recipe, I think I will stick to the gravy I know how to do. I just can't embrace that much crisco (not to mention the fact that I don't even have any!)- but be assured that in my head, I will be dreaming of those "crispies" on her fried chicken and that oh so yummy gravy!

Yeah for 2 Arms!

Yesterday Kacia was cleared by the doctor to take her brace off! He also said that she will be fine to play t-ball and even to ski, basically whatever she is comfortable with! Other good news, the surgery that she will need to take the plate and screws out got moved back to September rather than July, which is great because she will not have a cast/splint/brace in the Redding heat! Yeah! We are praising God that not only is He the great Healer, but He is also sovereign over all of the "smaller" details as well!

Tea Parties

This is one of Rylin's favorite things to do! If Lincoln takes a morning nap, I take a break from housework, and Rylin makes us tea. We have a seat on the floor, sip our "tea" (basically water with a floating tea bag, since she always uses cold water), and we chat. We talk about silly stuff and we talk about regular stuff. Mostly, it's just great to spend time together without any other distractions!