All.Day.Long!

Gracie: "Mommy, I'm just so excited!"

Me: "Why, Gracie-Lu?"
 

Gracie (bouncing up and down): "Because tomorrow, I turn 6!"
 

Me: "That's right! Tonight is your last night being 5!"
 

Gracie: "And tomorrow, I get to wear a crown because I'm turning 6 and you are going to bring a cake to school for my friends, and Mrs. Averion is going to make you kiss my cheek and freeze so that she can take our picture."
 

*Punctuated by a bounce and a back leg kick.*
 

Gracie: "But the best thing, Mommy..."
 

Me: "What is it, Gracie?"
 

Gracie (bouncing like crazy): "It is going to be my birthday ALL DAY LONG!"

Yogurt with Mom

My children don't like ice cream. They would rather have ICEEs or frozen yogurt. Their favorite frozen yogurt is at Menchie's. They will beg to go.

Yesterday, Daddy went to a party and they convinced me to take them. We had so much fun! The hardest part is letting them be independent with making their own yogurt. There are so many things that can go wrong with toppings and frozen yogurt. So many things. 

The good news is that they are so proud of themselves when they put their cups on the scale. Little accomplishments like that go a long way.

Kindergarten Take Two

Today was Gracie and Lucas' first day of kindergarten at their new school. New uniforms, new shoes, new backpacks, knew everything! They are so excited to learn new things and get better at the things they already know.

A day at the park

Daddy and Lukie at the park.

Pirates at the Beach

Today, we drove to Long Beach and met Nana and Uncle Jimmy for breakfast. We ate at a restaurant called the Black Bear Diner and the food was huge!

Uncle Jimmy and Daddy

After breakfast, we drove to Belmont Pier and discovered pirates everywhere. It was Pirate Invasion 2013 and there were jumpies, cannons, and all kinds of craziness.

More than Lukie's feet got wet.

Gracie and Lucas asked if they could put their feet in the water at the beach. So I let them walk down to the sand and take their shoes off. After a few minutes someone named Lucas fell into the water accidentally on purpose. He was very wet, but that didn't stop him from having more fun. 

Playing in the water.

Gracie and Lucas with their feet in the water.

We walked up along the pier and saw lots and lots of pirates everywhere. We even saw a real parrot! Lucas got a tooth necklace and Gracie got a pirate scarf.

Uncle Jimmy, Nana, Lucas, Daddy, and Gracie at Belmont Pier

Afterward, we got in our car and drove around to see different parts of Lakewood and Long Beach. It was a great day because we got to spend it with Nana and Uncle Jimmy and be at the beach at the same time.

Next time, Gracie would like to build a sandcastle.

Climbing a giant tree at the pier.

Our First Trip to Disneyland!

Thanks to Mommy's friend from college, we got to go to Disneyland!  We did not tell Gracie and Lucas until this morning that we were going to Disneyland.  They went to  bed and thought they were going to school.  But, when we woke them up, we surprised them with the news that we were going to Disneyland.  Mommy made them both new hats for the day (it was chilly in the morning, thank goodness!).

Surprise!  We are going to Disneyland!

Erika met us at the front gates and took us inside for our first trip to the Magical Kingdom. She was so excited to meet Gracie and Lukie and Mommy was very happy to see her.  Thank you, Erika!

Gracie, Erika, and Lukie

We rode lots of rides.  The first, of course, was the Disneyland Tram.  Lukie asked Mommy if we were on a roller coaster.

Our first ride: The Disneyland Tram wearing the hats Mommy made for us!

Once inside, we started with Small World (Lukie was nervous about the boat).  We also road on Pirates of the Caribbean, Splash Mountain (times 2!), the Tea Cups (for Gracie), the train, Star Tours, Roger Rabbit, and Buzz Lightyear. Then, we made our way over to California Adventure and rode the Mater ride, hung out in Bugs World (and rode lots of things twice), rode the Little Mermaid ride.

Even though we did not get to ride everything, we did enough to create lots of fun memories.  One thing Mommy wants to remember forever is to thank Abue Rosi for Gracie and Lukie's gift cards.  Each card had $50 on them and Gracie and Lucas were able to spend their own money without actually carrying money!  Super Fun times!

Gracie -3 Lukie -1!

Today was the big day! Lucas and Gracie started t-ball. They were very excited for today. We surprised them by having donuts for breakfast. While we were driving Lucas all of a sudden let out a strange sound and said "Mommy, look!" when I turned around, I discovered that Lucas's tooth had fallen out. Finally, after a long time of waiting, Lukie's first tooth has fallen out!

Look!  Lukie is missing a tooth!

We stayed for opening ceremonies and had a lot of fun with new friends. Later in the afternoon, it was our very first t-ball game. It was so much fun, that Mommy and Daddy had to keep their mouths covered so that no one would see how hard they were laughing. It was a fantastic day! Gracie and Lucas are playing for the Granada Hills Blue Jays.  They each have new mitts and bats (Gracie's is Hello Kitty).  Lucas even has a bat that Bianca gave him.  He calls it his Fire Bat.

Blue Jays!

Later that night, the Tooth Fairy came and brought Lucas $5 for his first tooth. He was very excited to see what she has left him the next morning.

Lucas - Star of the Week - 2013

Lucas was sick the entire week he was scheduled to be Star of the Week.  He stayed home with Daddy and Abue Rosi.  He simply wasn't feeling well.  Luckily, Mrs. Flores rescheduled his Star of the Week for March 1.  Lukie helped me to design his poster, but he wasn't as picky as Gracie was

Lukie's favorite things include:

Spaghetti and Meatballs

The Chicago Bears

Swimming 

His bike

His sister

Gracie started the presentation with him, but since she could not hold the poster high enough, Mrs. Flores took over.

Lukie with Gracie holding his poster

Lukie presenting his poster

Gracie - Star of the Week - 2013

At Gracie and Lukie's school, each Kindergartner gets to be Star of the Week.  They create a poster of their favorite things, pictures of them at different ages, and then they get to present it to the class and lead the class in the recitation of the months of the year, days of the week, and the dates on the calendar.

February 1 was Gracie's big day.  She worked with me to go through pictures and find all the right ones to tell her story.

Here are some of the highlights:
Her favorite food - bacon
Her favorite number -16
Her favorite book - Pete the Cat
Her favorite color - pink
Her favorite princess - Ariel

Gracie presenting her poster with Mrs. Flores

 Even though I could not be there, Daddy and Tio Freddy did go.  They reported that Gracie did a great job!

Gracie with Tio Freddy (he came to see her presentation)

Gracie - 3, Lukie - 0

In August, Gracie and Lukie met the dentist for the very first time.  He was very nice and patient with them.  They had lots of fun and they think the dentist is a nice man with dolphins on his walls.  He told us then that Gracie was getting ready to start losing teeth.  Two of them would need to be pulled because she had an extra baby tooth that was crowding the others, but on the bottom, she actually had adult teeth starting to push the baby teeth away. For a moment or so, I was petrified by the idea of teeth being lost.  I mean, these are my five year olds!  They can't possibly be old enough to lose teeth!  But they were so excited about getting their "Mommy" and "Daddy" teeth, that I could not help but be excited for them.  Alas, I forgot about the Tooth Fairy.

I did not really think about how the whole Tooth Fairy thing would go.  I mean, there are some crazy parents out there.  They "glitterize" their money before they put it under the pillow or they do elaborate scavenger hunts for kids to find their treasure.  Me?  When Gracie lost her first two teeth (to the dentist), I was not prepared.  After I panicked for a few minutes, I realized that I could do something on our own and the Tooth Fairy letter was invented.  I downloaded a pretty picture of a tooth fairy and typed up letters that were left with the money under the pillow.  Gracie and Lukie get so excited when they see a letter from the Tooth Fairy.  I'm so glad I did something that worked for us.

Since Gracie's surgery, she lost a tooth at school (The envelope holding it was lost again in extended care.  Luckily, someone found it.) and she lost another one a few days ago.  Daddy has been joking with her that she has windows in her mouth.  He will play with her and say she has little Whos living in the windows of her teeth. She always giggles when he says that.

It has been a couple of days since Gracie lost the latest tooth and already, those adult teeth are pushing higher and higher in her mouth.  The gap on top, the one from her surgery, is still quite glaring, but it is getting better as it heals.

Lukie wants to know when he will start losing his teeth.  He will not be comforted by the reassurance that it will be soon.  He thinks of himself as the bigger and stronger twin and he wants to do things first.  Unfortunately for him, Gracie seems to do most things first, but he is never far behind!

Can we get a big sister?

Among the conversations we have had in the car is one about siblings.  Gracie and Lukie are fascinated by the idea of more than two children in a family.  They are still trying to grasp the idea of siblings not necessarily being twins.  I've had to explain, more than once, about two babies in a mommy's tummy versus one.

We've also had discussions about other ways for children to come to a family.  We found our way into a conversation about adoption last week and about foster families.  They were very sad about the idea that some children don't have mommies and daddies.  They asked a lot of questions about foster families and the children.  They were very concerned about homeless children and about them having a place to sleep.

They started asking me a few days ago if they could have a sibling.  Specifically, a big sister.  I stared at them for a few minutes and then asked why they wanted one.  Here's what they said:

"Mommy, we were thinking that we could ask one of the homeless children to come be our big sister.  That way, she would have a place to live and we could take care of her and she would have food to eat.  She could also take us to the park."

"Mommy, do you think one of the homeless children that does not have a mommy or daddy would like to come live with us?"

Can your heart break while it is swelling with love?

Morning Child vs. the Non-Morning Child

Gracie is a morning child.  She is always the first to wake up and because she is loath to be awake alone, she generally wakes someone else up to keep her company.  About 60% of the time, that lucky person is me.  She'll wake up 30 minutes or an hour before I really want to be awake and crawl into bed with me.  She'll start a conversation about how she wants to go see her cousin, Bianca, or how she is going to be the pink Power Ranger for Halloween.  Sometimes, she whispers questions to me or asks me about things that have peaked her interest.  Other times, it's "Mommy, will you come to the bathroom with me?" or "Mommy, I'm hungry.  Can we go get our breakfast and watch Dora?"

Lukie, on the other hand, is not a morning person.  If Gracie is absent from the room, he will sleep for an hour, sometimes two hours more.  One time, Gracie and I decamped to the living room and I closed his bedroom door on the way.  My boy slept until 11:14 a.m.  Clearly, he needed sleep.

The 40% of the time I am not the person Gracie wakes up, it is Lucas who gets the friend in his bed.  She'll climb up his ladder to the top bunk, cuddle next to him and start her conversation.  I can never hear what they are saying, but it definitely wakes me up.  The murmur of voices and eventually the sounds of Legos and cars being played with will being me to consciousness.  I often try to pretend I don't hear it, but it does not last long.

Gracie and Lukie look forward to the weekends.  The weekends are Ssssss days.  Days that start with "S" are days we get to Sssssleep in.  We used to only make it until about 5:30 a.m., but nowadays, we often make it until 7 a.m. before I have children crawling into my bed.  School days are a little more challenging.  Kindergarten is wearing Gracie and Lukie out.  I mean, fall-asleep-as-soon as-your-head-hits-the-pillow worn out.  Monday morning, I wake up early to take a shower and then I wake them up to get ready to go.  Monday and Tuesdays, they are usually awake quickly and we can get moving.  Around Wednesday, it takes a couple of tries to get Lukie out of bed.  By Thursday, he starts to cry because he is so tired.  By Friday, I have to go back multiple times and employ Gracie to help Lukie find his slippers.

It kills me to have to get them up this way.  I wish that I did not have to drive so far for work, maybe then, they could get a few more minutes of sleep.

Tonight, Gracie has decided that we are having a slumber party.  She's chosen the living room for our sleepover. I'm predicting that they will make it until 9 p.m. before they ask me if they can sleep in their beds.  Then again, how awesome would it be for us to make the memory of sleeping together out there?

God, Angels, and the Devil. Oh, my!

One of the reasons Daddy and I chose a Catholic school is because we wanted Gracie and Lukie to learn about God.  To be honest, on our own, we haven't done the best of jobs.  Catholic school, however, makes it a daily thing.  Every day, Gracie and Lukie learn new songs about God and the blessings we receive, they learn about the world and how God created everything.  With these lessons, of course, come questions.  More questions than I was prepared for.

To date, I have fielded questions on whether God is a man or a woman, where God is, what God looks like, whether God made the sun, Earth, and moon, and when God was born.  It has been interesting for me.  How do you take complex ideas and break them down for a 5 year old to understand?  The good news, for me at least, was that I stuck to the truth (or Catholic teachings, which ever you prefer) as much as I could.  Some people think God is a man.  Some people think God is a woman.  Others think God is just God.  He's not a man or a woman (This was Auntley!  Those B.V.M.s are so progressive!)  God is so big he is everywhere, all over the Earth.  No one knows what God looks like.  Each of us can picture God the way we would be comforted to view him.  I got creative with Creationism.  I'm a proponent of Evolution.  I think it is silly to think that the world was created in 7 days.  Rather, I believe that God started it all: the Big Bang, the development of life, etc.  However, God's version of 7 days is not like our experience of 7 days.  Seven days to God is more like billions of years to us. The explanation of when God was born was a tad trickier. Instead of trying to explain that God has no beginning and no end, I explained that I wasn't alive when God was created.  That God has lived for so long, no one knows.

It wasn't until they learned the song I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart that things got more challenging for me.

"If the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack.  Sit on a tack, sit on a tack. If the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack.  Sit on a tack, sit on a tack...." (imagine this over and over)
"Mommy?" came Lukie's voice.  "Who is the devil?"
"Oh, um, the devil used to be one of God's angels."
"Why isn't he an angel any more?"
"Well, he decided that he was just as important and powerful as God. He told God that and God said, 'Nope.  I'm the Father and I am the most powerful.  I created you.'"
"Was God mad?"
"I think He was frustrated that one of His angels was trying to talk back to Him. When the devil would not change his mind, God told the devil that he had to leave Heaven and the devil was even madder.  He was so mad, that he tried to talk other people into thinking that they were better than God.  He told them that they could steal things and hurt other people. This made God sad."
"Mommy, is the devil still alive?"
"He was an angel, honey, they don't die.  He just lives in a place called hell with all of the other people and angels he convinced that they were better than God."
"Mommy?" came Gracie's voice.  "Will the devil hurt me?"
"No, baby. He won't hurt you.  The devil likes to try to talk people into doing mean things."
"Like hitting friends and being a litter bug?"
"Yes, kind of like that."
"What about stealing and killing people?"
"Most definitely.  The devil tempts people.  That means he tries to tell them that they should do mean things so that they feel better.  Even though they know that God wants us to be kind to each other, the devil convinces people to be mean."
"Mommy, will the devil try to make me mean?"
"He tries every day, sweetheart. Whenever you want to hit your friend or use mean words about them, that's the devil trying to convince you to hurt people.  But, when you choose not to, that is you deciding to fight against him.  Sometimes, your guardian angel will help you."
"What's a guardian angel?"
"Oh, it's the angel that God sent to protect you.  They watch over you and try to help you make nice and kind choices."
"Who's my angel, Mommy?" asked Lukie.
My mind worked frantically. 
"I think it's my Daddy, your Grandpa.  He's your guardian angel."
"Where is he, Mommy?"
"I'm not sure.  Maybe he is sitting on your right shoulder."
"Right here?"
"Yep, right there."
"If I pat my shoulder, will I hurt him?"
"Nope.  I don't think you can hurt an angel."
"Who's my angel, Mommy?" came Gracie's sweet little voice.
"Hmmm.  I think it is my Aunt Loretta.  She's your guardian angel."
"Is she my angel because she died?"
"I think so."
"Are the dinosaurs sitting on my other shoulder?"
"WHAT?"
"The dinosaurs," she repeated.  "Are the dinosaur angels sitting on my other shoulder?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Lukie.  "That's where they are!"

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A few days later, Gracie climbed into my lap.  "Mommy, I don't want a dead person to be my guardian angel."
"You don't?"
"No.  If you are dead, then you turn into a zombie."
I tried to take that in.
"A Zombie?"
"Yes.  I want the dinosaurs to be my guardian angels."
"OOOO-kay, then.  Why don't you let God know that?"
"Okay!"

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Daily, there is a new question about God.  I'm doing my best with them and I hope I'm not messing this thing up.

Oh, one other side effect of all this God talk and trips to Mass?  Gracie serenades us with songs from Mass every day.  Last week, it was her version of Alleluia.  Last night, for 3 straight hours, it was the Lord Have Mercy version they sing at our church.  I'm pretty sure she is not singing the right words for part of it.  I can't make any of it out.  No worries, though.  She doesn't mind.

Birthday PAR-TAY

Gracie and Lukie have long asked to go to Disneyland for their fifth birthday, but when it came to it, they just wanted a party with their friends.  We planned a great time at Scooter's Jungle in Valencia and everyone had a blast.  We purchased cupcakes with balloons and messages of "Happy Birthday" on them and a giant sheet cake on which was printed 5!  Alas, these were the only balloons at the party.  There is a worldwide shortage of Helium at the moment.  :(

Sadly, I did not get a lot of pictures at the party, but my sisters and my mom may have some pictures to share.  A great time was had by all and Gracie and Lukie have a room full of Batman, Hello Kitty, Angry Birds, and Barbie to remind them of their big day.

I leave you with this video of the best toy ever.  They were having way too much fun racing on these little scooters.

Big Bikes for Big Kids

Last night, Gracie and Lukie informed me of the following:

"Mommy," said Lukie.  " I want a big kid two wheeler bike that goes really fast!"

Gracie followed up with: "And I want a big kid two wheeler Barbie bike with a little bike for my Barbie."

This was a tad overwhelming for me.  Somehow, I thought I would wait until Saturday to give them their presents.  Instead, I left work early today, picked up Daddy and made my way to the store.  There, we found the perfect bikes: A pink Barbie bike for Gracie, complete with sparkly streamers and glitter gems that she can attach whenever she wants and a green Hot Wheels bike for Lukie, featuring a revving handle and working RPM gauge.  They were completely perfect.

I bought them and brought them home to hide them.  We had to take Gracie to the dentist about her extra baby tooth and after the dentist we finally came home.  They were a mess the entire ride.  They kept asking and asking me what I got them.  What presents did I buy?  How many?  Oh, good gravy!

We pulled into the drive way and I readied my camera.  They jumped out of the car and ran to the hiding place.  Squeals of happiness and excitement sounded in the air.  They completely loved their big kid bikes!

Lukie and his Hot Wheels bike

Moments after they discovered their bikes.

Gracie and her pink Barbie bike.

They hopped on and after only a few minutes, they started to get the hang of it.  Occasionally, they hit a point where they forgot how to move their feet or a section where the asphalt was uneven.  They could have kept going for hours if the sun hadn't gone down.

I'm so very happy we bought them these bikes!

Golden Birthday = 5!

You want to make a kid's day?  Wake them up singing "Happy Birthday" to them.  Smiles all around this morning for my two big Fives.  (We shall ignore Gracie's epic nose bleed upon waking.)

There shall be Hello Kitty and Angry Birds cupcakes for school and Picture Day for Gracie and Lukie's Golden 5 Birthday.

My how they have grown.

Gracie - Less than 5 minutes old

Lukie - 24 hours old

3 weeks old

5 Years Old!