Master of manipulation!!!

This is a conversation that I overheard while walking by the Ls room just now:

big L: I want that car!
little l: I had it first!
L: Yes, but I need it.
l: NOOO, its MINE!
L: Fine but I have something even better!!! I have the BESTEST! I have a ...... a .... a .....a CHAIR, yes a magic chair. Thats much better than your car, it even can fly and it's blue not red like your car. I have the MAGIC CHAIR and you don't!!!
l: I want it!
L: O.K. you can have it if I get the car.
l: Here (hands over the car). Can I have the magic chair.
L: Sure. Yeahhhh ... I got the cahar. I got the cahahr. Yeayeyeyeyhhhh.

.... and this is how big L tricked little L into giving her the car she wanted. Master of manipulation!!!
Little L was super happy with her magic chair though :)

Lulu's outfit of the day

It's been a while since we had one of Lulu's outfit posts,

but I was lucky to get these shots.

She is so stinking cute!!!

Invasion of the Aliens

Plasticine is the magic word in our house right now. For the last few days the Ls have been consumed with creating their little aliens and constructions. I didn't quite know what plasticine was when I first saw it here, but  after finding it at Walgreens for $4.99 I realized it's plain old modeling clay or Knete as we call it in Germany.

The cool part of this stuff is that it never dries out and the colors don't mix as easily as play dough does. 

We LOVE it
and here are the pictures to proof it :)

L's rattlesnake

Here we have a wormie, a ghostie, an alien and 

a blue pile of something with a bushy tail and one eye

Lulu's  creation

my creation :)

 

Lulu's "lotsa eyes thingie"

SHE is a product of the CZ girls team work

Don't ask me about the straw ???

 And here is what L created last night and this morning

She used Bendaroos with the plasticine to make this ???

Fun, fun, fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Czarnota After-School-Program takes a dive

This BLAZING heat is just CRAZY!!! Today we hit 101 F in Milpitas  ... it's the end of September???

When L came home from school there was only one thing on our minds ....WATER!!!! Cold, refreshing water!

We packed up whatever we needed and left our smoldering house to steam on its own while we escaped to our wonderful Milpitas Cabana Club (it sounds MUCH fancier than it is but it does the trick quite well!).

We had a blast in the pool, had an awesome water fight and L did her first solo dive today ... so cool!!!
(see above)

Here are the pictures of the day.

Big Jessie and little Jessie hanging out

Lulu is finally loving the "big wet"

L "rescuing" her little sissie from the big, bad shark

The THANK YOU of the day goes to our wonderful Papa, who has been working his nice, Canadian butt off so we can have the luxury of spending the afternoon at the Milpitas Cabana Club instead of working and day care for kids.

We have given up a lot and made many compromises by being a one-income family in the BA,  but every day when I walk with the Ls to school, when we play at the park, go and get ice cream in the middle of the day, get messy with paints and glue and glitter and definitely on afternoons like today, I know that we have made the right decision and am very grateful for the way we are living our life!

Thanks Goalie-Papa, we LOVE you!!!

Potty Dance - LIVE -

This video, once viewed, will put a new meaning to the dance, commonly known the as "Potty Dance", guaranteed!

To escape the blazing heat of the afternoon I took the Ls to Yoghurtland for a nice, cool, treat. 

As usual, L had to use the bathroom and since it was near where we sat I let her use it alone.

A few minutes later she opens the door and screams "Mama, come in, QUICK!!!"

I dragged Lulu of her chair, away from her ice cream and rushed in the restroom. What had happened? Whatever it was, it couldn't be good!!! 

This is the conversation that followed once we were in and the door was locked:

L: "LISTEN .... they have music in the bathroom!". 

M: WHAT????

L: "Yeah ...you can totally dance in here."

... and this is what happened thereafter.

Another PRICELESS moment presented to you by the Ls.

And another reason to be grateful for my amazing girls, they make me laugh every day 

... even in a public restroom!

Scribble-Scrabble with three fingers

My little Isie (Lulu, Lucy, Luise,...) is such a smart cookie and by now has figured out how to write her ABC's, how to count, cut, glue, ... how to torture her sister and how to run the entire house :)
But one thing she is not good at is penmanship. She holds her pen like a butcher holds his deadly weapon ...

Something had to be done. I don't think you can get into Harvard without adequate handwriting skills :)
Here is a wonderful "torturing" method I found online to teach my little sunshine how to hold a pen the correct way instead of holding it tightly gripped in your FIST.

And here is HOW TO learn proper penmanship 

Take an old (WASHED) sock, cut three holes for the thumb (or as Lulu says Stump), the pointer finger and middle finger and put it on like a glove. All other fingers are "hiding" and can not be used to hold the pen.

Her coloring skills took a complete nose-dive during this experiment but ...

She did hold the pen the proper way for the first time ever!!!

I did have to bribe her with a lollipop for testing this new device. Lulu's comment was :"Why do I have to put a sock on my hand mama, it's stinky!".

Lillie's comment of the day

L came racing into my arms when she returned from a fun hike with her new hiking buddies.

L: Mama, Mama, guess what?
M: What?
L: I almost fell over a rattlesnake. A real one, with the poison teeth.
M: WHAT????
L: Yes, but don't worry I didn't die and Jada and Liam didn't die. The snake just snaked away.
M: (staring at Papa) WHAT????????
P: (grinnnn)  It's true! It was totally cool!
M: WHAT?????

When she loved me ...

Many years ago Puppe (dollie) Anna was loved by a girl named Julia (aka my baby sister).
Julia and Anna were BEST friends and went together everywhere. It was love at first sight and lasted forever.

But then Julia grew up, went to collage, became a neonatal nurse and started her grown-up life.
It was time for Anna to find new, loving arms to hold her and a new heart to love her .

And so Julia gave her one-and-only Puppe Anna to her little niece Lucy in hopes that Lulu would take good care of her beloved, little friend.

.... and so she does! 

This one is for you, kleine Schwester.

Anna is in good hands and loved very much!!! She is Lulu's new, best buddy!

Danke fuer die Anna. Sie wird sehr geliebt und Lulu kann nicht ohne sie leben. 

We love you!!!