December 2008

This was a remarkable month! Lots to do and see and fun to be had.

GRANDPARENTS VISIT: Early in the month you had a wonderful few days with your Grandpa and Grandma de Berry who read many books to you and took you to the neighborhood park where you played on the swings and slides for a long time!

PLAY DATES: You had home play dates with friends Ashley, Emily, and Magdalyn, and with Mckayla at Gulfstream park.

DENTIST: Mila had her first filling and sealing at the dentist and was SO brave!! Took it all in stride. You’re both taking very good care of your teeth.

BALLET: You had many wonderful practices at ballet class at the Y. Sadly Ellie was too sick to participate in the final ballet recital with Mila and the other ballerinas but had fun watching with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Jen, and Grami. Mommy and Daddy even gave each of you your own bouquet of flowers for being such beautiful ballerinas. Afterwards we had a celebration dinner at Doña Arepa which was lots of fun.

CARS: You said goodbye to Grami’s ten-year old Honda Accord and helped Grami choose a Taurus X (mid-size SUV). You each want to sit in the third row. We’re having fun in it!!

OUTINGS: You enjoyed pizza and games with Mommy and her friends from Young Women at Chuck E Cheese – hurrah, now there’s one in Boynton Beach.

CULTURAL: Mila and Mommy attended the Nutcracker Ballet at the Kravis Center. Mila went dressed in her ballet slippers and pink princess dress from her fourth birthday party. Mommy said you were SO grown up watching the beautiful ballet and that she was so proud of you. Ellie spent that time with Aunt Jen and Grami going out to lunch, Christmas shopping, and playing with Precious, BA, and Kira.

CHRISTMAS: You enjoyed many Christmas events including the Boynton Beach Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting at The Schoolhouse Children's Museum with Mommy and Daddy. Another night we enjoyed touring the Christmas-decorated garden (and eating freshly made chocolates) at Hoffman's Chocolate Shoppe and Factory in Greenacres.

You had your picture taken with Santa at the Wellington Mall as well as at the church Christmas celebration and dinner, and attended holiday parties at Mila’s Sunshine Park School and Ellie’s “Miss Dawn’s class” at the Y.

Christmas morning and day was full from beginning to end - - you each got such wonderful gifts from Santa and your family. I’m pretty sure the pirate ship from Santa was your favorite and you spent hours playing with it.

Daddy and Mommy prepared a wonderful Christmas feast of roasted turkey, apple walnut dressing, butternut squash soup, French beans with almonds, and speckled butter beans. Yum, yum.

After dark we drove around and saw many neighborhood Christmas light displays and walked through the Christmas lights arches off Lawrence Road.

CIRCUS: Aunt Jen and I took you to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. We had SO much fun, you were both spellbound at your first circus with elephants, tigers, clowns, acrobats and all the fun that was ours to be enjoyed. Ellie ate a whole box of popcorn and Mila had a hot dog, both good circus fare. We followed the circus up with a barbeque lunch at Shane's Rib Shack and it was an extremely enjoyable day.

MORE CHRISTMAS: Grandpa Ed and Peggy came to celebrate Christmas with us the Sunday after Christmas and brought many, many gifts. You again had hours of fun opening gifts and playing with them. And we enjoyed yet another Christmas feast: baked ham, sweet potato casserole, homemade bread, wild rice, green limas. And for dessert: homemade key lime pie and Tiramisù. Yummy, yum.

And as December closes out 2008, we are listening to many noisy fireworks in the neighborhood!! Good bye 2008, hello 2009. May we all enjoy safety and good health and happiness.

The littlest dancing queen

Mila couldn't stop dancing, even when the dancing stopped!

First Dance Recital...Ever! Dec 17, 2008

Mila you were so amazing today!
I hope you enjoy the videos I was able to capture on my silly camera phone.
Love,AuntJen :)

Bedtime for the de Berry girls by Mommy

Bedtime for the de Berry girls

Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 9:30pm

Scene: Bedtime in the girls' room. Their beds are pushed together. I am lying next to Ellie (almost 3) in her bed with one arm under her neck and the other arm through the railing slat so Mila (age 4) can snuggle it.

Mila (seriously, sweetly): Mommy, your arm reminds me of you. (Then she starts to laugh.)

Ellie: Mommy, when Miwa is more gwown up and I'm still wittle, will you wet her dwive your car?

T: Yes, when she turns 16.

E: But then you won't have a car to dwive! Waaaa! [Loud crying ensues.]

T: (I explain that we'll probably have a second car then, etc.)

M: Mommy, you'll have to follow me to my house because I'll have to show you the way there. (She goes on about its location two streets away in the next neighborhood, where she's going to build it) But, how? [Suddenly upset] Mommy, how will I build it?

T: The construction workers will help you build it. They know how to build houses.

M: And I'll be sitting on the inside, right?

T: Right . . .

M: And I'll get to buy everything for the inside, right?

T: Right.

E: Mommy, I want to pull up the covers.

T: OK. Do you need my help?

E: Yes, but then I want you to put your arm back.

T: OK. (I settle back in.)

E: Mommy! Do you know what we forgot? We forgot to put on the nighttime music.

T (Not wanting to get up): Oh. How about I sing you a song? . . . Silent night. H--

E: No, Mommy, how about we just turn on the music.

T: OK. (I get up, turn it on.)

M: But, Mommy, I want you to sing to us in your pretty voice.

E: But, Mommy, I just want to hear the music.

T: OK, I'll just sing to Mila.

E: But, Mommy, I want you to wie next to me.

T: OK, I'll sing to Mila for a minute and then I'll lie down next to you again. You just be quiet for a minute. Silent night. Holy night.

E: (loud snoring)

Bicycle adventures

Ellie is on a roll

Today I was "indisposed" when I heard Ellie at the bottom of the stairs calling "Grami, Grami!"

I knew she wouldn't be able to hear me satisfactorily if I responded from that location, so I did not respond, opting instead to answer her in a minute or two from the top of the stairs.

However, a few seconds later I heard: "Grami, SPEAK TO ME!"

Where DOES she get this stuff? She's 2 1/2!!!

ARE you awake or NOT?

So I'm laying in bed at 8 am on a Saturday morning, trying to decide whether to go back to sleep for a little while longer, and I'm listening to the girls playing downstairs. I can't quite hear well enough to determine what Ellie is wanting, but when she doesn't immediately get it, she gives her high-pitched squeal of "this will get results!"

I can hear Mila sweetly (for a change) negotiating with her, even offering that "you can be Mila." That apparently doesn't satisfy her as she stomps to my door, screaming:

Grrrrraaaaaammmmmmmiiiiiii!
Grrrrraaaaaammmmmmmiiiiiii!

Then after a very short pause, she says insistently, "Grami, ARE you awake or NOT!?!?!?!"

How can I sleep when I'm laughing so hard?

So now I'm up, writing this blog to record her hilarity, and I'm almost done when I hear her at the door again, apparently with Aaron nearby, and she frustratedly declares, "Grami isn't waking up!"

Luckily she accepts his explanation, "Grami must be tired."

So now, shall I try for a little more sleep, or am I awake or not?

Ballet with Mila and Ellie

Beautiful angels!

Princess Mila's Garden Party

On Saturday Mila's Mom and Dad hosted a very, very special fourth birthday party, Princess Mila's Garden Party. All of Mila's friends who attended were attired in Princess outfits and crowns and jewelry. There was a craft at the beginning of the party to make a crown for each princess with their name on it, followed by a yummy lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into a flower shape, and a diamond-shaped tuna fish sandwich. There were also carrot sticks, chips and mango salsa, potato salad, ham and cheese sandwiches, and pink lemonade. A delicious and beautiful fruit salad was served in small goblets and the pink lemonade served in larger goblets.

After lunch there was a parade of princesses who were waving brightly colored dance ribbons. Games followed and each participant had their own personalized game card for earning stickers for each game played. The choices were croquet, ring toss, bean bag toss, and bowling. Everyone won stickers and had lots of fun. All of Mila's family participated in leading the games: Aunt Jen, Grandpa Ed and Peggy, and Grami. The inside game was pin the lips on the frog which proved to be lots of fun!

Daddy had made delicious chocolate cupcakes that he had decorated as butterflies - - they were a big hit. Cupcakes were devoured and presents were opened and many hugs were given.

When the main party was over, some of the guests joined the family at the neighborhood pool for two hours of fun and games in the water.

In all, the party lasted from 1 pm to 6:30 pm, and everyone was exhausted but happy! And the house was FULL of fun presents and discarded wrappings, all evidence of a great day.

Like mother, like daughter

We lived in Gainesville when Tiffany and Jennifer were growing up. A favorite place in the city to visit was "The Duck Pond" which stretched for a couple of blocks down the middle of a divided road in "old Gainesville," bordered on each side by old, beautiful southern homes.

One day when Tiff was 6 or 7, she was standing on the concrete wall that surrounded the duckpond when she leaned over too far and fell in. Understandably, the water was pretty murky and disgusting. And she had on her winter coat, so it was an uncomfortable, cold, and stinky trip home to clean up. Jennifer and I have always cherished the memory, we thought it was pretty funny. Tiff never found it as amusing. Until today.

Just before suppertime Tiffany and the girls went to the edge of the pond behind our house to feed bread to the fish and turtles. Ellie leaned over too far and actually somersaulted head first into the water. Tiff had to step in, shoes and all, to rescue her. Ellie was extremely unhappy and cried well into her bath before she could laugh again.

Oh, for the amusing part: I was preparing dinner when I heard the commotion and looked out to see Tiffany walking Ellie away from the pond. Ellie was screaming. Tiffany had a wry smile on her face. Guess it depends on which side of the pond you're on whether it's funny or not.

Bathtime imaginations

So I'm sitting on the stool in the girls' bathroom watching them in their bath. Their imaginations are working overtime. Ellie declares that she's Daddy and begins working the shower diverter-thingy up and down methodically. She tires of that after a minute or so and declares she's now Mommy. She and Mila both are playing with empty baby bottles into which they're pouring water from a cup. Mila begins to make goo-goo noises so Ellie tilts her bottle to Mila's mouth for Mila to drink from the bottle. Mila pretends to drink for about 20 seconds - - - then Ellie abruptly tosses the bottle into the bath water and declares, "Feed yourself, I've got to work on the computer!" and she promptly turns to the bathtub corner and begins "typing" frantically on the edge of the tub.

It was too hilarious for words. Oh, IF only I'd had a movie camera on them! What fun that would be to have on film.

Things happen (when Democrats get uppity)

Today you received your first public insult. Luckily you were both blissfully unaware of it.

The three of us had dinner at McDonald's (at the insistence of both girls!) and as we were leaving, a yuppie was entering and looked down at you two and said "Hi."

When you didn't either one immediately respond, he blurted out, "Your parents are undoubtedly Republicans," and kept walking.

I'm still steamed. But only because he meant it as an insult, which was totally inappropriate and uncalled for, not because I would ever take the label Republican as an insult.

Wish my "W" bumper sticker hadn't faded out. I'd have run over him a few times.

Grami's Birthday

I just experienced a wonderful birthday. I had a lazy day but a fun-filled day which started in very late morning (my kind of day, sleeping til 10). My sweet granddaughters, accompanied by their mother, came to my room around 1 p.m. and sang the Happy Birthday song to me. I've never heard it sung sweeter. Then I was covered with kisses and hugs from Mila and Ellie.

Mila had already eaten lunch at school, so she stayed with me upstairs while Ellie went to eat lunch downstairs with Tiffany. Mila played with school glue and pasting cut-outs onto a sheet of paper for awhile, then went downstairs for a "nap" at Mommy's request. That didn't pan out (whatta surprise!), and I heard laughter and frivolity and knew no nap was being taken. The girls opened my door and insisted I come downstairs so they could show me a birthday "surprise," which turned out to be flowers from Tiffany's dad and Peggy. They wanted the card read to them and the flowers identified, then each had to sniff each kind of flower before they were satisfied.

Then they took me out to my car to "get my gift out" but when I unlocked the car, the surprise was that it had been washed and vacuumed! They were SO excited about it. Apparently Ellie and Tiffany had taken the car to the car wash while Mila was in school. I don't think Ellie had been to a car wash before as she was almost breathless with excitement telling me about the experience. I think the best part for her was being out of the car and watching it being washed.

That evening all six of us met at Outback for a birthday dinner. It was such fun. The very best kind of birthday - - - spending it with my four girls - - my two special daughters and my two special granddaughters. Oh, and the best son-in-law around too!

I've got it good.

Calypso Waterpark

Saturday at the Calypso Waterpark we were all sharing pizza on our lounge chairs when I dropped some cheese and sauce on my shirt that was sitting in my lap.
So, I scrubbed a bit then set it aside to deal with later.

A few minutes later, Ellie comes over and sits next to me to eat and after a while I look over and she's scrubbing my shirt with her napkin.
I said "Oh, thank you, Ellie...I spilled some on my shirt and didn't get it all off."
She responded "I will clean it for you Aunt Jen!" then continued to scrub and scrub until it was all clean.

;-) My sweet little angel and only TWO!

Is Anybody There?

Overheard from downstairs, Ellie apparently trying to get into the bedroom she shares with Mila:

"Anybody there? I'm trying to get in but I don't have a key. Can you open the door?"

Ellie is absolutely amazing. At 2 1/2 she can convey any message she wants to. Her command of the English language is beyond belief. Not only does she appear to know hundreds and hundreds of words, but she uses them easily and appropriately, forming complex sentences worthy of a much older child. And uses better grammar than many adults I know!

Of course Grami isn't prejudiced or anything . . .

Three grandmas

Per Tiffany:

Out of nowhere, Mila just came up to me and said, "Mommy, I have three grandmas." And I asked, "Who?" And she said, "Grandma de Berry and Grammy and Peggy. That's three grandmas!"

Mila's first day of school!

Today was Mila's first day of school. When I spoke to her on the phone this afternoon she said "We had goldfishies and water!"
;-)

Aunt Jen's House

Grami brought the girls over to my house today to play.
It was so much fun!

At one point, Ellie took a walk with me and Preshie and every few minutes Ellie would ask me "Is Precious going to go poo poo? She only did pee pee, right Aunt Jen?"
;-) Each time I would reassure her that yes, so far, Precious has only done a pee pee and hopefully she will do a poo poo before we get back home.

It's so heartwarming to see that Ellie understands and appreciates the importance of number two. ;-)

Praying with Confidence

Today Mila was assigned to give the closing prayer to Opening Exercises in Primary. All the Sunbeams were providing the program. Each contributor had the assistance of an adult family member.

Before Mila had gone up to sit on the platform, I asked her if she wanted me to help her say the prayer. She replied with an emphatic "NO."

As she was called on to give the prayer, her teacher asked her if she wanted help. She again said no.

She then gave a clearly spoken, smoothly enunciated, and extremely sweet prayer:

Heavenly Father,
thank you for this day.
I love my family.
I love my friends.
Bless this church.
In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen.

Three adult sisters came up to me afterwards and said how impressed they were with her composure during the prayer. As if she'd done it a million times.

Something is rotten in the state of Denmark

While riding on the way to the public library for storytime:

Mila: Is there a school bus nearby? I smell something stinky. Stinkier than your breath. I think it's a school bus.

What language?

Per Tiffany, July 23, 2008:

Tiffany: Mila, what language are you singing in?

Mila: In Spanish and Porkucheese.

Yelling up the stairs

Lately the girls have regularly yelled up the stairs first thing in the morning, "Grami, are you awake?" and repeat it, each time a little louder, until I answer. Then it changes to "Grami, can you come downstairs?"

So Sunday on the way to church I told them I planned to get up earlier than they do one morning and I'm going to yell downstairs, "Mila, Ellie! Are you awake?" "Can you come upstairs?"

They giggled for several minutes at the prospect!!!

This afternoon Ellie had a new one: she yelled, "Grami, I need you REAL BAD!" Since I was unsure exactly what that might mean, I dutifully went downstairs. She had taped a self-drawn picture to the hallway wall that she wanted me to look at (apparently with great urgency!). She was satisfied once I viewed and praised it. What a character!

Also, today she did her first poo-poo in the toilet. She was so excited about it that when she yelled to her mother "Mommy, I did a poo-poo in the toilet!" I was able to hear her over the loud sounds of the air conditioner running in my closet AND my television being on! She was quite proud of herself! And certainly enjoyed the Reese's peanut butter cup that was her reward, along with a SpongeBob Squarepants sticker on her toileting chart on the bathroom mirror.

Quite a day!

I'm too full!

On Thursday mornings, Mila and Ellie come upstairs and eat breakfast with me, then around ten we have a "tea party" with individual soy milks and cookies.

This morning upon their arrival, I asked if they had breakfast already as they came up later than usual. They said they had only had a small snack, and Ellie expressed her interest in a bowl of cereal.

Mila, on the other hand, immediately said "I've had a snack and I'm too full for cereal. I'd better just have cookies."

Grami's Kisses

Today I was watching the girls play in their new Jump-o-Lene. Ellie decided to take a break and came to sit by me on the couch. As always, her thumb was in her mouth. After a few minutes she took it out and examined it slowly and carefully, then pronounced that it hurt.

Being the good Grami that I am, I offered to kiss it to make it better. She quickly agreed and extended the thumb up close to my lips. After providing the healing kiss, I added a kiss to the top of her head as an afterthought.

She looked up with a puzzled look and stated, "But Grami, my head doesn't hurt."

Grami's Hair

Yesterday I got my bimonthly haircut/shampoo/blow dry/styling. I really like my current stylist, Marla Jo. She gives me exactly the same look each time: a short, back-combed hairstyle with a "DA" straight from the 1960's. I always enjoy the heavily teased and sprayed look for several days until I must shampoo and go back to my normal, not too coifed look for the rest of the remaining two months.

Tonight at dinner, Mila looked at me and said, quite seriously, "Grami, why is your hair so messy?"

I replied that was how my stylist had styled it for me, to which she promptly replied, "Well, FIX it!"

Ellie the Adventurer

Tonight at supper Ellie asked to try her Daddy's bottle of ginger ale. He poured about an inch into her glass, which she promptly drank and asked for more. After she drank that, he asked her if she liked it. She replied, "No, it hurts my throat. Can I have more?"

Mila the Teacher

Overheard from downstairs:
Aaron: Do you know where the rest are? Oh, wait, here they are.
Mila: Ashley gave them to us. I know how they work. Ashley's mother showed me how they work, and I"LL show you TWO how they work!