Cookies Made With Love... & Possibly Saliva

The Kindness Elves have been with us for a little over a week now, helping us spread Christmas cheer in various ways. They have made some suggestions that Lyla has been apprehensive about, such as donating her neglected toys. She tends to favor their suggestions that don't require parting with any of her treasured belongings, like this morning when she found their note with an idea to make cookies for the neighbors. She was definitely on board with that one. Max hasn't shown much interest in the daily notes from the elves, but he still goes along with whatever we are doing. So that's how we spent our Monday! Olivia came over to help us make the treats and I'm glad she did. Lyla & Max contributed when it came to combining ingredients in the bowl, but it turns out they are more interested in eating candy kisses than helping to unwrap them! And we had close to one billion to unwrap. Thanks for your help, Bya! And for the reindeer antlers!

Max's apron covered in red velvet cookie dough reminded me of the TV show Dexter.

The cutest reindeer posing for a photo before heading out for cookie delivery.

Merry Merry Christmas!

FOUR MORE DAYS!

Spa by Lyla

As always, my mom's visit included a trip to the pedicure store. We decided Lyla is old enough to join the fun & we were right --- she loved it! She loved it so much that she wanted to recreate the scenario at home...over...and over....and over...and over again. I'm not sure Kirk found it to be as relaxing as he initially thought. He was an overly enthusiastic customer as a way to mask his true feelings. Haha!

Johnson Child Labor Laws

Toddlers doing chores. It is adorable and funny, but mostly for their own entertainment and far from being helpful. It's still good practice. I remember when Lyla was 18 months old and mimicked me as I cleaned our glass table. She was so proud about it too. It's interesting how a simple task like cleaning a table would never be described as cute on an adult, but if a a one year old is performing the task it is the most incredible thing ever. I think that's most of parenting actually, praising our children for functioning like a civilized human being. It all starts from the beginning --- we praise them for clapping, crawling, walking, pooping, using a spoon, and eventually wiping a table with a paper towel. We are all love struck idiots.

Well. Now Lyla is three. Basically three and a half. And she keeps talking about turning four. It needs to stop. However, with all this growing up business, she is well aware that our house doesn't become clean by way of magic. She's been pitching in at home with daily tasks and it's actually been time saving for me. I've been pleasantly surprised. She switches loads of laundry, helps unload the dishwasher, arranges my couch pillows, gets Max dressed from head to toe, and she can almost make her bed all by herself. She also likes to clean toilets, vacuum, and mop the floors --- but those chores still require a lot of supervision and are less than helpful to me at this point. 

With her being so eager to help out all the time, Kirk and I talked about sneaking in an early lesson about earning money as well. I never realized how many harsh opinions were out there about rewarding children with money until I turned to my good friend, Google. Yikes! Apparently we should also be taxing at 30% and requiring a 10% donation to charity. Good grief. It's all good and fine if any parent chooses to do this, but there's no way we're getting that intense in preparing our three year old for the real world. And while I don't really see the point in rewarding kids for picking up after themselves, I do think it's beneficial for them to earn money for some of the other stuff. As long as the money earning chore is age appropriate, then I think we will be just fine. I wouldn't reward money to Lyla for putting her own Barbies away, just as I wouldn't pay her for taking out the garbage when she is a teenager --- at least I hope I would never become that desperate! I'm not doubting any parenting curveballs anymore. Lol.

Lyla has earned $9.00 over the past few weeks and has become very protective over her wallet. If she were wiser, she would talk to her parents about a consistent wage rate. At this point, she will earn a dollar one week and a quarter the next for the same task. It always just depends on the situation and/or how much cash either of us has on hand. I'm sure as time goes on we will develop a more consistent system, especially once Max comprehends the value of a dollar. He remains Lyla's constant shadow when it comes to chores, but the earning money concept is still way over his head.

Lyla's materialistic desires are centered around Barbies, so we stopped in at ToysRus to get an idea of what kind of Barbie she wants to save for. Lyla picked out the babysitter barbie set with a price tag of $49.99. She is clearly my daughter with that champagne taste and beer budget. I was hoping she would pick something more in the $20.00 price range so she could pick up on this money-saving-lesson a little sooner, but maybe this will turn into a lesson in self-discipline instead. I will encourage her to hold out for what she really wants, but if she is anything like me, patience will not come easily. Regardless, I really enjoy this new little game we've started. Her concept of personal responsibility is expanding and her wheels are turning. That's all that matters to me.

Disclaimer: I don't want to paint a picture that Lyla is an obedient little angel or anything. She's a sweetie pie, but she is also reluctant to pick up her toys just as often as she is willing. In that case, I typically threaten to clean them up on my own by throwing them in the garbage. It's terribly mean, but works like a charm every time. I did have to follow through with that threat once when it came to play dough. And I'm still happy about it because I despise that stuff. 

Oh, and she was not pleased when she learned the purpose of our ToysRus trip was for browsing only. I guess she thought I was joking when I warned her beforehand? As you can imagine, she was devastated when she had to return Barbie to the shelf.

Barbie will be waiting, Lyla girl. Only $41.00 left to go. [mom will cover the tax when you are three.]

Is It Pumpkin Day Yet?

We have been a busy bunch the past week. I am loving this Fall weather. The Texas heat can be cruel in the summer, but right now it is just perfect for me. I only wish the leaves on the trees would make some changes so I could enjoy Fall colors too. Halloween is on Friday, sharing the day with Max officially turning 17 months old. And that is nothing but surreal.

Max spotted a T-Rex costume at the Halloween store and his dinosaur noises were so adorable that I couldn't possibly force him to wear anything different. Lyla decided on a "scary fairy ballerina" for her costume. I can't wait to share pictures of our final presentation. I'm not even sure how she came up with the idea and I'm still figuring out what exactly the costume consists of. All is I know is that it's pink, it has wings, and it's scary. We had a couple practice runs with her "scary" make up. The only conclusion I have so far is that I am definitely not a make-up artist. Lyla was super impressed with my skills though, so I guess that's all that matters. 

We painted pumpkins. Lyla was so meticulous as she painted her pumpkin. It seemed unusual for her, but I guess that is normal considering she is evolving into a three old before my eyes. Max enjoyed painting as well. However, he was determined to touch all his body parts with the paint brush. It was all fine until he thought the dog needed a splash of color too. I know it's very impolite to disrupt a deeply concentrated artist, but that dang dog already has enough issues. 

Don't mind the lack of clothing in the photos. We have a no pants policy after 3 pm around here.

We are going to carve pumpkins with Kirk one evening this week. I'm curious whether Lyla will be intimidated by the pumpkin guts, as she was last year. I have a feeling Max will dive right in.

Music Class & A Tornado

The photo below is Lyla & Max at their music class that I mentioned in an earlier post. It's a really fun class geared to introduce these little seedlings to various types of music and instruments. Let's be honest...it's really just an hour of silly singing and dancing. Lyla is literally the loudest singer and Max is the most eccentric dancer in the class.  

It's pretty hands-on so I am unable to take photos of them in action. I was able to sneak this one in just as they were getting ready for a round of "I'm a Little Teapot" for the first time. They sang half of the song last week and get to sing the other half this week. I thought that was a little strange. But that's okay. Not my class. We just go with the flow. 

Max has entered a new phase of pure mischief. Anything he touches turns to mess! He is a tiny tornado, and although I adore him, I do hope it passes soon. I believe there is an actual cloud of crumbs and dirt that hovers above his head at all times. His ability to make messes has been on the rise since he learned to walk, but he is reaching all new levels. It is beyond ridiculous. Even on my very best day, I struggle to keep up with this kid. I usually keep the vacuum on stand by all day long in anticipation of more mess. Just this morning he dumped out all the dog food into the water dish, opened a box of flour onto the kitchen floor, and pulled all of my books off the shelf. This all happened before I could even get in one sip of coffee. How rude, Max. 

And yes, I realize some of these situations could be prevented by simple baby-proofing and it would save me from running around like a chicken with its head cut off. But that isn't exactly my style when it comes to these times of booming brain development. Unless the mess is posing a threat to his little life, I typically give Max the freedom to explore his surroundings and worry about the mess later. It's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it. My other logic is maybe the bookshelf or dog food will eventually lose its appeal and he will move on. I think it's safe to say that all humans, big or small, are naturally drawn to things we can't have!

Despite all that, I assure you Max would find a way to make his mark even with the most extreme baby-proofing tactics. I breathe deeply and remind myself that one day I  will miss his sticky little fingerprints appearing on everything I own. This goes for Lyla as well, she has her fair share of mischief. But I really do think there is something about being a BOY that causes so much more destruction. 

It is starting to feel like fall around here & I love it. Halloween is approaching and I'm excited for the holiday madness to follow. Lyla is tossing around the idea of a monster and a ballerina for Halloween. It's her first Halloween that she actually has input for her costume idea, so I'm looking forward to see what she decides. 

Mom of the Year

I was going to post pictures of this little incident on Instagram,

but then I decided I should save this parenting fail exclusively for my blog.

That way it is slightly more difficult for people to judge me.

It went like this: 

Seriously? That damage was caused by one little tiny Hershey kiss.

The moment I saw her in the mirror I gasped and the look on her face was priceless. 

I'm pretty sure she thought she was going to be in trouble.

But, then we laughed together and she made some silly faces for the camera.

I don't know what I was thinking giving it to her in the car.

Clearly I wasn't.