Benjamin Button

Cash as a balding old man toddler

Cash

Last night as we were sidewalk chalking with our neighbor Noah, Yuliya drew a picture of her brother.....here it is. Makes me wonder if she thinks her brother is really a robot :)

Sorry for some reason I can not get the picture to turn.

Bunk beds!

So we bought the bunkbeds from our across the street neighbor today. Broke it down at their house and then set it back up in the kids room. Both kids were very excited about it, cash had his cars zooming across the frame and Yuliya wanted to practice getting on the top bunk, even though she didn't want to sleep there. As I put them to bed it was great, every now and then when Cash is really tired he can't calm down enough to just fall asleep on his own, so I end up laying with him for a few minutes until he's heavy eyed. Laying in a twin bed is so much better than curling up in his toddler bed with him. Since Yuliya was too afraid to sleep on the top bunk I set them up sleeping head to toe on the bottom bunk, but after about 20 min she let me know that she would prefer to sleep on the top. I'm interested to see how she gets down in the morning. Usually in the morning she tries to wake up before us and get Cash to break into the pantry with her. This morning it was 4:30am! But I've discovered without his sister there to lead the way and turn on lights for him, cash will go back to bed until I come wake them up.  Sorry about the picture quality again, apparently it is something with my camera.... :\

I knew dry eraseboards were a bad idea

We have one room with white walls in our house, cash decided to fix that today. And give himself a mustache in the mean time. Luckily, it was a washable stamp pad.

I also can't wait until he stops throwing things away, right now if he is done with something, he throws it away. I guess I can be glad he wont pick up the hoarding gene, but I will be glad when I can stop searching the trash for brand new toys.

On a different note, the kids are getting bunk-beds today, pictures to follow, of course! :)

Skabetti

"I just want skabetti for dinner" This is the first time she's used that term. Usually she says spaghetti or sgetty, it amused me :)  See behind her is the stool they use when they are able to wake up before me, to turn the lights on in the kitchen and try to raid the pantry before momma catches them!

Spider Bites

Today Yuliya was on the phone with her Aunt Amy telling her all about what its like to be the ripe old age of 4. And what kind of tests they put you through at the dr. (I can't wait to see her reaction the first time she hears about a mammogram.) Anyway I found it kind of amusing when she told my sister that while she was at the Dr. "a spider bit me three times" you can hear Amy on the other end clarifying "....a spider?" "yes, a spider at the dr it bit me" and then I thought about it for second. When the nurse went to give her her shots, she asked me to lay across Yuliya's stomach and hold her hands down so she wouldn't see it coming. So to Yuliya, she was randomly feeling pain that went away as soon as we left, much like bug bites. She gave herself away with the spider bite comment, for two days my little actress limped like Tiny Tim when you asked her to do something.

Commissions

The kids are old enough now! And honestly Cash is now getting to the age where he will just let his sister do all the cleaning while he pretends he cant hear us. So we started them on commissions 2 weeks ago, following Dave Ramsey's advice. The max they can earn in a week is $5, any chores beyond 5 are because you are a part of the family and families work together. But since they are 4 and under 2, its sporadic, mainly used as a motivator and starting to understand, if you work, you get paid! Yuliya has earned $3 in commissions so far, as all three times I have given them the opportunity earn commissions she has been eager to do the work. Cash has earned $1. We make a show about getting commissions, and how special it is, folding your dollar up and putting it in your very own piggy bank. I think he won't stand for not earning his share for very long. Here are pictures of the very first commissions they earned.  Sorry about the picture quality, I didn't realize I had a smudge on my lenses until  after these were uploaded.

Sweet finds at a garage sale!

Found these at a garage sale today, vintage dish set, suitcases, skyblue typewriter, an old school house rolling two sided  chalk board, and shutters for $15 I'll use the shutters on the kitchen wall.

Ovo

Last night Yuliya and I went to OVO cirque du soliel thanks to Amie and Momma Judy, they bought us tickets for our birthdays. We had a blast, Yuliya asked if she could spend the night.At first she was quite terrified, literally shaking with fear, but after the first tai chi type contortionist dressed as a butterfly she changed her mind. Unfortunately they do not allow photography during the performance, but here are some photos of before and after :)  Her favorite part was the girls kicking fruit and the rope couple.

Yuliya's 4 year check up

I took Yuliya for her 4 year check up today. I was asked a mountain of questions on what we feed her, how she brushes her teeth, how much tv she watches, ect. The only issue we have to deal with with the kids is Yuliya doesn't eat meat, and they both would drink milk all day if we let them.

 Yuliya had her first hearing and sight test, the vision test was a little complicated and after being there for 2 hrs she was ready to go, so we will try again in a few months. She did great on her hearing test though, that means when she pretends not to hear us, she's just ignoring us, clever girl.

When asked to draw a circle (b/c 4 yr olds should know how to draw a circle) my artsy child decided to draw a sun instead, an indifferent sun at that.

 44th percentile for height and almost 30th for weight, we are getting closer and closer to not having tiny children :)

Yuliya also had her first Urine test. When the nurse handed her the cup and told her what she needed to do, Yuliya responded "That's too small for me to sit on" haha!You have no idea how much of a balancing act it is to get a 4 yr old to pee in a cup. Not only did she say she didnt have to go, but I also have a strict "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING" rule in the bathroom. Needless to say, Cirque du Soliel has nothing on us :)

Hula hoops

Since her birthday party and the fruit loop necklace making, mixed with me tying 1000 origami peace cranes to hula hoops, yuliya is calling fruit loops "hula hoops" DO NOT try to correct her, she will be sure to inform you that it's you who are mistaken.  They genereally eat cheerios or kashi cereal, so the fact that we have this massive bag of fruit loops to finish off has been a real joy for them.....only, she will only let cash eat the blue or green and she eats the red and yellow. Sometimes I wonder what Cash would do if he were the older one. For now though, he seems less interested in eating them, and more interested in dropping them on the sidewalk and crunching them under his shoe, to make a circle of green powder.

This is yuliya's impatient hurry up and take the picture smile so she can get back to running around. She looks so adorable in the outfit Aunt Susan gave her for her birthday

 Cash rationing side walk to us, he eventually moved across the yard after frustrations that we werent taking the colors he was allowing. He moved 3 colors at a time about 10 ft away, to keep us from getting them, too cute

Yuliya's rainbow

Azaleas

Every year the Azaleas bloom in front of Yuliya and Cash's bedroom window on her birthday, she calls them her birthday flowers.  Lucky us they come in  pink...her favorite color!

Yuliya turns 4 rainbow party!

Yuliya turned 4 on march 21st, to celebrate we threw a rainbow party,

 rainbow food

 1000 origami peace cranes rainbow colored

 rainbow rice for each kid to make their own homemade Find it!

Homemade rainbow cake :)

Sleep over

Sometimes its nice to share a room

first haircuts!

Cash and Yuliya get their first haircuts! 4 yrs old and 20 months. No more hippie hair for my baby boy