Blankie!

Neither of my girls were attached to the pacifier when they were babies, but I did encourage them to become attached to something so they could be easily comforted and have some familiarity in their bed if they weren't sleeping at home. Lily was attached to a doll my sister gave her when she was 1 week old, and it was named "dollie with the tag." Grace became attached to a pink silkie blankie, and she totes that thing everywhere. I will often call her Linus. Well, her blankie was pretty dirty this morning, so I decided to throw it in the washer with a load of bath towels. Witness the ensuing tragic melt down:

Here's is Grace screaming and trying to get the blankie out of the washer.

She is still screaming and staring in disbelief as the blankie goes round and round in the wash.

Pointing desperately at her blankie, which she can see through the window, she is pleading with me to rescue her blankie! And, I, the bad mother, laughed at her and took pictures to record the moment on the blog! :) (Don't worry, after I set down the camera, I picked up Grace, poured her some milk and gave her a "substitute" blankie, which was her pillow. She's just fine now, but she is still occasionally wandering over to the washer to check on her blankie.)

A few firsts

We've had a few firsts in our family this week. Lily is taking her first group swimming lessons for two weeks through the city's Parks and Rec Department. She's in a class with three other kids at the a local High School, and their teacher is Mark. He's a tolerant and fun loving soul! Lily is learning the different swimming strokes with my hope that she'll be able to join a swim team next summer.

Lily also visited the Dentist for the first time on Monday. She's is pictured here with Marianne, a family friend and our hygenist. She went with me last week to "check it out." She then continually asked over the weekend when it was her turn. She passed with flying colors (except for that gray tooth in the front, but she'll loose that one soon!), and now she has to brush her teeth 2 times a day for 2 minutes and even has a timer to keep track. Thanks Marianne!

Grace went potty for the first time on her own a couple of days ago. I think she is more ready to be potty trained than I am to be the trainer.

Here's a conversation I had with Lily last week while swimming with her in our pool:

Lily: Mom! Mom! There's a buzzy bee flying around your head! Get away!

Me: Lily, bees are not dangerous. If you don't bother them, they won't bother you. Bees are good for our garden.

Lily: Mom! Bees are mean! They sting you.

Me: Just don't bother the bee, and you will be fine.

Lily: Bees are mean, just like Moms are sometimes (said in a very matter of fact tone). If I bother you sometimes, you get mean too.

All-American fun

Our Fourth of July holiday was very "All-American!" The kids and I worked in the garden, we went to pick sweet corn, made some food for the day and went to the Little Lake with family and friends in the afternoon. Here are a few pictures that captured our day:

My All-American kids; Their white skin and blonde hair might not correctly represent America's population, but they are pretty cute!

Lily picked a green bean in the garden that looked like a C (for "Carolyn," she said).

Grace took a quick quad ride with Daddy from the garden to our house. She loves the quad!

Charlie tested out the corn we picked. It was super! Picking corn is a messy job! I was covered with dust and cobwebs from head to toe when I was finished.
Grace is playing in the sand at the Little Lake.
Lily tried waterskiing for the first time and loved it! All the kids were able to take a ride behind the boat.