Gisellie Words

Giselle is going to be turning four in a couple of months and want to capture some of the cute words she mispronounces now at three years old before she becomes articulate - because it is oh-so adorable!

Pam-papes = Pancakes
Rocky cheese = Mac-n-cheese
My-leese = Referring to her much more mature friend Alysse
Zell = When asked what her name is she simply says "Zell"
Gay-bell = Gabriel
Pios on the pooter = "Mommy, can I watch videos on the computer?"
Lellow = Yellow (her favorite color)
Hug-uh-diss = Hug and Kiss (every night before bed)
Woh-git = Yogurt

If you ask her what age she's going to be in a couple months she says either 13 or 20. "Not four, I'm going to be 20!!" I thought kids wanted to be four?

And, you can't drive by "Popeyes" without her saying she wants a "chicken leg and bisick". This girl could literally eat chicken legs and mac-n-cheese every day!

Girl Time!

I was painting my nails and Giselle decided she wanted to have hers done too. This was her first time and she loved it! Good to have some Mommy/Zellie time!

Giselle flaps her wings

Often Giselle will flap her arms when she skips and runs. It wasn't for a few months that she told us she is a bird. So at least now we know why. It's really cute and sometimes she'll refer to her arms as her wings.

Gabriel and Giselle at 7 and 3

I went to take Giselle to get her photo taken at the exact same age that I did Gabriel's at a professional session with Picture People in Perimeter Mall. I went ahead and got one of the both of them. My two loves....

New job - new hair

After six wonderful years at a small marketing agency with 12 people or less, I've moved into a typical large European owned digital marketing agency with over 2,000 around the world. It's been a huge adjustment and one I'm still navigating - but I'm learning a lot in the meantime. I figured I've been growing my hair out for a while now - and now that I've gotten a new job - it's time for a new haircut. It was an easy decision to donate it to Locks of Love. Here is what that process looked like:

 We wanted Gabriel to stay cool during the summer months so time to cut off his locks too. Giselle said "Ok, my turn" when he was done so I allowed the stylist to trim her hair for her first haircut.

Zellie Bellie turns Three!

We are so blessed and excited to have this beautiful little girl of ours - Giselle Helena Pett - turn three years old! She seems to be excited about the idea too and keeps holding up three fingers saying she's three. We got to celebrate it with family and friends in Tampa and then again with friends for a painting party.

Half-way mark

We're half-way through our home school year and while we didn't accomplish any of the three lofty goals I set out for us, I'm quite pleased at where we are and what we're learning. I guess having goals like learning how to type, how to write in cursive and learning a foreign language are nice to have ... and perhaps will come in time. Until then, I'm happy that Gabriel is devouring books with any spare moment he has, has grasped multiplication, division and fractions quite nicely, and that he loves learning science. He's been telling me all about matter (solid, gas or liquid) and telling all about viscosity, evaporation and condensation.

Giselle has learned her numbers, letters, shapes and colors and is wanting to learn how to write letters. She enjoys sorting, building, painting, playing Uno and pretend play. Here are a couple of pics of them in action:

Closing of 2011

So far turning seven has been an exciting age with something interesting lurking around every corner; from teeth falling out of his head, learning how to ride his bike and reading 220 page books in four hours for the first time to spontaneously making breakfast for everyone. Gabriel has found the ever so popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" books so funny that he breezes through them and can't wait for the next one. He's learning to be a considerate and thoughtful young man and continues to make us laugh and think. He asked me if the star on top of the Christmas tree was representative of the star that followed Jesus when he was born? I hesitantly said, "sure, why, yes." Honestly I had never really thought about it, but it made sense. Then he said, "Yep, I know my ornamathology." He also seems to be outgrowing his eczema and sensory issues with seeing his first movie in a theater in years. And he had his first sleep over at a friends house – not surprisingly said he didn't sleep a wink. He's always wanting to do something fun and says constantly, "So, what'cha wanna do now?" I believe he thinks I am his endless entertainment for monopoly, bowling or mini-golf partner.

Giselle is about potty trained with scaling the toilet on her own. Adios Pampers! She's been happier lately and finally understanding the meaning of the word "no". Don't get me wrong, she still has her mob boss two-year old mentality but I can see light at the end of the "twos" tunnel as we enter the "threes" – and it looks beautiful. She does have her sweet moments. One day when I was sick, she said "Mommy, you tired?" and put a blanket over me. And she sweetly follows her big brother around like a baby duckling. It's so adorable.

The ending of 2011 hasn't been without it's interesting twists and turns too. We are trying to think fiscally creative and have made the decision to refinance our home. Then we learned Jim's dad, Ed Pett, passed away on December 7th. He was exactly two months away of making it to 94 years. Followed by all of us enduring a horrific stomach flu the week after. We felt better in time to enjoy Christmas with exception of Shawna. The kids and I enjoyed our traditional making cookies and drinking hot chocolate on Christmas Eve and then making Christmas pancakes after opening presents Christmas morn. Giselle got a kitchen set and made me pretend hot chocolate for hours on end and Gabriel played with his new Hot Wheels tracks all day. He actually cried when he opened his last gift, Mario Kart cartridge for his Nintendo DS. We had a secret santa drop off some gifts for the kids which was incredibly sweet. It ended up being a relaxing fun day. The last day of the year, New Years Eve, was incredibly fun too as we spent it with friends at their home playing Guesstures and drinking margaritas. We're ready for whatever exciting new adventures 2012 will bring.

Hitting some major milestones this week

Urine Big Girl Pants Now

Giselle has taken it upon herself that it's time to go pee pee in the big girl potty. She went three times by herself on 10/4, four times on 10/5 and five times yesterday, 10/6. She's very independent that precious little girl of ours. Sometimes we'll give her a chocolate M&M as a reward, but half the time she doesn't ask. I love seeing the proud expression on her face knowing it is pleasing to mommy & daddy.

Gabriel finally lost his first!

I came home last night and he bounded out the front door to hug me and said, "Mommy, my bottom tooth is very loose now!" I felt it and he was absolutely right. This morning he came into our room with a forced grin and said it must have fallen out while he was sleeping. Jim chimed in remarking he hoped he hadn't swallowed it. I had him look for it in his bed but he couldn't find it. For some reason he just can't find things ... like his shoes or a certain book when asked. So I went and looked and found the shiny, white, tiny marrow on his sheets. We placed it in a container and took a photo to commemorate the occasion. Look how proud he is in this photo marking this rite of passage.

We are opting not to do the Tooth Fairy in our moral stance to not lie to our children, but I got him a Susan B. Anthony coin as a keepsake and we'll do something else fun to mark the occasion.

Giselle is going to be an artist!

If I had to gauge Gabriel in the sporty vs. artistic category at 2.5, I'd place him in the former....as for Giselle, I'd place her in the latter based on how much she likes to sing, dance, play the piano and draw. Here she is at 2.5 yrs singing "I'm a tree" song.

My kids are growing up

Now that Gabriel is nearing seven years old, we can expect him to have more responsibilities around the home. He has had his morning and bedtime routines to maintain for years now and some things we ask him to do as part of the family, but have created a chore chart for him to conduct above and beyond these things in order to earn some allowance money.

Giselle seemed to go from grunting and pointing to talking in phrases practically overnight. Now she speaks in full sentences such as "Mommy, I eat now."

She loves singing her ABC's and can point out many letters....she even read the word Zebra last night, but she might be associating the letter Z with the name Zebra.

Here she is singing them at the piano. I love the "Elmo" P and the "Double X" parts and how soulful she gets towards the end.

What's in a name?

They say a name carries with it distinct meaning and importance. Which is why when it came to naming our first born son, I prayed to be led to select just the right one. "His name will be Gabriel" came to me very peacefully and clearly. We absolutely love it. It's beautiful, it means, "man of God" and doesn't reflect a person, but an angel of God. Yet, I still wish I had a sweet, endearing pet name for my son to call him on occasion. The only one we've used other than "baby" is "The Tornado" which to my dismay backfired when he started "acting" out this nickname on purpose. I know these things are supposed to come naturally, but it's been almost seven years and nothing yet.

Not the same for my daughter. We too love her name of Giselle Helena. Which of course we'll use the full name when she is being naughty – that's easy. And the nicknames all came easily too...
Gisellie - given by Gabriel
Gisellie Belly Boo Boo - given by Shawna
Gisellie Bean - given by her daddy
Jelly Bean
Lovebug
Ladybug
Zell Bell
Zellie

Gabe is the obvious one that some folks call him. I don't correct them, but it's not on my radar for him. Do I need to pray in a nickname too? (just kidding) Should I not worry about it knowing Gabriel is a beautiful name? Any suggestions?

What's up with the Petts?

What's up with the 2 year old?
My darling daughter has made me so happy and proud two nights in a row. Last night, allow me to mark the date July 13, 2011 (28 months old) she decided it was time. Time to go potty like a big girl that is. I tried potty training her before and gave up thinking she wasn't ready so we backed way off and prayed that God would have her train herself since she was already introduced to the idea. What a special treat when God answers prayer. We heard some noise in the bathroom so I went to check on her. She moved the stool in front of the toilet and placed the seat ring and sat down. We all heard the tinkle and I got to see how her face changed from one of curiosity to delight when we all praised her. The night before, after reading some bedtime stories and snuggling while putting her to bed. I laid down with her and she said, "Mama, me happy." I'm still melting over how sweet that is. We don't get many affirmations as parents, but that certainly was one, if any, that we must be doing something right. She's turned a corner with talking as well – speaks more phrases and more clearly. It's so cute how she calls Gabriel "brother". She'll say, "Mama, what is brother doing?" She probably wants to know so she can be doing it, too...whatever it is. She copies everything he does. She's getting a little more hair, but still won't allow me to put a bow or make a ponytail just yet. She loves to dance, in fact, we all have been enjoying watching the T.V. show, "So You Think You Can Dance?" I wonder if a preschool ballet class is in our future or if I will teach her? She is one tough cookie, just like her dad. She can crash and instead of crying (or screaming like "brother") she just kind of whines and says "Mama, boo boo." I still need to get her left earring fixed. She's pulled it out and I've been waiting for it to completely heal and will just get it pierced again. For now, we'll just call her "Pirate Zellie".

Here she is wearing daddy's flip-flops, using his cell phone while cheesing it up for the camera.

What's up with the 6 year old?
Gabriel just finished golf camp for the summer. We're trying to decide which activity he'll be doing come fall. Whether it be tennis, soccer, swimming or more golf. We can only afford one right now. Decided to take it to prayer since I can't decide. I'm sure it will be fine whatever we choose. I'm realizing I worry way too much about things. And, we still need to find a piano teacher. Gabriel is a happy kid who likes to be active so he'll be happy no matter what. He's still cracking me up. The other day at Chick-fil-A, we saw a person dressed as a cow and he remarks, "Holy Cow!" And, he understands the pun. My dad passed away ten years ago on July 11th so I stated "Today is the anniversary of my dad's death." Gabriel exclaims, "Can we have a party?" That kid is so social - anything to get together with friends and celebrate. He had been begging to come to work with me. He says so he can be with me but also so he can visit my work friends. I see more and more of me in him and am seeing more of Jimmy in Giselle.

Here's Gabriel with his friend Lydia for "Cow Appreciation Day"

The Daddy?
Jimmy still seems to be in constant pain due to his intestines. Because of it, he can be short and generally grumpier than I'd prefer, but we all make the best of it. I feel really sorry for him making all these wonderful meals for the kids and me and he can't partake most of the time. He's just finished working on the porch, building new hand rails and it looks marvelous! I'm worried about his dad and aunt who are both 93 years old and nearing the end of their life here on earth. We're trying to plan a trip to Detroit to see them in the very near future.

Working on our new porch railings

And the Mommy?
I'm making unsuccessful attempts at working out and losing weight, but at least I'm trying. I got to catch up with an old high school girlfriend over lunch which was incredibly fun. For splinters of a moment, I felt like a teenager again. Other than that, I work full-time, homeschool Gabriel at night along with my every other Friday's off from work. As long as I'm planning the next big thing, I'm happy. Right now, it's a trip to Detroit followed by Gabriel's 7 year old birthday party. Somewhere in there, I want to get the house organized. Otherwise, I may as well sign us up for one of these ever so popular reality T.V. shows about home makeovers or hoarders.

My high school friend Janice and me

Our Staycation

We had such a great staycation - a whole week off from work to spend some quality time with the kids doing fun things around Atlanta while Jimmy works on our front porch railings. I'm determined to have Gabriel learn to swim by the end of summer so we hit the pool as often as we could.

Gabriel's last day of school was Friday, May 27th and I had him do some CRCT tests. The next day we took him to the Decatur Arts Festival because he wanted to go to Zucca pizza for his celebratory meal and then we went to Assia's pool and the next day too with Jimmy. Giselle was timid of the water and Gabriel is trying really hard with his freestyle front stroke, but just looks like a spaz in the water and doesn't actually do anywhere. For Memorial Day, we went to Thrasher Park with the Morrey's and Crofford's and then did a cookout at our place with tons of food. It was so hot and we let the kids play in the sprinkler afterward. We went to Mountain Park Aquatic Center as a family the next day. I took Gabriel to the World of Coca-Cola where he enjoyed the history of how the company came together, how they bottle their product and tasting 60 different flavors from around the world. He's been wanting to do putt-putt and they happened to have one outside the museum. It's been so hot - around 95° – so we got some ice cream to cool off.


The following day we went strawberry picking with our friends at Southern Belle farm in McDonough. Later, I took Gabriel to Bethesda indoor pool for more fun and practice.

Friday we went to Krsipy Kreme for National doughnut day and then we made jam out of our strawberries. Saturday Gabriel participated in Home Depot's "Kids Workshop", then we went to PDK's air show and then the pool again. This time Gabriel was swimming a little better, but Giselle has made huge leaps with jumping into my arms from the side of the pool over and over again. They both had a blast. We ended our vacation by pretending to be Van Gogh with some afternoon art and hot dogs with friends at a new coney island place Jim found.


Giselle really started talking this week. She repeats almost anything. While putting her in her car seat she'll say "I do it!" Followed by her clicking and "Mama, I did it!" So cute!!!

We kept busy and cool in the pool, but some of my favorite moments was when we weren't doing anything but cuddling on the couch, laughing and playing. My kids are getting big at 6 and 2 – just trying to soak in all these wonderful moments because everyone tells me it goes by so fast.

My sweet little girl and thoughtful young boy

My children make me so happy – insane some days – but so incredibly happy. I'm on vacation right now and getting to spend some much needed quality time with them. I've enjoyed singing ABC's and The Wheels on the Bus, playing nosies, peek-a-boo and exchanging sweet, slobbery kisses and hugs with Giselle. We've gone to the pool twice so far, the playground once and have run here and there including The World of Coca-Cola and strawberry picking, but the greatest times are the simplest where we're on the couch snuggling, laughing and playing.

Giselle is still very independent and climbs up the tallest slides and without fear, joyfully slides down them. She talking more now and says as we try to get her buckled into her car seat, "Mama, I do it" followed by a click and raised hands singing, "Mama, I did it!" You can have real conversations with her now. Granted, it's mostly asking her something and her telling you "no" but she understands and she is able to communicate more. The other day Jimmy was doing something goofy to make them laugh and she says pointing at him, "Mama, Daddy funny."

Gabriel made me so proud at the playground when a bossy little boy was blocking the slide telling kids they couldn't slide down. When Giselle approached, Gabriel stood up to him and said "No, that's my baby sister, she's allowed to come down." He said it with such authority that the kid replied, "oh, okay". We've been talking to him about being considerate of others, and this was proof that those talks must have landed on fertile ears.

Gabriel is still hyperactive and chatters non-stop, Giselle is demanding and whiny when she doesn't get what she wants at the very second she wants it. No, they aren't perfect, and neither are we as parents, but we have such beautiful blessings from God and have so much to be thankful for. We just can't imagine loving them anymore than we do.

Giselle Turns Two!

Our Gisellie Belly turned two!

We celebrated it many times ...
1) First with Daddy making her a strawberry pie one evening, we placed two tall candles and the three of us sang Happy Birthday to her (she doesn't know how to blow out candles yet);

2) The next day on her actual birthday we took her to a Gymboree class where she had fun doing her own thing while all the other two-year old's bounced around with their moms and the instructor.

3) The next night we went to Outback and let her enjoy wait staff strangers sing to her along with some free ice cream - she didn't know what to think about that.
4) Then we drove down to Tampa and had another little family cake and candle-blowing out gathering with just my mom and brother and us and some nifty doll and stroller presents.

5) Then the day after that we had another party at the park stacked full of immediate family and friends and kids, playgrounds and picnic fare with the perfect Mickey and Minnie Mouse cupcake birthday cake to celebrate her and Mason's birthdays. It was a bit windy, but the kids had a good time.


Height -- 34.5" (75-90%)
Weight -- 25 pounds
Shoe size -- 6.5
Clothing -- 2T

Favorite book -- Any book that has pictures of babies in it. She'll find them immediately and point them out while giggling out "babies!"
Favorite food -- Macaroni and cheese, pizza, spaghetti, rice ... we eat a lot of this, but mostly yogurt and string cheese!
Favorite treat -- Cookies (daddy will make her semi-healthy oatmeal and raisin)
Favorite word -- "Babies"
Favorite saying -- "Mama, I wunt cook-kie or Mama, I wunt Babies" (meaning the movie)
Favorite movie(s) -- Babies (we stream it on Netflix probably 3x a day and are trying to find more ABC shows for her since it's gotten really old for us)
Favorite things to do -- Suck her thumb, push her stroller around, look at books, go for a ride in the car and dance to music
Favorite toys -- Any one of her 8-10 baby dolls she has
Activities -- She pretends to do school work at the kitchen table along with Gabriel - in fact, she does practically anything Gabriel does, she copies everything he does
Interests -- She is really intense and is very independent. She's interested in doing things herself right now.

Giselle 21 month stats

We switched healthcare providers for the kids to reduce our rate and because of that she missed her 18 month doctor well visit. Here are her stats for her well visit when she's 21 months:

Date: 12/14/2010
Height 35"
Weight: 24 lbs and 6 oz
Head Circumference: 41.3 cn

"She's doing great," according to Dr. Deeb who surprised my husband with a good bedside manner. He was either in a very good mood or he's caught on that his condescending attitude towards patients doesn't make for a healthy pediatric practice.

She's still obsessed with baby dolls and babies in general. Always going up to babies when we're out and about, driving down the street she points to Callista's house and says, "Mama, ....baby!" and asks for me to show her babies online.

She will try to say any word you ask her to although they are hard to make out still. She has certain "sounds" that mean certain words. Here are the ones we know:

Nane : Shawna
Nee Nee : Sit down with me
Ba : Bread
Kh-eeze : Cheese
Juu : Juice or Water
O : Open or Off
DeeDee: candy
Gaga: cracker

She's a little terror still getting into everything and anything. Typical toddler. She's a lot of fun and very loving.

Look Alike?

Many people tell me that Gabriel and Giselle look a lot alike. So I drudged up a old photo of him from when he was younger. She's on the left and he's on the right. I guess I can see what they are talking about although obviously she has earrings, less hair and a thinner face like her daddy. They both have smiling eyes and an infectious smile.

What do you think?

(In these photos they are four months apart: she is 14 months and he is only 10 months old.)

A Day in the Life....

A Day in the Life of the Petts ... where we homeschool, golf, work, are potty-training, bake cookies, play soccer and snuggle, but more importantly are all healthy and happy.

That's the summary version so if you're a light reader no need to go any further - but if you want the chronicled, slice of life version continue reading. I did this a year ago for this post and promised myself I'd try to do every so often - apparently at this rate, it's once a year.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

7:00 – Gabriel wakes and comes in to snuggle with us. It's a little chilly outside so we warm him up under the covers. This is one of my favorite parts of the day. Gabriel tells me he had a dream about the show "MythBusters" - I'm not surprised. So I figured now was a good time to let him know the new series began this week (every Wed at 9 pm) and I recorded it for him.

7:30 – I don't have to go to work today (I'm off every other Friday), but do have to get a proposal done and sent out so I get up and take a hot shower and feel so thankful. I was sick with a virus last week along with the kids - we're all so happy to be feeling better.

7:45 – I'm sitting in front of my computer with a quick check on facebook and my work emails and begin finishing up a proposal for a company who needs branding, identity, naming and a website. Jimmy brings me up some homemade beignets, but I have to send them and the kids (Giselle is now awake) downstairs with him so I can concentrate and get this done.

8:30 – BREAKFAST: I'm finished with the proposal and sent it off to my colleague for a final review and send off to the prospective client. Meanwhile, I hear Gabriel downstairs complaining about his eczema. Jim puts on some Triamcinolone to help clear it up. Jimmy made pancakes too so we all sit down to eat together.

8:45 – All Giselle wants me to do is to hold her. She wants to be held in the mornings for a bit - and Jim and I are chasing Gabriel around saying "Ching" (our version of the Claw if you've seen the movie "Liar, Liar" with Jim Carey). He is so ticklish. We call a truce and I cut Jimmy's hair. This is our way of saving $20 at the barber and I've become quite good at cutting his hair over the years. While I'm cutting, I send Gabriel upstairs to finish his morning routine which is: potty, brush his teeth, make his bed, get dressed and turn off his light and air cleaner. He had *forgotten* to make his bed and turn off the light ;)

9:15 – We normally start our school by 9 am, but due to the haircut we're running fifteen minutes behind. We don't stick to a strict schedule anyway (it's more of a routine). I had Gabriel do a worksheet on reading comprehension about fireflies (he asks me if I did that because we live on Fire Fly Court) and answer questions on the story while I got Giselle dressed and tried to find his helmet. Today was going to be "ride your bike day" with his homeschool group. We're always multi-tasking it seems, and that's exactly what I'm doing as I try to sneak in some one-on-one, quality time with Giselle to introduce her to the potty, and as we read her favorite book. It's pictures of dogs and babies.

10:00 – I created a review test for him with double digit addition and subtraction, multiplication for 2's and 5's, telling time, greater than/less than and a spelling test. He did really well and I'm so proud at how well he is learning. Guess daddy is doing a good job teaching and working with him during the week. Giselle joins us at the table and pretends to be working too.

10:30 – I'm desperately trying to find her shoes, pack snacks, get everything into the car and out the door for our NEACH homeschool group at the park. Why is this so difficult? Regardless, I ultimately always leave something behind that I wish I had?

11:15 – We arrive at Lucky Shoals park and see everyone with their bikes and gear. Gabriel rode for a little bit, but didn't want to ride the trail (I think he wants a bike with training wheels rather than his glider) and ended up playing with Emma.

Giselle is my fearless daughter who went up and down the slides about 20 times and then later fell off the playset. I was standing right there but on the opposite side of where she fell so I couldn't catch her. She's ok, but landed on her face/side. I'm still a little blue over this. I know as a parent your toddler (and children) are bound to have bumps and bruises, but it's so difficult to see them get hurt.

1:00 – LUNCH: Back home, made some macaroni and cheese. This is dad's "world famous" that he has pre-made as part of his way of still taking care of us from the golf course, and all we have to do is warm it up on the stove with a little water on low heat.

1:30 – Giselle is down for her nap. She chatters a bit before falling asleep. I worry a little about her and will keep an extra eye on her today. I notice she has some cuts on her face from her fall that weren't there before so I'm hoping her fall wasn't worse than I thought.

2:00 – It's break time!! Gabriel is down stairs playing his computer games for 30 minutes while I check work emails and call a client who wants to start a new project. The day is only half over and I'm completely exhausted already!!! I really want a nap, but I work instead. I'm thankful I get to take every other Friday off from work so it's the least I can do.

2:30 – Gabriel and I reviewed some old School House Rock videos on YouTube about prepositions, pronouns, and conjunctions, then went to this site to begin typing skills and a fun geographical map, and visited our recently favorite and resourceful Khan Academy math website with thousands of videos.

4:00 – SNACK: Giselle wakes up and appears to be doing just fine. Instead of doing our normal crackers and cheese for snack time, I hustled to get Gabriel in his soccer gear and out the door early so we could swing by Chick-fil-A - my favorite fast food spot. (I seriously should own stock in Target and Chick-fil-A with as often as I frequent those companies).

4:45 – It's already forty-five minutes later by the time I change my second poopy diaper of the day, get her bundled in warm clothing, find his soccer ball, shin guards and water bottle. On the way, Gabriel asks to turn some music on and I opt for my Carrie Underwood CD. It's the second of the three I own. Playing track 7, it's an intense, very grown-up, melancholy song and Gabriel says "I really like this song." I really like it too, but I'm surprised because he normally just likes either rock or pop songs for which he can dance fast.

5:30 – We're munching on some chicken nuggets still - Gabriel is kindly sharing with his sister – as we pull up to the Gwinnett Soccer Association (GSA) fields and realize the gates are closed. All the other soccer moms are pulling up next to me and we're trying to figure out what to do from here. We decide to go to Mountain Park Park (yes, there are two parks in the name, it's not accidentally redundant). We end up only getting in 15 minutes worth of practice since it gets dark so early now after Day Light Savings. There is a playground nearby and Gabriel comes running up to me after they announced they are done to ask if he can play. I say, "sure, for five minutes" and off he runs. Another mom mentions to me, "my son didn't ask me." I feel proud for a moment. Being a parent is hard and he just made me look good at this instance - I'm sure there are plenty of other times exactly the opposite is true.

6:00 – DINNER: Jimmy called and we meet him at Pizza Cafe for a large, pepperoni pizza. This has been our favorite pizza joint this year every since Gabriel's last soccer coach (Coach Adam) introduced us to it. You have to get a pie though, slices aren't anything to write home about. Giselle must have had more nuggets than I thought because she barely eats and just wants to head over to the games to pretend drive.

7:15 – We arrive back home, it's dark, cold and the kids are rambunctious so I let them play for a little bit with their toys in the family room.

7:30 – I announce it's bath time! The kids both love to take baths so they both run to the bottom of the stairs where Gabriel opens the gate for Giselle and I follow them up into the bathroom. I pour some bubbles and baby soap into the tub along with their toys and they excitedly get undressed. Gabriel pretends the bubbles are burger patties which I have to pretend to eat and Giselle just loves playing in the water (pour out, pour in, pour out, pour in, ....).

8:00 – I get Giselle out first to dry her off and get her into warm p.j.'s. I put her on my bed while she plays with daddy while I get the boy out, dried, dressed in his p.j.'s. At this point, I'm really tired myself, and now secretly thankful it's nearing their bedtime. Daddy puts more lotion on Gabriel for his eczema. I have Gabriel read to me one page out of his book, Giselle has some milk and we say time for bed. Sometimes we let Gabriel stay up a half hour later than her, but tonight we say "that's not one of those nights and both to bed."

8:30 – We all go into their room (they share a bedroom), turn out the lights, look at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling and sing soft worship songs. Gabriel sings with us (this is new) and Giselle is swaying, clapping and snuggling.

9:00 – We're free!! Strangely Gabriel didn't come back out of his room tonight asking to snuggle. He must have been tired and went straight to sleep. Jim and I do a light work out routine. Then I take a shower, then we lay in bed and do a little talking, praying and sailing (yes, that means what you think).

10:15 – Jim is snoring and I'm typing in my blog post for today and thinking how incredibly boring this all must sound. Our lives used to be gymnastics, swing dancing, college...we're parents now and our day proves it. After the day I've had with the kids, schooling, driving around to here and there, I'm thinking Jim is some kind of Super Dad. I'm really unsure how he does this every day and does everything else like pay the bills, grocery shop, cook, dishes, clean, laundry and work on the home? I'm sure he'll get a kick out of me telling him that in the morning ... or... I could just keep it our little secret ;)

11:00 – The kids are sound asleep - and that's where I'm headed now. I bid thee adieu.