I think Fridays are going to be my random catch all blog days. What do you say, that's just like the rest of the week? Well hardy, har!

*Must See...Not TV. Why oh why is this not an actual show on network tv? In the Motherhood has got to be the funniest thing I have seen since Friends went off the air.
Okay, I realize I am probably breaking every blog rule here, but I insist you all leave my page and go watch the episodes. HI-larious I tell you.
Just promise you'll come back, we'll wait.

*We are having over one of Brooke's boyfriends for a play date this afternoon. The other one was over yesterday, I just realized multiple boyfriends at 5 does not bode well for the future. Today is the one from last week's lunch date. His mom is bringing over his sister to meet Breanna, I am hoping that Breanna speaks to her. I was not kidding about the extremely shy thing. Moody I'm not worried about, as she usually saves that specially for family.

*Since we are having new friends over I spent my morning cleaning, okay vacuuming, mopping, de-pooping the toilets and making sure that there was no toothpaste in the bathroom sink. Let's face it, these people will likely visit our house again (unless of course they take off running scared from the cat sized dust bunnies in the corners) and I sure wouldn't want to make too much work for myself trying to keep up the facade of having a clean house for future visits.

*I have two friends with little ones who have lying MILs. Both are hesitant to leave their daughters with the in-laws because of it. What do you do if your in-laws are close and willing to help, but don't do as you ask where your child is concerned? In one of these cases the child could actually be injured. Just wondering cause I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I adore my MIL! I WISH she lived closer! I also have an amazing SIL and BIL whom my kids adore. None of them are close enough for regular babysitting (they all live about 1.5 hours away) but they are always here when we need them.

*Why when my 1st daughter was little would I never have dreamed of letting a 5 year old "watch" her, yet I was perfectly fine letting my own 5 year old entertain her 1 year old sister without an adult in the room ( but within yelling distance of course)? Subsequently I am fine letting my 5 year old babysit my "3rd daughter" from across the street while I sit here and blog. Don't worry Heather I can see them both from here, they aren't on the trampoline anymore.

*In my mind Brooke is still a little girl. But look at this picture... when did she get all long and lanky? The tiny one is our 3rd daughter, she lives across the street, with my neighbors, we just borrow her.
* Note the beautiful weather, no shoes and no jackets on this 29th day of February. Happy Leap Year Everyone! Enjoy this extra day!

*That reminds me, one last thing, I still have in my drawer a t-shirt from a Frat party with the date of Feb. 29th on it. I'll let you all figure out the year, and just how old that makes me. (hint, dirt)

Chicken...

It's what's for dinner. I think I need to spend some time on recipe sites instead of blogging. I swear every night we have some sort of chicken on some type of lettuce. Add salad dressing and ta da, healthy dinner. We aren't big on veggies in this house, so I get stuck on salad as a low calorie healthy meal. The kids of course aren't big on anything. Brooke could live on ABCs 123s and Breanna's dinner of choice would be mashed potatoes and gravy every night. Personally I like chicken every night but I think hubby is getting sick of it. The kicker, he's our cook. But since I'm the one who does the grocery shopping, my limited food imagination lands chicken and lettuce in our fridge week after week. Oh yeah, I shake and bake a pork chop and nuke a pouch of Uncle Ben's rice every once in a blue moon. But that's just to give him a break, I just as happily eat some sort of chicken on lettuce myself.
Any super easy ideas for the culinary challenged mom with a veggie despising family?
Anyone? Anyone? ... Bueller?

BRRRRRRRR

I am a Florida girl from my frizzy in the humidity hair to my always painted for flip flops toenails. And it is below 50 out today! I do NOT do cold. I own roughly 4 pairs of closed toe shoes, two of which have no backs. And I own one pair of jeans, which are tight and I hate. So I schleped on the socks and tennies this morning with the never been to yoga pants (I am stealing this phrase from someone's blog, but I'm too lazy to go find it. So if it belongs to you take credit, it's a good one!) threw on a sweatshirt jacket and ran the kids to school. All the while complaining about the heat in my van taking too long to get started. I vividly remember my first semester at college, way up in North Florida (ha!) and calling my father at work begging him to have my mom send me long underwear because I had to walk to class and it was literally freezing outside, 32 degrees. It boggles my mind that people choose to live where it snows all winter. All the clothes, jackets, gloves, closed toe shoes... socks.

The teen years are going to be FUN! If my kid is this moody at, not even, 9 years what will we be facing when she actually has PMS? My hubby is already trying to figure out how he will survive with 3 menstrual women in the house. The man is doomed I tell you!

But back to my first baby. Breanna is a perfectionist. And that is the understatement of the year! For example... They are taking practice tests for the FCAT (Florida standardized Crap -Asstic Test) at her school this week. I am aware she has an extremely high IQ and she amazes me with her mathematical reasoning. (Don't worry it all evens out, she is special what with her lack of common sense and all.) So I know she will do fine on these tests. And although I believe standardized testing is bullshit and "no child left behind" is a leading to the downfall of our educational system, my kid, she rocks a scantron like nobody's business. On the math practice test today she missed one question. Yes ONE whole question, did I mention this is the PRACTICE test? The child came home in the worst mood ever!

I kid about her being her father's daughter, but she is. She loves all things math and science and geeky. Which, woo hoo, retirement plan of kids supporting us in our old age is looking good! Being a good University of Florida alumnae I had her doing the Gator Chomp before she could walk. But lately I've been talking up Ivy League schools, because my sister has sworn she'll pay for it when Breanna gets in. And it's working, she's been saying MIT might be where she'd like to go to college. Ask her why and she says INSTITUTE of TECHNOLOGY, like hello, greatest idea ever! Here's the kicker, this kid of mine is so much like my sister, the perfectionist thing, I would totally blame on her, except I can't. They are not blood related, I am adopted, so they share no genes, yet, did I mention, same person?

Breanna is a rule follower, model student, great big sister, super sensitive, extremely shy kid. And I LOVE her beyond all limits! But this moody thing is making it very hard to live with her lately. She spends a lot of time in her room these days, sometimes by choice, sometimes by MY choice. I went to a Girl Scout luncheon with her this weekend, we also did a bit of shopping, just us and I really enjoyed being with her. I need to figure out how to bring that side out of her more often.

So that's my big girl. Practically the polar opposite of my baby. So much for my Nuture not Nature theory, huh?

EWWWWWWW!

And did I mention EWWWWWWW!?

There is a tree frog in my mailbox! He was eyeballing me, laughing, knowing I'll never be able to check my mail again. Thank Pete there was no mail, otherwise, oh I shudder at the thought of what might have happened. Seriously, unless you are new here, you know my PHOBIA of frogs!

That is all. Go on about your regularly scheduled day.

Update: My daughter would not get the mail out of the mailbox for me. Can't imagine where her fear of frogs comes from. So our neighbor who was driving by saw us screaming and cowering at the mailbox stopped to see what was wrong. She ended up getting the mail out for us because we were too chicken. Thanks Dawn! We love you!

As in the character from Friends. The free thinking, silly song singing, be true to yourself Pheobe. This is what I call my little Brooke.

The trigger for this label happened when I went to play in her room one afternoon. She had Barbies, stuffed animals, Littlest Pet Shop and Sweet Streets all on the floor playing together. Okay I admit it, I am more of a let's play Barbies or Littlest Pet Shop, they don't really go together kind of person. Honestly I'm really a let's dress the dolls and do their hair, or shop in your closet kind of mom. When she was having the stuffed animals sit in the tiny Sweet Streets house I remembered the episode of Friends (season 3 episode 20) titled appropriately "The One with the Doll house" where Monica inherits a victorian doll house. And she won't let Pheobe play with it because the stuff she brought over doesn't go with it. Then Pheobe makes her own doll house with a tootsie-roll away bed and a slide instead of stairs. Anyway, I had my hubby get me the episode and put it on my ipod, I just watch those 2 scenes over and over and laugh! (p.s. the ghost is the best part)

Remember Smelly Cat? Well, I often say my life now has a soundtrack. It's made up of mostly original songs by Brookie. She is just full of music. Always has been. She loves music even has to have it on to fall asleep. And she has an entire list of songs she makes up on the spot, "Mommy which song do you want to hear?" My favorite of her songs is always Mommy I Love You the Most. Usually she sings to me in the car and whenever I am driving without her I miss it a bit. When she's not around my life is too quiet, like a movie with no soundtrack.

Brooke is her own person with all original ideas, from her hair style (yes, at 3 she was picking and I quote "hair styles") to her shoes and everything in between. And Brooke can not be bribed to change her mind. She does not have a "currency". Which certainly has made it a challenge for us to get her motivated and to discipline her. Luckily for us the terrible three's are over she is a pretty happy agreeable kid most of the time. Looking ahead we are hoping this serves her well in the teen years, as she will not be a follower.

So that's my sweet little Pheobe. Who do your kids remind you of?
Oh, my older daughter? She's her daddy's girl, through and through! That's a blog for 'nother day.

Doppleganger?

Tonight it's very quiet at my house. My hubby is at a meeting. And my girls are having a "sleepover" in my little one's bed. So freakin' cute these two can be.

Being all alone I was surfing, tv and the internets. My hubby hates it when I do that. I found Paradise Hotel 2 is on. Okay, I watched every minute of #1 and LOVED it. #2 hadn't really been on my radar, but there's nothing else on, so I stopped to check it out.

Dear gracious the new guy tonight is the spitting image of a friend of ours! He's about 10 years younger, but looks and talks just like him!

This is Johnny from Paradise Hotel 2
And this is our friend.
(Sorry about the quality but I couldn't find a photo of him without my kids, so I had to crop the hell out of it.)


Now, I have heard everyone has a double out there somewhere. And I have met a couple people that bore an uncanny resemblance to someone else I knew. And I dated a guy once that I swear was John Cusack's evil twin, but shorter. Whenever I see someone else's twin I always wonder where my doppleganger is. Do you have one? Ever met?

Oh, and does anyone know Matthew McConaughey's?

What's Yours?

I watched a Dr. Phil once (only once I swear, it was a moment of weakness) and he was talking with families about childrens misbehavin'. According to the bald wise one getting your kids to do as they are asked is as simple as learning their currency. In other words, what is important to your kid? Phil's advice? Really, do you want to know? Well it's my blog and I'm telling you the big secret to child rearing you've all been beating your head against a wall for, in the hopes it will come to you. (Hopefully, before you pass out from using all your available oxygen to scream one last "DO IT NOW!" at your child.) Dr. Phil says it's simple, find your child's currency and use it as a motivator for your child. WHAT? OH YES HE DID! The man just told every mother in America to BRIBE her children. REALLY, that's it? That's the big secret? ARE YOU F'IN KIDDING ME? Not that I'm not above some motivation, um bribery, I'm totally for it. But I'm fairly certain if that is my only means of getting my kids to move their cute tiny little butts faster, at some point my kids would own every Webkinz (if I could shoot the person who invented these I might, and NOT a court in the land would convict me, in fact mommies all over America would erect statues in my honor!) ... Where was I? Oh that someday my kids would decide they don't need whatever the bribe is and just ignore me. Okay, surely there must have been more to his advice, it's an hour long show, so maybe I missed something? It's quite possible the screaming of "DO NOT DO THAT!" at someone under 4 ft tall made it hard to concentrate on the bribery lesson. But the rest of the show (if there indeed was any other earth shattering advice, which I highly doubt) is not really the point of this post.

Finally, here's where I was going with all this. Today as my girls were happily, quietly, playing outside TOGETHER, not fighting and getting horribly dirty in the process I thought, it's a small price to pay for peace. As I was pulling the bathroom mats out of the dryer I thought, at least once a month the girls flood the bathroom. They like to play in the water, the sink, the tub, doesn't matter. They spend hours in there making a huge mess, with WATER. They get scolded for making more laundry for me. You know towels to dry the floor, wet bathroom mats and sometimes clothes. But really, I know what they are doing in there and don't break it up, because water? Good Clean Fun and blissful down time for mommy.

So what is your currency for a few moments of peace and quiet?

My 5 year old daughter has a lunch date today! How freakin' cute is that? She's so excited she is having lunch at McDonalds with her little pre-K boyfriend. He is adorable, his mom is nice and he has an older sister the same age as Brookie's big sister. In fact I first chatted with his mom in the hair color aisle at Walgreens in October because we were both highlighting our daughter's hair for Halloween Hannah Montana costumes. This has potential family BFFs possibilities. And now I feel like I'm going on a date. Will his mom be someone I can talk to for more than the 5 minute wait to pick up the kids?

So get this... apparently Brooke hates peanuts so much she attracts kids with nut allergies! She's not allergic, she just doesn't like peanuts in any form. Her very best BFF since diapers is allergic and since they were together so much Brookie never had peanuts or peanut butter when she was around, which was always! So here's the funny co-ink-i-dink part, her other boyfriend around the block is allergic to peanuts and so is this new school boyfriend!

Off to get spiffied up for our date. What does one wear to a pre-school lunch date at McDs?

Roughly a month into my therapy, um blogging, and I am learning my first lesson. Anonymity would've been a smart move. When I started this little blogspot I thought if I tell none of my friends about my blog who the hell will read it? And really I do want my friends to read, but that six degrees thing is kind of a pain in my ass. See today I'd like to RANT, but find myself torn.

Should I censor myself? Do others?

Anyone? Anyone? ...Bueller?


Today I'd like to announce "It's official everyone has a blog".
Nothing more to say on the subject. Really just a keen observation of the obvious.

Move along people, nothing more to see here.

Well, actually a few things are new.

Not that you can see, but I am now posting from my lovely new laptop. She was a "Happy Valentine's Day to me" present! (That's our story and we're sticking to it.) I have named her MACkenzie. She was not a planned addition to the family, but I love her just the same! I can send and receive email, I can surf the web, use iTunes and store all my photos, so I'm a happy girl. In addition, apparently this computer (and many others, huh, who knew?) does all sorts of other things too. Maybe I'll learn something new? Isn't she pretty?





The newness of the computer, with it's big pretty screen and fancy photo and email software made my blog layout seem old an tired. Seeing as my web know how consists of copying and pasting code into myspace, I was kind of stuck using the canned blogger layouts. For now I'm happy with what I have. Maybe someday when he's done working on side projects to pay off this computer I'll ask my dear hubby to design me a page. Since his web designs are what pay the bills around here.

Side note, don't ya love that coke ad? Apparently it was part of a Christmas campaign in Australia. Three Wise Men indeed!

Michelle tagged me for this meme. For the record, I am new to this blogging thing, hence the "meme virgin". But beware that won't stop me from putting my own spin on these questions.

The Four Things Meme

Four Jobs I have had:
Library Page
Veterinarian Assistant
Law Office Runner
Retail Store Manager

4 places I've been:
Oh come on, Mexico and Canada are so boring, so let's try it like this:
A Cruise Ship
Stuck in the Dallas airport on New Year's Eve
At Cocoa Beach to watch the space shuttle launch
Jimmy Buffet concert, front row center

4 movies I've watched over and over:
10 Things I Hate About You (I miss Heath)
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Dirty Dancing
Pulp Fiction

4 shows I watch:
Friday Night Lights
Grey's Anatomy
Ugly Betty
Survivor (yes STILL)

4 places I'd rather be right now:
In Tracy's old house (yes, the one around the block!) drinking wine
In Tracy's new house... drinking wine
Anna Maria Island
On a boat in the sun

4 favorite things to eat:
Buffalo chicken: wings, salad, sandwich, I'm not picky
Chili with cheese and fritos scoops
Monte Cristo Sandwich from Bennigans
Chocolate peppermint cookies that cost $30 a dozen that I have figured out how to make myself!

4 places I've lived:
I've lived in Florida my whole life, at one time in one of these 4 places:
In a 1000 sq. ft. house with a toddler and 100lb labrador
In a dorm room
In a sorority house
In a duplex in the "college ghetto"

4 things I look forward to this new year:
Trip to Texas for Spring Break
Brooke starting Kindergarten, thus having both girls in the same school
My 20th Class Reunion
Brian's 40th Birthday (got party ideas, anyone?)

I would like to hear what these four have to say:
I am sure this meme has been going around for awhile so I am tagging two people. The rest of you, if you haven't done this one, do, it's fun!
My Friend Drama
My Friend Julie

Things about ME! Because it is all about ME people!

I have a 6 pack a day habit -DIET COKE people, this is not that kind of confessional.

I am currently trying to create a two a day habit - loads of washing - one dishes and one laundry. Frankly it's the laundry that kills me. But if I can get into the habit of one load a day there will no longer have to be those marathon laundry days I so desperately dread, thus put off, therefore have even more laundry to do. How long does it take to create a habit? I think I read 6 weeks, dear gracious I don't see much hope for this one, but I'm trying.

Speaking of laundry, I do not separate my children's clothing into darks and lights for washing, it all goes in together with the exception of brand new red or hot pink items. As for hubby and my laundry the only sorting is done in the linen closet we keep the dirty clothes baskets in, darks in one, lights in the other. However, if there is room in the washer for both baskets as one load I wash them together! Oh, the horror!

I often tell my daughter I'll be in to play with her in a minute, then wait until she calls for me to come play. Often she forgets I was supposed to join her at all, as she has an amazing imagination and can entertain herself for scary long amounts of time.

I trusted my (almost) 9 year old to brush her own hair. For the record she has super thick, very fine, long hair. This morning I realized she has been doing a horrible job. In my defense, she wears it in a pony tail EVERYDAY. I swear the child is starting to get dredlocks.

I just googled dredlocks to see if I was spelling it correctly (so much for spell check). Which brings forth the question I ask daily (yes, usually to myself, inside my head, not out loud) WHAT DID PEOPLE DO BEFORE THE INTERNET? Which then of course reminds me, I do indeed know what people did before the internet, because I'm old as dirt. I think I need another diet coke and a pill now for the headache that inevitably comes with that realization.

I am a pill popper, motrin, excedrin, aleve, all in my cabinet. Yep, I keep them in the kitchen close to the diet coke in order to take them easier. I have allergies, lots of 'em. I buy the good shit they sell over the counter, yet behind the counter at the pharmacy. I wondered why my good pills moved from the aisle to the pharmacy for about one second, then a child whined for a free cookie (damn grocery store putting drugs before the cookies on the way in, they should hand out the friggin cookies at the front door I say!) Um anyway, apparently as a friend informed me the good allergy medicine that I have to bother the pharmacist for is under lock and key because it's what people (probably my neighbors 2 doors down) use to make crystal meth or crack or some addictive illegal drug by boiling it down, or something. This got me to thinking if this allergy medicine has a small amount of said drug and is GREAT for unclogging my sinuses, what would the drug they are boiling it down to make me feel like? And suddenly I have a small insight into the world of an addict! Of course I call my BFF that told me why my drugs were being held hostage and she said she had the same thought! And now you know why we are such good friends, cause really does anyone else make that kind of haywired connection?

That family size box of wheat thins that has no hope of lasting 24 hours in my house, yep I confess is mostly eaten by me. Hey, it's healthier than the bag of cheetos in one sitting right? Not that I would ever dream of doing such a thing. Just saying, for comparison's sake.

Toilet paper and paper towels in my house are the softest I can buy because both are used as kleenex, I don't buy boxes of tissues. My hubby will buy whatever is on sale of both products, thus is not asked to buy them often. If you come to my house and encounter the prison grade toilet paper be sure to thank him!

When I started writing this I was going for informal bullet points using dashes and such. Then I found myself proofreading and taking them all out, making full sentences. I can't help myself. I minored in English in college. Okay, I don't actually have a piece of paper confirming this because of an incomplete in a Children's Literature class (I KNOW) that a huge chip on the shoulder, tenyored, womanizing professor taught. (Me, bitter? Never!) Anyway, commas and run on sentences are fine, but I have to complete the sentence!

My Weekend?

Well, since you asked...mostly uneventful, then all hell broke loose. Following are excerpts from emails to and from my MIL. As of Sunday morning the plans were to let both my girls play hooky and go to a big flea market (they only have on Mondays) in a town about 1.5 hours from here. We were going to meet grandma and the girl's great aunt, who is in Florida for only a few weeks, hence the allowing of the skipping of school.

I was so infuriated Sunday afternoon I couldn't even call to say we weren't going, I just sent the following email.

Okay, both girls have been horrible this afternoon, everyone is going to school tomorrow. Which means I miss my fun day, but there's not enough time to get there and back in the 3 hours Brooke is at school. Sorry, but I refuse to reward them with a day off the way they have been acting.

MIL wrote:
What did my precious girls do that was soooo bad? We will surely miss spending the day with you all.
This is meant to be funny, because she is SO NOT THAT grandma. She's fun and plays and spoils them, but she does not put up with bad behavior.

And my reply:
Well, you know it was pretty bad if I'm canceling my day, but I draw the line at open defiance. I really thought once I threatened they would settle down, but they didn't and I had to go through with it.

What happened you ask? It was like a car accident, everything was going smoothly then BAM it hit out of nowhere! Apparently, open defiance is my line in the sand, and they BOTH crossed it. Next thing I know Breanna was yelling, crying, and having a tantrum fit for a 3 year old (yes she's almost 9!) At this point I can't really tell you what happened other than I was furious and yelling. I know, not a great parenting technique, but I'm a yeller, I come from a family of yellers and many times I have to yell to be heard over their tantrums. (Hmmm, am I creating two more yellers?) My hubby, who is not a yeller, often tells me not to yell at them so much. Okay, I KNOW THIS, telling me this when I am boiling over (and YOU ARE NOT HELPING) does not sit well with me. I feel like he is being condescending, like he could do it better. But did I mention, he is usually not trying to HELP, just telling me not to yell? Anyway, that subject is for a whole 'nother post someday.

Would you believe, that after I told them both they were going to school Monday, Breanna had the nerve to tell me, no she wasn't? I promptly replied (um...okay yelled) if I had to drag her to her classroom in her pjs crying her butt would be at school on time Monday morning. Is it wrong to wish that she would take me up on such a threat just once? I guess she doesn't because she KNOWS I'd totally do it, huh? If she is this openly defiant at 9, what will I be dealing with in the teen years? And the melt downs of epic proportions, how long exactly does this lovely reaction last? Puberty? Longer? Oh dear Pete, I feel lots of blogging therapy coming.

After we all calmed down, had dinner, and showers I did promise the girls I would try not to yell so much, if they promised to listen better. So far today no yelling. Of course they did go to school and only one is home right now, not much of a challenge, yet.

Seriously, sometimes it sucks to be the mommy!

I just read that Friday Night Lights is in danger of being canceled! Everyone needs to watch it tonight, it's something NEW and not trash reality people! Tivo, DVR it and watch it online too! Save this Show!

Bribery or Creative Parenting?
To get my 8 year old to fold her laundry I record "grown up" shows (like American Idol) for her and watch them with her while we fold together.

Spoiling Daughter or Living Vicariously?
My (almost) 5 year old has 6 American Girl dolls. (I KNOW, but she has a very wealthy aunt.) I love to dress them up and brush their hair, probably more than she does.

Healthy Choice or Not?
A whole box of wheat thins (family size box!) does not last more than 24hours in my house.

Hot or Not?
Inexplicably, I think Dr. Drew is sexy. (Did I really just admit that?)

Fate or Free Will?
I believe that if my parents had moved from Florida to Texas before I started college I would have gone to UT instead of UF, met and married Matthew McConaughey.

Smart or Not?
I graduated high school number 21 out of 645, and have a B.S. in Business Administration, and I am the underachiever when compared with my sister academically.

Nature or Nurture?
I am adopted. I am the only liberal in my immediate family. I'm also the only one who likes rare steaks. However, all the women in our family suffer from allergies, especially to cats.

My newest black hole of time? I can has cheezburger. My kids and I can sit for hours together on the site. I admit to being old and my 8 year old often figures out what the crazy spellings are saying first, but damn they are funny. Here's some of our favorites.

Funny Pictures
moar funny pictures
I have no idea how to size the pictures, so this one is cut off in my view. It says My brother, he's... special.

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

Where is we goin? And why I are in this handbasket?

funny pictures
moar funny pictures

This one so gives away my old age!
funny pictures
moar funny pictures

Just HA!
funny pictures
moar funny pictures

Oh, hi, you're sure home early.
funny pictures
moar funny pictures
Ahh, this one makes me laugh everytime!

On the related subject of things that make me laugh, my neighbor with a 20 month old sent me this email today.

The struggles of a stay at home mom.
I wonder why Caillou(sp?), who is now 4 years old, has no hair. Shouldn't the parents take him to the doc or something?

I was laughing so hard my whole family had to know what was so funny. Here's my repsonse.

Brian (that would be my humorous hubby) says his parents did take him to the doctor, it was a very special Caillou. The bald head is from chemo! LOL!

Okay so what makes you laugh?

Yes, I know, it's a sign of horribly spoiled children to have as many clothes as mine do. I admit it. Now that we have established my guilt in that we can get on to the topic at hand. I picked up my sweet little (almost) 5 year old at school and she asked to go shopping on the way home. When asked what she wanted to shop for she innocently said clothes. To which I replied with a resounding HA HA! I reminded her that her dresser and closet are so full we can barely close them. But she wanted "new" clothes! Well of course she does, and I'd like new clothes in a size 8 and have them fit me, but that's a whole 'nother post! Being a mom of two girls I saved most of my first daughter's clothes for the second. And I know Pete laughs every time I pull out these bins and toss half the stuff because Brooke wouldn't be caught dead in the "BOY" clothes her sister loved. As the years go by the number of bins of clothes to grow into has decreased greatly, but there are still a few put away. So I suggested we go shopping in her closet. She LOVED the idea. Sometimes I even impress myself with my creativity!

So today we shopped in "Brookie's Store!" For the love of Pete, we seriously emptied her dresser, and refilled it with "new" clothes! Half the stuff in the dresser fell into the "never" even wore it category. Good thing 95% (and on this I am NOT exaggerating) of them were hand me downs and gifts, so I won't feel guilty when I drop the 3 (yep 3) trash bags off at Good Will. On top of that, I left an almost full bin accessible on the floor of her closet with winter clothes in it because there was no room in her dresser for them. Okay, we live in FLORIDA, and we don't really have WINTER but sure as I tuck them away the temperatures will drop and she'll want that long sleeve shirt with the ice skating girls on it, you know she will!

My girls are 4 years apart. So last year when I started this twice a year chore I realized I was pulling out the clothes my oldest was wearing when the "baby" was born. In fact some of the outfits were from matching sister sets. Say it with me now... AAWWWW! Yep they were precious then, when I could pick out clothes, and they would actually wear them without complaint. Where was I? Oh yeah, today I was pulling out clothes that Breanna was wearing when Brooke was one, as in a toddler. I don't know why but this is much harder to fathom for me. Maybe the fact that Breanna is such a tiny kid that there are probably clothes in her own dresser that she wore in kindergarten (okay on this I might be exaggerating a bit). I won't lie, it made me sad. I know, people say it all the time, but they grow up so fast! How could my baby be wearing the clothes Breanna wore in kindergarten? She'll be 5 in 7 weeks... I think I need to go have a good cry now.

PS Brit you know this means there is a shopping bag waiting for you by my front door!

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