24 Years Later...

I was going through pictures of the girls today. I found the most adorable picture of Monkey holding Bug on the day Bug was born.

Monkey and Bug 2010

 I also came across a picture of my brother and I when he was born.

Brother and I 1986

It is fun to see the similarities and differences between my kids and I at the same age.

Love Bug

Bug makes me crazy most of the time. But I know deep down underneath the tantrums and the trouble is one of the sweetest kids I know. In the last two nights she has shown me two different examples of her compassion for other people.
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Friday night we went to Monkey's school for the Fall Festival. There were games, food, silent auctions, face painting, and even a petting zoo. We got tickets and went on in. One of the first things the girls wanted to do was get their faces painted. Monkey got a pink sparkly heart and Bug got a sparkly blue heart.
As we walked away from getting their faces painted, I was carrying her while we figured out what to do next. Bug looked at my face and said "Heart mom?" I told her that I didn't get one. She just said "Oh" and put her head down on my shoulder. After a few seconds, she lifted her head back up and the following conversation occurred..

Bug: There mom!

Me: What where?

Bug: *wipes her cheek on my shoulder* There go mom!

Me: Whats that?

Bug: Heart you mom! *big grin*

Me: Oh thank you baby! Thats very nice of you to share your face heart with me.

Bug: Uh huh! I love you mom!

She then gave me kisses and we continued about the night.
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Tonight (Saturday) we went to my parents' church for trick or treating, games, and some AMAZING chili. After everyone was done eating, it was time for Trunk-Or-Treat time. For those of you that don't know, Trunk or treat is trick or treat around the parking lot. People decorate their cars and set up games. It is very fun and easily controlled.

Anywho... back to the story...

Monkey and Bug were going around to each stop with big smiles and lots of "trick or treat"s and "thank you"s. We got to one car and Bug got to the front first. She said her cute little two year old "trick or treat!" and grabbed two pieces of candy instead of the one that she was supposed to take. I started to correct her and tell her to take only one, but I stopped myself. She turned around to Monkey and dropped one of the candies in her bucket, and took the other one for herself. Then she said "Ok lets go!" and the two of them ran off together to the next stop.
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I have to say that I am very proud of her and her love for other people. I hope that she stays as considerate and loving when she gets older.

"I Got You"

Yesterday after I picked up the kids from daycare, we had to go to the store to pick up a few things. I told the girls that they had to sit in the cart because I didn't have Bear with me to help keep an eye on them, and I knew the store would be busy. When we got out of the car I put both girls in the kid's seat in the cart. The cart was extra wide and could fit both of them up front.

As we walked through the parking lot, the cart bounced and jiggled because the pavement was not very smooth. Monkey said "Mom, I am so high up off the ground I think my flip flops might fall off."

Bug then reached over and put her left hand on Monkey's chest and said "I got you!"

Monkey started to tell Bug to stop touching her when I explained to her that Bug was trying to hold her back so she wouldn't fall. Bug translated what Monkey had said to mean that she was afraid SHE was going to fall out of the cart, so she was helping keep her sister safe.

We got into the store and Bug put her hand down and we went about our shopping. Once we got back onto the uneven terrain of the parking lot, Bug instantly put her hand back on Monkey's chest.

Sometimes my kids make me crazy, but its moments like this that I think matter the most.

Teamwork

Bug likes to color. In fact... she likes to color ON EVERYTHING. Recently this included her white bedroom door meeting a purple crayon.

I took away her crayon and got after her about coloring on the door. I told her she made a mess and had to clean it up. I went to the kitchen and got her a scrubbie and set her to work.

Monkey came along and asked what was going on. Somehow Bug convinced her to take over the cleaning project. It reminded me of Tom Sawyer convincing other kids to whitewash the fence.

There is no way that this was fair so I went and got Bug another scrubbie and made her help her sister.

They "cleaned" for about half an hour. At the end of the day though, the only thing that is really going to make the purple go away is a fresh coat of paint. At this point... that is going to have to wait until Bug ends this habit of drawing on the walls, doors, and tiles in the house.