Em has become quite the master of the swing. Whenever we make it to the park she wants to try to swing as high as she can and “touch the sky.”

Unfortunately, Addie wants to do whatever her big sister is doing. But Mama doesn’t feel good about pushing her “higher.” Yesterday my resistance led to this…

She was not happy. Although, yesterday was one of those rough days – it didn’t really matter what the little thing was, it was going to set her off.

Em, trying to be a good big sister was concerned…

And took it upon herself to try to “teach” Ad how to get herself higher by pumping her legs.

“You bend your legs back…”

And then push them forward…

You got it!

(Not really.) But it was a very sweet effort, Em. Better than Mommy, who just stood by taking photos.

On the plus side, Meltdown Sally ended up in bed at 6:30pm and slept through til 7am this morning. Me thinks she may have been a wee bit tired. And today proved to be a MUCH better day.

Warning: this is going to be the most-cobbled-together post you have ever read.

I am basically using this post in lieu of a mass email because I have hundreds of emails that are just not going to get returned, and questions that are just not going to get answered, otherwise. So I’ll attempt to throw it all in here instead.

Maybe you haven’t emailed me or are not expecting an answer to anything? Well then, you can stop right here. And those of you wondering “has she even visited my blog lately?” “Why hasn’t she commented, then?” Oh, believe me, I’m trying – if you would all just stop writing and let me just catch up, I really would appreciate it. M’kay? Thanks!

Addie & the Plague
So…thanks for the inquiries, Addie does seem to be doing ok. We had a day very similar to a few weeks ago when she had a few “incidents” and basically just slept the rest of the day away. She isn’t running a fever, and she is insisting that she isn’t hungry, so I’m not pushing it. I did get half a piece of cinnamon toast down her after her three hour nap this afternoon. For some odd reason both of the girls think that the only thing you can eat when you are sick is cinnamon-sugar toast?

And yes, Stacy, we do have mattress pads on the all of the mattresses, EXCEPT for Em’s little trundle bed. For the past week the girls have been having “sleepovers.” J. and I have been joking that we really only need a two bedroom house since they are so keen to share a room. (Well, only half-jokingly!) It started in Addie’s bed over the weekend. We were all in Ad’s bed reading books –

A: “Mama? Will you sleep with me tonight?”
M: “No honey, Mama is sleeping in her bed. Everyone in their own beds.”
A: (BIG sigh.) “Emma? Won’t you sleep with me tonight?”
E: “Of course I will, Baby sis.”

And it was a success! Nice long 12-hour sleeps from both of them. The last few nights they have migrated to Em’s room. So, of course, Murphy’s Law, the one mattress without a pad, that would be the one Addie was on last night. So, new mattress pad. Have definitely added it to the list of things we must get.

And baking soda! It definitely takes the stink out. I used a combo of soda, OxyClean and the Seventh Generation detergent we have been using. I know! I did switch from my beloved Tide and The 7thGen stuff seems to be working really well, is natural with no phosphates. The rest of the house has also been scoured and disinfected, and hopefully nobody else will become infected. I really do NOT want to miss my weekend, but would feel awful if I knew J. was dealing with an entirely sick house. (I do however remember our weekend, Kimmer. We still managed to have a good time, didn’t we!?)

Sporty Em
Good eyes, PapaStan. Em is indeed playing basketball with a soccer ball. We were at the school on Sunday evening for a bit and someone had left the ball there, so she and J. were using it as a stand-in for a basketball. She did however tell me that she is the only girl to play basketball at recess time.

This Saturday is the WonderGirls last game. Whew. I think the novelty of soccer has worn off and she is ready to try the next something new. The girls have promised me that they were going to win the game in my honor since I won’t be there to see it. (One day, Kim!) We shall see.

The Fires
No, the fires are not affecting us, well not directly, at least. A few highways were closed over the weekend, a few friends have been evacuated, and another friend in Santa Barbara actually lost a good portion of his property and studios. Sunday the air quality was so poor that we were actually only at the school park for a little bit, and I had an aching head and tight chest just from the little bit we were out. On Monday Em said that they were only allowed out for recess for a few minutes and the teachers told them “not to run.”  But the smell and the ashes on the cars are a mere inconvenience compared to what so many Southern Californians are going through right now. I feel so badly for all of them.

I did have a complete panic moment last night. I was closing Em’s window and looked out and saw the unmistakeable glow of what could only be a very large fire. It looked like it was maybe half a dozen streets over and I instantly started making a list of what we should be grabbing. (For the record, my first list was Girls, cats, hard drive with all of our 75,000+ photos on it, my camera, and my laptop.) We turned the news on and discovered that it was an apartment fire, a very large fire, and thankfully it was contained within an hour or so. But, that is one of the worst feelings, let me tell you. I hope I don’t ever have that feeling ever again.

Alright this has gone on long enough. And if you suffered through all of this babbling, you at least earn a photo or two for making it through.

More from the park…