Sophia Stories

I’ve Been Frozen Out

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Just a small sampling of all the Frozen gifts Sophia got this year.

Just a small sampling of all the Frozen gifts Sophia got this year.

If you don’t count the million-plus times I’ve enjoyed watching been tortured with watching Disney’s Frozen, you can say that I really didn’t have that much of Frozen in my life. Yeah, Sophia had a few dolls, a dress, and couple knick-knacks, and will sing “Let it Go” for hours on end, but now things have been taken to entirely new level.

Folks, after this Christmas, I have officially been Frozen out. I’m not kidding. Like, at all. All of Sophia’s gifts were wrapped in Frozen wrapping paper. All she wanted from Santa were “an Elsa doll and an Elsa dress”. And, of course she got it, from her aunt and uncle. Did I mention that this specific dress lights up and plays “Let it Go”? Oh, I didn’t? Yeah, it does that. She wants to wear it to bed, all day long, inside, and outside. The song has played so many times that I’m ready to rip the battery out. And that’s only after two days…  Continue reading →

Bruce Springsteen, Santa, and Memories of Christmases Gone By

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We’ve been listening to a ton of Christmas music. As you do this time of year. Every morning and every evening, to and from daycare with the girls. Sophia sings along to the ones she knows, while Maddie taps her foot and bobs her head along to the beat.

Rudolph, Frosty, Little Drummer Boy, Last Christmas, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock. You name it, we’ve listened to it, sung along with it, and danced to it. I figured that Sophia has been listening to and singing Christmas songs at daycare, as well. The other night, she started singing Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town–which is one of my all-time favorites. Only while she sang the chorus, she sang “Santa Claus is coming to town” faster than in the classic. I said to Sarah that I thought she was singing the Bruce Springsteen version. We hadn’t heard that one in the car. So I asked her. I quickly pulled the song up on YouTube and played it. I asked her if that was the version she heard at school and was singing. She said it was! Continue reading →

The Negotiator – Training for My Next Career

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I don’t know about you, but my negotiation skills have been tested to the max lately. It doesn’t matter the time of day, the circumstances, or location. There is going to be some form of negotiating taking place. I’ll give Sophia credit–and probably every other kid, too–they don’t quit. They will low ball you at every turn. They play for keeps. They play dirty. I really am getting plenty of practice and on-the-job training that I have a good idea that I’d succeed–or fail miserably–in a future career as a hostage negotiator or deal-maker/breaker. One of the two.

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I’m gonna talk about the two instances that are daily back-and-forths. Mealtime and bedtime. Continue reading →

SANTA! I KNOW HIM! And I Know That OTHER Santa, Too!

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I didn’t think that my 3-1/2-year old daughter would be as perceptive as she is. She’s three! We did pictures with Santa last weekend. And then, did breakfast with Santa at a local church this weekend. Afterwards, Sophia informs us that “I saw two Santas!”…

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People have told me since then, all I needed to do was tell her that those are Santa’s helpers. That Santa can’t be EVERYWHERE all the time. I get that. I could’ve done that, too.

I didn’t ask her why she thought she saw two different Santas. I mean, the answer was obvious.

One looked like the real deal.

One wore a darker suit, had a fake beard, and a wig.

OF COURSE, they looked different.

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I guess this is a question that Sophia could ask every time we go to a different mall and see a different Santa sitting in his chair for photos. But, most of those Santas look similar enough that she doesn’t think it’s a different one. At least that’s the way I see it in my mind.

Aside from the “Santa has lots of helpers” reasoning, what ways do you explain the appearance of SO MANY SANTAS to your kids? Let me know in the comments, on Twitter, and Facebook.

Fall Fun: Orchards, Pumpkins, Apple Slingshots, and Corn Mazes

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IMG_5602Fall–when the air starts to turn crisp, sweater weather officially arrives, and everything pumpkin spiced invades EVERYTHING. It’s also the perfect time to take your kids out to local orchards and take in all the fun that comes along with them. Pick out a pumpkin or 12? Check. Saunter/get lost in a corn maze? Check and check. Use an apple slingshot? You know it. Let the kids run all their energy out on a huge playground? Absolutely. Hay rides? Check, please. Pony rides? Not this year, but we could have. Consume awesome food made at said orchard? OH YOU KNOW WE DID THAT. Apple cider for the win, my friends. FOR.THE.WIN.

This year we took trips to different places over two weekends. First, we hit up Oregon Dairy in Lancaster County. Our plan was to do the corn maze, but we didn’t have a chance to. So, we ate at their restaurant and the food was fresh and awesome! And, we let Sophia and Maddie pick out some pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. Later that night, Sophia begged to go to a pumpkin patch again. That trend repeated for about 56 consecutive days, roughly.

IMG_5603And then, this past weekend, we went to one of our favorite local orchards, Linvilla Orchards. It’s a blast–and packed with people–every time we’ve gone. Last year, we did apple picking for the first time, and it was fun and tasty, of course. Not only did we bring home some awesome apples, but we picked some peppers and tomatoes, to boot.

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IMG_5599This year, we did as much as we could handle. The corn maze was huge. To be totally honest, I’ve never been in a corn maze before–so this was a first for me. And it wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Why? Oh, come on, you know I got lost! This was a pure free-for-all-find-your-way-we-will-give-you-no-help-type of corn maze. It made it more interesting, to say the least. Especially once Sophia decided she was the line leader and that she would lead us out. Did she walk out first? Yes…

Before we hit the corn maze, though, we launched some apples as far as the eye could see. Apple slingshots are AWESOME. Seriously. Stuffing an apple in a slingshot and just letting that puppy fly as far as possible is really fun. I had no idea it would be as fun as it was. Linvilla really does offer so much to do with your family. If we wanted to make it through everything and really give each thing the time it deserves, we’d have to go for two days straight. Two full days.

IMG_5607The last thing we did was let the girls pick out some pumpkins. We chose the smaller-sized pumpkins, because we just don’t have the room for GIANT pumpkins. We took so many pictures while we were there, that I could have done an entire post of nothing but photos and videos.

IMG_5611Sarah and I talk a lot about family traditions and what things we want to make traditions with our family. Both our families growing up had a lot of traditions, and we don’t just want to pass on those ones–we want to create some of our own. If going to orchards and pumpkin patches and dairy farms every October is one we can turn into an every year thing, then I am all for that. I’ll admit, I don’t always do well in crowds, they drive me insane. But, I’m realizing that for my kids to get the chance to really see all there is out in the world and to experience a lot of the same fun things I experienced as a kid–then I have to suck it up and deal with crowds. And that’s just what I’m going to do. Just don’t expect to ever see me out on Black Friday. I’m not that crazy!

IMG_5598If you really want to have a blast doing Fall-type activities, I highly suggest you check out both Oregon Dairy in Lancaster and Linvilla Orchards in Media. And no, they didn’t ask me to write about them or pay me to write about them. We just loved our experience there so much that it felt like it needed to be said. One thing I want to do in the future is a night hay ride, which they also offer for groups. Hay rides are awesome, so why not do it at night?!

Next up is Halloween and that’s going to be a whole other story!

What activities do you do with your family and kids in the Fall? What have your experiences been like, good and bad? Share in the comments below, on Facebook, and Twitter!

 

Tyrant – Living Under the Reign of a Toddler

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She’s turning three, the terrible twos are over, we thought. The threes are worse, they said. We didn’t believe them. Perhaps, we were mistaken… Sophia is as sharp as a tack. She’s far smarter than I thought she would be as a three-year old. She’s more advanced than I thought she would be at this point. It amazes me every day. You know what doesn’t amaze me? Living under the tyrannical reign of a toddler. Continue reading →

Wedding Season: Kids Edition

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Ahhh weddings. A beautiful occasion filled with love and fun. We’ve had our fair-share of weddings recently. First, my sister got married back in April. Then in back-to-back weeks, we had weddings for friends and then family. The one common theme that tied them all together? They were all kid-friendly. And our kids were with us!

I’m gonna be honest with you, attending weddings with a 3- and 1-year old is such an insanely different experience than going to one without your kids.

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Continue reading →

My Kid Said What?!

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my kid said whatI wish I had a video camera recording at all times when Sophia speaks. Seriously, the girl says some of the most out of this world things. I’d also like to have a camera trained on mine and Sarah’s faces when we hear the things she says. Half amusement, half confusion, half concentration. One too many halves? Three halves make a whole, right? No? Oh well. I’ve written and “illustrated” some of the gems Sophia has come up with before, but there are far too many other times that I haven’t written down the stuff she says. Continue reading →

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We Got The Moves, We Got The Dance Moves

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I’ll be the first to admit it, when it comes to dancing, this guy doesn’t have the moves. Somehow, those gifts bypassed me, but not my siblings. Not cool, mom and dad. NOT COOL. But, what didn’t bypass me was my lack of shame. You see me on a dance floor at a wedding or when I get a couple drinks in me, and I’m gonna be dancing. Most likely terribly. And most likely I’m not gonna be caring. Being averse to shame will do that to you.

"Daddy should NOT be dancing:

“Daddy should NOT be dancing”

You know the saying: “Dance like no one is watching”? Yeah, I’ve taken that to heart. I love the looks of horror when I hit the dance floor. Typically they come from Sarah. One day, I’ll get those looks from Sophia and Maddie. The look on Sophia’s face in that picture over there? Yeah, that is one she’ll be making A LOT when she’s older. For now, though? She just wants me to dance and be silly. And I’m good with that. And I hope it continues forever. I don’t want her to be embarrassed by me ever, but I’m sure it’ll happen. After all, I’m her dad and it’s kind of in my job description. Continue reading →

We Don’t Say That – It’s A Bad Word

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bad wordKids pick up on every single little thing you say. Everyone knows that. Whether that means they watch what they say in front of kids, well, that’s a different story. Actually, that’s a story I’ve written about before. When they do say words they shouldn’t, it’s important to teach them that the word is bad, wrong, something they shouldn’t say. Yeah, I mean, eventually they’ll say them, but hopefully that is years down the road.

Anytime Sophia says a word she knows she shouldn’t be saying, like dammit or shut up, she immediately knows what is going to come out of our mouths: “We don’t say that, it’s a bad word.” Sometimes, she’ll even preempt us and tell us we don’t say shut up, or we don’t say dammit. Hey, at least she knows she shouldn’t be saying them.

BUT, that has put me into this habit of saying “we don’t say that, it’s a bad word” anytime I hear the trigger words. Continue reading →