Sleep tight!

Every night we go through our little bed time routine with the big girls- clean up, mom reads a story, Dad brushes teeth, sends them to the potty, and says prayers. It is ok for Mama and Daddy to switch up who does what - sometimes I do it all, sometimes he does. But, every night, without fail, Mama has to sing songs. I get the girls tucked into their bed and ask them what song they want. They have been treated to my rendition of 'Baa, Baa Blacksheep,' 'Mary Had a Little Lamb,' 'Old McDonald,' 'Jesus Loves Me,' ' Jesus Loves the Little Children,' 'I'm a Little Teapot' (I relate a little too much to the teapot - you know...short and stout), 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider' and occasionally the 'Sleeping Booty' song. I'm sure there are a few others, too. I know A LOT of kids songs and VBS type songs, but I always draw a blank at bedtime.

Anyway, the girls go through phases of preferring different songs - usually they request them until I say - 'we're not doing that one again tonight.' The one song that they always come back to, that has more phases than any other, is "Kwinkle, Kwinkle Little Star." It's the default. They say it as soon as I ask what song they want - without thinking - that's just the first in the list. Second in the list is 'Itsy, Bitsy Spider' so in order for the other songs to get a chance, the girls actually have to think a bit to remember their options.

There is more to "Kwinkle, Kwinkle Little Star", though: they also like to change the words. First it was "Mama sing 'Little Pink Star,'"then blue, then red, and all other colors that came to mind. After colors they wanted little 'sad' star and most recently little 'beautiful' star. I am really getting sick of that song! Finally, after hearing that while I was gone Daddy had the girls sing him a song, I told them that if they wanted to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle" in variations they'd have to sing it to me. They are pretty ok with that, so we have a compromise. B. also insists that the 'diamond in the sky' description match up with whatever has been added to the star - so pink diamond, sad diamond etc.

We recently added butterfly and Eskimo kisses to our goodnights - I remember loving them and the girls really get a kick out of them too!

So, after songs and kisses, it's mountain stream on, lights off, closet door shut, and a drink from Daddy. Usually they go straight to sleep! They are getting so grown up!

PS There is a tropical storm that, last I checked, was headed straight for us. I looked to see if we were in evacuation zones (we're not) and then promptly forgot the storm was coming. I'm used to watching a big thunderstorm blow up in about 30 minutes and then waiting for the sirens....this whole 5 days of warning just seems like a luxury! I asked someone if I should be concerned (I really don't know how close to the coast is too close)- she said the main issue was the power going out and the water getting yucky so some water might be good. Considering our approx. 30 can stockpile of juice....I'm not too worried (I realize that juice doesn't substitute entirely for water - so we filled up a water jug or two).

Our main problem so far with the storm has been explaining to the girls why they can't go swimming when it's thundering.