And then she was THREE...

For so long, we've talked about the "baby" or the "toddler". It's been such a norm around here that even Anna refers to herself as "the toddler" . But just like that, she's not the baby... she's not even the toddler. So on the day of her third birthday, when I asked her why she drank bath water (a serious pet peeve of mine in the parenting world) and she replied "that's just what toddlers do" and I reminded her that she's 3 now... Anna shrugged her shoulders and said "that's just what 3 year olds do".

Anna baby, for your third birthday you allowed us to call you "Anna" instead of "Goldilocks", which is how you've been introducing yourself to friends and strangers for weeks. You requested an ice cream cake and you blew out the candles (twice, because we ate cake and sang two times) like it was your job. You wanted polka dot pajamas, striped clothes, and a big girl bed. All were granted. Regarding the bed, we took down a crib that you never climbed out of, never even attempted. In fact, you've been sleeping in your big bed for a full week now and are yet to even get out in the morning without permission. By comparison, your big sisters not only bent the metal frame of their crib from jumping so forcefully but they also got big girl beds at 22-months because of the stunts taking place in, out, and between. It is amazing that you have never tried to frolic about after bedtime because if ever there was a night owl, it's you. Whether you have napped or not, had a busy day or a lazy day, bedtime always consists of phrases like "but it's my choice to stay up all night!" and "what will happen if I never close my eyes"... you then lay in your bed for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half blabbering on and on and on. You asked for a trip to Pet World on your big day to see the aquariums and the panda hamsters. So that's what we did! It was a sweet, sweet day.

I hope the 3 year old you takes awhile before "Thure!" morphs into "Sure!" and before "Thorge" becomes "George". Keep on counting just like you did today: "one, two, three. four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, sixteen, eleventeen, twenty". Never stop saying "Daddy, guess what? Pickle Car!" or "Daddy, guess what? Blukle Fish"! ("blukle fish" is your amazing made-up animal that started as a play-doh creation). 

You LOVE books (current faves are Peppa Pig, Eric Carle, Pete the Cat, Dog's ABCs, Olivia, and any number of the Goldilocks and the Three Bears versions that we've checked out), you've started asking how to spell certain words, you recognize all the letters of the alphabet and know what sound each makes, and a couple of months ago the concept of rhyming words clicked: you started saying things like "Mom! 'Feet' and 'Seat' sound the same!". You love to "put on a show", standing on my big gray cutting mat, and singing "Madame Gaston", "Lost Boy", or "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder". While you know certain characters or songs from movies or TV, it's only from books or listening to soundtracks as you still haven't watched but a single episode of Olivia and an attempt at Mary Poppins, which didn't suck you in even a smidge as much as your sisters at that age. 

Your belly is so round that all of your pants have to rest below it's curve and your big sisters crack up at the sight of me trying to pull actual pants or shorts up around it. You wear a lot of dresses to compensate. ;) I hope your 3 year old self keeps it real, like your toddler self did:
Me: "Well, we wear pants so our legs don't get cold"
Anna: "That's right, Momma! And we wear underwear so our vaginas don't get cold!"

I love the way you ask me questions or tell me to repeat phrases and then you say "Good 'thob' (job), momma!". You are quick to shout "Daddy! I'm so glad you're home!" when the garage door slams. On the way home from school pick-up, you often say "How was your day, Abby?" or "Elise, did you have art or PE today?". Maybe the 3 year old you will stop making all your toys sleep face-down or will require fewer tiny, little people/critters/beads/trinkets to scatter about the house all. day. long. Or maybe not.

No matter the question, you often reply with "I'll try!", whether we're reminding you to stay quiet at naptime or to be careful around Gran and Grandpa's pond. When given your choice of a snack, 99% of the time you request dried pineapple and seaweed. No joke. When those aren't available, you are always happy with "cathews and cranberries" (cashews). You have an air independence that suits you perfectly - just yesterday, you propped yourself on the edge of a pool chair beside a threesome of young girls and I don't know what you were saying, but your hand was gesturing, your head was bobbing, and your audience was captivated. So, with that, welcome to THREE, my littlest love... our days of calling you the toddler are over but you're going to be our "teeny" forever. 

First snowfall of the season!

December 22, 2013

October recap

Well hello, ol' friend. So... October happened. Let's share a few highlights from the month...

We road-tripped to Indianapolis. We made this trip when the girls were 3 and we thought it was a piece of cake then! At 5, it was a walk in the park. We got up and left around 5:00 in the morning - I had the car stocked with a basket of new library books, which single-handedly ruined any chance of Abby falling back asleep. "When will the sun come up?"... "Can we turn a light on?"... "I should have brought my book light..." ... "I just can't wait to read these books!". What's not to love about that? And read she did, with her sister joining after the sun came up. There was not a single negative peep out of either mouth - they traveled great, they slept awesome, they ate like champs (as usual), and they were charming guests in someone else's home. John's cousin and wife, Mark and Lisa, treated us to yet another wonderful weekend getaway, which included:

Children's Museum:

Neighborhood horses and fingernail painting:

After John recovered from the beer and tamale consumption that took place in Indy, life settled in as usual...

Lots of reading took place (as it does everyday):

A couple of teeth fell out... is anyone surprised that the girls lost their first tooth one day apart and it was the same tooth??? Oh, and at their 5-year check-up (which we just had done), their height was the same and their weight differed by only .4 pounds. Not FOUR pounds, but POINT FOUR pounds....

I know other great things happened between the teeth and Halloween but you get what you get. Toward the end of the month, we had our 28th annual pumpkin carving party, followed by Halloween. Abby dressed up this year as "an angel named Winter" and Elise danced her way through the holiday as "Liesl, from the Sound of Music". Homemade costumes rock - Abby picked her fabric and jewel for the shirt... Elise selected her shiny pink material for the poofy sleeves. Simple, inexpensive, and well-loved. Abby started coming down with a cold on Halloween and trick-or-treating was questionable... until the scolding began: Elise, finger pointed in my direction, "Mom, you cannot make Abby stay home. She gets to wear her costume and go and you can't tell her no." Typically, I wouldn't condone that type of tone directed toward an adult. But when your kids stick up for one another, regardless of the circumstances, it's worth supporting. Abby, you have your sister to thank for Winter, the angel, making an appearance at Halloween 2013.

Suddenly September

Wowsers. It's September! I bailed on the photo-a-day in August.. never started September... and abandoned the blog for two weeks. I guess that's what happens when school starts, right? It is back to the grind in mid-to-late August and we are deep in our studies about:

Insects...

Farm animals...

Reading and writing...

Music:

Physical Education:

Snack time...

And social skills...

Kindergarten is off to a pretty good start. I guess being back to the grind isn't so bad after all, huh?

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #15: The Best

The best way to start the day - good food, beautiful weather, and GREAT friends! We had a special breakfast with Sydney before she heads off to kindergarten. What is incredible about these three faces is the frequency with which they've seen each other since before they were born. :) Sydney's parents were in our birthing class. Now, ironic as it is, John and Syd's dad go WAAAYYYY back to their wee-lad days in Iola. Okay, not that far and not that ironic because Iola is like Kevin Bacon - everyone is connected to Iola within 6 degrees. Anyhow, Beth and I hit it off and we probably most definitely looked forward to seeing Beth and Christian each week more than learning about having a baby. Our girls were born 2 weeks before Sydney (but they were due 6 weeks later!!) and, in November 2008, we all got together for our first social gathering, with our 3-month old babies. Here we are, ready to start kindergarten, and we still look forward to seeing this family almost weekly, sometimes more, sometimes less. Having these kinds of friends is, simply put, "the best". 

Watching the giant diggers working across the street from the parking garage was pretty cool, too. But not as cool as friends.

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #11: I love doing this!

No explanation necessary. I love doing this. 

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #9: 2:00

At 2:00 in our house on Friday, August 9th, the following were happening:

• Sleeping
• Reading
• Cooking

And that's often times par for the course at 2:00. I love to cook and I love rest time (for the girls, not myself). We continue to have a daily "quiet time", which for the past few weeks has consisted of Elise reading book after book after book... and Abby sleeping. Proof in the pictures:

Today, the recipe at hand was for a fruit and quinoa salad to be served alongside homemade pizza. We had an excellent Friday night dinner date at home with Erika and Mila - not only were they awesome company and playmates, but Erika brought her mighty Vitamix blender and concocted ah-mazing margaritas. As I type, there are four tabs open in my internet browser, comparing different models and prices because the Vitamix will soon be mine. But back to the dinner date... it is such a gift to have good friends. Consider this my shout-out to my friends. You all have a very special place in my world - each of your places are very different and meet my needs in drastically differing ways. And that is awesome. Last night was one of those evenings that was so enjoyable and easy. Thanks for the margaritas - I look forward to many more dinner dates just like that one, but with 4 adults instead of 3. 

Fruit and Quinoa Salad

courtesy of Two Peas and Their Pod

• 1 C organic red quinoa - bring quinoa to a boil in 2 cups of water; cover and simmer for 15 minutes; drain any remaining water and let quinoa cool to room temperature
• Juice of 1 large organic lime
• 3 T local honey
• 1 1/2 T finely chopped fresh mint (from our garden!)
• Organic fruit: strawberries, blueberries, mango
• Toss cooled quinoa with lime/honey/mint dressing; add 2-3 C total fruit of your choice

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #3: Skyline

This was our evening skyline tonight - complete with a horse ride and cowboy hats. I mean - seriously... who needs to battle the germs crowds at the county fair when you've got friends like ours??? The girls rallied and made it to the birthday party - thank goodness for very determined 5 year olds and friends who love us enough to risk illness. I'm really hoping none of the other horse-back riding, cake-eating, running-in-the-grass-barefoot kiddos spikes a fever but A and E wouldn't have missed this shindig for the world!

And, in case you were wondering, the incomplete barrettes were gift-wrapped and ready to go tonight! There will definitely be more of these in my future:

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #30: Friendship

"What would you think if I sang out of tune

Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Lend me your ear and I'll sing you a song

And I'll try not to sing out of key.

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends

Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends

Mmm, gonna try with a little help from my friends."

- The Beatles

Photo-A-Day Challenge: Day #7: Where You Are...

Birthday celebrations... cupcakes, presents, friends, and 5-year olds...

July EXPLODES!

July is a BUSY month around here - fireworks, birthdays, anniversary.... We kicked it off right with some fabulous friends. I'll share the fourth with you now... birthday celebrations are underway and will be up next. The girls didn't make it to bed last Wednesday (July 3rd) until 10:30pm and, while I'm pretty strict about our bedtime around here, it was worth every minute. Remember how I've mentioned quality versus quantity? It applies to so many things in life. And our intimate, weekly dinner group is a social opportunity for our family that benefits us in oh-so-many ways. Spending last Wednesday evening with these friends could not have been a better start to the long holiday and birthday weekend.

On July 4th, we spent the afternoon and evening swimming, splashing, eating, and drinking... surrounded by awesome people, of course. :)  I cannot begin to count how many times Abby and Elise jumped off the side of the pool - jumping through hula hoops, practicing cannonballs and dives (Elise), perfecting twisty-jumps (Abby), launching themselves into the deep end and off of John's shoulders. I think it's safe to say that swimming lessons have paid off - for the past 2 summers, the girls have taken private lessons and they are as confident and competent in the water as I could ever expect a young child to be.

Happy July!

Lobsterfest 2013

Friday was Lobsterfest 2013. You can read about 2011 and 2013 here and here. It was clearly meant to be this year as the temperatures dropped from nearly 100 to 85ish. It was a perfect evening that encompassed all the necessities of a tradition worth continuing: family, friends who are like family, food, drinks, and something special:  It's not everyday that a box arrives on our doorstep from Stonington, Maine filled with 8 lobsters. Special, indeed.

I love that everyone involved cleared their calendars for Lobsterfest. I love that Abby and Elise couldn't wait to tell their friends about Lobsterfest (which went something like this: "Did you know that lobsters are coming to us tomorrow from Maine? They'll be alive until we put them in the pot."). I love that my parents happily let us fill their kitchen and deck with the remains of Lobsterfest. I love that my brother did dishes after Lobsterfest. I love that Lana and Jamey unknowingly started Lobsterfest. Some things are worth repeating - year after year. 

It probably goes without saying that this picture is the most different from previous years. For starters, Travis wore a different shirt this year. But, like a landmine that I never saw coming (right, Zach?), I teared up at this one since the three dogs waiting for their lobster treat don't include Aura. *sob*snort*tears*sigh* Charlie was happily welcomed into the inner circle at Lobsterfest this year but, the thing about traditions is the continuity from year to year. And when that familiar, expected experience changes, someone might feel it. *hand raised* Don't get me wrong - I fully plan on our Maine delivery next summer. A girl just needs to get sappy now and again...