First Sewing Project

"This is the hammock picture for my rats. Its so fuzzy and so thick they might be too warm. Me and mom helped me.

"I sewed it myself. We sewed the fuzzy fabric together. Then we added the edging to the top. Then we sewed it all together and pinned it all together. And then we put the lanyard hooks on to hang it up on the cage. Then we put it in the rat cage.

"I hope you love this picture. If you do, thank-you."

The Sewing Machine Remains Out

And after the Halloween costumes, this year I actually made little valences for the dinning room. I wanted them done for Thanksgiving... 2009. At least I'm only one year late.

More Halloween Photos

I just have to post a couple more photos of my creative creatures. These photos are from Halloween Day... a day spent almost entirely in costume.

As you can see, the blue bird has her face paint on for the big day. She loved her wings most of all, though, and insisted on putting them on and "tweeting" loudly... even while enjoying a very nice Sunday brunch at Mario's. The nest isn't featured very well in this photo, but be assured it is covered in leaves and she carefully tended to 6 eggs that day.

The mean witch is finally wearing her hat and a smile. Although she never warmed up to the hat, she did love her dress and wore it all day at school on Friday. She even liked the "sleeves" that added a little sparkle (and an extra layer of warmth) to her arms.

I was just glad to see to see them both enjoying this year's little fantasy.

This last photo is a little deceptive. After all, while both kids crashed after the morning of Halloween fun, both were also up very late that night. I sat beside A's bed (as is my routine) and she lay there singing "5 Little Pumpkins on a Gate" over and over until 10:30 at night.

(In case you've never been introduced, A is laying next to "Kissy" her favorite doll and probably her favorite toy).

Zoo Boo Fun

The local Zoo always hosts a Halloween trick-or-treating event.

For A, it was her first time out in her costume. The hat is missing, but she is a "mean witch." Sometimes she varies the costume by declaring herself a "scary witch" but normally it is a mean witch. Fortunately for me, she is still only 2 and I was able to adorn her "mean" costume with lots of little hearts.Her sister was a little more challenging. For a long time, she wanted to be a mailbox. As she went from house to house, she would open up the door and ask for the candy to be "mailed." Then she'd raise the flag on the side of the box and with a quick "thank-you" be off.

At the last second, though, she made a switch-a-roo on me. She decided that now she wants to be an endangered blue bird. Most importantly, she wants to be a mommy bird with a nest so that when she sits down she is sitting on her eggs. Here you can see her long tail feathers, sparkling wings, and if you look carefully you can see the brown tutu covered in leaves, twigs, and (of course) her eggs.

Bajini Soccer Girl

"It was Wednesdays. It was fun. I like kicking the ball because I kicked it back and forth to Jordan and Conner. We took a lot of water breaks. I love drinking water. I liked getting my turquoise shirt from soccer. I loved playing all the games. My favorite was the animal finder game. How about you try it.

"I love you.

"Thanks.

"Bye."

S Swims!

I am very excited to report my biggest achievement of the summer. Bigger than trying out martial arts at my best friends birthday party. Bigger than going to the water park wave pool and down their big water slides. Even bigger than milking a goat at the state fair.

I can swim!
I took lessons at school all summer (just like last year) and at the last lesson dad came to watch my progress. I was splashing around, spinning and bobbing, when dad came over to me and remarked "do you realize that you're swimming?"

I thought it was exciting that at the beginning of the summer I could touch the bottom. Now, though, I can kick my straight legs, put my face in the water, and "reach and pull" my hands to make a rudimentary swimming motion. The photo shows an instructor supporting me, but I can move about 15ft without any help at all! Mom and dad are very excited by this and I'm finding myself enjoying the water more and more as my skills improve.

Apple Cider

These photos show my two girls as they enjoy the "fruits" of the season. We've already finished 3 gallons of apple cider this year.. and the fall started just last week!

Here are a couple of photos of the girls as we try a little taste testing exercise. Each was asked to decide which was better; hot apple cider with a cinnamon stick or cold apple cider with a piece of ice. They love their little 'tea' cups (colorful and perfect for tea, hot cocoa, or cider). The cinnamon sticks were also a huge hit. I think both caused the hot apple cider to win out in the end.

Reintroduction Part 1: School

Long time no see!

So here is a recent (actually from this month) photo of the whole family! We had to pose for photos for the girls new rooms.S is now in Rainbow Room; a preschool room. Her school has 3-5 preschool rooms (depending on the number and age of the kids) and divide the kids up mostly by age. She was in Blue Room last year. Blue Room was filled with those kids whose birthdays were borderline as to when they would start Kindergarten. In other words, half of her previous classmates started K 3 weeks ago while the other half moved to Rainbow Room with her.

The downside is that 3 of her 4 closest friends were in the older group. Now S is focusing on developing new relationships with new friends and in a new room. It was a challenging first 2 weeks, but S is very predictable. This was week 3 and suddenly everything went smoothly. Drop-offs are pretty quick, pick-ups are filled with lots of excitement, and she is talking about what she did with classmates again.

A also changed rooms, but her change was much less dramatic. Their school practices "continuity of care" (which basically means the teachers progress along with their pupils from the infant room all the way through toddlers until the kids graduate into the preschool program). A simply moved from Toddler-1 to Yellow Room. Her friends came with her; her teachers came with her; and since Yellow is her favorite color (and the room is bigger with more windows) she likes the room better. She was an easy drop-off since day 1.

Easter Sunday

Easter had a little bit of something for both of us girls.

S loves to dress up and the more 'fancy' things the better. Yesterday, she wore her prettiest flower dress. Then she borrowed both a necklace and two broaches from her mom (like I said, the S is into quantity when it comes to fancy). Even better, we curled S's hair for the first time ever.

All the way to church, S talked about being a princess and how wonderful it was.

A has a different priority. She prefers the tasty treasures. While she also enjoys dressing up, she is much more excited when she is included in the play of others who are excited as well.

With that in mind, it will come as no surprise that A was very happy to play with her sister while hunting for eggs and wearing her new Hello Kitty back pack. Best of all for her, she ate as much candy as she wanted.

Fancy Hair - Crazy Eyes

I love fancy hair. You may not be able to tell, but on this day I wore four pony tail holders, five fancy barrettes, and my headband. The more the merrier.

Here I added my "crazy eyes" look. This isn't just mom catching me by surprise. This is me posing especially for this picture.

Nite Nite

One of my favorite games is "Nite nite." I force mom or dad to lay down on the floor. Then I cover them in blankets, get them a buddy to hold, rub their back, and make reassuring cooing sounds.

Last night both my sister and I were up too late and I played a modified version. Both my sister and I laid down in her bed and pretended to go to sleep.
One final question: Do we look like sisters? The cheeks, the smile, the squint of the eyes... mom thinks we look like sisters.

Birthday Parties

I had a wonderful time turning four years old. My birthday was Feb 28 and on that day I had a big birthday party with a bunch of my friends from school. We held it at little gym (one of my favorite places) and one of my favorite teachers ran the class. We got to do everything I wanted. We jumped on the air track, played with hula hoops, and played Red Rover. I was even able to go into the closet where they store all the good toys and pick out which piece of equipment we could play with next.

After playing, we ate cookie cake. This was my parents idea. I didn't really like the cookie cake but Miss K (my preschool teacher) told my dad that kids don't really like cupcakes. She said we like cookies and frosting but not cupcakes.

So, against my protests, my parents decided to get a huge cookie cake for my birthday. It was a huge hit! All my friends started chanting "cook-ee-cake, cook-ee-cake" as the adults debated the best way to cut and serve the odd thing.

Finally, I opened presents. That was also very exciting, but despite all the excitement, I worked very hard to remember all my thank-yous.

At the end I did a very good job thanking everyone again for coming and we all went home for a nap.

That night, grandma and grandpa took us out with my aunt and cousin for a birthday dinner. I didn't eat much, but I loved the presents I got then too.

On Monday, I brought frozen fruit pops into school. We were going to celebrate at school on the Friday before my birthday, but a big snow storm hit so we waited until Monday. The delay meant I could wear the beautiful blue wings, crown, and magic wand I received as presents.

Finally, we did one more small bowling party with a couple of family friends. That is when I got to eat the shark cake I started asking for back in July with my sister's birthday. My mom was very proud of this cake too.

It is fabulous being 4.

Dishes

I love doing dishes. Every day we come home from school and I wash my hands. After washing my hands I can spend up to 30 min washing and re-washing the same few breakfast dishes while mom and dad work on dinner.

That generally means I also have to change my shirt afterward, but since I love picking out and changing my clothes that is a win-win for me.

Winter Sculpture

Last week, we put together a Snow-Duck. After shaping it, we decided it needed a bill, then wings, and finally a tail and four (yes, 4) webbed feet. Finally we added a little color. We used icicles for the eyes but they don't show up well on the photo.

Our sculpture is now buried under this weekend's snow storm. Perhaps it is good that our duck is hibernating.

Just Couldn't Help It

This photo is one of my favorites. To me, it highlights the differences between my two girls, and yet how they both are.
Alaura loves babys, dolls, and playing. Sofia loves animals and nurturing. Alaura knows what she wants and demands it. Sofia has an incredible imagination and can bring everyone along in a story.

And yet they both love being around friends and love spending time with people and are a joy.