Rewind to August

I really am trying to catch up! I have to make it! I love going back through the pictures... it is too fun to see. Even just how much they have changed in the last 6 months! And after this winter (59 inches of snow and counting) it is wonderful to see green and the promise that winter does always end!

 Here is Maren playing in the dirt in what they called our garden. It is the planter under the tree in our front yard and it has a few annuals in it and we were trying to plant more flowers. They were just having fun in the dirt!

 I don't think this was the day that Elena smeared dirt all over her arms ( I was a little bit in awe that the child that does not like anything extra on her body did that ), but she did have fun digging and watering the dirt.

 You never know what you're gonna get... like a day cool enough in August that Elena felt compelled to put on her sweatshirt and boots! (Yes, Uncle Rob, she still puts her shoes on the wrong feet. She says she likes it that way.)

Papa's Birthday

The concentration!

Putting the candles on the cake... Elena and Maren dressed in their party dresses.

 Papa's 34th Birthday... that cake is almost on fire!

 A trip to the Zoo

 We cannot leave without a ride on the carousel!

Papa's Birthday Celebration Day

 Elena with Kyla on our front steps... the day we celebrated Kirk's birthday with friends and family.

 An action photo! 

Playing at the Park

 Sisters and baby going down the rollie slide at the Jonquil park.

Afternoon at the Beach

 COLD water! Papa braved it and the kiddos, too. I stayed on the sand. In my sweatshirt.

 I would say they were enjoying themselves :)

Trip to Phoenix

 Snuggling at Unckie Beth's

 Vegging with "Big Sister" Sophia at John and Deana's house. 

Elena ended up getting sick while we were there and had a fever so we stayed an extra day with John and Deana while she got over that.

 We did a little fairy taling... as in sprinkling fairy dust over a tiny door for fairies. The kiddos were hoping for candy.

Maren loved climbing the ladder 

 Dada Jeff tossing Elena in the air

 Dear "old" friends in the water.

 I love that look! These two had a great time with the hose.

 Does it get any cuter than these Four Musketeers?!

Three sweet girls!

May 2013

 Unbelievably gorgeous spring on our street

 Maren stopped taking naps last October. Right before we went to Hawaii, she started napping again. Of course, that went away with our trip, but once in a while, when she is super exhausted, she will still nap. And if you put her in the car she will be out in two minutes!! 

On this day she was calling me from her room (so I thought!) where she was supposed to be having quiet time. I was in the basement with Elena, who was asleep. All of a sudden, Maren got quiet. Mother's intuition told me I had better go check on her. This is what I found. I do not know how one falls asleep on the stairs... but I guess if you are tired enough! And, yes, the child has no clothes on.

Mother's Day presentation at preschool 

 Elena and classmates

Playdate at Naomi's house, a classmate of Elena's 

 A little pre-summer fun with the sprinkler. These girls could not wait to get their swimsuits on. They spent a couple hours out there. I was surprised it entertained them for the whole afternoon. Arizona girls at heart. 

 Isn't she beautiful?

Like sister, like sister. 

At our new favorite park in Morton Grove

A late evening trip to Home Depot to find some spring flowers. I love it when they let me put their hair in pigtails and here E actually has a ponytail. SO cute!

Baby and Jocelyn like to travel with us. These sisters are great mommies already.

Poor Maren... this no nap thing is just exhausting. This is just sad, she looks so pitiful! And she looks like Al Bundy with her hands in her pants, but her "security blanket" or alternative to thumb sucking is a finger in the belly button. So that is what she is doing here. 

 Elena with Miss Diane at her preschool graduation on May 17. I don't think they quite grasp that it is over... she did not want to go! Even though there was ice cream! Somehow the time after spring break got difficult for Elena at school, though we never found out why. She just did not want to go anymore. 

 Maren, Elena, Mia and Kailey from preschool

Elena hooked onto Mia the first week or so of school because Mia is Maliyah's, Elena's best friend's, nickname. Mia just adored Maren, was always trying to kiss her and touch her, which Maren never liked! And then one day Mia called Maren a baby - oh, boy, the wrong thing to say! 

 A little too much fun with chocolate pudding... and one of Elena's famous faces 

We love to dance in the kitchen. Elena usually likes to run in circles... but this time she let me dip her. Their favorite song is "Springsteen." Wonder why. 

I also got to spend 48 hours in Phoenix in May for a trial. I did not get to spend near as much time visiting people as I would have liked. The trial took longer than expected. I was so happy to be able to go and visit those I could. It felt like going home and it made me quite homesick for Phoenix and Arizona. And, of course, all my family and friends, not to mention my old job and colleagues. I did, however, get to see all the nonsense surrounding the Jodi Arias trial firsthand, as that was the building where the trial was. Quite a spectacle.

May was a good month. 

Daily Life

Maren's Band Aids

Now, if you know Maren, you know she loves Band Aids. We had this tamed for awhile, that if there was not blood, a Band Aid was not needed. However. Unckie Beth sent a care package a month ago with four boxes of Band Aids. So, there had to be a limit somewhere. We had to put a lid on it somewhere - so three Band Aids a day became the limit. Band Aids fix everything!

Now, what gets me on this is that Elena has never wanted anything to do with Band Aids. She does not like things stuck to her skin. But this last week when they got an Easter package from Unckie Beth with another box of Band Aids, well, they both got busy. 

At the Park

Monday was a challenging day so I decided we had to get outside. It was not even warm, so we bundled up and went to the park. It was a much needed trip outside. These kiddos seem to know it should be spring and  they just want to be outside. If the sun is out, they want to be out. This was a cloudy, windy day but we had a great time in the short time we were out.

A little blogspot for Lu! Here is Maren pasting geometric shapes to Lucy. Lucy has become quite tolerant in the last few years! She is especially tolerant of Maren, who is very gentle with her. I am not sure if Lulu really knew what she was doing until she stood up and realized she had stickers all over. It was cute how she let Maren do it, though. 

What a great dog! 

We also did some cleaning together this last week. Let's see if I can get a repeat on this next week! My favorite thing was Elena asking me the next day on the way home from preschool: "Mom, do you have any chores for us to do today?" What a shock that was! However, she was not happy with my response of: "Well, we do need to sweep and clean the floors and the dishwasher needs emptied." "No! I don't want to empty the dishwasher!" So apparently there are only some things worth doing - like washing windows and scrubbing sinks. Fine with me! I can find all sorts of things to do with a spray bottle, which is what they seem to like best. 

This Week

I have been amazed watching Elena's drawings and writing lately. She loves to paint, and this is what she came up with late last week.

 

Beautiful!

 

 

 

 

Last Saturday we headed into the City to the Chicago Food Festival. Not sure what we would expect, but we ended up really enjoying ourselves. Why not, with samples everywhere and great food. Kirk said it was all my kind of people - the crunchy kind! I have to admit, I was in my favorite sort of environment and even came home with a button that said: "Just say NO to GMO!"

 

There were not a lot of kid-centered events, but it was very family-friendly. They had fun just walking around and trying all the samples! They had popcorn and a gingerbread cookie made by some French nuns, plus lunch, so they were quite happy. And tired! They actually both fell asleep on the way home, which gave Kirk and I chance to drive around a bit and explore a new village not too far from where we live now.

Preschool is no big deal anymore. She runs right in and finds something to do. "Bye, Mom!"

is my cue and I know she is ready for me to go. She used to cling to me. Now it only takes a minute after she washes her hands to let me know she is fine.

March 20th

We are ready for spring! Where is it???

Still waiting for spring!

They know it is time... Lanie even ate her lunch outside.

 

 

But here are the first signs, so it cannot be too far away.

 

 The tree in the front yard is even budding. This is so neat to me. I feel like a kid again as I have not

experienced a real spring in 12 years. Arizona spring is about 2 weeks, it seems. I am looking forward to watching everything come out of hibernation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today went to the Children's Museum. The longest we have ever spent at anything, like this, I believe. I just did not feel like staying home today so we went and stayed. I think we went to the face painting table three times. We saw a baby chick hatch and played in the library, the nursery, the sandwich shop, and many things more than once. They never even asked to leave until I suggested it. It wore them out. But they did great. We even did a square dance lesson.