Daily Photo::22

There is nothing I find more precious in the world then a baby reading a book.  I love watching the range of expressions that cross their face.  I always wonder just how they process what they are seeing.  And then of course to complete the tactile experience, the book must end up in the mouth.  Kids rock!

peace 

Daily Photo::19-20

Our fun, super busy, with some unexpected surprises thrown in (like the migraine I woke up with Saturday morning and forgot my medicine for...) weekend means I am posting pictures for days 19 & 20 late.  But I know all my dedicated readers (ha,all 5 of you!) will forgive me.

  

 

Carousel ride  in Central Park, what a lifeline in the city!

Nothing much better in the world than a sleeping, snugly baby and the beach.

peace

Daily Photo::12

Tristan:  What are we doing tonight?

Me:  We are going to hike to a waterfall we have never been to before.

Tristan:  Going to just look at a waterfall sounds boring, Mom.  Now if we were going to fish in it, that would be cool.

Fishing was never mentioned once on the hike and it was decided that this is the best place ever.  Tristan is, however, a boy after his father's heart.

peace

Daily Photo::11

Consider yourself slammed, poetry style...

peace

Daily Photo::10

Sleepyheads...I love that Tristan is sleeping on Kai's feet while he is sleeping. 

peace

Daily Photo::9

This is truthfully a photo from 2009 but I feel that it eloquently expresses the sentiments of the siblings around here lately.  Whether or not it is actually true, however, is quite another matter.

peace

Daily Photo::8

 
A dream come true for any young boy, an excavator and a fresh load of rocks in the driveway!

peace

Daily Photo::7

Okay, I know I said I would be posting one picture a day for the month of May but this next one needs two to be fully appreciated.

Happy Mother's Day to me!  Quite a significant upgrade from my current $10 tracfone.  This one even starts the car!  At least I think that's what that button on the bottom does...

peace

Daily Photo::6

 

Bed head!

peace

Daily Photo::2

 

Would you call that a double or a triple?  Chin that is.

peace

Daily Photo::1

I've decided to do several months of daily photos throughout this year.  I need some serious motivation to get back into blogging.  I am hoping this will help!  May will be my first photo-a-day challenge. I'll be posting a photo each day this month along with a short description.  Enjoy!

Tristan has graduated to 2 hands today!  He was born at 2:57am on May 1st, a nice and robust 8lbs 13ozs and 21 inches.  This morning when I told him Happy Birthday he asked if it were 3 a clock in the morning.  When I said no (it was 6:30am) he said then it wasn't his birthday yet.  Maybe we should have gotten him a clock for his birthday...


peace

Tristan turned 5!

On Sunday our May Day baby, our come in the middle of night baby, our wear his thoughts/emotions all over his face baby, our super kind, super sensitive baby, our when he smiles you can't help but to smile back (even when he is being naughty) baby, our all boy, leggo loving baby turned

No longer, baby.  All big kid.  But even big kids like snuggles and kisses and mama hugs and tickles (thank goodness or I may be freaking out!).

Happy bday to our big boy!

My life is a musical, apparently

I don't know where it comes from but I swear our kids are Broadway musical prodigies.  They have never seen a musical (although the Backyardigans are pretty musical-like).  I don't even like musicals (except Oklahoma, I don't know why).  But there are at least half a dozen times during the day when our kids are engrossed in some kind of pretend play and they break into song.  And not just all of a sudden they start singing Mary had a little lamb or something that has nothing to do with their play.  No, they have a well written, scripted out transition from whatever they are pretending into a dramatic singing and dancing chorus that underscores whatever climax they have reached in their story.

For example, today they were playing "police school".  They were learning how to become police officer.  Abigail was discussing with Tristan what a police officer's job consists of, such as chasing bad guys (of course).  She went on to say, "that is not the only part of our job, is it Tristan?  Oh no, it is not.  Ready everyone!  ~(singing and dancing now) That is, noooooooo, that is not the only part of our joooooobbbbb!~  And off they were in some semi-coordinated song of the details of a police officer's duties.  I can't help but to bob my head while I am chopping cabbage and they are parading around the house but another part of my wonders, where does this come from?!

Now I must admit here that Matt and I both have a tendency to sing everyday requests to our kids when we are feeling frustrated with them but don't want to show it or when something annoying has happened to us and we want to tell each other about it without it sounding like we are bitching.  Let me warn you, people, it is terribly frightening to face the unknown influence a parent has on their child.

To get a taste of my life as a musical, here is a video of Abigail playing her guitar and singing Tristan to "sleep":

peace

You have got to be kidding me!

Another x?@2*! snow day!! 

We are at about 5 snow days which in itself isn't so bad but add at least as many days with delays and probably over double that in days home from school because of being sick and I am about to slaughter this winter!!!  I know that spring is coming because the birds are noisier, the temperature is not in the negative numbers and I have even seen grass (not here but in valley type places).  But right now I would really like to take Punxsutawney Phil, shove him face first in the snow and ask, "Is this what an early spring looks like?  Really?"

Ok, I am done now.  I just needed to vent on the blogfront rather than on the homefront.  To another day filled with fighting over legos, cabin fever, and trying not to mastermind plans to kidnap a groundhog...

peace 

End of a season

Swimming season that is.  Abigail had her championship meet last weekend.  Before joining the swim team, she had been taking swimming lessons almost constantly for three years.  It has been amazing, though, to see how enormously her skills developed in just one season by practicing twice a week and having a chance to be surrounded by her older, more experienced teammates. 

Here she is in action!

peace

Eekkk!

Is that shriek because of last night's Halloween tricks or because it has been a horrifyingly long time since I have written on the blog?  Well, both actually.  Super cute kids dressed up in slaved-over costumes is definitely motivating me to show my face around here.  It's not that I have stopped having things to write about or a lack of exciting life events to share (don't laugh).  It's just that I am learning that life as a mother of a first grader is busy!  I mean, I have a preschooler too but he doesn't have a half and hour of homework every night and 2 swim practices a week for the swim team.  Although, he does have his own swimming lesson and opinions about how we should be spending our time.  So, I have been adjusting to homework, tight schedules, early, fast dinners 3 times a week (I like to cook slowly, preferably with a beer in my hand so this has been an adjustment) and lots of transitions between activities.  Watching Abigail learn to read, seeing her thoughtful movement in the water as she refines her swimming technique, and seeing her gain confidence in herself as a result of both as been worth the madness however.  Plus getting two nights a week to spend one on one time with my little guy and do nothing but play while sister works hard has been enriching as well.  I am glad when bedtime comes though!

So on with Halloween!  I have made the kids costumes every year since they are born and this year I learned two things.  1 - I really like to make costumes!  I like the challenge of creating something from their imagination and getting to watch them enjoy it.  2 - Ears are really hard to make well.  The kids have never dressed as something with ears before (besides their own ears, that is) so I was not prepared for this challenge.  It worked out in the end.  Trail and error makes perfect for me.  I know I said 2 things but here is number 3 - Making Halloween costumes is kind of like making a really great homemade dinner.  It takes about 3 times longer to make the thing that it does to enjoy it.  Ah, well, good thing I like the process of creating as much as I do the product!  So without further ado, here are the super cute kiddos:

Do you know what she is yet?  Well, try the next one.

Give up?  She is a horse, of course!  This costume was hard to capture in a photograph.  It looked better in person.  Any guesses on Tristan's costume?  Check out below...

Easy one, Batman!

The loot!  They are still too young to know what a small amount of candy that is compared to what other kids bring home.  Shhh, don't you be the one to tell them either!

And what is Halloween without carving up some pumpkins and eating some yummy seeds, eh?

peace

First day of school pics

The kids are getting to the age where they pretty much love and hate each other.  They can't fall asleep without one another and yet they also seem to know exactly how to push each others buttons.  I was ready for school to start!  But this has unexpectedly been a bittersweet start to the school year for me.  Last week we had just the best family vacation to Acadia NP (pictures to follow this weekend) and I am just not ready to be rushing off to school in the morning. 

Abigail gave me permission to post the above picture of her on the blog.  She didn't like the other ones I took.  When did she get so big that she cares what pictures I put of her on the blog?!  Tristan is posing with his squirrel (whose name is chipmunk, don't ask).  And you can't tell from this picture but I made his backpack for school this year (details and a better picture to come).  And he actually likes it and uses it.  Score for me!
peace

Two favorites

My favorite kid question this week:

We were driving to NYC this week taking home our friends Kat and baby Kaesun when Abigail asked if the Empire State building was the tallest in the world.  I said no but it used to be.  That's when Tristan asked, "How did it get smaller, mama?"  Love it!

My favorite picture this week:

Abigail holding baby Kaesun.  She couldn't get enough of him even when he was crying. 

peace

Big night

Last night the kids slept in a tent for the first time.  At the end of August we are camping in Acadia National Park for a week and seeing that this is the first time the kids will be camping, we decided we needed a few test runs. 

They did great.  Just the two of them slept in the tent together because it was our tent before we had children and is too small for 4, tight for 3.  And well, neither of us were all that excited about squeezing in there.  Matt and the dog slept on the porch to be close by.

The kids got ready for bed in the house, we read stories together in the tent, tucked them in, and then did chores while they fell asleep.  I was expecting giggling and horsing around and/or some "mom, I am scared" but there was none of that.  Tristan fell asleep almost immediately, Abigail took a bit longer but with no problems.  I think it helps that they share a room and sleep next to each other every night.  There was no novelty in snuggling next to each other. 

I loved watching Tristan's eyes as we were reading stories and it was getting darker outside.  He just kept looking from side to side like he wasn't quite expecting the darkness.  We kept the rain fly off until after they fell asleep so they could see the stars.  Matt had also lit the tikki torches on the back porch and put on the uplight in the yard so they could see the familiar surroundings even though it was dark.

There was a 2 am wet bed that we had to clean up and then I (lucky me!) spent the rest of the night in the tent with them but they went right back to sleep.  It is 7:23 am and they are still sleeping!  That doesn't always happen even when they sleep in their own bed.

First test?  Success!

peace

A new (temporary) pet

Friends of ours have been raising monarch butterfly caterpillars, some of them from eggs, and have entrusted them to us while they leave on vacation.  I know that keeping monarchs through its metamorphosis stages is common for many families but we just haven't yet.  And it really is so exciting!  When we picked up the critters yesterday, two were already in the chrysalis stage and 3 were very hungry caterpillars.

This morning when we woke up 2 had formed a silken mat and were hanging in the famous J shape.  According to my internet sources, the caterpillar should hang for about a day. Then it will shed its skin for the 5th and last time and a green chrysalis will be underneath.  I am just as excited as the kids to watch this all unfold (literally!) before our eyes.

In this picture you can see the caterpillar on the right in the J shape and the last very hungry caterpillar still eating milkweed on the left.
  

See those golden flecks on the chrysalis?  They look like the gold paint you see in museums or fancy churches.  I think the two on the bottom will be the butterflies eye.  Just a guess from looking at pictures of the chrysalis right before the butterfly emerges.  Updates of the progress to follow...

peace