Wow

Snowflake lane:  These people really know how to Create some Christmas magic(they would call it holiday magic, but I'm stubborn and will continue to call it Christmas).

Everyday

I'm realizing I often post about holidays and fun events, but neglect the everyday ordinary things.  Our days are filled with bundling everyone up for the walk to and from school, preschool pickups, violin lessons, and playdates.  Here are a few other ways we spend our time...

SJ loves to play hair salon.  Everyday, she asks to style my hair and for me to put makeup on her. 

Baby s  is in the collecting phase of life... She carries around fistfuls of things she collects around the house all day.  She is reluctant to let go of anything and will shift and stretch and cram in order to keep everything in her  grasp.  Buckets and bags are proving to be very useful tools for her.

After almost a year of stopping at the park everyday after school, c has decided it is more fun to play at the soccer court.  Here is is with her class "pet" that she was allowed to take home for one week.

All 3 like playing in forts.  The forts may or may not drive me crazy, depending on how long they entertain and how many times I am requested to help repair.

Plus a Bonus picture of Baby s's favorite hangout.

Thanksgiving weekend

We had lots of fun over thanksgiving weekend.  It's always nice to have an extra long weekend with everyone home and nowhere to be.  We ran in a turkey trot (C did the whole 5k!  SJ alternated between sprinting and riding on the stroller).  

We also went to a Christmas parade and Greg took the big girls ice skating while baby s an I watched.  

Halloween fun

Neighborhood Halloween Festival

We love seeing these girls so excited to do things together... they were holding hands as they waited for the trolley to pull up.



Ward Halloween Party (Kelly, Greg and I stole your Price is Right costume idea)

 

And, of course, trick-or-treating:

Merida (from Brave), Octopus, Merida

Vancouver island

On the first weekend in October, we went to Vancouver island to visit my cousin. She has three girls, close in age to ours.  They had so much fun together.  We went to the farmers market, on a treasure hunt at really cool park, and spent a few hours at the beach.

The ferry ride through the San Juan islands was beautiful.  It was a lot of traveling, and not a lot of sleep, but we had a great time. 

 

Baby S

I've been waiting to post this until it is "complete", but she is changing so fast I better hurry up, finished or not, before it is all outdated!

Baby S at 14 months:
She can take several steps in a row, but still prefers crawling (a funny technique with one leg up like a bear crawl and the other bent underneath her).  When she does walk, she makes this cute sing songy sound "doot-doot" (Sol-do) to matche each step.  She may not walk much, yet, but she sure likes to climb.  Little chairs and the steps/slide at the playground are her favorites.
She is an expert mimic-er... she can match any sound and any pitch.  She loves to copy whatever her big sisters are doing and it is so fun to watch.
She loves to read books.   She'll even read to herself, mumbling a cute little babble while flipping the pages of a book.
She likes to dance whenever she hears music.... a cute move where she bends her elbows, holds them out, and rotates side to side. 
We are working on weaning, and, boy, can this girl EAT.  The majority of our mealtimes are filled with her grunting an d pointing at whatever she sees other people eating and me saying, "didn't I just fill your tray with this a second ago?"

Silvie's words: 
hi, hi there, hey, mama, dada, hot (this is the cutest one, she is very expressive about the danger hot things entail and give a big long "t" at the end), na-nana (banana), night-night, bye-bye, go (she chimes in right on time after hearing 'ready-set'), tickle, there-she-is (when playing peek-a-boo)

My Purple House

For the past year or so, SJ has been talking about her "purple house."  This purple house has just about anything a 4 year old girl could want...  unlimited pets and candy and beautiful dresses.  I often hear her saying, "That's ok, Mom, I have that at my purple house, right?"

All of that pretending must be exhausting...

SJ in the mud at the farm.  She is probably the opposite of a "stick-in-the-mud"

She still has a mischievous side... here is a photo of her haircut.  She was playing Fancy Nancy one day and filling her hair with barrettes and bows.  Little did I know that she was also snipping the sides off of her hair.  Sigh... we were just starting to get a full head of hair on this girl.  Back to square one, I guess.

SJ helped me get out the autumn decorations.  She added lots of thing she found in the garage... training wheels, soccer trophies, pinwheels, and caution tape.

She loves riding her bike (she got rid of the training wheels a few months before her 4th birthday) and doing the monkey bars at the park.  She loves to help... especially in the kitchen and with baby S.  We can't think of anything cuter or sweeter than a 4 year old girl.

Sick day

C was home with a stomach bug a couple of weeks ago.  This is how we passed the time while she couldn't eat...

                                              mani/pedi

 

Also... overheard, recently:

C:  "Daddy I don't want to be an astronaut because I would have to do things that aren't safe and I wouldn't get to eat good food and I would miss my kids too much."

Is she my child or what?!?

Rainbow shooting stars

Catching up, here.  C played soccer in the Spring of this year.  This team of kindergarten girls named themselves the rainbow shooting stars.  C really "got it" this season.  This girl has a competitive fire in her belly (I have no idea where she gets it).  The first few games were rough... in the pouring rain and against teams with some really good players.  After one really fast girls scored on their team many times, C was heard saying "it isn't FAIR!" while crying and running off the field.  After that, though, she worked really hard and figured out how to score and score and score.  She had a great time and it was fun to watch her. 

SJ's first day of school

She loves going to school... her favorite things are art projects and recess ("just like C has recess, right Mom?")

And a bonus picture of one of her chosen outfits on our morning trip to take C to school... imagine her with her bike helmet on and riding a tiny bike along with this gymnastics outfit plus butterfly wings.  She caused quite a scene at Elementary school drop-off.  :)

Bloopers

We have silly girls.  We ended up with more bloopers than formal shots at this photo session.  Photos taken by Greg's talented sister, Kris.  Thank you!

First Grade!

Her first day was last week. 

 

I love this toothless smile

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to her sisters



 

 

I snapped this photo of her entering the classroom... she looks so nervous, sweet girl.  She jumped right in, though.  I love how confidently she reaches out and makes friends.

Mommy vacation

I spent last week at an early (baroque) music workshop.  It was an interdisciplinary approach and attended by dancers, singers, and instrumentalists.  I learned a ton (mostly that I still have lots to learn) and loved stepping back into my nerdy college music student days.  Thanks to Greg and great babysitters for making it possible.  

Trip Home

We were so lucky to get to visit NC for the final two weeks of summer.  We had a great time visiting cousins,

 

 

friends

 

 

and the beach

 

 

 

 

Clara lost her last front tooth on the plane ride home, which left her adorably toothless for the first day of first grade. 

 

It was great to see some familiar faces and places after experiencing so much change in the last 6 months.  Greg said it felt like coming home when we flew back into Seattle... I'm not quite there, yet, but on my way. 

 

Summer Wrap-Up

We had a really fun summer.  The girls both took gymnastics, and we went on lots of hikes and fun outings.  Also, for exercise, each morning I let the girls take turns choosing a park and they rode their bike and I walked/jogged along. We are lucky to have so many fun parks close by.

 

 Seattle is beautiful in the summer... sunny, blue skies, with comfortable temps (70's).  I can't believe the summer is already over!