Birthday Bonanza Part III

And FINALLY, the park party with friends. I'm not sure how one birthday turned into 3 celebrations--I guess I'm making up for the past 4 years. (But after this one, I'm hanging up my party-planning hat.)

A few friends from church and a few friends from preschool school met us at Kennedy Park for some hot dogs and kite-flying. (Or kot fogs and hite-dying, if you've read Shel Silverstein's Runny Babbit one too many times)

The kites were definitely a highlight. The kids had to run them to get them up in the air and most wound up in trees or tangled in each others' strings.  But they all had some much fun.

Although she was a little less shy this year, Isabella still does NOT like opening presents in front of others. I had to coach her through the whole thing until finally she just couldn't take it anymore.

Actually I love this little exchange between Isabella and Amelie--like it's their funny little joke or secret. It's so nice to have such a special friend (friends) to celebrate with.

Birthday Bonanza Part II

 Isabella's birthday fell on her preschool day, so she brought some cupcakes along with her to share.

After Mark came home from work, we made a surprise trip to the toy store, so Isabella could pick out a little gift. We didn't tell her where we were going, we just told her to look for the yellow building with a blue roof. She was very suspicious...

 and then very happy.

Her chosen gift was a doctor's kit, and a handful of teeny, tiny rubber animals. The smallest toys in the whole store. One of the nicest things that afternoon was that soon after we arrived at the toy store, our landlord Cliff showed up at the store to buy Isabella a birthday gift. That's just how good they are to our family.

Dr. Isabella will solve all your ailments by giving you shots with a thermometer. She'll then tell you to go home and eat a cheeseburger and fries.

 Teddy dropped by to give Isabella a handmade card and to bring the gift his grandpa picked out.

It was a CAT Articulated Front Loader, just what Teddy wanted. Those two will have some fun.

Birthday Bonanza Part I

First up: Isabella's Birthday Family Outing. She wanted to go to Chrissy Field to fly kites. So we packed a picnic too.

Isabella made herself right at home by the water. Before we left the house, and as she was excitedly flitting around, she declared, "I best wear my swimsuit so I can go swimming in the sea!"

She quickly made a friend, Berlin, who had the same passion for swimming by the sea. And digging in the sand.

The weather was decent, the swimming good (for Isabella) until the fog rolled in. Then, brrrrrrr...

 

We bundled up those sandy feet and headed back to Nana and Papa's house for dinner and a sleepover. The next morning's activities included: making pancakes with Nana, decorating Easter eggs with Nana, and cooking. What more could you ask for?

Isabella Turns 5.

 

April 4, 2013, Isabella's 5th Birthday.

She wakes up and comes into the kitchen. I greet her with a hug and wish her a happy birthday. I ask her if she feels different and she shouts, "yes!" but can't think of a reason why. I  tell her its time to get dressed for preschool. I notice as she is picking out her clothing, that she is looking at each label making sure they are marked with a "5T". She is five now, she must wear the correct size clothing. 

Another thing I suddenly notice--she is calling me "mommy".  Overnight I went from being "mama" to "mommy".  I don't like it.  The tone, the inflection--it reeks of Caillou, which she has suddenly taken an interest in watching again. 

Caillou is a PBS cartoon, about a four year old boy, named Caillou, who calls his mom, "mommy".  Cailou is also a whiner. He cries. He laughs at things that aren't funny. He's always called on by the teacher in his preschool class and always has the right answer. I noticed in Isabella's last Caillou phase that there was a direct correlation between the amount of Caillou-watching and the increase of whining that occurred in our house. But it's not a bad show, and she loves it. I try to convince Isabella that now that she is five, she doesn't need to watch a show about a four year old--how could she possibly relate to someone so---young? But my efforts are squashed, and my new name "mommy" sticks.  I'll find some way to live with it. 

At five, Isabella is curious. She asks a lot of questions, but they are not typical "why" questions. They are "how" questions.  She wants to know how everything is made. Mostly she asks Mark, and mostly Mark can distill everything made, to two things: rocks and dinosaurs. It goes something like this:

"Daddy, how are hoses made?"

"Well, hoses are made of rubber. Rubber comes from petroleum. Petroleum comes from dead dinosaurs, SO hoses are made from dinosaurs." 

Tadpoles

Back in the day I remember going to the marshy area near our well to collect tadpoles in big mayonnaise jars with the neighbor kids. I ALSO remember the time I collected a bunch of tadpoles, put them in a fish bowl and stuck them on top of a crate in the TV room, so I could watch them grow into frogs. My mom, bless her heart, never complained (that I remember, anyway) about having a bowl of murky. stinky water filled with wanna-be frogs that would one day have the ability to jump out of the bowl and all over her house. Then one day she put the bowl outside on the porch so she could "dust" and "vacuum" without disturbing them.  She "accidentally forgot about them" and they fried in the hot sun. And that was the end of that.

Now we have a new generation of tadpole catchers. Isabella and Teddy have made several trips to the creek, but tadpole numbers are low due to the lack of rain and warm weather. Teddy managed to catch a few and gave one to Isabella. I gave Isabella a Mason jar for her new little treasure.

And then I overheard this conversation:

Ted: Isabella, if a frog grows up and it's a girl then it can lay eggs and have more tadpoles. (I brace myself wondering if this is going to turn into Isabella's first lesson on the facts of life. It does not.)

Isa: Great Teddy! I'm going to watch it every single day for it to grow into a frog.

Ted: It takes a looooooong time for it to turn into a frog--like 65 days. Or months. It's a really long, long, time. Let me come to your house and I'll help you build a habitat for it.

Well, Teddy, our resident biologist, was wrong. It took neither 65 days or months for the tadpole to sprout legs and arms. It was more like a week. I thought we had a little more time, since it hadn't lost its tail yet. I also thought a few times it was dead, because it got very still its jar. But that little tadpole was only plotting his escape. l walked into the kitchen one morning to find a frog-less mason jar.  So now we have a .5 inch little froglet jumping somewhere around our house. Isabella misses her tadpole. And that is the end of that.

Lucky Field Trip

There is nothing better than taking a bunch of preschoolers to the local supermarket on a field trip. Teresa, pictured above, was lovely and great with the kids. I had to remind Excited Isabella several times that Teresa was her teacher at the store and that she needed to listen, even though what she really wanted was to eat all the snacks involved in the tour.

 Amelie and Isabella. 

Teresa taught them all kinds of things: how many teeth they have their mouths, what they are made of,  how many bones we have in our body, what vitamins are found in dairy products, etc.

Matthew wanted to know why static electricity always seems to find his hair everywhere he goes. Teresa didn't cover that topic.

Teresa repeated the questions about teeth and bones over and over so the information might stick. The kids would yell out the answers. Isabella felt the need to yell out every answer even though the question had already been answered. Several times. She wins for enthusiasm.

Weight-lifting with gallons of milk.

The lobsters came out of their tanks and caused quite a stir.

The final stop of the tour was the deli section where the kids got to eat Pinwheels. When Teresa came out with a bread tray, Baby M spoke up the loudest--and got first dibs. (Carb-lover, just like me.)

Since the field trip, we have driven passed Lucky's Supermarket a few times. Isabella imparts her wisdom about health: "'Calcium starts with the letter 'C'!" Then she wonders aloud who is inside learning about food from Teresa the teacher. So we got the concept of health and healthy eating down. Supermarket? Not so much. 

General Conference

Twice a year (in April and October) we spend a weekend glued to the TV to watch leaders from our church speak in a worldwide conference that is broadcast from Salt Lake City. We started a tradition last year of setting up our own little tent city in our bedroom the night before the conference begins, based on a story in the Book of Mormon about a righteous king who was to speak to his people. There were so many that came to hear the king speak, they camped out in tents.  So we pitch our (two) tents and let Isabella spend the night in our room. (Matthew has to sleep in his crib--otherwise no one would sleep.) We wake up Saturday morning, listen to the MoTab choir and have a yummy breakfast in our tents.  It's lovely, and relaxing, and uplifting. And super hard to stay focused for 8 hours over conference weekend with two small children who constantly need food or diaper changes or entertainment. But we try our best.

 1 And it came to pass that after Mosiah had done as his father had commanded him, and had made a proclamation throughout all the land, that the people gathered themselves together throughout all the land, that they might go up to the temple to hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them.

 2 And there were a great number, even so many that they did not number them; for they had multiplied exceedingly and waxed great in the land.

 5 And it came to pass that when they came up to the temple, they pitched their tents round about, every man according to his family, consisting of his wife, and his sons, and his daughters, and their sons, and their daughters, from the eldest down to the youngest, every family being separate one from another.

 6 And they pitched their tents round about the temple, every man having his tent with the door thereof towards the temple, that thereby they might remain in their tents and hear the words which king Benjamin should speak unto them;

Mosiah 2: 1-2, 5-6, Book of Mormon

Easter

 Easter crafts from Preschool.

Easter Sunday: Church followed by dinner at our house. Nana and Papa were our special guests of honor. Isabella was in charge of dishing out the potatoes.

She also took it upon herself to find bags for everyone so we could ALL participate in the 12-egg Easter Egg Hunt.

 Mark hid those eggs so well he forgot where he put them.

 So the Simpkins kids showed up to help Isabella.

Ah, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, so to speak. Isabella got a jump rope. Matthew got new sippy cups.

 Marshmallow eggs from Nana!

 Decorating bags with Easter stickers. The fun just doesn't end.

Happy Easter.