Monkey See Monkey Do

I've been playing the piano a lot lately, trying to make 'practicing' a part of my daily routine. It's been wonderful for me to strengthen a talent I was nearly sure was lost! Turns out I'm still pretty good at it :-) Then there's the added bonus of exposing the kids to one of my favorite instruments.

Evan has asked me to teach him to play (this was a total shocker!) and Chloe always wants to sit by me and play along (can anyone say challenging??). This morning when I was done with my turn, Chloe got up there on her own and 'practiced' for almost ten minutes.





She was just making up tunes, using both hands, turning pages when she was ready. Evan was apparently baffled by all of it because he asked me "Mom, how did Chloe learn to play all these songs?" :-) I'm still chuckling about that....

Posted by Bree

Easter Egg Fun

This morning the kids decorated themselves as Easter Egg Trees to look like the one in our neighbor's front yard.

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I Love The Way

I love the way....
... her cheeks look when she smiles
I love the way....
... her hair glows in the sunlight
I love the way....
... she has something on her mind all the time
I love the way....
... her tiny voice sounds
I love the way....
... she feels everything in life so deeply
I love the way....
... her long fingers remind me she is growing
I love the way....
... her neck smells when I kiss her
I love the way....
... she twirls her hair when she is sleepy
I love the way....
... her baby soft skin feels
I love the way....
... her arms squeeze tight for every single hug
I love the way....
... her eyelashes curve when she is looking down
I love the way....
... she laughs when she is being tickled
I love the way....
... she calls me Mama

Posted by Bree

Outside Tidbits

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Who Knew

Who knew there was a budding artist inside this little boy of mine?? He who resisted all efforts I made to encourage artsy time as a toddler. He hated crayons. Never colored a picture in a coloring book in all his life (I tried). Barely interested in markers.Took a liking to colored pencils once Chloe used them on a fairly regular basis (she has always loved drawing).

Through all this he has always loved painting though. His pictures have usually been of trucks and mud patches and flat tires and such.


But yesterday he painted this:




I was speechless. Colorful side wing, accurately proportioned, curly tail feather. Now, it's on plain white paper and bled quite a bit. He also had a giant tip paintbrush so all that aside, it's pretty amazing, right??

He had painted a "fledgling duck" just before this adult one, but it bled into the paper pretty fast. I couldn't believe his method of concentration and precision while working. This was absolutely his first real work of art.

It is astounding to think of the things he does in his mind.... he works it all out first then brings it into the world completed. Who knew??

Posted by Bree

When It Rains

I am a believer in toy rotation. If there are too many toys out, no one plays with anything due to choice overload or they only play with one or two favorites anyway (so why bother finding shelf space for it all). Some of our favorites are always out because they are everyday joys. But a lot of the other stuff is in bins in the storage room. When it rains we pull out toys that go through rotation. It's been raining and windy for days here....

Last week we dipped into the playmobil toybox and it had their interest all day long, and mostly without fighting! Everything is so teeny tiny that it's not really made for a three year old, but Chloe does pretty well the more she tries.

Her favorites are the animals (mostly dogs and horses) and she loves to set up the house for the family and put everyone to bed.
Evan likes his vehicle collection of jeeps and a horse cart. He usually sets up the campsite or builds the playground.
They both love the "garden" with the well where the rabbits all live and graze. Too bad the jeeps went off-roading over the flowers and knocked down the tree at the ice cream store.
It was definitely a day well-spent, and I like these toys since I can sort of play along too without Chloe imposing too many of her made-up rules on me :-)

Posted by Bree

Meeting Ajay

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Excited

Evan and Chloe have a new cousin!!
We are super excited!!!


Here is the link to Bryce's blog
if you want to find out about the new baby too.

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Fashion

These are Chloe's favorite outfits:
In a drawer full of cute clothes, these are the only two outfits she ever wants.

Her first choice is the dot shirt and the snowflake pants, but the rainbow stripes get her approval when the others are in the laundry.

And Thomas always goes on top. Always. Don't suggest that we take a break from him either.

On her feet are either purple, green or black socks. These are the only colored ones in the drawer. She has boycotted the cheap and simple white ones I have always bought. They just sit there, rejected.

And since she really hasn't grown much in the past year and a half, we have been looking at these clothes for what feels like forever. Everything is a size 2 except Thomas which we bought big in a size 4 (that really came back to bite us didn't it).

I asked her what she wants to buy when she grows and these are all too small. You know what she said, don't you? "Thomas!!!!!!! and DOTS!!! and lots of color socks!!!!!"

So I guess this is it for a while longer.

Posted by Bree

I May Not Have Photos

Fresh air and sunshine. Cool wind on gloveless hands. Muddy shoes and dirt-stained jeans.
And good friends to share it all with.

I haven't taken any actual photos of our past couple days spent with the best of friends but I treasure each mental image I have imprinted in my mind's eye.

I watched Evan be both leader and follower, helper and companion, wanderer and explorer, playful six and a half year old and tired spent-the-whole-day-outside tired boy.

I watched Chloe be independent and brave, stretch her legs and her imagination, play alone and play together, creative three and a half year old and tired-but-too-wired-to-sleep girl.

I felt Chloe's annoyance when I intruded on her private time in a secluded corner playing alone. She had found something of her own. "Leave Mom."

I felt Evan's heartache when he had to leave the "campfire" he set up in the backyard with his best friend. "I don't ever want to leave Mom."

I felt Evan's exhaustion after an hour "treasure hunting" in the woods as he collapsed and cuddled on me to recuperate.

I felt Chloe's emptiness when we all left her on the picnic blanket to eat on the porch and she gathered up her belongings and promptly plopped herself right in the middle of everyone to feel included again.

I stared up at the blue sky and all the bare branches and watched birds and listened to the wind all around.... finding alone times in the midst of a million kids....

I saw tender moments between friends of all ages. Kindness and courtesy. Sweetness and silliness. Treasures and secrets and adventures....

And along with all this goodness I have special and wonderful women I am proud to call my friends. They share their lives, their homes, their kindness, their stories, their food and their children with me and I am so blessed!

I may not have the photos for any of it but it doesn't matter. A photo cannot truly capture any of this good life stuff anyway :-)

Posted by Bree

On the Way Out

Before we get in the car, they always grab kittens.
The kittens like the CD in the car. Sometimes they dance. Sometimes they sing along.

They also like to be with their owners. Sometimes they come into the store or the library or to the playground.

They are dirty and saggy and well-loved. I can't imagine an outing without them.

Posted by Bree

Reflection

{Click the photo to enlarge}

Camo

This is what the kids had to show me yesterday while I posted a blog:
They really don't like it when I'm on the computer... or maybe they do.....

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Evidence

One of my favorite things about having children is walking into a room they have been in and finding evidence of their play, their imagination, their very existence. These cute reminders of life are so precious and individual to each child.

Chloe was here:

And here:

And here:

And here:

Posted by Bree

Glorious

Mud is glorious.

Well, to them, at least.

To me it's just the precursor to the big pile of laundry needing to be cleaned later.

They told me they were having fun playing "dung beetles rolling poop into a ball."

Nice.
They asked me if I wanted to play too.

Pass.


I asked them if we could take a walk, and they agreed to depart from the mud momentarily.

I giggled to myself most of the way around.
I mean , look at these ragamuffins.
Whose kids are these??


Chloe brought along a mudball on a stick.
I hoped it was a magic wand, one that would clean all the clothes, coats, gloves, boots and stinky socks for me.

It wasn't.

But it was a glorious day.
Even though I spent the rest of it doing laundry.

Posted by Bree

Evan's Latest

We haven't seen the transformers out but a few times for about a month now. It's been legos like crazy -- learning to build trucks with instructions. He spends a good deal of time playing with Chloe in their room but she's been wanting to be alone more often. He still reads books to her when she asks or he reads privately to himself. Still devouring Bill Peet books. Of course there is always wild running around the house. This involves lots of noise with rev-up trucks racing each other for hours a day.... On nicer days he is outside being wild. It's a lot quieter out there.


Oh, and he finally got a hair cut :-)

Posted by Bree

Back To Normal

The kids have been outside so much since the weather has "warmed" up to the 30's lately. It seems we are back to normal spending huge chunks of time outside, getting covered head to toe in dirt/mud/slop/wetness, and trying to burn off all the energy we've had in reserve.

They wanted to take a spin around the block on bikes, which turned into a great trek and climb since NO ONE shovels their sidewalks. We spent too much time dodging traffic on the street.

And it was kind of exhausting carrying Chloe's scooter for her most of the way and playing tow truck for Evan's bike. But look at this great snow pile!
We are thrilled knowing February is finally done and it is March. That means winter is mostly over and normal can resume once again.

Posted by Bree

Aunt Basketball

That's what Todd calls my sister.
I love it.

The kids are insanely excited for Aunt Basketball to no longer carry that ball in her shirt and instead have a new cousin to admire and hold and nuzzle.

Just a few short weeks to go!!!

Posted by Bree

Keep Laughing

There they were, sharing silly poems together on the chair this morning. Evan was reading enthusiastically some of his favorites and cackling loudly. Chloe was just sitting there, listening. Evan gets frustrated with her.
"Chloe, why aren't you laughing? This is funny!"



And I remember him at three and how he would stare at me the same way if I tried to do something he just didn't understand. He just wasn't there yet. And she isn't there yet. I can think of so many parts of childhood like this, but when we just wait and watch and keep presenting opportunities, it happens. They get there. When they are ready.




We just have to trust them and their own timing and not force it on them or give up trying. Someday Chloe will think these poems are funny too.

Until then, I told him, just keep laughing :-)

Posted by Bree