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!

 

 

SJ's 4th birthday

another Rapunzel themed party for our family

 tug of war with Rapunzel's braid

 Flynn Rider piñata (we used a frying pan instead of a bat).  I put some candy inside, and SJ supplemented the prize with the hard earned quarters from her piggy bank.

 Balloon Launch:  we tagged each one with the child's name and a note to contact us if found.  One was found in a town nearby and another one made it all the way to Portland, OR!

Baby S's First Birthday

 

Where does the time go?  It makes my heart ache to know that a year with this precious baby has already passed.  She is sweet and happy and brings joy to all of us.

 She smashed and ate a cupcake, and opened presents while wearing a crown made by her big sisters.

Fun Friday in Seattle

Seattle and I had a rocky week... iphone stolen, (And miraculously recovered), car theft in our "crime free" neighborhood, and a very rough experience at the library left me more than a little disgruntled.  Today's really fun day helped smooth off some of those rough edges.  Gotta take the good with the bad, I guess.  

City center fountain, science center, and mariners game with my man.  

Camping

We went camping at an awesome property owned by our church... Ensign Ranch.  They have canoes, horseback riding, and  a giant slip and slide (our girls still call it a slipping slide). We had lots of fun and baby s slept great and ate lots of dirt.

Lunch help

Here is a list if the things I served for lunch today...

Leftover homemade Mac and cheese

Banana

Yogurt with honey and banana

PB&J sandwich

Hummus toast with tomatoes, wait -no tomatoes, wait I changed my mind I do want tomatoes

Pretzels with hummus

Cherries 

strawberries 

Snow peas

This is crazy, right?  I am really strict during breakfast an dinner... The kids have to eat what I make and can't pick and choose from other things in the kitchen.  Since I am so strict the rest of the day, I made a decision a year or so ago to let them have more flexibility and choose what they want for lunch, but this is getting difficult!  By the end of lunch I was worn out and my kitchen was a disaster.  What do your moms of multiple children do for lunches?  Mine are too young to make their own... Or at least to be helpful making their own.  :)