Mapping our Friends and Family

Things have been so busy lately. Between setting up my new practice space, including re-developing my business identity, and Morrison starting preschool, we haven't had much time for projects at home. I was feeling the need to do something together again, and came up with the idea of printing pictures of our friends and family and sticking them up on the map hanging on Morrison's wall. It was a lot of fun to map out where everyone is, and it helped Morrison to see who was close to each other, who was far. She thought it was cool that Tess now lives near Mateus, and suggested they might want to visit each other. What do you think guys?

Snorkling for Pennies in the Kiddie Pool

We bought Moby snorkle gear when we went to Hawaii nearly a year ago. We couldn't convince her to give them a try at the time, and really, who could blame her, she was barely 3. This weekend when we were playing in the pool Moby noticed the gear hanging in the garage and asked if she could try it. She was very brave and patient as she learned how to breathe through her mouth and put her face into the water. Eventually it turned into a game of diving for pennies in the pool. Good times......

103 Degrees in Seattle

Nuf said.

New Art Supplies

As most of you know, Moby is really into art. She is especially into painting. We have been feeling a little bored with our supplies lately, so today we went to the teacher-store and stocked up on new brushes (her first experience with different sizes), some more paint colors, watercolors, and a few other supplies. When we came home we had fun experimenting with the new stuff, but ultimately, painting won out in the end of course. She really enjoyed using the giant brush and feeling out the difference between the round brushes and the flat ones.

Panda Day

Yesterday morning when Moby climbed into bed with us, as she usually does, daddy called her "Baby Panda". She thought that was pretty funny so we started calling each other panda names, and before long we were online looking at pictures of pandas, getting dressed in black and white clothes and pulling bamboo out of the garden to pretend to eat it. These theme days are getting more and more common. Preschoolers are fun!!!

4th of Jooly

Yes, it's been a month since I posted. Summer is always like this. Busy busy busy. Must be all that Yang energy from the sun that we rarely see any other time of the year. I feel like I have barely sat down, let alone had time to blog.

Anyhoo, we have a little tradition starting of heading up to the g-parents in Blaine for the 4th to pick strawberry's, make jam, and watch the fireworks across the bay. This year was a little different, since we decided to forego the jam making, and we added some home fireworks since Moby is finally old enough to appreciate them. We had a nice weekend. We picked berries, relaxed, and lit up some sparklers and a few other surprises.

M Day

Nuf said.

Brownie Cookies are both

Today's make was a few dozen brownie cookies. Much to my surprise, Moby is already an expert at the hand mixer. The batch was made between a morning lounging in the new wading pool and an afternoon carousing in said pool. A relaxing day was had by all.

One kid at a time and some fermentation

I decided not to post while we were in Chicago, since the flickr pictures tell the story. We got back late late Friday night and Saturday I headed straight to work for a very full day while daddy dealt with the inevitable post-vacation recovery process including melt-downs, lots of crying and a long nap for everyone. Sunday we were back on track. Devin has finally recovered fully from her virus and Moby is back on her usual behavior. We split the crew up into two groups. I stayed home with Devin and played casually around the house while we did load after load of laundry. Daddy and Mobysan had a full day of errands which included Costco, Lowes, Petco, QFC, and some specialty science store (phew!) and topped the afternoon off with Morrison's first in-theater movie, Up. She loved it! Especially the popcorn in a brown paper bag! He took her to this little local theater that has the old school velvet curtains and vintage couches in the lobby. Classic. When they got home they put together an old fashioned fermentation tank from a laundry tub and started some yeast cooking for some home-brew vodka. Good 'ol Lenny science. This kid is learnin' the real stuff here.

Beautifying the Body and the Garden

We had a very relaxing day around the house today. One of my favorite things about Sundays is that I can take Devin and Moby & daddy get to spend a lot of time together, usually on some project or other. Today Morrison really wanted her nails painted, after seeing Radha's pedicure last night at dinner. I offered to do it, but she requested daddy. He has never in his life painted a nail, so it was fun for both of them. She got her mani-pedi and the two of them spent the rest of the day getting dirty expanding our potted garden. They mixed their own special blend of soil and put in a new tomato, more lettuce, carrots, and beans that our neighbor gave us. She plants these incredible flat beans along the fence between her yard and our driveway and after complimenting her on them last year she saved some seeds for us this time around. Devin, aka "The Destructor" got herself into as much trouble as possible eating dirt, rocks, ants and overturning pots. Some ribs slow-cooked in the oven most of the day and were finished up on the grill. We all know how Moby and daddy like their bone meat!! Poor little Niesta is growing her top set of teeth, they are breaking through as we speak. We are popping the homeopathic teething tablets in and the Chinese herbs, but we might have to resort to Tylenol later tonight.

Donuts to Dancing

Another "make", this time donuts. I made them when I was a kid with my dad too. Delicious!

Later, we had to work off all that sugar so dada pulled out his dj skills and we had a little dance party in the play room.

Mother's Day

The best thing Lenny could have given me for mother's day is a couple nights of rest. He was happy to comply and took the girls up to his dad's for the weekend. They had a blast at an alpaca farm, rolling (or somersaulting) in the yard, blowing bubbles, playing with balls, and watching Fantasia for the first time while mama had the chance to sleep through the night.

Dance News, Gate, Painting with Veggies & Baby Legs

Today was dance day. I didn't know it was also dance-review day. Morrison was reviewed by her teacher and was given a certificate announcing that she had finished the first level of Creative Dance and was being moved up to Creative Dance II for next semester! This is very impressive because that class is for 4-5 year olds, and she started this class 2 semesters in. Our little munchkin is really enjoying the class and it appears that is paying off in her skill level as well.

In Devin news, her crawling, and her increasing crawling speed necessitated the installation of the baby gate at the top of the stairs. We put it up for Morrison, but never shut it since she was so overly cautious she never made a move for the stairs. We are in a very different situation now. Little miss "on-the-move" is all about taking risks and is going so far as to get herself to a stand and then letting go of whatever aid she used. This always winds up in falling on her butt, or sometimes straight backwards. NO FEAR in this one. She has places to go and is determined to walk ASAP. The gate is up, which gives me a few extra minutes and some piece of mind. Now to childproof the rest of the house!!!!

We also did a little art project today. Something I remember enjoying a lot as a child, painting with vegetables. I cut up a potato, some broccoli, napa cabbage, a carrot and celery and let Moby use them to make prints on paper with her easel paint. It was fun, but she got bored of it quickly. I thought it would be a bigger hit after the fun we had painting the rocks. I guess you can't win them all.

The last bit of excitement, for mama anyway, is the baby legs arrived today. They were intended for Devin, so that her crawling outside, where we have no grass, wouldn't tear up her knees, but Morrison wanted to try them and the purple stripies suited her so well I'm going to let her keep them. I'll get another set for Devin too, they work great and are super cute to boot.

Finally a Haircut and the Rocks get Painted

Moby has needed a haircut for a month but I've been putting it off so that her cut is fresh for our trip to Chicago. I finally couldn't wait any longer, since she was having so much trouble listening, I mean seeing. The listening problem has nothing to do with the hair. So, we went to our usual place in the mall where Matt-Matt works for a trim. I didn't have time to wash her hair this morning so when the stylist asked, I said "Yes! I would love it if you would wash my child's hair so I don't have to do it and put up with her whining and screaming over it!!!" Moby was nervous, since if you couldn't tell, she HATES having her hair washed, but she was brave. She had her hands clutched in fists the whole time, but they have a nice table for the kids to lie down on with their heads over the sink and once she realized her face was not going to get wet she was more into it. The cut went fine otherwise and she even got the sparkly hair spray she loves. We stopped by Matt's store to say hi since it was our last chance. Next week he'll be moving to the downtown store, so sad. We will visit him there on occasion, but the free parking and play area in the mall are pretty hard to top.

After naps and quiet time we spent the rest of the day outside, since it was 70 and sunny. Moby has always been into rocks. I mean REALLY into rocks. She has built up quite a collection of "outside" rocks that she will play with, mainly washing and sorting. Today she said she was "painting" them with water so I got the idea to bring out the finger paints and let her go to town on the rocks. She loved it! They actually turned out very cool once they dried.

The Governor

It was a Jade day, so I don't have any stories about the girls to tell. But, I have three new favorite pictures of Devin that I thought I would share, enjoy!

Ant Day

This morning we woke up to about 2000 ants on a long path between a small crack under the front door through the entry, past the stairs, into the kitchen, around my desk and to a spot just under the fridge. Apparently there was something tasty under there, although all I can see is dust bunnies. We took this opportunity to celebrate today as "ant day". We read our ant book, we did experiments with the ants like putting things in their path to see if they would go over or around them, and we called the two aunties, aunt tess and aunt greer, to say "happy ant day!!" We talked a lot about insects and ants in particular. It was a good opportunity for Moby to feel more comfortable with bugs, she's been a little afraid of them lately. We will finish off our day with some ants-on-a-log while we watch the movie "A Bugs Life", which for those unfamiliar, is all about the lives of a group of ants.

Tonight after the girls are in bed I will be getting out the dust buster, filling the hole in the door, scrubbing whatever tastiness is under the fridge and putting out a jar with a boric acid solution to be sure that the rest of our ant experiments happen outdoors this summer.

Another "Make" and a new toy for a steal

Today the "make" was caramels. Morrison was pretty into it, since daddy finally let her stir something on the stove. It is well known that I HATE caramel. Except when Lenny makes it. I actually like the stuff! Wednesday we'll take the booty in to Jades to share.

I spent a few hours at goodwill today, mostly looking for summer clothes for the girls, but I found this toy which retails at $60 and only paid two, yes TWO dollars!! I will MAKE money on it when I sells it on craigslist after Devin is done with it. Found some really cute clothes too....

Pretzels and Pancakes

Today I was working, but daddy was kind enough to photo-journalize their day of pretzel-making. When Matt-Matt and I were kids, we made pretzels on a semi-regular basis with both our mom and our favorite baby-sitter, Marit. So, I suggested it on Friday and daddy thought it would be fun. Morrison is always asking to "make" so he thought it would be the perfect project. They had a ton of fun and made really awesome pretzels. For dinner daddy thought it would be funny to have "breakfast for dinner" so he made omelets, pancakes, bacon and sausage. Morrison got a kick out of it. I call it "recession dinner".

Devin has something to say

Today was a Jade day, so I didn't see the girls much. But, I fed Devin a small bottle and put her down, and she wouldn't settle. She was crying and complaining and I thought she might still be hungry since she doesn't always drink her full 2 bottles at Jades. I made another small one and took it up. When I opened the door she was on her knees looking so desperate and sad. I said "Niesta....." in a reassuring way, and she said, very clearly, "maaaamaaa....."

Devin's first word. This means a lot to me, since Morrison said Dada for MONTHS before she ever said mama, and "mattmatt" shortly followed for her.

Things that make a mama smile.....

Homemade Udon and a Carousel

Yesterday Moby and Daddy spent a better part of the day making Udon noodles from scratch. Moby had her own little batch of flour, kneaded it and put it covered in her own little bowl to sit. Later, she rolled out her little dough ball with her very own tiny rolling pin. Daddy had to cut them, we haven't gotten her the "learning" knife yet, soon soon. Next they hung them from their rolling pins to dry and she helped cook her own noodles separate from the rest. In the end she ate her own noodles while Daddy and Mama shared his. I kept thinking the whole while how lucky she is to have the chance to do this kind of thing with her dad. What a great memory, maybe it will be her first?

Today we headed out for a day at the zoo (along with about 1/2 the city!). We had fun, it was Devin's first trip there. The highlight today was the bald eagle. They have rehabilitated about 60 bald eagles at our zoo, and there is one there now who is flying again. He is getting lots of practice "swooping" in front of us - no glass between us. Moby almost jumped out of her skin when he swooped down in front of her. And for good reason! The bird is about her size!!! At the end of the day we had a little ride on the carousel that the zoo had refurbished and was originally from 1918!!

We will finish off today with a viewing of Moby's (and mommy's) new favorite flick - My Neighbor Totoro, the Japanese animation that was recently dubbed, very well I might add, into English. Check out the trailer on youtube, it's a lovely story and beautifully animated.

Playdate at Roxy's

Today was pretty low-key, but we had a nice playdate with our "oldest" Seattle friends, Roxane and Nadine (Georgia was in school). These are the first friends we had when we moved here, Nadine and Morrison are a month apart. We played together a lot during their first year, while her older daughter was the entertaining preschooler. Now two preschoolers can play while Devin watches.

Floor puzzles and Drawing on the Windows

It was a low key day, since Morrison woke up sick. It's just a cold, Devin is at the tail end of it, but she was pretty miserable all morning. All she ate today was a piece of toast, 2 bananas (not at the same time) and a pile of rice. For those of you who don't know, this is called the BRAT diet without the applesauce. What's funny to me is that these are the things she requested to eat. I wasn't trying to give her the "sick foods." Anyway, the morning was uneventful and then Moby took a THREE HOUR nap!!!! Now, to many of you, this may not seem that strange. There are lots of three year olds out there who nap a few hours every day. But, this is Moby we're talking about. Not only has she not napped in a year, she has only ONCE ever taken a three hour nap and when it she was 5 weeks old. I'm serious. I almost checked to be sure she was still alive but down she came after 3 hours. wow. Anyway, after that and a little Tylenol she felt much better and we decided to put together all three of our rockin' floor puzzles (SO much fun, you should try it!) and then we pulled out the new crayons that color on glass and made some lovely art on all the windows. Well, at least up to 4 feet on all of the windows, or as high as she can reach. Hopefully she'll be feeling better tomorrow.