Observations from Today

No pictures, but maybe you can visualize these scenarios in your mind's eye.

• The more dangerous the climbing equipment, the more enticing to preschoolers.
  
  
• Little girls knees don't mix well with pavement.
  
  
• Mom wearing a new shirt increases likelihood of bloodied knees.
  
  
• Curious George DVDVs solve many of life's pains and disappointments.
  
  
• Little girls don't enjoy meatloaf.
  
  
• Macaroni & Cheese can restore peace and joy to dinnertime :)
  
  
• After a long day - a bath is a good way for girls to get ready for bed.
  
  
• Dora books don't do well in the bathtub.
  

What observations did you make today?

Long Weekend in Michigan

We went to Zeeland/Holland to spend the holiday weekend with friends and family. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures later. But here are the best quotes from the weekend.

Calli goes downstairs to check on Tia KT who isn't feeling well. Calli comes back and reports "Tia KT has a stomach, like the caterpillar". Translation: Tia KT has a stomachache, like "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" in the story who eats too much.

Calli, Mari, Grandma, Grandpa and I are eating breakfast together. Out of nowhere, Calli turns to Grandpa and asks "Grandpa, where did all you hair go?" LOL!

You can do it Jesus!

A friend and I have been having discussions lately about how to let our kids see and experience God's involvement in our lives. I want the girls to know God cares about us and the things we do everyday. I don't want God to be just a prayer before meals and bedtime.

So a couple months back, it was a very windy day and really cold in our place. I thought closing all the storm windows would make a big difference keeping the heat in. So I went around from room to room closing the windows. The window in Calli's room was really difficult. But rather than say something to express my frustration, I thought I would use this opportunity to show Calli how God helps us. So I said "Help me Jesus, help me close this window". I was able to close the window.

Then this week, it was really warm. I thought Calli's room was too warm, so I decided to open the storm window to let some air in. As soon as I started trying to move the screen (it is kinda stubborn) Calli started saying "Come on Jesus! You can do it Jesus". It was amazing. She gets it, and she really has faith. I thought I wasn't going to be able to get it this time, but Jesus did help me open the window.

Lord, help me model for my kids how you are always by our side, and how much you long to be involved in even the mundane parts of our lives. Help me demonstrate your power in more than just opening and closing windows.

Pigtails!!!

I was thinking about getting Calli's hair cut soon. With warm weather upon us, I thought maybe going short would help her stay cool. But then I thought maybe we could do pigtails. It kinda worked. What do you think: short or pigtails? other suggestions?

Goodbye Pacys (sniff, sniff)

After our first visit to the dentist last week, we had to own up to the fact that Calli is too old for a pacy. We have been telling her ever since that "in a few days" we were going to throw her pacys in the trash. (Kinda like Tia Julie.) Well, today was the big day! After her nap, I told her we were going to go throw her pacys in the trash can. She was still waking up and said "Mamma, can I have my pacys for a few more minutes?" It was so sweet.
Then we went downstairs and threw her pacys in the dumpster. (Some of you are wondering - why only two? Where are the rest? I had been taking pacys away one at a time so she went down from the near 10 she had, to 2. The rest are in a drawer in case of an emergency - but she doesn't know that.) Then we went to the toy store. I let her pick out whatever she wanted - anything! She picked this little music box in the form of a book that fits in the palm of my hand. She is so cute! She looked at everything, and picked this little wind-up music box for a whopping 6 bucks.

There is something so innocent about that, not picking the biggest toy she could find. But at the same time, she's taking her first steps of independence - a big girl who doesn't need pacys. (Well, as I'm typing this she is lying awake in bed. We'll see how this goes . . .)

Lunch With Dillon

Today our playgroup met at a park because it was warm and sunny. We had a fun time seeing everyone. Mari enjoyed the swings for the second day in a row! Calli had a bag of mini-goldfish and shared very well - handing them out one by one to any kid who asked. Of course, my kids wouldn't stop and pose, but I got this great shot of Dillon!

Then Renae invited us to go out for lunch with them. We went to Baker's Square. It was yummy! (Yes, Dillon was chewing on this lemon! Silly boy)

Calli did a great job eating her hamburger, and Mari ate about half the turkey off my Slow-Roasted Turkey Focaccia. The best, and most surprising part, was that Renae and I actually had some good conversation, which is tricky to do when you are a group of 2 adults and 4 kids!!

What did you say?

Today we were looking at a book with all kinds of shops. A music shop, a pet shop, a hardware store, a toy store, etc. Calli says to me, "I got a guitar at the sandwich store".

I think she must be making up a story to go with the music shop in the book. I say: "That is silly".

She says it again: "I got a guitar at the sandwich store".

Whatever. I say: "You can get a guitar at a music store, or a sandwich at a sandwich store, but not a guitar at a sandwich store".

She says it again: "I got a guitar at the sandwich store". So I think really hard. A couple of weeks ago, we went to Subway, and for her toy she got - of course - a guitar. She really does know what she is talking about :)

Tent over the butterfly bed

Tonight, desperate for something new to do, the girls and I made this tent over Calli's butterfly bed. She proceeded to bring and dump all her little books, her Easter eggs, various toy people, and many other random toys into it. But they LOVED it! Even Ashleigh got in on the action when she was over.


Here is Mari. Calli wouldn't stay still long enough for a picture :)

Picnic with Koji & Izumi

Today we went on a nice (though not particularly relaxing) picnic with Jamie and kids. The older kids wanted to run around and play, but wanted mom to be there to help/play. The younger girls wanted to stand, but to have mom support them the whole time. And the moms, I think we wanted to sit there, have adult conversation, and slowly eat our lunches - dream on!


One pleasant surprise, was that Mari tolerated, possibly even enjoyed swinging. Maybe she is old enough to like it, or maybe she thought is was okay because Izumi was right next to her.





Koji and Calli took turns turning the wheel. Koji took his post very seriously!!

2 smiles: 2 much 2 ask?

For picture taking, this is pretty typical. One smiles -


And then the other -


Then neither -


Finally, they are both looking - are they smiling? close enough :)

Color me happy!

Thanks to some cool birthday stickers from Jake's party yesterday, and my willingness to do one more thing before we went to the gym, it was the perfect time to do some coloring!

This is one of Mari's first coloring opportunities, and she still seems to prefer eating the crayons to coloring with them.

Their artwork. (I'm thinking that taking pictures might be much less space-consuming than saving every precious drawing.)

Later we did more "coloring" outside on the sidewalk with chalk. (And yes, Mari tried to eat the chalk too.)

School Program

Today we went to the first of many school programs. Calli's school had a fundraising event, complete with a dinner, auction, and small program. So there we were - snapping pictures wildly - while Calli stood, (not singing), on stage and looked around. . . For one song all the kids had flags, and she did wave her (Mexican) flag - LOL.


In any case, she did seem to enjoy it.

Saturday in the Park

We took a break from running errands to enjoy the Evanston Garden Fair.
It is so hard to crawl without putting your knees on the grass!!


Here is Calli with the cute *flower she got from one of the gardening clubs, which she immediately began adding dandelions to! (*Help me, what is the name of this flower?)

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

For Mother's Day (last year) Rich got me a gift certificate to Egea Spa. This year, he gave me a day by myself while he watched the girls. So I went and enjoyed a massage and body glow. It was wonderful. This is the little room where sip cucumber water, read a magazine and wait in your bathrobe to be taken to your massage - ah, just like home ;)
Any guys out there looking to impress your girl - I highly recommend this! Thanks Moto!

Things I Never Thought I'd Say

I'm getting quite a collection. Here is one from today:

"We don't wash our face with milk - that is not a good idea"

Spring Showers

I guess you know it is spring when you start to get rain showers. We have had several showers in the last few weeks. Tonight the sky got dark, it poured, it drizzled, and then it mostly cleared up. Our observant neighbors found this rainbow and called to let us know about it.

Calli, Dillon and I went outside to see it. They had been watching a DVDV while I made dinner. Dillon's parents are considering a move to our neighborhood - here's hoping they do :)

It's a lip, it's a lip, it's a lip lip lip

This morning, I decided to give the girls a bath before we went to playgroup. Somehow, despite having been changed just prior to breakfast, Mari managed to do a big, stinky, messy poo that was not contained in the diaper. Thinking this made the bath even more appropriate I went to clean her up. Then I brought diaperless Mari to the bathroom to get the bath started. (I know, you are already asking why I would leave her for even a minute without a diaper.)

But before I got the water running, I was trying to clean out her pajama bottems in the sink. And the phone rings. So I left the girls to run and get the phone. As I come back, Mari has fallen and is crying. I'm not sure how, but she apparently bumped her mouth on either the toilet seat or the tiles on the wall. She's got blood all over her top front teeth. Ahhhh!

So I comfort her, take the call, and try to finish the clean up. I call the dentist, who says to bring her in. In the midst of all that, Mari stops crying, but yells out when she pees on the bath mat. AHHHH!

The girls get their bath and we go to the dentist before playgroup. Apparently she has torn the frenulum on her uppper lip. (Check this mountain biking website for details.) The teeth are not loose - so that is good. And the dentist assured me the tear would heal on it's own. Not only that, but tearing the frenulum on one's upper lip in childhood is supposed to prevent the gap between the two front teeth some adults have. (He mentions David Letterman & Madonna.) Who knew?

No, this is not Mari's mouth. She cried enough when the dentist tried to look at it.

Hear our prayers

We have gotten in the habit of praying for Calli every night as we put her in bed. We lay a hand on her and pray for her. I tend to pray the same things every night. I thank God for fun things we did that day. I pray for her to have good Christian girlfriends, and a husband that loves God. I pray for the Holy Spirit to comfort her in the night. I pray for her to have good dreams. I thank God that she is a good big sister, and that she is in our family. The order changes, but the topics are the same.

Just now I put Calli down for her afternoon nap. She said she wanted me to pray. Rather than try and explain the difference between nap and bedtime, I figured I'd go the easy route and pray for her. But since it was only the nap I opted for an abbreviated version. As I walked out the door, she was asking for something, but I couldn't understand her because she had her pacy in her mouth. I figured it was another stalling technique and kept walking.

As I was walking out the door, I changed my mind and went back. She said "Good Christian girlfriends to encourage her". Part of my "regular" prayer - repeated word for word! I know I am praying to God, and I know He always hears our prayers. But I had never thought about the impact they may have on Calli, to know the things that we pray for her. God, please bless Calli as she learns how to talk with you, and present her requests to you. And also, please bless her with good Christian girlfriends to encourage her!

Calli's Favorite Color

Dadda bought Calli this cool nail polish - but we kept forgetting about it. So this morning before escuela we decided we couldn't wait any longer.


Mariella even got some - like it or not.


See how nice it looks with Calli's new sandals!!
After escuela we went to the pirate ship park. Then the girls had bagels on the way home!!

Did you guess what Calli's favorite color is?

Spring Photo Shoot

Lunch With Lucas

Today we had a lunch date with Lucas, Ana & Elizabeth (Lucas' grandma). We met at Old Orchard where it was so nice we could enjoy our lunch outside.


And, I managed to wear my "Live Aloha" t-shirt. This is one of a set of three from when Julie, KT and I all got matching shirts when we visited Julie in Hawaii.

After lunch, and a little time running around on the dragon, I dragged the girls off for pictures. Picture People didn't have any appointments, but I took advantage of all the beautiful flowers around Old Orchard and we did our own photo shoot. (More pics to come.)

As you may have noticed, it can be tricky to get Calli to look at the camera. So gave in, and bribed the girls that after a few more good pictures, I'd give them a cookie. When I pushed them as far as they would go, I loaded them in the stroller, gave them each half of a chocolate chip cookie, and headed for the car. When I arrived at the car, this is what I found :)

Millennium Park - Take 2!

After having such a great time last time, we decide to go back to Millennium Park, and this time to bring friends. We drove down this time, with Lucas & Elizabeth (his grandma), and met up with Jamie, Koji & Izumi.


Alex was even able to walk over the few blocks from work to join us for our picnic.


Izumi and Mari loved crawling around together in the water.


Mari!

It wasn't quite as warm as last time, so Calli was a little more timid. But she enjoyed it - as did Lucas!

Crown Fountain