Summer goodness

Lately

Yep, not so good at updating the ole blog lately. Matt's been in Bogota for the past three weeks so the kids and I have been flying solo. I do have a few pictures that seem very typical of life right now.

Here is Ella. It was not warm but she decided to put on her bathing suit and furry boots to play in the yard. The addition of the shirt was my idea.

Noah joined her. He's sporting his Lightening McQueen undies (have I mentioned that my kids can't seem to make it to the end of the day with pants on? I'm not sure why but I just go with it.) Oh, and they are inspecting the dog poop that has yet to be picked up. They do this every time we play in the yard.

Now Noah is calling me over to get the poo. Thanks buddy. It is always an emergency.

And now Noah is explaining something really important to Ella. A friend had the kids the other day and when she brought them home she said that Noah was her informant. That pretty much sums it up. Noah narrates life for all of us.

So there you have it...some typical stuff from June. More later.

Weekend Notes

This is from a few weeks ago and it has been sitting around, but I'm just posting it now...

We've had such a sweet weekend that I don't forget it. On Friday morning Matt called saying that the kids were going to spend the night with his mom so that we could have a night on our own! We had an amazing dinner at a six table, hole-in-the-wall sushi place and then slept in (you know, to 8am). Being the responsible people that we are, we decided to forgo a morning bike ride and start distributing the 5 cubic yards of compost and mulch that was sitting on the driveway. I only note this because 1) it was just about the cutest thing to watch Noah load mulch in the tiny wheelbarrow and then to see Ella push push it to the place where Matt had his load and then drop it off just like her daddy and 2) because we finished it in 8 hours. This is HUGE as it took us about 6 weeks to do the same thing in 2008.

That night we had a hilarious dinner with friends and then decided that even though it was super late, we'd stop at the walk up Dairy Queen for ice cream on the way home. Ella squealed with delight at the sight of a cone dipped in sprinkles. It was precious to watch them concentrate on their cones and to see how they shared them with the other.

That brings us to Sunday. This year the preschool Sunday School class has been using alphabet to the learn the attributes of God (ie. R is for righteous). Today was the day that the children shared what they've learned with the adults in a little program. The preschool class was up first, each of them holding their letter and ready to say their lines. I was amazed at how well all the kids did. Then it was Ella's turn. She was supposed to say 'L is for love. God is love.' She looked at the teacher, looked at Noah, backed away from the microphone, reached up for her brother's neck and gave Noah a big hug. We all clapped. Noah was also not interested in telling everyone that D is for deliverer.

Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the weekend but here are to recent ones. I told the kids that we were going to Kangaroo Lake over Memorial Day weekend and that they should pack their backpacks. Ella took this job very seriously and walked around with her packed bag on her back for about a week.

And this picture does not really have anything to do with the weekend either...Noah just thinks it is really neat that he can cross his fingers. Want to remember.

New Kodama Sandals!

A box of Havaianas arrived yesterday...what a treat to have new flip flops arrive at your doorstep! Ella particularly liked the jewels on her PINK ones... as seen below, she took off immediately and wanted to play outside in her new shoes.

This is the goofy smile that she gave me when I asked if she liked her new shoes.

Noah found his old flip flops, set all of them in a pile together, put the new ones on and was off and running in his before I could get a picture. However, this morning he has been busily making crowns from the gift wrapping.

Thanks Kodama and Cristina! We all love our new sandals!

And PS --Moses received a crown as well. Not sure how he feels about it.

Noah at 3 years, 4 months

This son of ours, Noah, I love him. There are so many little things that have happened lately that show me who he is. He's really into the some of the CDs that we have in the van and when he hears a song starting he exclaims 'oh, it's my faborite!' Or, take his relationship with Ella. I love that he cares for her. While collecting eggs on Easter and when he noticed that he took the egg that Ella was going for he took it out of his basket and gave it to her. Then again, he also speaks his mind. The other day Ella kept asking him to tie her up like a doggie but he was not interested. After listening to her ask one too many times, he told her adamantly 'Ella I'm working.'

One thing that I noticed from a young age was his tenderness. The other night he was not feeling well and around 9:30 I heard him calling for me and saying that he wanted to lay with me in my bed. Figuring that it would be good for both of us to just go to sleep I brought him in and with his head on the pillow he just lay there smiling, so content to be in momma's bed. And then when I told him that we really needed to go to sleep he decided that we should hold hands while we fell asleep. So that is what we did... Such sweetness from this little boy. I want to bottle it up and remember it forever.

Or, take his cleverness. I was telling him a story while he was going potty the other day. I'm not sure how this got to be a habit but it is. This particular story was about a little boy named Woah and his sister Wella and their dog Woses. Their lives have a striking resemblance to ours and he smiled knowingly as I told him about the adventures of Woah. And then at the end he asked me if Woah liked 'finkles' on his pancakes. He can say sprinkles correctly, but he knew that we were changing the starting consonants for our little story. I could tell that he thought himself very tricky...

Or, remember that 'red thing' that he did not want to wear while playing basketball. He was doggedly against that thing for a good few months but now it is now a thing of the past. He started watching basketball with Matt and one day he decided that it would be okay to wear the Noah jersey. And then he wore it and wore it and wore it, so much that the 'H' started falling off. Then he started asking for pictures of Joakim Noah to be cut from the newspaper. And now, they are a part of his little boy shrine of favorite items above his bed. He still wears it but now it is just the NOA jersey. It is also his faborite.

Or, the most recent development has been the giving up of the nonnies, aka pacifier. We decided to let the kids trade their beloved nonnies for a toy when they were ready. Anticipating this I purchased a train that I thought Noah would really want. We showed it to him months ago and told him that our friend Baby Owen really needed his nonnies. 'Maybe later' was always the response. Recentlywe were in the toy story and he came across this Lightening McQueen toy. He wanted it really badly and I told him that it looked like a great toy but that we did not need it, we were going to leave it for other kids, on and on. He thought about it for a minute and then told me that he wanted to give his nonnies to Baby Owen and get this 'Light Queen'. He was sure of it. He proudly carried it to the register and then out to the car and then took a nap without the nonnie. After getting up from his nap he told me that we should send the nonnies to Baby Owen. So we boxed them up, addressed them to:

Baby Owen

His House

and then affixed a Lightening McQueen sticker in place of a stamp, assuring me that the mailman would take it to Owen promptly. He proudly walked them out to the mailbox and we have not really heard a word about the nonnies since...though he does happily tell visitors of his accomplishment and show them his new toy.

8:58 am

I've been hearing little voices chatting away in their room for about 20 minutes now. I finally poked my head in to check on them and Ella slipped me her 'baby' through a crack in the door. 'Not to eat, Momma' she tells me.

Noted. I will not eat your baby.

Adjustment phase

Last fall we decided that we'd build toddler beds for the kids...the room is little and they are little. And even though they won't last all that long, we are hoping that they'll give us a bit more time till we need to fill the room with twin sized beds.

Last night, we finally finished the beds.

Noah was all about getting in his big boy bed but Ella maintained her passion for the crib. We finally convinced her that she could still be a little girl, even if she slept in the bed. She does NOT want to be a big girl.

So, last night, they took all the animals and blankets and what not and threw it on and off the bed while singing Nothing But the Blood of Jesus at the tops of their lungs. The night went fine until Noah rolled out of his bed. Note to self - get some side rails.

And even though they've napped in different rooms for the past two years, I let them nap in the same room today. Ella seemed a little scared and she asked that Noah be in the room with her. I acquiesced. I poked my head in about an hour and a half after putting them in their beds to find Noah in bed with Ella. 'I'm reading to Ella' he tells me.

Easter 2011

I know...it has been awhile. There is more to come, but for today here are a few pictures from Easter.

Play Kitchen = Labor of Love

I have yet to decide if this fits into the genius or idiot category, but we decided to build the kids a play kitchen 5 days before their birthday. We'd hemmed an hawed on this for months...should we spend money to buy really cute one? Should we make one? Could we re-purpose something that we already have? Should we get a cheap one? I think that I've seen most every play kitchen out there from the most basic kitchen manufactured ones, to the most intricate DIY ones, to the completely elaborate ones that I want for my own kitchen.

We wanted something that, you know, did things. As in knobs to turn and buttons to push. In the process of deciding what to do, I also realized that this would be a fixture in our house for a long time and for that reason, I wanted it to be something that would grow with the kids as well as something that fit into the rest of the house (as in, this thing might be sitting in our living room for large spans of time someday).

So, here is what we came up with. It was a labor of love and some late nights, but completely worth it. I'll put the details here as some of you have asked how we did it.

We started with two Ikea wall cabinets. The fridge unit is about 43 inches tall, in case you are wondering how tall this baby stands. And yes, they are strikingly similar to the kitchen that Matt built for us.


From here, you can see the legs on the unit. Right now, they are about 4 inches from the ground, but they can be raised as the kids get taller. And you can also see the little estate sale table along with chairs that a friend gave us that we refinished over the summer.

Matt built a box that would hold the stove as well as an oven door, complete with Plexiglas window. These were both attached to the cabinet frame. The pink was my addition as we all know that E loves her some pink.

We attached little puck lights in the oven and fridge as this is a continual point of fascination in our real fridge. They can click them on and off by pushing the light. Also, you can see in this picture that the oven opens down like a real one. Hinges on the bottom was something that we really wanted (did I mention that we thought a lot about this??)

Moving on, the stove was a bit more complicated as Matt wanted to make something that they could turn on and off. I was all for big black circles to be burners, but when he found a red rope light for a few bucks at the hardware store, I knew that we were going beyond spray painted coaster burners. First he built the box with a ledge in it to hold the rope light and cook top. I cut the Plexiglas to size and then spray painted painted everything except the concentric circles to get the look of a glass cook top. We were left with the question on how the kids would turn the rope light on, but for another few bucks Matt found a remote control adapter so that the unit turns on and off. They love it, though I do have to say that I keep the 'mote' up high as I don't want the light to be on for long periods of time. I'm not sure if a fire ever started from a rope light but I don't want to be the first one.

For the sink, Matt found some old outdoor water tap handles in his dad's workshop and brought them home, wondering if they could be used as burner knobs or water faucet handles. As we were piddling around in the workshop, I noticed some old copper piping. With the handles and the piping, we came up with this little faucet. Oh, and the sink is a brownie pan.

Lastly, the counter around the sink is a remnant from our butcher block counter in our kitchen. It was a beast to cut the hole out of the middle but in the end it worked wonderfully!

So there you have it. Even though we were both completely spent by the end of the week, we had so much fun figuring it out together.
Now, all this is just nice information unless the kids like it. Thankfully, they we hit the jackpot. We frequently have two very busy chefs that whip up delicious muffins and pots of steamy green tea for their momma and daddy. Well, that and some carrot, apple, fish, syrup concoctions that I find a little suspect.

Three

Have I mentioned that (as of a month ago)we now have two 3 year old kids in our house?

I know. It's crazy.

The festivities started a few days before their birthday we were having a rough afternoon. I decided that we should look at photos of birthday cakes online. I'm not sure what I was thinking...I had planned on making some simple cupcakes for the occasion but once they saw the pictures, I knew that I'd be making something else. As we perused the cakes, still delusional, I tried to get them to settle on one cake. 'Look at that cool monkey. Would that not be fun?' No takers on the monkey.

Not surprisingly Noah told me that he wanted a train cake before he even saw one. I tried to sell him on the dump truck which looked a bit easier, but no luck. He also rejected my robot cake idea saying that robots are scary. Ella, who is a fan of all things pink, saw the pink castle and was completely convinced that it was the cake for her. She has not been all that interested in princesses and castles so I was a bit surprised by her choice, but it was settled. A pink castle and a train cake. Thank goodness my mom was in town. She was my midnight helper in Mission Train & Castle.

The kids spotted their cakes first thing in the morning and spent lots of time just looking at them. Noah kept telling me that the cake goes around and around.

Ella was delighted to tell me that her cake had two doors and lollypops on it.

We invited family over for a breakfast birthday party (which I will do for every birthday from here on out. Morning birthday party means that the sugar rush happens at noon and then we have ample time to play). Once omelets and donuts were consumed the kids opened a few gifts.

Cousin Micah made a pop up card for the kids.

Liz and Stephan had this great idea to get Noah a Joakim Noah Bull's jersey for Christmas. Noah won't have anything to do with it but Ella thought it was most appropriate to wear while playing with the new b-ball hoop. Noah remains unconvinced...to this day, when we play basketball he tells me that he does not want 'that red thing.'

Ella has been really into bells lately and I have no idea what brought this on. Much to her delight, my parents found this little bell for her and she was completely smitten. She rings it all the time.

Life with these two is never slow...I'll share a few of the thing that fill our days as well as some of the things that I love.

*So much pretending. The other day Ella was telling me that Sweetie Pie tucked Lollypop (those are her pretend pink kitties that fit in the palm of her hand) in bed after reading more cat books to her.

*Alphabet love. Noah's constantly asking me how to spell things.

*Hearing Ella break out in singing the alleluias of the Doxology at random times because she sings her way through life. I also adore hearing her loudly read to herself in bed before falling asleep for naps.

*Noah's faborites, as he calls them. He is really into some of our CDs. When one that he likes comes on he'll shout from the backseat 'oh, it's Sun Comes Up. It's my faborite!' He just informed me this afternoon that his faborites are 'Tractor, Tractor', 'Sun Comes Up', 'Noah James', and 'Chicken Wiggle'.

*Joy in finding similar things. Often when we are reading, they will realize that they are looking at the picture that is on the front of the book or it will remind them a picture in another book. We stop and wait for someone to trot off to get the similar item and then all exclaim 'same' as the two items are shown to each other.

*Ella running most everywhere that she goes because life is just that exciting.

*Noah explaining to me how water is pumped in a fountain and his general amazement with knowing how things work. The other day when I was unclogging the P-trap (hi Ginny!) in our kitchen sink, he was right with me, tools in hand, telling me how the water goes down, down and out.

*Ella bathing for sport...at least twice a day, because that is the way that we roll.

*Noah's response of 'oohhh, tanks Momma' to things that don't really require a thanks but I know that he is feeling thankful in his little heart.

*The way that they watch out for each other. The other day we needed to be somewhere before naps were over so I woke Noah up, got him bundled and headed out to put him in the car. As he realized that it was just the two of us, he asked if we were going to bring Ella. I assured him that we would and got an 'ooohhh, tanks Momma.' I went back inside, woke and bundled Ella. As we walked out the door, she got all panicky and started to ask about Noah. She was similarly relieved to learn that we were all going together.

*Little sayings. One thing that I think has helped them continue to nap (for three hours each day, thank you God) is that we have little tents above their beds. To these three year olds this is really cool. The other day, I could tell that Noah was not settling down to sleep and suspected that his tent had fallen down. I could hear him calling over but what finally got me in the room was his statement of 'I HAVE AN ISSUE!' Sure enough, tent was down. Issue indeed.

*Watching their minds work. The kids love painting and after a particularly messy morning, I painted their hands and helped them do hand prints on paper. A few days later we were driving down the road and out of nowhere, Ella tells me, all silly with joy 'we don't paint the road. We only paint paper and hands.'

I could go on and on, but I'll stop here so that I actually get this posted and get to the mound of laundry on my bed. I'm so thankful for these sweet days.