Kaleia Sights a Germ

I never know if it is Kaleia's eye condition, her active imagination, or that she seems to have little regard for accuracy or fact.  Whatever the reason, she often leaves me speechless. 

"I saw a germ today. It was pink and it had a tail." -- Kaleia, age 5

Fairy Visit

Kaleia, as half-fairy, attends fairy school in the middle of the night and is our resident expert on fairy life and the wishes of the queen fairy. In this interview, Kaleia introduces us to a fairy she has caught. 

P.S. Forgive the low quality of the video -- and length! I just couldn't cut any material! The technical difficulties with this video roadblocked my blogging the last few months, but now we should be rolling again. 

There's a Fairy in Our House!

Recently, Brian posted the following story to Facebook:

During dinner tonight, Kaleia (5.5), about to tell us something, looks at her palm, gasps, and then exclaims with conviction, "There's a real fairy in our house!" Then she giggles with glee.

Turns out her friend Ellery had drawn a fairy on her hand at school and told her that if she put water on it it would become real. Fast forward to dinner time: Kaleia, forgetting about the fairy hand drawing, washes her hands absent-mindedly... washing the drawing right off. She is REALLY hoping the fairy hasn't escaped the house.

Since she's 5--the age I started making lifelong memories--I'm always trying to guess which things she will reminisce about in twenty, thirty years. I'm guessing this might be one of them. I wish I had a video.

Tonight, Kaleia isn't taking any chances. Every door and window is checked before she washes her hands so that the fairy can't escape. 

Excited that the magic is working, Kaleia looks up in the mirror. Unfortunately, this is the exact moment the fairy disappears from her hands. Convinced because this permanent pen is washing off, it must be true, it must be magic, the fairy MUST be real! 

Skipping excitedly to me in the living room, Kaleia proclaims, "It worked!" Then asks, head slightly cocked to one side, "Have you seen her?"

Not wanting to disappoint her, "No...but I wasn't really looking. Fairies are really small, so maybe I missed her." 

"This one isn't small! It is the same size as the drawing on my hand. Ellery said. Maybe it's..." and she is off to hunt for the fairy that is surely hiding in our house. 

Quick...er...Cute as a Bunny

A common phrase added to commands in our house is "Quick as a Bunny!"

Magnolia came out after some time in the project room with these to help them look the part.

The ears might help them be "Cute as a Bunny" but it's not helping in the speed department.

A Visit from Astrid Hofferson

Astrid from How to Train Your Dragon visited us today. 

It is a good thing too, because we needed her to fight the fierce black dragon that flew around our living room (while trying to fold laundry). 

***I can't seem to find a picture of the finished costume. She added string tied around her arms in a criss-crrossing fashion, and used various play kitchen tools, taped to her for knee and shoulder pads. 

Zoo School

Today, the animals went to school. 

Circle of Leaves

Me: Magnolia, what are you doing will all your dried leaves and things?

Candy Haul 2012

"We do what?"

Our Little Mermaid

"Mama, can you help me make a bra?" - Magnolia (4.5)

These are words I did not expect to hear from my four-year-old daughter, or really from my daughter at any age. But when a girl wants to be a mermaid and her cupcake papers are not cooperating...

Preschool Costume Parade

I'm not sure why the girls preschool wanted to do a Costume Parade the week before Halloween, rather than on the actual day but the girls, always ready to dress up, didn't mind. Any excuse to wear their fairy princess outfits that are usually off limits for school.

Princess Otis

K is for Kaleia

At the park, surrounded by boys roughhousing and playing with their dump trucks, Kaleia picks up a stick and with stern eyes silently and purposefully points it at each one.  When one comes within easy earshot she furrows her brow even harder, jabs the magic twig toward him and says, "I put a K on you!"

When little Johnny scowls back at her, probably a little confused, Kaleia tilts her head, smiles and in a consoling, ain't-no-thing voice, adds: "A 'tend one..."

A Difference Between Our Daughters, or, The Hot Tub Gate

Magnolia creates a game in the hot tub pulling my arms up to meet Brian's, creating a gate. This gate requires a key, a "tend" key, that must be inserted into my mouth.

After several rounds, I decide to see what happens if I change the rules. No longer does the "gate" open when she inserts the "key." How does she respond?

Magnolia tries to insert it again and again. As her frustration begins to mount, her Papa suggests that the "gate" may need something different this time. Giggling, she inserts a second "key" into his mouth. Viola! The gate opens.

All the excitement draws Kaleia's attention. As Maggie explains how the game works, Kaleia cheerfully asks, "What key?" and shoves my arms down and climbs over.

Meow!

My girls love being cats. This time Kaleia asked me if she could draw whiskers on her face. I obliged and strategically gave her a washable marker. 

Kaleia's Theater

Kaleia, Monkey, and Baby are watching Finding Nemo with their snacks of choice. 

"Baby is pretend so she gets pretend food. Baby, look at the camera!"

Banana.

First Days of "School"

For show-and-tell Maggie chose four ducklings and carefully placed them in her backpack. Now, while she puts her things into her not yet labeled cubby and surveys her still unfamiliar classroom, on this her second day of pre-school, I pull the teacher aside to tell him about the ducklings Magnolia was so adamant to share. You see, they're imaginary.

The teachers are great though, and are learning quickly. When asked what they should call her on the first day, "Magnolia or Maggie?," she informed them, "Actually, call me duckling." I never heard whether they complied or not but I was impressed at how well they described my daughters after the first day:

At the end of day 1, Maggie didn't want to leave and wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk to me but eventually agreed to show me around the classroom -- which toys she played with, which ones she helped clean up, the things that another kid messed up. She enthusiastically told me about the soft frog blanket that she used for her snooze. I finally got her to leave willingly by saying we needed to go see Kaleia's classroom.

Unlike her sister, Kaleia was ready to go home.  When we peeked in, she was happily playing but, as soon as she saw us, ran over and said, "Car. Bag."

Both girls slept amazingly--ahh, the secondary benefits of preschool!--and on morning 2 were just as excited as they got ready. Drop off, including the requisite imaginary duckling warning, was smooth again.

At the end of the day, Maggie had to finish what she was building before she would even consider coming home. Kaleia was playing outside when we came to pick her up and the two sisters ran and embraced. Then they went back to play in Kaleia's class.

I was always hesitant about daycare and felt very blessed that our girls have been home with family until now. We've always thought they would go to preschool, but we've wanted to homeschool them for elementary school (more about that in a future blog post, hopefully). Brian and I still see ourselves as their primary caregivers and teachers, but I am appreciating this experience and all that they are already gaining from it.

Here is a video of Maggie's response when I told her she was going to start going to "school":

"Come on, Owl, let's go to Bethlehem." - Magnolia