Summer has finally arrived!

Layers of sunscreen, dirt, sidewalk chalk, popsicles, ketchup, sweat...

All to be washed off in a kiddie pool with freezing cold water...Awesome!

So why wouldn't you help your little sister out?

Quiz: Goomeez

One of our favorite Magnolia-isms right now is "goomeez." Can you guess what it means?

Hint 1: It is a sentence.


Hint 2: This interaction with Kaleia.

Post your guesses in the comments. Please refrain if you have received a translation in person.

Happy 4th of July '10

To all our friends and family in the USA...Happy 4th of July!


A look back at '09 and '08.

Remembering our GG

I was lucky enough to grow up with 3 out of 4 of my great-grandmas. Two of them even lived across the street from one another! GG was my last remaining and just after Magnolia was born we were able to get a picture with her and the next four generations of first born daughters.

Nancy Ann Morrison, my GG, was born January 4, 1922 in Omaha, Nebraska. She passed away on June 29, 2010 in Yakima, Washington after several long years battling with Alzheimer's.

At her request there was not a service, just family gathered at the grave site to share memories. Though she didn't remember many of us the last few years, I will always remember her beautiful garden, her candy jar, her strong hugs and sassy spirit.

A couple times on the ride over, I explained to Magnolia what the day was going to look like, when we were going to play and when we needed to be quiet and listen. Each time she listened closely, but I wasn't sure if it made sense.

Maggie was pretty subdued during the graveside service. Afterward, she proudly told my mom, "Today we are remembering our GG."





After the grave side goodbye, everyone relocated to Grandma Pat's house for a BBQ and family reunion of sorts. It was a fitting location, celebrating in a beautiful garden. The girls had fun playing in the grass with aunts and cousins they rarely see.

Kaleia stood on her own for the first time and spent the afternoon practicing.

It was such a full day -- full of looking back and looking forward. Remembering the life of GG while watching my girls lives begin. One of those great days to pause and think about where I've been, where I am, and where I want to go on this journey.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you are inspired to do the same, leave a link to your moment in the comments for all to find and see.

Happy Canada Day '10!

To all our Canadian friends and family... we hope you had a good holiday!

A Look Back at '09 and '08!

Two Little Monkeys Screaming on the Bed

Proof that our girls do make noise...

Making a Bad Choice

Running with the whole choices parenting strategy, I sometimes tell Magnolia that she isn't making a good choice. It's language she understands and so far it has been pretty effective. She stops in her tracks, cogs in her brain turning almost audibly, and then chooses to obey. It's really nice.

The other day I was at Firwood getting some fresh air with the girls and letting the dogs burn some energy. Lunch time--ie. not play time--came a little earlier than everyone would have liked, especially the dogs. Here's a conversation from that episode:

Shannon: Otis! Come!

Otis: ...

Magnolia: What Otis doing?

S: He's not coming.

M: Otis making bad choice.

If only that strategy worked on dogs too.

Teacher's Equivalent of "Dog Ate My Homework" or true story?

Email to my substitute teacher:

Logan,

Thank you for putting those together. I was planning to come in tonight but my toddler put a piece of paper up her nose and it took us a long time to get it out. Now I need to go to bed...

Happy 11 Month Birthiversary!

This month's theme is Babies. No, it is not a secret message to let you know we are having another one. Rather it is symbolic of the end of our baby stage, this being our last birthiversary post--maybe ever... at least for awhile. While we will all benefit from having fewer cupcakes around each month, I will miss my monthly creativity challenge.

Kaleia is less and less like a baby everyday. And this month she discovered caring for babies herself. While her technique still needs improvement, her passion for the small stuffed look-a-like makes up for it.

Baby sightings bring out the biggest squeals, but overall little miss Leia makes a lot of noise anyways. Her goos and gaas, babababs, and other fun noises are all still pretty random but we think in addition to her "Ssss" for kiss, she is using "Mama" appropriately, often in a demanding tone upon waking in the morning. Being the oldest, Magnolia may teach Kaleia a thing or two as they grow up, but Kaleia is the one who has taught Magnolia how to yell. They often get into vocal exchanges for fun, ratcheting their voices higher and higher, copying each other's nonsensical sounds.

Besides her vocal expression, she is also very expressive with her face. The picture at the bottom was a classic face this month.

She also has started expressing herself through signs. Just the basics: milk, eat, more, and all done. Eat is the most used, with Kaleia often enthusiastically repeating the motion of hand to mouth as she is eating.

Her eating has improved, which in turn has meant that our string bean has started to gain some weight again. As an added benefit she has also started sleeping through the night.

As Kaleia sheds her babyness and her personality emerges, we see that Gremlin (or Gremmi-bear) was a fitting nickname for more than just the noises she makes. Kaleia is a cute little mischief maker. Happily, she looks at you, giggles, and drops food over the side of the high chair. After being told no touch to the dog water, she smiles and instead of touching the water, she overturns the dish. While we still have a pretty sweet girl on our hands, we think she is going to be a bit more of a parenting challenge than our compliant Magnolia.

Happy 11 Month Birthiversary Gremmi-Bear!