Day at the Movies

I took Grace to her first movie today. We saw Horton Hears a Who. She's seen this movie a dozen times or so since it's been playing in the van for the last 2 weeks. I have heard it just as many times but this was my first time seeing the whole thing. She was very excited especially when I mentioned that there was popcorn and candy at the movies.
I even let her pick out one candy---plain M&M's of course. They were the most expensive candy--$3.50. Yipes. Too bad the theater staff was not prepared because we ended up waiting for 20 minutes to get our popcorn/candy. I kept trying to convince Grace that we didn't really need it but she refused to budge from the line. Next time I'll just hide some in my purse---don't tell.We were in auditorium number one which I thought appropriate since it was her first movie.
It was really neat to see her face when we first walked in and she saw the big screen. There was a trailer playing when we walked in and her eyes got big and then she couldn't take her eyes off the screen.
Sitting down with the goods.

There were not enough boosters for her to sit on and she was not heavy enough to sit on the chair by herself (it kept folding up on her), so she just sat on my lap.

Her favorite part of the movie experience was "the bathroom", no kidding. I asked. "Wow, this is a great bathroom, Mommy" were her exact words when we went in. I guess she'd never been to such a large bathroom and it was decorated with black and white checkerboard tiles. Guess it made quite an impression. Grace's overall impression---"It was loud." She loves this movie. I thought it was alright but was a little confused. The main point was that "a person's a person no matter how small", but are elephants and kangaroos and Whos really people? Hmm, I don't know, is it just me or does there seem to be something wrong with this argument? Just my two cents.....

All in all we had a great time. She sat through the whole movie although she started getting tired near the end but then so did I.

We have a body

I know this is an older pic which I think I even used in an old post. Forgive me. Steve's up in D.C. right now so I'm holding down the fort on my own. This is our art/craft table upstairs. I mainly wanted to show the progression of Grace's artwork.These were the first "people" (at least recognizable) that Grace started drawing. Basically heads with limbs. These guys never smile. She still has yet to draw a smiling person on her own. Should I be worried? I think maybe that's the standard for this age. Some developmental thing, maybe. At least that's what I've been telling myself.

The we started getting these type pictures. Notice what's between the legs--a"body" or "heinie". Not really proportionate but.....

The very first picture with a more proportionate body with arms and legs coming off the body. Almost antlike with a thorax and abdomen. Still no smile. Not even a little bit. I guess we'll have to work on that one.

And here's what Lucas has been doing---lots of scribbling. His favorite medium is the little blue table pictured above. I have to do a marker/crayon patrol after every art session, or I pay the price.

I know it's all to exciting for words.

Photos by Grace

Grace has really gotten interested in taking pictures. If she sees us taking a picture she almost always asks to take one herself. She usually takes off with the camera and ends up taking numerous pictures. I'm sure in a few months we'll have just as many Grace pictures as we do pictures of Grace.
A close up picture of a knob on our sofa table.
A work of art in progress.

The artist himself. How come I never get such great pics of him on the first try?

Mommy on the toilet. And no, this isn't the first of it's kind. There's also one on my iphone taken inside a Nordstrom's bathroom. Is there no shame? Nope. And no privacy either, not when you are a mom of two kids under 4.

A picture perfect for Fourth of July.

Lucas, playing outside. See how calm and peaceful he looks.

Not so calm after being forced inside. What you don't see is the arched back, flailing limbs and gnashing of teeth (only 2 teeth, but they were gnashing alright).

And of course who hasn't taken a self portrait of their feet?

I think Lucas might be our next little photographer. He's started running around with the camera saying "cheese" which sounds more like "sheeeeees". He can even turn it on himself.

Have a great weekend!

Birdseed Cookies

I found a recipe online for making birdseed cookies to hang in the trees. We are in the bird mood here after giving my dad a bird sound clock for father's day as well as a bird sound player to identify different bird calls. I was hoping that we could attract some more birds to our backyard. We've only seen pigeons and grackles (mostly) but once saw a cardinal. Since we love making cookies, I thought it a great combination.
"Cutting out the cookies". The "dough did not stick together too well but we did the best we could. Grace picked out heart, butterfly, flower and clover cutters.
I really just packed the seed dough into the cutter and pressed it in the mold. We let it dry for a good 24 hours after poking holes in the middle with a straw. Of about 15 cookies, 6 made it to the yarn threading process.
We hung 4 in the backyard along with a new birdfeeder and gave one to Grandma and Grandpa and the other to Nina. As of this morning 2 cookies were completely devoured (either we have some very hungry birds, or the squirrels got to them). I am also sad to report that something knocked down the bird feeder and all the food spilled out to the ground. I've noticed a few more pigeons but so far nothing to0 exciting (still waiting on that pale-headed brush finch). I don't suppose all that bird seed on the ground is going to help us in our fight against the ant invasion. Oh, well we had fun making them.

Spray park fun

We spent most of the afternoon at the water park. Perfect for today's 105 degree record temp. Most of the park is in the shade, thank goodness. Running around with me not far behind.
I had to go first to convince Grace to run through the sprayers. I wasn't wearing a bathing suit. The things I do for my children. Of course having to wear a bathing suit would have been worse, I think (ha!).
It didn't take her too long to get used to the water after that.
Lucas staring at the magic post. When the water turned off someone had to press the yellow button to start it up again. Maybe he's working on his "mind powers".
This counts as a bath, right?
So in love with pouring. He couldn't get enough of it.
Taking a break.
Washing his hands.
Grace's turn.

Enjoying a quick drink together. I'm thinking I need to start posting some pictures of them pushing each other, lest you think they are always this well behaved around each other. My job is hard, really it is...

Tuesdays at Home

I still can't believe that I caught this picture with both of them looking at the camera and in such a cute pose too. Thanks to Nina who bought them these cute outfits. The best part is that I get a reprieve from laundry, at least for a day. Unless someone wants to send us some more clothes 4T/18-24m (kidding).

And what is he getting into? Who knows? He's fond of putting things where they don't belong--like toys in the diaper pail thingy, silverware in the trash can and flashlights in the laundry basket. As if emptying the diaper pail thingy, trash can and laundry basket wasn't hard enough.

It was too hot to go outside so we decided to make sugar cookies. See my logic: outside--hot, oven--oh, wait....I mean milk--cold. Makes sense to me. Here's my little helper/stirrer.

Everything is better with m&m's. I think most of them made it into Grace's mouth. We made these while Lucas was napping (when most of our baking occurs). If he only knew what he was missing out on, he would never nap again. Shhh, it's our secret. Sort of reminds me of an old SNL skit where Eddie Murphy dresses up like a white man and gets on a crowded bus. When the only black person gets off everyone else on the bus starts dancing and partying as though that's what white people do when black people aren't around. So hilarious. Let's just be clear though we actually do dance and party (and bake cookies) when Lucas takes a nap. It's a happy time. Just think about what I do when they both take a nap at the same time. Ooh, I'm getting goosebumps!
Just had to include this picture of Chucky or Rosie or Little Bear (depending on the time of day). I found him taking a snooze on my bathtub. He shows up here and there, sometimes sitting up as if in a chair. Mostly he's lying down though. He's one tired bear.

Father's Day results

Lucas and I got up early and decided that it would be a good idea to let him go ahead an eat before we started on Daddy's breakfast. This photo was snapped before he made a big mess by overturning his bowl and splish splashing in his milk. Self feeding is a work in progress.

Grace helping me make the ebleskiver which are Danish type pancakes. I saw the pan at Williams Sonoma and thought it would be interesting. When I found out that ebelskiver were a traditional Danish food (not a traditional breakfast food, I later learned), I knew that it would be a perfect dish for Father's day. Grace loved whipping everything together.

Our hard work complete. Not the best presentation, I know. Don't forget I had a 1 year old screaming and splish splashing in milk. They turned out pretty good but next time I'll definitely do just a few at a time to keep them from getting too dark (ok, from burning).
Breakfast in bed. Not really. We brought the breakfast up but the kids were too rowdy to let Daddy enjoy it in bed. I'm not fond of sleeping with syrup covered sheets. They love their Daddy.
They helped Daddy put his shop vac together. Lucas's tool of choice--the mallet. He was working so hard, we had to take his shirt off.
After breakfast, we headed out to Georgetown just to see what was out there. Steve found a candy store online but unfortunately it was closed. We opted for ice cream and a cappuccino at a nearby coffee shop. It was really hot (the weather, not the cappuccino or ice cream).
Lucas was all over the place with me close behind. I need a baby leash or a harness and a chariot (hmmm, could that really work?).
Isn't this a sweet picture? They look like such angels. I made the shirts using a freezer paper stencil. The were relatively easy to do and I'm sure they will get good use out them (at least every time Steve dresses them).

I don't have any pictures from my parents house but we spent the rest of the day there feasting on fried chicken, beans and potato salad (at my father's request). We went for a quick swim and before you know it the day was (thankfully) done.

So, my only question is "is it Mother's day yet?".

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day. First to my own Dad whom I can now truly appreciate after being knee deep in dirty diapers, temper tantrums and sleepless nights with two babies of my own. Who knew that being a parent could be so um, trying? Thank you for always being there throughout these past 34 years. I'm sure that I will only become even more grateful as I get deeper into the joys of parenthood. I love you. Enjoy your fried chicken. Happy Father's day to the second Dad (currently Daddy) in my life, my wonderful husband, Steve. Our iMac is out of commission (convenient since it's Father's day and someone has a birthday soon. Hmmm, coincidence?) so I'm afraid I don't have access to earlier pictures.
Did you ever think you'd father such beautiful babies? You have been such a wonderful father from the beginning. I have very vivid memories of you holding Grace in the hospital, only a few hours old. I wasn't sure if you would ever let her go. How many pictures did you take that first day? Hundreds? Thousands? And who can ever forget that look of a proud papa upon seeing the beautiful red hair of his son?
You have only gotten better with time--sillier by the minute, never to be outdone by your children. And yes, honey, you can be silly all the time (at least today).

The consummate erector of toys and fun. Even amidst chaos and squeals, you manage to build it, assemble it, whatever it takes. What would we do without you?
I could not have asked for a better father for my children. Thank you for everything you do from changing diapers to making our children (and me) laugh to taking the kids out so that I can make dinner in peace. I have you to thank for whatever bit of sanity I have left. Your children adore you and so do I.

Enjoy the ebelskiver.