No!

This morning I was trying to fold the giant mound of clothes while my little people were otherwise occupied (heaven knows two unhelpful helpers slows things down a smidge...sweet but nothing gets done!). I heard Maya telling Owen no about something. Then she said "No Owen, I don't want to color my eye pink." Oh this cracked me up. She was so serous like he was really suggesting she do it. Granted I did walk in and he was more trying to poke her in the eye than color it but they still crack me up when they try to play or do anything together.

Wandering Freak?!?!

Since April Maya has had an obsession with Ariel..dresses, costumes, pictures, jewelery, etc. So recently I bought The Little Mermaid from Amazon and she has since chosen to watch it or parts of it every day she has been given the opportunity during the past two weeks. She now acts out the songs. So cute and funny. It's even funnier that she thinks the line "Wandering free, wish I could be, part of that world." is really "Wandering freak...." Every time she sings it I giggle wondering who the wandering freak is. I've enunciated a few times for her but it hasn't caught on yet.

Home Depot

Chris and I were contemplating what color stain to buy at Home Depot this morning while the kids were 'driving' the cart. Next to where I had parked them was a TV running an informational DVD about deck stain.

TV: "....and it will protect your deck from the elements."
Maya: "Mommy, it will protect our deck from the elephants."
Me: "Huh?"
Maya: "The stain."
Me (laughing): "Oh, the video said it will protect the deck from ELEMENTS...like rain or snow."
Maya (slightly disappointed): "Ohhhh."

Circus

Chris had the opportunity to take Maya to the Circus last summer with tickets we got from some friends. This year we decided that we would attempt it as a family. I was a little unsure whether or not Owen would cooperate sitting for the 2 hour show he did quite well though perhaps would have done better had there not been 4 empty seats next to me..the temptation to move was very apparent! We had lots of fun and loved the acrobats, motorcycles and elephants and spent a wheelbarrow full of money. Holy cow everything was crazy expensive! By the end Chris had a tired Maya in his lap and I was baby wrangling on the chairs.

Worms in Dirt

We decided to have a dessert night of Worms in Dirt. Maya loves pudding and...apparently Owen does too!

Sixteen?!?!

Scene: Maya is building a tower with blocks in the playroom while I read a book to Owen.

Maya: "When I am a mommy, I am going to live in this tower in Seattle."

Me: "That's a pretty big tower!"

Maya: "You go up an escalator all the way to the top where I live with my 16 babies."

Me: "Wow, 16? That's a lot! Who is their daddy?"

Maya: "Kama Papo"

Me: laughing......

Preschool Orientation

Today I took Maya to her preschool orientation to meet her new teacher, some of her classmates and get acquainted with how things work. I found out that I am not ready for my baby to not need me. She is quite independent and especially so when neither Chris nor I is around. I saw it coming, but, man, I didn't really want it to be true! The girl basically walked in like she owned the place. While other kids were reluctant to sit without their parents to get their pictures taken (they are all 3 years old), Maya sat right down and gave her cheesy fake smile. While most kiddos stuck to their parents like a cyst, Maya sat down and started working with some craft items (scissors, cutting, gluing), while I stood there trying to decide what to do with myself. While most kids milled around inside with parents prompting them to check things out, Maya marched outside and made some 'pie' in the play area. She even met a friend named Raina who is a month older than her, the same height and seems to be about the same skill level. They rode around on the tandem bike together which was too cute! We also discovered that her friend Aubrey from her dance class is going to be in her preschool class. She is going to have a blast...I, on the other hand, will have to adjust to all of this!

Baby Quinton

Maya has never been in to playing with baby dolls of any variety though she has acquired several. However, about a month ago she 'adopted' a blue eyed cabbage patch doll from her existing collection. I am not even sure who gave her the doll but, sure enough, she got up one day and decided he was hers. Now, the dolls had been just sitting in a wooden cradle my dad made for me when I was a little girl for about a year so I was a little surprised. She started carrying this doll around and a few days in to this I asked her if it was a boy or girl and she told me a boy. She then told me his name is Baby Quinton. This is partially significant because someone we know currently has a foster baby with the same name. Since this started she has progressed from playing with him occasionally to getting him up, declaring he is napping, declaring he is crying, feeding him bottles, giving him a binky, rocking him, singing to him, feeding him at the table, tucking him in at night, and he even has his own special rattle toy which was Owen's when he was a lil guy. She tells me all about the things he does and how he is feeling and, at times, I am even asked to babysit. It's so cute and funny. We play along and even kiss Baby Quinton goodnight when we kiss her. The other night he was in his cradle and she woke up having had a bad dream. Chris was in rubbing her back when she asked if he would get him because she thought he needed 'a snuggle'. So sweet.

long time ago...

So I forgot about this until I was looking at the notes for Blog updates....but I didn't date it. Here is a car conversation for a while back after we had been visiting my sister-in-law and niece while my SIL's mom was in town.

Maya: "How did Sarah's grandma get here?"
Me: "She took the train."
Maya: "She shouldn't take things. That's not good."
Me (laughing): "You're right, it's not good to take things."

Prelude to Preschool

Yesterday Maya got a letter in the mail from the director of her preschool. I forgot to tell her until today and of course she was incredibly excited to have received mail! She opened it then ran out to her chair in the living room so we could read it. Ok, I teared up reading a dull letter which was basically welcoming her and reminding me about orientation and the items we need to bring. Seriously, this has the potential to get ugly! My new mantra: must hold it together, must hold it together. I will NOT turn in to a blithering idiot; I hope!

Falling ....

Owen had a new hobby, falling! We have two foam kids chairs in our living room. Owen sits in them and pushes himself to fall back with a big smile. Then he will lay there for a few minutes kicking his legs or just smiling at his mini triumph then he gets up and does it again. It's pretty darn funny!

Friends

Maya loves her stuffed animals especially the couple dozen that 'sleep' on her bed with her every night. We were changing the sheets on her bed today thus had just worked together to put all the animals back on her bed when she decided she wanted her picture taken with her animals.

Swimming

Maya is still loving swim lessons and is doing awesome. Here is a picture of Maya with her friends Addison and Sarah at swim class. The girls had a blast taking lessons together this summer and loved their teacher, Sabrina!

Birthday

We love a good birthday around here. Any excuse to buy a yummy cake! It was Chris' 34th birthday today so we had a little party and went to the park to play for a bit.

The Cake

The 'Party'

The Fun

New Playroom!

We have this basement that has basically been wasted space for the past 5 years...until NOW! The problem was that it is narrow and it is the bottom level of our tri level...with little kids it has proven difficult to manage all the stairs as well as keep track of everyone on all the levels. We decided that because Owen has managed the stairs very well since 10 or so months that it was time to redo our basement. Here is a partial picture of the new playroom. Yay for space!

Octopus

Today we made Octopus turkey dogs with shell pasta. Yummy! It's also the only way Maya will eat hot dogs of any variety. (She ate the eyes before I took the picture).

Tall

Maya: I am tall, tall, tall
Me: Oh?
Maya: My legs go alllll the way to the ground.


Variation:

Maya: My legs are long, long, long
Me: Oh?
Maya: They go allllll the way to the ground.

Face Painting

Maya has been asking to have her face painted since our trip to Disneyland in May. Though this isn't the 'Pirate Princess' look she talks about, it was a lil' something that the girl at the National Night Out booth could whip up. Never the less, Maya was thrilled!