life as we know it

Life as we know it has been filled with a variety of things these past few weeks.

laughing and giggling for no particular reason...

hanging out in our pjs catching up on some light reading...

hoping for a new puppy...

 mastering training wheels and coaster brakes...

getting caught in rainshowers... 

projects, projects, and more projects for me...

(more to come on this one soon)

and even BIGGER projects for Paul...

(he designed, built, and painted our backyard fence

for that new puppy that Vivi is dreaming of)

98% done...he still has to paint the toppers!

and Paul's newest project...

(more to come on this, too!)

Life as we know it is, well, pretty darn good!

in like a lion...

March has definitely come in like a lion!  The weather around here has been windy and rainy (with a few sunny days thrown in) since March began.  Emma Jane's preschool class had a lesson about kites last week and all the kids in her class were given their very own kites.  She couldn't wait to get hers up in the air!  Luckily, the small park just down the street from our house is a perfect place for kite flying.

Trying to figure out the string...



With Paul holding onto the string,

Emma Jane helped launch the kite.

Getting the hang of it...

So proud of her kite flying skills!

Higher and higher...

Vivi did not understand why the kite was flying away!

Come back kite!

Vivian finally gave up on this kite flying business until...

 

big sis let her give it a try!

In this picture, you can see just how high this kite flew!

Emma Jane, now a self-proclaimed pro, 

had the handle slung casually over her shoulder.

Emma Jane was thrilled to see her kite flying high!

Time to come down!

I'm sure we will be taking Emma Jane's kite for a few more spins before the wind dies down and March goes out like a lamb...

dr. seuss on the loose

Emma Jane and a few of her friends had a small birthday celebration for one of our favorite authors last week...Dr. Seuss!  It's hard to believe that he would have been 108 years old.  I vividly remember reading many of his books as a child and I love that Emma Jane enjoys them just as much as I did.

Mrs. Stacey read The Cat in the Hat to the kids.

The kids decorated red-and-white-striped hats and became....

silly little cats in their hats!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

Vivi proudly wore her hat, too!

It was fun making (and eating!) marshmallow hats!

Vivian may not know anything about Dr. Seuss, but she is a BIG fan of marshmallows!

take me out to the ballgame!

Emma Jane attended her first baseball game with Paul last week.  One of the docs at the hospital gave Paul two USC tickets the morning before the game.  We tried getting a sitter for the girls so he and I could go, but when that didn't work out I suggested he take Emma Jane.  I am positive that she was a much more exciting date than I would have been!  I'm also pretty sure that this will be the first of many daddy/daughter baseball games in their future.

happily distressed!

1. 

I have been wanting to make a pushpin board for our kitchen/dining room for quite some time now.  Since we have a stainless fridge, there has been nowhere in plain sight to place preschool notes, behavior charts, invitations, and all of those other important things we normally stick on our refrigerators. 

I knew what I wanted, but I couldn't find it in stores or online.  I decided to tackle the project myself.  We had a nice 16 x 20 wooden frame not in use, so I started with that.  I applied one coat of "green tea" acrylic paint.  It was a little too much green against our light walls, so I decided to add a coat of "vintage white" acrylic on top of the green.  I lightly sanded around the edges and sides.  This was my first experience with distressing anything and I love the way it turned out.  I then bought a package of cork board squares and glued them to the back panel of the frame.  I cut some burlap to cover the cork and stapled it to the back.  As an added touch, I used the same "green tea" acrylic to paint some magnetic clips we had sitting in a drawer.  I stuck some plain flat metal thumbtacks in the board and put the magnetic clips on top of them.  By using these, I won't put any ugly thumbtack holes in invitations or cards that I might like to keep.  I am very happy with our new information center! 

Now that I know I can do it, we have a garage full of sad furniture waiting for makeovers and I am ready to distress some more! 

emma-isms

Emma Jane cracks us up on a daily basis.  She doesn't stop talking from the moment she wakes up and we NEVER know what she's going to say.  I haven't been keeping a journal like a good mom should, but I sometimes share her comments on Facebook.   I'm going to transfer some of those comments here and try to remember a few more.  She is such a funny, witty little girl and we love her outlook on life!

A few of her favorite things to say:

If I say no...

"Mom, wet's sit down and have a discussion about this..."

When we give her instructions...

"Are you ab-so-woot-we sure about that?"

Although she naps like a champ, she still makes comments like these...

"I'm only gonna take a teeny tiny nap today.  I don't wanna miss out on all the fun!"

"Wheehaw!" 

I love that she says this instead of  "yeehaw" when she's doing something particularly fun.  Much more appropriate, don't ya think? 

She always has an interesting variety of options...

"Mama, one day I want you to take me to outerspace, Indiana, and Pawis, Fwance!" 

While reading one of Emma Jane's favorite books, I noticed a page with green crayon scribbled all over it. She knows not to draw in books, and I'm not sure when (or if) she did it, but she quickly said, "Oh!  I'm sorry, Mom. I must've done that before I was born!"

"Mom, can I be a mommy, a teacher, AND a firefighter when I grow up?"

"Mama, after I help daddy dig in de mud and pour concwete, will you pway pwincess wif me?"

One of Emma Jane's favorite books is Llama Llama Red Pajama.  During one of Vivian's hurry-up-and-bring-me-food fits, Emma Jane quoted this book and said, "Vivi, Vivi, what a tizzy! Sometimes Mama's very busy! Please stop all this Vivi drama, and be patient for your Mama!"

A recent prayer..."God bless mama, daddy, Vivian, Jesus, God, and Dr. Seuss!"

After asking Emma Jane to help me clean up the mess she and Vivi made in the playroom, she quickly told me that she was "too busy pwaying sooperhewoes". When I let her know that this was not an excuse to get away with not helping, she replied, "I'm a sooperhewoe, so I AM helping others, just not you!"

Recently Emma Jane put on one of my sweatshirts and proudly stated, "I look just like you, mom!" Then she added, "Now, time to do the dishes!"

As Emma Jane thumbed through one of my books she told me, "Mom, your books are a bit boring. There's nothing but a bunch of itty bitty words that don't make any sense to me! Where are all the pictures!?!"

One afternoon I picked Emma Jane up from preschool and she proudly told me, "Mom! I had a gweat day! I didn't call any of my fwiends stinky!"

After finishing a second book at bedtime, Emma Jane charmingly said, "Since you have been such a nice mommy, and a good listener, and took such good care of Vivi today, you get to read me another book!"

first haircut

Guess who got her first haircut? Vivian desperately needed her bangs trimmed since they were constantly hanging in her eyes. She's not a fan of barrettes or headbands, so keeping her hair out of her face was becoming a challenge. Although the pictures I took show a seemingly upset baby girl, she really didn't mind the experience. She did the signature Vivi lower lip dip, but didn't cry or try to get out of the chair. I'm pleased with the results and I'm sure she's glad to have her sight back! She was all smiles when we stopped to sit on a bench outside of the salon.

It's hard to believe that Emma Jane has never had a haircut at the age of 3 1/2!  Those tight curls of hers have been pretty easy to manage...just spritz with water, fluff, and go!  She probably does need a trim to keep the ends healthy, so she's next!

museum adventure

We enjoyed another exciting trip to Edventure.

Vivi thought the tractor was pretty cool.  "Vroom! Vroom!"

Emma Jane couldn't wait to put on the firefighter gear and take charge in the firetruck!

Grocery shopping is always fun...
when you can fill your cart with anything you want!

Emma Jane loved making the skeleton dance!

Future dentist?

Vivi had fun taking the giant teeth out of the display....

and she would clap for herself as she put them back in place!

The girls took good care of their four-legged patients.

We had a blast in the new Storyland exhibit 

starting with If You Give A Mouse A Cookie... 

Emma Jane wrote a "letter" to send via mouse mail.

She worked really hard on her letter...

...and this is what she wrote all on her own. 

(She even squeezed in a tiny forgotten A in Jane!)

Vivian hung out with the mouse and pet his whiskers.

Then onto the exhibit for the book Tuesday...

Vivian got lost under the hat!

The Snowy Day exhibit was next.

The girls made "crunchy snow" noises 

as they stepped on the footprints.

Emma Jane worked on letter matching

in the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom exhibit.

The Abuela exhibit featured a giant

magnet board and hopscotch!

We will definitely go back to revisit this educational

and FUN exhibit before it moves on to another museum.