List

I can't believe it's been 3 months since i've written on here. Thankfully i've had a few sheets of paper (from Hotel Playa Mazatlan) on my desk that i've been jotting notes on to, of everything I mean to write in here.

-In Mazatlan, Marea looked at all the green and red decorations and said,' Look Mom, it's Christmas in Mexico!"

-Evie started a new 'tick' in Mexico-part of the tourette's I swear she has-it's now "butt butt butt" (instead of 'beep beep', or 'quack quack', or 'dong'). I hope Butt is the worst it gets!! She's still stuck on that one, today!!

-Whenever we would leave the hotel to go walk around, Evie would say, "I want to go back to Mexico!" (meaning the hotel). Poor girl was sweating like crazy and just wanted to go in the AC or the pool!! I remember when Marea did this in Utah. The house was 'utah'.

-When we would order food, Marea would say, with a pout, 'Is it Mexican?" We tried to get her excited about Mexican doughnuts and Mexican pancakes and Mexican cheeseburgers, but to her, everything just tasted different.

-And 'Elmo is so mean, so mean, (at niiiiiight...) that when you get back from Mexico, he takes you out for Mexican food!!!'

Other fun things we did this summer:

-Sea world with Jonas and Harper, slushie drinks, and watching the bird girl dolphin show (and getting a bird girl barbie, too!)

-watching gymnastics competition on the TV and then going out in the yard to practice! I remember doing that, only Marea has a balance beam that we constructed out of wood, lucky girl!

-Evie constantly saying that she wants to hold a baby chick. Not sure where this came from!

And then there's the start of school. Where do I start with that? I'm almost emotionally ready to talk about it. Almost. Stay tuned!

June Madness

The summer season actually kind of started in May for us, with a trip to Palm Desert and then the annual (and last??!!) memorial day trip to Utah. But then June came raging in and it was really ON. So many wonderful celebrations; plus the pool season openers at the grandparents....and we were SO beyond busy. Birthdays included Grandma Dorothy's 90th celeberation, Grandpa Roger's backyard BBQ (Ribs, fruit salad and swimming...becoming a tradition!), Grandma Carole's boat birthday (Marea and Evie's first ocean fishing trip, lots of Mackerel to keep them entertained...and dolphins, which arn't even exciting to them anymore!), and last but not least, Marea's FIFTH birthday bash-face painting, a giant purple dinosaur jumpie, hot dogs, salads, snow cones, strawberry cupcakes and all of her favorite people on earth. We spoiled her rotten and it was wonderful and she deserved it all and I still can't believe that my baby girl is 5. She's always been more mature than her peers, but now I am really seeing a different kind of maturity; that of an older child who is becoming less selfish and less dependent. It's going to be a great year (followed by a great year, followed by a great year....seems to be a pattern here). And of course it was my birthday also, and I wished for a break from the everyday and spent two wonderful and refreshing nights in Palm Springs. I can't believe how great I felt after just two nights away where it was all about me. I came back with a new energy that everyone benefited from.

And with July starts the Tuesday night concerts in the park, truly a tradition now. It was so fun for me to watch Marea grab Sydney and Mia's hands and just jump jump jump to the classic rock on the dance floor. And Evie, right behind them, trying to be one of the 'big girls' the whole time. We're had plenty of pool days already, but now that June is over, I see many more relaxing pool and beach days in our future. Marea is an amazing swimmer now. She can dive down to the bottom of the deep end and get 2 or 3 diving sticks at a time. And she dives for quarters too, which is a big challenge because they are hard to see. Evie is right behind all the girls, and has come a long was also so far this summer. I had a hard time getting her to let go of me in the pool, but now she just gets her lifejacket on and climbs on in and swims all around. Part of this tradition is the popsicles, grilled cheese sandwiches, chips and juice that seem to be in endless supply. Not my first choice, but hey, we're making memories here. And if I told that to Evie, she would no doubt say, 'Why?'

Milestones

Last week was Marea's last week of preschool at Hilltop. Although I know the adventures that await her will be awesome, I am so sad!! She really, really loved her class and her teachers so so much; and she will definitely miss the whimsical playfulness of Hilltop. What an awesome preschool experience for my baby girl.

And, Evie is FINALLY potty trained!!!! I had my doubts that it would get accomplished, because she just seemed SO disinterested. But, after about 5 days she got it. And she is SO very proud of herself! And I am proud of her too; it wasn't easy with her (like it was with her big sis), but we stuck with it and she figured it out. Yea, Evie....you're a big girl now!!!!

The Big FIVE

There is lots of talk around here about Marea turning 5. She's pretty darn excited this year.

Here's her random list....of the gifts she wishes for and the party she wants.

-a bouquet of flowers

-her own tree to plant

-seeds: watermelon, zucchini, carrot)

-movies: aladdin, the little mermaid, the incredibles

-a special box for her 'picture pennies' treasures (pennies flattened with designs from the LB Aquarium and Palm Desert Zoo)

-a make-up case (ugh)

-a BIG BIG party with strawberry lemonade, hot dogs, pizza and salads (she said we can have wine a beer too!)

-the CAKE-it changes all the time...she's pretty much open to ANY flavor combination

-Face painting, and Sara painting fingernails, and a pinata with a HUGE candy list

And of course the guest list...well, she pretty much loves all our favorite people too!!!!! All the family (of course); Grethe and the babies; Lily (the dog); Juliana; Harper; Madison; Mia and Sean and Sydney.

Easy Peasy!!! I hope we can deliver!!! Because this girl deserves a special day!

The Music in My Ears

So here are Marea's 3 current favorite songs/cd's (according to HER):

-The songs from the movie Enchanted

-The songs from the movie Tangled

-The songs on the Wicked CD....which WAS my favorite (of the ones the kids like) and is her absolute favorite still. It was my favorite before it became her favorite and she is now requesting it ENDLESSLY so now i'm kind of sick of it. But, it is the cutest thing to see both her and Evie belting out and enjoying award winning broadway musical music. That and ABBA. I'm sure I have it MUCH better off than many other parents who are stuck listening to sesame street music over and over. I'll take it!

Evie also has her own 'music'. Well it's hardly that, but it's noise and it's funny. We are now referring to it as her 'tick' or 'tourette's syndrome'. First it was 'beep beep!'. Then it was 'poop poop poop!'. Then it was 'dong!' And recently it is 'quack!' Just random things that she belts out, whenever. Sometimes it's when she's excited, running around, playing, jumping....or sometimes it's when I correct her...it's very random and strange...but SO funny. Just one word that she attaches onto for a bit and uses in a very bizarre way. I can barely even find the words to describe it.

One other fun thing we've been doing lately...Rhubarb walks. Rhubarb is this very old lady cat who lives around the corner, who is ALWAYS sleeping under a car in the driveway or under the garage door. She is a moody old girl, who doesn't even make any noise when she meows, just her mouth moves. But every time we walk by, we stop, give out a call and Rhubarb strolls over for a very quick pet from the girls. The girls love it, and we go on Rhubarb Walks at least once a day right now. She reminds me a little bit of Homer, so it's just fine with me.

Sisters

Yesterday Evie asked me: 'Mom, what are we gonna do today?'

And Marea's answer was: 'Evie, you're going to the doctor to get 155 shots, and i'm going to Disneyland!'. HA HA!!!! If only all of their fighting was this funny.

They are definitely able to push each others buttons a lot these days. Most of the time it's a simple 'I don't want Yea-Ya to talk!' or, 'No singing Evie!'. These little things seem to turn into screaming matches that make me crazy. I've got to figure out this whole sibling relationship thing. What parts of it do I let go....and just let them duke it out...and when do I intervene? I guess it will be a learning experience for all of us. But Marea's comment yesterday definitely made me laugh. Probably because Evie didn't get upset. When I laughed it off and said 'We're going nowhere!', Evie just looked at me with those big, curious, happy eyes and said, 'Mama, can we go yes-where?'

Lots to report.....

Marea has been on a very interesting kick lately. She wants to cook, have a lemonade stand, or a garage sale, or build a house, for REAL. Every day, she comes home and wants to do one of these things. The cooking thing started when one day, while I was cooking, I gave her scraps to play with and she created her own 'soup'...lemon juice, celery leaves and ends, spices, and water. She squeezed, mixed and chopped for an hour. Then it had to be refrigerated so we could all eat it for dinner!! And she was quite serious. For days after that, that was all she wanted to do...make a soup. I let her do it another day, and on the third day I tried to show her how to really cook a soup over the stove. But she still had her own ideas and it wasn't quite edible, although Gary and I tasted it. She's still asking to make soups but I need to figure out a way for her to do this so that we're not wasting food. Since I don't really have all that many scraps every day, it can be challenging. I think next week i'll prep all the ingredients for a REAL soup while she's at school, and when she comes home it can be our project. I've also let her juice lemons before and then she got the crazy idea of having a lemonade stand...on a tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. in the neighborhood. I tried to explain that I just didn't think it was a good time, plus we live in a cul-de-sac....in fact, we haven't done this one yet because the time just isn't right, but i've promised her one over the summer. Then, one weekend the neighbors were cleaning out their garage, and she got the idea in her head that they were having a garage sale, even though I told her otherwise. So then, she started dragging out her stuff, pulled herself up a chair and had her own 'sale'. And this past weekend, her and Gary started dragging out a bunch of wood and playing with tools. They ended up building a balance beam. But then the other day, Marea tells me that she wants to build a small house. So I had to explain to her the idea of planning such projects, and that we can't just come home from school and whip up a little house. Her ideas are hilarious, I just hope we don't break her spirit because they are a bit difficult to pull off the minute she suggests them, or because she's only 4 1/2 and needs a little more training!

What she is good at planning, though, is a party. She gets so excited about parties. First it was the tea party that she decorated for, weeks in advance. Then it was valentine's day, with the chocolate covered pretzels and strawberries. Then it was Gary's birthday, and we made a cake and decorated. And she's always planning more stuff....especially the next tea party and her birthday (she wants fireworks). She digs that kind of stuff. She gets so excited.

Evie is absolutely amazing me with her vocabulary. Full, complicated sentences and big words for a 2 1/2 year old! But one of my favorite phrases right now is one she pulls out in social situations, or when we're dropping Marea at school (often when she's on the swings) and it's "This is everybody?" It's very funny, and cute. Evie will be so excited to go to Hilltop next fall. She's all registered and ready! She never wants to leave that place, in fact, the other day, as I drug her kicking and screaming out of there, she bit me! She is so different from Marea in her approach to social situations and learning, I am excited for her to have the preschool experience and I can't wait to watch her take it on. She dives right in to everything she does, fully.

She's really turning into a big girl. She drew a real face today ('Sophie', from the angry book). Her hair is growing, she even needs a hair clip now. She's wearing 3t clothes....a full 6 months before Marea did. Now we just need to get her on board with the potty training, sleeping in and sleeping in a big girl bed. But she just seems like such a baby to me still!! Guess it will always be that way.

Updates

Evie is on a 'Mama' spree. The child must say some form it it thousands of times a day. Sometimes it's cute, sometimes its funny (when she sings it!), and sometimes it drives me crazy. I think she must just like the way it rolls off her tongue. Wait, nope, that's not it. She's just a huge mama's girl. I guess I can't complain.

She's also very LOUD. One of her favorite things to do right now is 'whistle'. She makes this high pitched, short screaming sound. ALL THE TIME. From the minute she wakes up, to the time she goes to bed, and often in bed. It's usually paired with running or jumping. She's happy! But hopefully the screaming will continue to be replaced by her absolutely amazing vocabulary. She can say anything these days. But she has yet to call Marea 'Marea', even when I ask. I wonder how long 'yea-ya' will last. I would be happy if it stuck around for a long time, it's a pretty cute nickname.

Marea is blossoming into quite the little girl. She's starting to understand empathy, and helping out, and that is really nice. She will occasionally walk up to me when I'm busy and start giving me a back rub. It's like she knows that I need it. She also had a pretty awesome experience at preschool the other day, involving two of her friends who didn't want to include another little girl (Bella) in their play. Marea stuck by Bella and decided that she wanted to play with her, even when her friends said they wouldn't play with her if she played with a 'baby'. Marea said that she knew it wasn't nice and that it made Bella feel bad. So she played with Bella for a few minutes and then preschoolers being who they are, well they all moved on within 5 minutes and everything was okay. But I was so happy that she was able to stand up for what she thought was right, and what she wanted, and didn't give into the peer pressure (which sounds so ridiculous when talking about 4 year olds). I hope she stays that way. And I was so happy with the way the teachers handled it. They talked with Marea about how it made her feel, instead of correcting the girls who were being 'mean'. The made the learning experience for Marea, who was open to it, instead of the other girls. Awesome.

Marea's obsession with 'Mama Mia' continues. While her class was sitting around talking about which songs they wanted to sing for music class the next day, Marea often mentions Mama Mia songs. So funny. Hey I don't blame her. 'Take me out to the ball game' (for the 20th time), is lame!!!

Marea also hosted a very fancy tea party at our house last week. She was SET on inviting Grethe (and boys) over for this tea party and bugged me every day for a week to call her and set it up. She spent about a week and a half prepping. We had real tea cups (purchased from an estate sale we went to), fancy serving dishes, and we made cupcakes and cookies and drank apple cinnamon tea. Then we both had to put on super fancy dresses (at noon on a friday) and make-up and heels. It was so cute I videotaped it.

Now she's getting ready for her first weekend away. She'll be heading up to Santa Maria with jackie and em to visit their grandpa, and spend time on their ranch riding the horses, the tractor, playing in the dirt and having fun. She is so excited she can't stop talking about it or packing. We got out the calendar today so I could show her she would be away for two nights, and she's all good to go....her eyes got so big with excitement. She's got her own suitcase now, and we had to pack two days early because she just could not wait. It's only two nights, but I will miss her SO much!!!!