Hair

In preparation for her upcoming dance recital, we just finished some "micro" twisties.  For the past several weeks, Hiwot has been rocking loose, natural styles: shingled curls and sectioned, banded twists.  For her recital, she'll need her hair in a bun for ballet, and a ponytail for jazz.
 Twisties are definitely our most versital do, but thick ones can be a bit much to manage for sleek buns and ponytails, so we did "micro" twisties. 

Instead of our typical 2-4 pieces of yarn per twistie with neatly parted sections, I used one strand for each twistie with organic sectioning.  This took quite a bit more time (and there are a lot of twisties!), but these will work perfectly for the dance recital and will be great for the first part of Summer :)

Since the twisties themselves took quite a bit of time, I didn't spend extra time getting the lengths perfectly even - oh well. 

Hiwot would have preferred them to be longer, but I only made them as long as we needed for the bun and ponytail.  We both love the look of these, and they're super flexible.  Hopefully these will stay put for the next 8 weeks :)

Three

Much to the continued frustration of her two older sisters,  Maclaren is three . . . very three.

"Nap"time each day is an adventure in discoveries: what mess are we going to discover today?  She loves to play with her big sisters' dolls, dress-ups, Legos, and craft supplies.   Understandably it drives her sisters nuts!  Maegli especially.  Maegli sneaks upstairs during naptime, determined to catch Maclaren in the act - and dramatically reacts to anything out of order.  But, as frustrating as the messes are, it's important for Maclaren to have free time alone.
We continually remind the patience tested sisters: "We need to allow her to be three - you made messes when you were three too!" 

Besides decorating the closet door with crayons, Maclaren has also colored every page of her big sisters' coloring books.  On Hiwot's animal book, Maclaren colored in (scribbled on) the eyes of each animal, and she colored beautiful faces on Maegli's book . . . every page(!). 

I know it's frustrating to her sisters, but it really is quite cute - she's quite talented for three!
She's our super cutie, trouble-maker, 3-year-old :)

21 Months

Our sweet baby girl is seeming more like a big girl each day.  She's walking and talking, and does her very best to keep up with the rest of the crew.  She's 21 months old :)

Dabney is an absolute joy and such a sweetheart. 

words:  bye-bye, night-night, mama, dada, baby, doggy, La-la (Layla), here, hands, hold me, wah-wah (water), ba-na (banana), up, off, no, get up! (when ready to get up from nap), hi, hello, uh oh

(plus she mimics nearly everything!).

eats all the time and everything and always wants more

sippy cups

sleeps with her nursing cover (her lovey)

climbs onto everything - the kitchen counter, the dining table

dances (she loves ring-around-the-rosie)

colors on any paper she finds

2 hour nap / day

sleeps 12 hours at night

nurses 1-2 times/day (starting to self ween)

loves to play "horsey" - will walk over and sit on my foot and request "hands" to hold on while bouncing

fusses more than ever before - she knows what she wants!

stubborn

loves to be held

(a bit of a mama's girl)

sits on Maclaren's potty and looks for an applause

(gets mad when Maclaren sits on the potty)

walks on tippy-toes

loves to dance (with Tesfaye)

pushes her dolly in the stroller

sucks on the toothbrush

picks out a book and sits on our laps to read

says "nigh-nigh" to everyone and gives kisses and hugs each night

cleans up toys

Gallery

"StarWars" by Davis (age 9)

"Little Girls" by Maclaren (age 3)

"Fairy Princess" by Maegli (age 7)

"Peter Rabbit" by Hiwot (age 7)

Blow!

 She huffs, and she puffs, and she blows . . . all the seeds away :)

Dentist

It is an adventure taking everyone to the dentist . . . or the doctor, or the grocery store, or the farmers market, or the dance studio. . .  It's an adventure everyday with our crew :)

Thankfully, the kids love going to the dentist - they really truly LOVE going to the dentist:  special attention, time alone in a reclining chair, a super sweet receptionist, a new toothbrush, and a toy from the treasure box . . . what's not to love?

It's a good thing they like going so much: we've had two appointments in the past week and another next week - it takes a lot of time to get everyone seen.

This week, while we had caps put on the back teeth of 4 kids, waiting kids decorated the reception desk with Spirograph-decorated post-its, built Lego ships, played with princesses, and a sweet babe threw-up all over the lobby.  It's an adventure everyday. 

*The dentist we've had (and loved) the past ten years just retired.  Thankfully, we love this new dentist too!

Strawberries

May is the month for strawberries. 
We love strawberries! 

Last week we picked up 2 flats of berries from a local farm - they have THE BEST strawberries.  We made short work of eating through one flat, and froze the second for later use: strawberry jam, desserts, and smoothies! 

Strawberries in May, blackberries in June, blueberries in July, apples in September . . . we love fresh fruit from our local farmers all Summer :)

Yummmmmm

Sand Baby

Wiffle Ball

We go through phases in our household . . . the current afternoon craze:  Wiffle Ball.

The kids have two set teams and an ongoing game, complete with ghost runners and their own set of rules.  The kids typically start up, rain or shine, late afternoon, playing until called in for supper.  The highlight of their playing: when dad arrives home from work early and joins in :)

(In a side note: notice all of our new grass growth!  The kids sprinkled some seeds a few weeks ago :)

First Swim of the Year