Birthday Girl

It's hard to believe, but this child of mine is five years old. She is full of contradictions - she can be both sweet and sour, loving and defiant, independent and clingy. From what I've been told of five, this is exactly where she should be, whether Brian and I like it or not. On this very special day, I told her this - thank you for being my child, and for making these last five years my most favorite ones of all. (Even on those sour days, when I am not ready to admit it.) Happy birthday, my big little girl!!

Nobody Alowd

I didn't think I'd see a sign like this for at least another eight years or so. At least it's posted in the hallway rather than on her door. The story goes - Sarah's friend Stella helped her spell the sign. I guess the original use was to keep the other kids away from the animals at school. I didn't ask too much more. I figure we'll get into that a bit later down the road. (Like at least eight years, right!?)

At Rest

Some days, Eric is tired enough to take a nap without wondering why Sarah isn't. On this day, he needed help. And I didn't mind obliging. (I never really do.) So I took a ten minute nap and he took a longer one. Eric napping - for this I am grateful!!

Potty Art

Sarah's new favorite thing to do while sitting on the toilet is to draw. She's occupied her time in a few ways over the years - looking at books, singing and talking to herself, and most recently, drawing. The pictures above are ones she drew while using the facilities. (I didn't think she'd appreciate me taking a picture of her while drawing, so here's the evidence instead.) I guess you could call her our "Pee-casso." (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!!)

Life Without Naps

For almost five years, I've enjoyed having a break in my day, a reprieve from the noise. As a stay at home mom, one of my favorite times of the day has always been nap time. It allows me some time to myself, to get things done or to relax and do nothing at all. I've dreaded the day when naps would end, and I've threatened Brian that I would go back to work when that time came. I've always thought that I would struggle with the lack of solitude that no naps would create.

Well, the time is here. Sarah has given up naps. The process has been slow, every other day at first, and then every third day. Sarah napped once this week, on Monday, and it was only because I agreed to take one with her. I was happy to oblige!

At first, it was challenging. She was grumpy when she chose not to nap, and we'd all pay for her newly formed opinion that naps weren't fun anymore. She still has those moments, but for the most part, she does very well without the extra rest. Thankfully, she plays well by herself and even though she's not asleep, you'd barely know she's there. (She does feel the need to ask questions occasionally and comes to find me before continuing to play. She even sneaks past Eric's room on tiptoes when I remind her that he's sleeping, and then she runs full speed into the playroom.)

Now that I'm on the other side, it's not nearly as bad as I imagined. Not bad enough to send me back to work, anyway. I admit though, there are still days that I'd really like a nap!!

Grateful Turkeys

We worked on "thankful turkeys" the other day, and an unanticipated lesson was taught in the process. The kids did a great job painting the turkeys, and Sarah cut out all of her tail feathers and the turkey's gobble, too. When we got around to talking about what they were thankful for, Sarah started naming specific family members and friends, rather than saying "family" or "friends". Now, if there was room for lots and lots of feathers, this may have been okay, but we only had eight feathers per turkey. So, I explained that maybe "family" would work rather than "Mommy", "Daddy", or "Penny." (Note the exclusion of "Eric.") She agreed and wrote family instead. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite as willing to be inclusive about her friends, and that feather was left off the turkey. We're still working on it, but hopefully she's begun to recognize that including everyone is so much better than leaving some very good people out.

Eric's turkey - trucks, trains, Sarah, Penny, Daddy, Mommy, and plants (I'm thinking that last one was to make me happy, just a guess . . .)

Sarah's turkey - turkey (because it's Thanksgiving), candy, flowers, taggies, cats, family, and Nemo on Ice (which she'll see in Black Mountain, just after Thanksgiving)

me smell something

Eric has moved on. That is, he's moved from asking about that sound to pointing out smells. More specifically, he says, "Me smell something," anytime he thinks someone has passed gas. He is quite accurate in his smelly ability, however, there have been a few occasions where he's falsely accused someone (or all of us). For example, we were driving in the car yesterday, and Eric said, "Me smell something." But none of us had farted. We all denied it, but Eric wouldn't let up. "Me smell you (pointing to me,) or you (pointing to Brian), or you (pointing to Sarah.)" Again, we all denied his accusations. Once again, "Um-hmm, yes, me smell you, or you, or you." Brian wisely replied, "Whoever smelled it, dealt it, buddy." Eric disagreed. Once more, he blamed the rest of us. Personally, I didn't smell anything, but who knows.

Super Girl to the Rescue!

Sarah has decided that she wants to be Super Girl for Halloween next year. In this picture, she's showing off her "super muscles" (and cute puppy belly too!)

potato stamping

If they keep it up, the next present you receive could be wrapped in potato-stamped love!!

Our House

Sarah drew our house today. She's pointing to the porch in the picture, and the green triangle on top of it is the playroom. Next to the bonus room is her room, with the attic and chimney at the very top of the page. (Mommy and Daddy and Eric don't have bedrooms, but it's her perspective, after all.) Below her room is the downstairs - she only drew the kitchen and family room, but she does have the kitchen table and family room sofas and table in there. I have no idea what the squiggly line represents. She's drawn the garage, driveway and road, as well as doors and windows. And finally, she drew the deck out back, almost as big as the rest of the house, with the table and herb planter. And, my favorite, she always includes the sun and the sky.

Pumpkins at Fearrington

We've made a tradition of going with CJ and Lizzie to the annual carved pumpkin display at Fearrington Village. It's nice to be able to celebrate Halloween without candy being involved. As always, we had a great time.

Trick or Treat

Halloween 2009 . . .

Carving pumpkins,
hanging up Sarah's ghosts and pumpkins,

getting ready to get some candy (with Layla, too),

impressed by the neighbor's decorations,

"trick or treat,"
and our ghost and bat pumpkins.

Sticky Buns

Brian decided to treat the kids (and himself) to cinnamon rolls for dessert tonight. We had eggs for dinner, so why not finish it off with another breakfast treat, right? Sarah and Eric both complained about the stickiness and used forks to eat them. Brian explained that yes, in fact, another name for cinnamon rolls is sticky buns. Eric started laughing and then said, "Stinky bum." Sarah started cracking up, so he then said, "Stinky poopy bum," which received even more laughter. He repeated it several more times, much to Sarah's delight. "He said 'Poopy,' Mommy!!" As a mom, I felt obligated to end the potty talk. However, the English teacher in me couldn't help but note the impressive word play.

Happy Birthday!!

To my son, who is now a big three year old!!

And to my sister, who happens to be a few years older than three!!

Thank you both, for adding so much to my life. Love you!!

Handmade Playroom

So I'm finally getting around to posting pictures from the playroom re-do. All of of the decorations, and much of the furniture, are handmade, or painted, or altered. There are also many old things, with lots of collective memory attached. It's my new favorite (old) room in the house.

My dad made the dollhouse, and Sarah and I painted it. The furniture was made by my grandparents' neighbor in Iowa. My sister and I played with it for many years, and I'm grateful that it has been passed down to my kids.

The rag rug comes from my dad's grandma (I think.) I'll have to check on that.

Brian made the bookshelf and the small table next to it, which we all painted. The banner was made by me, the mirror was painted by Sarah and me, and the dress up hook was made by Brian and painted by the rest of the family. The dress up chest comes from my mom, and was made when they moved over to England (when she was three.)

The pillows and blanket on the sofa were made by my dad's mom. I covered the corkboards in fun fabric and they hold artwork by Sarah and Eric.

I think Penny approves, too.

Petting Moss

It's so soft and fuzzy.

Look at Me!!

The only time you ever look cute in a leotard with underpants hanging out, with socks pulled up high, and with a helmet on your head is five years old and younger. Thankfully, Sarah still fits into that age bracket, but not for much longer . . . Do it while you still can, girl!

Small Science

When we were at NC Museum of Life & Science awhile back, the kids got a kick out of the food coloring experiment that was offered. So, a few days later, they became scientists once again. For some reason, the end result was always olive green . . .

At camp and the beach

We took a trip to Carolina Beach last weekend and we had a lovely time. The kids were disappointed to come home after only one night in the tent. Pretty good for first-timers!

Penny

Sweet girl.

writing practice

Several of Sarah's friends have moved up to kindergarten this year, and she hears from them about the homework they do. One assignment involves writing one's name five times. Sarah decided that she'd like to practice too. For some reason, she decided to make both letter "r's" and the "h" really long. At first glance, it wasn't completely legible, but she did have all the letters in the correct order.

raisin poop

Eric found some deer poop in the yard the other day. "That looks like raisins," he said. Indeed, it does.

Stop Sign

The other day, we were sitting at a stop sign, waiting for cars to pass. Sarah said, "S, T, O, P, that spells stop, Eric." Brian and I said, "Yes, it does." Her first reading moment. How cool!

Cardinal Feather

Sarah found a cardinal's feather the other day, which made its way inside. Sarah said (several days later,) "Maybe we should take this outside." I agreed. I told her to put it some place where she could find it again. Her first attempt was under the table outside, stuck between the wood on the deck. It tipped over and almost fell through immediately. She said, "Maybe that's not the best place." I said, "Maybe not." She then decided to put it in the pot with the dying gerber daisy. And she stuck it straight up again. "Beautiful," she said. "Yes," I said, although I'm not sure I really agree.

Reading Together

As I was doing dishes and cleaning up the other day, Sarah and Eric were sitting on her bed, reading. She was "reading" stories aloud to him and he was sitting next to her, listening and looking at another book. She chose the ones she's memorized, ones likes "The Very Hungry Catepillar" and "The Pokey Little Puppy." She told me after they were finished, "Mommy, I read Eric four books. He was a good listener." Moments like that make my day.

Sarah, Cat Whisperer

So there's this cat that likes to stop by and say hello to us every once in a while. Brian's named him Mystery, because we have no idea where he lives or who he belongs to. And Sarah loves him. She'd play with him all day long if he let her. She follows him around, talks to him, pets him, and tries to pick him up. He tolerates (and even likes) everything but the picking up. That's usually when he decides he's had enough and makes his exit. Until that point, the pair have a fine time together!

a new table

Sarah wanted to go to The Scrap Exchange, so we went. Most of the time, we find little things, like fabric scraps and plastic vials to add to their doctor bag. I'd been looking for a table to replace one in the playroom and I happened upon a $2.00 find. It was too short, but I figured Brian may be able to help solve that. And he did. After adding longer legs, priming, and painting, we have a very nice "new" table.

NC Botanical Garden

Brian had the camera when we went to the garden last weekend, and he captured some great moments . . .

Writing notes to the fairies

and mailing them.

Digging in the dirt

and spreading seeds.

Racing around the "track"

and catching her breath.

Peeking through the hole in the wood

and looking from another perspective.

Oh yeah, and the natural beauty too.