Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Spring. Almost.

Every day Ella asks me, 'Now is it Spring?' I tell her just a few more days. She sees little buds bloom flowers on the trees and tells me she is certain the season has changed. Maxwell asks if Spring means he'll get to ride his motto (quad) more because it will stay light later. I tell him yes and he gives me that smile.

I forgot how much I love taking pictures. I spent five minutes taking snapping these, sure that none of them were good, but I always enjoy pulling them up on my computer the next day. Last night we pulled out plastic, empty, Easter eggs and it kept the kids busy for hours. It's always the simple things. Like letting little girls carry umbrellas, on sunny days.

SPRING:
 'a. The season of the year, occurring between winter and summer, during which the weather becomes warmer and plants revive, extending in the Northern Hemisphere from the vernal equinox to the summer solstice and popularly considered to comprise March, April, and May.
b. A time of growth and renewal.'
 
To an early Spring, and the promise of growth and renewal. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Litte Vita

I had a couple weeks of Ella acting...not like Ella. A little sassy, a lot of whining, and not the funnest girl to be around. But our little Vita is back, with her kind disposition and gentle nature shinning through. We enjoy her so much. I joke that Ella literally stops to smell each flower. She takes in everything around her, asking 'why?' and marveling at the beauty in this world. She's smitten with flowers in bloom and the change that Spring brings. Her new favorite words are adorable and fabulouso. 

"Mom, look at that dog! He is sooooo adorable! Right?"

"I'm going to wear this dress today because it's sooo pretty and it will make me look fabulouso!"

Ella has an imaginary friend named Simba. Not to be confused with Simba from the Lion King, this friend is a pretty girl, not a lion. And she's afraid of the Lion King movie. My favorite is overhearing her in her room talking to Simba about the weddings and parties that they go to. She talks about balls, princesses and an imaginary dance class they attend. This morning she told Maxwell he was going to have to drive himself to the wedding tonight because she was riding with Simba and there are only two seats in her car. "I'm so sorry Maxwell," she told him.

I'm not allowed to bring up Simba because it embarrasses her, so I love when Ella invites me into her world. I'm so happy I get to be a Mom to a daughter and a son. Ella likes to get dirty and wrestle with her brother, but she also loves girly things- kind of like me. She likes worms, muddy puddles and watching sports. She also likes pink, glitter and dancing. 

She's such a gift, I love our girl.





Monday, March 4, 2013

A Few Of Their Favorite Things, Age 4



Fourth Birthday Party!

Maxwell and Ella are FOUR today. FOUR! We celebrated yesterday with our family and friends. The countdown to the party was almost as fun for the kids as the actual day. Making decorations, treats and favors for friends- these are all things that make celebrations special. And Maxwell and Ella are SO, SO special.

Here are a whole lotta pictures :)

Every year I get my Mom to make yummy food, including cupcakes per the kids request.



I asked my mother in law to make these pretty fruit skewers




 
 
 
 
 
 

Maxwell and Ella hit their first pinata! 
 
 
 
 
 

My beautiful grandmother, the original Vita, flew from New Mexico to celebrate with us this week.
 

Today I'm thankful for my handsome husband that gave me these beautiful kids
 
 
 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Smarts, Sass and Poop Talk

Lots going on in my head, but I haven't felt like writing. Mostly I think about my kids. I think about how they're growing up and how I need to grow with them.

I think a lot about preschool and then feel anxious that they don't go. Our twins are turning four in two weeks. FOUR. My little premie babies are now big kids. I feel like we're in a transition time but I'm not sure exactly what it's going to be. Most of our friends with toddlers already have them in preschool. And I feel this urgency that ours are supposed to be there too. Not from other Moms, but because I don't want ours to miss out. I think they'd enjoy it so much.

I don't think my kids are behind by any means, I think that Maxwell is so smart. I mean he blows my mind.

He comes up to us and rattles off equations, "Did you know 4 + 4 = (he says the word equals) 8?" "Did you know 5 + 2 = 7."

He takes his letter magnets and puts them in alphabetical order, getting each one right. When we're driving in the car he'll say, "Let's think about words that start with the letter 'A'. Like, astronaut, apple, antlers." He's coming up with these things on his own. Whenever he does I'm like, oh yeah, I'm supposed to be intentional about 'learning time' every day. Good thing he reminds me. Ella is not slow at all. She just shows a greater interest in other areas. She'd rather tell me that she stayed in the lines with her artwork or that she made a color pattern with her beads.

Side-note: We got the kid's Kindle Fire's for Christmas and it has been the coolest thing. There's a feature called Kindle Free Time where you personalize their settings by age (it's all password protected so they can't get on the Internet). They have their own tablets with tons and tons of books, games, and videos. There are so many educational apps that come with this feature that add/change every month. We pay $5 a month per kindle for the feature but I think it is so worth it. We almost got a leap pad but I'm so pleased with what we chose instead. We paid the cost for the Kindle and now $10 total a month for unlimited features. So much of what they are learning is coming from this tool.

They are starting to push boundaries and my sweet Ella throws out occasional sass. I guess every parent thinks this, but I thought my kids would never talk back. Seriously, I did. I thought they'd make mistakes but I didn't think they'd be disrespectful. But they're almost four and they're trying us out. So I've got to step up my game and be firm and consistent.

Do anyone else's kids think it's hilarious to talk dirty? Maxwell and Ella laugh uncontrollably when the other calls something a 'poopy butt wiener head hahahahahaha.' After I typed that line I literally just heard Ella tell Maxwell, "Little Bill likes poop poo dog heads for breakfast hahahaha." What? Eck.

So, that's life around here :) Our days are good. Some longer than others. Date nights are required. I've still been taking most of my pictures with my phone. If you're not one of my three followers on Instagram, here are some of my favorite pictures of the last couple weeks.














A couple weeks ago I got to take a girl's trip for a friends birthday. It was sooo much fun. One of those trips where I forgot what it's like to have any responsibilities. We did each other's hair and make up (well, I didn't help them because I don't know how but I let them do mine). We planned our outfits the night before. We ate, shopped and laughed. It was so nice. We went to a taping of Chelsea Lately (who I love) and yours truly got to sit in the front row :)



Sunday, February 10, 2013

Just Hi

My camera has been in it's case a long time. I've been having so much fun with instagram I don't even think to take it out. We went for a walk the other day and the kids decided it was neccesary to take some of their instraments with them. Which got me to pull out the camera. They are quite the musical duo. They tell me they want to play guitar like their Papa, my Dad. Ella seems more into being the back up dancer...kind of like me.

 
 

His poses kill me.