An update!

It's been a while since I've done an update! 

Things are pretty good around here for the most part.  The Springfield house has been a lot of work this past month and that has taken up most of our free time. But, we're close to having all the units rented, so with some luck, that should lessen soon. 

We had the first snowfall, which Maya and Ella were very excited about. Since then, it's mostly all melted and just been cold and rainy. I am looking forward to visiting Florida in January.

Maya and Ella's snowmen.

Quotes from Maya:

"If you listen carefully to the rain, it sounds like music."

"That was really nice when Timmy brought us all those strawberries and kiwis. I love strawberries and kiwis. I love Timmy, too."

"I'm proud that I saw what they were doing. Now I'm not so scared." (after going down to the basement to watch the people working on our furnace)

"Water is scrumptious!"

"I missed you while I was sleeping." (to me after her nap)

"I have to be gentle with my body, because it's tired."

Brett: "Thank you girls for staying in your room and waiting until the clock turned yellow to come out this morning. I heard someone moving around when it was almost morning, but you still waited."
M: "That was me."
Brett: "Thank you Maya."
M: "I'm not Maya. I'm baby shark."

"I wish you a Merry Christmas and a happy new day!"

"Do you have short sleeve pants on??" (when she saw me wearing shorts)

"I have two babies, so they came out of my tummy. A long time ago. When it was Friday."

M: "Why do we have to wear seat belts so much?"
Me: <I explain (over the loud music playing in the car) about how the seat belts would protect us if we were in an accident>
M: "What? I couldn't hear your response!"

"I like when the bright touches my body, but not my eyes." (about the sunshine)

M: "You're too prickly!"
Me: "What??"
M: "You're a pinecone."

"When you get old you can have caffeine, it's too spicy for you now." (to her sister)

"Snow is like mashed potatoes because it's so smushy!"

"Mama, why do I have blue eyes? I don't like being the only one in our family with blue eyes."

Quotes from Ella:

"Mama's bed, it's the coziest."

"Dada do you have any thinks of this?" (asking if he had any idea how to fix a broken something)

Me: "You did so well staying in your room. I know that was a lot of waiting, I'm impressed. What did you do while you were waiting?"
E: "I didn't do anything."
Me: "What did you think about while you were waiting?"
E: "I thinked, I want the clock to turn yellow right now!"

"Woah! The leaves are FLYING!" (looking out the window on a very windy afternoon)

"OH, you're a 100 miles sick." (playing doctor with her sister)

"I feel sad because Uncle X is gone and I love him." (when I asked Ella why she was looking so sad just sitting on the couch after Brett had left for his work one morning)

"I don't want to get dressed. I just don't want to wear any clothes at all."

"I dreamed that everyone I loved was at Grandma and Papa's house."

"I'm a baby bulb." (after I asked if she was ready to get up and start the day)
"Now I'm blooming!" (standing up tall on the bed with arms stretched up over her head)
"You can pick me now!" (meaning, please carry me out of bed and to the breakfast table)

Me: "I think we should put the Christmas tree..."
E: "...right in the bedroom where I sleep!"

E: "Why do we live in houses?"
Me: "Why do you think?"
E: "To keep the mosquitos out!"

"I tried to get just one, but all of its friends came down, too! (after getting a napkin from the shelf, and looking at all the rest that fell to the floor)

"There. That looks more like me." (to herself, after taking off her clothes as soon as we got home)

"But I just want to see you, cuz you're all covered with dark!" (after I told her to please not shine her flash light on me while in my bed so early in the morning)

"These sniffles are from my crying." (after being upset)

E: "Mama, you try the eggnog and then you say, "Yuck" and I'll say, "No no don't say that!""
Me: <after taking a sip> "Yuck!"
E: "You shouldn't say yuck."
Me: "Yuck! yuck! yuck! yuck!"
E: "You shouldn't say yuck. If you don't like it, you can say something else."
Me: "What should I say instead?"
E: "You should say, "Blecch!""

Quotes from some or all of us:

M: "Can I have some more butter for my Brussels sprouts?"
E: "Butter! Butter! Butter! Can I have some more butter?"
Me: "For what?"
E: "For Ella!"

And finally, a few pictures from the past month:

Planting garlic!

The lion and her guitar.

Maya and her horsey.

Playing outside and sharing boots.

Play-doh time.

Speaking of play-doh, we made our own! It was easy and worked out really well.

 

A picnic of pie with Aunt Anne.

One morning, we went out to the garden and Maya and Ella dug up a bunch of carrots, washed them in the sink all by themselves, and then ate them all up.

Ella took this photo of Brett, just back inside from his late November dip in the river.

Yellow leaves in the river.

Two Cedar Waxwings I saw while on a walk at the nature trail in Hadley.

Selena and Ella.

Maya eats up her ice cream a lot faster than her sister. Asking Ella if she can share what is left of hers hasn't worked, but Maya has figured out that if she says to her sister, "I'm a baby bird!" and opens her mouth, Ella will delightedly feed her spoonfuls of ice cream.

Peppa Pig is the new favorite thing to watch around here. The girls are obsessed with it.

Ella the ballerina.

She can really twirl!

I think ballet lessons may be in her future.

While Ella was twirling, Maya dressed all these animals.

Bread-making helpers.

Story time for little bear.

Singing and playing guitar together. That cardboard tube is their microphone.

Coloring the color sheets they got at the doctor's office when we got flu shots.

Ella the elephant.

The very cute elephant.

The first little bit of snow.

Making snowballs with Dada.

Tricycle ride around the block!

Also, we are all done with pacifiers! December 6th was the last day. The girls have done great with the change, though we are all adjusting our sleep expectations and figuring out new patterns. Here is a last picture of the girls with their beloved pacifiers.

Month in Moments

It's been a rough few weeks, with lots of little happy and fun moments thrown in here and there. We all had a cold, followed by another cold, or maybe it was the same one that just changed and lingered. I had it the worst and am only now starting to feel mostly all better.

The stress with our Springfield house and horrible-rotten-no-good non-paying tenants continues, but it will hopefully be over by the end of the month when (fingers crossed) they finally move, we pay them lots of money, hope many bad things happen to them in the future, and that we never ever have to see them again. It is very likely that we will be selling the Springfield house in the near future.

Brett had a birthday! We all weren't feeling especially well, but we had some tasty apple cake, Brett's parents and Guy came over, and Brett had a really nice day. Kathy and the girls planted some bulbs in the backyard and we're all looking forward to seeing them come up in the spring.

Timmy left for Arizona a few weeks ago and we miss him. We loved having him around and I hope whatever he decides to do next will bring him back to visit us again soon!

Selena came home from her month-long-cross-country-motorcycle-trip with Brian! We were delighted to see her. She was home for a few days and then left again for Minnesota. We are all looking forward to her return!

 

Can you find Maya?

Ella's disappearing act.

Quotes from Maya:

"I said 'I like you' to Ella, and she said 'I like you' to me!"

Me: "Wow, you girls are pretty good at that!" (using glitter paint)
Maya: "I'm awesome... like Dada."

"When I get older, I want to do something important. But, what could I do? ... I know! I could dig carrots from the garden! And potatoes!"

"You sound like a frog." (about my coughing)

Maya: "Here, Mama." (holds out her finger to me)
Me: "What is it?"
Maya: "A booger."

"Mama! I dreamed about Grandma Kathy! She was playing in the rain with me and we collected leaves for you while you were out. And pretty flowers!"  (so excited to tell me about her dream first thing after climbing into our bed in the morning)

Me: "Your eyes remind me of the ocean."
Maya: "Your eyes remind me of the playground."

Me: "What did you wish for?"
Maya: "Blueberry, raspberry, blackberry pie!"

"I want to be able to see her eyes and nose..... I found a way!" (almost getting frustrated, but saving it, while putting a hat on a stuffed animal)

"Mama, will you help me to unside this out?" (about an inside-out shirt)

"It tastes like Mama milk, only not as sweet." (Maya's description of half and half)

"But I can't move them, I'm too little, they might sharp me!" (about the pruning clippers)

Quotes from Ella:

"It's stuck in my head. Right here, under my hair." (about a song)

"I realized something. See? Look at my face, I look realized!"

"You gave me a hug! I was thoughting about one!"

Me: "Lets give big waves goodbye!"
Ella: "But, I have a little hand, so, I will do little waves."

"Mmrrhh! She sweepted me an I fell down! Maya, that was not really appropriate to me." (overheard from the other room, while the girls were both using brooms to sweep the "floor")

"Dizzy means, to fall down."

"You're making macaroni and cheese with a bunny on it!! I'm so excited! Yay me!" (Ella really loves Annie's mac and cheese)

"It made me 'yes'. Like this, with my head." (Ella's description of going over a big bump while riding in the car)

"Do you want to drink the last verse of this?" (offering me the rest of her juice)

"It smells like snow!" (sniffing the crisp fall air)

Quotes from some or all of us:

Ella: "I see a scary thing!!"
Maya: "It's me."
Ella: "Oh. I didn't realize."

Maya: "I have a really good idea. You can carry the basket on the way back."
Ella: "No. I have a really good idea. We can carry it together, now."
Maya: "Okay."
(Ella, standing up for herself)

Brett: "Maya and Ella, please clear your plates."
Me: "Oh, you'd better clear them fast... before I do it...!"
Ella: (runs to the table to clear her plate)
Maya: "That's okay. I don't want to do it."

Maya: "You know, I love potatoes."
Ella: "But not me!"

Country Roads

Maya and Ella's newest favorite song is, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver. It is included in this session of HooteNanny. Pretty much since we got the new CD, it has been on constant repeat, track 9 just plays over and over and over.

On Sunday, we went up to NH to see Brett's Grandma Mary and Grandpa Val. We gave them hugs and kisses and the cards that Maya and Ella had drawn for them. Brett juggled for his Grandpa. The girls were very shy while we were visiting, but Mary offered them her cupcake, which they happily ate. 

Country Roads was on repeat the whole drive home.

Brett with his grandmother.

Eating the cupcake outside. It was such a beautiful Fall day.

Some quotes from Ella...

"You know what I say? When clothes miss, we can always find them!"

"Mmmrrh!! It doesn't fit me!" (while trying to squeeze into a chair that is pushed all the way into the table)

"Sometimes while I'm falling asleep, I tell a story in my head." 

"Old people have white hair!" (an observation while visiting her great-grandparents)

"I have a REALLY good idea!! We could send her some butter as a treat!! That would be a great present!" (while talking about Amber's birthday)

Ella: "Timmy, what is your mama and dada named?"
Timmy: "Mama and Papa!"
Me: "Ella, did you know that Timmy's mama and dada are also my mama and dada - Grandma and Papa!"
Ella: "Hmm... interesting!"

"It fit just lovely in my mouth!" (about a big piece of watermelon)

Some quotes from Maya...

"I really liked going to see your grandparents, Dada." (to Brett on the drive home from our visit)
 
It was hot in the car on the drive home from NH, and Maya really wanted to take all of her clothes off... 
Me: "But, we will be at the Co-op soon, and you have to wear clothes to go in there." 
Maya: "Why?"

Listening to a song: 
Maya: "The train is glory bound... What does that mean?" 
Brett: "Hm... it's kind of difficult to explain... it means it's going.. umm..."
Maya: "...To Papa and Grandma's house?"

Searching for pinky dog:
Me: "Think about when you last had her, that might help us in our search."
Maya: "I had her a couple whiles ago... a few nights ago I had her... I had her when I was born."

Maya: "I'm a baby frog. I want to nurse."
Me: "Well, baby frogs don't nurse their Mama's." 
Maya: "Well, this one does, because I'm really a girl pretending to be a baby frog."

Me: "Aren't you going to eat your lunch?"
Maya: "No."
Me: "Before your nap I thought you said you were hungry!"
Maya: "But, my body is only hungry for cupcakes!"

After a day and a half of a fever, pretty much just resting, feeling miserable, and not saying more than two words, Maya woke up from a morning nap and announced: "I want a snack and then I want to play with play-doh!"

"Know what I call elephants? Elephanties!"

Brett: "Maya, please clear your plate if you're done."
Maya: "I'm baby octopus."

Quotes from some or all of us...

M: "I'm going to wear the red shoes!"
E: "But I want to wear the red shoes!"
Me: "Aw, I know you love the red shoes. How about the pink flashy shoes this time?"
E: "No! I want the red shoes!"
Me: "Maybe you could each wear one red shoe and one pink flashy shoe, you could be mis-matched!"
E: "Okay!"
M: "No. I don't want to."
E: "She said she doesn't want to! Waahh!"
M: <takes off one shoe and pushes it toward her sister>
Me: "Oh, look, she seems to have changed her mind! Now you can be mis-matched."
E: "No! I don't want to. It's too late for me."

Playing airplane together:
E: "I'm going to sit here (on the couch) in this seat. This is the airplane."
M: "Well, that plane is too 'spensive (sits on the floor), so i'm going on a different airplane."

Brett: "Who wants pancakes for breakfast?"
M: "I want strawberry pancakes!"
E: "I want raspberry pancakes!"
Brett: "But, I was thinking of making coconut chocolate chip pancakes..."
M: "Well, I could change my mind!"

Maya gets worried about trucks. The loud noises that they make when they drive by scare her. Even when we're inside she will often run to me and cling if she hears a loud truck driving by...
Me: "Don't worry Maya, the truck can't drive in our house, so we're safe."
Ella, after thinking for a moment, adds her own reassurance: "Yeah, 'cuz, we closed the door."

At their play kitchen:

E: "Are you making soup?"

M: "No, I'm making tea for Dada's grandparents, because they are old and sick."

E: "Oh! Can I help?"

M: "Yes. Hey... we can make tea together!!"
E: "Okay!"