Elisa is Five!

Well, it's been over a month since Leesi's birthday. But I still just had to write about my big five-year-old, and her birthday. 

Grandma and Grandpa took Leesi out on her actual birthday (Dec. 13th) to Build a Bear. And wow, what a hit that was! "Rainbow girl", who plays a peppy rendition of Happy Birthday when you squeeze her arm, was Elisa's favorite birthday gift for sure. We heard that song over and over and over again for a good week. Now, Elisa still plays with Rainbow Bear, but thankfully the song doesn't get played as often. 

A few days later we had a "Pinkalicious Party" for Leesi. We had 6 friends over (it was the first friends only party we've done). And it was so much fun. We made beaded bracelets, played a game or two, and then sent the kids upstairs to play while we made lunch. Over lunch I read the kids the story of Pinkalicious. It was a simple lunch: pizza and green smoothies. Green because in the story, she has to eat green things to get back to normal after she turns pink from eating too many pink cupcakes. So of course, for dessert: pink cupcakes. The kids were all so great at the party and had so much fun. I heard several kids planning their next birthday party with a "color-licious" theme.

Elisa, my big five-year-old, I love you so much. 

You are a great big sister: very responsible and motherly. 

You always have a plan, an idea, or a new project in mind. "Mommy, will you get out the art box?" "Mommy, can we make something out of our cookbook?" "Mommy, I'm making valentines for everyone." "Mommy, will you read me my magazine?"

You are silly and fun. You love running around and giggling with your brother and friends. And no one can make Nora laugh the way that you can. 

You love doing artwork. You are constantly coloring and drawing with your markers, and you are always up for a craft project. 

I'm so glad to be your mommy, and am looking forward to this next year!

LIfe through Elisa's eyes

Elisa always wants to take pictures when I get out the camera. Lately I've started letting her actually wander around with the camera a little. It's kind of fun to see some of the pictures she ends up with.

Halloween

I know it's been awhile since Halloween, but just couldn't resist posting a few pictures. For Halloween this year we went trick or treating with some friends from church. It was super fun. Elisa was once again Tinkerbell. Here she is with her little fairy friends:

Jonathan was a doggie. This is the costume Elisa wore two years ago, and it is Jonathan's absolute favorite thing in our dress up clothes. He often wears the doggie, so it was very appropriate for Halloween. 

This was the first time that the kids went trick or treating with friends. Jonathan didn't quite get it at first. At the first house he wandered inside as the homeowners were passing out candy. He was quite a ways inside by the time I got up to the front door and started calling for him to come back out. As we walked to the next house I tried to explain to him that we don't go inside, we just get our candy and leave. But at the next house once again he wandered in. Well, after the second house he seemed to get it and things went smoothly. He only wandered into one other house before we were done... funny kid.

Chinese Garden Adventure

Today we went to the Chinese Garden here in downtown Portland. The brochure said it is the most authentic Chinese garden outside of China... I don't know whether to believe the brochure or not. But nonetheless it was beautiful and tranquil. It was like stepping into another world. I kind of forgot we were still downtown, except that every once in awhile over the tops of the curved roofs I would catch glimpses of skyscrapers. 

The garden takes up one city block, but it's amazing how much they fit into that little space. There are paths leading through it different ways, and different vistas from each angle. The sound of a waterfall blocks out the city traffic noise. It really is quite a calming, tranquil experience. Except, I suppose, for the sounds of our children. 

 The kids loved watching the big Koi.

They liked using the "flower" doorway as a slide.

The kids had a really fun time. When I told her earlier in the day that we were going to a Chinese garden Leesi said, "That doesn't sound very fun." But in the car when we were leaving she said, "I didn't think it was going to be fun, but it was fun!" I was glad she had amended her opinion.

BSF

This past year I've been attending Bible Study Fellowship. I take the kids too, and they have a program for them while I'm in the adult study. One of the genius things about BSF is that they teach the kids the same thing as what the adults are going through. At first, we were going through Acts and each week I would tell Elisa what my "story" was about. She would look at me with wide eyes and say, "We had that story too!" Lately the adult study has been going through different epistles, so it's a little harder to know what they are talking about with the kids.

It's been funny to see some of the things they are picking up on in their classes. Last night Jonathan took a little notebook out of Grammy's purse. He told me, "It's the Bible." Then he held it facing out, like an adult doing story time would hold a book so that the kids could see it. And he repeated over and over, "The Bible is a treasure book, it has true words." He has also taken to hopping around the house like a frog, which looks extremely tiring. I'm pretty sure it's a BSF strategy to get 2-year-old energy out.

Sometimes the things they pick up on come out in unexpected ways. A few months back Elisa and I were playing a game with a couple of wands from her dress up stuff. We were taking turns waving our wands and then pointing them while saying magic words. We started with old favorites like, "Bippity, boppity, boo" and "Abracadabra" and then progressed to silly nonsense phrases like, "Ella McStella" etc. We had been going at this game for quite some time, and all of our magic words had been used and reused many times, when all of a sudden Leesi pointed her wand and exclaimed, "In the name of Jesus Christ!" It was so surprising, it was all I could do not to burst out laughing. Later I was thinking about this, wondering where she could have gotten this phrase. I decided it must be from BSF. After all, we were going through Acts, and there were probably a few times where people did things in the name of Jesus Christ.

Easter Festivities

We had a great Easter weekend. Couldn't have asked for any nicer weather. We had a lot of fun with friends at our church's annual Easter egg hunt. Then went to church on Sunday and then headed out to Grammy's house for the afternoon.

I taught the 3-5 year old class during church. Which, honestly, I wasn't really looking forward to. I was envisioning a lot of extra kids in class... and it can already be a little crazy in there. But there ended up being fewer kids than normal, and it was a complete pleasure to spend the morning with them. It was such a privilege to tell them the Easter story. Of course, most of them have heard it by now, but they're still young enough that it's somewhat new. We talked about how we all do wrong things that make it so we can't be with God, but Jesus took our consequence, so that now we can know God. One little girl adamantly refused to admit that she had ever done anything wrong. When I asked if she'd ever gotten a time out she said that once a really really long time ago she had gotten a time out. One little girl was looking more and more serious as the story went on. Then when Jesus raised from the dead she looked relieved, and broke into a little smile. For some reason, being with the kids made Easter fresh and real to me in a way that sitting through the service wouldn't have. It ended up being a total blessing.

After I had told them the story, we broke out a small set of resurrection eggs that I had made up. I just did 6 eggs (bread, cross, cloth, rock, angel, empty) and had a child volunteer to open one and show it around. Then had the kids tell me about that part of the story. It's such a great activity for kids this age. They loved it, and we ended up going through them twice. Today, I had Leesi go through them with Jonathan and tell him the story while showing him the eggs. They did it quite a few times, and then Leesi said that she wanted to do it with Arthur (a baby I watch), so she did it with him too. Arthur did his part by happily chewing on an egg.

At Grammy's house we had a wonderful lunch with the family. Then relaxed (I even napped!) for awhile. Leesi and I made resurrection rolls in the afternoon. When Jonathan opened his up we explained that it was empty just like Jesus' tomb. Jesus isn't there anymore, he's risen! Jonathan kept on looking in his roll and then saying, "It's empty! He's not there. He went away." I don't think he had the slightest clue what we were talking about, but it made some sort of impression on him nonetheless.

Here are some pictures from our weekend:

Chocolate face after the church Easter Egg hunt.

Dying eggs.

Jonathan kept asking, "Can I eat it now Mommy?" I finally gave in, and he spent most of the time peeling and eating the eggs while the rest of us dyed them. (By the way, he's wearing an apron, not a sundress... at first he didn't want an apron, so we took his shirt off. Then he decided he did want one, so we put one on... made for quite the fashion statement.)

Doing a fun cross craft from my friend Christa's blog. As we were doing it Leesi told me, "This is going to be the most beautiful craft I ever made." So sweet.

Easter morning and on our way to church.

Leesi proudly showing off the eggs she found in Grammy's yard.

Jonathan playing "I Spy"

Jonathan: I pie wi ma w'il eye some tin... fan! (clearly looking at the white ceiling fan)

Me: Something fan? Do you mean something white?

Jonathan: Some tin white.

Elisa: Is it the fan?

Jonathan: nooo

Elisa: Is it the door?

Jonathan: nooo ... It da boo bag!

Us: Oh, the blue bag!

My big four-year-old

So, I realized that it has been almost a month since Leesi's birthday and I still haven't written about her at age four.

My sweet girl is still Mommy's big helper. She loves helping me cook, and is at the point where she can actually be helpful. She often makes sandwiches for her and Jonathan's lunch (mostly pb&j, but sometimes tuna). She loves pouring her own cereal and milk in the morning. The other day she started to get upset because Jonathan got to help with the dishes and I told her that she couldn't. She settled down when I told her that she could help me later. And then she relished the opportunity to wash the mirrors and dust with me. I know this helpfulness will probably end all to soon, but for now it's nice... most of the time.

She loves to read books (which I also love, so we're a good combo). Some of her favorites are Berenstain Bears, and Little Critter.

She is quite good at riding her tricycle, and is just now moving up to a big girl bike with training wheels (she got it for her birthday). She likes riding the big bike, but she's fallen off of it a couple of times, which has made her a little leery of it too. So sometimes she switches back to the trike.

She is still quite shy and mostly won't talk to people that she doesn't know well, and often won't talk to people that she does know well. Someone in our care group described her as "cold" and I have to agree, she has a look that can wither even the friendliest of adults. I've started doing role-playing to help her get used to the idea of talking to people she knows. I'll say, "You be so-and-so and I'll be Leesi, and you say hi to me." etc. I think it may be helping a little. It's definitely something we're going to be working on this year. Mainly I just want her to at least acknowledge people she knows with a "hi" or even just a smile.

But of course she is not cold all the time (or even most of the time). She loves her little friends, and can be quite loud with them. She plays and giggles with Jonathan all the time. They are the best of little buddies, and I'm hopeful that their friendship will continue as they grow up. She loves her daddy. The other day, after Daddy was being particularly silly, she announced, "Boys are funny, girls aren't funny." Which of course, is a statement about our family and made me laugh so hard, it still makes me smile to myself when I think about it. Even still, she is a Mommy's girl and often demands, "I want Mommy to do it!"

She LOVES doing art projects. If I had to pick one activity that she chooses to do more than anything else, it would be this... art projects. She is quite prolific and when she runs out of room in designated art displaying areas, she'll take it upon herself to find the scotch tape and begin taping them up in random places around the house. Some of her artwork is quite... how shall I call it... original. Art can be pieces of crumpled up tinfoil, dirt and water smeared onto paper and then folded and folded again, pieces of paper cut apart and then taped back together in different configurations, or scraps of paper with one or two lines drawn on them. No one could accuse her of being stuck in a box when it comes to her artwork. She is a master of "mixed media."

She knows her own mind and has her own opinions. She still chooses her own outfits everyday, but I feel like the outfits are getting a little less outlandish. Or maybe I'm just getting used to them. I don't know.

She can be a little bossy with her family, "Now Mommy you go there, and Jonathan you sit here." But she acquiesses fairly quickly to her friends.

She regularly asks, "Why?" and the other day told me, "Mommy, don't ask why so much!"

She also has a keen ear for information. You can't get much past this girl anymore. When she hears some little tidbit that she finds of interest, it's like her little ears perk up. "What?" she asks.

She still has a rest time each day, though she never sleeps anymore. But she needs the alone time (and I do too - we're both introverts). During her rest time I'll hear little conversations she makes up between her dolls or stuffed animals. My favorite is when I hear the calm Mommy voice saying, "You need to share." or the chipper Mommy voice saying, "Can you clean up your toys? Time to clean up!"

She is usually fairly obedient, and has now finally gotten past the frequent meltdowns and tantrums (thank the Lord!). For the most part she is cooperative, and easy and fun to be around. Of course, she still has her meltdowns, but they are fewer and farther between these days. I had so many people tell me that age three is harder than two... which I think is true in some ways, but not completely. And I am hoping that these past few months are a herald of what is coming at age four.

My precious Elisa Marie, I love you to pieces. You bring so much joy to our family, and I can't wait to see all that you are going to be!

Hello Kitty Birthday

Elisa will turn four tomorrow. On Friday we had her birthday party. She wanted a Hello Kitty party. Which was super easy to do, since Hello Kitty is absolutely everywhere right now.

At Jonathan's birthday party back in October. I felt like I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Every time Jonathan saw me he said, "Momma! Momma!" In this heartbreaking way. Like, "It's been sooo long since I've seen you, where have you been?" I learned some things the hard way from his birthday party:

1) Do easy food.

2) Don't try to decorate the cake the day of.

3) If possible, delegate! And talk about any expectations you have of your husband.

4) If you aren't throwing the party in your own home, but need to do set-up and decorations in the party location, give yourself adequate time.

5) Remember that the point is to make a fun and memorable day for the birthday boy/girl... not to impress others or outdo yourself in some way. It will be more fun for them (and you) if you are not stressed out!

This time around, the party preparations went much more smoothly. We ordered pizza; and I assembled fruit, veggie, and cracker/dip trays. So the food was easy. I did the cake the night before. I had Greg make the balloon flower decorations while I was doing the cake (I'm so glad I did this, since these ended up being a little more complicated than one would think). I started decorating the lounge where we had the party the morning of, instead of waiting until the hour before. And I paused to refocus myself and pray the afternoon before the party instead of frantically working all day. The fruit kebabs turned into a fruit plate because I ran out of time, but I was in a much better frame of mind by the time the party rolled around. I had a great time at the party. I was able to talk to my guests, and enjoy watching the kids play. I think Leesi had a great time too.

We had the party in the lounge which is separated from our apartment by a small hallway. Both doors were open, and so at one point the older kids disappeared into our apartment. All of a sudden the parents looked around and thought, "Where did all the kids go?" We found them in our downstairs, pushing the button on our Skiing Santa, who sings a little song. (He used to also actually ski across the room, but this year when I pulled him out, I found that he no longer does that.) They had this whole routine worked out of freezing in one place while Santa talked, and then starting to dance when Santa started singing. It was so cute, and it just goes to show you that sometimes the funnest party games and activities are not the ones you thought up.

Here are some pictures of the festivities:

Hello Kitty cake and kisses.

The food table (pre-food).

Greg made balloon flowers and animals for the kids

Pin the bow on Hello Kitty. Mysteriously all bows ended up perfectly placed.

Party favors and prizes

(Prizes never were given out. Prizes are a bad idea for this age, unless everyone gets one.)

What was I thinking?

The big birthday girl and Momma.

Leesi and the zipper

Fall Activities

Just some fun fall things we've been up to lately.

A trip to the pumpkin patch with Grammy.

Finding the perfect pumpkins.

Washing the pumpkins.

Our finished Jack-o-lanterns, an octopus and a smiley face.

A fall art project - trees made by painting with q-tips.

We had so much fun that Leesi asked to do this a second time.

Happy Fall!

Halloween

Just wanted to post a picture from Halloween. Tigger and Tinkerbell. We had a fun time this year. Leesi is now totally old enough to realize that Halloween means she gets candy. Also, she was excited about her Tinkerbell costume (although she didn't want to wear the wings). Jonathan didn't want to put on a costume at all. But he saw some other kids in costumes, so he was a little more willing to let me put the Tigger costume on him. He started to protest a little as I put his legs in. But once it was on, he was totally fine with it. This was Leesi's costume two years ago.

We went to the school's halloween party. Greg was doing balloon animals for the kids there, which was fun. But he didn't get to go trick or treating with us. So after we were done at the party we just went around to the student apartments on campus and came home with a perfectly reasonable amount of candy.

Earler in the day on Halloween Elisa and I did a Jack-O-lantern sponge painting project. It was super fun, and has made me want to do more sponge painting!

Well, he probably wanted someone to notice...

Today at the library a guy with a green mohawk was browsing for books while we were checking out. Leesi, in a not-so-quiet voice, stated, "Hey Mommy, look! That guy has green hair." I looked around until I spotted the person she was talking about. Then, not exactly sure how to respond, (since he was close enough he'd probably hear whatever I said too) said, "Yep. He sure does." Then she said, "It looks like a seahorse!"

Hmmm... a seahorse. True, but probably not exactly what the guy was going for.

Afternoon Adventure

This little cutie is about to turn two.

Jonathan is a typical boy who loves all things-that-go.

This afternoon we went out by the airport to watch the planes take off and land. The kids loved it.

"HI AIRPLANE!"

Leesi-isms part two

I love some of the ways that Leesi pronounces things...

a-careful "Mommy, be a-careful." or "Don't worry, I'll be a-careful."

maked "I'm all maked."

helicockter "I see a helicockter!"

slissors "Mommy, will you get me my little slissors?"

I also love the way her little mind works.

When she has a lot to carry she'll ask me, "Mommy, will you help me? My hands are too heavy." Or just "Help! I have heavy hands!"

The other day she dropped something behind the couch and couldn't reach it. So she told me, "I can't get it, I don't have enough arm."

Evening at the river

Tonight we went to a birthday party for a little friend. It was at Kelly Point Park, which is a park at the point where the Columbia and Willamette Rivers meet. We had such a lovely evening hanging out with friends, eating good food, and watching the kids play on the river bank in the sand.

There were a couple of kid moments that I wanted to record, so I don't forget them... they were so precious.

There was a little meadow by the picnic tables where we were eating, and Jonathan walked around picking dandelions (think white fluff, not yellow flower), until his hands were full of bouquets of puffy balls. He kept saying "bubble, bubble... blow." At one point he had six or seven dandelions in his hands. It was so cute.

Later we were walking back to the parking lot, about a 5 minute walk. The sun had gone down, and it was quite dark. Since our kids usually go to sleep while it is still light (at least in the summer) Elisa was talking about how dark it was and how she couldn't see. I told her "You know what helps your eyes see better in the dark?... Carrots." She thought on this for awhile and then asked me, "You know what else helps you see better in the dark?... Flashlights."

It was just such a lovely evening. It felt good to relax with friends in a beautiful setting.

Learning to write

A few months back Elisa started to be really interested in writing her name. I tried to encourage her and to help her do it without being too pushy or practice-y about it. She would put like 7 lines on her E, and she would haphazardly write her letters around the paper... in the right order, but not in a line from left to right. Still, that being said, it was amazing to me. I felt like I had a genius child. (I know a lot of kids start to write their names at this age... but you know... mother's pride). Then, just as suddenly as she started, she stopped. She wasn't interested any more. So, though I really wanted to, I tried not to push it. I firmly believe that a three-year-old needs to play... that is her work for now. (I do try to incorporate purposeful learning activities into her day... but only as long as she is interested in doing them.) There will be plenty of time for schoolwork later. Still, I was a little disappointed. Especially when I saw other kids her age writing their names.

I had put this book on hold ages ago at the library. And I got it a couple months after Elisa stopped being interested in writing her name. It was fascinating. One of the things she said was that there are a number of factors that you need to look for to determine that a child is ready to begin learning to write: that the child has chosen a skill hand, ability to hold a pencil correctly, hand strength, hand dexterity, etc. Another thing that she talks about is how large muscles support small muscles... that's why running, jumping, climbing, riding trikes, and all those other things that kids do naturally, are so important. She talked about starting out with the correct posture and the correct ways to write letters, so that later they don't have to go back and relearn things. Anyway, I gleaned all of this from a short perusal. I didn't have the time right then to read the whole book and I had to take it back to the library. But it was fascinating and it made me feel better about my decision not to push Elisa into writing. It seemed to me as I watched her that her hands weren't quite strong enough yet. So we did some extra play with play-doh and waited. And now, I've started thinking that her hand is strong enough. And guess what? Today we did a chalk writing activity and she totally loved it. I wrote various names that she requested in chalk and then she traced them (at first with her finger dipped in water and then with a paintbrush).

(Picture from this blog post)

Anyway, if this is as fascinating to you as it is to me, and if you have a child at this stage you might want to check out some of the pre-writing activities listed on this post over at Childhood 101. I especially loved this article about hanging on the monkey bars. Happy reading! (and writing!)

So Pretty!

Nice to meet you kitty

Conversation between the kids:

Elisa: (in a kind of motherly, teachy way) "Jonathan, this is Hello Kitty. Can you say Hello Kitty?"

Jonathan: "Hi Kitty"

Elisa: (a little exasperated) "No, no, not hi Kitty. It's Hello Kitty."

Jonathan: "Hi Kitty"

Elisa: (now speaking slowly and enunciating each syllable) "No, it's Hel-lo Kit-ty"

and the conversation went on that way for awhile.

Water play

My friend Becca, knowing that Greg was going to be gone a lot in July, put together a little water-play kit for the kids. She wanted me to have something to get out for them that I didn't have to generate myself. She bought a big aluminum turkey roasting pan, a silver goblet and tray, a copper kettle, a bunch of pretty glass and natural stones, and some little plastic water animals. I got it out the other day and the kids had so much fun! Elisa played with it first... before long she had taken off all of her clothes so that she could play freely without worrying about getting her clothes wet. I think she really wanted to climb right in herself... but I assured her that she wouldn't fit. Jonathan played with it next. He had so much fun, pouring and scooping rocks. I think another option might be to use it outside... maybe in our little blow-up pool. Then they could really get into it, literally.