Summer of 2022 Begins!

Dear Maya and Emi,

What a busy end to the school year! We've had so many things going on between school accomplishments, musical events, birthday celebrations, etc. that it's hard to know where to begin to summarize it all. Thank goodness for photos and my detailed calendar so I can break it down!

• Papa Stan & Cousin Grace's joint birthday party at Grandma's house
  
  
  
  
  
• Maya's first band concert
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Emi, you went on a post-Mother's Day hike with me
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• School learning fair--Maya you did a project on one of your favorite book series, Warriors, and Emi you did one on the differences between peach, plum, and cherry blossoms
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We spent some time doing yardwork for and eating cake with Nanny to celebrate her birthday
  
  
  
  
  
• We went on a family hike on Memorial Day
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Maya, you had 3 photo shoots as part of the Mod Squad, mommy's model club for students
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Aunt Bobbie & Aunt Kelsie's birthday party by the river
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Emi, you and I played ukulele in a concert (we played La Vie En Rose) and at a play-along event
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• You both were chosen to participate in a select musical group to perform at a few school events--you both sang and played your 'chosen' instruments, but you also switched roles a bit with Maya learning a bit of ukulele and Emi playing some percussion!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Maya, you had your D.A.R.E. graduation and received a 3C (courage, commitment, and character) award sponsored by the state attorney general!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The end of the school year meant saying goodbye for now--Emi you will miss Ms. Brantley next year and Maya, you'll miss Ms. Pizza, Ms. Delaney and Mr. Robbins, but Mr. Prime will follow you to 6th grade! After the last day of school we went out for lunch and then for a stream hike.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

And finally, the biggest section of this blog entry will go to yesterday. We had a Warrior Cat themed, half birthday party for you, Maya (since Covid always seems to mess up your actual birthday in December each year this may become a permanent thing!) You had 6 friends over and had tons of activities planned for them. You put your activity ideas on little strips of paper in your 'balloon chandelier' and had friends pop them one by one. It was a great idea except maybe using the confetti-type balloons wasn't the best plan! lol

Well this mama is tired out from all of these activities and even just blogging about it all. So here's to a nice night of rest before a holiday weekend and an equally active summer!
Love you both!

A Sorta Spring Update

Dear Maya & Emi, 

I think that's the longest I've ever gone without blogging! But as you're both getting older and more independent I'm not capturing as many photos of you or needing to report every new thing that happens in your daily lives. I'm pretty sure you're both happy that about that at this point!

But I do like to recap what we've been up to, if not for you to read someday, then for us to look back at as your parents--and of course for family and friends afar, too! So here's what's been going on the first few months of this year...

School: You've both been doing really well in school despite missing more days than most years. This is because you've both had a few more colds than usual (probably due to the dropping of the mask mandate) and because we've been extra cautious with any symptoms you have had. 

Birthdays: We celebrated Grandma's birthday with a little nod to yours as well, Maya, since we missed celebrating it with family in person. (That seems to be a theme this year because a couple weeks ago we had to cancel Baba's 50th birthday celebration because I got Covid!) We did manage to celebrate Aunt Rhi in March and we're looking forward to another few family birthdays coming up soon!

Crafts and general silliness around the house: Maya, you've been big on sculpting with air dry clay and you're getting really good at it! Both of you do a lot of cardboard crafting and drawing, too. 

Playing outside: The weather's finally starting to allow for biking and outdoor play. That said, we've had days in the last week that it's snowed and also one that was over 80 degrees so it's still not dependable!

Easter: We split up our Easter celebrations into a few days. We did our indoor egg hunt and opened gifts from the big bunny on Friday. He brought clothes, toys, stickers, money, and new suitcases which will come in handy for upcoming travels! Then we went to Grandma and Papa Stan's house on Sunday afternoon for a big outdoor egg hunt (185 eggs for only 4 kids!) and a nice meal with family. 

Spring Break: This week is your spring break and we're spending some time relaxing and some time doing fun stuff. Yesterday we gave you several options for a day trip and you both chose the butterfly conservatory. It seemed there were several times more butterflies than anytime we've been so far and we had plenty of instances of them landing on us all! After we left there we went to the Yankee Candle Village where we got to do a scavenger hunt, some exploring, and some shopping. It was a lot of fun!

Well, I'm sure I'll be back in here to blog again before 3.5 months passes this time. Love you both!

Her So-Called 11th Birthday :(

Dear Maya,

Happy 11th birthday my sweet girl! This post is late in coming because mommy has been sick in bed for a few days, and your birthday party had to be cancelled for the same reason. Boooo! You're not feeling too spiffy right now, either, but both of us just took a Covid test (one of many I've taken lately) and we're both negative. So that's good!

We will have to make it up to you with a party at some future date, but in the meantime here are your answers to the interview I do with you every year:

Favorite toy: Raikou
Favorite game: Pokemon Sword
Favorite thing to do inside: watch videos with my family and do crafts
Favorite thing to do outside: play on the tree swing and ladder
Favorite place to go: my bed (same girl, same)
Favorite book: Wings of Fire and Warriors series
Favorite TV show: Pokemon
Favorite movie: We Can Be Heroes
Favorite song: What Does the Fox Say
Favorite animal: cat, dragon, and tiger
Favorite breakfast: scrambled eggs and bacon
Favorite lunch: sushi
Favorite dinner: dumplings
Favorite fruit: orange
Favorite vegetable: carrots
Favorite drink: seltzer
Best friend: Juliette, Evelyn, Hudson, Emerson, my best friend ever is Emi (awwww)
Biggest fear: all my possessions dropping into a well (you thought this happened the other night!)
When you grow up you want to be: a science looking for animals and studying them in the wild
Things you take to bed: Raikou and Charizard stuffies, Pixel the Squishmallow, and my blanket from mommy

And here are some photos of you from the last year: 

January: Waiting for your new bed to come in

February: Enjoying all the animals to see at the Mystic Aquarium

March: Wearing green with Raikou for good luck

April: Looking for Easter eggs

May: Finding a SUPER tall dandelion stem!

June: Excited on the last day of 4th grade

July: Skipping rocks on a mommy daughter hiking date

August: At a water park with your bestie

September: Excited for 5th grade, but not so much for mommy taking photos

October: The fiercest dragon I ever did see!

November: School photos because that's all we get sometimes!

December: Loving Uncle Matt's top hat on Christmas!

Well, mommy needs to go get more rest, but I promise we'll make it up to you with a party either sometime soon, or maybe for your half birthday like we did last year. We just need these Covid trends to improve! Anyway, I love you so much my sweet, growing girl.