Respect You? Respect Me!

Dear Maya and Emi,

I don't even know what to write about! The last month has been a blur of activities and fun with some exasperation thrown in. Lately you two quarrel and test us a LOT! But then you go and say sweet words and do awesome things and we forget about it and just feel pride and love. Ahh, parenting!

We've been keeping busy with music lessons, and we celebrated Aunt Rhi's and Baba's birthdays. Maya, you and I went to see Bye Bye Birdie, and we all went to see you in the 1st and 2nd grade concert. Those are some of the things we did this month I DON'T have photos of. Here's some I do:

Chilly mornings waiting for the bus:

Swimming lessons for both of you:

Maya's buddy's birthday at the drive-in:

Dogsitting:

Trampolining:

The many faces of Emi:

And the resulting school pictures I mentioned in the last post:

Well, mommy has some work to do before bed. Love you both!

P.S. Some of the best Emi-isms this month include saying "frozen salad" instead of "frozen solid" when she saw frost outside and, one day dancing and admiring herself in the mirror while chanting "Respect me! Respect me!" Oh dear...

Museum and March musings...

Dear Maya and Emi,

This week, and especially today, we all felt it--the beginning of spring! Mommy saw snow drops blooming yesterday, you guys noticed the sound of birds today, and the temps reached the mid 70s this afternoon. Hooooraaaaay!

Mid-winter break was in February--you two had a week off school! Even though mommy had to work a few of those days, we tried to fit in some fun, including a trip to the NYS museum. Maya you were moved by the 9/11 exhibit, and Emi you loved the subway car. And we all loved the carousel.

 

We also had a little impromptu blacklight dance party to practice for some photos mommy is going to be taking. The leis that you had around your necks were shedding little threads EVERYWHERE as you danced, so afterwards we vacuumed by blacklight, too! lol

And your cousins came over one day during your break. The weather was kinda yucky or we would've taken you all to a movie or something, but you were actually all so well-behaved together. The literal moment your cousins left you two started arguing, though...

Emi, about 2 weeks ago you started reading!!! You went from sounding out a couple simple words to reading through 3 or 4 Bob Books in about a half hour! Maya, you are such a big help and a great role model for your sister since you're always reading. I'm so proud of you girls!

Both of you are still growing your love of music, too! Emi, you aren't always great about practicing the ukulele, but your teacher says you have a real knack for it. And Maya, you're pretty quiet about your singing lessons, but you got to see another musical with me last week--Annie!

And, finally, you've both had your pictures taken a lot lately. Maya, you were mommy's guinea pig with some lighting setups in the studio. You didn't sit still long but I got what I needed. And you both chose sequined cat tops for school photo day. Emi, you chose the laying down pose yourself. Ha!

Well, mommy's going to sign off and get some rest. Busy weekend ahead! Love you both!

The winter slow down

Dear Maya and Emi,

Even though it's been 6 weeks since mommy's last blog post, there aren't a lot of photos to share or even news to report. That's typical of this time of year, the winter slow down, when all of our schedules give way to the season. Here's what we have been up to, though:

Music lessons: Maya, you have been taking voice lessons with Aunt Bobbie and it is awesome! You're learning to read music, practicing your pitch and rhythms, and loving it. Emi, you've been taking ukulele lessons and you're surprisingly quick at memorizing chords! (Now mommy has become kind of obsessed with the ukulele, too, and I've taught myself about a dozen popular songs in the last two weeks. We're gonna have to get a second ukulele!)

Indoor play: We've been doing lots of STEAM-type activities around the house. Slime-making, machine-building, clay modeling...Maya, you even designed a Beanie Boo-pulled egg crate sled for your classroom's guinea pig to ride after learning about the Iditarod at school!

Outdoor play: We've had some snow on the ground often these last months, and when it's not super cold (stay away, polar vortex!) we try to play outside. We've hit the Rail Trail and built snow structures in the yard. Maya, you love shoveling and we are okay with that!

Well, mommy's going to sign off to do some work. Love you both!