The Morales Crew

Brobee Revisited

2012-01-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

The Morales girls really do LOVE these comfy Brobee pajamas!

They have been apart of our night time wardrobe for the last four years and I am sure I will be sad when these pajamas are finally outgrown at the end of this season and are retired to the keepsake bin in storage. Truly the end of an era for us.

What is with these pants?!?

2011-12-29T23:22:00.000-08:00

Chepe encouraged Lily pick out her own outfit today. Instead of finding something in her own drawers she dug out Eden's old zebra pants and then found a summer shirt to "match". Something about these pants make the girls opt for zaniness...cute, but zany! Bet you won't find fashion forwardness like this on pinterest.

Christmas Time Recap

2011-12-26T23:14:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun this Christmas season! Here are just a few of our special moments...

Decorating our gingerbread men.

Gearing up to go to Uncle Brian's & Aunt Tanya's for Christmas eve

where the girls went on their annual scavenger hunt around the house.

Once we were home Eden made sure to remember to scatter the reindeer food on the lawn,

and Lily was sure to pick chocolate milk for Santa this year because she has recently discovered how yummy it can be and wanted to be sure Santa had some too.

Christmas morning brought lots of goodies from Santa. Eden got her 3DS and Lily got the pixie dust jump rope she wanted. Santa sure "did not fail" them and even surprised the girls with new band-aids (can you see Lily's joy!) and even magically replaced her little pink (she does not like pink) stocking with a perfectly perfect blue one. Note to Santa - next year Eden is hoping you work your magic and replace her "boring" red one with a big pretty pink one.

Then the girls looked and looked for the pickle Santa hung on the tree and once Lily found it the girls opened the special pickle gift he left under the tree for them to share.

Then back to bed we went while the girls played with all their new toys.

We had Chinese take out for dinner and left the mess for later which was the perfect way to wind down another lovely holiday season for the Morales Crew.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Cookies with Bita

2011-12-23T22:51:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrated Christmas with Bita and what better way to celebrate then with baking cookies!

Thank goodness Papa helped because Bita and Momma were too busy snapping pictures.

The good ol' Christmas Ghost made an appearance.

The girls each made a fancy hand print.

And then spent the evening decorating their sweet creations.

With lots and lots and lots and lots of frosting and sprinkles.

Look closely...yep all those white dots are sprinkles on the floor, but hey it was fun and boy do they taste yummy!

Season's Greetings!

2011-12-22T19:48:00.000-08:00

From our home to yours...

We wish you all a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Festivus, Wonderful Winter Solstice, Festive Kwanzaa, Cool Yule, Feliz Navidad, and Very Merry Christmas!

Another Potty Milestone

2011-12-16T13:30:00.000-08:00

Today I woke up to this...

Lily has decided that she is really a big girl and can use the potty without any assistance as long as she has a step stool nearby. I had to convince her that she should still ask for help with poopies, but it looks like a month into being three years old brings another big girl milestone for our Lilybug.

Dec 20th UPDATE - This morning Lily was so proud to tell me that she managed a poopie all by herself. So, it looks like my days of having to assist in the bathroom may be numbered.

(And yes, this is another poop post...but at this rate it there may not be many more for us.)

Christmas Lights Tour

2011-12-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

Can you tell the girls were excited to drive around checking out Christmas lights.

We checked out the neighborhood across from Costco and saw that the house that used to have lights that played to music was gone this year (boo!), but that another court had actually expanded (whoo!).

But this was just a teaser for the rest of our Christmas lights adventures of the night, for the real deal is the Pebble Creek neighborhood in Rocklin. Here you can see every character you could think of celebrating the holiday season. It is just so cool and completely worth the drive. Here are some of our favorites, though it was hard to pick which ones to post because we took close to 100 pictures in just this neighborhood alone.

Eden's new favorite this year. She also really loves the Princess & the Frog one, but I never can seem to get a picture of it for her.

There is also a cute alien Toy Story one that we like.

The girls love this one too.

Makes us giggle every year.

Another one of Eden's favorites.

An entire neighborhood like this. Love it!!!

The girls asked, "What are Beetles?" since they did not see bugs.

I love the Sesame Street House!

One of Papa's faves.

Never fear Twilight fans, there is a house for you too.

Papa's favorite this year. Super funny, but we think this one replaced the car air freshener Christmas trees from last year that we liked too.

Lily's favorite. She really wanted to see a Candyland House and she got her wish this year!

Loved the Up! house.

Reminded us of the year we made a pineapple gingerbread house.

Oh how we love Christmas lights!!!

Lily's Decorative Touch

2011-12-10T18:04:00.001-08:00

Chepe found Lily adding her own flair to our the Christmas tree yesterday.

Folding

2011-12-06T23:00:00.000-08:00

I remember as a child I enjoyed helping my mom fold the laundry. Crazy, because now I despise it and maybe if I still enjoyed it there would not always be a mountain of clean laundry in our room. Recently Eden has begun wanting to help me with folding and I have started to show her how to fold different items. Tonight she helped with our cleaning rags and for her first try unassisted I think she did a great job.

Maybe that mountain of laundry will slowly be conquered by a new little folding helper in the house.

In Pairs

2011-12-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

I guess we like to do things in pairs around here...

Two little girls that love celebrating the magic of the holiday season.

Two advent calendars (our cute Hallmark one and of course a chocolate one for each of the girls).

Attending two Christmas tree lightings.

Having at least two Christmas shirts each for the girls to wear to be festive.

Seeing at least two neighborhood fire department Santa parades (ok, we will actually see three this year).

And our newest tradition of having two Christmas trees.

I think this is my favorite and I am so glad we broke Chepe's one tree rule last year for the first time. We love having the best of both worlds with both a live and fake tree. We love going to Wise Buys to get our $9.98 tree, especially since we are not tree farm or wilderness types and there really is something magical about tree lots and the competition of finding the perfect one before someone else grabs it.

We love having one tree dedicated to all the homemade & keepsake ornaments.

We love being able to have one with multi-colored lights and one with white lights because both are so pretty and having to decide on one type is impossible. We love that the fun of decorating a tree is doubled. And we love that this year we were finally able to give Papa his wish of a black Christmas tree.

Chepe has talked about having a black tree since we first got married and since the girls and I got a pink tree last year I wanted him to get his wish too. The girls were so excited to surprise Papa with his very own tree. We worked hard at spray painting ornaments black and even being lucky enough to find black snowflakes at Target. Then we added a few other ornaments that represent our Papa Bear, including the original Vans Sticker that he stuck to our very first tree over a decade ago on our first Christmas season being married. To me this is the prettiest we have ever had (pictures do not do it justice), but maybe I am biased because black is my favorite color or maybe because in a way it represents my love for my honey bunny.

Merry Christmas Papa Bear...we love you!

Santa Parade

2011-12-04T19:30:00.000-08:00

This year's Santa Parade was filled with lots of holiday magic,

enjoying warm hot cocoa,

Bita getting proposed to by a knight,

and of course the grand finale...Mr. & Mrs. Clause!

Tree Lightings

2011-11-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

Yep, we went to two tree lightings again this year because they both are just too much fun to miss. I believe it is now official family tradition for us to attend each of them to start the Christmas season.

Yo Gabba Gabba

2011-11-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

We were lucky enough to win tickets to this year's Yo Gabba Gabba concert. The girls were super excited for the surprise. They did not know where we were going until we parked and I told them they needed to put YGG shirts on. Then instantly they started dancey dancing around to celebrate.

Papa even wore his Devo shirt and Dookie Rope in honor of Mark's Magic Pictures and Biz's Beat of the Day.

I was tempted to wear my full Leslie get up, but opted for a subtle necklace in hopes that Leslie would be with the tour this year.

And it worked!!! Razzle Dazzle Leslie made an appearance! Woot!!!

The girls danced and sang the entire show. They hugged their friends, got crazy, and had a party in their tummy with some popcorn from intermission.

The show was AWESOME!

Thanks to Macaroni Kid for sending us!

Lily's Rock

2011-11-16T17:30:00.000-08:00

It is now a birthday tradition of ours to paint the town rock, so we headed out and painted it today in celebration of Lily's 3rd Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday Lily!!! Lots of birthday hugs and kisses your way!

The Big 3

2011-11-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

It is 4:21am and Lily's third birthday celebrations have officially begun!!!

Waking up to balloons was a fun surprise...

and cake for breakfast & presents got the day off to a great start too!

Lily got just what she wanted...lots and lots of pixie stuff!

It took some work, but she got that extra finger up to show that she is now the Big 3!

Happy Birthday Lily Bear!!! We love you!

11:11 11-11-11

2011-11-11T11:11:00.000-08:00

What were we doing at 11:11 on 11-11-11?

Well, Chepe and I were still sleeping until I realized what time it was and jumped out of bed to get the camera to snap some moment in history pictures. Since Eden didn't have school due to veterans day we were all just taking it easy and relaxing maxing.

So even though 11:11 11-11-11 was not so typical we were doing very typical stuff.

What were you doing on 11:11 11-11-11?

Robots

2011-11-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago Chepe and Eden made a robot head together.

Recently Chepe made one with Lily too.

So now we have two funny little robots in our house.

Happy Halloweenie

2011-10-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

The Morales Crew wishes you all a Happy Halloween!!!

Thank you Great Pumpkin for another wonderfully spooky Halloween season and we will see you next year!

Trick or Treating

2011-10-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

Our local business district had a trick or treat event today for all the children to come and trick or treat at the businesses. We took the girls for an early round of trick or treating before we meeting up with friends for the real thing later on.

The girls loved it and spent the hour being in full character.

I told Chepe that our girls do not just put on a costume, but they fully become who they are dressing up as. Last year Eden said "Gracias" to everyone who gave her candy since she was Dora. This year she walked around like a princess since "that is how Rapunzel walks" and Lily fluttered her arms pretending she was flying like a pixie from store to store to collect her candy.

Two little method actors I suppose.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Lily working on her vampire Jack-o-Lantern.

Ta-da!

Lily was the only one willing to touch the "pumpkin guts". Her face says it all...

Eden working on her vampire pumpkin.

Ta-da!

Papa helped too.

Ta-da!

Notice Lily drew a butt on the back side of Papa's Jack-o-Lantern. She said that was her trick.

Happy Halloween!

Have a "FANG-tastic" Halloween!

2011-10-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Thanks to pinterest we saw this cute idea for a Halloween goodie for Eden's kindergarten class. The girls really thought they were FANG-tastic and have been dressing like vampire princesses all day.

Fall Festival

2011-10-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today Chepe & I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary and what better way to celebrate then to go to the Fall Festival at Eden's school. We had a great time, the girls loved all the fun games,

and Lily even won at the cake walk! She could not wait to dig into her brownies.

During the chaos of all the fun Eden took a few pictures of Lily & I, which was nice since I am usually the one behind the camera. But...

it led to Lily wanting to play photographer.

Lately Lily has been overly obsessed with Zombies...I am sure seeing a dozen or so at the Festival only will fuel her fascination with them.

Of course we ran into our besties. Yep, two Rapunzels and check out those muscles on Spider Man!

Lily took this one too of Chepe & I, which was only fair since Eden took our Anniversary picture last year.

Happy Anniversary Honey. I love you.

Batty

2011-10-27T19:30:00.000-07:00

All the Halloween candy made Lily just a little bit 'Batty' today ;o)

Halloween Bash

2011-10-21T23:30:00.000-07:00

Time for another Halloween Bash, so E&L Soirées (E for ~~Eden~~ Elegant & L for ~~Lily~~ Luxurious) went to work planning the perfect party. First there was making the invitations...

The party night arrived as did all our guests in their costumes.

We had princesses, witches, bees, super heroes, furry and creepy critters, race cars, a pirate, a scarecrow and crow, and Gnome Boy & Gnome Girl (I wanted to be gnomes and Chepe wanted to wear his dookie rope, so Voilà! the perfect mix of the roaming gnome and a Kangol sporting homie.)

To start the party right we dug into some ~~yummy~~ frightful food,

which included Zombie Skin (pizza), Monster Claws (chicken strips),Worms (curly hot dogs), Bugs in a Bowl (gummy candy), Spider Webs - Bat Wings & Vampire Blood (chips, salsa, and bean dip), Jack-o-lantern Carrots (carrots arranged to look like a Jack-o-Lantern), Ghost Dip - Raven Hearts & Tombstones (creamy pumpkin dip with strawberries and graham crackers to dip in it)...

and of course some ~~sweet~~ scary treats!

Next was games. Eden begged to be able to bob for apples and we thought it was interesting that she really wanted to do this. Chepe and I don't ever remember actually doing this as a child, but everyone enjoyed giving it a go...

After all the apples had been bobbed for we ventured inside for Witch Pitch

Lily really enjoyed tossing candy corn into the cauldrons.

The littlest guests had fun digging in the Halloween themed sensory tub,

while the bigger ones moved on to Pumpkin Bowling

Of course the second camera of the night died on us, so I did not get any pictures of everyone having a turn at Pin the Tail on the Black Cat.

I suppose two battery "deaths" were fitting for the theme of the night and the rest of the fun will simply have to be remembered sans photos.

Thank you to all our spooky friends & their mummies for joining us! We had a blast & hope you did too!!!

Tis the Season for Halloween!

2011-10-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Halloween shirts have been pulled out, so yep...it is HALLOWEEN time!!!

Guess how many apples Lily ate today

2011-10-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

If you guessed three you are correct. Her leaving the stickers next to the bowl is a dead giveaway.

2nd Annual BOOing!

2011-10-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

We got BOO'd again and the girls were so excited since they were still awake for the fun this year.

Halfway to Six

2011-10-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

Eden woke up a 5 1/2 year old today.

Excited as always and ready for a little halfway around the sun celebration!

Halloween Mail

2011-10-05T21:40:00.000-07:00

Yet again Uncle Brian & Aunt Tanya surprised the girls with Halloween FUN in the mail. Can you tell they were really, really, really excited...

Apparently so excited that they could not wipe their faces before tearing into their packages. I didn't notice the spaghetti sauce until posting these..D'oh!

October 1st = HALLOWEEN TIME!!!

2011-10-02T01:00:00.000-07:00

It is officially October 1st, so it is officially Halloween at our house. The girls and I were up until midnight transforming our casa into a crypt.

Pumpkins!!!

2011-09-29T13:08:00.000-07:00

The girls planted a bunch of pumpkin seeds at my parent's house and now their garden is filled with pumpkins!

Papa's Lost Hat

2011-09-28T19:00:00.000-07:00

Chepe lost his hat and spent all day looking for it around the house. The girls joined in on the search and when it was still no where to be found Lily came up with a solution of her own.

She was willing to share her new headband with her Papa Bear and was so excited that it fit. She proudly marched up to Chepe with headband in hand and said, "Here Papa, here's a new hat for you."

Library Card

2011-09-28T15:30:00.000-07:00

Eden got her very own library card this week in celebration of National Library Card Sign-Up month. She was so excited to sign the back of the card before checking out her own books using her very own card.

Vidia Free Zone

2011-09-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Last night Lily asked me for tape so she could hang her stop sign that she made to keep Vidia out of her room. She told me Vidia was a fast fairy and the stop sign would make her stop and not come in her room, so together we got tape and hung up her stop sign.

Their room is now a 'Vidia Free Zone' and I smile when I see the sign because I really love seeing what an almost three year old comes up with all on her own. It is just so much fun watching Lily play and create by herself and right along side her big sister.

Practice Makes Perfect

2011-09-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

All summer long Eden has practiced whistling. She was determined to learn how to whistle and has practiced nonstop. Well it has paid off...

Beauty Boutique

2011-09-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our neighbor had a jewelry sale in her driveway and I let the girls each pick something out. They were so excited to each get a new necklace, and the rest of the day played "Beauty Boutique" where they had their own pretty things for sale.

Chopsticks

2011-09-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

This evening we went out to support Eden's school at their monthly dine out fundraiser. This month's restaurant was a local sushi place that we had never been to, so we were pleasantly surprised when the food was great. While waiting for our food Lily noticed that their were chopsticks on the table, so she took them out of the wrapper and began to play with them. She left them connected a the top, so I am sure that helped a little, but when the miso soup came Lily proceeded to fish out all the tofu cubes with her chopsticks. Then her meal came and she ate her salad, rice, and teriaki chicken all with her chopsticks. I was stunned because she has never used them before and honestly was doing a better job then I can with them. Big sister Eden gave them a go too, but after having rice get everywhere decided switching back and forth using a fork some of the time was best. So that left everyone at our table using a fork to eat, except Lily.

Wordless Wednesday (Scary Hair)

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

I love you 2 1/2

2011-09-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

For the couple of months Lily has been obsessed with the fact that she is 2 1/2. Whenever she hears anyone talking numbers she will pipe up with, "Me two and half!"

Despite her remark usually being totally out of context, it is cute. Even cuter though is how she tells you she loves you now.

Me: "I love you Lily"
Lily: "I love you two and half Momma"

Every time I hear this response my heart melts and I hope she will never just love me 'too', but always 'two and half.'

No lions or tigers, but bears, Oh My!

2011-09-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Bita took the girls to our little local zoo (nature preserve). It has been awhile since our last trip, and this time Lily was old enough to really enjoy the visit.

It was a little warm, so a lot of the animals were in their shelters, which meant no tiger viewing this time. We did see the bears though,

the deers,

and we even took a ride on the train,

which is something I have never done despite living in this area my entire life. Definitely a nice family afternoon.

More teeth brushing

2011-09-08T06:26:00.000-07:00

But this time, instead of helping her doll have sparkly whites, Lily decided that sissy was missing a spot and needed some extra help.

Biker Babes

2011-09-07T07:22:00.000-07:00

Since Lily recently mastered peddling we have been hitting the neighborhood with their bikes and going on little evening journeys. Sometimes along the way we encounter sprinklers spraying the sidewalk, so the girls will race through the mist to cool off a little. They always find this a special fun treat while on their bike rides and we get lots of giggles. Lily does great as long as I walk behind her so she does not feel as though she is being left behind. Eden is getting really good at balancing on her skuut (walk bike/balance bike) and is becoming a dare devil when it comes to putting her feet up on the front when she is coasting along. Watch out world...there is no stopping these two little biker babes!

DK 2011

2011-09-06T00:40:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Discovery Kingdom this summer. Well, we actually had to go after Eden started school last month because we ran out of time, but it still counts as summer fun...right?

No matter how you label our visit we had a great time as always. Lots of rides, popcorn, and new memories.

A Tale of Two Super Heros

2011-09-05T23:52:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time there were two superhero sisters...

*** Super Girl ***

who was faster then a speeding bullet and louder then thunder.

and

*** Pixie Dust ***

who was a master with her sword & could fly as far as the eye could see.

Together they protected the streets from monsters, especially green pinata stealing monsters like this one...

With their special skills, some brute force, and even a little bit of magic they always saved the day!

Watch this dynamic duo in action...

Homework

2011-09-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday Eden turned in her very first piece of homework. She was proud of her work and you know me, I just had to take a picture to document this milestone.

Lily wanted to have homework to turn in too, so she went to work cutting and gluing.

Half Moon Bay

2011-09-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

We took the scenic route up the coast on our way home from Santa Cruz last month. We stopped at Half Moon Bay to enjoy the ocean. While there I took a ton of great pictures of us playing in the waves and sand, but these are the two I want to share.

These three are my heart. They are my everything.

And they always seem to put a smile on my face...

even when they are not trying.

Santa Cruz 2011

2011-09-04T00:03:00.000-07:00

Last month we were able to fit in our yearly trip to Santa Cruz right before Eden started school. It was sort of like a last hurrah before we are tied down for the school year.

The girls were super excited and had a hard time waiting in line for our wristbands.

Once we got them though we rode lots of rides that made our tummies turn a bit.

And even found one we had missed both times we visited before.

It just so happened that the day we visited was a special day,

We love this carousel, so we hopped on to be a part of history.

I wanted to take a picture of each of us taking a 100th anniversary ride.

I got one of Papa Bear.

Eden Bear.

Lily Bear.

And then Lily tried taking a picture of me, Momma Bear ;o)

The girls rode their favorite ride and it amazed me how this ride showed just how grown up they both are becoming.

I remember when they were itty bitty in those little whales.

We ended our boardwalk fun with the rollercoaster. This year Lily was tall enough to ride and she did an awesome job. The people in line thought we were nuts for taking her on it, but when they saw her trying to keep her hands up they realized that she is a little dare devil and thoroughly loved the coaster!

Santa Cruz was good to us once again. We had fun, made new memories, and enjoyed another delicious meal from my favorite Mexican restaurant there. Yum!

Wordless Wednesday (Water Babies)

2011-08-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

Free Veggies

2011-08-21T23:55:00.000-07:00

My parents have a gigantic garden this year thanks to my brother. It is huge and producing more veggies then we can use, so we recently put some out for the neighbors to enjoy too. Eden made the sign and within a few hours all the veggies found new homes, but someone liked Eden's sign so much they took it too :o(

Our Kindergarten Baby

2011-08-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

Today Eden started Kindergarten.

Everyone was so excited for her! For the last few weeks people kept asking her is she was excited about starting kindergarten and a few days ago she told me that she thought it was funny that they kept asking her this because of course she was excited. Yep, she was ready, very ready to start school.

I packed her a lunch just the way she requested, green peas and all, and threw in a little lunchbox note for her to find later. However, the little sneak saw it in the morning, but made up for spoiling the surprise with a giant thank you and hug.

To welcome in the new school year we made her teacher a little gift. We got the idea from seeing it pinned on pinterest here, but we changed the wording to read...

Looking forward to you quenching

my thirst for knowledge

~Eden M.

Then we were off to school in time to take lots of picture in front of the school signs,

and with friends and family.

Lily missed Eden so much while she was at school. She actually told me three different times, "me miss sissy, sissy at school, me miss her."

I think Papa missed his little Eden Bear being home all day too.

And I know I did. I was holding it together very well upon drop off, but her teacher had the children line up outside the classroom and wait for everyone to arrive. Just waiting and waiting made me hit my wall of being able to hold it together emotionally, so I walked to the car and shed a few happy/sad tears.

After school Eden discovered that the Back to School Fairy had visited us. We had never heard of the Back to School Fairy before, but figured she must be a friend of the Birthday Fairy, the Soska Fairy, and the Tooth Fairy (which we are still waiting to meet).

She left Eden some cool school themed books and even a Pooh book for Lily.

For our finale celebration of Eden's first day of "Big Kid School" we went out with dear friends to ~~Jimboy'~~ Jimbo's, as we now call it, for lunch. You could tell that the younger siblings were happy to have their big sisters back, and the two big kindergartners had fun sharing about their day with us. We all got a little loud and silly, but heck...you only start kindergarten once right?

After lunch Eden explained to me that she was a bit disappointed that they did not teach her how to read, but I explained that she had a whole year ahead of her to read and that she should try to enjoy everything about kindergarten, including making new friends. She agreed and decided that she would look forward to what homework would be in her Friday folder this week. Awesome to see her enthusiasm, but we candidly laugh at how long before she is not looking forward to having homework.

Here is to a wonderful kindergarten school year! We love you Eden, our little...“Kindergarten baby, born in the Navy. Stick your head in Gravy!" (A little song I remember my mom singing to me when I went off to Kindergarten)

UPDATE - the Friday folder this week contained no homework, so once again Eden was a bit disappointed. Other then that her first week of school has went very well and she is so excited to be a kindergartner.

Twinkle Toes

2011-08-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

Last year in preschool a few of Eden's friends got Twinkle Toes shoes. She really wanted a pair, so I promised that when she was starting kindergarten I would get them for her. Well, we were school shoe shopping and she did not forget my promise...

and then Lily really wanted a pair too.

They were so excited that when they got home they decked themselves out in dress up and pranced around the house for hours watching their shoes twinkle.

Twinkling pixies with attitude!

Old McDonald had a Farm

2011-08-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Eden & Lily were in the car singing...

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O / And on his farm he had a cow, E-I-E-I-O / With a "moo-moo" here and a "moo-moo" there / Here a "moo" there a "moo"...

Lily wants to have another cow on the farm in the next verse, but Eden decids to get fancy with the lyrics...

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O / And on his farm he had a unicorn, E-I-E-I-O / With a "???"

Eden realizes that she does not know what sound unicorns make, so there is silence.

I kindly interject that I think unicorns would sound like horses, so they should neigh in that part.

Lily says, "no way!", which is her standard response to everything these days (really, I should do a whole post just on her "no ways!").

Then, Eden seems to agree with Lily and says that unicorns are fancier then horses so they cannot possibly sound the same. I decide the best and easiest thing for me was to just stay out of it.

A few minutes later Eden pipes up that she thinks unicorns sing in a lovely voice and the song begins again with both of them singing...

Old Macdonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O / And on his farm he had a unicorn, E-I-E-I-O / With a "Laaaa-laaaa-laaaa" here and a "Laaaa-laaaa-laaaa" there / Here a "Laaaa" there a "Laaaa"...

Lily's First Big Girl Haircut

2011-07-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

The time has come for Lily to get her first big girl haircut. Tracy has been cutting Papa's hair since way before the girls were even born, she gave Eden her first big girl hair cut, and now has cut Lily's hair too. Since Lily is growing her hair out all that she really needed was a good trim to even out the damage I did a few months back. At first Lily was apprehensive, so Eden got her back to school trim done first. This helped Lily gain the courage to let Tracy work her magic on her do too. When done, Lily was excited that she not only got a big girl haircut but a lollipop too.

la arte de Lily

2011-07-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Lily has been drawing smiley faces for awhile now, but earlier this week has shown us that her artistic ability is growing with two new drawings:

"Bug"

"Person"

Getting Ready

2011-07-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

Last week I asked the girls to please get ready for the concert in the park and this is how they beautified themselves.

Really, I just meant for them to get their shoes on ;o)

Brushing Teeth

2011-07-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

Lily is an oral hygiene fanatic. She will get up and brush her teeth most mornings without even being asked and then will brush them again when you do ask, and again later on if she happens to see her toothbrush and get the urge, then again before bed. Now Lily has shared her love of brushing teeth with her baby because she does not want her to get 'sugar bugs' either.

Pigtails

2011-07-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

Oh how I love these two little girls, pigtails and all.

Big Sister Little Sister

2011-07-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Almost a year ago I bought a set of Big Sister Little Sister shirts for the girls, however life got hectic and the shirts got forgotten. That is until recently when I was organizing the girls' closet and saw the shirts. I realized that it was now or never to snap some pictures of them together in their shirts. Lily's was nearly too small and it was almost too warm to ask them to pose in long sleeves, but we did it and thankfully captured some great Big Sister & Little Sister moments.

And these are just a sampling of the Big & Little cuteness.

Super Girl!

2011-07-18T19:21:00.000-07:00

Around the beginning of the year Eden created a alter-ego for herself, which she named 'Super Girl!' She would share with us how 'Super Girl!' could fly, was super strong, really really fast, always brave, and what she looked like. I thought it would be cool to have an official 'Super Girl!' costume made for Eden as a 5th birthday present. So, back in April I scoured etsy to find someone that I knew could take the description Eden had given us and make it come to life.

Kayce at worldofwhimm was able to do this and did an amazing job creating a tangible 'Super Girl!'

Eden was super excited to get this costume as a gift and wears it all the time while riding her scooter around the house and back yard. Huge thank yous to worldofwhimm for making Eden's imagination truly come to life.

June

2011-07-17T17:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know it is mid July, but last month really got away from me in regards to blogging because we had such a jam packed month of fun that left me with little to no computer time.

Early in the month we went on a day trip to SF with Bita. Though it was super windy it was a lot of fun and we did a lot of exploring on the different piers.

While at Pier 39 Bita took the girls for a ride on a merry-go-round and they got to see a giant SpongeBob SquarePants.

And later met Cha! Cha! at the Rainforest Cafe.

Then it was County Fair time!

Then as the month rolled on we celebrated a wonderful Papa's Day. Every year the girls wear Papa's Day themed shirts and this year we went with a Papa Bear & Baby Bear theme for the three of them. Super cute and I am thinking I will have to get a Momma Bear one eventually to match.

In addition to fun library activities and playdates with friends the summer concerts started and we enjoyed a few of those in June as well.

June finally brought a bit of a heat wave after a very mild start to summer. The girls were super happy about the heat because that meant they could finally play in the sprinkler seal that Uncle John bought them.

It also got hot just in time for Eden's swim lessons,

swimming with family friends...

and tractor rides.

We rounded out the month with the annual Brewfest which was a blast as always.

Yeah, three double strollers, seven children and three moms...how we rolled at Brewfest '11!

So there you have it, our June.

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 6 - Headed Home Sweet Home

2011-07-13T23:13:00.000-07:00

We have had a fun couple of days, but it is time to head home sweet home.

Of course the girls were excited to fly in an airplane once again and I was thankful that Lily throwing up in the car on the way to the airport was just a fluke. We had an easy trip home and you would think these two little girls were world wide jet setters with how well they travel.

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 5 - California Adventure

2011-07-12T23:12:00.000-07:00

Day two of Disney fun included a visit to California Adventure. The girls LOVED it here and had so much fun riding rides, watching street performances, talking with Crush, seeing the Disney Junior show, enjoying a Tron Rave, actually sitting through their first hour long theatrical live performance (and liking it), seeing the amazing World of Color water/fire/light show, and even rocking out in the bathroom stall on a potty break (last picture) which made the people in the stalls next to us laugh out loud. Definitely another fun filled day!!! We actually think this park may be our favorite of the two, because both times we have visited we really enjoyed our day here.

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 4 - DisneyLand!

2011-07-11T23:13:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! Time for Disneyland. Eden was bursting trying to keep our destination a secret from Lily, but she did not have to wait long. As soon as Lily saw a sign on the way into the parking garage she squealed, pulled her blanket over her head, and knew exactly where we were going. Complete and total excitement!!!

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 3 - Santa Monica Pier

2011-07-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

While at the Santa Monica Pier we watched trapeze artists train, enjoyed the deliciousness of a trash dog from a street vendor, chickened out on riding the giant ferris wheel, and visited the last Route 66 stop where the girls "conquered the world" by standing high up in the ocean wind.

It was a long fun day, but just the beginning of our vacation fun.

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 2 - Venice Beach

2011-07-10T23:11:00.000-07:00

Our first stop on our vacation to Southern California was Venice Beach.

The Venice Canals were cute,

the sun & sand was perfect,

the waves were just right for running in,

and the memories made there will last a lifetime.

2011 Family Vaca Pt. 1 - Leaving on a Jet Plane

2011-07-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

This was the first time the girls have flown, so they were very excited to just be at the airport.

Eden knew our destination, but did a great job keeping it a secret from her Sissy Bear.

Lily loved flying because she pretended she was a pixie the entire flight and they just so happen to serve juice.

Even their monkeys enjoyed the view from our windows...

Amazing!

4th of July

2011-07-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July on two days this year...both filled with family, friends, fancy stars decorations made by the girls, good food, fireworks, face painting, and lots of fun!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Wordless Wednesday (Two Lucky Guys)

2011-06-15T06:49:00.000-07:00

Missing?

2011-06-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Eden lost her little toy Pascal, from the movie Tangled. We have searched all week, but cannot seem to locate that sneaky little guy. Today Eden had enough and felt missing posters were needed to help find him. She felt the "mystery mark" (question mark) was a good addition to help in the search.

UPDATE - The sign worked...he has been found!

Wordless Wednesday (oh so Zsa Zsa)

2011-06-08T06:46:00.000-07:00

More Mix & Match Flip Flops

2011-06-07T17:59:00.000-07:00

Yep, the trend is spreading...

Helping our Garden Grow

2011-06-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

Today we finally planted our little garden. We had been waiting for sunny weather, but that does not seem to be happening any time soon with this crazy weather we have been having. Who knows when summer will finally arrive here, so we went out this evening before a storm rolled in and got everything planted in time for the garden to get a nice drink of fresh rainwater.

The girls are old pros at gardening, but tonight I discovered Lily's key to gardening success...

When I saw her do this I just had to record it. I actually have about five recording her kissing each seed because it was just too cute. I had no idea why she was doing this until Chepe filled me in that I needed to thank Peppa Pig for that cuteness. So, alright, alright...I think Peppa Pig has redeemed herself from the whole farting chicken thing with the kissing seeds thing. By the end of the evening we all were kissing seeds and helping our garden grow. (♥)

Wordless Wednesday (Banana Phone)

2011-06-01T15:45:00.000-07:00

Can we please say toot!

2011-05-31T23:37:00.001-07:00

Today Eden drew a farting chicken...

I asked if we all could please say tooting chicken instead, but my suggestion was promptly shot down. Then she drew a farting banana & a farting phone.

Party like a Rockstar

2011-05-28T22:13:00.000-07:00

The girls recently were invited to their friend Melanie's Rock Star party.

At first they were playing the shy "emo" card...

but after some bounce house fun,

twizzlers,

and having pop rocks for the first time

they seemed to warm up just in time for the pinata

and face painting.

It was a great party and we all partied like ROCK STARS!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Melanie!!!

Guitar Heros!

2011-05-27T00:19:00.000-07:00

Eden rockin' out at 21 months of age back in Jan '08.

Lily rockin' out at 2 1/2 years of age in May '11.

Mix & Match Flip Flops

2011-05-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

And here I thought Eden had moved on from this past fad of hers.

Fairytale Town - One Year Later

2011-05-26T06:40:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago it was time for our preschool's annual field trip to the zoo & Fairytale Town. While there we just could not resist trying to recreate last year's "We're Off to See the Wizard" photo.

Richard Scarry

2011-05-25T07:36:00.000-07:00

Every time I see this picture...

I think of Richard Scarry & this...

Dookie Rope!

2011-05-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Papa Bear!

2011-05-24T10:06:00.000-07:00

Because you can take the boy out of New York,

But you can't take the New York out of the boy.

Happy Birthday Papa Bear...

We love you...dookie rope and all!

Farting Chickens

2011-05-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

It was almost two weeks ago that Lily told me how chickens fart (lay eggs). This bit of information is thanks to her new favorite show

Peppa Pig.

In one episode they talk about chickens laying eggs, but when the chicken laid the egg an accompanying sound could be heard. To one particular two and a half year old that is currently fascinated with bodily functions that silly sound equaled a fart. So there you have it...chickens fart, which makes Lily laugh uncontrollably each and every time she says it.

Well last night before bed Chepe & Eden were telling each other knock knock jokes. Lily and I were getting ready for bed and just listening to them say joke after joke, most of which Eden was just making up and did not make a lot of sense, but she though were really funny. Then under her breath I heard Lily say, "Knock, knock. Who's there? Farting chicken!" I burst out laughing. Apparently Eden is not the only one who can make up knock knock jokes in our family, but at least the farting chicken gets a laugh every time.

Lily the Scorpio Child

2011-05-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I ran into Baby Scopes and I thought it was interesting to see what it said for the girls. Interesting how some of it it so accurate for our little darlings. Here is Lily's Baby Horoscope...

Scorpio Child

"He looks so much more 'finished' than the other babies in the nursery..."

Scorpio babes are strange, enchanted little beings with possibly important destinies. They have piercing eyes, charming personalities and strong bodies with equally strong wills. Even the tiniest of November tots will surprise you with his strength and ability to withstand pain.

They have tons of energy and will need lots of opportunity to channel it. Even if your Scorpio toddler seems calm and relaxed, you can be sure it's bottling up, so better do something physical to help him get it all out. Scorpio is the sign of extremes and these children have the strong emotions to match. A Scorpio toddler will glare at you fiercely should you attempt to thwart his plans or forbid him to doing something. And it follows that he will need constant, firm (but always gentle) discipline.

Scorpio children enjoy a good fight and have the full intention of winning at whatever they do, so teach them early about compromise and how to be a good sport. Compromise is not one of their gifts and even if they pretend to give in, they are often just waiting to gain back their advantage.

You might need to steer them away from vindictiveness or an ill-tempered playmate will be sorry one day. They have intense feelings and a natural urge to act as intensely.

Teach them about right and wrong. It won't be easy for them to see or understand your logic but it is imperative that you're consistent. Scorpio kids are wise beyond their years, intuitive (they give hugs at just the right moment) and can sense weakness. They have a rare courage, fierce loyalty to family and friends and can be extremely hard on anyone not in their chosen circle.

Teach them about forgiveness and about being considerate of others, especially those weaker than them. Modeling this behavior is always a better parenting choice than demanding or insisting.

With brilliant minds and magnetic personalities, they can suffer from inflated egos that can harm more than help. Avoid raising a revengeful, hurting Scorpio by doling out generous helpings of love and affection. They will hide their own thoughts and feelings but be determined to ferret out yours so don't bother hiding. They can also pick up on your stress.

Scorpio kids are regular little detectives and they'll be great at finding lost car keys and misplaced shoes. They love mysteries, magic, intrigue, sci-fi, ghost-stories and anything supernatural. Chemistry sets, magic tricks and microscopes are good gifts for a Scorpio child. They're steady honor roll material but whether they defer to playing hooky or not will be up to your guidance and careful attention.

They need to be surrounded by good influences and passionate teachers in order to satisfy their intense curiosity and to keep them interested in school. They appear to scorn approval but they secretly hope for it and depend on your constant support. You can be sure this will lead your Scorpio child to be the best in his chosen field.

Encourage his dreams of bring an astronaut or even President. Scorpio knows what he wants. Never force a career on a Scorpio child. It is the surest way to send him down a dark and experimental path. They have a strong attraction to drugs and fire so early intervention and drug education is crucial, especially for an emotionally unstable Scorpio.

Scorpio boys and girls are especially fond of the opposite sex and romances will start early so teach them about affairs of the heart and maybe adolescence won't be so tragic. Scorpio deeply respects the family and if you teach him that careless behavior can destroy that, he will listen.

Nothing can outlast the Scorpio determination, so help him find a worthy goal to direct his passions and teach him early on that you know best. There may be many struggles and tests of will but your Scorpio child will respect you in the long run for your strength when you stand your ground. This will also teach him the proper way to handle responsibility and leadership.

Babies/Toddlers

    * magical
    * strong
    * precocious
    * charming
    * hypnotic gazes
    * strong-willed
    * energetic
    * loving
    * intuitive

Adolescents

    * volatile
    * loyal
    * self-sufficient
    * determined
    * sexual
    * blunt
    * sarcastic
    * honest
    * private

Parenting tips to best handle your Scorpio tot or teen.

    * never break your word or promise
    * use constant, gentle but firm discipline
    * teach him to manage his boiling emotions
    * avoid thoughtless scolding and permissive humoring
    * support his dreams

Protect your Scorpio's mental and physical health by avoiding arguments at bedtime, edginess and family squabbles at the dinner table. All can lead to a bitter, withdrawn little lizard beset by fears and phobias. Your Scorpio child needs one thing most: A daily example of how to love and be loved in return.

Compiled and adapted from Linda Goodman's Sun Signs
http://www.teach-through-love.com/baby-horoscopes-scorpio.html

Eden the Aries Child

2011-05-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I ran into Baby Scopes and I thought it was interesting to see what it said for the girls. Interesting how some of it it so accurate for our little darlings. Here is Eden's Baby Horoscope...

Aries Child

"There's not a subtle bone in his, strong, active, broad-shouldered little body."

I'd say this is an apt description, considering my own Aries child. She's all concentrated determination in one insistent little package. And her scream... well, let's just say she's always made it amply known that she's running the show. Did you hear it? That shriek is your signal that your Mars infant is the boss in this house.

Even the daintiest of Aries babes will have strong wills and dominant personalities.

With their emotional and mental health kept in tact, these are some of the most loving little adventurers of all the signs! Just be sure you don't leave them alone too long. They like attention and lots of it.

Emotionally maltreated Aries youngsters can become the quieter and more complacent of this normally demonstrative bunch. Their hearts are soft and their idealism naive but if there can be such a thing as a hard, practical, idealistic dreamer - that is your Aries baby.

They have vivid imaginations and are dreamy and sentimental all wrapped up in a fiery little body. The girls will be as direct in their actions as the boys. Aries toddlers will be difficult to control, so don't try so hard. The key to smooth relations with an Aries tot is allowing them a certain amount of freedom to explore and learn.

I highly recommend Dr. Harvey Karp's book, The Happiest Toddler on the Block, for parents of the more obstinate the signs (Aries, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio). Of course, you may not have time to read because you'll be too busy chasing after your Aries toddler. Luckily there is an awesome DVD version available as well.

April's metal is iron and April's birthstone is the diamond, the hardest substances known to man.

They may walk earlier and most definitely talk earlier than other babies but they don't take kindly to spontaneous orders. Say "No." to an Aries toddler and she'll shake her chubby little finger right back at you, "No, No, NO you Mama!"

Constantly on the go, efforts to try and confine or suppress the Aries enthusiasm will be futile. And since they do move so much you must be on the alert for accidents and injuries (especially to the head and face).

Aries is impulsive, so keep dangers out of reach and cabinets locked. And restaurant dining is best avoided until at least age 4 unless you're up for a few jaunts around the joint.

Aries babes are usually affectionately demonstrative and spontaneous loving bear hugs are the norm unless early emotional experiences froze their normally warm hearts. Teething may be a feverish time, for you but baby will make it through just fine. Nothing stands up against the quickly recuperating Mars immune system and your Aries child will rarely be sick for long.

Aries children are amazingly generous, friendly and take the lead with playmates. They like to invent new games and ideas for the gang to follow but they may butt heads with anyone who tries to thwart them, so teach them early about personal responsibility and controlling their tempers.

And be kind to your babysitters - warn them about that Aries temper before leaving for a long weekend. While there may be periodic explosions of frustration and anger from your Aries child, they are usually followed by a bright and beaming smile. Your Aries teen may neglect chores and homework but this just means she needs another challenge. Question her ability and she'll show you! Her nose will be glued to the books. Challenge is a better parenting strategy than comparison for an Aries. Comparison to their sibling's habits or grades will not impress them. But giving a challenge to meet will.

Aries children like to do it themselves and do it first, so it follows that they can learn just about anything in no time flat. They also like to live up to expectations, so raise yours appropriately and they'll only rise to the occasion.

They prefer direct honest logic to accompany requests and a smile never hurts if you'd like to see them bend over backwards to please you.

They are as soft as a teddy bear and rejection of their bright dreams, friendship or love will hurt them deeply as they have deep-seated fears of being disliked and unloved. Hold her very close when your little Aries' heart is broken. She'll depend on you to kiss away the pain. Aries idealism is sensitive and bruises easily.

Aries children love books, believe in fairy godmothers, giants and fantastic tales of magical cities. They have a hope-filled optimism about life and though they may get knocked down a time or two, don't ever count out an Aries.

They may not run off to a traditional four year college, Aries would rather jump into the action of the work force. But college could do them well as it would give them the discipline necessary to sort out their own flashes of intuitive logic and wild emotions.

Aries needs to be taught responsibility but speak kindly to her or she could develop a mean streak. Same goes for destroying her confidence. An Aries child handled gently will pay the neighborhood bullies to stop picking on the other children but otherwise, can become that same bully.

Babies/Toddlers

* strong & active (in body and mind)
* extremely affectionate
* fiercely independent
* friendly
* early talkers/walkers
* accident prone
* strong immune systems
* generous
* tempers

Adolescents:

* competitive
* vivid imaginations
* love fantasy
* sometimes lazy
* need/love a challenge
* fiery tempers and emotions
* intuitive
* burning drive to succeed
* independent

Parenting tips to best handle your Aries tot or teen:

* don't give orders
* teach kindness
* indulge in their love of books
* use logic and honest affection
* do not attack

You can lose your Aries youngster to complacency if you engage in critical or demeaning behavior. Early negative emotional experiences can be devastating and it is important to not subject your Aries child to cold, negative people or actions. Independence comes early with Aries, and they may even run away or leave home earlier than expected but a foundation of gentle guidance will keep the path to their dreams open. Supported by constant love and truthful logic they'll go on to make all their dreams come true.

Compiled and adapted from Linda Goodman's Sun Signs
http://www.teach-through-love.com/baby-horoscopes-aries.html

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Eden's last day of being a Panda.

Two and a half year old Lily

2011-05-16T11:41:00.000-07:00

You have lots of nicknames, as we all do in our family, but I think it is sweet when Dyetha (my dad) calls you Lilybell.

Your favorite color is still blue.

Your eyes seem to be changing from blue to greenish...we think. It is hard to tell and you will not sit still long enough for us to really look at them without you squinting.

Your favorite foods are yogurt, cereal, and mac-n-cheese, but you really love almost everything, especially foods full of flavor. You have a very sophisticated palette for a child.

You have a serious sweet tooth and I mean serious. You ask for treats a few times a day, but thankfully you love fruits and vegetables just as much, so watermelon is one of your favorite treats.

You love anything you can dip and that includes licking dip off your fingers. Papa has recently started to call you 'Dipper' because we found that if you pass on a food initially, we can get you to eat it if we give you something to dip it into. Salsa, BBQ sauce, ketchup, mustard, ranch, guacamole, caramel sauce...you do not discriminate.

You still would prefer juice or leche in your cup instead of agua and you recently discovered that Momma's home brewed kombucha is delish too. You say, "Momma me want some bucha, please" and will run and get a cup when you see me putting the batches into jars.

Your favorite music is anything with a good beat. You love to dance, but if I try to sing or dance along you will tell me to stop it. You do not want to share the lime light.

You love to sing and as you play we can hear you singing softly to yourself. You like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the ABC song, I love you (You love me), and I like you (there's no doubt about it).

Your favorite TV shows are currently Peppa Pig, Dora the Explorer, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Max & Ruby, and Team Umizoomi. Blue's Clues still holds a special place in your heart, but over the last six months you have really expanding your viewing preferences and have started to like more of the variety of shows.

You love SpongeBob SquarePants even though he is forbidden in our house, and will do anything to sneak a peek. Your SBSP bath towel is your favorite.

If you do not like what someone is watching you will say it scares you to try to get the channel changed. We are on to you though...and your smirk gives you away too you little stinker.

You would be a home body if we let you. Staying home to play with Sissy is your favorite thing, but once you are out and about you easily go with the flow and enjoy yourself just as much as if you were home.

You will go out of your way to always close an open drawer or cabinet...even if I need them open because I am putting dishes away.

You still really like monkeys and still say you are one. You can make monkey sounds and even say bananas are your favorite because monkeys eat them.When we were at the zoo the only animal you really wanted to see what the monkeys.

You are silly, have a great sense of humor, and are full of gusto. People politely say you are "very busy". Thankful you balance out your business with lots of cuddle time. For how loud and crazy you can be you are actually quite shy at times.

You are so proud of yourself for no longer needing diapers and were happy to give your remaining diapers away to a baby who needed them. You tell us the baby is gone, but little do you know you will always be our baby.

Your favorite toys are your little stuffed animals that you want to all be piled on your bed, your pixie wings, and any backpack you can wear around the house in order to pretend you are Dora. You love drawing and dress up and sure do know how to accessories with play shoes, necklaces, and purses.

You love pixies. I mean really love pixies.

Your favorite lovie is your ladybug blanket that cousin Hillary made you. You call it your pink blanket, it must go everywhere with you, and get upset when it needs washing.

Your morning routine is - "Potty!" - "Hungry!" - "Yogurt!" - "Shows!" You are usually very polite, but apparently pleases and thank yous take a back seat in the morning.

You insist on your hair being in a "pony" everyday.

Your favorite thing to do outside is play in the sand. You love it because you think it is pixie dust and will spread it everywhere while you play...exactly why it is Papa's least favorite thing.

You love playing hide and seek and will even take turns counting then seeking.

You like to go fast. Whether it is down a slide, on a ride, on a swing, with sister pulling you in the play cars in the backyard with hula hoops, or with Papa driving crazy in a parking lot you love speed.

You pretend to swim in the bathtub and more water usually ends up out then in. You love playing in water.

You hate to have your hands or clothes get dirty or wet (unless you are playing in water).

You are obsessed with band-aids and just bumping into something requires one to make it feel better.

You can fit into Sissy's old Brobee PJs and you are so happy about this. You enjoy Yo Gabba Gabba and can tell us all about when we went to go see them live months ago.

You kiss your monkey goodnight before bed. You ask for robot goodnight kisses from Papa, clown kisses from Momma, and you always hug sissy goodnight before getting tucked in.

Your favorite book is the Ladybug book that you want to read every night before bed because you are so proud that you can count all the ladybugs on every page by yourself. You count so fast that 3 usually comes before 2.

You absolutely do not like for anyone to see you fall or get hurt. You hardly complain about the owie, but will make a giant production about anyone asking you if you are alright. You will yell, "I'm fine!" and then tell anyone looking at you to "stop it!"

You are Miss Independent. You insist on getting putting your own shoes on, getting yourself into your car seat, and closing the car door yourself. "Me do it!" & "I got it!" are heard a lot from you when help is offered up.

You talk a lot and can carry conversations with us now. I love hearing you explain to me how you got scared walking down Ms. Kellee's driveway because you were wearing your boots, and you thought you were going to fall, and you did not want to fall, so you needed me to carry you instead. I also love hearing you tell your Papa about something important to you and hearing you imaginary play with your sister. Your little voice makes me smile.

You are growing into quite an amazing little person, and we are so glad to know you and have you in our lives. Happy 2 1/2 Birthday Lily!

Celebrating Momma (Earth)

2011-05-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

My Momma's Day this year was lovely. It was a perfect mix of family, fun, and celebrating Mother Earth.

I have always wanted to go to the Whole Earth Festival, and this year I got my wish. Thank you Chepe for an awesome gift!

I really must be a hippie at heart because the peace I felt there was simply amazing. The girls enjoyed dancing and playing to the music. Seeing them be so carefree and so very silly made me smile.

Another perfect gift on a perfect day. I cannot wait to go again next year.

Many thanks to these two little girls for making me their Momma.
I love you my babies.

Happy Mother's Day to all our family and friends.
Hope you had just as peaceful of a day with your lovelies.

Ice Cold Lemonade for Sale!!!

2011-05-07T23:44:00.000-07:00

We participated in a five family garage sale today and the girls had great fun selling ice cold lemonade and doughnuts with their besties. Papa helped man the stand with them. At first they were all too shy to say "lemonade for sale" without his help, but after a few patrons they were brave enough and even started running up to new arrivals to let them know what they had to offer.

Quality Control

They even made their own signs for the sale - Lemonade & Treat $1

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

2011-05-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Open House

2011-05-04T21:20:00.000-07:00

Eden was so excited to show off all of her preschool creations at Open House tonight. Bita & Baba even came to see her awesome work and she was so proud to share her hard work with all of us.

Tangled

2011-05-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bita got the girls Tangled shirts, so what better place to wear them to then their friend's Tangled party.

Thank you Bita!

Easter

2011-04-24T23:58:00.000-07:00

Not only did the Easter Bunny leave goody filled baskets for the girls on our doorstep...

he hid the eggs we colored all over the house...

and 112 plastic treat filled ones out back...

Yep, 112 plastic eggs for two little girls that had pure delight in finding each and every one of them.

Besides all the Easter Bunny fun we had a very wonderful day with our family and hope everyone had a happy Easter.

The Great Easter Egg Hunt of 2011

2011-04-23T19:11:00.000-07:00

The community Easter Egg hunt was lots of fun and we even had the added treat of our friends joining us this year. Thankfully our girls are not the only grumpy bumpies when it comes to picture taking time, but I guess the sun in their eyes was not helping. So much for a cute picture of all the children gearing up for the hunt.

Love the Bunny High Fives!

Lily before she discovered that Easter Eggs have something inside of them...

and after she discovered opening them resulted in CANDY!

Our two gold coin winners!

Happy Easter!

Greatly Underwhelmed

2011-04-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Eden asked if we could decorate for Easter since her birthday decorations were finally put away and we actually were home with some free time. I told her we could and she got super excited...that is until she saw our measly collection of Easter decorations. She was greatly underwhelmed.

When I pulled the bag down from the closet and she looked in she literally said, "that's it, that is all of Easter?" I told her that was all we had, so we went to work making the best of decorating with the few bunny figurines available. I could tell her wheels were spinning though, and a few minutes later she asked if I could cut eggs out of paper so her and Lily could decorate them and hang them up everywhere. She explained that we needed more Easter for our Easter party. So I went to work cutting, and then they went to work decorating...

E&L Soirées at it again!

Good Old Fashioned Easter Egg Coloring

2011-04-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Our besties invited us over for some good old fashioned Easter egg coloring fun and it was a blast!

Ms. Kellee made sure there was lots and lots and lots of coloring cups, because with four kiddos you have to have lots options.

Notice how the table looks BEFORE.

The big kiddos taking their time creating their eggs.

The little kiddos dropping in three eggs at a time to color them.

Both methods resulted in beautifully colored eggs all their own. I could not stop smiling as I watched them create their very own eggy masterpieces. Notice two things...Lily is missing and the AFTER table.

After a few eggs Lily decided cat cookies and cartoons were more important then coloring Easter eggs, but she came out now and then to check on the egg dying situation. I kept telling her she had more eggs to color and she was missing out on more fun, but her multicolored stained hands had her very concerned.

I told her not to worry about her hands, because if they are not the color of the rainbow...

or Incredible Hulk hands you did not have a proper Easter egg coloring party.

Happy Easter!

Picnic Day

2011-04-16T20:04:00.000-07:00

This year our close family friends joined us for Picnic Day. The weather was nice and it was a fun day filled with bubbles, a parade, and enjoying each others company.

The Morales Crew at Picnic Day 2011

All the kiddos and their bubble guns

Ken being Ken

Our great family friends

More Bubble Gun Fun

Aunt Mami declared it picture taking day...

And she actually got Lily to smile a few times!

Trying to figure out what to get for lunch. Next time maybe we will actually bring a picnic.

Makeover

2011-04-13T16:08:00.001-07:00

Eden got a Barbie Make-Up kit for her birthday and everyday since has given Lily and I makeovers. Yesterday thank goodness I looked in the mirror before heading out the Better Birth Sacramento meeting. I completely forgot that Eden did my makeup while I was resting on the couch. One purple eye, one pink, and sparkle lips. I am sure the BB ladies would have thought I looked fabulous and gotten a good chuckle. Here is a picture of today's makeover, so you can see sort of what my eyes would have looked like if I had walked out the door unknowingly.

Roller Derby

2011-04-13T15:48:00.000-07:00

Today was the Panda class' roller skating field trip. It has been years since Chepe or I have been to our local skating rink, and upon walking in it was like going back in time a few decades. Not much has changed, which made it very cool in a nostalgic kind of way. Once our skates were all on we hit the rink and everyone did great, with few falls and no collisions.

Hamming it up on skates.

Once over being nervous Eden conquered backwards skating too.

Future Roller Derby Girl?

Eden's Dora Fiesta

2011-04-09T23:52:00.000-07:00

Eden decided around Halloween that she wanted a Dora party for her 5th birthday celebration.

Eden made it very clear that she wanted a Dora Fiesta, not a Mexican Fiesta. She had a vision for how she wanted her 5th birthday, so we really just let her create exactly what she wanted. She explained that the Dora colors she wanted were pink, orange, yellow and purple so we made sure we that everything incorporated those colors and was just "Dora Fiesta" enough for her.

In February the "The Grumpy Old Troll Gets Married" episode of Dora aired and after seeing Mexican flags used as decorations at their fiesta Eden decided she wanted them at her fiesta too. Without anyone knowing she got the supplies needed out of the art closet and went to work creating her own Mexican flags. When she was finished with each one she proudly piled them on my desk so they would not get ruined before her big day.

Then in March, Eden told me that she wanted to make coffee filter flowers like they did in her preschool class and that sister could help her make them. I gathered the supplies for them and together they did some party prep...some really, really, messy party prep.

Despite the mess all of their coffee filter flowers turned out really cute!

Next came pinata making time, which included the girls thinking painting the sidewalk would be more fun then painting the pinatas. Thankfully the purple paint mess cleaned up with Papa's help and the pinatas turned out fabuloso!

For a few finishing touches we picked up some Dora decorations from the local party store,

and really cute Dora napkins and plates to be the finishing touches to the fiesta.

Finally it was the night before Eden's Dora Fiesta and because Eden had made most of the decorations I thought it was going to be really simple to pull together. I was wrong because implementing a five year old's ideas is way harder then I thought it would be, so this was the party that I stayed up the latest for with last minute party prep...3am!!!

It was well worth it though because Eden's Dora Fiesta was magnifico!

As always I had some surprises for Eden the morning of her party. One was a Dora & Diego wall sticker.

Though cheesy, I just could not resist because throughout her months of planning Eden kept mentioning invisible Dora wall stickers that would make her party fancy, but that only she could see. When I saw this wall sticker I had to get it because it would mean instead of invisible ones only she could enjoy everyone could enjoy this decoration. When she saw it she was so excitado!

Next surprise was a Dora bounce house for her and her friends to enjoy, though we know she was on to us with this one and even pretended to be surprised in the morning when she saw it.

The girls were jumping in this at about 8am they were so happy. Even "Paddy", Eden's preschool's birthday friend, was up early enjoying the pre-party fun!

As always there was mucho comida for everyone to enjoy. We got mexican food brought in from our favorite little hole in the wall place and we also had homemade tamales that Chepe and I made. So between the enchiladas, beans, rice, tamales, chips & salsa, veggies, and of course...

CUPCAKES! everyone had their fill of comida delicioso.

To wash it all all down there was tropical punch, Dora agua, and cervezas!

Once everyone was full and well hydrated we moved onto a game of Pin the Boot on Boots.

It was fun for all, but harder then it looked.

Even resulting in a few peaks here and there :o)

After everyone had a turn it was time for a Dora adventure, another surprise for Eden!

Time for the piñata, but where could it be?
Who do you think took it from the party???

(SWIPER!)
Oh no! Looks like we need to go on an adventure to find the piñata, but first we need to put on our backpacks. Maybe Tico knows where they are?

TICO Clue – I like to go fast in my yellow car, but Eden rides this to help her go far… (SCOOTER)

Everyone put on your backpacks

& oh look, Isa the Iguana left us another clue, since she is sure empty backpacks simply will not do…
ISA Clue - Fancy Nancy, Pinkalicious, & Chicka Chicka Boom Boom too! Where these live is where you will find your next clue…(BOOKSHELF)

Put on your Dora & Diego Bracelets.

GRUMPY OLD TROLL Clue - Well, it’s the Grumpy Old Troll who lives on top of the FRIDGE…not under the bridge, but on top of the FRIDGE…(REFRIGERATOR)
Spying scopes to help find the big piñata!!!

Wow, it is the Fiesta Trio and it looks like they left a fourth clue for you.

FIESTA TRIO Clue – Music makes us happy, music makes us dance, so go dig in the music bin when you have a chance. (MUSIC BIN)

Whistles! I bet those will come in handy later on. Around your neck they go.

Benny seems to have left a clue too…

BENNY Clue – One last thing is all you need for your piñata seeking quest. So go check where Eden’s Papa makes toast for breakfast. (TOASTER OVEN)

If there's a place you got to go
I'm the one you need to know
I'm the Map…
I'm the Map
I'm the Map

If there's a place you got to get
I can get you there I bet
I'm the Map!
I'm the Map
I'm the Map
I'm the Map!!!

Hurry, Hurry. All you little Dora & Diegos need to get to the big piñata.
Well, I know how to get to the big piñata.
To get to the big piñata you must first go over cupcake mountain,

then you have to pass by sneezing snake lake.

And that’s how you get to the big piñata!

Say it with me…
Mountain, snakes, piñata! Mountain, snakes, piñata!

Let’s go…
Over cupcake mountain…

Get your spying scopes out to find sneezing snake lake.
Hold your nose so you don’t start sneezing! Achoo achoo!!!

Whew, we made it past the sneezing snakes. Time to get our spying scopes out again does anyone see swiper? If you do say Swiper!

You see Swiper? We have to say "Swiper, no swiping!" "Swiper, no swiping!" "Swiper, no swiping!"
Ahh, man!

We did it!

Pinata Time!!!

Once everyone had enough candy in their goodie bags we moved on to singing Eden happy birthday,

cupcakes,

then opening gifts...

before some of our friends had to leave and the rest of us partied until the wee hours.

Eden's 5th birthday party was muy divertido and full of wonderful memories. Thank you to everyone who made our Dora Fiesta celebration such a special day for her. Much love!!!

Thank you to everyone online who has shared their Dora parties as inspiration & ideas. I appreciate you all and I hope our little Dora Fiesta party helps to inspire others as well.

1825 Trips Around the Moon

2011-04-07T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday may not have been the best day for me, but it was magical for our darling Eden Bear. She woke up and smiled at me before saying, "Momma, today is the last day of me being four and I am going to make it the best day ever!" and that she did. No fits, no grumpies, just a little girl bubbling over with excitement that in one sleep she would be five years old.

Now today marks our marvelous Eden's 1825th trip around the moon. The moon that we have howled at since she was just a babe. The moon that she will gladly give an extra howl at for any missing family member. The moon that we love to look at together. The moon that was out when those first birthing waves marked her impending arrival.

My letter to Eden that I wrote during those birthing waves -

I thought I had a bit more time to think about writing this letter to you, little one. However, labor started about 3 hours ago and I am sitting her with a flood of emotions pouring over me.

We have come a long way together over the last 38 weeks and I look forward to finally getting to meet you. Your little personality is already developing inside of the womb and I cannot wait to see it all unfold first hand once you are in our arms.

Our hearts anxiously await your arrival to finally have this all be “real” not just the hopes and dreams we have pondered over the last few months. Welcome to our family!

Love,
Papa & Momma

Eden's arrival into our arms was magical. I see that same magic in her eyes that I saw in those first few moments we shared each and every time I gaze into them. When I gaze into them relishing in the amazement of our own miracle of life, our very own miracle of love. Our miracle that is filled with silliness, is so very creative, beyond independent, and forever our loveliness. Forever my baby even when she is celebrating her 9125th trip around the moon. That moon that we will still howl at together, even then.

So today my letter to Eden is simple -

Love you my baby. Love you my miracle.
Love you my Eden Bear.
Happy 5th Birthday. Happy 1825th Trip Around the Moon.