Busy

Writing, painting, drawing, cutting, gluing...it's all happening at her very own desk now.

I believe this is her current very favorite place to be.

A visit to Amoo's house.

As I watched her play in all my grandmother's jewelry and as we went through my grandmother's nutcracker collection (now Magnolia's), that was so much a part of my childhood, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic, and so very lucky that Maggie has my amazing grandmother, the matriarch of my family, in her life too.

Happy 80th Amoo!

With some of her birthday money she asked to buy a "fancy dress" for her great-grandmother's birthdays.

Here...is the always beautiful, and frequently fancy, Magnolia...

And time with cousins...always puts a smile on her face!

And Then She was Four

As Zac and I tucked Maggie into bed last night she giggled and said "I'm going to be 4 in the morning!"

And yes, it's true, we now have a four year old.

She requested hard boiled eggs, yogurt, PB and J on toast, milk, and some tie-dye cake for breakfast! (she only ate the eggs and yogurt, in case you were wondering...)

We lit the candles in her birthday ring, watched a special birthday video from her beloved Isabelle, measured how tall the big four year old is now, and then we shared one last little gift---a bell for her bike.

Which of course meant a morning bike ride.

Overall, a beautiful day. One of the most significant days of my life...the day I became a mother.

Happy Birthday Magnolia!

Love you so.

A Tie-Dye Birthday Party

Right after her 3rd birthday/pink party last year Maggie informed me that she wanted a tie-dye party to celebrate turning 4. So yes, we have been preparing for these tie-dye celebrations for quite some time...

Our local tie-dye shop graciously offered their services and expertise in tie-dying for Magnolia's big party. 

They are conveniently located right behind a Greek restaurant. So with a little hummus, some tie-dying and some friends...we had ourselves a party.

Getting our instructions on tie-dying.

 Magnolia and friends (Bella and Cora) tie-dying shirts at Tye-Dye Everything

 Working very hard! Magnolia's shirt was dyed pink and light pink, crinkle pattern.

 Oh my! How happy was I that our friend Traci (BellaRoo Cakes) was willing to take on tie-dyed (inside and out) cake and cupcakes! They were perfect!

 Tie-Dye Brother, in some of his hand-me-down tie-dyes

 Sagey was a little hesitant at first, but eventually she tie-dyed a t-shirt as well.

 Birthday Girl!

 A tie-dye party!

 You can see the hint of shyness...all those people singing...but she did great, she smiled and blew out those candles like a champ!

 Daddy and Brother

 Auntie Sara and Baby Cousin Sagey

Friends!

Thanks Tye-Dye Everything!

***

And a little gift giving at home with family...

 (yes, it's a baby doll ergo)

What a tie-dye party it was.
In Magnolia's words "it was perfect!"

HUGE fun

We left Sunday for Wallowa State Park, a special trip of mommy's choice to celebrate my birthday. I won't mention how old I am either, as Maggie puts it..."Mommy, you are really, really old!"

Well, we like camper adventures, and we like getting outdoors. We also appreciate that three hours in any direction gets us to great destinations, usually with lakes to keep our children entertained.

You never really know how well a four day adventure will go with two children, but both Magnolia and River had a blast. The kind of outdoor fun where you have to beg them to take a break!

Here's some peeks of Miss Magnolia on yet another outdoor adventure...

Special Note: I had to work Maggie's favorite adjective into the title. The word "huge" is her favorite word to describe anything as of lately. Forgive me for the overuse of the word in this post...just trying to emphasize her fondness of the word! I figured this was easier than writing a whole other post about HUGE.

 This tree was huge big.

 This water was huge cold.

 I am having huge fun!

 Sometimes, I get huge angry!

And then I make this face, which makes mommy smile...for some reason.

 I huge love playing doctor. 

Here I am explaining to nurse mommy that old baby's forehead is coming off, her head is cracked, and she has a broken knee. 

(no mention of hair loss)

 I am a huge good hiker.

I am huge interested in bones, and daddy found this one for me!

Well, that about sums it up people. We had a huge good time.

Now we are preparing for a tie-dye party, and some fun to help a special little gal celebrate another year!

More to come soon!

M is for Many Magnolias

Oh, this girl of mine. She keeps me on my toes, she has always kept me on my toes, but now...

As she quickly approaches four year of age she is throwing all sorts of new things at me...things that have this child development specialist mama pouring over the books of experts in my field. 

3 and 4 year olds have always thrown me...I've always gravitated to infants and toddlers...where behaviour and development make sense to me. 

Inititive vs. Guilt. This stage of development... is a big one.

Magnolia has always been a bit...fiery, for lack of a better word. She feels so strongly. This is beautiful and challenging all mixed together.

Lately she has been testing all sorts of limits. She's seeking consistency, and I'm seeking my sanity.

Sara tells me I just need to let her feel...get all her emotions out, don't block them, and she'll learn to deal with them with a little help. But some days I wonder how much more emotion she and I can handle.

Anything heart-felt, or somewhat emotional brings her to tears. She tells me..."My eyes are watering Mommy...I'm just a little sad, and I don't know why." She says this with a little shrug. I never know what to say, so I just plant a kiss on her sweet face and hope it's enough.

There are times in parenting I've learned that no matter what you know, what you strive to know, your children are just going to throw things at you that you have to figure out on your own...ride it out?, support them through it? How much support? 

On and on these questions flood my head when it concerns my daughter. 

She's unbelievably bright, she's beautiful, she's strong, she's sad, she's scared, she's angry, she's sweet, she's Magnolia.

Really Horrible Blogger Mom

We are in full summer swing. This means of course that most of our time is spent outdoors...it's much more difficult I've realized to document the happenings of a three year old and one year old while outdoors. With so much summer sun we generally always have our bodies in something wet and messy (not safe for a camera). So...
Here's a very little glimpse from this past sunshine filled weekend...a few pictures from a quick overnight cousin bonding/lake swimming/backyard camping trip to Sandpoint.

Enjoy.

 Sagey, getting ready for bed. With her kitten mittens on.

 Camp potty ;)

Yes, I am watching them ALL bike away for a fun-filled morning at the lake...a few hours for mommy to do some school work.

HAPPY SUMMER FRIENDS!

A 4th of July Parade

We kept hearing about the Johnson, WA parade, a one-mile country stretch of creative and always patriotic fun ...the best small town 4th of July parade there is! 

Well, who can skimp out on that????....