Emma – full of Grace ~ BSM

Emma G.

Dear Emma Grace –
I often tease that perhaps “Grace” may not have been the best choice of middle names for you, for it seems you might have inherited Mama’s complete lack of physical grace. I don’t want to say you are necessarily clumsy, but…take it from your bruise-covered Mama – I think you may need a back-up helmet, knee pads and a first aid kit always in arm’s reach, possibly for the rest of your life.

But in your six short years in this world, you have learned something that is far more important than being agile, or coordinated.

While we were at a Birthday party on Friday, I watched you selflessly give over half of your loot from the pinata to a girl that had walked away without a single piece of candy. She was holding her empty bag looking a little forlorn and you went up to her, put your arm around her shoulder, and asked “Here. Would you like some of my candy?” And then you proceeded to put half of your candy into her bag.

Tears welled up in my eyes and I found myself breathless as I watched your (completely unprompted) generosity unfold. And I simply could not have been prouder of you.

When you saw that I was watching you share, you gave me a little shrug and smile as if to say, “Eh, it’s only candy.” It gave me a small glimpse at the thoughtful and loving person you are becoming. I was also reminded that the word “grace” has more than just a physical meaning.

And I think your middle name suits you just perfectly, Peanut. You truly are full of Grace.

Love,
Mama

bsm

Wicked Wickets

J. has been intrigued by the game of cricket for many, many years now. When I was working in London he came over and managed to scavenge an old cricket bat from the Portobello Road Antique market. At the time I was not entirely sure why he was buying an old, beat-up bat. But now it stands beside our bed and I feel a little safer on weeks like this one, when he is traveling out of town, and that bat is within arm’s reach.

(Note to any potential robbers and thieves – the bat is HEAVY and SOLID, and I’ve been doing the hundred push-up challenge, so keep it movin’. Nothing to see at our house.)

So, where were we? Oh yes. J. And crazy about cricket. So this past weekend he asked us if we would like to go to the Hollywood Ashes cricket match.

Crickets? Yes! I want to see crickets…

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Who can say no to crickets? Plus there were some celebrities slated to be there. And it was free. So off we went.

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(This is Addie’s non-stop “skip” caught on camera. For some reason she has been led to believe that she is a great “skipper” and proceeds to skip everywhere we go now. For the record, she is not really all that coordinated in the skipping department, but it is awfully cute.)

Imagine Em and Ad’s surprise when the “crickets” looked like this…

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And this…

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But they quickly discovered the bounce house that was set up, and pretty much just spent the rest of the afternoon jumping their little legs off.

The bit of match that I got to see was pretty interesting.  And it got MUCH more interesting once J. found a quick little fact/rule sheet so I knew what was actually going on.  Plus (and I didn’t take any photos of them!) they had pasties! Mmm….not nearly as good as my Aunty’s – but they were tasty.

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And Daddy ended up buying a practice set (a new bat, ball, and wickets) and is now planning on teaching his little crickets how to play.

Crafty Tuesday

The girls have been crazy crafty around here again this week.

Mama? Not so much. But J. is out of town this week, my project is done, and nobody is visiting (boo!), so it looks like I may get a chance to get to my sewing machine and maybe a few layouts done, too? We shall see.

In the meantime, you can see all the goodies I got for Mother’s Day! I can barely keep up with the art projects that infiltrate our house most weeks, but the girls created some real “keepers” this week.

Addie came flying out of her classroom on Thursday, “Happy Mahzer’s Day, Mama!” (she still cannot say her th’s!) she yelled, as she thrust a card into my hand and demanded that I read it right there and then.

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There are tons of flowers on the front, this drawing of Addie and I (??) on the inside, and a little dictation from Addie – transcribed by Miss Mary.  It says –

“My mom’s name is Carrie. I call her mommy. She’s tall. She works on her computer. She cleans up stuff. She cooks. She likes to go to Target. I like to go to the park with mommy. I like fish sticks with mommy. She covers me up. I love her. ~Addie

Eeeee! How precious is that? I love that the girl knows my Target weakness – and my weakness for little peeks into what goes on inside that curly-haired head.

Emma became very concerned watching this exchange because she was home sick, and she realized they were supposed to be bringing their Mother’s Day creations home! Luckily, Daddy brought her homework to school for her and her teacher made sure Em’s creation came home in time.

Sweet, sweet photo frames.

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And I love the flower/garden/growing theme they had throughout their gifts and cards…

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Then on Sunday while I was eating my breakfast, reading the paper, she also made this card…

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It reads – (design and spelling all done by Emma!)

“Happy Motehrs Day Mommy. I love you. I hop you have a spashl (special) day. I hop you like my sing. Love, Penut. (Peanut)

Double Eeeee! And I did love her singing. (The Cherubs sang in church for the moms). I especially love that she knows how to write a letter and that she is trying to work it all out herself. It is so endearing to watch her learning and growing.

OH, and speaking of growing…we have been growing in other ways, too!

We’ve got BUGS. Ladybugs. Lots of ’em!

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And while I was making dinner last night Emma came running in, shrieking. I thought something was horribly wrong. But, no. We just have butterflies. Two of them have emerged. So much excitement. Meet one of our Painted Ladies –

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Appropriate name for Crafty Tuesday, wouldn’t you say?

A little Q & A ~ Best Shot Monday

Q: How did I spend my Mother’s Day afternoon?
A: Lying beneath our avocado tree in the hammock watching the girls entertain themselves.

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Q: And what exactly were they looking for?
A: Roly Polys (Pill bugs) – naturally.

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Q: Did they pick the bugs up?
A: You betcha!

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Q: How many did they find?
A: I think there were more than 12 at one point all hanging out in Em’s hat!

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Q: What is one of the funniest things to watch?
A: Your very girly-girls all decked out in their very girly outfits, playing with bugs in the dirt, of course!

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Q: Which shot to choose for my BSM?
A: This one. I love her intense concentration, curiosity and wonder. My little bug girl.

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Stay tuned for more bug adventures around Chaos. The butterflies are about to hatch and we have almost grown ladybugs, too! In the meantime hop over to Tracy’s for some more adventures.

bsm

A month of six. Already.

Just some photos from a little photo shoot we did this afternoon. The last time I made her sit still for two minutes so I could snap more than one photo was her very last day of being five. And look, she has been six for over one month already!

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She looks WAY older than six to me…

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And?! Really? Six year olds know how to do the “eye-roll” already? I thought I had at least a few more years on that one.

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Yeah. She is all six. And all beautiful.

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To all the Moms in my life:

Thank you for being there when I have to cry, for making me laugh when I need it, and most importantly for sharing the joy with me in this crazy maze we call motherhood.

Wishing each and every one of you the best day filled with love.

Catchin’ Up…

…kinda.

You guys are killing me, man! I’ve got grumbly people who complain when I don’t post something, pretending that it is essential to get their Chaos fix each day. You know what I think? I think you might be a wee bit spoiled, that’s what I think! I’m listening, though. I’ll work on getting more writing in – or more photos, at the very least.

And then I’ve got all my blog friends who clearly have shown no mercy either, as my blog reader groans under the sheer number of blogs I need to catch up on. I’m getting there, slowly but surely. That seems to be my recurring mantra these past few weeks, I tell you.

So Nana and Papa left us this week. Poor Papa was fighting the flu for most of his vacation here – but I think that we were able to give them a big enough taste of California that they will come back soon for more. And since they left, Addie has been fighting her never-ending cold, Em has been out of school for a few days with her illness, Mama has been crazy trying to get all of our “appreciation” for our teachers completed, and a website finished. Yeah, I think we have returned to Chaos. Slowly but surely.

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Another birthday comes along…

Wow. You all sure do know how to make a girl feel loved.

I had an amazing day. Possibly one of the best birthdays ever. And I didn’t even notice, or care, that I turned thirty -s*cough* *cough*… ahem. Well, I didn’t even notice that I turned one year older today.

Thanks so much for all of the well wishes, phone calls, emails, facebook shout-outs, etc. It was such a fun day.

My darling little six-year old made sure that Daddy helped her with a chalk birthday card first thing this morning…

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…and after gorgeous flowers (Thanks Meesh, Deej & girlies!) and some fun gift certificates, (and $$ towards a new lens!! Eeeee…Thanks J, Mom & Dad!), we headed to the happiest place on Earth. (Huge thanks to Jeff!) And, yes – Disney really is where I wanted to spend my birthday.

And it was perfect. No lines, hardly any waiting, no crowds, all the best rides, and beautiful weather. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. Plus, the memory of hearing my Mom on the Indiana Jones ride…I’m still not sure if she was crying or laughing…but it was hysterical!

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Thanks everyone for making me feel so very loved. It was an amazing day.

Crafty Tuesday

My parents are here this week – well, until tomorrow – so I haven’t had a chance to craft much again.

But before they came Addie and I had a little crafty day with her friend, while their older sisters went to a birthday party. We had found a little suncatcher kit and did some painting.

Crafty cuties

These were the two I completed…

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And these was the day’s haul…

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It was a fun little activity. Although it was not washable paint…um, sorry Erin! I hope it came out of little E.’s dress!

And, I made this one little card for the birthday party. I love how it turned out and I was thinking I would make some as backups, but I guess I would have to make some with like 4, 5, and 6 little tags. Eh, maybe it isn’t really something I can make ahead of time.

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I haven’t had a lot of time to read blogs this week, but I’ll be catching up later in the week!