Week 21

Both kids snuck past the scaffolding in our yard to play where I've asked them not to. Davis went straight to the pile of bricks. This face was because I made him come back up the stairs.


I got some very nice socks for birthday. I wore the unicorn/robot/cupcake pair right away, but then I had to wait a couple of weeks for a coldish day to line up with a fun feet friday so I could wear the froggy pair.

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

Click Get the code here below to add the blog hop to your blog and join the fun. (Also sign up to be added to a comment group!)

Also linked up at Hobo Mama and NPN.

What we did last week

We didn't do as much last week due to my giant headache. Or rather, they kids did plenty, but I was lying down a lot and didn't get many pictures.


Moira found the secret flower vase in the Tesla. That poppy stayed there all the way to the library.


We don't have school next week, so Moira had to do some homework on Tuesday. She had to make a piece of art with a meter of yarn, and we had conversations about if she could cut it into pieces (no) or draw on the page (yes).


Davis loves to play with the Perler beads. He hasn't tried actually arranging them yet though. It's more of a sensory bin.


Moira has been wanting to do a video for Disney Jr's DJ Shuffle thing, and we finally did. It turns out I waited too long, and it's too late to submit, so here is her 30 second dance.


Since Davis insists on painting his own nails now, I convinced Moira to try painting hers too. It went fairly well.


This fort has a working door! Nice.


Davis has also been trying to make his own breakfasts, so I walked Moira through the process too. She kept saying she probably couldn't do it, but I told her I'd help if anything was too hard, and nothing was. Yay self serve waffles!


Walker had an autocross on Saturday, so the kids and I decided to check out the Origami exhibit at the Bellevue Art Museum. I got there too early, because the hours I saw on the webpage were for the garage, not the whole museum, so we entertained ourselves with a photo shoot. They liked the exhibit, and the one about plates, and we were only followed closely by the security guard for half of our visit.


Their lunch request was for sushi, so we did that. Moira wanted to show off her ability with the chopsticks with the special holders, since Davis gets a lot of attention every time he uses them and people ignore her.


Moira threw a birthday party for her Small World doll, now named "Sushi." Nice looking cake.


To help me feel better, Moira made me this heart with tape and glitter glue.

Moira's first sewing project

Moira likes to talk a lot about the things she wants me to sew for her, so when she started talking about wanting an Elsa dress, I suggested that I could help her make it. We bought the fabric back at the beginning of the year, and I made the pattern while she watched a month or two later, but then didn't get to sewing it until the two weeks before her birthday.


She helped me pin the pattern onto the fabric, and then I did the cutting. We talked about proper pinning technique, and she was able to pin all of the seams by herself. She got really into pinning, and some of the seams had a pin every inch or so.


With the current set up, she's too short to reach the foot pedal, so I did that part, while she did most everything else. We covered which way to move the wheel, starting and stopping with the needle in the right position. The toughest thing for her was guiding the fabric without pushing it down.


She refused to try doing the ironing, and I did the elastic, and fixed the too short sleeves. She did everything else and was super proud. This is our final fit picture, where I discovered that I had made the sleeves too small, and we discussed how to actually make it stay up.


This is the totally finished product. She wears it as soon as it is clean, and it has a special place in her closet. She is already talking about what to sew next.

Week 20

I took the kids to the park, and for the first time with both of them, mostly got to sit and watch them play. Of course, because we took both bikes, I ended up having to carry Davis AND his bike home. But it was worth it.


I've been trying to channel my nervous energy into doing projects more. I actually finished painting this closet this week. And I discovered that the kids will mostly play by themselves if I'm doing this kind of work.

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

Click Get the code here below to add the blog hop to your blog and join the fun. (Also sign up to be added to a comment group!)

Also linked up at Hobo Mama and NPN.

What we did last week

Davis insisted we play more games on Sunday. Well, actually, he insisted we set them up, read the "menu" (instructions), and then put them away.


Moira went on a long bike ride with my Dad. She's been looking forward to being able to do this again all winter.


Davis has started "signing" his name on art and cards. He spells Davis "PBSKids.org."


I did an interview with Moira (and Davis answered a couple of questions too) about her Grandmothers. My Mom's favorite answer was what age Moira thought she was. I really liked that Moira said Nain's job was "Making appetizers."


We finally hung up Moira's windchimes.


Davis insisted on opening the wine, and got a surprising amount done all on his own.


I suggested the kids could bike to the park. They both pushed their bikes up the hill, and then Davis refused to have anything to do with his bike once we got to the flat part. Moira rode as soon as it was flat, and then in circles at the park, and then back home.


Moira got to design her own cover for the poetry book her class made. Hers is entitled "It's A Small World After All."


Davis had a rough day at school on Wednesday. Well, for the whole day really. But his shirt was super cute!


We dropped Moira off at her ballet/tap class and he had fun counting these little toys in the barber shop window across the street.


This was my first time taking Moira to her ballet class. There's a little show off period at the end of each class, so I got to see her tap moves.


On Friday morning, we were still waiting for one butterfly to hatch. The kids enjoyed watching them flutter around.


I was thinking that the kids hadn't gone into the fort since the day they made it, but I came downstairs and Moira was reading to Davis in there. So cute!


Davis had fun figuring out how to wind this little caterpillar wind up toy my parents bought.


The final butterfly was out when we were done with nap time, so we decided to release them. One of the butterflies was still in our garden when I went out this morning.

Week 19

Both of those pictures were taken on Moira's birthday. Aren't they cute?


The kids made a giant fort with the baby sitter. I keep trying to talk my friends into coming over and hanging out with me, but it hasn't worked yet.

This post is part of the Mamatography 2014 Project with Diary of a First Child and Momma Jorje.

We are taking (at least) a photo a day, a collage or a picture each week to keep a record of our year. Join us at any point during the year and start sharing your own daily photos!

Click Get the code here below to add the blog hop to your blog and join the fun. (Also sign up to be added to a comment group!)

Also linked up at Hobo Mama and NPN.

Now she is six!

Moira asked for a Princess tea party for her birthday party, so that's what we did. I have a friend who makes fabulous cookies, so I asked her to make some princess dresses and she happily complied (with a Tinkerbell thrown in for me).


Moira proudly wore the "Elsa" dress she made (which I will blog about later), I'm glad she wanted to make one, because of the impossibility of buying Frozen merchandise right now. I'm impressed that it held up well through all the playing.


Moira wanted there to be makeovers, so I bought little lipstick testers and cheap eyeshadows, so that everyone could take their own home. Also because you should never share eye makeup. We also had our nail polishes out. My roommate, and our friend Angela helped everyone get beautified, and Angela wrote people's names beautifully on the little boxes for them to take their makeup home in.


Moira was very specific about what she wanted for the tea part of the tea party. We had blue lavendar tea, pink lemonade, jam sandwiches, cheese on toast, fruit salad, cookies, and mini cupcakes. She wanted us to put lots of things on the cupcakes and write her name on them, but she gave that idea up when she saw the actual size of the mini cupcake tin. I also found little teacup shaped straw cups on Amazon, so there were very few spills (mostly adults trying to pour things into the cups).


Tea time!


One of the guests arrived very late, due to a scheduling mix up, and so Moira's friend Eve made sure she still got her makeover. She's a very sweet kid.

Moira's actual birthday was a school day, and they had a special poetry celebration. I have no pictures because she wanted me to stand with her when it was her turn. And read her poem. Before we went to school in the morning, I recited "Now I Am Six" by AA Milne, which I decided was a poem I needed to know by heart when I was turning six. She thought it was cute.


Moira got a lot of presents that were "EXACTLY what I wanted!" This little purse puppy from the babysitter, a mermaid Groovy Girl from her friend Jenna, a bunch of fancy dresses from her friend Lily, and a Strawberry Shortcake remote control car from Grammy. She really liked all her presents, but those were the favorites.


Oh, there was also this sparkly kitty headband and some rings from our roommate, Mirella which were quite the hit.


Her special dinner was to go to Red Robin and have the waiter sing to her. Unfortunately, they were busy and our waiter didn't seem to know much about serving families with kids, and the kids were both over tired, but she was very happy to go.

What we did last week

The kids helped Walker frost cupcakes for Moira's birthday. Davis' contribution was licking the beater clean.


After the party, our friends stayed over to try out Robot Turtles. It was a hit, until they increased the difficulty past were Moira had played before and she got frustrated.


While they were doing that, Davis talked me into getting out Mousetrap so he could show his friend how to play. By which I mean, repetitively trap the mice, and feed them cheese.


Moira and Sammy spent quite awhile writing secrets in her new diary. I've been told I'm allowed to know, but I can't tell anyone else.


Davis has taken to reading to himself when it's time to get into bed. Maybe soon, he'll be able to read himself to sleep like Moira does.


Also at the birthday party, we had a bike swap, with Moira's bike going to her friend Sammy, and another friend bringing her old bike by. The Mom was worried that she wouldn't like it because it was beat up, but it's covered in princesses and flowers, so Moira is over the moon. She was a little nervous at first, but she figured out how to get up on it pretty quickly.


Moira has taken to putting on her makeup in the morning, when she's doing something exciting like going to school, and she has the time. I knew this day would come sooner then I wanted.


Davis likes to glue buttons on paper at school, and this time when he got set up he noticed the grid printed on the paper and tried to mimic the lines.


She wanted to sell these things, but there was no one walking past our house at 10am on a Tuesday, and Mom and I ran out of quarters pretty quickly. I did buy a sparkly paper doll.


The kids built this amazing fort with the babysitter. More blankets were added after I took this picture.


I hate this game. It turns Set into a matching game, and I guess I can see why that's a good way to teach kids the skills they need to play set, but it drives me crazy to play this way. There is a harder version on the other side, but we haven't tried that yet.


Davis really likes playing with Goldieblox right now. Maybe we should get another set.


Moira wanted to do all the new craft kits she got for her birthday all at once, so we had a day full of painting. Davis got to work on a wooden car that I bought on Amazon for the exact purpose of entertaining him the next time she had a painting thing. He also made a glitter glue picture.


While waiting for her treasure box to dry, Moira painted her annual birthday picture. She started out making a big red sun, and then got frustrated that it was too big. She stopped herself, went to look at the previous paintings and decided to do an abstract similar to the one she made for her 4th birthday.


Moira bought me a butterfly habitat for Mother's day, and it came early, so we've been watching the caterpillars grow all week. The last one turned into a chrysalis on my birthday! Now to wait.