Fun in the Sun

First, I want this picture to show up on the thumbnail...Second, last time I accidentally uploaded two of the same video instead of this video of Claire being able to pedal her own bike with only a little help. Its been two weeks now so she can even get her self started on her own too but here is the video!

Claire

It feels like there is so much to talk about and yet nothing too new going on with Claire and how she is learning to talk and communicate so much better. I love being able to talk and she understands so well. Now that she can bike mostly on her own she loves going outside and I have to tell her its wet and cold out there when she asks so early. It has gotten down to 50 degrees in the mornings for the past few days and we've been wearing hoodies and sweats and I've had to get out the warmer cloths for the girls too. She has lots of imagination and can come up with her own games that are fun to watch her play and she often wants us to watch and play with her. There are still words that I don't always understand and when she shows me what she means I help her make the right sounds to say the word better. I don't think Claire has ever actually burped a single time in her life but she does like to do fake burps while she eats and tell us how big or small the burp was.

Shay

She is getting so mischievous and learning to get into things we normally have behind closed doors or barriers. She gets into my sewing room and takes apart everything she can reach if we don't catch her soon enough which has happened with Claire's help twice this week so security is getting better with a locked door. She also hasn't given up on taking off all the couch cushions every day yet...but she has learned to smile for pictures! And she covers her eyes for about 2 seconds when we play hide and seek and we tell her to count, or when she wants us to play with her she shows us how to join her. She watches where people hide to help the counter on anyone else's turn and hasn't learned how to hide unless you grab her and sit with her. There was one time that our vacuum didn't go the night before so I ran it in the morning and the girls were obsessed with it as it went around, but it didn't last the whole time and they got bored. She also likes to help me count and pointed to the numbers on the ground as I was counting for hop scotch.

 

Garden

We found some huge caterpillars in our garden! One was hanging off of a green onion and I showed it to Claire who was very excited until I told her they were bad for the plants. I looked up the exact kind we had and it is a horntail caterpillar that can eat tomato pants up in one night! The first day I found two and then Chris went to look and found two more, but we've been keeping our eyes out for more of their droppings to make sure they are actually all gone. They ate quite a bit but there is still a lot of plant left and we have new growth in other places so I'm sure it will turn out fine as long as we don't get more again. Claire still asks to see it when we go outside even though they are gone.

Kimchi

A memory of the first time I ever made kimchi 3 years ago popped up on the same day I made kimchi this week! I thought it was pretty ironic and fun to see how I've changed just a little bit but they look so similar. Chris did say that it was pretty accurate the very first time and that they keep tasting better, so the main thing I've changed is how we store them in glass jars instead of one huge container. The recipe was found off of YouTube with Maangchi who has taught me all sorts of fun recipes I've tried now and she is a great teacher. I also have the recipe down a lot better and don't have to watch the video multiple times before starting the process.

Enjoy the Videos

 Claire

It’s so fun to see her come up with games and creative things each day and how smart she is getting. We see how excited she gets when we rotate toys and she sees some she hasn’t seen in a while. She is going to be a great singer because she likes singing along with my when I’m singing and even making her own music. As we have the conversations that go along with a 3 year old, it’s hard not to laugh when she says “yucky” to dinner and everything we offer that’s not ice cream. Then I insist and she usually says “fine” with the best aggravated tone I’ve ever heard from a toddler. She also learned the motions of the bike and is able to make her feet go around and showed her understanding by doing it with her hands.

Shay

We are seeing more and more personality from Shay and even more sounds and words. She will say a ‘B’ sound when she wants to read books, ‘M’ for milk, ‘e’ for eggs, and a ‘ps’ sound for please. She has figured out how to get past one of my gates into my sewing room, but she doesn’t always know what to get into. When I catch her she dancing in the middle of the room and laughs. Speaking of dancing, she loooooves it and has become attached to our Halloween dance monster and likes to take it to bed after we have dance parties at night. I usually steal it back and hide it away for the next day because she will press the button and make it play non stop all day if she could.

More

I wish there was more to say but not much else has happened this week. I have sewing for next week to make pillow cases for a service project. I hope I get more pictures and not just videos for next week too but maybe videos show the cuteness in action. As boring as our life is, I'm enjoying my time with my girls and having an excuse to be at home with them so much. There is still a part of me that wishes I could go back to work and substitute some days but a big part of me loves being at home with my family. 

Starting October

Claire

Our wild girl usually has crazy morning hair because mommy doesn't always get around to combing it every morning yet, but she doesn't seem to care. Most days she is able to sleep in a little since we bring Shay out of the room before she wakes Claire up and can be happy and excited about the day. She has a natural talent and love of music already and has practice with a ukulele, recorders, and now has made her own drum set out of her lawn chair. She also makes up her own lyrics to popular tunes like her famous "No, no, no" song to the tune of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' during conference today. I had a genius plan to keep her distracted during most of conference and downloaded a fun learning app for the iPad which did the trick all Saturday and the part of Sunday that Shay was asleep. 

Shay

Our savage girl is very demanding and will throw huge ball-up-on-the-floor-and-cry-but-peek-to-make-sure-they-see-me tantrums when she doesn't get certain things. Mostly it happens when she wants to be picked up and cuddled with, but we have to cuddle just right when she woke up too tired or she revolts and cries anyway. She is mostly really helpful and does a better job than Claire and cleaning up toys at the end of the day, or throwing away the dirty diapers so we clap for her. We were cleaning up the yard to mow and she wanted to take a ride on the lawn mower which would probably have been fine if we don't already have to push this electric one. She is an early riser and gets to enjoy time to cuddle with daddy when I'm working out in the morning, and she likes to switch to cuddling with me when I'm done. Then during the day she brings out her blanket and pillow and still makes me tuck her in.

Biking

Besides Chris starting another quarter for school this past week, we've been boring and just enjoyed the cooler weather. For the past few weeks of Chris not having as much school work, I've got into biking more was an extra way to relax and have some peaceful time to myself. I didn't think I was going to be so excited to go every evening, but when I missed two days in a row because Chris was busy with starting school up again I felt deprived. This happened to me when I was starting to roller skate and run when I was in college and truly fell in love with outdoor exercise. Along with being really proud that I can already do a solid 20 mile bike ride in about an hour and half when I've only started a month ago, I'm loving the connection I feel with the community. I pass a lot of people more than once on my round trip up and down a road we live close to, and many people are out around the same time day after day that I can smile and wave to.

P.S. Our one tomato that is supposed to be a cherry tomato but is way bigger has finally ripened and we made omelets! We've had many green peppers convinced that Lowe's just labeled the plant wrong because they weren't turning yellow but maybe we just weren't waiting long enough.