Today we drove to the beach

To see the stormy waves. When we pulled off near a river Togo explore- there was no rain. As we stepped from the car- THUNDER and LIGHTENING! I didn't know those things existed here! We stayed in the car.

No fun pictures.


We drove to the redwoods... And it was too dark & raining too hard to find Banana slugs. :(

No fun pictures.

We spent some time in Felton, where I would live in a heartbeat... Then we went to ikea again to pick up the stuff we left behind on accident.
Picked up a snack and Emers broke out in hives! My kids apparently inherited all of my sensitivities to foods.

No fun pictures.

We hope to return to our regular programming tomorrow.

We hung up paper snowflakes and sparkly trees and snowmen.


We found organic candy canes and the girls made new ornaments!

Pictures tomorrow!

SUN!

It's the equivalent of the ice cream truck. We see it and run as fast a we can into it.

We miss home.

Last night we were all in the office looking at old pictures. Pictures of a year ago when Emers was born, of 2.5 years ahi when liv was born.

Ira said, "I really miss home. I had forgotten it. But now I see it and I really really miss it"

That was a hard moment for all of us.

So when the sun came out today, we went for it.


Trying to enjoy the beauty of falling leaves. Something that we didn't get a whole lot of in Arizona.





Bright red leaves....


Collecting fallen seed pods/caps for fairy hats.


One duck, two duck....


Then they spot you...an start flying in.








Once home Ira set up a cafe as we were all starving.





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Wednesday updates

There has been walks at night (it's getting dark here at 5!)


Wild ruckus!!!


Theatrical performances...


That Emers really enjoyed!!!!






Love- emers loves loves Ira. She can't sit without him kissing and hugging her a hundred times.





Iras paintings...








Liv paintings....












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Salon day!

Ira decided that the unicorn club was going to start issuing badges.... After reading this-








She decided that the first honorary Unicorn Club Badge would be......

Salon/Spa Badge!
She took this very seriously. The main rule?(her rule) She had to do it all herself! No help from mama!

First, she compiled all the necessary tools.








Then she hung a lock on the door so that only invited customers could cone to her spa.










Receptionist desk.












Product wall.













Chairs....that little bowl? Face mask.













Flower petals- drawn, colored and cut by Ira herself. Then strewn on the floor.














Face mask- banana and raw honey.














Mirrors.















My mask application.... It was sticky and delicious.












Nail painting.... Two minutes after starting this I realized I am out of remover.















Post mask removal, lotion treatment.















At the end Ira said "take my picture and put this on the Internet so others can come annulled paint their nails for money"











Salon day.

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Rainy Days...

mani and pedi's.....




food network.....



stir crazy sillyness....



star wars word searches, crosswords and such....

COOKIES!

the girls and i spent the day making all kinds of doughs... sugar, gingerbread, refrigerator, etc....






this was the creation of ira and jared.... so cute....

~My Sweet Girl~

I started this blog for so many reasons. Reasons I do not even think I understood at the time. When I had Liv, I was so worried that Ira would somehow feel lost in the shuffle, I was feeling like I had been slipping in the fun parent department because of all the demands a newborn makes on a family... I started to journal all that we were doing in an attempt to have documented proof of our full and rich lives to look at when the day ended and to quell the creeping self doubt.

Starting this blog has been the single most amazing thing to happen on my computer. I can look back and not only see that our lives our full, as if it were necessary- they feel FULL- but I can also look at our journey and see what an amazing effect the birth of liv has had on our family and on ira! Ira has so loved becoming a sister. She has gone from being my little baby... to being this 4.5 year old teacher of life. She teaches me so much about myself, my needs, my hang ups and fears.... she teaches me how to look at the world without the goggles given to me as a child.
She teaches liv things that only a child can really show a child. Like how to spin until you fall over, how to turn a coffee table into a fort and most recently- how to climb to the top of the solstice tree and snag candy canes when no one is looking.

last night, on accident, I sat on her foot while she was sleeping on the couch and woke her up. I said, "im sorry, ira. are you okay?" she said, "i'm fine. You didnt hurt me." I said, " I love you" and she responded with "I know you love me. I love you too. thanks mama" and she fell back asleep.

She knows.

And THAT, that is all I needed to know.


this is her taking, in her words "a moment of peace in the warm sun"

then continuing catalog shopping :)