Stay at Home Day

Or most of the day.  We did get out to the park later this afternoon.  I folded lots of clothes and tried to organize the girls' clothing, but I can't seem to do really well with it.  It's too cool for sundresses or shorts, and it's hard to know what to wear.

They played outside with the sensory beads before lunch until their hands got too cold.   So far, that's the best thing ever, especially with sharks and mermaids and dolphins and crabs to swim around in the marbles.  I'm sure it will get old soon.

This is how a tablespoon of beads looks when you first put them in the water.

Then eight hours later, it soaks up all the water and turns into something wonderful to put your hands in and squish and squiggle and let the mermaids and animals play.  We need some dishpans or something else besides those bowls from the kitchen.  The grownups in the house might get tired of our stealing their things.

We're still working on our Spanish lessons but not getting too far.  They both can count to ten easily and know some of the colors.  Today we worked on Hello, how are you, I'm fine and My name is....  Today at the park, someone asked Graysen her name, and I could feel her thinking, "Am I supposed to say 'Mi llamo es Graysen?"   She's really interested in it, but Katherine is not.  There was a song, though, that had uno, dos, tres and a pause, and she shouted cuatro!

It was a beautiful day at the park, and the girls were the only ones for a while and just ran and played so nicedly while I knitted.

Yesterday, there were 7 boys, and the girls were miffed about it, but today when 3 more little girls came up, they came and stood beside me and said they were shy.  The other girls weren't, though, so they soon ended up going crazy together.  I met the next-door neighbor's nanny and their 2 little boys.  They lives in the house that Emily and Ryan just sold, but I had not seen any of them yet.

 They're so big now and so energetic.  Mike used to take Graysen when she could barely walk and just loved seeing her climb and explore.  So sad they don't have him grinning and bragging on their accomplishments.

Since I cleaned out my yarn stash, I decided I would find a take-along project or two, and I chose this dishcloth.  It's perfect for being able to keep an eye on the kids and pay attention to what I'm doing.  We all need some new ones.  

That's about all the fun I can stand for one day.  Emily was surprised to hear that I went to bed last night at 7:30 and woke up at 7:30 this morning.  I'm up to 8:30 tonight but not for long.

Oh, this was exciting.  I bought a couple of zucchini last night at the grocery store, and Emily told me I could borrow her zoodler and make my own zoodles instead of buying the 3 for $12 packages at Safeway.  So I did.

She says she doesn't peel hers, but I might try the next ones peeled.  So good.  And so quick.  I was hesitant about doing my first one until she told me the girls do theirs.  Okay....  And it was.  A little olive oil, some garlic and salt and pepper and capers with Parmesan on top made a nice vegetable dish.

I'm going to make myself post some old pictures or they'll get lost forever.

Kate's birthday.  Maybe not much narration, just pictures.

This cake that each kid gets from school on his or her birthday may look weird, but it's the best ever, if I remember correctly from Graysen's 4th birthday.

It's a Rooster - for Rooster Valley - and those are the best candy rocks, or eggs, or whatever they're supposed to be.  Very different.  She got to decorate it herself.

And now I can't find the other pictures quickly.  I'll come back and add them.  She opened her gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Bindert at the beach and wore her new favorite butterfly shirt home the next day.  There were also Paw Patrol goodies and stickers and some activity books that she loved.






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They celebrated her real birthday with friends Camden and Branson with a pool and slip-and-slide
party that sounded wonderful.  Erin knows how to throw a birthday party.

And just the kind of cake a 4-year-old girl would love.



And finds the best balloons ever!



Aunt Kathy and Uncle Alan sent cards and gifts, and I heard immediately about the kitty and puppy vet set, and there is a new yellow cat that she sleeps with named Uncle Alan that must have come then.  This has to be the one.

And then Crazy Mimi and Aunt CeCe and their gifts.

Elise found these realistic-looking desserts and vegetables at Ikea and got them for her.

They may look strange, but I know what my baby likes!  Cats, Todoro, and squishy little things.  Looks like I found them all in one place.

Birthday also included playing in a school bus at school and working in the garden that evening.  Such a fun day.

Summer Vacation Begins

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to record the summer's happenings, because I'm not able to have long periods in the day to write any more.  These days are full.  I like it that way, but the pressure at night to get something written is big, and I haven't even written a thing about the beach.  It makes me feel stressed to think about time getting away from me like this,  I want to just enjoy our summer and make as many memories as we can.

I can't remember what made Monday such a perfect day from beginning to end, but I remember thinking during the day that I wish every day could be like this.

It was a perfectly sunny day, and the girls came over to my house after not seeing me for two whole days.  I had cleaned up their play area, and they loved finding things they had forgotten and just played together most of the day.  Lots of pet kitty playing going on.  I got even more of my cleaning and sorting done, as evidenced by the boxes and bins by the door.

Focus is on yarn at the moment.  It looks like I once was interested in making socks and did turn out a few pairs.  I found about 10 sets of the striped yarn balls, so I'll have to ask Sherry what pattern she uses, since she actually does finish hers.

It looks like I need a little work on my technique, although I did try on the finished sock, and it looks better on than just lying there.  I have another skein, so maybe I'll try to finish the mate.  I really do like the other pattern, and I have enough yarn for two socks, so filing that away for when I have some spare time.  For sure.

I guess I had reasons for buying all these, but they're long forgotten.  I put a bunch in the donation box for other people to worry about, and I'll do some research and see what can be made from some of these yarns.

This suede yarn is pretty, but what do you make with it?  Looks like a scarf in the picture, but I can't imagine.

I have a whole drawer of cotton yarn for making dishrags and wash cloths for the girls.  Mine are getting threadbare, and so are the Steller Way ones, so maybe I'll use some of these.  I used to get some done in doctors' offices waiting for Mama when we lived in Montgomery.

The girls like when I make them their own bathcloths.  Here's a perfect one for Kate.




These little paws might be a hindrance with all these interesting things to chase.



Besides knitting, I've ventured back into some of the machine embroidery that I've neglected.  I think just finding a path to my machine was key in that.  I did some yesterday and today, and it was so enjoyable.

I decided to make a Fourth of July shirt for the girls since it's one of their favorite days.  There's a parade that morning and then the community fireworks that night after celebrating all evening with friends who live near the park and have a front row seat.

I saw this little flag-waving dancer and got the design.  I tested it on an old bib I had around, and it turned out really sweet.  I also didn't want to risk making shirts they wouldn't wear, so I showed it to them, and they loved, loved, loved it.

Graysen especially is very interesting in how the machine knows how to do this.  She's learned that she can choose the colors, so we made a few changes on their girls.  We thought a blue skirt would be prettier than the brown (although a little harder to remember to stop and change colors), and she wanted silver shoes.

I finished hers and will work on Katherine's tomorrow.  She will like it if Gray likes it and doesn't care what color the skirt is.  If it's not a kitty, she's pretty noncommital about it.  We did look at some patterns, and they want so many!  Look for a unicorn.  No Pegasus.  Or just a horse.  An angel kitty.  Awwww. I want that one.  I want that one!  I can't compete with all the reverse sequins and the glittery shirts nowadays, but I think it will be special for them to choose their designs and their colors.

Graysen is taking off on her reading, and you don't have to encourage her at all.  She reads to Katherine a lot, and I do miss it, but then they'll settle down with a stack of 20 books for us to read together, and I'm in my element.

Here with her Mrs. Boyles serious face.  I always have to be Jojo, the student with some behavior issues, and I hear, "Remember not to blurt, Jojo," if I forget to raise my hand.

The funny thing about this book is that Katherine knows it by heart, every word, and it's hard for her not to "read" along.  She's already recognizing words, so she might learn to read before kindergarten.  If she cares enough.  She's more into taking care of baby kittens.

This is a pop-up book from the 1980s that made it all this time.  It's all about animals eating other animals, and they love it.

She's practicing writing her address here.   Katherine is not very interested but will say STELLAR WAY if prompted and then Sno-kwa-ma for her city.  They'd much rather look at where Snoqualmie is on a map of the United State and then the world.

Second children sort of teach themselves.  I remember taking Graysen to her first day of  pre-K, and the teacher asking them to write their names.  I thought, "I don't even know if she can write her name," but luckily they just traced it laboriously for a while.  Kate has an easy name, so she's all prepared to write it in September.

We're taking advantage of the Summer Reading Program at the library, and they've pretty much filled in their first-half page.  I took Graysen to the kick-off event Friday evening.  It was just for ages 5 and older, so we went by ourselves.  She's a funny girl.  As we got near the building, she let me know she was just a little bit anxious, and I told her if it was not fun, we could just go check out some more books, and she was fine with that.

But when we got inside and she relaxed a little, it was hard to get her to leave.  There were little centers with hands-on displays, and she loved it.

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And a few photos of the new four-year-old who is just excited about everything nowadays.

We did go to another library program in Fall City this morning, but it was a little difficult.  There was a very lively and funny guy from Chile who came bursting into the room with his guitalele and started singing and interacting with the children.  It was too noisy and too much for Graysen who hesitated about joining in, and therefore Katherine took her lead and was shy too.  I enjoyed the program and learned Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Estrallita Donde Estas) and realized the ll is pronouced like a j.  There were songs about counting and monkeys and sharks and jumping up and down, and they got into it a little bit but were not sorry when they could go check out yet more books.  We'll have to find a quieter way to learn Spanish, since we promised Gaby and Dina we would work on it.

Surely that's all that's happened for a week or so.  I'm keeping the girls at their house for a few days and working on their room and doing some chores around the house and earning their keep.