So Much Sunshine!

My Grandma, my Dad, and Nana Nancy all arrived yesterday from the Arctic Circle...well, not really...Indiana! ;-)

We put together a little Surprise Birthday Party for my Grandma.  She turned 80 last week, so we definitely wanted to celebrate.  A little cake, some party hats...and of course, the girls decorated the whole house with streamers and balloons.   Then, Paprika put on a little piano recital...mostly Christmas songs!  :-)
 




Today we went to the park first thing - the girls fed the ducks and then played on the playground.  Then, we drove to see the sights, went to the beach, walked on the pier, visited the little Aquarium, had ice cream...and finally, ended up at Target!  It is beautiful and the sky is full of sunshine - not a cloud in the sky!

Now we are home resting, making fresh squeezed Lemon and Ginger tea.  Guess who is picking the lemons?  :-)






The End.

In Over My Head!

I've been feeling a little in over my head lately.  I turn around one minute, and Violet has taken my makeup bag out to the back patio and is trying all my makeup on.  She left a trail of cosmetics in her wake.

Or, I go to the bathroom and come back to find this:





Ay yay yay!!!! 

Just yesterday, Paprika and Ginger made me a "cake" out of all the flour, sugar, eggs, and baking powder in the house. I walked in on them to find half of the pantry in a giant pot (their makeshift mixing bowl).

 But they are so cute, and dear, and earnest...I can't help but just laugh.

Here is Paprika with a little homemade "space helmet" she came up with a few weeks ago.  Was there ever a better use for Trader Joe's bags and Ziplocks?  :-)





The End.

Pigtails and Hairbows!

Ginger hit a sweet milestone on Saturday.  For the first time in her life, she let me put her hair in pigtails and she wore hairbows.  And, she let me brush her hair - I think in her entire life, she's let me brush her hair less than a dozen times.

I always ask her if she wants ponytails, and she is always adamant about not having ponytails, and not wearing hairbows.  Before, if I put them in, she would always tear them out. 

But for whatever reason, on Saturday, she changed her mind.  I guess a girl is allowed to change her mind every once in awhile.  ;-)

She picked out the ballerina hairclips herself...and then said:  two ponytails, please!



It is kinda funny because she is always cutting her own hair.  She will find the kid scissors and go to town.  Just last week I found a pile of hair over by her Barbies - and well, the hair was definitely NOT Barbie's.  Can you see how she chopped her bangs?  I had a little talk with her about it - but at the end of the day, it's her hair.  Her hair, her choice.

She is dressing herself, too - she really wanted to wear this cat shirt on top of her denim dress with brown floral capris underneath.  I was cracking up about it.

Then she picked this flower from our front yard.  Eventually the stem fell off and she was so upset.  I told her I would "paste" it back on (like in It's a Wonderful Life) - and I snuck outside and picked her a new flower when she wasn't looking.  She was so happy.

I love that she thinks I can do anything, fix anything, and how magical life is to her.  To me, that's what three years old is all about.



After her hair was all done up, she said:  We have to go out now so people can see how pretty I am.  :-)  We were going to a friend's party, so thankfully, we were headed out somewhere.  I thought the hairbow thing might be a one-time thing...but nope.  Every day since, she's been game.



I can't say I'm complaining!  I have waited three (and a half) years for her to let me do her hair.  So, I am loving it.

Now...if she'd just stop chopping her hair off when I'm not looking, I think we might really get somewhere!  Haha.

Capturing A Moment In Time!

These photos were taken last week at The Wilderness Park - I already posted some photos from that day in an earlier post...but I had so many more!  These are some of my favorites.  They really capture the girls' personalities.  :-)

In the first picture (above) - originally, I had Paprika in the middle because she was already sitting on the log with Violet, and I figured she'd be the best to hold her.  But, when Ginger came to sit down, she threw a fit about not being in the middle.  Paprika - my easygoing peacemaker, was happy to move to the end and let Ginger sit in the middle.  I think the above photo shows how much these sisters love each other and how happy they all are whenever they are together.  Three peas in a pod.

This picture of Paprika (below) pretty much captures her personality completely.  She is a thinker - always contemplative, cerebral (in her head), studying the world around her, most at home in nature, peaceful, and quiet.  This photo was not posed (none of them were, really) - and this is how I find her all the time:






Another one of the group together.  I love how they all bring out the joy in their sisters.  Paprika is brought out of her shell by Ginger.  Ginger is grounded by Paprika.  Violet is happy, always happy to be part of the group!  :-)





Ginger is confident, passionate, and fun!  She loves adventure, and is so happy when she's with those she loves:





Another Ginger photo.  She is authentic and sweet, always looking out for those she loves, and a very hard worker.  When I see this photo, I think:  Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can't Lose.





Another one of the three girls together.  I love how much they love each other, and what great friends they are:




Paprika and Ginger were playing on this log, pretending it was a giant T-Rex.  I asked Paprika to climb up onto the top of his imaginary back, but she was terrified.  She is afraid of heights - fiercely so.  So, this photo is of her after she conquered her fear.  I know you can't tell, but she is about 5 or 6 feet off the ground here. She was so proud of herself for climbing up here - and then she was also ready to get down!  Haha.



Paprika and Ginger are always holding hands.  They really are the best of friends:



And finally, a sweet one of Baby Violet.  These baby days are flying and she is quickly becoming a precocious toddler.  I love this photo because she looks so angelic and sweet (which she is!) - Sigh.  I think this photo is one of my all-time favorites of her.  :-)




The End.

Juicing!

Like I mentioned earlier, we are juicing a lot lately.  For Christmas, we got a big juicer - it's an Omega J8004 (in case anyone's interested).  I was hesitant about it at first because I thought...do we REALLY need another big kitchen appliance we will never use?  So, I thought long and hard about it.

But, I have to say...I am a convert! 

See, I normally don't eat veggies.  Like ever.  My mom never made veggies when I was growing up (she hates them, really) - so I was raised on a diet of Swanson's TV dinners, Hardee's, and Fruity Pebbles.  Even when I became a vegetarian in highschool, I lived on granola bars and Diet Coke.  I know, I know...

Anyway, I am obviously growing up and becoming a real adult because I realize I can't eat that way (much) anymore and still feel good.

The thing is, I am still not good about eating my veggies.  I buy them and they die a terrible death in my fridge.  I mean to eat them, but they just get passed over by other things...like anything else remotely edible.

 So, anyway - while I am really good about eating fruit, veggies are another thing.  But, since I got the juicer, I've found that I actually really love the taste of veggie juice.  Really. 

I'm not sure if it would be better for me to actually eat the veggies as opposed to juicing them - but to that, I say that baby steps are better than no steps.  ;-)  Maybe I should be making arugula salads for lunch, but well...that's probably not going to happen.  I'd rather not have great be the enemy of good and I am certain that even small changes can reap big results over time.

I know a lot of people like to juice fast, and I am not doing that because I'm nursing Violet.  Basically, I can't do anything drastic with my diet because of nursing and supply issues.  I have also found that Violet has some food intolerances.  A year ago, I cut dairy out of my diet because of her intolerance (which she still has).  And recently, I discovered that she cannot have apples.  Apples!  So, I am not juicing apples for me (but Mr. M has them in his juice).

So far, my "recipe" for my juice has been to take a bunch of baby kale, a handful of carrots, some celery, peeled cucumber, and oranges/tangerines...and just juice them together.  It's surprisingly delicious.

Now, it does not fill me up and I really do have to eat real food afterwards.  But even though it's not filling, it makes me feel so energized.  I have been making juice in the afternoon for us all as a little pick-me-up, instead of having tea or sweets. 

The best part is that I have my little worker bee, Ginger, who is happy to help out. Now if I could just teach her to clean out the juicer afterwards!  Haha.  Baby steps.  :-)