Princesses and Cowgirls

Riley's prime goal right now is to be a princess. She adores dresses; especially ones with a skirt that spins when she turns around. She has been raiding Leila's closet recently, in pursuit of the perfect skirt or dress. I let her try on ones that are a little big for Leila. She also walks around in Leila's sparkly slippers which are half her size. She demands to try on every one of our flavoured chapsticks so that she can be a "Rainbow Princess." She is adorable.

Here is an exciting event that we were fortunate enough to witness on our way home from picking the boys up from school. The tree branches that had fallen in the park after the ice storm were getting cleaned up....and....fed into a "tree chomper machine"! We watched the men work for a good half an hour.

And here are the morning munchkins up to their usual shenanigans.

The bigger kids have been very much into sledding this winter. On one occasion I neglected to put these 'magic carpets' away, and the kids started using them inside, sliding down pillows from the couch. It was great fun at first, but soon the runs seemed to resemble those used in extreme sports. I put the sleds away, despite the complaints and very persuasive negotiating.

Okay, so this was one of the best moments. Every day I need to be in Thomas's room for the first 5-10 minutes of nap time, in order for him to fall asleep. And almost every day I need to go to Amadea's room and gently rub her tummy until she falls asleep too. This is now the time when I give the older kids their half hour of T.V. They know they are to be as quiet as possible, and they're pretty good about this. (I know it's not easy for a 3-year-old and two 5-year-olds to stay quiet, but they try.) Anyway, as I am rubbing Amadea's tummy, and have almost gotten her to sleep, I keep hearing this banging sound from the living room. I'm wondering what the kids are doing, and hoping they will stop, since I am so close to getting Amadea to sleep. It doesn't stop, but I miraculously manage to get Amadea to sleep anyway. When I return to the living room, I ask, in an exasperated voice, "What was all that banging?" I am answered by another bang. I focus now on Riley, lying on the ground, with her feet tucked into Noah's Leap Pad case. She flaps her feet to the floor, and the case slaps on the ground. There is a look of pride on her face. Clearly, she is a mermaid.

If you could see what I saw in that moment, you would get such a good laugh, right from the heart. In the picture above, Noah has joined her. He is a "mer-man", and they are perched on a "rock". Riley told me, out of the blue, a few days ago, that when she grows up she's going to be a princess and a cowgirl. Thomas is intent of becoming a robot. It's highly important to set completely unreasonable and unattainable goals early on in childhood. ;)

Amadea loves to try things on. In fact, she's basically dressing herself these days. At only 16 months, she can put on hats, tube scarves (I'm not sure what you call this kind of scarf, but I feel that term describes them well), pull shirts over her head, and put on anybody's boots but her own. I even caught her attempting to step into my tall Hunter rain boots! Such an ambitious girl!

And Thomas has that firefighter hat practically glued to his head. A few days ago I went to his playpen to retrieve his blanket for his parents when they were getting him ready to go home. I just saw the firefighter helmet lying in his bed where his head had been and remembered that he had worn that to bed. Yes, he was so determined to stay a firefighter while sleeping that he kept this incredibly uncomfortable hat on for nap time.

And I just had to include this creation of  B.'s. It is amazing! He is unbelievably skilled and creative.

One day at lunch, Amadea decided to wear her yogurt bowl as a hat. (I know - how far is she going to take these self dressing skills?) Of course I ran immediately to the kitchen to grab a....cloth? Nope. Camera, of course! After remarking on how adorable Amadea looked, and getting a good laugh (and a picture) (and with the other kids giggling and watching the show), I was duly rewarded by my daughter, who followed suit. She thought, "I'll make mommy smile even more!" Leila's bowl was far fuller than Amadea's. You can tell that Leila is trying to process the sensation of the cold glob on her head! Bath night!

Here are a few outdoor pictures. Some child at Noah's school had built this awesome snow fort. After another child kicked it down, we tried to recreate the builder's vision. I have to admit I had WAY too much fun doing this. The other picture is of us sledding at Lithuania Park.

Thomas isn't into sledding as much as the others are. He prefers to play on the playground, or in the snow. Here are two good friends roasting marshmallows in a snow bonfire. They let me taste, and they were delicious! Speaking of which, Thomas, more than the other kids, likes a good snow snack. As long as it's clean, who am I to stop him? The other day I looked over at him, and he was holding this huge chunk of snow to his mouth (don't worry, it was pure white), and he gave me the biggest grin, as if he was enjoying his first summer ice cream.

Photo shoot time. Notice Leila and Amadea holding hands in the first photo.

Leila bites and pushes Dea. Dea swings water bottles and various toys into Leila's head. It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.:)

This is a cute little video too, although a little blurry. I love capturing these beautiful moments!

Amadea strutting through the kitchen catwalk sporting the look of the season: a Santa hat and a backpack.

Riley brought a princess dress for Leila to wear today. Now they can be princesses together. Actually, Riley would like it if EVERYONE in the daycare could become a princess. She brought another princess dress for someone else to wear but it was too big for the baby girls. She begged, and actually succeeded in getting one of the boys to wear it for a short time (I won't say which one).  I told her I had a black dress like hers and she begged me to put it on. It's a summery dress. Why do I feel like she's going to succeed in getting me to wear that dress? Why do I feel like she is going to succeed in turning me into a princess too?! :)