You Are My Best Friend Cus...

The mom of a friend of Norah's from school texted me two photos a few weeks ago. She sent no no words along with the photos - it just wasn't necessary. 

Apparently during "Children's Choice" Norah decided to make something for her friend. Here is the front: 

Aww, how sweet, right? Here is the back (translation below): 

Dear Tracey I love you very much and I also like to have a sleep over and I like when you tell me when you fart. 

Like I said, no words necessary.

This Little Place We Call Home

I frequently tell people how much I love our neighborhood, but here are some specific examples of why: 

I love that I got a text one random Tuesday morning from a woman who is in the moms group and the babysitting co-op, suggesting we surprise another friend who is also in both groups by gathering a few people for her birthday. So that evening at 8:30 six of us gathered at a neighbor's house across the street from the birthday girl, figured out an excuse to get her to come over, and surprised her. We sat outside, munched on crackers and cheese and coconut cream pie, and enjoyed some time together away from the daily grind.

I love that when picking Macy up from school there is a good chance I will run into multiple people that I will see later than night at a neighborhood meeting or event. 

I love that last Friday when we pulled into our driveway Norah saw a bunch of kids on bikes at the end of the street by her friend Caroline's house. She asked if we could get on our bikes and head down, so we did. We hung out for about an hour and a half, at which point Norah came running up asking whether she could stay overnight at Caroline's. Her mom and I looked at each other and said, "Sure, why not?" 

I love that I can go to the local Krogers, library, Walgreens, LA Fitness and any park or restaurant within 2 miles and the chances are very high that I will run into someone I know. 

I love that six of the twelve families in our babysitting co-op have kids in the same class at Macy's school, and two other families also have kids at the school (but in different classes). 

I love that when we go on bike rides Norah likes to ring her bell whenever she passes a friend's house, and that the result is a lot of bell ringing. Between both schools, the babysitting co-op, mom's group and Civic Club we know a lot of families scattered throughout the neighborhood. 

I love that I can ride bikes with a friend down the street (Caroline's mom) to monthly mom's and babysitting co-op meetings. 

I love that the husbands of the moms in the mom's group started a Dad's Beer Club. A few of them decided they were tired of attending family neighborhood events at which the moms all know each other and the dads barely know anyone. 

I love that on Saturday morning we can go from a "campus beautification" day at Norah's school, just 3 blocks away, to a neighborhood Easter event at the park adjacent to the school and the school principal is at both events. At the school she was working hard hanging flags and at the Easter event she took a picture of some kids with the Easter Bunny and Tweeted it.

Today is Good Friday, which is a holiday for my company and Macy's school, but was a make-up day for Norah's school. I love that this resulted in riding bikes to school with Norah's friend, Caroline. The girls were thrilled. 

Caroline's mom, her brother, Macy, and I hopped back on bikes to pick the girls up at the end of the day. They were smiling just as big when we rode home. 

I. Love. Our. Neighborhood. 

Happy Halloween!

Yes, I do realize Halloween has been over for several weeks and that everyone (including me!) has moved on to Thanksgiving. I completely forgot that I hadn't posted this, so travel back in time with me for just a few minutes. 

This year we had Strawberry Shortcake and Minnie Mouse. Macy insisted that she was Mickey ("Micka") Mouse, and leading up to Halloween whenever she put on her Minnie ears and we called her Minnie she quickly corrected us.

"My not Minnie Mouse, my MICKA Mouse!" Since she isn't super familiar with the characters (obviously) I'm not sure she ever really understood. 

And  yes, we do realize that her dress is slightly inappropriately short, but we borrowed both costumes and I didn't think it was worth spending money on another one. We just had to ask her to pull her dress down every once in a while. 

By the end of night two her dress was busting at the seams...literally. What can I say? She's a small giant. 

For the third year in a row we went trick or treating the night before Halloween with Courtney, Orlando, Connor and AJ in the neighborhood just north of ours. It's pretty much part of our neighborhood (the moms group combines the two), so it is fun since we know so many people. 

No picture of the kids, but here are the moms!

We randomly ran into Henry, one of Macy's friends from school who just happened to be Mickey. 

Minnie and Mickey decided to hold hands up and down every sidewalk.

At one point they lost each other and from halfway up the sidewalk (Macy was already back on the street), Henry yelled, "Hey Macy! Hold my hand!" Macy turned around and said, "Oh yeah!" and ran/waddled back up the sidewalk to find him .

On the night of Halloween we trick or treated with Chloe and Olivia, just like last year. Caroline joined the group as well.  

This is the same group last year, except Sarah instead of Caroline. 

Now out with the pumpkins and in with the cornucopia. 

Picture Fun

Just a little catch up with pictures....

Seth took the girls to the zoo when I was in London in late July.

Seth's good friend from college, Terry, and his family came over for dinner one evening when they were in Texas for a wedding.

Silly girls. they love to be matching. 

Fun with the iPad...

Seth and Norah practiced drawing Hello Kitty. 

 Macy likes to put all of her "friends" to sleep. She lays them out and pats each one on the back.

Very reminiscent of Norah when she was about 2 1/2.

We are looking forward to cooler weather when bike rides around the neighborhood will be more enjoyable. Norah likes to ring her bell when she passes a friend's house. 

Just hanging out...

Old friends the Carvers came over a few weeks ago. We played inside and out for a while before ordering pizza for dinner. Norah's friend, Chloe, joined us for dinner and to stay overnight. 

We are looking forward to a low-key three-day weekend, catching up around the house, hanging out, seeing friends and getting ready for another week!

Sleep Overs

Apparently there has been a lot of discussion at school recently between Norah and her friends about sleep overs. The one for our house has been impeccably planned.

Mommy, we have to make some arrangements.

Oh arrangements, really?

Yes. I think Olivia and Macy will eat first.

(Evidently Chloe's little sister is invited, too.)

Okay.

Then we will take her seat off and my seat off and the rest of us will eat.

Okay, who is coming?

Well...Chloe and Olivia, Sarah, Soshi, and Nikki.

I see.

And we talked about whether the rest of the parents should come, but we decided no...that they shouldn't come.

Huh. Okay.

And I told them they didn't need to bring their own pajamas...they can just wear some of mine. So Chloe and I will wear the Dora nightgowns...(new hand-me-down favorite from a friend)...Sarah is going to wear the monkey PJs, and Nikki will wear the cupcake pair. Soshi wants to bring her own.

I see.

And I think Olivia can sleep in Macy's bed and the rest of us can sleep in my room. Chloe and I will sleep in the bunk beds and everyone else on the floor. Oh, and Macy will sleep in her pack 'n play in your closet.

Oh, well that would be nice of Macy to give up her bed for her friend, Olivia.

Mommy, can we do it tonight?

(Rut-roh, she really is serious.) I explained that the parents would need to discuss the possibility of a sleep over before we actually plan a date. She has asked about it since then, but I think they have moved on to another topic this week.

I totally love the idea, though, and look forward to sleep overs sometime in the (near?) future...

Old Friends

It has been so fun to raise our kids with people with whom we were friends before even having kids. Lisa and Jeff are an example. I intend for this to be the first of a series that takes a moment to recognize and appreciate our friendships. As this blog turns into a book for our girls, I feel it is important to remember the origin of these friendships, and how they have grown stronger as we share the journey of raising kids together. 

Lisa and I met through the American Marketing Association (AMA). She was involved in membership activities for the group when I happened to join. We emailed prior to a particular event, and were perhaps a bit disruptive during the luncheon when we found it difficult to stop talking during the main presentation. 

We quickly decided we needed to get our hubbies together and we have been friends ever since. The four of us enjoyed many dinners together prior to kids being in the picture. We even participated in a dinner club for...well, I don't remember how long, but we made it to everyone's house at least once before it fizzled out for one reason or another. 

Imagine our surprise when Lisa and Jeff shared that they were pregnant at a breakfast at Mama's Cafe one morning. Seth and I knew I was also pregnant at the time, but it was earlier than we planned to share the news (our family didn't even know). I could hardly contain myself. I was bursting with excitement that our kids would be so close in age. 

Since that time Lisa and I in particular have shared experiences and knowledge at every phase along the way. While their experience with twins was different in many ways, we have still been able to relate on many levels and learn from each other. 

We have even managed a few mommy-only dinners and/or lunches - hours that I have truly cherished. 

Here are a few pictures that capture experiences since the fall of 2008 when our girls were born. We were all about the camera early on, but clearly have not documented every gathering along the way. 

November, 2008: Norah is ~3 weeks old; Sarah and Jessica are ~ 7 weeks old. 

April 2009: Norah is 6 months old; Sarah and Jessica are 7 months old. 

January 2010: Norah is 15 months old: Sarah and Jessica are 16 months old. 

September 2010: the girls are around 2 year old. 

May 2011: the girls are around 2 1/2 years old. 

Same day as above picture: the girls are joined by friend Nathan.

Just a month later: 

Much time has passed, with little use of the camera during our play dates. Last weekend we met at the zoo, once again. The girls are almost 4 years old. It is extremely rewarding to see how they interact in such a way that it is obvious that they have known each other their whole lives. 

We hope to have many, many more pictures like the one above of the girls on the train at the zoo. It is the last thing we do before hugging goodbye and promising to get together again soon. 

Summer Fun

Despite my lack of blogging, we have been having a good summer. It dawned on me the other day that August begins next week, which means the summer (and associated heat!) is on its way out. Since it's not a huge change for us in terms of being on a break from school, I'm okay with it (particularly the part about the heat).

The new activity for Norah this summer was dance. I was hoping for gymnastics, but this is what we landed on for various reasons. Her classes are at a local church and she is taking them with her best buddy from school, Chloe (her mom and I did not know we bought the same leotards, but it worked out well).

This last one is difficult to see, but is worth it if you have an explanation. The parents watch the class from a "waiting room" via a monitor, so I took a picture of what I often see. In the picture below Norah and Chloe are the two kids huddled in the far left corner. It's as if they are in their own little world, oblivious to the rest of their class. This is a typical scene for Chloe's mom and I to observe on the monitor.

I wasn't necessarily super interested in Norah taking dance (not that there is anything wrong with it), but when I learned that they would be in a room by themselves without the parents I immediately understood where the value would be for us. Norah tends to be on the reserved side, so I knew it wouldn't be easy for her to go into that room without me....which is where Chloe comes in. I never would have attempted this without Chloe being enrolled as well.

The first week they were both very hesitant to line up to go into class. Norah eventually went in, but we watched on the monitor as she stood on her carpet square while everyone else sat as instructed by the teacher. Near the end of the 45 minutes she hesitantly participated, and got a tiny bit excited when the teacher passed out stickers.

Week after week it got a bit better. Chloe has often taken Norah by the hand to lead her into the room, recognizing that she was hesitant to leave me. By week four or five both girls lined up enthusiastically and didn't skip a beat when the teacher led them into the room.

So has she learned some dance steps? Maybe, though from my observation nothing promising. But I'm not too concerned about that. More importantly, she has been allowed the opportunity to work through an unfamiliar and uncomfortable situation week after week. And she has figured it out.

Other summer activities include swimming at Philip's and Rylie's, a cookout at our place with the old 26th street neighborhood gang, working out at the Y, early morning runs, games with Norah (primarily Candyland and Sequence for Kids), puzzles, "wrestling" on the floor, reading, and coloring. Oh, and for Macy, eating.

The "wrestling" is pretty funny. We'll tell Macy to "get Norah," who is laying on the floor, and Macy will waddle over and flop down on Norah's belly. We are trying to teach Norah to listen to what Macy is trying to communicate, such as squealing when Norah might be playing a little rough. The other day they were in Macy's room and I heard Macy start crying. When I asked Norah what happened she said, "Well I pushed Macy down but then I stopped when she started squealing."

One new activity for the girls is playing hide and seek. Norah hides and we ask Macy, "Where is Norah?" over and over as she waddles around, trying to find her. Sometimes it requires a bit of our help, but when Macy finally spies Norah she drops to the floor on her belly, buries her head in the carpet, happily squealing and kicking her legs.

Another favorite pastime for the two of them is to "organize" their drawer of bowls, plates, silverware and cups. I often come into the kitchen to find most of the contents of the (large) drawer neatly stacked and organized all over the floor. I told Seth I'm not sure whether or not we should be proud that our 3 1/2 year old is so into organizing. (She also occasionally organizes Macy's diaper drawer as well.) Some 3 1/2 year olds may not know that word, but apparently one of her parents (those of you reading this probably know who) is enough of an organizer that he or she has used the word frequently enough for Norah to perfectly understand the meaning.

Oh well...it's a good skill to have.

Three Generations of Friends

We were so lucky to have a very special visit from Griff, Ryan, Leighton (3 years) and Dillon (7 months) a few weeks ago. It was so fun for Griff and me to hang out with our kids for two days and become better acquainted. It was the first time for each of us to meet the youngest additions to our families. They were here on a Thursday and Friday, so Seth and Ryan worked both days while the rest of us played, and we were all together for a few hours during dinner Thursday evening.

Norah and Leighton quickly hit it off and played really hard together. When I was putting Norah to bed Thursday night all she talked about was everything she wanted to do with Leighton the next day. And when she woke up in the morning the first thing she asked was, "Are they here yet?"

We spent a lot of time out on the play set, having tea parties and playing dress up. Our very content babies were happy on the blanket or just sitting around watching all of the activity.

We couldn't believe how much they look like us in these next two pictures. It could be us 31 years ago!

Before I tell one story that gave us a good laugh, I first have to describe Norah and Leighton's personalities a bit. Norah can be reserved, but is generally a rule follower and at the same time can be quite bossy. And according to Griff, Leighton doesn't really like to be told what to do (hmmm...where does she get that?).

So at one point Norah was talking on her phone and insisted that Leighton come and stand beside her. Somewhat surprisingly, Leighton agreed. While she stood there she put her hand on the play kitchen burner. While pushing Leighton's hand away Norah said, "Oh no, no, be careful that's hot. You can't touch it." Then as Norah went back to her phone call Leighton, while keeping her eyes on Norah, slowly slid her hand back onto the burner, then off again. Back on, and off. When Norah noticed what Leighton was doing she quickly turned the dial on the stove and said, "It's okay, I turned it off so you can touch it now." 

It was a short visit, but we made the most out of it and I really appreciate Griff and Ryan making the effort! It was fun to see Leighton and Norah play like old friends - perhaps they could sense that they are the third generation of a very deep friendship.