Art

I think this is probably my favorite art piece ever.

 

Candyland Birthday

Lots can be said about what happened and how, but mostly just going to get some pictures up for now.

Here is the board game:
























Here is what Edna and Michelle put together for the girls' birthday party, which was days in the making:

Grandma Ginger (the tree)

Entrance to gumdrop pass: 

Gumdrop Mountains

The peppermint forest

 Grandma Nut and her peanut brittle house

 

Princess Lolly and her Lollipop woods

  

 

Queen Frostine and her icecream sea

Gloppy in the Molasses swamp

 

And the candy castle:

The cake by Michelle:

It was a bright, sunny day:

My two favorite daughters

These are the girls' favorite dresses. After seeing pictures of me as a little girl, Camy decided that she needs her hair in two French braids most days- just as my grandma did mine.

Camy loves my glasses

Macy hasn't changed much either

2010

Today

Cam hasn't changed much

(July 2010)

(Aug 2012

Just longer hair and more likely to wear clothes

NYTimes Parenting

John sent me a link to this article on successful parenting. One thing I wish they would have included is how amazing it is to watch your kids become more and more independent by letting them do things themselves. Recently Camillie and Macy started pouring their own drinks, getting their food out themselves, and cleaning up after themselves (they even do dishes!).  Last week a friend came over, and Macy said "we need to clean up our mess" then they cleaned the playroom.  I love it. Not just because I get to be just a bit more lazy.

The Girls July 2012

Mother's Day

Our Mother's Day was pretty simple and not much unlike every other Sunday, except that every few minutes I was reminded how grateful I am that I am a mom.

Awkward moments with Cam

Cam likes to boldly and loudly share her thoughts. Here are a few choice moments from this morning.

We went to the Doctor today. As he walked in the room Camy proclaimed "We have lollipops for lunch". This isn't true. I don't know why she said that, though my suspicions are 1) she was hoping this was the HR of moms and she is looking to replace me 2) she meant this as more as "we are the lollipop eating sort, so if you happen to have some lollipops..."

On the way out the Camster noticed a man who is not so svelte as her Dad. She pointed to him and exclaimed to the small yet packed room "Look, Mom! That daddy (man) has a baby in his tummy!"

And in the elevator to the car we rode with a woman in her 50's that Cam told "you look like a Grana." This wasn't too bad, but I tried to cover for her by telling her how much Camy likes her Grana.

Aren't three-year-olds awesome?

February Camy and Macy pictures

The girls still keep me busy. I've also been working part-time from home when the girls are asleep or with John, and I really enjoy the change of pace and reconnection with my old world. I haven't taken as many pictures lately, so here are a few quick photos taken during breakfast. These girls are going up fast! I really love 3 year-olds, so I will miss this stage.

For anyone who has ever called me "Scrooge"

This podcast is a great explanation of how I feel about Christmas gifts-doesn't it drive you nuts to know that you are probably spending $50 to give someone $10 of happiness? I think I called Liz at least 4 times to make sure I was at least getting close to an 80% value of happiness in my gift-giving.

The Faces of CaMacy

When the girls were first born, we would often get asked if they were identical. As newborns they looked similar:

Higlight text to see if you can guess which is which --> | Camy left, Macy right |

And they did look similar, as most newborns do. There were a few tell tale signs. For me ears were first way I could keep them seperate, then noses, then smiles. Then personalities got a chance to come through. If I am sitting on the floor and one jumps on my back I can tell which one it is by their approach and style of landing. Although knowledge this does not preclude me from the parenting trait of calling out the wrong name when trying to audibly intervene in unfolding mischief.

Three years later, we still get questions if they are identical. Friends try to guess which one is Macy or Camy. The 50/50 odds never seem to be in their favor. It's tough. I am able to keep their children seperate becuase one is a head taller than the other and has dark instead of blond hair. Camy and Macy don't even stand still long enough for one to figure out which is which.

I remember an exercise I participated in when I was growing up where I was presented with two oranges. My group and I were asked to describe the two fruits. We set out analyzing and came up with a list. The moderator then noted that all of the points we made were describing how the oranges were different from one another. We did not note how much they had in common. The point of the exercise was to highlight the inclination we have to highlight differences rather than appreciate what we have in common.

As I was trying to manage the hundreds of pictures that end up on our camera, I noticed a few pictures that I liked in particular. I noted them, and pulled them into a program together. Soon I had a pretty good collection of shots of Camy and Macy. They do have their differences. Now as I look back at baby pictures, it is much easier to distinguish the two girls. So many features that were then invisible are not readily apparent after seeing how they have grown up. But it is the things we share in common that are important.

Here are some of the pictures from the last few months of Macy that I liked:

And here are some of Camy:

Visit to Tilden Park

Last Monday, we went to Tilden Park with Grana & Tibu.

Tibu demonstrated the open-hand feeding method, which may or may not be better than just being bit. Macy thought it was very humorous.

They even tried feeding a few animals:

Then we walked over the play structures nearby:

And then we went to the carousel:

Trip to Santa Cruz

We traveled down to Santa Cruz the week before Christmas. We went to the beach, rode a diesel train, ate food, and saw the Muppet Movie. Below are some pictures of the same.

Camy enjoyed drawing in the sand.

Macy worked on a sandman.

The girls also enjoyed riding on a train:

This was the canopy of trees as we rode up and down the hill:

We also got the girls to stand in one place long enough to snap this picture:

Picutres of Edna are rare. She is usually behind the camera. So I was mostly on point this trip, and we have some pictures with her in it: