Queen (or Princess) For the Day!

Sam's Grandma Daggett always said on our birthdays we were "Queen or King for the day!"  Morgan's 6th birthday celebration made sure that happened with the birthday girl's self-appointed theme: "Princess-Fairy Tale-Mermaid-Unicorn-Rainbow-Pirate"  Wow - that proved to be a big challenge for her mother, despite many attempts to get her to narrow it down to one or two of those things.  But the "rainbow" idea seemed the most realistic, and fortunately Princess Morgan was happy with that!

In the morning, we gave Morgan our gift, which she had been requesting for a couple weeks: "a nurse gun."  Well, it turns out she wanted what her neighbor buddy had, a Nerf bow and arrow.  This thing was not to be found anywhere - even online!  Once I finally did locate it at a sketchy Kmart near Gresham, I was proud that I finally was getting Morgan exactly what she asked for.  Well, I wasn't too happy when she opened it and screamed that it was the wrong color!  So that was not the reaction I was going for, and I was also exhausted from preparing for her birthday celebration.  But I reminded myself, that she is just a kid and while hopefully she will be a little more gracious next time, she's just being honest.  And I still love her, even though that was definitely not the reaction I was anticipating - though I was pleasantly surprised at what a good shot she is!

Despite my better judgement, we went for a double header birthday celebration - kids party in the morning, family party in the evening.  The kids made crowns and magic wands/scepters to keep their little hands busy, followed by tacos for lunch, which all princess love to eat, of course.  Morgan loved reuniting with a couple of her old preschool buddies too.  Then we played some games in the basement (who knew Sasha was a world-class sack racer?) and did a scavenger hunt in search of the rainbow cake.  (Having kids is finally proving useful, as I assigned Sasha and Morgan the task of sorting all the M&Ms by color to decorate the cake.)  After cake, the kids had a small gift exchange before launching into screaming and scepter fights.  But all in all, it was a fun party (and I only had to use my teacher voice a couple times :)

After the kids were gone it was time to gear up for round two.  (WHY do I do this to myself??)  Sam made yummy lasagnas (at the queen's request) the night before and cake #2 got decorated.  The girls rested and I cleaned house.  And everything worked out great!  We had our families over, including Tim & Diane & Marissa who just moved back to Portland from Maui.  Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I was reminded how lucky we are to live in Portland surrounded by our families.

Gramma Gail's gift of pickles

The grand finale was a scavenger hunt for just Morgan, leading her to a huge Ariel mermaid balloon with a note attached telling her she was going to Disneyland two weeks from that day!  Surprise, Morgan!  She was very happy, but waiting those 14 days was a challenge.  More on our Disneyland trip in my next post!

Little Miss "Independent"

While all the family has been focused on Morgan beginning kindergarten, Sasha also started preschool two mornings a week.  She has been waiting all summer to go to her "yellow school"and didn't shed a tear when she left Mommy for the first time to start her own school career.  Sasha was so excited the first day to report that there were two friends at her school named Avery and Tucker (names of her beloved cousin and Avery's dog).  I think it made her feel right at home.

Sasha does get a little emotional when I come to pick her up. I don't know why, but probably after being brave and grown up for a few hours she needs to let out some scared feelings (like what if Mommy never comes back?!).  Sasha adores her new backpack and lunchbox, and feels just like big sister.  And after a couple days of school, announced she was wearing underwear to school because that's what Morgan does!  When I picked her up yesterday, one of the teachers said she was "very independent."  You can say that again.

"Two an half" is what she says when ever anyone asks her how old she is, and it has been a very fun age to be a part of.  Sasha is such a combination of silly jokes, funny statements, ballerina moves, and sweet snuggles right now, and I want to capture this moment in time and savor it!  Here are some of her quotes and sweet moments caught on camera over the summer:

We were finishing dinner one night and Sasha asks: "Where your dinner go?"  I told her it was in my tummy and her response was, "No, in your head!" (that's kind of true)

Sasha was snuggling in bed with me one morning (she does that lots of mornings) and Sam was asleep, snoring a little bit.  Sasha heard him, leaned over and said loudly, "Daddy, you're not a snake." (though he did kind of sound like one)

We were all driving in the car and Morgan was trying to teach Sam the Spanish alphabet.  They were talking loudly, so Sasha said, "You're making me bossy, guys."

Sasha is often heard saying: 

"I have good-dea." (=a good idea)

"Push me super higher" (on the swing)

"Scooby Doofy" (=Scooby Dooby Doo)

"It's SOOOO CUUUUUTE." (about any kind of baby or animal)

"Can somebody ....help me/show me/etc." (That "somebody" is now ME because I am usually the only one around when she says it!

Picking blueberries with some style in Grandma Gail's garden. 

 Puzzles!  She loves them and would sit and do them over and over and over. I was pretty impressed that she could do 12+ piece puzzles all by herself.  She can be very patient when it comes to that.

 This is Sasha's summer concert pose.  We went to a few this summer, and I always found her relaxing on her tummy taking in all the sights and sounds.  And of course snacking on something.  The girl is always snacking....

Not only is she a fearless climber, but Sasha has already learned to pump herself on the swing!  Credit goes to our basement swing and an older sister who can do it.  Pretty amazing that she has it figured out at two and a half!

Morgan started soccer and Sasha likes to believe that she is also part of the team.  Here she was last week practicing the same drills that Morgan's team was doing.  We had to bring along her own ball so she could "play soccer" too.  Sasha already has some skills!

 Sasha put on my swimsuit one day, grabbed her chest, and declared, "I a grown up!"

A self-portrait by Sasha who managed to commandeer both her "mimi" (pacifier) and my iPhone and take photos (there were about 12 of this particular shot) without me realizing it!

Sasha was very excited to meet baby Augusta a couple weeks ago.  She was fascinated by her tiny toes and of course thought she was "soooo cuuuuute!"

Sasha is such a lover.  A very tired Morgan feel asleep watching TV and Sasha went and got Morgan's blanket and teddy bear and covered her up very gently.  She also gave her many hugs and shushed us in a very loud whisper voice because "Mogan is sleeping."

I love listening to Morgan and Sasha play or have in-depth conversations in the back seat of the car.  Sasha often sounds like some kind of foreigner learning English.  She is getting chattier by the day and has figured out a way to communicate to her sister (sometimes by repeating it very loudly until she is understood!)  Morgan is a great teacher and explains things in many different ways to try and get Sasha to understand, though sometimes they start to sound like an old married couple debating about very specific details!  Like the time Morgan was talking about something she did when she was little.  Sasha kept insisting, "Mogan, you not little.  You big." They went back and forth on that for a long time, until Morgan finally gave up trying to explain it!

Morgan and Sasha received first-day-of school roses from Papa Ron and Grandma Dinda and were so proud of them.  This look is classic Sasha.....and so is the one below!

One summer day in the car, we drove be Sasha's soon-to-be preschool to show Morgan.  Morgan told Sasha in a very serious tone, "I will have to give you a really big hug when you go because I will be gone from you every day.  I will miss you."  I just about started to cry.  I love being a mom of two fantastic girls.

Back to School!

Today was the day.  Morgan's first day of Kindergarten.  Day 1 of the next (probably) nine years at her school, which goes up to 8th grade.  For me, I kind of feel like it was the first day of the rest of my life.

I have been waiting so long for this day to come.  And the fact the kindergarteners started three days later than the rest of the grades made the build up of the past few days even more dramatic.  I was getting moody.  Morgan was excited but very impatient, bordering on irritating.  Sasha must have picked up on the anticipation too because she has been very whiney and asking for me every 5 minutes.  It kind of reminds me of the few weeks right before I left for college.  I was 18, but I remember getting really moody and irritated by my parents.  I'm sure I was a real delight for them to be around, especially for my mom.  All that waiting is hard - the not knowing, the excitement, the fear, the change.

Sasha insisted on being in the picture with her backpack. 

Morgan loves scootering to school!

Morgan had a great first day!  She was so calm, focused, and happy.  She clearly enjoyed having Sam, Sasha, Aunt Kimmy, and I there to walk her to school (while she rode her scooter) and check out her classroom.  But beyond that she was so ready - she is almost six after all.

Aunt Kimmy checks out her locker.

And I was really ready too! I just wanted to get things going, to get into a routine.  Just walking her to school and walking back to pick her up was a totally new thing for us.  I love that we can walk (although it's almost a half mile, so something we will do when it's not rainy) and I love seeing familiar faces from our neighborhood and community.  I finally feel like I am part of something and look forward to meeting friends and families that I know we will have a connection to for many years to come.  But it's also a really big community!  With almost 700 kids in kindergarten through 8th grade, it's a busy place.  We are definitely not in preschool anymore!

An official Kindergartner!

I keep wondering about all those first days of schools I have had as a teacher.  Looking back, I bet many of my students' parents were feeling the same anxiety, fears, excitement, and pride that I am feeling today.  But now that I am on the other side as a parent, I certainly see everything very differently.  At Morgan's school, I can barely find the main office and I seem to always be going in the wrong door.  Paperwork comes home and I don't know if I should fill it out or what it means.  I still have questions about their daily routine, like if I should pack a snack or where to leave her scooter in the morning.  There seem to be lots of little details that I haven't been told or will have to figure out through experience.  I'm sure there were a lot of details I overlooked as a teacher, that would have made the lives of the families I worked with a bit easier.

I know this day is all about Morgan, but I can't help wondering when I will be back in public school myself.  Hanging out on the playground after school or looking around her neatly organized classroom makes me feel a little lost and missing the days when I had my own world of work.  But I know if I were going through all the first day drama on the teacher side of it again, I would be missing out on a very special day for Morgan.  I'm so happy to be able to share this with her and watch her grow up.  However, when I do get back to the classroom and it's the first day of school, I know I will have a very different perspective than I did before I had kids.  Parenthood is definitely making me a better teacher!

Her new classroom! (I think she was ready for me to leave)

Morgan & neighborhood buddy, Seamus

Summer Fun + Friends ... and Spontaniety

This summer has been full of a lot of fun with friends and spontaneous adventures.  Summer is such a great but off-kilter time for me, as I go from the routine of the school year to weeks of vacation, camps, and unstructured days.  It is lovely to have so much time and be able to be outdoors, but it it is hard to keep up with the everyday stuff like laundry and grocery shopping.  I find myself often out on our block chatting with neighbors as our kids run around later into the summer evenings.  It's so nice to have truly kind and easy-going neighbors, and a luxury to be outdoors so much, since in the winter it's not very pleasant to hang outside together.  So I am thankful for these spontaneous gatherings, and try not to sweat it when I walk back into the house and find it is a disaster and there is nothing to make for dinner!  After all, summer should be a break from the day-in and day-out of the rest of the year, even for grown-ups, and I am trying to be more spontaneous the older I get.

We loved having our friend Tony visit, whom we worked with back in Prague ten years ago.  He is originally from the UK and had never been to Portland.  He enjoyed wandering Hawthorne, trying the plethora of local brews, going to a soccer game with Sam, seeing a concert at the zoo, and seeing sights like Multnomah Falls and Timberline Lodge.  It's always so fun to share our beautiful Northwest with new visitors.  Even better was reliving old memories from our days overseas and catching up on all that has happened since.

We also had our friends, the Langhams, come visit from Eugene.  We never get to see each other enough now that we have four kids among us, so it was great to have time to catch up in person, as well as watch our kids play together.  We visited Jameson Square and the zoo, and enjoyed a nice long dinner and conversation in our back yard after the kids were in bed - definitely a treat when you have young kids!

Another spontaneous summer night was spent at Kruger Farm on Sauvie Island.  Morgan and I went a couple summers ago to Farm Tunes, and it was just as fun as I remember this year.  It was even better that Morgan's two best preschool friends, Mira and Lilian, happen to be going that same night, as well as our neighbors and their kids.  It was an amazing, hot summer evening, and being out on Sauvie Island feels like being in another country completely.  I am always amazed at how soothing it is to get away from the city and have the freedom and simplicity of farm life, even if only for a couple hours.  Listening to musicians play, watching the kids run around under the giant farm sprinkler, an itchy hay ride, seeing Morgan soar on an old tire swing, and a gaggle of girls running around picking berries and climbing trees - simple summer fun at it's best!

And somehow after always failing to find weekends to get together, we managed to squeeze in a bit more summer fun with our good friends, Sue and Joe. Sometimes waiting to the last minute is actually a good thing.  So we just returned from a couple nights at beautiful Alki Beach in West Seattle.  The girls adored little Brody and the three of them had as much fun playing, as we had watching them.  Brody is such a sweet little boy, already with such a charming and easy-going personality at age one and a half.  Morgan really wanted to go to the "Space Station," which she was calling the Space Needle at first.  Sasha had zero interest in it but seemed to enjoy having a snack at 500 feet in the air.  We had lots of time to catch up with Sue and Joe, who are expecting baby #2 in a couple months.  Sam and Joe got to go to a big Sounders soccer game, and Sue and I took a nice walk on along the beach.  We also did a group bike ride, with our family in a pedal car, and the Belchers on their bikes.  I never thought I would be seen in one of those things, but it was perfect for all four of us to ride along the water, seeing fish jump, views of downtown, and even a baby seal pup napping on the beach.  What a great weekend and a great summer of friends!