General Family News – Page 58 – Embracing the Insanity

More “Wild Backyard” Fun

Posted on October 7, 2009October 7, 2009 by Becky

A couple weeks back I promised more pictures from “My Wild Backyard” at the Zoo.

Again, my apologies to non-family, as this is another “Mom Post,” complete with Burst Photography’s 3-shots-per-second! (But to family members, especially aunts and grandmothers: you are in for a real treat! If a picture is worth a thousand words, well . . . there are not enough words–so here are the pictures!)

The kids loved the Wild Backyard. The smiles on their faces make that abundantly clear!

Mara found pine cones.

Micah enjoys the freedom of walking and exploring . . .

Micah bracing himself for Mara’s tickles.

Then they discovered leaves. Wow! . . . who knew leaves could be so captivating?!

The next three shots are the “burst” kind. But it was hard to fully capture his expression in just one picture!

In the middle of our adventure, Micah had a nasty fall and bonked his head on the metal thingy that held the mulch back from the path. I guess it’s kind of hard to see in this picture because of the way the light is shining, but there’s a red spot on his forehead (to the left of the picture) and another on his cheek (on the right). He had quite an ugly bruise on his forehead for almost a week and a half after! Poor little guy!! He is constantly falling and bruising himself . . .

But as you can see, he bounced back quickly! Once again, exploring the “forest.”

I think he was “hiding” from Mara. But whenever she came around, he would laugh and laugh.

Finally, here are two of my favorites of Mara:

Wish you could have been there!

For more “Wordless Wednesday” fun, hop on over to 5 Minutes for Mom.

The “Farm” at the Zoo

Posted on October 5, 2009October 4, 2009 by Becky

We saw the chickens.

They seemed happy enough walking around the barnyard.

But Micah felt the need to free them.

Of course, he tried and tried, but he couldn’t open the gate.

He tried to free the cow too.

Mara learned about cows.

She learned where milk comes from.

But somehow she got confused, thinking the milk went from the cow to the cow.

And after she “milked” the cow, she brought the “milk” to the cow “to give her a drink”!

Micah enjoyed watching the ducks in the “duck pond.”

They each took a turn “driving” the tractor.

Micah is so intense when he’s enjoying something! Neither of his parents are ever that way–soooo I don’t know where he gets it! 😉

Of course, Mara was hamming it up for the camera.

We love the Farm at the Zoo!

My Little Monkeys

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Becky

From our most recent trip to the zoo:

I knew Mara would do it!

But when Micah spontaneously did it too, I was so surprised, I wasn’t ready to take the picture!–and it turned out blurry!

Fun times with my little monkeys! 🙂

The End of An Era

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Becky

It’s official. I’ve retired my daughter’s size 6 shoes.

These are the shoes that have taken her little feet everywhere since last fall!

First, are the Perkle Shoes. Mara, my mom, my sister Mary, and I were in Sioux City, Iowa, shopping at the mall last October when we found the Perkle Shoes. This makes these shoes kind of special. The four of us are rarely together because we all live so far away, and we haven’t been shopping together since!

Mara had a love/hate relationship with these shoes. When we first got them, they seemed to fit perfectly in the store. I was so excited because Mara has wide feet, and it can be challenging to find shoes that are the right width. But the second time we put them on her feet, Mara cried and cried and said they hurt her feet. She was at a stage where we were working on not crying about things you just don’t want to do.

So I was in a hard position, as the mom, trying to determine whether they actually hurt her feet or whether she was just being difficult (which she was very capable of doing!). In the end, we learned she was just being difficult. But that’s when the “love” part of the relationship began.

Once we actually dealt with her attitude, Mara and her Perkle Shoes became inseparable. She always always insisted on wearing her Perkle Shoes, no matter what they clashed with!

I took her to The Childrens Place again to see if we could find one more pair of shoes. Something a little more neutral in color. Something that could coordinate with her un-purple outfits.

Enter the Sneakers.

They were her size. They fit.

But this time, Mara had her first Major Meltdown while in a store trying on shoes, instead of at home.

Mara had found Pink Shoes (with leopard print) and immediately fell in love. She did not want Sneakers. She wanted Pink Shoes, which, like Perkle Shoes, still clashed with many of her outfits.

But Pink Shoes were only $3.99. Sneakers cost more. So I decided we would get them both and I could decide at home, where we could control the Meltdowns a little better.

And we ended up keeping both pairs.

Since last fall, Mara has grown and changed so much.

We’re now able to talk through things a little more. To discern between Meltdown Moments and when the shoes actually don’t fit. We’re able to tell her, “You may not cry when Mommy tells you what to wear,” and enforce that.

But they really don’t fit now: Perkle Shoes. Sneakers. Or Pink Shoes.

And when she tells me they hurt her feet and asks to take them off, I know it’s true.

So it was a bittersweet moment, as I took these three pairs shoes out of her shoe basket and tucked them away for our next little girl.

Yesterday as Mara was getting dressed, she said to me, “I think I’ll wear my sneakers.”

“They’re too small, sweetheart,” I told her. And the melancholy part of me thought, “It’s the end of an era.”

Mara, the Disciplinarian

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Becky

We have a somewhat flexible house rule that the kids can’t come in the kitchen. I say ‘somewhat flexible’ because Mara can come in to help empty the dishwasher or to get her vitamin or occasionally to play with refrigerator letters (if Micah is sleeping). And Micah can come in if he is putting away sippy cups or throwing his diaper in the trash.

So enforcement of that rule can be tricky.

For me, anyway.

But here’s Mara to Micah: “Don’t go in the kitchen again, or I’ll have to give you away!”