Happy Halloween 2009

We had a wonderful Halloween! We went to a fun party at Lilly, Sonja and Greg's at 4PM. It was a warm day as far as Halloween's go (in Montana or Minnesota). Sonna's cozy Bumble Bee costume was just right for the weather. It's what she wore last year and has been in the dress up clothes since then. Last week she declared that she was going to be a Bee this year. Sounded good to me! (Since then I discovered she was a Bee her very first Halloween too as a 6 month old!) Mara was a lovely Fairy and enjoyed her wand and fancy dress, but most of all spending time with her friends. After Lilly's party we went to her preschool classmate's house. Dicey and sister Libby are Mara and Sonna's age and we joined them last year too for Trick or Treating. We came back to our house by 8PM and had just a few kids come to the door but Mara was pretty excited to hand out candy. (I had left a bowl on the steps with a note saying "Happy Halloween. Help yourself to a piece of candy". This cracks me up because I tend to think of kids as being as conscientious as I was but several people suggested that it was likely some kids dumped the whole bowl in their bag. Who knows?) Mara was exhausted and so was Sonna and bedtime had to be quick tonight. We'll see how late they sleep considering it's Daylight Savings tonight.

An Afternoon of Play

The clinic where I work is closing (sad) and we're cleaning it out. There were two old credit card scanner machines in the storage room and my co-worker asked me if I'd like them. They even came with spare rolls of paper. So this is the scene in our living room. I gave each of the girls a frequent flier card to use as a credit card and we've been doing lots of 'shopping' this afternoon. We also have a bazillion pencil erasers that Sonna emptied on the floor. I keep asking if anyone wants to go outside for a walk before it gets dark but they are really into their work! I just got charged $35 for a water bottle.

Pumpkins, Power Drills, and Seeds

We had so much fun carving Mara's pumpkin and roasting the seeds! Mara first drew her pumpkin face on paper, then drew it on her pumpkin with permanent marker, and then Jedd got out the power drill and knife. They worked hard together to create her pumpkin masterpiece. Sonna drew on her pumpkin and made her own scary face as shown!
I put the seeds in water and brought them to a boil and then let them simmer for 10 minutes. Then I spread them on a cookie sheet with 3 Tbls. olive oil and sprinkled sea salt on top. I baked them for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. They were really yummy (when fresh, not the next morning as Mara discovered).
Jedd will be gone this Halloween weekend on his second annual Man Hunt. He's going out in the wilderness with 3 friends. Two of them are hunters and the other two are not. Jedd's not but he's excited to winter camp, play cards and drink some good beer with friends.

Highs and Lows

At suppertime we usually do a little rhyme "Hey, hey, what do you say? What was your favorite part of the day, Mara?" and after she responds then she'll say the rhyme and ask Sonna, Jedd or myself. Tonight we tried "Highs and Lows" instead. So people share their high point of the day as well as their low point. We were having a popcorn 'picnic' in the middle of the kitchen floor for supper and it was special and spontaneous so that was my high. My low was yelling at/arguing with Mara this morning when she made a BIG, HUGE deal about getting dressed. I'm not proud of it but sometimes Mara can be over the top with her defiance and testing of limits these days. At any rate, Mara's low was that none of her neighborhood friends could play this afternoon. (Either they were sick or not home.) And her high was going to Sunday School and learning about Moses and the burning bush. Then it was Sonna's turn and she said her high was going to the dump. This is hilarious to us. We don't have trash service so we take our trash to the dump and Sonna really enjoys this trip which is usually with Jedd. She likes running errands in general and even at 1 1/2 she would ask if we were "going to town today?". I don't think she had a low but I'm guessing it was that her cold and cough prevented her from going to church today. She cried when Mara's friend Clara came to pick her up for Sunday School but Sonna was left behind. Jedd's high was being home with his family this afternoon and evening and his low was being away from his family since he was hosting a retreat group at camp. Family rituals are so important.
(The girls are pictured here with friend Clara. Clara is a good friend of Mara's from church).

Aunties and Uncles

Sonna asked me to take this picture of her. She is such a charmer at 2 1/2. We call her "Sonna-shine" and she'll proudly say "I'm Sonna-shine" or tell me "You Sonna-shine's Mommy".
Our girls love their aunts and uncles and pray for them every night at bedtime. Last week when I was putting Sonna to bed (Jedd and I alternate nights with each girl), I gave Sonna a kiss and said "That's from your Grandma Margaret". I proceded to do it for Grandpa Paul, Grandma Joan, and Grandpa Lanny. Sonna looked up and said, "Who else?". I said "Uncle Mike" and she smiled and said, "Yeah, Uncle Mike, I love him . . .and Auntie Sara". Then we added Aunt Becca, Uncle Rory, Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Mat. She knows her aunts and uncles well and knows how much she is loved by them and that means the world to me especially since we are all spread out these days.

First Dance Lesson

After hearing wonderful things about the new dance studio in Lakeside and having Mara ask, "When can I take dance lessons?" at least once a week, we registered Mara for dance class. Her dear friend, Lilly, shown with Mara, is in the class too and they held hands as they walked in. (: Mara had a ball! She learned first and second position and at the end she even had the chance to dance across the floor all by herself. She twirled the whole way and her teacher caught her arms at the end so she didn't fall over from dizziness! For as much as Mara seemed to love it, I may have enjoyed it even more! I love these pictures. Sonna sat in my lap and watched quietly for the half hour lesson. On the way home Mara asked if she and Sonna could take lessons together when Sonna turns 4. Very sweet.

Two Haircuts

Sonna got her first haircut last week. We went to a new little salon that opened in Lakeside and advertised $10 back to school haircuts. Even though school had been in session for 4 weeks already I asked for the $10 special and the woman kindly agreed. Sonna sat perfectly still. Mara was a little concerned about getting her haircut by someone other than our camp counselor friend, Bree. But Bree moved to Seattle so Mara had her first experience in a salon too and she seemed to enjoy it. They both got an inch and a half off the ends. Their hair gets tangled easily, especially during their sleep! Mara is famous for her bed-head! Mara is also growing out her bangs. So that was haircut #1. Haircut #2 happened in the corner of our living room when I decided to check on the girls one more time before I got in the shower. Sure enough, Sonna was standing dutifully still while Mara cut her hair with the kiddy scissors. They both had that look on their face; can you picture it? (: Thankfully, Mara had only cut two, half inch sections from the bottom of Sonna's hair. I found the little tufts of blonde hair on the floor. So I gathered all the scissors in the house (my girls LOVE cutting and we have 8 or 9 pairs of scissors) and had a "No Scissors" day. When I was Mara's age I cut the neighbor girls' bangs quite drastically. She was a model. Kelly's Mom wasn't too happy.