Yesterday Sonna didn't want to put her shirt on (not atypical) and so she ran to get Mara's clothes hamper and put it over her head. She is so darn funny. She was cornered. 
Mara was invited by our daycare provider, Lisa, to attend a special holiday craft event at her house. Mara was so thrilled to be part of the special afternoon. I dropped her off at 1PM and when I picked her up at 3:15, she had made this adorable gingerbread girl. She painted it all by herself - everything from the stand to the buttons to the rosey cheeks. She even used the wire instrument herself to curl the sharp ends of the wire so they didn't stick out and poke. The picture on top was taken once we got home and you can tell she was worn out! 
Sonna, especially, loves playing with her baby dolls. Our friends, Deb and Brad, gave the girls matching baby doll strollers for their 2nd and 4th birthdays. A huge hit. Those strollers have been pushed miles in and out of the house. Here the girls are pictured in their new jammies from Grandma Joan while taking their baby duties very seriously. 
At 4 1/2 it is a very big deal to get to chew gum. Becca was here the week before my birthday and she took Mara shopping to get me a birthday gift. Mara picked out bubble gum and told Becca "Mom likes minty gum, but I don't so I'm going to get her this kind". It was a true birthday gift because the joy Mara experienced when she blew her first bubble was nearly tangible. Mara worked so hard to figure out the trick to blow a bubble. This was the best I could capture on camera. 
Jedd and I decided to get the girls scooters before we go to Seattle to celebrate Thanksgiving with Mat, Stephanie, Claire, Simon and Penny. When they came to visit us in September, the kids brought their scooters and we borrowed one from the neighbors and they had so much fun riding all around even on the bike path to Somers. (Notice there were 4 big kids and only 3 scooters. They did fairly well sharing the prized scooters.) So we came up with a sticker chart plan. Mara helped create hers. Her chores for each day were: help clean living room, clean up my room, have a smooth morning, and set the table. She was highly motivated to work hard to get her scooter. I pictured the note above I wrote that Mara dictated to me and then carefully wrote in orange on her chart: "This is Mara's chart. No one else can write on it. Love, Mara." Yesterday, Friday, was the last day of her sticker chart. She did not have a smooth morning. Mara was overtired and called me names. She got a 're-do' morning this morning in order to get her scooter. One of the stipulations was that she had to stay in bed until 7:00AM. Yesterday, after discussing this with her, she called me into the bathroom and said, "Mom, I'm concerned that I won't be able to stay in bed until 7:00". She used the word 'concerned'. Precious. Thankfully, she slept until 7:30 this morning!! Sonna also had a sticker chart and followed it more or less. Pretty good for a 2 1/2 year old. 
