Sunflowers, Ponytails, and Ramona

It's been a good week. The first of Mara's sunflowers that she planted from seed bloomed this morning. So exciting and rewarding to observe the growth over the past two months. I distinctly remember being on the phone with my mom a few weeks ago when I noticed they were nearly dead from lack of water. When I called Mara to come water her sunflowers, she refused and said she didn't want to. I briefly debated whether or not to let her experience the natural consequence and have them die. But I couldn't do it. It was the only thing we were growing this year and I needed to see it bloom!

Mara also learned how to do her own ponytail this week! Here she made it into a little bun and she was so proud. One morning she and Sonna spent over an hour with their Pretty Ponies and all their own hair accessories creating hair dos. From that she evidently learned how to twist a ponytail holder around her hair. Nice!

Jedd read two of Beverly Clearly's Ramona books to the girls at bedtime over the past two months. Beezus and Ramona and Ramona the Pest. We all enjoyed the books and B. Cleary's amazingly accurate portrayal of a spirited 5 year old. So we were so excited when we learned the movie was coming out this summer. The four of us went to our very first Family Movie Outing last weekend and it was a success! Sonna was able to sit through the whole hour and 44 minute movie. She's never been to a movie before and our only other experience at the movies with the girls was when Jedd took Mara and she said it was too loud and asked to leave, which they did. The movie was great! It captured Ramona's imagination, her thought processes, and her determined self. So when Mara came out during her quiet time in the outfit pictured above and I said, "You look like Ramona", it was as if there could be no higher compliment to our Mara Ida Jane Larson. She beamed and then came out of her room repeatedly with new creations on. (I recognize that I reinforced coming out of her room during quiet time, something I should not do, but oh, she was so darn cute!)

I also signed up the girls for the Sibling class at the birth center/hospital where our baby will be born. When I made the call to register them, Mara freaked out and said, "I'm not going!". I have no idea why she responded that way. She wouldn't talk about it in spite of my attempts to get her to tell me what she was feeling. I told her she was welcome to stay home with Dad and I would take Sonna since she's never been a big sister before and she might enjoy the class, to which Sonna replied, "I'm not going either!". At that point, I got the giggles. Stay tuned . . . the class is next week.