The Special Rock

I picked Dylan up from school, and he came running up to me, super-excited! 

"Mommy!  Look at my rock!"

I looked down to see a small stone, olive green in color that matched Dylan's coat.  It was remarkably insignificant.

"Wow Dylan! Where did you find that beautiful rock?"

"At the park, Mommy!"

Now...never mind the fact that we brought hundreds of rocks home from the beach and made a beautiful rock garden, this rock really resonated with Dylan. 

He held it in his hand while he watched his programas. 

He slept with it all night.  At one point, he woke up crying because it wasn't in his hand anymore. 

We began tucking it under a peluche while he was sleeping.  The rock fit right under a stuffed dog's shirt. 

"I love my rock Mommy."

I asked Dylan why this rock was so special to him, and he said it was because he found it at his school, on the playground.

Moving out of the Dollhouse

I went upstairs earlier to check on Eva during her "naptime."
I came up to an explosion of dollhouse furniture, littering the floor.

"What is going on?"

"Mommy, they're moving out of their house into a new one and the girls have to move all of the new furniture into the new place.  We were going to have a garage sale but then we just decided to do this.  Do you want to play?  Do you want to watch if the princesses put the furniture in the right place?"



"Sure, Eva."

One by one, she starts placing all of the oddly grouped furniture back into the house.

"Ert."  (My buzzer sound.)

"What Mommy?"

"She doesn't like the chair in that room."

"Well that's where it goes."  Eva persisted.

"Well, I disagree.  It looks better in that room, and look you have two lamps on that table.  Who needs two lamps at the same time?"

Eva gave me a look, but moved the lamps.  Usually, when she invites you to play with her, what she really means is, will you sit and watch me play?  Rarely are my ideas welcomed.

"Listen, Cinderella really needs to use the potty...you better get moving."  I watched as she redesigned her dollhouse with furniture in new locations.  Just in time for the Princess potty. 

The Proyecto

This morning Dyleva and I went for a walk behind our house.  I went to look for beautiful leaves.  We came up short,-they were all still green and brown. But we did capture 2 grasshoppers to hang out with us for the day. 


So we had to take to the road.  We went to Dylan's park.  I love Dylan's park.  Dyleva got to play in the park, and then we got to take a nature walk on the boardwalk.  I found beautiful leaves and Eva and Dylan got to feed Chippy. 
We then had a picnic on the grass and watched some crazy nino climb all over the place. 


But the afternoon we spent with Grandma Candy for her birthday.  Dylan took her Halloween decorations and threw them all over the house.  We pulled leaves from all corners of her yard and mulched them all over her lawn.  And finally we ate pizza and probably have greased up all of her furniture.  Happy Birthday Mom! We love you.





At the end of the night, we used the leaves that we had gathered earlier in the day to create a project with Logan.  It came out quite beautiful. 

Decorations and Making it Equal

Today I pulled out all of the Halloween decorations, in spite of it being a gorgeous eighty degree summer day.  I have never seen such enthusiasm in decorating the house!
Dyleva dumped the bags and boxes all over the hall, and ran around the house shouting, "I have a GREAT idea!  Mommy come look at my great idea!  Look!  Do you like my great idea?" 


Our spooky house is now covered in skeletons, pumpkins, and old spooky artwork from previous years. 
Missing from our decorating fun, was Daddy.  He was looking for an elusive box of Halloween lights graciously donated to us by Tia Linda.  He never did find them, but he searched basement, attic spaces, garage, shed....a mystery.

Dylan's Decorating

At lunchtime, we picnicked in the beautiful sunshine.  Eva spilled her water all over the blanket.  So of course, she reached for her brother's cup of water.  She began to dump it into her now empty cup, as she announced to him, "Dylan, I'm just making it equal.  See?  Now it's equal."



Dylan's Decorating

"Eva, what does that mean?" I asked, waiting for a fight to break out. 

"It means they have the same water.  See?  Its like a tie," she explained.

"A tie?" (Mommy's a little slow.)

"Yeah, a tie is when you have the same."



Dylan's Decorating

Dylan just grinned and went for his water.  And began laughing.

"Ah, Dylan!  Now they are not equal!" as she finished drinking all her water as well. 
 
 

The Lost Tooth

I have always played devil's advocate with Eva. 

"But Eva, how does Santa get down the chimney?"  "I don't understand how a rabbit can lift an Easter basket into the house."  and now-"Really Eva.  You think a fairy is going to come and take your tooth away?"

But she believes.   Which is what makes it so special.   A persistent loose tooth surprised us all yesterday by falling out while Eva was eating bread.  She was so proud.  This was a rite of passage I was prepared for, but not ready for.  My little girl.

She woke up to find a sparkle-lacquered five dollar bill with fairy dust and rose quartz in place of her tooth.  She was thrilled and so excited.  Eva admired the dollar bill all day long.  She brought the stone to school.

Daddy asked her, "Eva, did you show your teacher what the tooth fairy brought you?"

"Yes," she replied.

"What did she say?"

"Put it in your backpack."

Tumbling

Dyleva has been off the radar since school has started.  Both niños have adjusted well and love their new schools.  Eva's teacher looks like a fairy princess and her parent communication puts me to shame.  Dylan's teacher is super involved and genuinely interested in his well being.

To add to our busy schedule, Eva has begun a tumbling class.  I had been and still am resistent to signing her up for anything long-term.  Ten months is a long commitment for a 5 year old and for a 40 year old.  Yet, she began.  She loved it.  She loved the outfit.  She loved the teacher.  She loved admiring herself in the mirror for an hour.  (She did look super cute).  Looks like we are commited.

Reunion

 

Tonight we went to a birthday party for Eva's friend from her old daycare (now she is a kindergartener...) at a miniature golf course.

When we arrived, the place was closed and the Mom was beside herself.  How does that happen?  They just decide not to open for the day?

I have my own theories (think minimum wage and hangover), but we live extremely close to the venue and I offered our house as an optional choice for the party.

So the reunion of the ninos shifted to our backyard.  It went fantastic.

Thank goodness, the weather held out for us.  Dylan later asked, "Can I tell you my no favorite part?"  "XXX running away from me."

"Well Dyl, what was your favorite part?"

"Watching programas with Eva."

More importantly, I grilled Eva on seeing her friends again.  She hasn't seen these boys (all the guests were boys) since June.  In Toddler time that's years!

"OMG Eva!  What was it like seeing CM again?"

"It was special because we have to play together.   We did an obstacle course."

"Why is CM such a good friend?"

"CM shares with me, he plays with me, and gets along with me.  When SP is busy, he still plays with me.  Sometimes I want to play and CM gets along with me and will play with me."

These two have been together since they were babies.  They are adorable together and was a great reunion.  We were happy to help out considering the circumstances.