Thursday, February 11, 2010

I'm a Princess!

Lest any of us forget, Izzie is a princess. Consider the conversation over breakfast:

Me: You done with your bagel, babe?
Her: I'm not a babe. I'm a princess.
Me: Yes, I know you're a princess but you will always be my baby girl.
Her: No. I'm Princess Izzie!

Friday, February 05, 2010

Behind The Scenes

I'm terrible about taking pictures, and even worse about doing anything with them once I've taken them. Thank goodness for my dad, who takes great pictures a lot and then shares them with me! Anyway, since I have been such a bad blogger and let more than a year lapse between posts and pics, I thought the best thing to do would be to post a few pics, and the stories behind them. So...

Griffin and Izzie do love each other. Griffin of course gets annoyed by his little sister though, and sometimes forbids her in his room or even on the steps leading up to his room. They both can tease each other mercilessly, and can bicker like the best of 'em. But on this day, Griffin went all out: He helped his little sis put on her Princess costume, then built an elaborate stage for thrones. One for Prince Griffin, and one for Princess Izzie.

The Kingdom



Griffin loves to make things, build things, create things. He made me a ring from a leaf, and he used various Izzie toys to make creatures. See for yourself...

A lovely Ring



The Pizza Critter



A Bear



Christmas was amazing this year. My mom and dad and brother spent Christmas Eve at our house, and we went to an amazing Christmas Eve service at our church. Griffin was in the Nativity play; this year he was one of the Wise Men. My parents bought the kids a great book by Mrs. Clause, and she answers kids' questions about Santa. It is a great book and loads of fun! Here they are reading it:

Story Time



Cheers,
Beth

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Oh My My

It has been so long since I've posted. And so much has happened. Izzie is almost 3! Griffin is 7 1/2. I turned 45, but of course admit to only being 39. I got laid off from my job in May 2009. I was out of work for a long time, looking for anything and everything, trying to get the freelance gig going again. I interviewed and almost got a job in Seattle, which would have meant moving. I didn't want to move. I didn't have to. Freelance work is now picking up.
Griffin is now half-way through second grade and is doing great! He reads amazingly well, and is a whiz at math. Science is still his love, and he continues to mix potions and create new whiz-bangs. Upstairs now is a contraption FOR ME that says in magnets "I love you," has a button that when pressed shines a light on those words, has a lego robot thing that moves when you pull a lever, and more! His mind is always working.
Izzie is talking up a storm. She has so many words, most with their own flavor. Griffin is Pippin, Gabby is bappy, mostly I'm mommy but sometimes I'm Beff. When watching her princess movies (yes, she loves princesses, especially Ariel) she is fond of commenting on the evildoer, saying, "her is mean." She is almost potty trained, but this girl has a mind of her own! She loves to sing and dance. She'll belt out songs all the time, will close her eyes and sing softly than boom out a note with her version of a vibrato. Where does she get that???? Izzie is in preschool three days a week, and loves it! She's still tiny, but has the biggest heart.
I'm good, happy that I'm still able to work from home so I can be with my children. I'm constantly hoping and praying for more balance, more peace, more zen, more contentment, more patience. I joined the YMCA and we love it. This summer, when I had no work, I went to the Y four times a week and it was fun to get in shape. Mostly I did spinning, which I love. I started running. I actually ran a 5K! It is nothing short of a miracle for me... I've never been able to run more than a mile my entire life, even when I was super-fit as a high school and college gymnast. Alas, my freelance work has picked up (this is a good thing, of course!) and I've slacked off. I need to figure out my new schedule that has little definition, since work comes in fits and spurts. I need to lose more weight and stay in shape, largely because of health reasons. I need to be healthy for my children!!! I just need to lose that 10-20 pounds. I'm hopeful.
We went skiing recently, with a dear college friend, her husband, and her son. We had a blast! Griffin is doing parallel turning down the beginner slopes. Izzie even skiied. She did not like it at first, when I first put that boot on her. I bribed her with candy. She loves candy, and so...
After her first trip down the bunny hill (I had her in between my skis and held on to her) she got a huge smile and shouted "anin anin anin" (again again again). It was too cute. I'm closing with a few pics from our trip. I do hope I get back to blogging regularly.