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!

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

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.

Happy Birthday!

The Shopping Spree Heard 'Round the World

Here's my own little political joke:

Hot red leather jacket and other sophisticated, vogue outfits from Neiman Marcus: $75,063

Black suede stiletto boots and other sophisticated, vogue outfits from Saks Fifth Avenue: $49,426

Damage to Palin’s folksy, joe-schmoe image (not to mention the RNC’s, and McCain-Palin campaign’s image): PRICELESS

The Busy Life

I cannot believe I haven't posted in more than three months. On the other hand, I can. If you notice, my last post was in early July. I hadn't been back to work very long. Griffin hadn't started first grade yet. Summer coasted along reasonably well, although my life was considerably more hectic once I went back to work. But when school started the end of August... WHAM! I don't know why school makes for more busy, but it does. And Griffin started Cub Scouts. WHAM again! And we've been fighting a redistricting proposal that would move Griffin to a different school. Anyway, it has been busy, busy, busy. But, for updates. Griffin is doing fantastic in first grade. He is reading now and is a great speller. He does really well in math too. His obsession and love of science still rules the day. I bought him some Magic School Bus videos and he watches them over and over and over. He learned to ride a two-wheeler. We haven't ridden our bikes to school yet because he still struggles with the starts and stops, but soon we will. I got a bike seat for Izzie and so soon we'll all ride together to school. Speaking of Izzie, she is doing fabulously. I really can tell that she's blossoming and it's almost as if a little weight and sadness has been lifted from her body. Adjusting to a new life and new family hasn't been easy for her, even though she's always been a happy, sweet little girl. But now her spark really sparkles, her smiles are more spontaneous, and she just looks more content and comfortable among us, with us, in our home. She has a few words: done, hi, bye, duck, yes, and she tries to say other words. She carries on little conversations and carries her purse, cell phone and baby around all the time. I'll do my darndest to post again soon. There's lots to talk about.

Fabuloso Fiesta!

My neighbors and I celebrated our Guatemalan babies this past weekend. We had a fiesta to honor Izzie's homecoming and F.'s 2nd birthday. F. came home from Guatemala about a year and a half ago. He is so adorable and I just know he and Izzie are going to be great friends. We invited lots of friends and neighbors to the fiesta, and I think everyone had so much fun. We also used the opportunity to raise money for our agency, which continues to support orphanages several places around the world, including Guatemala. These orphanages struggle, so contributions from people like us are so very critical. Now, I'll share a few photos from the FIESTA!

Oh, and Happy 4th of July!!