Bennett's Pool Party

In California we celebrate September birthdays at the pool.

 Bennett celebrated his second birthday the last weekend our community pool is open for the season.

 It wasn't balmy, but it was warm enough for all the kids to have a great time playing in the water.

 Orelia was very excited to celebrate Bennett's big day (especially since I strategically gave her a new bathing suit that morning).

Raise your hand if clothes are the most important part of a party!

 We were able to rent out the entire kiddie pool for the event, and co-hosted the party with one of Bennett's buddies who was born a week before him.

The pool is only three and a half feet deep, which is perfect for Orelia who can safely walk in the entire thing.

Daddy spent the whole morning at Bennett's side while he splashed around, "rode" the water bike, and played with trucks.

I washed some of Bennett's favorite trucks and piled them on top of his cake with some crushed Oreos for "dirt."  He was so excited to get his hands on it and blow out his candle.

Swimming really works up an appetite.

Bennett preferred the cupcakes to his actual cake, and downed about three in a row, as a birthday boy should.

Of course he also took his cake toppers for a spin around the pool.

Pretty much as soon as he saw his cake he was asking to play with the trucks, so we had to do cake cutting slightly earlier than we may have otherwise.

 Once Orelia got too cold from the pool she switched into a dry bathing suit (I know my children and brought second suits for both - since neither like to sit in wet bathing suits for long) and played "beauty salon" for the second hour of the party.  True to form.

 After three cupcakes Bennett had tons of energy to burn in the pool.

 He took a cue from one of his buddies and started blocking the water sprayers with a submarine.

 Hilarity ensued.

 There's nothing like getting completely drenched in the face.

 I had to stand in the pool to get these photos, but I knew it was worth to risk to my camera to capture Bennett's big smiles.

 It was all fun and games...

 Until it wasn't.  Ha!

 Luckily he recovered when he realized how much fun it was to drink pool water from his trucks!

 Disgusting!

We had so much fun celebrating this silly, funny, truck-loving boy!

Learning to Fly

 This little Wonder Girl learned to fly.

 I remember it well, because it was Father's Day and a beautiful afternoon.

 She got on the swing and just started pumping.

 And somehow, it worked.

 Her smiles were bigger than ever before, and she felt so proud that she could finally swing on her own.

 I always knew she was Wonder Girl.

And that day, she seemed to learn it too.

Orelia's First Day of School

Orelia has been in school for over a month, and I forgot to post her back-to-school photos.  Whoopsie.

I wish I could say that I hardly even remember taking these photos, but it was such a challenge that I remember the morning very well.

To say Orelia was uninterested in taking photos before school would be an understatement.

This pouty face accompanied by some snark were very much present on the morning before we went to the school open house.

Luckily I still had my camera in my purse, and after a successful first day, a much happier girl was able to be prodded into some genuine smiles at the front door.

I guess in retrospect the morning before the first day of school is filled with lots of emotions and anxiety, so it can't possibly lead to the simplest photo shoot.

Orelia goes to school four mornings per week now, and I attend school with her to work one morning per week.

She is always so excited when it's my work day at school, and other than a bit of complaining in the car or at the breakfast table, she's been fine with drop-off the other three mornings.

Her class has twice as many boys as girls, though I'm not sure Orelia has really noticed.  It makes it very easy to get to know all the girls in the class when the numbers are limited, and hopefully they will all become close friends (or maybe even invite some boys to play).

I absolutely adore Orelia's teacher, and love the way she leads the kids in such a fun and creative way.  I think Orelia loves her too, because she is always eager to show her teacher new outfits or proudly describe how she opened an English muffin all by herself one morning.

I can hardly believe this is Orelia's last year of preschool before she will be in kindergarten next year, but looking at these photos makes me realize how grown up she really seems now.

I am looking forward to seeing Orelia grow and thrive in her classroom this year.  Her school is a wonderful place to be a kid, and this happy, funny, silly, smart, and creative girl gets to be herself there.

Right Now Personalities

I feel like every month with these kids is a totally different household.

Every month they change personalities.

Every month we change afternoon routines and habits.

One month we spend filling pots and pans with dirt outside, and the next we are blowing bubbles and popping them for hours on end.

When I'm behind in my photo editing and blogging, I feel like my older photos don't even relate to the kids waking up in my house every morning.

That girl wearing a super hero costume?  Who is that?  She hasn't worn one in at least a week (basically a lifetime).

Oh Bennett had a pony tail?  He took a passing interest in Orelia's "hair salon," but those days are behind us.

Spaghetti?  The last time I offered it, Bennett wasn't as eager as he was for this photo.

 So as for what is going on in our lives right this very moment...

 Orelia excluded one of her best friend (no idea why) for half of the day of preschool this morning, causing said friend lots of tears and anguish.

We spoke about the topic endlessly for the rest of the day, and I have high hopes that Orelia will be kinder tomorrow.

I am not sure if this exclusion "game" will pass as quickly as her interest in many other things, but I can cross my fingers.  Right now it is at the forefront of our thoughts and minds.

Bennett has been very happy and delightful lately, unless you forbid him to wear his favorite "trash truck jamas" in which case he may scream and throw himself on the ground for ten minutes.

His post-nap mood can be real hit-or-miss, but today he was chipper and excited to play with a car transporter while his sister literally screamed out of frustration in her room for ten minutes over a missing Cinderella slipper (in which I'm only now finding the irony).

 Orelia loves playing "hair salon" and mermaids recently.  At school she mostly likes playing "family" and somehow always finds a way to be the mommy while everyone else gets to be a sister or a daddy.  (I hear that eventually they tell their least favorite people they can be the dog.)  Right now she's "mommy" and perhaps next week she will be a firefighter or a dragon or a chef.

Bennett probably knows more names for trucks than most adults, and spends tons of time playing in the dirt with them outside or pouring puff balls/duplo/band-aids from one truck to another when we are inside.  Right now that's his passion, and I actually do think this will stick for at least another few months.

Even though I have much more alone time with Orelia, she has been yearning for the days when I was "only her mommy."  Somehow she must think she's not allowed to be jealous, because when I talked about it with her she vehemently denies she has any jealousy towards Bennett.  I also pointed out that I was Harper's mom before she was born, so technically she is not my firstborn.  She definitely loves her brother and wants him around, but at the same time would very much like it if I could sit next to her at dinner and put her to bed every night please and thank you.  It's a natural sentiment she's expressing, but it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.

This is why I have this blog.  To share the "right now" of these kids with the people who are interested.  There may be lots of short phases I never get around to describing before they disappear, but I'm grateful I have a place to store memories of these two feisty kids before I forget all the nitty gritty.  (Above Bennett is pretending to sleep, complete with snoring noises, before he says "way up!" (wake up) and bounces up.)

Another Blog Post

"Is there ever going to be another blog post," John asks.

 "Eventually."

I have so many photos to share and stories to share that I don't know where to start.

A couple of weeks ago the kids spent an evening digging a hole in our yard.

John was in China at the time, so it almost seemed as if they were digging their way over to where he was.

Our little princess isn't always in the mood to get dirt under her painted fingernails, so when she's in the spirit, I try to indulge her.

Bennett, on the other hand, is always in the mood to be dirty.

Bennett is really cracking us up lately with lots of silly antics and his eagerness to play.

 His extremely high-pitched screams are something we could do without, however.

Hopefully I can get my act together and share more of our daily lives soon.  I don't want to upset my loyal fan base (a.k.a. John).