Pea Moustache

We did not stage this, but could not resist taking some pictures when we noticed Tai's peas were making him resemble a certain notorious German dictator. Maia got in on the fun too!

Silly Smile

Lately, Yoshi has been taking some pretty great pictures of the kids. I guess July has been my vacation month from blogging, because I haven't written much, but I've been saving some gems to share. Here's a little tease:

Anyone have any ideas for some creative captions? I have a couple, but don't want to thwart my readers' creativity. Ha ha. I used that line all the time when I was a teacher. Usually, I had nothing, and the kids came up with really amazing ideas. Let's see what we can do.

Maia's 4th Birthday Party

On July 27th, we had a birthday party for Maia. It was well-attended by friends, and totally worth all the effort of cleaning our house and organizing activities. I don't know though, our good friends had a party for their daughter at Rollandia (a Chuck E. Cheese kind of place,) and it seemed painfully easy. We may go that route next year. After all, I don't want all of Maia's birthday memories to be tainted by a screaming, crazy version of her mother, which, unfortunately, is what happens to me right before all her birthday parties. I could give examples, but lest you all think I'm a terrible person, let's just go directly to the pictures.

This is Maia opening her presents. She took the job very seriously and had her 7 year old friend read all the cards for her. It took forever to get through all of them, but it was sweet.

She saw the princess hat and wanted it for her birthday. I think she looks quite fetching.

Our theme this year was "Backyardigans Princess." As you can see, the cake had a princess hat and all the colors of all the Backyardigans. I wanted to incorporate both themes as much as I could, and I think it worked out. Of course, if you're not familiar with the Backyardigans, it looks completely random.

A few of Maia's friends enjoying pizza and juice boxes around our living room table.

Our back yard was once again transformed into a children's party paradise.

Our Ikea couches for downstairs had just been delivered a few days before, so I saved the cardboard for the kids to color on with markers. It went over quite well with the under 7 set. Now that I'm a stay-home mom, I have time to come up with these kinds of innovative ideas.

Our other craft activity was "make your own sun-visor or tiara." The kids got to glue gemstones and foam pictures all by themselves. They really seemed to enjoy it.

Surprisingly, Tai was happy to be passed around from person to person during the party. It was nice for Yoshi and me to have time to mingle. Thank goodness for small miracles.

Overall, everyone had a great time, and we're already looking forward to next year. Now, don't even ask me what we're planning to do for Tai's party, which is in the middle of the winter. Our house is too small for inviting everyone without using our backyard. And yet...it seems impossible to trim the guest list. Good thing we have a few months to think about it...

Personality

I'll let this picture speak for itself....

Maia's Bike

Maia's preferred mode of transportation so far has been a Dora Trike her Aunt Liz bought for her last summer. As beloved as it is, she seems to have outgrown it. The tires are made of plastic, so she has a hard time getting traction with them. Plus, it seems like every other four year old on our block is riding a real bike. Did I mention Maia is turning four this month? The time seemed right, and yet we were holding out for the "perfect" bike. Obviously, it would have to be girly to meet Maia's high expectations. Most stores have princess bikes for around eighty dollars, but that seemed like a lot to spend for a bike she would outgrow rather quickly.


In the midst of all this contemplation, we happened to go to a garage sale where we found the perfect bike. When I decided to become a stay-home-mom, I dreamt of moments like this. When Maia saw the princess bike, she said, "That's someone's bike. It's not for sale." I looked at the five dollar price tag and said, "Yes, it is. Would you like to buy this bike, Maia?" The look of pure joy and excitement on her face is something I never want to forget. It was amazing.

The gentleman running the garage sale noticed Maia's enthusiasm and desire to ride the bike immediately, so he went into his garage and came out with a pair of training wheels which he put on for us. She was able to ride it back to our car, and though I worried that she might fall, she managed just fine. She's such a big girl now!

The first thing we did when we got home is dress in appropriate bike-riding clothes and shine the bike up. Here, you can see Maia spraying it down.

Maia is a very meticulous cleaner, and it takes her a long time to finish a job. I think she may enjoy the spray bottle a bit too much!

Can you see the joy in that face? Did I mention the bike is a princess bike? It doesn't get much better than that for Maia.

And she's off! So much for wearing pants. She changed into a skirt pretty quickly, and I decided not to argue with her. After all, she's wearing knee and elbow pads. I guess the pants wouldn't make too much of a difference if she were to fall.

She rides a bike like a natural. I'm having a hard time keeping up with her on foot and usually have to scream things like: stop, wait for me, watch out for the street, etc.

As I write this, I'm feeling rather sentimental. How can it be that the little girl who I cradled in my arms just yesterday has grown into a bike-riding four year old? As I hold Tai, I fondly remember how sweet Maia was as a baby. Sometimes life can pass so quickly! I tell myself to remember this feeling the next time I long for a night on the town or to carry a fashionable hand-bag without diapers and changes of clothes. Those days will come soon, and then I will regret not having savored every part of Maia and Tai's childhood. Ah, but isn't life like that?

Sweet Maia (looking very much like Tai) when she was about 6 months old.

Go Indians!

The Cleveland Indians were in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. Yoshi and Maia are huge fans, so they went. Though I enjoy going to the ballpark once a year or so, mostly for the food, I refrained this time. Sitting through nine innings of baseball with Tai and Maia is not my idea of a "fun evening." Maia and Yoshi had a great time, and I have a feeling this is a tradition they will keep for many years to come.

Maia, in her Indians garb, with her daddy. She is such a fan that she didn't even complain about not wearing a skirt or dress! That's huge for Maia!

Dad and daughter excited to get on the road. The ball park is about an hour away from our house.

I guess some of the fans were creating a "not family-friendly" atmosphere with their comments, but Maia handled it pretty well. She hasn't used any 4 letter words since attending the game:)

I love the atmosphere of a stadium at night. Maia stayed awake until 10:30 and then passed out. She was in such a deep sleep that she had to be carried back to the car, which was parked, according to Yoshi, VERY far away. He was exhausted the next day, but it was worth it! And the Indians won the game. What could be better?

Princess Taira

This video will give you an idea of the shenanigans going on in our house.

I took this video using our old camera, so it appears that my problems uploading are related to our new camera. I imagine the videos are just too long or in a really high quality resolution, so they take forever. I'll figure it out some day, but now that I know the old camera still works, I'll take more videos and post them.