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One of my oldest and best friends is Mike Hodgens, and it had been way too long since we’d been to visit them. This past Wednesday, he happened to be home in the afternoon and i was also home from work early, so i took the girls down for a visit. This is Mike with Sage (6) and Lara (2):

I hadn’t planned ahead very well, considering that i know they live right next to a lake, but MB found some spare swimming suits for Ella and Fiona, and they jumped right in with Sage and Lara and their cousins Spencer, Will and Henry. Their grandma and aunt Anne were also swimming and having a ball playing with all the kids.

Fiona loved the water noodle, and had to periodically be corralled back toward shore by Spencer

Ella and Sage had a great time running around and playing together. Fiona and Lara were also inseparable, playing all kinds of games together here in the little shed that they recently cleaned up as a playhouse.

We had a lot of fun playing and a wonderful dinner together catching up on the past year. We’ll definitely do again soon. Thanks to Marybeth for sending the pictures, there are lots more to see it their picture gallery.

This is a very large movie, but i like it just as it is, so i’m going to post it anyway. It’s Fiona swinging and laughing in the backyard last week on one of the first really beautiful days of spring here. Click on the picture to get it, then go for a cup of coffee - it’s 48mb and will take a while to download and play.

tween [tween]

–preposition

–noun

she’s too young to be a tween, but today she was looking very grown up.

today the kids were off from school, and it was really cold outside, so we decided to take the light rail down to the mall. ella was the only one who didn’t want to go anywhere. i bribed her (something we try to avoid), with a visit to libby lu. she hasn’t been since her 4th bday, and was thrilled about going. she was practically dragging us out of the house. anyway, we got to the mall and went straight to libby lu…first, a little about ella…

ella has had a great winter, is reading above her grade level, skating well, knitting (with needles…KNITTING), and doing amazing things at home and school. BUT, she has also been expressing some concerns and frustrations about how she looks - her hair, her freckles, her clothes. having a special, sparkly time at libby lu really seemed to help get her out of that funk. she got an up-do, rhinestone jewels on her cheeks, and glitter EVERYWHERE…

as for the clothes, she really needed some pants. all but a few of her pants are either too small, too big, or things she really doesn’t like (like overalls…she looks SO cute in them, but she doesn’t like wearing them anymore). we went through what she has and made some choices about what to put away or hand down. then we talked about going to savers thrift store, or sewing some from fabric she could pick out…but so far haven’t had time for either. plus, the days are gone when we can just buy a certain size and expect it to fit. she needs to be able to try things on. so, while we were at the mall, we checked out the sale racks at nordstrom’s rack and a store called ‘justice for girls’. she has some pretty specific ideas about fashion, and what she likes and doesn’t like…and luckily, her taste in things is actually really good - thank goodness. at nordstrom’s she picked out a fantastic outfit, putting together a pair of pants and top that really looked awesome together, and even better on her (she just looks so grown up!)…

the other stuff we found at nordstroms was either too expensive, or didn’t fit, or both. justice for girls was awesome though. we found 4 pairs of pants, 2 shirts, and some tights…all of which were on clearance (and half of the items were an additional 50% off, which made mom & dad happy). she picked out some great, classic (but SASSY) outfits. as you can tell, she was having a fun time feeling a bit more grown up, getting to make choices about how she presents herself to the world. its a tough line to walk raising daughters - how do you know when they are trying to express themselves versus trying to conform to what others want. i think we are lucky that ella picked clothes that look really nice on her, fit well, and are comphy.

in other news…fiona is basically potty trained now. she will have an accident once in a while (averaging once every other day), but more often than not gets to the potty in time, and usually without any reminders or help.

we are all finally over the flu…although it was a long illness.

This past week when we’ve all been down (in various degrees) with the flu, Ella has had the easiest and shortest time being sick. She has really been a wonderful helper for us around the house, helping to let the dog out and back in, offering cough drops and sharing treats.

So, it was that sort of thoughtfulness combined with our girls’ affinity for vegetables that led Ella to dig through the refrigerator for a bedtime snack and call out, “OK! who wants a carrot?”

That’s our girl!

We’ve all been very sick this week with a nasty flu bug that got Malte first, on New Year’s Eve. Ella seemed to have the least of it, and Autumn has had the worst, with a painful 3-day earache. But nobody wants to read about all that, so i’m going to add a couple of positive posts.

Fiona’s potty training has been a bit of a struggle… a long, drawn-out process. The good news is that shortly before Christmas (with some prodding), she decided to give up babyhood and become a big girl like her sister. Suddenly, she was interested in using the potty and was doing quite well at it, with several dry outings in big girl underwear.

Well, yesterday was the big milestone: she had her first completely dry diaper-free day, from morning to morning with no accidents. It was not planned, she really did it on her own, going to the potty without prompting whenever she needed to. Needless to say, we’re all very proud of her.