Back-log Blog: November 2011

School photos KILL me! Kids look so grown up in school photos, not really how you see them day-to-day. So I guess it's just startling. I love them though. I'm always really excited to see how they turn out. Their smiles/expression sum up exactly who they are.

Auntie Carissa and Uncle Adam built a huge chicken coop behind their place & promptly ordered 4 chickens in different colors. The girls really like finding the eggs. Sometimes they get to do that at their school too.

Goof balls...

Their smiles sum up exactly who they are as sisters.

Big Girl Teeth

In my September post I forgot to post, like, the biggest news ever! On Ellia's actual birthday she was watching Max and Ruby "Ruby looses a tooth." Low and behold Ellia felt her tooth and exclaimed "Mom! My tooth is loose!" I thought she was just acting like it "Oh ok, yup." But then when I went to get her out of the car I felt it and our eyes locked in total shock. She was beside herself with pride and giddiness. For weeks she had been comparing herself to any kid who had lost a tooth as if she was less of a human and a complete baby if she still had all her baby teeth. I think she thought that being 5 meant losing her baby teeth. I definitely was not ready for her to lose her baby teeth at 5! I whimpered "Oh Ellia, do you know that was your very first tooth you ever got? You've had it since you were 4 months old / "just born". That's a really old tooth!"

I told her all about what she needed to do with her tooth. My dad gave me a cool gold coin box (seen in first photo) that has a secret flap you lift to reveal a tiny envelope. I thought it would be the perfect box to leave under her pillow for the tooth fairy.

And after the tooth fairy gave her a stack of huge coins (dollar and half dollars) I told her she needed to write a thank you note to the Tooth Fairy, leave it under her pillow & she would put it in her special tooth box. Ellia made a beautiful painting to cover her tooth box. It has a drawer to pull out and a suede pouch to put the tooth in. The next morning, when she woke up, and her tooth was back in her possession. (in a Squinkies plastic bubble, inside the suede pouch)

And now, a mere two months later she lost her other "first tooth". I guess it's fitting because those two bottom teeth came in in just the same manner! So weird. This tooth losing was a bit more traumatic. The other one was very very ready (the adult tooth was underneath already) to come out and it just fell right out of her mouth that September morning before school. This one came out in the morning before school but it was because she bit onto a grape. It bled a lot and kinda scared her, which I would have been too. There's no sign of the adult tooth so she'll look different for awhile this time!

Back-log Blog: October 2011

Here's the 3rd harvest family photo (missing 2009) Here are the previous ones to compare!

I love cutout photo for some reason. In this photo, I realized later, Claira is making the same face Ellia made in her 1st cutout photo.

Ellia and Claira loved dancing to the music at Oak Glen Farms. Even though the apple season ended really early this year, it was still a fun and beautiful day!

Ellia having a "Gone With The Wind" moment.

On this day the girls and I and Jimmy stopped off at the pumpkin patch in Long Beach that we've been going to for years and years now. I remember the first time we went it felt so exciting because it was the first time Ellia was really experiencing Halloween festivities and it was fun to see her discovering it.


Jimmy and I took Ellia and Claira to their school friend's 5th birthday party. It was lots of fun: Taco truck, Shaved Ice, Margaritas, Horse Shoes (me & jimmy heated match), Badmitten (me & jimmy lighthearted match), Pinatas...and face painting! Ellia looked really cool in the Batman design she chose.
Here's a shot of Ellia's first time getting her face painted!

And Claira chose the exact opposite of her sister: The "Spah-ka-lee" Look. This is her first time having her face painted and she absolutely loved it. She didn't even want to take it off.

Ellia's Batman makeup was almost impossible to remove! Even my eye-makeup remover didn't really make a dent. That's why, a day later in her Halloween photos she kinda looks like she's wearing eye liner. Cuz she is. And here she is practicing for future high school Drama Class:And here is my party girl. Still in her makeup, still in her sparkly fancy shoes... I hope this photo isn't a sign of what's to come in college!!

Happy Halloween 2011!!

We walked the streets with 2 of Ellia's longest running school friends. They don't go to her current school but she's gone to school with them ever since she started daycare at 18 months! Ellia was pretty excited that 'we' were going to make her costume this year. She was very helpful in standing for me to measure her. She'd be coloring with Claira and I'd say "Can you come over one more time Ellia?" and she'd toss her crayon down and tell Claira: "I'll be right back Claira, I have to work on my Halloween costume." I pretty much made it in 2 or 3 separate days. And it was very cheap. The only thing I had to buy were the Dryer Ducting, Silver Spray Paint and the $2 Goodwill GI Joe black jumpsuit to wear underneath. (which, of course, she was more excited about than the robot costume...of course) I used: Milk jug, stickers, coil from calendar, silver windshield reflector, bottle caps, 7UP liter bottle, egg carton, LED tap lights, glow sticks, calculator & nuts and bolts. You name, I saved it.
Thanks go out to Kristine (for drinking the milk), Veronica (for the coil idea), Mom & Dad (silver windshield reflector & laminated Candy-Bot signs), Jimmy (silver windshield reflector engineering into robot body shape)


Claira is now a total pro at Trick or Treating. She had a great time & of course was only walking the streets to earn lollipops of all kinds. Once she scored one she was all set. Leading up to Halloween we were comparing whether to be Minnie Mouse or Snow White. Every time someone asked what she was going to be she'd always say "Mickey Mouse."


This little impromptu invention has proven to be really cool. I wanted Ellia to have something hard to write/draw on when sitting in her car seat. But I didn't want it to be too hard and dangerous & I wanted it to hold everything in one place for her. Enter 3-ring binder filled with different sorts of papers & a zip bag in front for markers, pencils and crayons. She loves her little car seat desk. And I love that I have an efficient means of child labor for creating birthday cards while on the way to kids parties!

Back-log Blog: September 2011

Gotta get a blowout for the blowout party. Ellia's a pro at the hair cutting now even though she's only had a handful of hair cuts. This was the first time she got to have a professional hair wash in the weird neck sink :)

Ellia's 5th Birthday was awesome! You never know if it'll all come together, if you chose the right place & if people will show up. She was talking about this party for weeks leading up to it and even more weeks after it was over. She was telling strangers on the street that she held a scorpion, held a turanchula..anyone who would listen. She felt SO grown up to be 5. Why that was a huge milestone in her head I don't know. Although I was hearing for a long time this summer how s0-and-so was already 5, when will I be 5, etc. It was a huge milestone for me too. There seems to be a large divide between 4 and 5. 4 seems more like 3. But 5 is nothing like 4. 5 looks squarely ahead at 6 and beyond & is not longer looking back.
Well, if she's not lookin' back I will: http://thechaifam.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

I slaved over those darn dinosaur egg favors for 2 nights and the morning of the party (blow drying them dry). They were going to work if it was the last thing I did. I used water balloons and paper mache then put candy and reptiles inside. Ellia was really into the details of her party. She had a giddy & "let's get this done right" attitude the morning of her party when we stuffed the eggs. I'll also always remember the day we picked the reptile zoo as her birthday party place, that night when I was scratching her back she just wanted to gab and gab about all the things she envisioned for her party and all the friends who would go.

After the party friends and family came over for a movie in the yard old-school style. It was the first time doing a movie outside and I loved it & hope to do them next summer.

The morning of her birthday we gave her her BIG 5 Surprise! I remember my parents leading me to the front porch for my birthday and there was a Strawberry Shortcake bike with a white basket and all. We did the same for Ellia - although this bike is waaaaaay cooler than a Strawberry Shortcake bike. She gets a lot of compliments on it too. Definitely a cool 1st bike - or Training Wheel Bike as Ellia calls it. She never calls it a bike, she used that long title, haha! She was SO excited. She told everyone about it, and riding it was always the first thing she wanted to do when she woke up and the first thing she wanted to do when I picked her up from school. She was determined to master the balancing of it, the turning of it, the braking of it. I loved how she valued her bike so much, every so often she'd stop suddenly, hop off and bend down to see if the tires were ok.

Here are the sisters playing Mommy & swaddled baby. For an average camera, I think it's a beautiful shot. Someday in the future in my future free time days - I plan to paint this photo.

Ok, so I guess it's tradition now to end each post with a GEEE-orgous pic of Claira. This is at their school & she's up in the treehouse. We had all just celebrated the September Birthdays at her school. Claira joined Ellia's Montessori in August and she adjusted so well (with tons of help from her school Mommy=Ellia. One of the first weeks, one teacher said that she was taking Claira to the bathroom & Ellia jumped up from what she was doing and said "I better go with you. You might need my help." Claira gained a new sense of independence and "Claira-ness" & even though that brought more feistiness outta her, it also brought her closer to her sister.

Back-log Blog: August 2011

And here's all of me and Grandpa's hard work put to play. We were even featured on http://mandooandlumpia.com
Ok, that's just one of my friend's blogs :)
After living here since, what, 2007 we finally took in one of the free summer events in the park. Mama Ellyn and her chubby rolls baby and sweetie girl joined us and my parents for an animal show. Maybe next summer we'll take advantage of the summer stuff more (yeah and I said that 2 years ago too!)

Big girl Claira is all in now with the arm bands like her sister. Crazy to see her out in the middle of the pool floating and twirling when I used to have to sit with her on the steps while she splashed around and liked the feeling of the water on her legs but didn't want to get in. She's not that grown up though cuz she still drinks the pool water.

Jimmy had the week off work and wanted to take a trip. The plan went from a drive up to stay in San Luis Obispo - to - a beach day trip to La Jolla. It was a great time, perfect weather, water was clear and pretty warm! We liked experiencing new sand (really coarse), the tide pools with baby hermit crabs everywhere, caves, tons of seaweed, and even a washed up half lobster. Me and Ellia and Claira played a game for a long time: Ellia and I raced to the shore and grabbed a huge handfull of sand that was mixed with big bits of colored glass thats been turned into little jewels, softened by the rolling tide. Claira LOVED being in charge of the pile, taking out the jewels she liked best. Ellia loved yelling at the waves "ERR take that! You can't get me! We're the wave blasters!"

Here's a cave that Ellia wanted no part of. Claira kinda liked it. We pretended that there was something sleeping inside. I cherish that my little one still puts her finger on top of her whole nose for the "Shh" sound.

Well, I guess I seem to be ending a lot of my posts with gorgeous photos of Claira. This photo is ridiculous...it's so weird how every so often the camera catches children in a certain light: The photo doesn't really LOOK like the child looks in person, it looks more like what the child will look like years from now.
This night was the girl's school Camp Out Night! I went to Walmart with the girls and bought a little tent & sleeping bags. All the kids loved being at school 'after hours' and playing in the yard at night. I had a good time chatting with the parents. I put up a tent! Oh yes I did (OK one of the mom's helped me since all the kids started playing in MID-construction. This was the first Camp Out I've been to (last year Ellia had only been at the school for a week or so and we didn't really know anyone). I was under the impression everyone who was there (and there were a lot) would actually CAMP OUT. Well, turns out a lot of them were veteran's and were wiser than me. They'd already done it before & instead used the campout to completely wear out their kids for bedtime. Brilliant, I thought. If only I hadn't been pumping up our "very 1st camping night!!!" for weeks. Well, I hung in there. A dad also camped with his 2 sons and a mom with her daughter. 3 parents, haha! But the look of sheer exhilaration on Ellia and Claira's faces when we cozied into our tent and sleeping bags was something I made sure to put to memory. Especially since I needed something to make the rocky dirt digging into my back all night worth it!

Back-log Blog: July 2011

Love love love this photo & the adorable 4th of July dresses - THANK YOU AUNTIE BARBARA!
We celebrated Grandpa's birthday at Magic Mountain. This is Ellia's first theme park roller coaster. If I had the 1979 photo of me on this same roller coaster (my first as well) I would post it. I have a look of pure terror mixed with trying not to look terrified. I love how my sweet, careful Ellia is the only child on the ride with her hands down.
She eventually threw her hands up and when the ride was over she was confident enough (and tall enough) to go on an even bigger coaster. Here she is proudly standing in front of the "big person roller coaster"
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!

4TH OF JULY 2011
We saw Cars 2 3D with the cousins at the El Capitan. Then off to a Dodger's game & fireworks.

Back-log Blog: June 2011

The sisters (sissies, Eye-ya & L00L00.)

Ellia continues to be a 2nd Mommy to our little L00L00 (Ellia and I started calling her that at some point because she was 'acting Looloo' so I said "you're our little LooLoo." Ellia got a kick out of that, she laughed and laughed. Claira said "I not LooLoo. I not LooLoo.I Crar-a."

June marked Claira's 2 1/2 age & with it (as I noticed at Ellia's half-way marks) came a serious personality adjustment. I remember at 1 1/2 thinking "this chick wears her emotions right out in the open. Even if she has a tantrum, boom, when she's over it she is OVER IT." I thought "hey, this is cool...she gets over things so quickly!"
Well, then came the next roll-out phase of The True Claira. The Emerging Claira. The "What the hell am I gonna do when she's a teenager" Claira! For a month or so I was reeling. Everthing I learned while parenting Ellia for almost 5 years - I threw it all at her. She was immune to all of it. This chick required a whole new play book that I inwardly dreaded wasn't capable of coming up with. She seemed so foreign to me. So hot and cold. She KNEW she was older. She was mowing over every boundary she could find & with not a care in the world about it. I was living through back to back melt-downs. And by that I mean, within minutes of eachother. (Screaming about being put into her carseat instead of climbing in it. OK, finally calmed down. Boom, screaming about that way I buckled her in.) I was on pins and needles because I was right smack in the middle of a "damned if I do, damned if I don't" world. And she was mean! It wasn't just a tantrum. It was "NO Mommy! What'd you DO dat!? I don't LIKE you." She was definitely bullying me. And she was bullying Ellia too - hitting her the millisecond she became mad. Then, as soon as her tornado started it stops and SHE'S fine. SHE'S ok. She leaves chaos, hurt feelings, buises (an emotional armeggedon) in her wake - and she's lookin' back like "What? I'm over it, why aren't you?"
Luckily, after a few weeks I found my inner Mother of Claira. It's a new one & I'm really proud that we've made & grown stronger through this first of many Emerging Claira's to come. I'm firm on the things that 100% without a doubt are no-budgers. And it has to be a strong, loud NON-emotional firmness. Emotions to Claira are like blood in the water to a shark. If she senses she's 'getting to ya' she'll zero right in on ya. Mostly, I realized I had to TELL Claira what she needed to say, instead of just saying "use your words". She's an emotion thru action type person. It's hard for any child to put their feelings into words but for Claira, even more so because it's not her first instinct to let you know - she just wants to show you. Fast & easy - That's her motto. Action first, words later (maaaybe). A co-worker of mine who was the only Saggitarious in an all Virgo family once told me. Oh yeah, we're "Jump first. Say 'oh shit' later."
It's so true. But I realized that I could not let Claira be a bully. I also had to teach Ellia to not let herself be bullied. So actually it was a bonus that I could help give her the self-esteem to say No to Claira, that she will not allow herself to be treated that way. Ellia doesn't like conflict so her instinct when hearing Claira begin to whine or yell was to just make it better. ie: make it go away. I told Ellia "Claira needs to learn that she can't scream at people to get what she wants. You are a wonderful big sister and you should not be yelled at."
Things are SO much better. Claira will now point out when she is following rules. "Look Mommy! No teeming (screaming) no running aroun!" When Ellia squeezes passed her in the back seat Claira looks at me and exclaims "I no push!" She's becoming proud of herself for living inside boundaries. I'll enjoy it while it lasts.