Maren Funnies

My little Miss Maren is lovely, except when she is not well-rested, and then she can be an emotional roller coaster at best and a screaming terror at worst.  She is very open about expressing precisely how she feels, which is a good thing--I like honesty--but sometimes her honesty can be a little startling. 

For example, she doesn't always love all the children her age in nursery.  Often, when their names are mentioned, I get this response:

"I no like [fill-in-the-blank].  I knock her.  I push her.  I bite her.  I put her in prison" (angry eyebrows and growler voice included).

Play with me and my little friends= best daddy ever!

So, we change the subject and talk about her other friends of the inanimate sort.  She is very attentive to them.  They are all regularly fed and swaddled and put down for naps and invited to picnic parties.  They join us at the breakfast table, at story-time, on errands, and bedtime.  She likes to report their status to me on a regular basis:

"Mommy, bunny had a nightmare.  I love her."
"Mommy, Cora (baby-doll) pushed me.  I put her in time-out right now."
"Mommy, baby Emma is crying.  I comfort her."
"Mommy, Kanga needs a drink.  I help her."

Last week I was invited to one of Maren's picnic parties.  We very carefully laid out several large blankets on the floor and then assembled every stuffed animal we could find.  When all the friends had arrived, Maren invited the group to sing "Happy Birthday" to every attendee in turn, and eat celebratory ice cream after each verse.  I think we sang about 20 renditions of the song, and Maren was positively tickled.

Maren's new bed, with bumper pad so she doesn't fall out

Maren recently graduated to a big-girl bed.  She now has a twin mattress and box spring (on the floor) just like Ezra, and she LOVES her new bed.  But, when the crib left, so did her remaining nap.  She absolutely, positively, refuses to sleep.  Apparently, some children her age will go to bed and stay in bed at a parent's request without door locks or crib-cages to keep them in place.  I do not have that type of child.  Interestingly enough, she makes her friends all take naps every day!

Supervising her friend's nap-time, but she doesn't sleep!

Earlier this week I invited Ezra and Maren to make stain glass pictures with me.  We found lots of fun paper scraps and string and laid the bits on contact paper.  Ezra loved the idea and jumped right in.  Maren, who is very much Miss Independence, would have nothing of our craft.  Mostly, I think because it was my idea, and not her idea.  So, she pouted, fussed, and observed from afar, and then, she had an idea.  She found her partially eaten container of yogurt from breakfast, and started painting the window with yogurt.  I saw her, and almost said something, but then, in a moment of inspiration, shut my mouth.  She didn't know I was watching her; she was so free and expressive--she had found her way of creating!

Our creative window art!

Maren's favorite book this week was I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen.  I read it to her at least twice a day every day, and then she "read" it to herself at least twice a day every day.  She is also in love with several Maurice Sendak classics, and was often found in quiet corners reading aloud to a stuffed friend or two.

Maren loves doing laundry, eating cuties, wearing mommy lotion and chap-stick, singing, and playing hide-and-seek.  Oh, and she loves to do things without my interference!

Ezra Funnies

Ezra is about 4.5 years old, and I really like his age and stage.  He is bursting with ideas and scenarios, and new twists on the normal.  He seems very genuinely happy with life and content with his little world.  Everyday he comes up with a new version of his favorite theme: the life and times of sea creatures.

One day, four of Ezra's toughest creatures (horseshoe crab, polar bear, Ankylosaurus, and great white shark) were generals in an army battling against one horrible foe--Tyrannosaurus rex.  When I checked back later, the generals had amassed a battalion and they were all in formation in neat rows and blocks advancing toward the enemy aggressor.  

Marching into battle

Another day he built several aquarium tanks out of building blocks.  In the first aquarium he assembled all his sharks; the menu of the day was a good chunk of meat--the poor T-rex.  In the second aquarium he assembled all his whales (the non-carnivorous types) and they were gorging themselves on a several different types of vegetables from Maren's play food collection.

The vegetarian tank

This week the building blocks were put in many groups of short lines as life-boats after pirates capsized the dinosaur cruise ship.  Each little block life-boat held one or two dinosaurs, and each little life boat was being pushed along to shore by a friendly local whale.

Sometimes the train station is managed by aquatic life.  Other times the used car lot of Matchbox cars has been over-run by sharks eager to acquire a set of wheels.  Almost always there are towers, creatures, and a story to tell.  I love that he is so entertained by such simple things.

Ezra also loves art projects.  This love didn't just drop out of the sky; I love to create, and I make artistic projects available most every day.  He has definitely taken to that freedom of expression.  Sometimes, the first thing he says in the morning is, "Mom, I need to draw.  I need paper."  As you may have guessed, most often he is author and illustrator of his own sea creature adventure series.  "Mom, this narwhal got trapped in the fisherman's net and all these dots are the mice coming to save him."  Only on a very rare occasion does he draw people, and most often, his drawings don't really look like much to me, but they are so very real to him!  

My favorite Ezra drawing--a portrait of the beloved Bear!

Ezra loves trying to sound out words and group like letters.

He is also in love with letters, books, and pasta.  And speaking of pasta, here is a darling little Ezra conversation from last week:

I was making dinner, and Ezra discovered it was pasta.  He approached with a troubled look on his face, "Mom, I was thinking that I needed to learn some words, but now I can't."
"Oh, really?  Why is that?"
"Because pasta is too distracting!"

Last week Ezra came to me all distraught with a bundle of papers covered in neat little rows of chicken-scratch.

"Mom, I have a big problem.  I need someone to say the prayer at church, but the only one who said he would do it is Bear!"  (Dallin is executive secretary in the ward, and he has to find people to say prayers every Sunday for sacrament...it can sometimes be a difficult responsibility.)

New Year

I love the sentiments involved with a new year, and truly feel a new desire every January 1st to try again, make a better effort, recommit, and start fresh.  This year I knew what my goals for the year would be in late November, and had them written, posted and started on the first day of the year.

Because I am a Primary teacher, a new year also can mean a new class assignment.  For the last two years I have been with the same class, which includes one sweet, severely autistic non-verbal boy.  Based on a lengthy conversation with the Primary president, I felt certain that I would continue on one more year with that same group of kids.  Toward the end of last year, our class had a terrific established routine in class that was working great.  Everyone was happy and learning, and I felt successful.  To my great surprise, the last Sunday in December I received my 2016 Primary binder with a new assignment--Sunbeam teacher!  I was completely surprised, and delighted.  So, my Primary experience this year will be all new.  I am a little rusty though; the last time I taught a Sunbeam class was when my now 23-year sister Kristen was three...

One of my students from the previous Primary class, a cute boy named Elliot, brought me cookies and this hand-written note after we had our last class.  We had our ups and downs in class, but his note made me feel like the ride was all worth it!

Breckenridge

I hope these Breckenridge winter wonderland excursions can continue to be a little part of our holiday tradition because they are such a fun treat for all.  Our quick two-day trip to the mountains (before Christmas) was much anticipated, especially by the kids.  This year our visit coincided with the last few days of Grandma and Grandpa's ski week, so we were suite neighbors and enjoyed visiting and dining in their spacious rooms next door.

Grandma introduced us to two different sledding hills, one just around the corner from our condo, and the other in the next town over.  Maren would have none of the sled.  The one time she sat in the sled with me, she howled and cried from start to finish.  She did enjoy holding my hand and just running down the hill; I think she felt more in control.    Ezra loved the sled, and was happy as a new puppy racing down the hill at Breckenridge.  The other hill farther away was much larger and probably quite overwhelming for a little person; he chose to be a spectator.  Once again, snow was quite the novelty, but the biting mountain cold wasn't quite as fun.  Despite three or four layers each, we were all done after about an hour.

My little miss and I on a winter walk.

Daddy used this wood and metal runner sled when he was a boy.

The kids wouldn't do the big hill, but we did!

Aww...this needs to be the cover photo for a ski magazine!

The heated pool and hot tub is definitely the highlight for Maren and Ezra.  Maren was a little grumpy about the snow, but was all smiles in the pool.  Ezra was ridiculously giddy with the abundance of water and his new life jacket.  He was all confidence with a little flotation help, and was our busy little fish!  Maren loves the "dolphin pool", a one foot deep pool featuring a dolphin tile motif and a little circular current.

We also took a tour through the town of Breckenridge and made a candy stop at Fuzziwig's, a cookie stop at Mary's Mountain Cookie Shop, AND a toy stop for early Christmas presents--all courtesy of a most generous Grandma!!  Ezra was invited to pick his heart's desire within a certain monetary value, and within two minutes in the store, he had made his selection.  A small toy replica of a sperm whale, a great white shark, and a narwhal (fancy that!)  Maren fussed and wandered over the prospect of picking one toy from such a impressive collection.  In the end, she settled on four quarter-sized pink rocks, and a little heart with a pleasant bell-chime inside.  Go figure.

Sharks and whales--found!