Face Painting

The girls are really into face painting these days.  Over the weekend we went to a community event where there was face painting & sure enough these two were all over that.  Ella, of course, wanted a unicorn.  She loves horses, so this was no surprise.  Jessica….wanted a snake!  Despite, my efforts to talk her into a princess or butterfly, she wanted the green snake, so that she could scare everyone.  She would jump at folks & hiss, so I guess she got what she wanted.  What a little stinker :)

Jessie: 4 & 1/2

Our Jessie girl turned 4 1/2 this month & wow, what a big difference 4 1/2 has been for her.  She is so much more confident in everything she does (Jessie is anyway, but still there is a big difference!) When I told her she was 4 1/2, she was thrilled & now she proudly tells everyone that she is 4 1/2 & that 4 1/2 year old girls are not scared of anything.   She is much more able to comprehend the world around her & has many deep thoughts about a variety of things.  Her favorite things right now: unicorns, rainbows, & "being powerful like Maleficent."  Yeah, you read that right, like Maleficent, the evil queen from Sleeping Beauty.  She is fixated on her staff & her power.  It's actually quite amusing, although somewhat scary that I'm concerned about my 4 1/2 year olds love of power.  Jessie is a character & everyone we meets thinks this is the case.  Yesterday, at the doctor the pediatrician told me that he had been practicing for 25 years & kids like Jessie are why he continues to do his job.  Jessica continues to be very proud of her artwork & we think she is very creative.  We encourage her to channel her natural abilities into creating art.  She can be quite serious, but also quite funny.  Jessica is the child who teaches me everyday that I need to be a better parent & person.  She is challenging & fun, but also a handful.  She is unlike myself in that she is not inherently obedient, she is always testing the boundaries for what she can get away with.  I, on the other hand, like to stay well within the boundaries just to be on the safe side.  She is extremely large for her age & towers over her little friends in preschool.  She is in a size 6 for most things lately, although she continues to have a skinny frame.  She is progressing in her handwriting ability & her social skills at school.   She continues to be a very confident little girl & often questions authority, most adults laugh at this, but, of course, we do try to teach her that this is not appropriate.  She's still running the show around here in terms of what games are being played, but she is slightly better about helping to take care of "her little one" i.e. Ella, who loves to play baby, by the way.  She's a picky eater, but is making some progress in terms of trying new things at school.  She loves the color blue & to dress up!  I often find her wearing a princess dress, tiara, jewels & high heels at any given time of the day.  Her imagination is boundless & she likes for me to tell her fairy tales, where she & Ella are the central characters.  She also enjoys reading her princess fairy tale book before bedtime.  I think that's a good sampling of what Ms. Jessica is like at 4 1/2, although there are days, which seem like they will never end, I wouldn't trade it for anything.

In her own words, questions Jessie answered about herself

Because no posting from me is complete without some pics, she picked the dress & accessories for these :)

All Aboard!!

This weekend we took the girls for a special treat!  We took them for a ride on the Cuyahoga Scenic Railroad near Akron, Ohio.  The Cuyhoga is a lovely river that winds around through a national park & provides a beautiful focal point for train travel.  This was the first time the girls had ever ridden on a full-sized train & they were beside themselves with excitement as they heard the train pulling into the station in Akron.  Akron is about 2 hours from our home in Pittsburgh, so it did make for a long day, but it was a lovely way to spend our Saturday.  When I asked Jessie what was her favorite part she said, the conductor.  When I asked Ella, she said the train whistle.  It was about a 2 hr train ride, with the train only traveling at 30 mph through the park.  Although, there were many stops, we opted to enjoy the scenic trip through the park via train, but we did stop at the Canal Exploration center, which was rather interesting; although the history was completely lost on the girls.  This center & antique lock system showed the history of the area as a major avenue of boat travel via the lock system in the US back in the day.  Click both the links if you want to know more, it really was quite interesting!  Of course, as any parent can probably imagine, by the end of it the last leg of the trip back to Akron station & the car was the hardest part.  Two overtired, overstimulated children are never easy to deal with.  So thankful for the fun times to spend together!  I didn't take too many pics as the train was moving a little too quickly & frankly we really weren't in a great position to get amazing pics, but it was a lovely ride.

At the train station in Akron

3 attempts did not yield what I was hoping for, but you know, I tried to get a pic of them together in front of the train!

On board the train they were mesmerized for the 1st part

Me & my girls summer 2014

So as a little surprise for Michael & as a gift for myself, I had a few pics taken of me & the girls.  A young mom with a little photography business did these, Tiny Heart Photography.  She was running a great special just for moms, so I thought I'd take her up on it.  I know I take a lot of pictures myself, but I rarely get any candids of me & the girls interacting as I'm usually the one trying to set up the camera, etc.  I think she did a great job & I'm so happy to have them!