We Cut Down a Tree!

Today we went to cut down our Christmas tree, and it was a beautiful day for it! This was our second annual tree chopping outing, so we repeated last year's lunch at a great independent burger joint near the farm to get our hiking energy up. I didn't get a good picture of the crazy jeep that took us up and over the mountain to the tree farm, but that ride was certainly a hilight of the day. This year we went a week later than last year, so the lot (and jeep ride!) was more crowded. It was fun sharing the experience with other families. The girls loved picking the tree, and they really loved the hot chocolate and candy canes that came with the experience! Now to decorate it...

Daisy Investiture

Our Violet is a Daisy :)

Thanksgiving road trip

The girls and I drove to Pittsburg on Tuesday, and Erik flew in on Thursday morning. Here are some pictures of our adventures:

Travel pillow cases packed and ready to go

Sleepy girls at 6 am

Daphne loves parks

Ahoy, matey! Pirates in the starboard! Aft! Knots!

Violet climbs

Good morning text to daddy 

Crazy slide hair x 2

Sisters make vacations fun!!

Daphne's Shy, Violet's Not

I just had the funniest conversation with Daphne. She was chatting up a storm, so I said to her, "You talk a lot, don't you Daphne? Do you like to talk?" She replied, "Yeah, but not to big daddies." I thought for a minute then replied, "You mean other big daddies? Not your own daddy; you talk to your daddy." She affirmed, "Yes, because other big daddies I don't talk but only in our house," and then she went on for awhile on that theme.
So there you have it. She doesn't talk to people whom she doesn't know well, and she knows that she doesn't. That she only talks a lot (and I mean a lot) in our house. Isn't that funny??

But before that... Violet and Daphne were playing a game this morning and it was so funny. Violet was the mommy and Daphne was the baby, and Violet had her all wrapped up and was carrying her around. Vwas on and on about the monster that was coming, and when the monster was finally close, I'm telling you I got a little choked up by Violet's cries of, "No! You can't have my baby, monster! RUN baby!" while she bravely stood her ground against the advancing villain (who appeared to be coming from the den). Daphne acted her part well and alternated between cowering behind Violet and running away. These girls are so entertaining!

Happy Halloween 2013

This Halloween was SO FUN. Costume parade in the morning, volunteered in V's classroom (with my helper, Daphne) for special Halloween Center Time in the afternoon, fun afternoon playtime with friends... then a fun round of trick-or-treating with very new friends and very old friends! Our ToT crew was our neighbors up the street, Violet's friend Mia from school, our friends the Ameses, and my friend Master--from HIGH SCHOOL--and her darling family. We hadn't seen each other in almost 15 years. What a super fun day. I'm a little bummed that we didn't get more trick-or-treaters, but numbers seemed to be down everywhere this year.

Violet and friends waiting for the costume parade

 Room 2:

 Strawberry Shortcake

 Sorry it's turned the wrong way. I'll probably never fix that. Two teachers dressed up like Starbucks cups, and it was so cute!

 Room 2

 My center at school- everyone made a ghost! Success!

 Violet's class getting ready to go home to trick-or-treat

 Daphne wanted fairy face paint

 Me too!

 We made spider whoopie pies

 Our group L-R: Giacomo, Vittorio, Charlie, Eve, Camilla, Lucy, Bruce, Daphne, Violet 

Not pictured: Mia

 There's Mia!

 Knock knock! Trick or Treat!!

 Yes, those are full sized bars. 

 Daphne gave up early and got in the stroller, hence, less loot.

 Happy Halloween from the Limas :)

Daphne

Daphne is a little over 2 years 5 months. She's said some really cute things lately, so I'm taking two seconds to sit down and type them out. She's such a talker now- there's nothing that she can't communicate with words. She talks about things that are happening now, in the past (last day), and in the future ("fumala" (tomorrow), or other day), she talks about how things make her feel, things she's learned. It's really cute because her grammar and pronunciation are all over the place, but you can totally understand what she means. She also gets causality mixed up. For example, she might say, "I'm cold because I got a blanket!" (meaning that she got a blanket because she's cold), or "Daddy said 'no' because I'm mad!"... Too cute.

Just now:
D: Mommy, please go get my dress for me.
Me: You want to wear your dress-up dress?
D: No, my polka dot dress. The one I wear to the dentist last day when I no listen to you. (HAHAHA! She knows when she's naughty! That was over a week ago!)
Me: Oh, when you didn't listen at the dentist?
D: (nods, smiling)
Me: Your polka dot dress. You like that dress?
D: (nods) Please go get my polka dot dress for me for I can pin (spin)?
Me: Oh, you like it because it spins?
D: Yes! Piiiiiiiiin!
Me: Ok, let's go get cleaned up and find it.

Listening to Pandora, Ernie came on singing a song. Daphne says, "It's Elmo!" I asked, "Is it?" She replied, "No, it's dust OOnie. Not Elmo. Dust Oonie."

Yesterday we were reading books on my bed and Daphne was in a calm mood. I used the chance to ask her about her favorite things. It's been a day now so I don't remember the order, but I'll write down what I remember the best I can:

Favorite...
Food: Breakfast. (What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?) Oatmeal. (So your very favorite food is oatmeal?) Yes.
Movie: Cinderella! (She's never seen it) And May Poppins!
Person: Sissy! And mommy too and daddy too.
Thing to do or place to play: Knott's Fey Farm!
Color: Pink

Some from FB:

Watching clouds on August 20 (Violet's idea!):
Violet had the excellent idea to watch clouds. 
V: That one looks like a lobster! 
D: Yeah, and that one looks like a cloud! 
V: And that big one looker like a clown! 
D: And that little one looks like a little one!
Some of this may be lost on my little one. 

Augst 18:
Me: Daphne's a good girl, aren't you? Are you a good girl or a bad girl Daphne?
Daphne: No! I'm a strong lady!
(Where does my TWO-year-old get this???)

August 14:
Daphne had her first visit to the dentist today, because she's complained a few times that something in her mouth hurt. Oh. My. Word. We've been reading "Dora Goes to the Dentist" every night for a week, practicing, looking at pictures, getting excited for a prize... all to no avail. We have no pictures, because in the end Erik and I had to work together to hold her down and pry her mouth open while she thrashed and screamed. No cavities. So, you know, that's super.

And just for posterity, here's my silly lady (and mommy) playing with the web cam, right at this very moment. Try not to get overwhelmed by the glamour (notice the polka dot dress...):

Violet, Kindergartner

Here she is! I present to you....

Violet the Kindergartner! 

I mean seriously, could I love her any more??? Look at this face!!:

We are almost 1 mile from the school, so we are about the farthest in the boundaries. As we walked to school, we "picked up" many families as they came out of their doors to walk to school, cameras in hand. When we all crossed the one busy street with the crossing guard... well that's when I started crying. I am absolutely overjoyed that we are going to this school. A diverse, high-performing, neighborhood school. 

A little nervous, but ready to go. She was very brave.

A last hug for mama:

Look at how well I'm holding it together!

Daddy is so proud!

Last hug for sissy:

Lined up:

Last wave goodbye:

NO! I don't want sissy to do that in that gate!

I snuck a goodbye picture of the classroom:

And that's it. My baby is in Kindergarten. I will have more pictures of the classroom and her teacher this afternoon. This morning the teacher wanted us to make a quick goodbye so none of the little ones would have a chance to rethink walking into the classroom without crying...