Maya's Birthday

Maya is finally 3! She had a great day, and a fun party with cake and ice cream with all of her Grandma's and Grandpa's, and the Andrus family. She got a lot of fun presents, and loved all of the attention.

Maya HAD to have a cake from Lee's that she had seen a few months before. She would not even hear of Mom making her one. She insisted that this was the cake she wanted.

A Maya Funny

Yesterday morning Maya was sitting at the bar eating her breakfast. I hear an exasperated sigh and look at her. She is brushing her hair out of her eyes and says, "Oh!! I need a shortcut. Let's call Brenda and see if she has a shortcut for me today!" I guess we have waited too long for a haircut.

Shopping for Maya

I took the boys shopping to get Maya some birthday presents. They are so cute and thoughtful with her (most of the time). Ethan chose some really great things, and Alex made sure that he got the perfect card. He wanted it to say just the right thing for his little sister. She is lucky to have them.

A New Bike!

Maya got an early birthday present, a brand new bike. She was so excited! She is actually pretty good at riding it already, but she needs to work on watching where she is going. She gets so worried about watching her feet, that she doesn't look ahead. She calls it a scooter, no matter how many times we tell her it is a bike. Every once in a while she will call it a "new bicycle."

Clarinet Practice

Alex is doing so well at the clarinet. He has decided that he wants to stay with it next year. He is really far ahead of his class, though, and sometimes gets a little bit bored. Maya does like to sit right next to him while he practices. In this picture she is just mad about something that Mom said.

Ethan the Email Man

Ethan has discovered email, and there is no stopping him now! He would like us to send him at least 10 emails a day. We do love his messages to us of encouragement and love.

Driving Cars

The kids got out the old car mat and have been having a lot of fun driving cars. Even Maya likes to take part. I found out that Ethan has always thought that I made this car mat. I wish that I had that much talent.

Helping Dad

Troy is still working on getting our house back together after our flood. Maya insists on helping wherever she can. Here they are putting a coat of primer on some new baseboards.

Sick!!!

This is what Ethan has been doing for the last 2 days. He has a stomach bug that is keeping him down. At least he has someone cute to keep him company.

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Last night the boys and I played some "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader." It always amazes me how much they know. They always choose the hard subjects like Science and Geography. Maya watched us play and this morning she wanted to play it with me. We sat down and played and I would read her some made up questions that I knew she could answer. She was pretty excited. Then she decided it was her turn to ask me the questions. Here goes:

Maya: What animal lives in a swamp?

Mom: A frog?

Maya: No.

Mom: A turtle?

Maya: No.

Mom: Umm...

Maya: How about a crocodile?!

She was a little disappointed that her mother lacked that knowledge. Next question:

Maya: What animal lives in a tree?

Mom: A monkey?

Maya: (I can see in her face that I have once again given the wrong answer, but she doesn't want to disappoint me.) YES! You are right!

This Is What Mom's Days Consist Of

This is how I found Maya this afternoon. She was sitting in her doll's stoller, sucking on her doll's pacifier. She thought she was hilarious. A conversation that I had with Maya this morning went like this:

Maya: When I get married, can I go on a date?

Mom: Sure, that would be great.

Maya: Do they have toys there?

Mom: What kind of toys?

Maya: The ones that you ride on.

Mom: Yes, I guess you could find some toys to ride on.

Maya: Well, do you think they have a slide?

Mom: Sure, why not!?