Lately.

Clara got her first haircut, courtesy of Nana. (She cuts everyone's hair but Lindsey's. She also cuts her own hair - don't ask me how.)

It was sad for me, of course, but I was determined not to let her go all the way to mullet. I made that mistake with Bethany, and the photographic evidence is hilarious.

Beautiful girl. :)

Uncle Pete came to visit in January while he was home from Singapore. We had a great time, and the girls LOVE him. Our college friend Uncle Dr. T. also moved back to Atlanta, so the three of us had a mini-reunion with amazing food. (Also, Lindsey took the girls to Granny's for the night, so I actually got to sleep after we went to dinner. Amazing.)

We have been writing a lot. Clara is learning to manage a marker. She does not like crayons.

Bethany is learning that symbols stand for things, so she makes these vertical lines to form words. She can read it to you, but the readings aren't always consistent. I believe this was a card for someone.

She has also taught herself to write the letter B. That's it in the corner of the paper. She makes a line, and then adds circles. The number of circles varies. Sometimes it's two (so it actually looks like a B), and sometimes it's twenty. We are just rolling with it for now.

Mommy's new kitchen allows for biscuit making. I am on a quest to find the perfect recipe. I'm close. Bethany loves to roll out her own tiny piece of dough.

Sometimes we dance in the tower. Please note Clara's oven mitt. She loves to wear it, even though it makes her look like a fiddler crab.

Christmas 2012

Just a few little Christmas photos to record the big day. We all had the stomach flu for the week and half leading up to Christmas, so our celebration was low-key. On Christmas Eve, Granny came to visit and spend the day. Clara loved her new books, and Bethany has had a blast sewing with the sewing block Granny got for her.

Bethany enjoys wearing all of this. All the time. Sort of like a bag lady.

Here are the girls after church on Christmas Eve. I almost took the plunge and got long-sleeved Christmas dresses. Thank goodness I didn't, because we had 70 degree weather. Again. It rained most of the day, but the sun came out as we were driving to church.  

We went to bed, and the girls actually slept until after the sun came up. I know I don't have many years left of that!

Bethany is not a morning person.

Their big gift was this farmer's market stand, complete with cash register, scale, and credit card swiper. They love it. One of Bethany's big thrills is beating the top of the scale like the Pampered Chef food chopper. She is slowly learning that things cost money, so the cash register has been fun. Typically, things cost "90 10."

Shoppers in action! 

The sleeper hit of this holiday season were these candy bracelets the girls got in their stockings. They loved them, and gobbled them up. I think they were gone before noon on Christmas Day.

The next day, we drove to Macon to celebrate with Nana, Grandpa, and Uncle Andrew. Here is the girls' present from them - a garden wagon! It is a lot of fun (and it lives in Macon, because it is huge). Grandpa forgot important Santa-related lessons, and did not assemble it in advance. The girls got to "help" him figure out the instructions and then use the tools to put it together.  Please note that Bethany is wearing her "ballerina clothes." She loves the skirt in particular, because it has "four fluffs, and they make me twirl better."

Bethany turns 3!

Our sweet Bethany turned three. THREE. She is hilarious, kind, and loving. She also has an iron will. We assume this will be to her advantage on the Supreme Court. The beginning of three has been vastly superior to two and a half. I know it comes and goes, and she still has her moments, but she's also starting to have occasional rational thoughts. We like those, and encourage them when they show up.

Bethany's family cake was part of Grandpa's retirement cake. This thing was seriously DELICIOUS, and we had too much of it to necessitate making an additional cake. (Don't worry - I made her cupcakes for her actual party.) Bethany really got into blowing out the candles, so the pyromania trend continues.

 (Blogger decided to reorder these, so ignore the lack of storyline.) We had a few gifts from family and Mommy, Daddy, and Clara. She's finally gotten the "point" of presents, so she was really excited to see what was in her packages!

This kept Clara from shredding the wrapping paper prior to dinner. :) It worked, and Bethany got a kick out of it. I think it's going to become a tradition.

Unwrapping! At first, she tried to do it very, very carefully. I pointed out that she could rip the paper, and she was more than happy to do so. :) It made things move a lot faster...

Little sister says, "Hi."

The Saturday after her birthday, we celebrated at home with friends. Here's the birthday banner, still going strong. 

Bethany next to her birthday cupcakes - same recipe for three years. She is nothing if not consistent. This year, I asked her if she wanted a cake instead of cupcakes, and she looked at me as if I had three heads. 

Bethany and her buddy Harper - what you can't tell is that Bethany is actually telling a long and involved story, and Harper is politely pretending to listen. 

We made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones, green icing, and candy. It was a hit, but it did require a bit more parental help than I anticipated. Fortunately, all the friends' parents were good sports and pitched in. Bethany LOVED her tree, and would have made a dozen of them if we had let her. (Also - it is harder than you might think to find pointy cones...)

The weather was gorgeous, so we ate pizza and cupcakes outside.  Bethany decided to channel her inner Chicagoan, and wore her hat, scarf, and new vest the entire time. It was about 68 degrees. (My Aunt Paula & Uncle David sent her the vest for her birthday, and she adores it. She might sleep in it if we suggested that as a possibility.)

 

No, really, she wore all of that the entire time. She added her mittens before blowing out her candles. 

And here is the darling three year old. Cuddled up on the couch with about four stuffed friends and a book. Such an amazing kid. :)

Bethany's Favorites at Three:
Favorite Food: pasta (still, and probably always), strawberries, peaches, beef and noodles
Favorite Books: The Happy Lion series, Henry and Mudge (she looks for these at the library), Sunshine, and books about animals
Favorite TV shows: Mr. Rogers, but this is largely because she doesn't get to watch too much else. She also really likes to watch sports with Grandpa, Daddy, or Uncle Andrew.
Favorite Color: pink
Favorite Toy: dolls and animals, and scissors
Hilarious comments lately:
*After watching a YouTube video of Laurie Berkner, she asks for another one. I tell her no, she's watched enough. She replies, "But Mommy, it brings me such great joy!" (Seriously - where does she get this?)
*Everything, for a brief period last fall, was "unacceptable," pronounced, "unasseptable."
*Seeing a personal with probable mental issues talking to himself on the street, "Mommy, that man sure is being a silly goose," complete with head shaking like an old lady.

Halloween!

Halloween was a big hit this year.  For the first time, Bethany sort of "got it," and was excited to put on a costume and go trick or treating.  Our neighborhood in general is a little nuts at Halloween - we're sort of a destination for folks from all over - but our street is pretty calm.  We decided to just visit a few houses, since it was frigid and we didn't really want a bag full of candy.

Here are the girls eating the traditional macaroni and cheese/hot dog pre-trick or treating dinner. 

Bethany has had enough pictures, obviously.

Costumes were a major issue.  For most of October, Bethany vacillated between being a penguin and a witch.  We had settled on witch, but the week of Halloween, the temperature dropped like crazy.  We actually had to turn on the heat, which is unheard of in Georgia in October.  The witch costume was not very warm at all.  Fortunately, our friends had loaned us the super-warm lion suit last year for our dress-up box.  Bethany loves it, and it wasn't tricky to convince her that she would be warmer and happier as a lion than as a witch.  (And of COURSE lions have purple feet.  Duh.)

Granny found Clara's ladybug costume on clearance, and we just added a turtleneck and leggings.  They both were pretty happy to be dressed up.

We visited about 6 or 7 houses, and Bethany did a great job of saying, "trick or treat," and then, "thank you."  Several people insisted on giving her a handful of candy, which I could have skipped, but she was polite and appreciative, so that was a relief.  When we got home, I taxed her candy, as per Blascovich tradition, and Lindsey was horrified.  :)   Clara did not actively trick or treat, and we did manage to convince the few people who tried to give her candy that she wasn't ready for it yet. 

Clara turns one!

 

Clara turned one on October 15th.  It's pretty hard to believe.  She started walking at 10.5 months, and hasn't looked back.  She's a lot more adventurous than Bethany was at one, so our lives are a lot more exciting. :) Here she is on the actual birthday, tearing into her presents from my Aunt Paula & Uncle David in Indiana.

She was very good at tearing the paper.  This was not surprising, as destruction is one of her spiritual gifts.

We celebrated Miss Clara's first birthday with family and friends here at our house the Saturday after her birthday.  She had a blast, and really enjoyed seeing everyone.  Through some genetic craziness I hadn't fully considered beforehand, it turns out our friends have a LOT of 5-7 year old boys, so I ended up sending everyone outside to play.  :)

We ate pizza, and then the birthday girl blew out her candle in a dish of ice cream.  Clara doesn't really like cake (horrors!) (how is she my child?), so we had make-your-own ice cream sundaes instead.  These were, not surprisingly, a hit with the aforementioned 5-7 year old boys.

As usual, my camera died halfway through the party, so I'll add more pictures when I get them from a friend who jumped in and saved the day!

Clara at one:

*Favorite book:  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?  She will actually pitch a fit if she doesn't get this before bed, and can sing the first two pages in her own special language.
*Favorite food:  pasta  (no surprises there)
*Favorite game:  trying to run as fast as Bethany

Unlike Bethany, Clara loves milk in a cup, and will actually ask for it.  She also loves to play outside, and will walk to the front door and point to it when she wants to go out.  When she wants to do something someone else is doing (especially if it involves climbing or eating), she points to herself quite emphatically and says "eee, eee!" 

She is happiest when Bethany is with her, and also loves when Daddy comes home after work.  She runs and jumps into his arms, which is pretty great to see.  She loves to meet people and wave at them, and will even occasionally let non-family members hold her.  She's definitely got opinions of her own, but overall she is very sweet and loving.

Grandma G. G. Turns 90!

We were fortunate to get to celebrate my grandmother's 90th birthday at the beginning of August.  A big family celebration came later in the month in California, but we weren't able to be there.  My grandmother's brother also wasn't able to travel to California, so we all met in Jacksonville to have a smaller party.  Here, you see the birthday girl with the youngest member of the family.

Due to a carseat/stomach virus catastrophe, our first stop was at my cousin Amy's apartment to take advantage of her washing machine.  Naturally, Amy had a tiny guitar for Bethany to play.  They also made a beaded bracelet.  Amy is sort of like a swami for small children.  It's a gift.

Bethany and her new BFF, Amy.

We made a quick run to the beach, so that we could have the opposite temperature experience from our ill-fated February trip.  Yes, it can be too hot to enjoy the beach.

Bethany let Lindsey bury her feet in the sand, then she was pretty much done.  We headed to the pool shortly after this.

This may have been the only point at which Clara wasn't screaming.  She did not like the sun, heat, or sand.  Heaven help me.  How did I get beach-hating children?

Not screaming exactly, but still not happy.  (She also hated the hat.)

Back to Grandma's apartment before the big party.  Here is Clara with the infamous Santa pillow that Uncle Andrew made for Grandma in 7th grade Home Ec.  Why, yes it does remain on display year round.  How did you know?

Grandma G. G. made Bethany her very own tin of chocolate chip cookies, which she did not have to share.  These cookies are amazing, and everyone was a little jealous, particularly cousin Laura, who really only eats two things for dessert - these cookies being one of them.

Grandma did make another tin for everyone else to share, so the hurt feelings got a little better.

Bethany and Aunt Mary Beth - they almost look related.  (HAHAHAHAH.)

Laura & Clara bonding over their love of accessories.

Grandma G. G. and both girls - Clara was overtired by this point, so we don't have a great picture of all three of them.  Next time...

We had Grandma's dinner at the same restaurants where Laura's rehearsal dinner was, and it was just as excellent.  This cake was divine - you can see how impressed Uncle Chet is. :)

Post-dinner gymnastics with Cousin Laura.  (She will kill me for putting this on the Internet. Tee hee.)

The Florida & Georgia cousins with Grandma.  Guess where the height came from?  Hint - not the Blascovich side...

Cousins! Daddy, Aunt Mary Beth, and their cousin Jean!  (I think Aunt MB & Jean could be sisters.)

Grandma and her baby brother Chester.  We were so glad to see him.

Aunt Norine & Uncle Chet after I made them squish together over the furniture.  Not the best photo set up ever.

And one with Nana just for kicks.  The weekend was too short, as these trips always are, but we were glad to be together, celebrate, eat, and share some good stories.