july little things

a little bit of life from my phone because i just don't have the time or patience to process my real photos these days! july has been slow and wonderful and busy all in one.

i have such happy childhood memories of reading everything e.b. white. we finished stuart little last month and finished charlotte's web this month. try reading the last few paragraphs of charlotte without tearing up. it's just so good. sage has requested a second reading.

we took the kids to the newly renovated sf moma. sage was so into taking photos and talking about all the art. nora...wanted to touch everything or beg for a snack. her cute personality makes up for the trickiness of this age about 90% of the time.

^^ sagie took this one! 

as much as i'd love to hibernate with the baby and have quiet days, i've got to entertain the two bigs! we've been back at it with outings. we met friends in the park for the sf botanical garden's special installation of pianos all throughout the gardens. it's so idyllic to be romping through the great meadow picking daisies while listening to beethoven. the girls loved stopping at each piano to play, but there were some musical treats with ahhmazing pianists playing that day.

found a new little beach park 14 minutes from our house, met up with the dials at the los altos farmer's market, and still are into snapchat (sage especially). 

we celebrated sagie's cute friend's birthday with a circus party on a beautiful day in the city. had to stop by a favorite place, zero zero, for avocado bruschetta and fresh panzanella on the way home.

and we snuggle this baby as much as possible. 

i laid him down next to me and he slowly wiggled over and nuzzled his face into mine. 

i could stay here all day...

the last wedding

my not-so-baby sister got married on april fool's day, which is so fitting if you know steph–she is the life of the party and all about fun! she found a pretty perfect match in ben. the last balkman wedding! 

fun fact: i have been pregnant for all but ONE of four sibling weddings between nate's family and my family. i mean, really! i happened to be very pregnant for this occasion and aged myself by about fifty years when i wore compression nylons with sandals. lame, but the only way i could get through the day.

i always think there will be extra time when we come to utah for a wedding, but the week was jam-packed with family gatherings, errands, and wedding prep. sage and nora were so excited to wear their fancy dresses and toss flower petals down the aisle for the ring ceremony. the temple sealing was performed by my uncle kevin, and it was so cool to have all of my cousins and siblings together in that room. i really truly love weddings.

sage's favorite part of the wedding was dancing! and soaking up every last drop of cousin time. family ski day, pampering with all the girls, long conversations at night, games galore...and then it all ended too quickly.

my grandma with all of her children and all but one of her 24 grandchildren

my mom had to make me a custom maternity version of the bridesmaid dress. she's a genius (and i really need to get on that whole sewing thing...).

steph chose a pumpkin chocolate chip cake. dare i say it was the BEST wedding cake i've ever had? it was.

the kids sang "families can be together forever" at the ring ceremony

one last kiss goodbye and they were off to canada for their honeymoon!

(but everyone knows the after party is the best part of family weddings...and it didn't hurt that there was tons of leftover food and wedding cake!)

march little things

it takes everything in me to go out and do fun things with my girls lately. by the afternoon, i'm shot. a little trip to the ER has made me slow down my pace a lot, and the girls now say things like, "i need to put my feet up" since that's my life right now. picnicking in the queen wilhelmina tulip garden in the peak months (february and march) has been on my to-do list and so i mustered up some energy to just do it. a comfy quilt, a tj's picnic, and some cute sidekicks were the perfect combo. it really is a magical little spot in golden gate park–giant windmill, closed in gardens, and no one in sight for a good 45 minutes the day we went.

as i watched sage and nora dance around smelling tulips and picking dandelions in the grass, i felt so happy. this is what i want to give them. the golden years of childhood. and then, of course, nora had to go to the bathroom right then and there wasn't anything in sight. a huge group of tourists had arrived so we couldn't pull the "outside potty" gig, and she wet her pants. home again! sage begged to go walking in the woods near our car because "i just need to explore, mom." and explore we did.

nate was out of town for almost a week (i'm tired just thinking about it), so i tried to plan fun things for us. we went to see rapunzel the play (far, far different from the disney-ized rapunzel s and n know) at the palo alto children's theater. there happened to be a french festival the same day. i mean, does the combo get better? french and theater, sign me up! we did face painting and practiced our french. 

sage is in two ballet classes right now and just can't get enough. she dances to the nutcracker and to swan lake on the daily, and nora is right alongside her. 

i loved the last few weeks of rain we've had because, well, spring: 

amazing flowers everywhere 

for better or for worse, sage is a perfectionist like me. can't do it perfectly, then why do it? (i'm always trying to un-learn this mantra). she is coming along so well with reading, but melts down if she makes too many mistakes, so we needed an incentive to keep her going. she very proudly earned a trip to yogurtland, or "frozenland" as nora calls it. 

nora's hair is long enough for french braids! big deal in our braid-loving house. 

 these two still love to match, especially on sundays. 

 nora has finally gotten faster on her scooter! our walking speed was pretty painful for awhile, so this is great news for all of us.

 we spent the last part of march in utah, where i had one extra hour after driving down from skiing in the mountains. we happily met the labrums at waffle love for legit waffles, but mostly for baby ellie. 

march flew by!

sage says...and nora too

to naughty nora: "i'm just tired of saying no to whatever things you are doing"

sage has had imaginary "children" for over a year now, but announced to me one morning: "i'm not a mom anymore. my children were stoled. i wanted to share them with other people who haven't had kids in a long time. i wanted to serve others."

when asked what she wants to be when she grows up: "well, a snowman builder, a scientist, a surfer, a cook, a swimmer, and probably a driver."(we raise ambitious girls over here)

sage's favorite game to play is always traveling. she packs a mean suitcase and builds a pretend airplane seat and knows the drill. overheard this morning: "nora, we need to get our passports. do you have your visa? because we're going to brazil. after we do security, i'll buckle your seat belt on the plane."

- - - - -

nora has really come into her own and her little remarks make me laugh daily. she can be snarky and stubborn, but melt you with her sweetness 1.2 seconds later. it's pretty skillful, actually.

me: "what did you learn about in nursery today?"

n: "things"

me: "what things?"

n: "bubbles, puzzles, blankets..."

randomly, in the car: "mama, what does exactly mean?"

when asked to put her clothes on: "unfortu-wut-ly, i can't."

me: "are you ready for a nap?"

n: "no, i'm ready for disneyland."

me: "how much do you love me?"

n: "uh....uh...um...um...one."

me: "did you snuggle with me last night?"

n: "yeah, but i really want to snuggle with grandma..."

me: "nora, are you going to be a difficult teenager?"

n: "yeah, but i'm going to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle. i'll be orange and you can be purple."

a weekend visitor

late thursday night, nate announced he was going to pick up some "weekend groceries." odd, since i usually have to beg him to go grocery shopping if it isn't costco. but i shrugged and gave him a list. half an hour later, i opened the front door to belize standing there with a box of fresh-from-boston cannoli! i've never been more surprised in my life! good one, guys.

san francisco has been rainy and gloomy thanks to el nino, but we happened to go adventuring on the windiest, stormiest day i've experienced in this city. carry on!

 thankfully, the weather improved for our obligatory saturday morning visit to my favorite market. nate even talked belize into fresh oysters for breakfast.

everyone needs a belize. she took nora to the bathroom constantly (that's true love), made her famous snickerdoodles while i relaxed on the couch, had dance parties and got down and played with my girls, carried my bags, pushed the stroller, bought matching pillows with me, saved me from quite a few parallel parking disasters, listened to all my woes, and was just what i needed in every way.

my favorite afternoon, we sat on the mosaic steps in the sunset, hit bob's donuts as a pre-dinner snack (and they were piping hot to boot), then squeezed into a tiny restaurant for the best deep fried grilled salmon rolls and wasabi noodles. and then it was actually only 9:30 pm, but felt like 1:30 am. mom life.

feel free to surprise me any weekend, belizeorama!