Clara is FOUR

Slightly excited about her new guitar

This past week our Clara girl turned four. She is so big.

I think each year on May 3rd we'll feel the same way since she's our oldest. We will look at our little girl and see a new, big number that feels foreign and a little bit scary. Four. It represents completely uncharted parenting territory. By the time Caleb hits this landmark, we will be seasoned parents to four year olds. Right now it feels a bit overwhelming though.

It's not as if she has changed overnight. And in some ways it just makes sense since she's been mistaken for a five year old dozens of times. But four means new things. A day a week more of preschool next school year. Her first soccer season in the fall. And the last year home from all-day school (all-day kindergarten was passed in our district just days ago). Time is going by so quickly. I want to stop and savor.

In the spirit of stopping and savoring, here are a few things about Miss Clara, at age four:

*She is very spirited. Our easy easy baby (great at the three things that make babies easy: eating, sleeping and pooping) has grown into quite the feisty little girl. There truly isn't a dull moment with Clara because she is full of so much energy and enthusiasm.
*Some of her biggest loves in life continue to be the same things she has loved all along: people (she never tires of them and makes new friends every time we play at the park), books (she has an almost endless attention span for them), music (she knows more songs by heart than the average twelve year old, I'm sure ;)), anything arts/crafts (again, think insatiable love), and outdoor adventures with our family, especially those involving bikes.
*Not surprisingly, she loves knowing the "schedule" each day. Every night Jonathan does bedtime duty (bath, teeth, story) and she always requests I come in at the end to tell her all the details of the next day. And when she wakes in the morning, she remembers everything that is supposed to happen. She is a lot like her mama and this is equally nice (I relate to her) and disturbing (I hate seeing my flaws in the form of a four year old!).
*She is such an incredible "helper girl". She is very eager to be my assistant in just about any task I can come up with. She joins in cooking and cleaning, loves yard work and helping daddy "work on bikes" (his latest hobby), and she is an incredible big sister. She definitely has her moments, but most of the time she is quick to share with Caleb and finds all kinds of creative ways to play with him and create special "playing opportunities" for him ;). Caleb, in turn, adores his big sister.

Four year old stats:
Height: 95%
Weight: 87%

Some of my favorite quotes from the past few months (I use the notes section of my phone to record them before I forget)...
*In response to Caleb grabbing for her plastic princess ring, "Sorry Caleb, you cannot have my ring because I'm just about to marry someone."
*After listening to me sing an Australian tune, "What's a gumtree? I don't see any gum trees around here."
*In between sobs after accidentally letting go of her helium balloon, "It's going to God. All the way to God."
*When I told her she couldn't play with her new water table yet, "I know mom. I'm just going to look at it and pretend there is water in it."
*Her thoughts on having lice, "I want those bugs to live in grass instead of hair."
*On Caleb's recent hair cut, "Since my hair is short and beautiful, Caleb wants his hair cut."

And finally, an interview with our little four year old:
Favorite color? pink
Favorite fruit? cuties
Favorite food? cookies
Favorite vegetable? cucumbers with "normal" hummus (too many varieties apparently)
Favorite dinner? quesadillas with chicken inside
Favorite drink? lemonade (from Olivia's house)
Favorite thing to wear? pretty flower dress
Favorite book? Pinkalicious (good answer, since this is your birthday party theme!)
Favorite show? Sesame Street
Favorite movie? Tangled (two years running!)
Favorite place to go? Jump & Bounce
Favorite thing about dad? Sitting on couch and reading books with him
Favorite thing about mom? When she sits on couch and reads books with me
Favorite thing about Caleb? Playing with him
What makes you the most excited about turning four? My birthday party
What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor

Here are a few pictures from her special day...

Breakfast choice = dutch babies

Lunch date with mama at The Scoop

Opening presents with daddy

Me & my girl

And there you have it! A little slice of the Claranator on her 4th birthday.

Sandpoint Shenanigans

This past weekend we joined four families for a weekend away. We strategically crammed sixteen children under the age of eight into a five bedroom-ish VBRO in Sandpoint and spent three days enjoying pure chaos.

The nature of this kind of trip - in this stage of life - is not relaxing. I repeat: not relaxing. I've heard it defined that a trip with kids is a trip. A trip without kids is a vacation. And that is certainly true.

While not relaxing, it was full of activity, excitement, energy, fun, and adventure. The combination left all of us adults slightly exhausted at the end of our time together. We may have fared far better if we would have slipped into bed along with our exhausted kids around 8pm. But no, the prize for long, chaotic days is the kid-free adult time after bed. So we stayed up far too late each night. And of course it was completely worth it. :)

Here is our time together in (a few too many) pictures...

Though not at all vacation-esque, our time in Sandpoint with the Pickerings, Randalls, Dordals and Johnsons was wonderful. And definitely worth it.

Jono's Day

Jono is thirty two and here is what turning thirty-two looks like around these parts.

6:30am snuggles on the couch

Sunny outdoor breakfast at Chaps

Sharing a family celebration with Clara girl

Sharing a chocolate cake with Krista & KJ during our weekend away

I sure love this thirty-two year old man. This year he may have gotten slightly overlooked. I bought him one gift for his birthday: a pair of shorts at Costco that he returned because they didn't fit quite right. And just the other day I found the half written birthday card I intended to give him. Ugh. Good thing he is so low maintenance. Did I say I love this man?!

Four Funny Pictures

Okay, this might be the most random post of all time. Four pictures taken in the past week that are, well, kind of funny. 

#1: The family wagon may have seen her last days. I was driving behind Jonathan when his front wheel fell off and went rolling down Southeast Boulevard.
#2: Clara (substituting for the birthday girl, Madeleine) in the ticket blaster at Chucky Cheese.
#3: A glorious karaoke duet moment (thank you for this one, Shelley), while out with friends celebrating a birthday.
#4: Caleb enjoying cousin time at Nana & Papa's the other day.

I can't quite decide which picture is my favorite.

Leah & Montana

On Thursday this past week, I got one of the best surprises. My mom came to my house to pick me up for a birthday lunch (celebrating her) we had planned for the day. And my sister walked into my room! When my parents were in California a few months ago they schemed her trip up here and nobody let it slip to me. I couldn't believe it. It was the best surprise EVER!!!

The timing was perfect because we were all leaving the next day to watch Ethan play tennis in Missoula so Leah got to join in the fun. And hung out with me the rest of the day Thursday, which was perfect. I had been dying for some quality sister time.

In Missoula we did just what we do most trips over. We watched lots of tennis. We ate. We were confined to the hotel for long hours for kid sleep ;). We shopped tax-free. We went on a run in the rain. And we enjoyed time together as family and extended family! My aunt & uncle and cousin Tracy came along as well! It as a lovely, simple, rainy weekend in Missoula supporting "Uncle E". Here are a whole bunch of pictures of our time there together...

The only person thrilled about the rain: Clara
She got to use her new umbrella!

Quick pic before he wiggles away

Just loving her life is all

The cheering section

Celebrating one of Uncle E's victories!

Chocolate cake for the birthday twins (mom & Aunt Pam)

What does one do on a rainy Sunday before tennis?
Read dozens of books at Barnes & Noble, of course.

Clara with Michael Anne

Caleb loving all his favorite people together

And pointing, his favorite thing

Three of the four - wish you were there, Dev!

It's hard to believe that my baby brother is almost through with his junior year of college! What a treat it is to be able to watch him play tennis - and enjoy weekends away with extended family too :).