Tutu Cute, in a very Cute Tutu!!

One of my friends from work, Kyle, has a very talented and extremely crafty wife, Maleah. It is not rare for me to gush over Maleah's craftiness, nor is it any secret that I have longed for a Maleah McPherson original for some time now. Last week, I walked into the office and to my surprise, the McPherson Phairy granted my wish...

As soon as I showed Nakiah her new skirt, she said "thank you for my tutu Mom, I love it!" When I told her that Mommy's friend Maleah made it for her she yelled (almost loud enough for Maleah, in Seattle, to hear her) "thank you for my tutu Maweah!" She was more than happy to pose for a few pictures, which is soo not like her. She kept telling me how pretty her new tutu was. Even when I explained that it was a skirt, she insisted that it is in fact a tutu. A tutu it is.

Keep in mind, this skirt is 100% hand made, pocket and all, it is also not the only fabulous creation to have come from the hands of sweet Sora's Mommy! I've seen everything from hats and cardigans (for babies and adults) to SHOES, actual SHOES!! Sora, Maleah and Kyle all have a very wide array of beautiful hand made clothes.

Maleah even put an elastic strap through the waste with an overlapping button system (sort of like some maternity pants) so that Nakiah can continue to wear this for a very long time. That is if I ever let her wear it again. I love it so much, and the fact that its hand made, that I'm afraid of getting it stained. Maybe I'll frame it!!

So, thank you Maweah, for such a fabulous skirt!! We both LOVE it. You seriously do AMAZE me and I'm so grateful for the gift. When you start selling these, I want the first order form. ;-)

My whole heart

Is filled with overflowing love for the two most amazing children!!

Sushi

Nakiah is pretty adventurous when it comes to food....or at least she likes to think she is.

She thinks she likes eggs, she doesn't. She thinks she likes avocados, she doesn't. She thinks she likes gummy candy, she doesn't. The list goes on. When she wanted to try my sushi, I was certain she wouldn't even put it in her mouth. But she insisted on using the chopsticks, like Mommy.

(notice the tongue sticking out in severe concentration ~ we call this the "Grampa Jerry" after Corey's dad!)

With a not so convincing look on her face she told me "yum, Mommy. I wike sushi". She then proceeded to remove everything from the inside of the roll and took nibbles of the rice from the outside.

I guess she's discovered that she likes to eat rice. ;-)

Cars

Nakiah found some matching pajamas in the store and decided that she and Brother 'needed' them. But, not only did the 'need' them, they 'needed' to wear them immediately and then they 'needed' their pictures taken in them.

I guess it a good thing the pj's were Cars. I'm not sure how long Kicen will be putting up with matching Tinkerbell pj's...

He loves his fuzzies....

....so much that we have to make sure to bring one of his stuffed animals, or a fuzzy blanket everywhere we go. When he gets tired he likes to roll around on them and smoosh his face into them.

Nothing is sweeter!

Summer Fun

With the nice weather we had this past month, the kids have spent a ton of time at Auma's house. The love it up there, we all do.

Thanks Auma, for letting us crash in on your free time so much this summer.....and for all the goodies you now have all across your yard!

We love you!

Austin

My kids love their cousins. Nakiah talks about AJ, Austin and Anna all the time. Austin has been coming over to help Corey around the house and every time he is here, Nakiah thinks he has come to play with her. She usually cries when he heads outside to work and always asks if he is going to stay at her house. Last time she asked if he could sleep in her bed. ;-)

Austin is great with them!!

kaos

Nakiah is playing on a 3-5 year old soccer team (she of course is the youngest, not yet 3) and dear old mom was assigned to coach. Not by choice, more by default. To be honest, I was not looking forward to coaching....not even a little bit. Considering the program is run through my department at work, I've seen first hand what 3-5 year olds on a soccer field are like.

That being said, I think I've enjoyed this Mighty Midgets season at least as much as the kids, if not more!!

Here is my Super Star - if I can actually convince her to play on the field. She's come a long way!! The first actual game against another team was pretty rough. She does not like the other team taking the ball from her and insists that everyone is pushing her. She got her feelings hurt a few times and has had to slowly work back to enjoying the game. But in the last week or so has really started having fun with her teammates. She is now much more willing to voice her concerns, as she is now the child running at the back of the pack with her hand in the air yelling "No pushing, that not nice! I will kick the ball!" ;-) We work on a learning curve. My fabulous team ~kaos~. Two of my very generous team parents sponsored our team and decided that 'kaos' was the perfect name for our team. I concur, it fits! Bojan, Levi, Lucas, Anna, Nakiah, Diego, Kasey and James You might see 7 kids doing their own thing, not paying attention, I see success in getting 7 of my 8 players to stand in the same location long enough for a picture to be taken!!

So patient and so focused

Nakiah in her very first soccer game

Bojan and Nakiah chasing after the ball

I try to explain the object of soccer is to get the ball into the goal.....I'm glad she can celebrate the simple joys of just getting her foot on the ball!

She was so overjoyed that in the middle of the 'play' she cut left and darted to the sidelines to tell Daddy and Auma that she "did it!"

And then the 'pushing' began...

We had a few tears

And coach/Mommy needed to mend a tender heart

Its good to be a passionate player!

Even with the little stresses and somewhat frustrating situations that inevitably arise with a team of 8 3-5 year olds, I've thoroughly enjoyed watching the kids get excitement out of things that I take for granted. They are my team of little super stars and I'm such a proud coach!!

Project Time

I've posted before about how much Nakiah loves to do her art projects. It can be something as simple as cutting a piece of paper into shreds, she just loves to do 'projects'.

She even gets her table out and sets up her station while I get her supplies ready. She sits down and waits patiently for me to set everything out for her. If I try to talk to her while she's in the middle of something she tells me "I very busy mom, I doing my work". Its rare that she ever looks up long enough for me to take a picture.

I hope she always enjoys doing her projects!

He loves his toys!

So much that he doesn't want to let go, even when he's asleep!

This is my kid....

And there has never been a more proud Mother!!

Slip n' Slide

At Kicen's birthday party, we set up a little slip n' slide that had a small "pool" for water to collect in.

Nakiah has played on the slip n' slide before, but she mostly just likes to walk over the spraying water, sort of like a sprinkler.

She was having so much fun watching all the other kids run and slide and was really getting into it, especially when she watch Kasey (the slip n' slide KING) take his turns. Allyson taking a turn

Kasey plowing through the water

Nakiah's version of playing on the slip n' slide

Until she was brave enough to actually "slip n' slide....

...which was more like crawling down the slide and splashing her hands into the "pool".

She was sooo excited and kept telling me "mommy, I did it! I did it!"

With a little help from Daddy, not that he needs the help considering how fearless he is, Kicen even partook in the slip n' side festivities!