Anna turned 6

Another milestone marked, a pause to celebrate my special little girl. A whole day dedicated to making Anna feel special and know how much she is loved. A day to pause and reflect on the fact that another whole year has passed in our lives since Anna first joined our little family. The time really does pass so fast, and marking the passage of time helps me to pause and reflect and remember to live present and take advantage of every moment we have of childhood in this house. This is my big girl who goes off away from our family on her own everyday to kindergarten confident and secure in who she is, exploring the world around her, kindhearted and compassionate, delighting in all the little daily wonders of life, who still snuggles into my lap and grins up at me, who truly has two best friends in her younger sisters, a bond that warms this mama's heart.

We sure do love you a lot Anna.

The whole family, even Grandpa and Nona who were visiting for the day, got to come with Anna to Kindergarten for a special birthday celebration. Josie and Ruthie joined Anna for circle time and tried the motions to their songs:

Anna got to bring in one of her favorite stories, Lighthouse, for me to read and share with the class during the birthday celebration:

Her sisters picked out some special gifts for their special sister and enjoyed giving them to her. Even Ruthie kept the secret!

We gave Anna the choice of having a big party with lots of friends at home or choosing two friends and doing a fun activity for her birthday. She chose to bring her two friends, Adisyn and Olivia, and go to the local paint-your-own-pottery studio. Each of the girls decorated their own plate, which was later fired and we picked them up today. Beautiful works of original art!

After pottery time we had a fun playtime in the courtyard.

All three Clement girls playing with bubbles with Adisyn and Olivia:

More of our courtyard friends joined us for cake and ice cream. White strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting in the shape of a heart with sprinkles on top, per the birthday girls request:)

The day was made complete with dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Sombrero girl! Walking home after dinner at the end of a full day with three tired, content girls the consensus among the three of them was that "this was the best day ever!" I love those precious grins!

Friends

We've had lots of fun friend time in the last couple of days and the girls have been in heaven.

Yesterday our friends CJ and Miriam came over for a while in the morning. I think CJ and Miriam were overwhelmed at first by the excitement of my three girls:) Anna, Josie and Ruthie kept showing them one toy after the other, calling their name to come play first one thing and then another and were so in their face in their excitement that I think it was a little much. But after a few stories on the couch everyone was able to settle into a rhythm of play and had a great time.

This was my favorite, three girls playing songs on the piano and singing along to their music:That was Miriam in the green sweatshirt, CJ in the purple leotard, and then Anna on the right.

I love this shot of Miriam: Her Daddy is a musician, the worship pastor at our church. I think you've got a girl after your own heart, Greg!

Who could resist snapping a few shots of these smiling faces covered in spaghetti sauce?! Smiley Miriam: Anna and CJ kept making faces at each other and had fun together the whole morning. They were inseparable, those two:

Josie knows how to find downtime in the midst of chaos. She spent quite a while coloring this picture in her book. I was quite impressed with all the detail, and she wanted to share it with you:

Today Violet came to play in the morning while her mom, April, and I had fun making things out of yarn. Violet, also, gets too much attention from the girls, especially at first, and at 6 months isn't hardly able to defend herself against Ruthie's hugs or wrestling moves. Sorry April.

Isn't she a cutie pie with those big beautiful eyes looking at you?!

Tonight our neighbors Tristan and Sophie came over for dinner while their parents went out on a date. We've been swapping childcare so we each get a date night ever other week. We love having Tristan and Sophie over. Part of the evening always involves getting pajamas on and bathrobes on for warmth so everyone is ready for bed when parents get back. Then tonight it was Peppa Pig time (a fun little movie for preschoolers, it had them laughing for quite a while until it got closer to bedtime and they all zoned out):

Our home feels blessed by the presence of these friends and all the smiles and laughter that come along with them.

What Are You Making?

Oh so many things! As Anna told me today: "My favorite things to make are crafts and food!"

Yup, that just about covers it. Anything you can make would fall into one of those categories, right?

Meatballs:The meatball production -first you have to make the mud, in this dry climate. Use a spoon to mix the water and the dirt, collect it in a cup, form the balls, powder them with something white and fancy like crumbled cement, let them dry out of a younger sister's reach:
Sage spoons and acorn top bowls, for a feast in the playhouse:
Brownies, by Anna:

Little acorn people (yes, we collected all the acorns last Fall and made an acorn bag out of them-as opposed to a bean bag- but today the girls requested that the bag be cut open so the real treasure inside could be put to good use):

A surprise for Daddy, energy bars for his bike rides, freezing on plates before being dumped into bags:Anna made them with peanut butter, honey, different chopped nuts and dried, chopped fruit, oats, chocolate chips, and the secret ingredient- ground coffee beans.

Also being made: Squirrel food:

They liked it.

It doesn't count as feeding wild animals if you're just giving them back their food source that you stole for them last Fall, right? Anna wanted to know what the inside of acorns looks like, so she found some rocks and spent a while pounding them open. When she realized that the meat of the acorn is inside, the squirrel's favorite food, she left it out for them. It was amazing how fast they found it. Within half and hour it was all gone, even while we continued to play within 5 feet of the food offering.

Yes, most of these are things Anna made today, as opposed to Josie or Ruthie, although Ruthie helped on some of it. Josie has been sick. We made her a throne to recline on in the kitchen today where she was able to feel like she was an intimate part of all the activity while still getting the rest that her body needs. She seems to be feeling much better this afternoon, and I'm betting she'll be as good as new by tomorrow morning.

Family Art Night

It just happened tonight, and we all loved it. Sitting around the table, drawing, talking, laughing, being together as a family. Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that all the dishes were done or toys picked up or clean laundry put away or even that all the dirty laundry was washed. But we were able to carve out a space for us tonight and enjoy time drawing as a family, being creative together, loving being in each others presence.

Courtyard Fun

Living in Family Housing with a courtyard full of kids creates quite the communal living experience for us. There are always people around to play with, talk with, fight with, eat with, share all the ups and downs of life with. No one is perfect. We are all faced with our differences and similarities daily and learn to give each other and ourselves a lot of grace.

I love that our girls are growing up in this environment. They have friends from Chile, Vietnam, Belarus, Korea, China, Canada, Libya, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and of course, the US. They learn to share, they learn to problem solve, they are color blind and oblivious to many of the differences in the people around them. They just love their friends and love all the fun they get to have with them. They are inclusive and accepting, kind, generous and full of laughter. What an example to all of us adults who often have such a hard time with the differences between us.

Yesterday we had a spontaneous painting party on our front porch:

So much joyful creativity, sharing of paints and brushes and personal space, complimenting each others pictures, enjoying each others company. I think there was as much paint on most of their bodies by the end as there was on their papers. Especially as they were reaching around each other to dip their brushes in the paint and then carrying a dripping paintbrush back to their spot, or trying to walk and stepping on each other's pictures. We dipped most of them in the laundry room sink before heading them home!



Today the impromptu fun was a pool party:

When pool space got a little tight they got creative with their real estate.

Fun times on hot days. Community living at its best.

A Few Snapshots

Family photo from another banquet. Mitch recieved the Ketchum Award for being the top civil engineering student:

Coloring:

Ballet shows in the livingroom:








Anna's fancy hair, rag curlers:


Water play:

Naps by Daddy. Does that look relaxing to you?

Enjoy your own moments today.

Look who joined the drawing table!

Little miss Ruthie! Don't leave me out of anything my sisters are doing!

I have to tape her paper down to the table, but then she just goes to town. She knows where the crayons are kept and will go get them, or anytime she finds a pencil or pen lying around she wants to use it. I just have to be vigilant in making sure that she also has a piece of paper in her hands if she finds a drawing utensil or I will have some walls to scrub.

Anna's Artwork

Anna spent quite a long time today finishing up this picture that she started coloring last night. She wanted me to post it on the blog so "everyone in the whole wide world can see it!"

Here it is!

Anna's artwork, carefully and meticulously done. (It's a prefab picture, obviously, that she colored in. No, she can't draw quite that good!)

She told me she drew it for her Daddy'O.

Did I ever tell you...

...that I love things that are lots of different bright colors?

Isn't that a beautiful sight?


Sunny, warm, happy and peaceful. Flapping in the breeze.
Puts a smile on your face and a song in your heart.
Here's to hoping you can enjoy plenty of sunshine today.

My Favorite Corner of the House

It's not really a corner, it's a wall. These last two weeks have been tough. It was one of those times when you feel unable to get on top of anything, life gets you down, emotional tensions run high in all directions, you are kept busy with sick kiddos all day, all week, it seems impossible to keep your house clutter free and feeling peaceful. I was feeling pretty low and stressed to the max in all directions.

And my friend Michelle made me this banner:

"love lives here"

Our reminder, even in the tough times, of what it is that keeps us going, of the good that we do have, of so much to be thankful for.

I was inspired to create my own artwork that symbolized our family to grace our wall: And then I cleared that wall of everything else, so these reminders stand out to us of who we are and what we have.

Even if I have been unable to keep the floors or counters or desktops cleared of 'stuff' in the craziness that is our lives, there is a simple space in my home that reminds me of the peace and grace and love that lives here. My favorite corner of the house.

Baked Playdough Creations

Our neighbors invited us over for a playdate yesterday and the mom, Mariah, made a playdough that you can make creations out of and then bake it and paint it. We used rolling pins, cookie cutters, butter knives and toothpicks to shape and form the dough. Lots of fun for creative kiddos!

Anna, rolling out dough:

The recipe? Super easy.

5 cups of flour, 2 cups of salt, add enough water to make it a good playdough consistency!

Bake your creations at 300 degrees for ~1 hr, depending on how thick they are.

Then have fun painting!