Snapshots of L & E

It’s been far too long since I’ve updated this blog but maybe, just maybe, a string of updates is on its way. Why not start with some current tidbits on our fierce knight and regal princess, spotted here at a Renaissance Faire.

Luke

Favorite book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Favorite food: Luke’s a pretty pleasant eater. Often he tells me it’s whatever I’m serving for dinner. Such a sweet-talker!

Learning milestones: His reading is leaping forward these days and he’s much more confident breezing through easy beginner readers. Math remains his forte though, with double-digit addition and multiplication being his favorite challenges right now. He also just learned to swim from one end of the pool to the other, hurray!

Signature statement: He likes to put both thumbs up to answer yes to questions.

Most amusing negative behavior: He can take chivalry a little too far. So if we’re out and I really want him to eat a snack to counteract looming grumpy fits, he’ll resist me insisting that Eleanor and I share the food while he goes without. I appreciate the generous sentiment, but of course eating the snack would align better with my meltdown avoidance agenda!

Typical prayer:  “Thank you for everything in the world. Thank you for Grandma & Grandpa, Nika & Papi, Mommy, Daddy & Eleanor, the Chans, the Hamburgers, the Headleys, the Lavins, Aunts & Uncles, animals….” This goes on for quite a while.

Other favorites: Making books and gifts, putting on circuses and shops, bikes and BMX, Legos.

Luke thrives on achievement and exceeding goals. It’s exciting to see him soar!

Eleanor

Favorite book: Limu the Blue Turtle. What else would you expect from Eleanor the Pink & Purple Turtle?

Favorite food: Cheese and Macaroni & Cheese

Learning milestones: She’s doing much better these days with writing her letters. Probably because I finally figured out that she’s a lefty! Several months ago she started riding her pedal bike without training wheels and now she can make it all the way around our 2-mile loop with only a couple pushes from Daddy to help her up the really steep hills. She loves to zoom and keep up with Luke!

Signature statement: “Awk, eek!” followed by turtle kisses for her mommy turtle. She’s always loved to imitate animal noises and has created her own for the strangely silent turtle species.

Most amusing negative behavior: She’s still stuck on hyperbole when feeling displeased with the state of things. “Can I get you something, Eleanor?” Her reply: “Nothing! Never!”

Typical prayer: “Dear Jesus, I love you and trust you. Amen.”

Other favorites: baths, blankets, friends, gymnastics, and swimming.

Eleanor loves to help and lights up and rushes in when I invite her to join me in an activity. She’s always looking to have fun, be silly, and is still delighted to be our baby and cuddle in her mommy turtle’s arms. She impresses us with her sensitivity to Luke on many things, playing a bit of a gentle mommy role sometimes and keeping the peace. Still, she’s far from a pushover when something comes up that she feels strongly about. The other day she rushed in from outside, fuming and indignant, to proclaim, “Luke say he marry me but he CAN’T!! Because he not a PRINCE!!!” Some things just aren’t open to compromise.

In other news, these two won’t have first dibs on the stroller seat indefinitely…

 

We’ll welcome another one-of-a-kind Nielsen to our family this fall, a baby boy due in November! The kids are so eager to meet him that they ask me daily how many more weeks until he’s here. Luke gives me discounts at “Terrific Ice Cream” his make-believe creamery in our back yard because of the baby in my tummy (meaning that I pay 1 cent for a cone and Erik pays $300. If only I could get that type of treatment to catch on more widely!). Eleanor can’t wait to help take care of the baby, especially now that she’s gotten over her initial disappointment that he isn’t a she. Erik and I love to hear them ask about “our baby” and think this little boy will be a lucky kiddo indeed to have the two of them for siblings!

Butterfly extravaganza! Activities, décor & *magical guests*

I love our Eleanor’s zeal for a party! She had been so looking forward to her butterfly birthday bash that we started prepping the activities and decorations a few weeks in advance so as to best involve her in the pre-party fun. Then we kept the decorations up for a belated get-together with friends who couldn’t make the party date. As a result our home looked like butterfly central for a full month, and now I’m wondering if I shouldn’t keep a few things up to incorporate into our Easter décor?

There were butterflies, of course, to greet our friends on the porch.

Eleanor picked out the butterfly fabric for the craft station table cloth and we paired it with lanterns from last year’s bday.

A fancy butterfly table set for brunch. Erik and I made the butterfly garland using a butterfly punch, pretty papers, and ribbon. We cut the giant #3 out of cardboard and covered it in polka dot duct tape.

Another table view to show off the colorful linens, flowers, and a big cardstock butterfly at each place as a name card.

But more than the decorations, I deliberated over the party activity line-up, trying to come up with the best options for our mix of kiddos and ages. First up was butterfly wand painting. Erik had sanded dowel tips and wood-glued butterfly cut-outs on them, forming paint-ready butterfly wands.

The kids colored them with crayons, painted them with watercolors (for a resist effect with the crayon), and finally chose a few ribbons to finish them off. When paired with some wings, they make for the perfect butterfly photo-op!

Then we did the classic tulle in a clothespin butterfly craft. The kids colored the clothespins with markers and picked their tulle colors. They were cute and easy, and while some kids were finishing Erik vaulted them through the air with some sort of elastic band launcher for extra pizzazz.

Then we headed into the playroom for a butterfly hunt! Eleanor says this was her favorite part. Pre-party, I punched butterflies out of various papers and half-hid them throughout the room. Then we sent in the kids with party bags to collect them easter-egg style.

After that we trooped outside to make butterfly nectar. I told the kids that some extra-specially beautiful butterflies come through ABQ once a year, and today was the day that they should be passing through! So we mixed up some nectar with food coloring, water, sprinkles, and glitter to leave out in hopes of providing a special treat for the butterflies’ long journey. Here the kids are mixing,

And then pouring it into nectar pans!

Next, I read a story (Ella the Elegant Elephant) while the kids did butterfly scratch art around the playroom table and Erik whipped up brunch. Then the kids donned their flower hair bands (which doubled as dainty napkin rings in the table setting) and feasted on french toast.

As they finished up eating I checked on the butterfly nectar pans and what do you know?!? They were covered with the magical once-a-year butterflies!

I called for the kids and told them that we’d have to be quiet and not get too close so as not to scare the thirsty butterfly friends. They were spellbound! (And this was Luke’s favorite party happening.)

Then we brought the kids back inside for cake – a carrot cake with sprinkle butterfly stencils on top.

 

Eleanor approved.

Then we went back outside to check on the magical butterflies. They were gone, but they kindly left some sparkly butterfly charms for the kids to gather. They must have really liked that nectar they made.  

Then the kids jumped, climbed and slid on a little butterfly gymnastics course on the patio.

We finished off with presents and hugs for the lucky birthday girl.

I do think our girlie-pie was pleased with her day and it was such a joy to see all the kids have fun together! We love you Ellabelle, or Ella-turtle as you like to be called these days! You fill our hearts with joy with your silly, spunky, sweetest ways. 

{More pics here.}

September snapshots

Before November swoops in and this really gets belated, let’s look back at some favorite pics from September.

Final swims of the season… here Erik is making a wave pool and Luke is swimming with a kickboard.

Croc-tober at the zoo (which started in September). Did you know that huge crocodiles can go a year or more between meals? Here the kids are checking out a cute baby alligator, another crocodilian.

And we always like to catch our zoo’s premier daily show – polar bear feeding with epic leaps to snatch up fish thrown in by the keeper.

We went to the state fair with Luke’s preschool class and enjoyed pig races,

Fought fires,

And survived a frightening encounter with the park ranger mascot… elk??

We went back to McCall’s pumpkin patch for the third year and once again the giant slides were a hit,

And pumpkin field photos will never be optional.

It’s so much fun to capture the eager explorations of the L & E team. Best friends and playmates all day long they’re always having fun (or into trouble!) together. Last month I took Eleanor out for a mommy-daughter shopping date and she kept telling me that she needed to buy something for ‘her Luke-a-boy’. Luke makes Eleanor a card almost every day that he’s at preschool and presents it to her beaming when we pick him up. Stay sweet and take care of each other, my loves!

More first pets: Pollywogs!

We made the summer a regular pet-fest here, with plenty of mates for Russell the lizard. First there was “Climber” an interestingly colored beetle found on our patio that stayed alive for a remarkably long time in Luke’s bug house.

Then we happened upon an enormous puddle in a parking lot, brimming with tadpoles. We scooped up a cupful to take home and Nika and Papi helped the kids transfer them to the water table. A perfect home for the wiggly crew.

Here Luke is watching them happily swim as he eats breakfast the next morning.

We didn’t know what rate to expect for their transformation, but the fascinating process proceeded somewhat slowly giving us plenty of time to admire and photograph the pollywogs in various stages. First their legs appeared,

Then arms grew out and tails got shorter,

Finally they lost their tails entirely and started jumping out of the water. Funny little froggies – wait, I think they might be toads?

Our third little pet is still in transformation. The kids received a butterfly kit from my parents and sent away for the caterpillars a few weeks ago. We watched them hang from the top of their jar, harden into cocoons, and transferred them into a larger habitat. Now we’re just waiting for the butterflies to emerge!

I think this will be the last for a while in my series of posts on our southwest-y critters. Are you breathing a sigh of relief? Next up are some pics from our recent home projects and of course more kids on bikes. Now there’s a little time left in Eleanor’s nap, so I think I’ll pull out my autumn-y decorations to put up with the kids this afternoon!  

Love at first lizard

For years now every cute pooch that passes our way has left me with a twinge of regret, slowly mounting to guilt. Luke and Eleanor would be so delighted by puppy kisses, doggy chase, and canine cuddles. And wouldn’t a pet teach them responsibility, respect for animals, and provide a faithful friend in moments of frustration? Yet, I couldn’t quite sign on for the complications that a pooch would bring into our lives. Did we want to spend big bucks to board a dog every time we traveled to visit family? What about all the hair and furniture abuse in the house? Shouldn’t I at least wait until both kids are fully toilet-trained before taking on another potty pupil? So we hemmed and hawed for the past few years over the merits and troubles of dog ownership, never quite ready to take the puppy plunge.

But then it dawned on me: dogs aren’t the only pet available. There are plenty of lower-maintenance pets that could help teach our kids the same valuable lessons, making a more gradual bridge to the responsibilities of dog ownership. Thus began our backyard hunt for a lizard. We had lots of laughs chasing the lightning-fast critters for weeks, never getting nearly close enough to pick one up. But then one morning Erik heard a curious rustling in our recycling bin. He looked inside and lo and behold, there was our new pet, conveniently contained in the bottom of the bin.

The kids were elated when Erik came in with the news and ran out to help. Unfortunately in the hubbub of scooping the lizard up, he shot off his tail as a wild wiggling decoy. Luke thought that was hilarious but Erik kept his cool and got the tricky little guy into the bucket nonetheless.

Luke had picked out a perfect name weeks before. He chose “Russell” because we always hear these lizards rustling in the leaves and grasses. Here Russell is spying a cricket on the rock.What a wild spectacle it is to see him pounce on a cricket and chomp it head-first with its legs sticking out on either side of Russell’s mouth.

Erik is a pet softie so Russell didn’t stay in the white bucket for long. Soon he moved on up to this 55-gallon tank. Now that the weather’s cooled a bit we’ve added a heat pad and UV light. We keep it by our back door so the kids can go outside to check on Russell or just look through the window at him anytime.

It’s precious to see them collecting ‘presents’ to add to Russell’s tank and going out to say good night before bedtime. What a sweetie that little Russell is, I hope he’s happy with us for a long time to come!

Paradise à la lake, preschool version

Luke and Eleanor’s Lake Wentworth enthusiasm is so passionate that I try to keep the trip’s imminence a secret until just before departure, in hopes of minimizing the sleepless nights of anticipation. So a few days before the trip, Luke came out of his room after bedtime moaning, “Our trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s is never going to get here!” When I told him that in fact it was just two days away he beamed and bounded back to bed. I was trying to finish painting the playroom and (foolishly) hoped that the blissful news would send him off to sleep content. But a sudden wail from Eleanor’s room assured me otherwise. Our generous boy couldn’t keep the joyous news to himself and had shared it with his previously-sleeping sister. She bolted up in bed and wanted to be removed from her crib at once for immediate plane boarding!

Needless to say, we didn’t leave for the airport that night, but no happier kiddos could be found on our flights to NH a few days later. Here they are, happily ensconced and preparing a trifle for dessert with Grandma a few hours after arrival.

The fun continued nonstop for the rest of the week. There was always time for a little rough housing with Uncle Travis,

And this year we visited the natural history museum where they learned about animals with Uncle Bryan.

They honed their sand and water construction skills daily with lovely Grandma,

and the magically-stocked toy room never failed to delight.

Walking down to the beach there were lots of stops to look for frogs with Grandpa,

And finding some!

A lake trip is never complete without a voyage on Grandpa’s boat and this year Luke was talking about learning to sail himself!

We all came home happy and full with love, care, and fun times from the Nielsen clan. Thank you so much Grandma and Grandpa for another wonderful visit!!

{Many, many more pics and videos here.}