Addie Bear

I adore the fact that 99% of the time, Addie goes to sleep holding Bussi Bear and wearing the same bear hat she has had since being 18 months old.

The truth comes out

Apparently I took too many photos while on our trip to Paris.  In Addie's words, "My mom kept taking pictures.  I think she took too much.  I'll give you a clue - She took some on the bridge of the castle next to our hotel.  We called it Blue Door."

In my defense, some photos are simply worth the extra effort.

Addie-isms

"Does this picture look scientistc? I think it does."

"Gramma, I got a new bear in Paris. His name is Coconut. Do you want to see him in human?  I will go get him now."

"In one mile, turn right... in 100 feet, turn left... your destiny will be on your right."

Christmas concert

The girls are impressing me more and more with their music. Addie can play with both hands and sing at the same time. Ellie has learned so many new sing to the notes and reading the music is actually helping them with their singing voices too.  I can't help but smile at the results of their hard work.

About Addie

One of the first school assignments that Addie had in Kindergarten was to decorate a piece of paper.

On one side, photos of the things that mean the most to you.  She chose a photo of the family, one of Ellie, one of her two favorite bears (Bussi & Patches) and one of the Eiffel Tower.

On the other side, anything you want your new friends to know about you.  The words say "I am a sunflower girl.  I have a bear heart and a dragon soul."

You're still the one

We recently had a bunch of lice decide that our girls' hair would make the perfect place to establish a home for themselves and generations to come. We scrubbed our heads with the fancy schmancy shampoo, did a ton of laundry, tossed a bunch of stuffies into the garage and spent the following week nit-picking (literally). Towards the end of the week both girls were desperately missing their favorite stuffies, Bun Bun and Bussi Bear. Even after all this time, they are still so very loved.

Happy Halloween 2015

Family Portraits

I love seeing the differences in the styles of the drawings my girls made.

This is Ellie's portrait of our family in Paris, including her imaginary pet unicorn (apparently she doesn't really exist, but Ellie wishes she did). I love the absolute perfection of everyone in the image. We are all in our places. We look happy, don't you think?

This is Addie's portrait of our family. Notice the life that she has given us! Can't you just feel our personalities? Daddy is dancing and singing to the music and the girls even have their arms around each other. If you ask me, it looks like the mommy in this picture couldn't be any happier.

What do you think of the differences in styles? Are they as apparent to you as they are to me?

Addie's Drawings

I have to say that I'm always so impressed with Addie's drawings.  She always seems to choose to include a level of detail, character and life that far exceeds anything that even Ellie draws at age 8.  Below is a sample of artwork Addie has blessed us with in the recent couple of months.

Aspen tree in the fall, with a heart.  This was presented to me because she knew how much the autumn leaves make me think of her.

Our recent camping trip.  Notice how she included lots of stars and even shooting stars.  At the bottom, you can see our car, tents and happy camper people.

Kindergarten self portrait.  I love the details in her dress and shoes.  It matches her outfit nearly perfectly!

Sunflowers, only notice how one is even drawn from the side.  Seriously?  Is this girl really just in Kindergarten?

Night time lights.  Remember my recent post about her connection with Vincent Van Gogh and his love for the colors that the night brings with it?  Well, here is her version of Starry Night.  I love the building to the left, the stars in the sky and the city lights to the bottom right.  I know a good parent isn't supposed to compare her children, but Ellie has never drawn anything close to this level of abstraction.

The Cheese Importers.  This is one of our happy places to go to.  Look closely and you see the building's front door, windows and cafe bistro tables.  It makes me happy just looking at it.

101 dalmatians, including some sitting on the couch, and on the bed.  She did make it a point to tell me that there aren't really 101 dalmatians in the photo but she ran out of space and time to draw all the others.  She said we can just pretend that they're there, only they're off to the side of the paper.

Vincent Van Gogh

ADDIE: Mommy did you know that when it's night time, the sky isn't really black?
MOMMY: What do you mean?
ADDIE: It's just looks black but it's really dark dark dark blue.
MOMMY: Oh really?
ADDIE: Yeah. The night time is filled with lots of colors even though lots of people think it's always black.
MOMMY: Wow!
ADDIE: I wish I could go to a place where I can see all the city lights at night time!
MOMMY: Oh? We could do that! That would be fun!
ADDIE: If I could, I would paint all the colors of the night!
MOMMY: Do you know who you remind me of?
ADDIE: Who?
MOMMY: There was once a famous painter named Vincent Van Gogh who painted the night time.
ADDIE: He did?
MOMMY: And he was the first one to do it! Before him, everyone thought the night time was too dark to have any pretty colors.
ADDIE: But they were wrong!
MOMMY: Yep, Vincent Van Gogh knew that there were lots of colors in the night time and so he painted them.
ADDIE: Can I see?

MOMMY: This one is his most famous painting. It's called Starry Night. See how he painted the beautiful colors of the sky, even though everyone is sleeping in the village below?
ADDIE: WOW! Mommy, see? I told you!

MOMMY: And this one is also called Starry Night, I think.
ADDIE: Oh! I like the reflections in the water!
MOMMY: Yep, it's another example of how he saw lots of colors in the dark dark dark night.

MOMMY: Here's another one. It's a painting of a cute cafe in France. See how even though it's night time, he still painted lots of colors from the lights and people's windows?
ADDIE: And look at all the colors in the rocks!

MOMMY: I think there might be another reason why you're like Vincent Van Gogh.
ADDIE: Why?

MOMMY: Look at this other painting that he's famous for.
ADDIE: (GASP!) Oh Mommy! It's sunflowers! Really! Look!

MOMMY: Sometimes it's hard for me to like art, but I've always liked Vincent Van Gogh's paintings.
ADDIE: Me too! He's my favorite! He sees things just like I do!

Little Pianist

Just look at this girl! Isn't she beautiful?

This is Addie's first piano recital and at the age of 5 (almost 6), she was by far the youngest student to perform. She even did a duet with her teacher, who later explained how hard a duet can be because it takes a lot of concentration.

I love seeing how proud Addie is with her progress and her confidence is priceless. She LOVES taking piano lessons!

This was my favorite song that she played. I am looking forward to seeing how far she will take her piano lessons. If the older students are any indication, Addie could be quite the pianist in a couple of years!

A big "Thank you!" to Addie's piano teacher. Addie adores her and even tried to convince us to let her have a sleepover at her piano teacher's house some time.

Addie's first day of Kindergarten

And it was "really really really great!"

Third eye

Addie explains her third eye...

"Did you know that I can see dragons for real? Do you want to know how? I have 3 eyes! No, really, I do!  These two I see the things around me, but I have one right here on my head too.  It looks inside of me. It can see my imagination and the things I dream about. That's how I can see the things on my head even if no one else can see them!  My third eye is very magical that way!"

The Thunder Dragon

According to legend (i.e. Addie), the Thunder Dragon lives in the sky.  The clouds are his body, the lightning is the fire he breathes and the thunder is his growl.  Oh, and he watches over the dreams of children.   He's a real dragon but can only be seen with one's third eye.  According to Addie, she can see very well with her third eye because she can picture the Thunder Dragon in great detail whenever she closes her other two eyes.

That's deep.

Letter from Addie

Chalk

Another oldie from my now-dead phone... but this is a good one. We found a new restaurant on Main Street in Longmont and the girls kept themselves busy with the chalk boards. I love that their messages are automatically filled with love for each other.

Naming the future generation

ELLIE: If I had a baby girl I would name her Amanda and if I had a boy I would name him Henry.
ADDIE: I would name my babies Mr Freckle Bumps and Mrs Froggile Wiggles

Smile*

You make me smile like the sun,
Fall outta bed
Sing like a bird,
Dizzy in my head
Spin like a record,
Crazy on a Sunday night
You make me dance like a fool,
Forget how to breathe
Shine like gold,
Buzz like a bee
Just the thought of you can drive me wild
Oh, you make me smile

* Lyrics to Uncle Kracker's "Smile"

Addie's Letters to Mommy