Changing to a new Blog

Since getting an iphone this past summer, it's become too awkward to continue using Blogger. I've opened a new blog on wordpress. To keep following our Grave-brod updates, look here:

champnanos.wordpress.com

Elsa's 3 years old

[An overdue post...]

At 3 years old, Elsa is certainly developing her own personality and sense of self. We've seen her develop her own voice and expression over the last year.

When choosing her clothes, she often wants bright colors and bold patterns. She says purple is her favorite color. "Ballerina dresses" are her go-to. Her favorite is the so-called "chameleon dress" though none of us know why or how it got that name. To see her wear socks and undies alone would make you laugh because she stomps her feet and raises her knees up, dancing around in circles. She certainly loves to move, dance, jump, and sway whether on land or in the pool.

Elsa has also become more verbal and louder. She's recently enjoyed announcing that, "I'm two and a half," while she holds up her thumb and index finger. She's quite good at yelling to get my attention or to express frustration with a certain brother. She'll sing Baby Beluga or while falling asleep in her room. She can count to 20 and sing her ABCs.

She loves art and gravitates to our craft table daily. She likes to paint or draw with pens. She asks to play Candyland, Memory, and How to Build a Robot. She has a gang of "friends" next to her bed and each night in the dark of her room, she will discover which ones are missing (and call to Mom or Dad to find them). "Dollie" and "Owlie" are current favorites.

Elsa moves well on her Balance Bike. Her Little Gym class is a highlight of the week. She can hang from the bar and swing her feet up to her hands. She loves to jump and is fearless in the water.

When Dad's Away

A random assortment of photos I took while Kyle was gone last week, coaching the UW Women's Ultimate Frisbee team at the National Championship. Not included: rock climbing at the boulder gym, swimming, picking raspberries in the yard, watching Peter Pan for the first time, and spending quality time with several neighbors.

Sam did the puzzle by himself. They insisted on the silly faces.

After bath time. She'll be 3 next month!

Sam took apart a bubble-blowing toy that stopped working. He spent hours just using the tools!

Meanwhile, Elsa was focused on kinetic sand

Seattle Folklife Festival: we enjoyed the fountain with our neighbors and the live music

Collaborations

Sam and Elsa have recently been working together on a few art projects. Last week, I discovered them in hysterics as they took turns scribbling in color on the ipad and babbling silly talk. Then Elsa had started a painting and Sam suggested that they could mix the paint together. The end result was a sheet of paper completely covered in a beautiful shade of blue. Thus, I've been explaining to them what it means to "collaborate."

Hickman Park

When I took the kids to the new house a couple of weeks ago, I snapped these photos from the large park and open field nearby. Can't wait to be able to play so close to home!

In the background are homes from our street.

Some pretty neat play structures at this park!

House 5/12

Got a few snap shots of the progress last week.

Counter tops are in. Dusty, but they're in.

Excited to see this once the grout is in. Oh yeah, and a stove would be nice, too.

His and Her sinks in masterbath. 

This wood-looking floor in actually tile. We liked how it felt, too.

House 4/22

Took Beth and Steve over to see the house progress. We bumped into the tile-worker. All the dry-wall was up and painted. Cabinets are in, too!

Kitchen

Laundry on left, Full bath on right

Master bedroom

View out the guest room. Next door is also under construction.

House 4/16

Driveway is paved.

A look into one of the room now that drywall is everywhere. This is the "bonus room" above the garage.

Taken from top of the play structure. Note Sam in foreground on his bike. He made a dozen laps in full speed.

So proud

Elsa and I spend some great quality time playing together during Sam's Little Gym class. Today she built a tower taller than herself. She was so excited.

Early Spring

Easter

Early morning, surveying the bounty: a few clothing items, modest candy, stickers, a new bouncy ball.

In the later morning, we had neighbors over and again did an informal easter egg hunt. It was raining fairly hard, so we hid the eggs inside the house. Each child selected an egg from a basket to determine which color they needed to find. Six kids, six colors.

Sam asked to keep this basket of Mom's. I said, I'm sure she'd be happy to know that you were enjoying it.

Walking through the House

Yesterday, we were taken on a walk-through of the house to see "the guts." It was fun to see all the framing, wiring, and plumbing and start to imagine ourselves living our daily lives inside new walls. It was also a great reminder that a house is just that: walls, a roof, pipes. 

We discovered that our lot is below the level of the road, but they have good drainage plans in place. They work with a landscaping company to also ensure adequate drainage to the plants. Plus, they mentioned that the soil on site drains extremely well. We shall see...

I love the back of the house. This is the southwest corner with so many windows and two sets of sliding glass doors! That's a huge plus for often gloomy Seattle. The kitchen is in the back and above are three bedrooms. The pillar on the corner holds an outdoor fireplace, too.

This is what most of the house looked like on the inside!

Another shot of the exterior from the southeast corner. The den/office is in the front and the bonus room is over the garage.  Looking forward to seeing it without a port-o-potty and dumpster out front!

More house progress

February

March

Easter eggs 2016

We had some impromptu egg dyeing today. The kids enjoyed watching the little dye disks change the water color. Only two dropped on the floor. Sam dyed most of his eggs blue and Elsa liked dunking hers in multiple color cups.

Yup, that one hit the floor. So we ate it.

Yum!

Overheard today

"Elsa, I'm the rhino and you're the oxpecker on my back!"

Thank you Wild Kratts for encouraging symbiotic relationships at play!

Siblings on swings in Spring