Making pumpkin pancakes with Grandma Fisher!

Email from Grandma Fisher about the weekend with the girls

Hi. Thanks for the pic. We had a great weekend with the girls. Amara is a pro at cracking eggs. She did it two different times and was perfect! We met a family with two kids from Ethiopia. Amara looked at the little girl, 2 years old, and pointed to the girl's curly hair and then at her own hair. She identified with her! This family moved from Cottage Grove to Viroqua. The dad said they were active in the Madison adopted Eth. Kids group. Have you ever looked into that? Said they have monthly activities.

They both showered and washed themselves with a little help from me. I never know what kind of shampoo I should have for them. I know you have told me but please repeat. Thanks! Maia really had a reddened and sore pubic area. I put some cream on her but she may need some daily for a while.

They were great in church. They used age appropriate activity bags that the church provides. They were both engrossed but during the homily the pastor said stand up and raise your hand, as a figure of speech, and Amara's hand shot up. Guess she was listening! They went up and sat on the altar steps during the children's homily (I went too), and answered some questions about how they were getting ready for Christmas. During the collection they helped collect change by walking up and down the aisle. It goes to purchase mosquito netting to protect against malaria. During communion they go up with us and the pastor knelt down so he was eye level with them, called them beautiful girls, laid his hand on their heads and gave each a blessing. They felt very special.

Maia did really well at knitting while we were in the shop. I bought her some yarn and needles but when we got home it was hard for both of us to focus. We'll work on it again at Christmas. She picked it up pretty quickly! I was amazed. She got all of her spelling words correct the first time through.

Please make sure at Christmas that they bring dolls that they can use the clothes on. I am going to make both of them those tulle skirts with some for their dolls also. Did Sarah ask you for ideas for presents? If you want to list a few things, I'll forward to Sarah and Jeff.

It's really foggy here. Not going to venture out for exercise class. I'm hoopla hooping and walking to supplement the exercise class. It's a weighted hoop which makes it easier to keep up. Maia was able to do it a little. Fun!

Have a great day.
Love, Mom

"Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter."
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Tooth Fairy

Maia is about to lose her first tooth!  It is very loose, but she is afraid to wiggle it too much. She is also worried that she will lose her first tooth, then the Tooth Fairy won't come. I told her that if she loses the tooth, the Tooth Fairy will just know that she lost it and will still leave something under her pillow. 

The other day Maia told me that she knows where the Tooth Fairy lives. She said "yeah, you know, between those 2 churches." and after asking her more, I realized that it is in front of a dentist's office on S Madison Street. There is one of those cool art windmills there with the tooth fairy and a big tooth. She said that the Tooth Fairy lives in that tooth. I said "maybe... or maybe that's just art of the Tooth Fairy." and then she asked me where the Tooth Fairy lives. I said I didn't know....  where DOES the Tooth Fairy live?  hmmmmm  

Both of the girls like to be "Mommies" to each other. 
This email is from Steve:

Amara was not listening to me at Culvers this weekend and Maia said "He is the boss of you" to Amara. Amara replied "I KNOWWW MAIAAAA!"

The girls are creating such beautiful memories of their childhood.  The experiences they are having are enriching their lives and hopefully will carry them through adulthood. 

This email is from Pat.  The girls spent the weekend there recently:

I forgot about this until I was telling Dave this morning. Maia was reading to me and she pointed to a word and said it was a compound word. I was very impressed that she knew this. Later we were outside and were talking about the bird, titmouse. I said titmouse is a compound word. She thought about it and looked at me and said what is a tit? I searched my mind for an alternate meaning of tit, couldn't find one, and for sure wasn't going to tell her the slang meaning, so said whoops, I was wrong, it's not a compound word. When she's a teenager, or older, I'll tell her that story!
Mom

Amara at 3 years, 4 months

Amara struts with attitude

Amara loves little, pretty trinkets

Amara loves to hoard toys

Amara loves stuffing purses with a variety of things

Amara loves playing with baby dolls and loves to strap them into her car seat, then she straps herself into Maia’s car seat, and pretends they are driving

She loves playing in the car

She sometimes has nightmares

She loves playing with Mom’s makeup and having her nails painted

She loves trains, Thomas the Train, Yo Gabba Gabba and Bob the builder

Her favorite color is purple

When she is upset, she jumps up and down, or shakes her hands in frustration, sometimes, she throws herself on the floor

She is goofy and has a great sense of humor

She loves to play little jokes on people

She still sucks her middle 2 fingers, a lot

She still loves Elmo

She will sometimes get a piece of candy or gum and hold onto it for a very long time before eating it.

She has several nicknames, including: Mari, Mari-Mo, Mar-Mar, Tooty Butt-Butt, Tooty, Little, Boo, Mar-zi, Marzipan

Mac and cheese and watermelon are her favorite foods

She still takes medicines for absence seizures

She is terrified of dogs

Notes on our trip to Montana

An email I wrote to Grandma Fisher about our trip:

Our trip was great!  We took the train from Colombus, WI right to Havre, MT.  It took about 23 hours.  The girls were actually pretty good on the train! Amara had one major meltdown on the way back, but that is it!  We brought a cooler of food for all our meals except breakfast, which we ate in the dining car.  That was a lot of fun. 

In Havre, we stayed with Margaret's Mom.  She still lives in the house that Margo and her 6 other siblings grew up in, so that was cool to be there. 

Margo's brother Danny lives in Havre and he runs a restaurant called Murphy's Pub.  He has 3 girls, ages 9, 5 and 3, so that was PERFECT. 

I will write more in a second, but in the meantime, look at the pics!

Here's the link to the whole huge set of photos: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollybreeze/sets/72157630116754834/

 So, then on Tuesday, we went to Glacier with Danny and his family, except his wife and 3 year old. 

The mountains were INCREDIBLE.  When Maia first saw them, she said "Are those real?" 

We hiked a lot and Amara fell asleep on Margo's shoulders. 
We stayed in West Glacier at a motel right on Lake McDonald.  It was PERFECT! 

The motel was kind of rustic, no tvs! and the view was breathtaking.

In Havre, we went on  a "Havre Beneath the Streets" tour and we were HAUNTED!  A door opened, then slammed shut.  You will have to ask Maia about it.  It was freaky. 

Maia went to church with Grandma Kucera!   Mary (her name) went on and on about how good Maia was!  She crossed her arms when she went up for communion and she knelt and stood and did everything Mary did!  At one point, the priest called the little kids up to watch a baptism and the priest was folding his hands in a prayer and Maia did, too!  just like the priest. 

It was good to hear!  You have to take her to church with you whenever you can!  and she liked dressing up for it, too.  She even put on lip gloss. 

We also went to visit Margaret's Dad's grave.  In front of the grave is a tiny round metal thing that covers a hold to put flowers in. 

Maia was looking at it, then laid down and said into it, "I'm sorry you're dead."  Awww!!!  We wanted to laugh and cry! 

We went to a "Buffalo jump" in Havre, where the Indians used to drive the buffalo off of a cliff so that they could more easily harvest them. 

Maia and Amara had so much fun with their cousins.  They both just LOVE Ellie (she's 9).  and Abby is 5.  She has cerebral palsy, but she is super active and cute, funny and she loves fashion and having me do her hair.  Sophia is the 3 year old and she is ADORABLE, but Hell on wheels.  She is not mean, in fact, she is super sweet, but she is just all over the place!  She gets into things and she is a dare devil.  She and Amara had a ball together and they picked up on each other's bad habits.  Sophia has this loud, growl yell and now Amara does that, too.  ugh.  When we were making s'mores, Sophie took a chocolate bar and she and Amara had it gone within a minute or 2.  Sophia was practically force-feeding it to herself and to Amara.  lol.

The neighbor to Margaret's Mom is Nickolas and he is 6 and Maia played with him quite a bit. 

On Friday, Margo's brother Mark and his 2 kids Danielle and Frankie came up from Billings and we all went out to eat at Danny's restaurant and then to Danny's house for a bonfire. 

March 2012

This is an email sent to me by Margo, who is home with a sick Amara today:

Amara is pretty lethargic and just wants to be held. She ate lunch so she has some energy and is pretending to be Chester's Mom. She packed her bag and was moving into a new house with Chester.
I think she may need to stay home tomorrow too unless she makes a sudden recovery .  I'll keep you posted.
Margaret


And this is an email she sent me about a conversation she had with Maia yesterday.

She started by saying she wanted to go to Ethiopia . I agreed, said I would like to go as well.
She then stated a matter of fact like, that she stayed home with daddy while mommy went..... and said, "this was before we found you." She then asked how mommy found me. I told her Mommy and I met at work. She then said, "is that where mommy told you she wanted  to marry you?"  
This was so adorable and touched me to the core. I love Maia  and Amara with all my heart.

Amara

Amara is a goofy girl.  We already know that she has a great sense of humor.  She plays little tricks on people.  Example: Amara went potty twice at daycare last week.  This is BIG NEWS!  Margaret and I were cheering a lot as we went to pick up Maia from school.  When Maia got in the car, we told Amara to tell maia what happened today.  Amara said something completely off the wall that had nothing to do with potty and she smiled to herself.  Sometimes, if you ask her what she waqnts to drink, she'll say "wine" and then giggle. 
This past weekend, she saw Sesame Street Live with the Fishers and Amara jumped and cheered and squealed the whole first half.  Seeing Elmo is a HUGE deal for her!! She loves Elmo and Yo Gabba Gabba.  Her other favorite show is still Little Einsteins. 
Amara's best friend is Lydia Hurda. 

Maia

Maia told me "When I grow up, I'm gonna live with Grandma Fisher." 

This weekend, Maia was watching a movie and there was a poor girl who was freezing in the cold and someone gave her a blanket.  Maia sobbed.  She was so sad for the poor girl and other poor people.  She has a book that shows a lady giving some poor kids some cookies.  She stares at that picture and talks about how sad it is.  Maia has a tender heart.  She is very in tune with other people's feelings.  Sometimes, she is sassy and acts goofy, but just under the surface, she is very emotional and sensitive. 

Thanksgiving 2011

Here are emails from pat about Thanksgiving weekend:
The girls were really fun.  We played Old Maid and Maia was really a good sport if she lost; only once.  Then we played Yo Gabba Gabba.  They have 2 versions; we played the simpler one for a few hands and then we decided to try the older version.  She needed a little help with the more advanced version but she understood what she was doing.  It was fun. 

A bunch of us went to see the Muppet movie on Friday night.  It was a little too old for her.  Lots of humor that you would understand only if you had seen all the other muppet movies and shows; even I didn’t understand why people were laughing at times.  But she enjoyed being out with us.  Sesame St. was totally fun.  Amara’s reaction was so totally into it; unlike Maia’s first time when she was 3.

Amara related to everyone much more.  She still won’t go to Peggy and Peggy wants so much to hold her.  So when it was time to leave, I told her that Peggy really loves her and I asked her to give her a hug goodbye.  She said “will it make her happy?”  I said yes, so she gave her a really long hug goodbye.

Have to go; will write more later.

Mom 

Maia's first parent-teacher conference

Margaret and I went to the conference.  She is EXCELLING at letters, letter sounds, knowing which letter starts a word, etc..
She's doing pretty good at numbers, and she has to work on counting by 10's and knowing all the "teen" numbers.  She knows all of these now, though.  
She is doing a lot of work that they are expected to know by the end of the year, so that's super great!  
Now the bad things: she frequently doesn't listen to the teacher.  During carpet time, she doesn't sit in her spot, she pokes other kids, etc... and she gets time-outs for not listening to the teacher.  We have the same issues with her at home and we're working on them.  
She doesn't know her own strength and gets rough with other kids.  She wrestles and hugs too hard, etc...
Ms Sandra said that Maia has a very tender heart, though.  If one of her classmates is crying, she is the first to go help them.  
She said that Maia doesn't have any close friends in class and that her close friends are the ones she knows from Kids Korner and they play at recess.  
She said that Maia hangs out by her a lot, helping her with things and watching her do things.  Sometimes, she has to tell Maia to go play, and then she does.  
There's a girl names Ava that Maia is very competitive with and the teacher had to put them at separate tables.  They would tell each other that their work isn't pretty or they would say "I am done first" and things like that.  
She said Maia loves to learn and she puts a lot of effort into her work.  
We met with Ms. Brink, who is leading a session that we signed Maia up for about divorced families.  They play games in there and talk about dealing with feelings when you live in 2 different houses, etc.. She said Maia is doing really well in there. That's a 5 session "course".  Next, we want Maia to take "How to be a better friend".
We met with maia's music teacher and we loved the music room!  It's happy and big and they have really cool things in there.  The teacher said Maia is great in her class.  

a morning in the life

Just so we remember....
Here is a typical weekday morning in our lives. 
Margaret and Amara wake up early, around 5 or 5:30 and they make coffee, change the liter box and cuddle while watching Little Einsteins.  Mama makes cinnamon raisin toast and Amara and Mama eat.  Then Mama comes and wakes me (Holly) up.  She gives me a "snooze" warning and then I am up.  I start getting ready and then I wake Maia up.  I like to wake her up by singing a silly song or just kissing her head many times.  Then I help Maia get ready and when we're both ready, we go downstairs.  Mama comes upstaris to take a shower.  Sometimes when she blow dries her hair, the girls run up there so she can blow dry them, too.  They giggle and run and then come back for more. 
After Mama is ready, she gets Amara ready while Maia is either watching Curious George or eating cereal.  Mama and Amara come down, all ready, then we all get our shoes on and leave the house by 7:05.  We drop Amara off at daycare (Kids Korner and she is a Magic Monkey) and Maia goes to the Kids Korner School-age room).  and Margaret and I are off to work at WPS. 

Baby in tummy

Maia was going to the bathroom in the half bath and Amara was in there with her.  Amara yelled "Mommy!" in a worried voice.  I opened the door.  Amara said "Do I have baby in my tummy?" and I laughed and siad "No, Silly!" Amara said "Maia told me I have a baby in my tummy." and then Maia quickly jumped in and said 'I was only kidding."  and then she said that a boy at school said that if you have a big belly, you have a baby in your tummy.... I explained that Amara's tummy is perfect and that we don't get babies in our tummies until we're grown-ups. Then Maia said "You mean when we're 16?"  (good LORD)  I said "NO, when you're 30!."

Apology

A couple of nights ago, I was cooking in the kitchen and the girls were hanging out by me.  Maia accidentally stepped on Amara's toes.  Amara started crying. I told Maia that even though it was an accident, she needs to apologize.  I sat in the dining room chair and held Amara on my lap.  Maia was refusing to come and say sorry.  I again explained to her that even though she didn't mean to do it, she needs to apologize and make sure Amara is ok.  Maia muttered out a barely audible "sorry".  I told Maia to come closer, look Amara in the eye and say Sorry again.  Maia moved one step closer and, with her head down, mumbled "sorry".  Amara looked at her and in a very warning voice said "LOUDERRRR!"  lol 

butts and boobs

This age is so funny..... because Maia then asked "so when you're a grown-up, you can show your butt?" lol. How do you answer stuff like that, ya know?

And Maia knows that she came out of my tummy and they cut my belly open to get her out. The other night, she asked me if they gave me sleeping medicine and I said yes and she asked Amara was cut out of a woman's belly and I told her that not all babies are cut out of their Mommy's tummies and she said "the other babies come out of your boobs." HAAA!!! I was trying so hard not to laugh. Then I just told her that I would explain it to her when she is older and she dropped it.

What's in Heaven?

Maia: Mom, I know what's in Heaven.

Me: What's in Heaven?

Maia: Lots and lots and lots of beds.

• Yesterday, Maia got in trouble at school for being sassy and in the car, I was talking to her about it and she said "Mom!  Don't frustrate me!"   lol
• Later that night, she and I drove to Janesville to do errands and on the drive, she said, "Mom, I saw a park with a lot of statues in it and there's dead people there."  and that creeped me out ....  but I said "dead people?" and she said "Yeah, Daddy told me" and I realized that she was talking about a cemetery! 
• Amara is saying so many sentences now!   She loves to swim and she is fearless.  She loves playing with her baby and she names her babies "Haley".  She's a good Mama to her babies. 

Our wedding

A beautiful, sunny day, not too hot.  Olbrich gardens in the morning is so magical, beautiful...
The girls loved being Princesses.  Amara slept through the ceremony and woke up as everyone clapped and cheered at the end. 
Maia and Violet played in the wishing pond.  They took coins out of it and brought them to me.  Everyone laughed.  Amara and Jaxson played on the stage.  Gigi spoke into the microphone and gave us a toast.
It was a day of yellow sunshine, lots of flowers, a great brunch, laughter, good music and lots of love. 

June 25, 2011... Our Wedding