Another trip around the sun

My sweet little monkeys are turning 5! How did that happen so quickly?! A few years ago I asked one of my dear friends (also a mother of twins) "When does it get easier?!" She said "When they turn 5!" At the time that felt so far away and now, here we are. Everyday I feel so thankful they chose me to be their mama! I love the age and stages they are at.... the increased independance, the creative thinking, the conversations we can have, the deeper thinking that leads to interesting questions.... we are having fun together! Recently I was thinking back to being pregnant with them... the HUGE belly, feeling like a beached whale! Then their birth and the tiny baby stage. It's all been amazing in its own way and we've certainly had some challenges along the way, but what an adventure it's been!

Thor has adjusted so beautifully to living here in Hawaii. We had some temper issues for the first little while as he dealt with all the changes in his life, but he has adapted and is much more peaceful now. He has become best buds with Jack - his sweet little doll I made him for his 2nd birthday. I made both the kids dolls and they have certainly loved them over the years but in the last few months Jack has taken on a very important role in Thor's life. He has provided the stability and friendship that Thor needed in order to adapt. It is the sweetest thing to see them together all the time.

Jack was about to have a bath.... he was getting very dirty!



Jack was helping Thor create his car spiral. Thor also loves his little blue baby that his aunty gave him for his birthday last year!

Best friends!

Almost every night we sit on the front steps and watch the sun slip down into the ocean. (We're watching for the green flash but we haven't seen it yet!) Thor ALWAYS makes sure that Jack is with him.... he doesn't want him to miss that green flash when we finally see it!

I was reading recently in a Waldorf-inspired book about how important it is for little boys to have a doll to play with and it made me very thankful that Thor has Jack.

Thor is also loving boogie boarding, jumping on the trampoline, playing with Lego, drawing, picking peas out of the garden, bugging his sisters, and watching PBS kids on TV!

Bella is becoming quite the little entertainer! Often after we've watched the sun set Bella comes back out of the house with her hat and ukulele and puts on a great show. "People and gentlemen.... I am going to sing you a song...." She dances around and sings her little heart out... sometimes she sings about the ocean, or about the "aminals", about travelling or about how much she loves her parents! It's precious and we love watching her shows.

Bella is also loving puzzles, drawing, learning math, playing computer games (pbskids.org), swimming, boogie boarding, collecting shells, helping chop veggies for meals, and playing with her ever growing collection of stuffed animals. She also learned to hand sew last week and enjoyed that.

This is a sweet age.....they are still young enough to be in the moment and go with the flow....which is helpful with our gypsy lifestyle!

They are looking forward to celebrating their birthday in Hawaii this year and are counting the days!

 2 more sleeps!