Live model drawing

SuperGigi.jpg, originally uploaded by jjs_37.

My friend Julie had hired a model to sit for a painting for her while I took care of hte kids. When julie was done, I went down to her studio (she has a real studio!) and I drew the model for a while. Time goes really fast when you are just in your other brain.
This photo is a mirror image of the actual drawing and I can see lots of different things in it now that did not work out so well, but I am generally pleased with the resuult.
The name of the model (who usually does childrens parties and corporate events etc) was Super Gigi. Super Gigi! I just love that.

The cutest shoes

the cutest shoes.jpg, originally uploaded by jjs_37.

I broke down and bought the girls shoes at Nordstrom. I was sick of argueing over what shoes to wear on PE day, Julia had grown out of her shoes and I wanted pretty and sensible good shoes that last for both of them. This was an expensive proposition, but we did it. We got cute, sparkly practical shoes for the summer.
Then Julia lost one shoe. When we crossed the street she tripped near the storm drain and caught her foot in the drain opening and her shoe slipped off. I couldn't see the shoe down in the drain, let alone get it back. Nobody was hurt, but Naomi was terribly upset. She felt that Julia must feel really sad about her lost shoe. Julia just kept walking along with only one shoe and didn't seem bothered one bit. Well, now I will order another pair of shoes like this.
Some raccoon is hoping for the other shoe to come down though...

Naomi in Dress

Naomi in Dress, originally uploaded by jjs_37.

Naomi on the other hand will pose! There are more photo's at Flickr.

Julia in Dress

Julia in Dress, originally uploaded by jjs_37.

I can't get Juliia and Naomi to get in the same spot at the same time. Mosty it is the Easter morning sugar doing its job. The girls were up beefore the crack of dawn and we found the easter baskets and then went on the egg hunt around the house and garden. (Shhh there are still eggs out there) Of course they ate some candy right away and now they are hopped up on sugar.

the Fairy

the Fairy, originally uploaded by jjs_37.

Julia is wearing her favorite costume (tinkerbell) because we went to a fairy birthday party.

Sometimes parenting really requires you to be very present in the place that your children are at. And sometimes solving one dilemma simply brings up more. Naomi has not ever been a very adventurous eater. I guess she was more so as a baby but not terribly. There were always things I could not get ther to eat under any circumstances. Then of course she became a toddler and super picky. She would literally not eat any dinner if it was not plain enough for her and then she would fill up on breakfast. Recently, since she now understands the if...then... concept we introduced the fact that she had to taste a bite of everything in order to get dessert.
Well, that is still not a lot of vegetables in total. Plus I was having to listen to a lot of whining about how she wanted canded or cookies and so on. We had been reading a lot about nutrition and such and recently she seemed more interested in eating well, to the point of asking me if something was whole grain so she could eat it. So I decided to make her accountable for how she eats. If I can trust her to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit, then she can be in charge of how much candy she eats. Last week she really was very conscientious about eating vegetables at dinner time and fruit throughout the day. So she got her very own "sweetie collection" of which she is incredibly proud.
I think this is really a great solution for now because I want her to feel like she gets enough candy so she won't be trading her organic homemade peanut butter and (fruit juice sweetened) jam sandwiches for candy at school next year. I want her to learn to self regulate candy and sweet foods so she won't feel the need to pig out on them and such. I also want her to eat healthy foods and I think this reinforces the concept that we do get a treat as long as we eat healthily in general.
Hurray, victory right? Well, no... Naomi shares her sweetie collection generously and I am sure she will run out in a couple of days. So do I replenish it so she is not penalized for sharing, or do I let her run out since I want her to realize that candy and so on is still limited...

Today we were supposed to see Sophia but Naomi woke up with a fever this morning so that is not going to happen. Naomi was very sad but I promised we would bake granola bar cookies. We have been doing a lot of baking since we got the egg free baking cookbook. I made a lovely peach and blueberry upside down cake that would have been for book club had the power not been out. Last night we threw together a zucchini chocolate chip bread and I have even made my own teething biscuits. They are not bad, and Julia LOVES them. Then Granola bars (still without oats) today. I hope they are decent anyway.