Color Run 2015

For the past few years, Daddy, John, Aunt Betty, Justin and I have run the Color Run. This year Gillian joined us! She was very excited when we were at the house. 

And in the car. 

When we arrived she was very nervous and I think overwhelmed by all the people and noise. She sat in the stroller and refused to move. We had to bribe her to come out and take before pictures. 

We then moved towards the starting line. We wanted to be in the first wave of runners. So we would have the maximum amount of time to go through the race. We brought a stroller for Gillian, because we knew she wouldn't be able to run the entire 5k. Before we started Daddy had a quick pep talk with the kids. 

He let them know that John could run ahead, but we all wanted to go through the color stations together. 

The first color station was pink. Gillian was nervous, but excited that it was pink. We had her get out of the stroller and walk through the station with Daddy. The workers made sure she got a lot of pink. They paid more attention to her than Daddy (he didn't get any pink). After that she walked for a little bit. 

She walked for a little bit and Daddy carried her on his shoulders too, but she mainly stuck to her stroller. She always got out for the color stations. John, on the other hand, ran or walked the entire race. He spent the entire time with Justin. They would run ahead, but would wait for us to go together as a group through the color stations. 

After pink, we had orange, yellow and then blue. The very last station was silver shine. I got to walk with Gillian. The volunteers just loved her. They gave her high fives and they carefully doused her in the silver. She was covered in it. She just sparkled. And she was so happy. 

We rounded the corner and headed to the finish line. At the finish line we all got medals, a packet of color and a packet of shine. We all opened our packets and had a little color war. Gillian said that was her favorite part. 

It was an amazing day. Looking forward to next year!

The Kissing Hand

Aunt Betty gave Gillian and I a book called "The Kissing Hand." It is a sweet book about a raccoon who is starting school. The Mom tells him that she can kiss his hand and whenever he misses her he should put his hand to his face. Then he will get the kiss and feel better. I read this beautiful story to Gillian on Wednesday night, the night before she started Kindergarten. It's a wonderful story and I got teary-eyed. She asked me "Can you read it again?" I did. And when we were done, I kissed her hand so she could have her own kissing hand. She then wiped the kiss off on her leg. I said "Gillian, that's not very nice." And she laughed at me. 

The next day at the bus stop she seemed a little sad, so I said to her, "Do you want me to kiss your hand?" She said "Mom, I don't NEED it." 

Thanks Aunt Betty it's a beautiful book, but Gillian is one tough cookie. 

Beach day

John, Gillian and I spent the day at the beach with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Betty and Justin. When we arrived Gillian insisted on building a sandcastle. She also insisted on getting water to pour all over her castle. The boys had enough of her demands and ended up in the water. I then caught her smashing her castle. 

The boys spent the entire morning in the water with very limited breaks. 

Gillian dragged me to the water to hold her hand. She would get brave and drag me closer to the waves and then she would scream and run away. During one of her breaks, Aunt Betty read to her. 

We ended up dragging the boys out of the water.

We did have a fabulous day at the beach. 

Pearls

Aunt Betty has a pearl necklace that she wears for special occasions. She wore it for John's First Communion last week. Gillian saw her necklace and said "I really like your necklace." And that's all it took. Aunt Betty took it off and gave it to her. Gillian wore it for the rest of the day. 

The other night I got Gillian dressed in her pajamas and she insisted on wearing her pearls. 

 

I said "Gilly, I can't believe you stole Aunt Betty's necklace!" She got mad at me and said "I didn't steal them. Aunt Betty gived them to me! She has another one!"

Chalk pictures

John and Gillian spent the day at Grandma's house. They spent most of the day playing outside. Aunt Betty sent me some pictures of Gillian's chalk pictures. 

That's Gillian. Aunt Betty traced Gillian and Gilly added the tutu! Then she added more detail. 

Gillian laid next to her chalk picture. 

When I picked up the kids, Gillian proudly asked "Did you see my picture?" She was so proud. 

At dinner tonight she said "Oh no! I wanted to make Elsa's ice palace." John said "Well, if it rains tonight everything will wash away and you can make the palace." I love her picture and how excited she is to create something new. Can't wait to see what else she makes. 

Cookies

Yesterday, Aunt Betty and I decorated Valentine's cookies. Gillian insisted on helping. She got everything ready, the paper plates and all the sprinkles. She started with a cookie that spelled out I ❤️ U. She said "I don't know what this is." But that didn't stop her. She decorated it with a lot of blue icing. She made a handful of cookies. I have to say that I am really impressed with her skills. She really pays attention when I decorate. For example, when she wanted to add purple pearls to her cookie; she took the lid off poured some pearls into the lid and used tweezers to add the pearls. She is very messy with her decorating. She ends up with icing all over her face and in her hair. She also doesn't realize that she shouldn't lick the tweezers or toothpicks. But it was a lot of fun!

And her cookies came out amazing!

Paddington

When we first saw commercials for the new Paddington Bear movie, I told the kids "Mommy has a Paddington Bear." They didn't believe me, but my bear had been sitting on Gillian's dresser for years. I received my Paddington Bear many years ago. I think my Aunt Mary gave him to me. He is well loved and his felt hat has holes in it. Gillian has claimed him as her own. "I just love him."

Last weekend, Aunt Betty took the kids to see the Paddington movie. The only thing the kids could tell me about the movie was "Paddington had a red hat!" Gillian said "But Mommy, your bear has a yellow hat! The one in the movie had a red hat!" They were not happy. 

As info, Paddington traditionally wears a  hat, coat and boots. But in the UK the colors all vary. Most recent books he wears a red hat and blue coat. However when Paddington was first released in the US he had a yellow hat and pale blue coat. 

The Photographer

Gillian asked Aunt Betty yesterday if she could take pictures with her phone. These are some of Gillian's pictures. 

A day at Grandma's

On Friday, the kids went to Grandma's house during the day. I woke up Gillian in the morning and all I had to say was "Today you go to Grandma's" and she sat up and there was no complaining. 

We got to Grandma's house and once they saw Aunt Betty and Grandma they forgot about me. Aunt Betty sent me a text in the middle of the morning. The kids had completed their first craft project. 

When I picked them up that night, I heard that Gillian got to go to the beach with Grandma and Aunt Betty. 

While the girls were at the beach, John was "babysitting" Grandpa. The girls came home and Gillian counted up all the rocks she found. Gillian loves rocks. It took her a couple times, but she determined that she found 21 rocks. John did not believe that Gillian could count to 21 and said "Well I can count to 100."

Gillian didn't want to leave. "I just want to stay here forever!" I'm so glad she had a good time with Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Betty. Don't worry Gillian you will get to go back again. 

The cake

When GillIan heard that it was Aunt Betty's birthday last week, the first thing she said to me was "When do we get cake?" She was a little distraught to find out that we weren't going to have any cake. I suggested that maybe we invite Aunt Betty over this weekend and make her a cake. GillIan loved that idea. "Yes, ask her!" I asked her "What kind of cake should we make?" GillIan said "A pretty one. Maybe pink. Or blue or her favorite color!" We brainstormed for a while about what to put in the cake and how to decorate it. Gillian loves cake so it is easy to keep her talking. So I asked Gillian why she liked cake so much. She said "I just want to eat it forever!" 

This morning, Gillian and I made Aunt Betty's cake while John was at karate. Gillian was very excited to help. She insisted on wearing her "Olaf" apron. 

We made a simple box cake. But Gillian was in charge of mixing. "Mama, you do the eggs. I mix!" She was an excellent assistant. She was patient and helpful. And waited until I was ready with the next ingredient. She mixed with a spatula. 

 

And she got to use the hand mixer too. It was her first time using one. She did tell me, "I get to lick them when I done!"

And yes, she got to lick the beaters. 

After we mixed the batter, we added orange sprinkles to make the cake confetti but with only orange. Cause orange is Aunt Betty's favorite color. Gillian helped me pour the batter in the pans and I put them in the oven. Gillian constantly checked the oven to see their progress. While the cakes were baking, Gillian made Aunt Betty a card. 

The cakes cooled and I frosted the cake with orange icing. I asked Gillian to decorate the top with sprinkles. She used orange and mixed sprinkles. She actually took handfuls of sprinkles and put them on top. But she was pleased with the finished product and that's all that matters. 

Aunt Betty came to visit today and Gillian was so happy to show her the cake. 

The cake was delicious and Aunt Betty was so happy. I'm glad I got to spend the morning with my little lady and Gillian was happy to get some cake! And surprise Aunt Betty too!

Tea Party

It's been a long time since I have enjoyed a tea party with Gillian. Yesterday Aunt Betty and Justin came to visit. The kids were playing happily downstairs while Aunt Betty and I talked upstairs. We went to check on them and found John and Justin playing video games. Gillian, on the other hand, had on a pretty dress up skirt and fairy wings. She was setting up a tea party. Aunt Betty and I joined her. I laid out a blanket and helped her set up the plates and napkins. Aunt Betty worked on the cookies and sandwiches. Gillian got some friends (stuffed animals and babies) to join us. She brewed up some coffee (in her coffee maker). And then she said "We need a menu!" She found the Magna Doodle and gave it to me. "Write the menu." Aunt Betty and I laughed and she insisted "Write the menu." I asked her "What do I write?" She gave me a little list of what we were having. "Mac & Cheese, chips, coffee, drinks, cookies, sammiches." I wrote her list and she got mad because I missed something. And I had to rewrite it. Aunt Betty and I really enjoyed our tea party with Gillian and her friends. 

Here are some pictures of the party. And yes, I know I can't spell potatoes.