The Pictures!

We got the disc with the pics of the girls in the mail yesterday! They are fabulous.

Here are a few of our favorites!

The various faces of Maya....





And the antics of Fin....




Sisters going for a walk!

Backyard Pool Time

I think one of the things we are going to miss most about our move is our backyard. The girls are just getting to the age where we can let them play in the backyard without constant supervision. They romp, throw the ball, chase birds, blow bubbles and scream. It is a fabulous break from terrorizing one another (and us) in the house.

Last week, summer finally arrived in Eugene. Up until this point we were wearing long sleeves and wraps because it was rainy and mid- to high 50s. So when summer showed up we filled up the pool and the girls have been having a great time ever since!

Eugene-Seattle

It seems like we are starting the long list of "lasts".

The weekend after graduation we headed to Seattle for a "Bon Voyage" party.

It was a wonderful trip to Seattle. The girls got to spend lots of quality time with Grandpa John and Grandma Elaine. They played at the park, fed Sheryl Crow, the Blue Jay, and the squirrel lots and lots of nuts. They also kept a watchful eye on the mama robin and her nest of eggs!








We also had a great party hosted Auntie Kate and Uncle Joe! It was wonderful, perfect and divine!

Some older Cobbers...Bruce, Sara, Kate and Kuch.


Some older childhood/Village Theatre friends (Shannon, Danny and I)


An Auntie Bob sandwich...the best kind of course!


An Auntie Kate totem pole!


It's hard to say goodbye, so instead we say...See Ya Later!

Last Day at Little French School

Thursday, June 17th was Maya's last day at LFS. It was an emotional day for everyone.



It was a wonderful place for her to be this year. She was challenged and excelled intellectually as well as emotionally and socially. It was a hell of a transition to go from the Co-op where she'd been for the past two years which focused more on child-led learning to a much more structured and school-like environment.

She learned a lot of French words, phrases, and songs. She can count to 15, say her abc's and ask to be excused from the table or use the restroom in French. She learned about personal space and about consequences. She grew up an awful lot!

Quena and Carmen adored her and were quite emotional about her departure and Maya, Danny and I felt much the same.

A chocolaty face...


...and hands...


And of course, how could we forget Don the maintenance man who was a frequent point of conversation during Maya's time at LFS.

Another Daddy Blog!

Out of the Mouths of Babes
June 16, 2010

by The Next Family

By: Danny Thomas

A couple weeks ago I went to Seattle to visit my parents with my girls. Their mother had just wrapped up her dissertation defense and all, so we left her at home to unwind in peace.

The visit was amazing. The girls are getting to the age where Gramma and Grampa can have fun with them at least as much as they have to take care of them; I think that is a critical balance in the Grandchild/Grandparent relationship.

It was a great time – the girls did well on the road, slept well, played well, and everyone had a lot of fun.
I also got to have some nice grown-up solo time – an afternoon playing music and chatting with close friends and an evening out “on the town;” meeting up and drinking a few beers with fun beautiful people to see and play live music.

However, the entire visit was tinged with a melancholy, knowing that, while the occasions that we actually make it up to Seattle are few and far between these days, the possibility of doing it with relative ease is going to be gone by the end of the summer.
This is hard for my wife and me, for sure, and a little for our kiddos too, I think. I know it’s hard for my folks! They’ve gotten used to seeing their grandkids on a regular basis, and it makes me sad to say goodbye to that.

Li’l Chaos, with the infinite wisdom of the four year-old, must have sensed the elephant that was in the room throughout the entire visit up north. On our last morning there, as Gramma was chopping up a pancake for her, she leaned forward, out of the blue, unprovoked, un-coached, and put her hand out to still Gramma’s chopping hands and said, “Don’t worry, you’re always part of our family, even when we’re in Minnesota.”

And that says it all; I have hope that we are doing an okay job with her because she knows that and knows enough to say it out loud!

So, that story is the rational part of my brain. The irrational part of my brain wrote a blog that looks more like this:

Holy shit
Holy f@&king shit
I am moving to Minnesota!
Not just me…
I am moving my family.
Um. Hello? That is huge
And guess what?
(my daughter says “guess what” at the beginning of every sentence these days
It must be rubbing off on me…)
Guess what? It’s not just me. I am moving an entire family.
We are moving together.
I am leaving the Northwest, my home, and moving with my family…
Halfway across the country.

We have had a tremendous blessing,
An achievement to be proud of, my wife has been hired as a Professor, right out of the gate, PhD in hand.

I am so proud.

SO much is changing.
It’s all good, it’s all big.
A lot of change.

I want to get out of here and start the next chapter!
I don’t want to leave…
It’s hard to face all the change, the worry, the decisions.
Impermanence.
The distance.
The things and people I love here – farther away.

At the other end of all this change
Is security and stability for our family…

But the growing pains…
The uprooting of our lives…
I guess I just have to remember the wise words of L’il Chaos and know that no matter where I am you will always be a part of my family. Thanks for that!

Graduation Pics

There are lots of good stories but in an effort to provide proof that I did in fact graduate...here are the pics. Here we are onstage. Me, Erica, James and Rachel!

Sara, my advisor, talking about my achievements.

Funny faces.


The actual hooding.

Danny and I.

The whole family!

A Little Tease...

Now you may ask yourself...what in the world is going on? Why are you posting this picture?

Well one of my friends at school graduated this year as well and her sister is an amazing photographer studying at Syracuse. So we decided to have a little photo shoot. We dressed up the girls and Megan followed them all around campus for about 2-2.5 hours snapping pictures wildly. We went from longboards (skateboards) to pinecones to fountains (see above) to cartwheels and somersaults!

Soon...very soon there will be a whole host of new professional candid pictures to admire!

Maya and Teacher Rachael

This post is dedicated to Sparkplug Dance and Teacher Rachael.

Maya has been taking dance for the past couple of years with Sparkplug. It has been a wonderful experience for not only Maya but for the family as well. We have met lots of great friends at dance class and Maya has learned some great skills!

Teacher Rachael and Maya have a very special relationship. Maya listens and responds to Rachael and Rachael fosters and encourages Maya's energy and physical creativity without quashing her spirit!




Sparkplug is awesome and Teacher Rachael is awesome!

Stealthy Take-Over

These days we have a lot of monkey-see, monkey-do. Finley loves to do whatever Maya is doing whether it's the good, the bad or the ugly.

One of her favorite spots is:


SURPRISE!
If you click on this picture and look at her forearm you will see some of Finley's artwork! Seriously!


And sometimes we find her wreaking a little more havoc!


Fin is busy, busy, busy. She is a force with a sense of humor and more than enough hugs and smooches to share.

Some of her favorite words/phrases right now include:
"insert any noun" is heavy! --repeated over and over and over
"Look at me!"
"Mayyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaa"
"I go to work"
"Maaaayyyyyyyyyaaaaaa"
"Maaaaaayyyyyyaaaaa"

Paparazzi!

Sometimes it's hard to be a rockstar!
Especially two in one car! :D

Rainy Days and Bathtubs

Last month we decided that Maya would go to half days the first 2 weeks of June in an effort to help her slowly wean off of a school schedule and help start the moving transition. Of course it's been raining for what seems to be weeks on end and this morning Maya declared that she would rather stay at school until 5! So...so much for our plan of tapering.

Yesterday afternoon I worked on some grading and Danny took Maya to go pick up Fin. They made a bit of a stop to take a look at the river and splash in the puddles...not to mention burn off a bit of energy.

Maya "Singing in the Rain".

Lots of fashion for puddle stomping!

The mural under the bridge.


Finley had her own kind of splashing to do...in the bathtub. She has grown up so much in the past couple of weeks. Her language has exploded and she is often speaking in full sentences these days. Some of her favorites include: "Mommy/Daddy wake up!", "I need help, please", "I want that" and "MAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAA"!

She has also gotten a bit of a fro going. She went from being our bald baby to being a chia pet really.

Here she is perfecting the "slow burn take" in the bathtub.

What?


No way, Jose!

Well....maybe....

GOT YA!!!

Starting on June 14th both girls will go down to care on Tuesday/Thursday full days at the Co-op until mid-July. We will see how it all works. Hopefully we will start our big moving adventure about the same time.

Damn Little Sisters

Oh Maya is a good trooper!

She still loves to dance and perform and have an audience...except when it is her sister!

I can already get a feel for the battles in our future!

Ahhhh Finley...

Such a sweet little bug.

While this video doesn't show much of her language, her sentences have exploded in the last month.

Mostly this video is just about her cuteness!

Playing Dress Up

A Doctor and a Princess play dress up!


My regalia came in the mail...definitely the most expensive dress up clothes I've ever bought. It isn't the most flattering picture but it shows off the new duds!