Over the summer I got to spend a week with my family holed up in my Aunt Judy’s house in New York. For the first time in probably a decade, my Mom, Dad, Sister, and myself spent six nights under the same roof, now accompanied by four new members of our family – Scott, Todd, Eva, and Lo. (Miss Dee was still in my Belly.) Late one evening, after the “grown-ups” had gone to bed, us four “kids” sat up late, eating Oreos and watching BIG in the loft. We talked about impending parenthood, my sister and Todd laughing at the next phase in all our lives…Scott and I being the ones shackled to a baby’s sleep schedule, while Mariss and Todd could stay up late and still sleep in, their children quickly growing from toddler-hood to teenagers. As I expressed some of my fears and apprehensions about having a little one all my own, my brother-in-law put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “No one has to teach you how to parent. You’ll figure it out. Just look at your Sister – most natural parent in the world.”
Truer words have never been spoken. From the moment I watched my sister welcome her oldest daughter into the world five years ago, I’ve known I was in the presence of greatness. Watching her with Eva and Lo is like witnessing a master-class in child rearing (and I’m not just talking about the speed and agility with which she changes a diaper.) My sister is one of the most brilliant (no, seriously) and creative (like, wow) people I know, and was shaping the minds of children as a Head-Start teacher long before she became a full time Mom, but still her ability to focus her full left and right brain on the parenting of these two children (three actually, my nephew Atticus is sixteen and often gets left out of these posts because he’s already lost all of his baby teeth, but he’s rad and Todd doesn’t call him “Marissa’s evil minion” for nothing – I don’t know a lot of sixteen year old boys who are willing to devote their entire Sunday to helping their step-Mom’s with their little sister’s fifth birthday parties…Spud, you rule dude) is the stuff of legend.
My sister is crafting a storybook childhood for Eva and Lolo. They live in a house that looks like it stepped off the pages of a storybook, on a hillside that looks like it belongs in a storybook where deer come to graze just outside the girls’ bedroom window every morning just in time for rise and shine, and there’s an attic and a basement full of familial treasures for discovering spanning at least century (which my sister has curated into a phenomenal collection of global artifacts and antique furniture adorning their home.) As holidays and birthdays approach, the girls pick a theme and are given a craft box filled with supplies and the weeks leading up to each event become a veritable crafting-palooza. (It’s their newest tradition to hand-make paper garlands to string along the fireplace.)
Eva’s fifth birthday last Sunday was no exception – the theme Miss Eves selected this year was Butterflies (my Sis even wore butterfly jewelry and hair clips to Eva’s delight) – 
(Clockwise from top left) Butterfly balloons greeted guests in the garden; Handmade butterfly garlands were strung across the mantle and through the trees outside; Eva and Kaia decorate their own (hand traced and cut by Scott and I) Butterfly Wings; Hot Dogs disguised as Butterflies wait to be eaten; No butterfly Pinata? Marissa bought a football pinata instead which she and Eva transformed into a cocoon, complete with Butterfly emerging. Middle Left: Marissa added butterflies to Martha’s Pom Pom’s. Middle Right: Little Butterflies swarm in to snatch up candy. Bottom Left: Taking another cue from Martha – homemade Red Velvet Cupcakes with pretzel butterfly wings, M&M bodies, and Sour Licorice Antennae. (Inset – my beautiful frosting job.)
In addition to decorating their own wings and munching on butterfly themed goodies, the girls had wands to personalize, and a pinata to burst, before they eagerly raced to see who (with their wings attached) could break out of a toilet paper cocoon the fastest before scarfing down cupcakes and retiring to the playroom to check out Eva’s loot. Safe to say that fun was had by all. Happy Birthday to the biggest cousin. I so love watching you grow!
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