The choir show: Starry, Starry Night

Lilly was in her very first Cherub Choir musical this weekend.  She was a chicken...can't you tell with those bright yellow feathers!?  (All the chickens were supposed to wear white dresses or something white). 

In my opinion (and a few agree with me) Lilly stole the show.  Her smile was priceless.  It was like she was flirting with Will for the first part of the show because she kept smiling at him and reacting to him enjoying the show.  She yawned two times in the second part, I think.

You can watch the whole thing (broken into two parts below for a total of about 30 minutes).  You can also just watch a few short clips of Lilly "singing" along. 



Here's a video of Lilly entering the stage at the beginning of the show.



Here's a video of the opening number.




Sophia, was Mary's donkey named Clip Clop, and she had a 5 speaking lines that she aced!  Sophia was supposed to wear either brown, black or grey and they were all supposed to wear Sunday dresses so we had to go with black because that's all she had in the color palette.  It's not my favorite dress at all, but she really likes it for some reason and she was comfortable in it..  She wore a fringe mane in her ponytail as her costume, but you couldn't see it at all.

The night before the show as I was tucking Sophia into bed she admitted that she had stage fright and I could tell she was going to work herself up into some sort of whiny cry.  I told her that there was NO WAY she could possibly have stage fright because nobody gets it the night before!  Impossible!  -- She actually believed me.

The morning (Sunday) of the show came and went and she never mentioned another word about stage fright.

But, I have to say, she really did her part great.  So many ladies told me that she did a great job when I was at a meeting earlier this morning.  I'm so proud of her!  And I'm proud of Lilly too, especially because she doesn't care much for Cherub Choir and actually complains that she doesn't like it.

Just yesterday she and I talked about her taking a drawing class or some sort of art class.  She's always coloring and stenciling and drawing on things, including closet doors!









This is PART ONE of the show taken by my friend Jen.  Her children were two of the cows if you can't tell, but those are the girls that Sophia recites her lines with.



This is PART TWO

Don't the girls look pretty in this close up shot?

Ella's party

Lilly was invited to a holiday party yesterday afternoon from 2-4.  I was thrilled when we opened up the envelope and it was an invite for just Lilly.  She's been left behind a few times lately with all the Girl Scout events that Sophia has been going to and it was finally Lilly's turn to enjoy an outing with mom!  (Sophia also enjoyed a walk to the park with Will - lucky girl!)

Ella, a little girl from her class, invited all the girls in the class, but only 3 were able to join in the fun, Lia and Olivia (both were in her class last year too).  Lilly had a really fun time.  It didn't take her long to warm up to the group and then she was off and running and I had to basically beg her to leave.  Ella has an older sister in first grade at a different school than ours, but Ella's mom suggested that we might have a playdate.  We'll see.  We're so busy and so are they with gymnastics/dance/and other activities...

I was one of the moms that stayed and was able to help with a few of the crafts.  Each little girl placed her white handprint on a blue ornament as a keepsake.  I love it and Lilly immediately placed on her Christmas tree when we got home.  The girls also made foam door hangers, foam snowmen ornaments and bags of reindeer food.  

Bonus:  I really liked all the other moms too....so it was fun for both of us. 

Home Depot Workshop

I organized a Girl Scout outing to Home Depot this week so the girls could each make a bird house.  We're talking a serious bird house -- made a real wood -- which needed to be hammered and screwed!  I had both girls with me so I rushed from one step to the next and somehow managed to finish both houses before most people were finished with their one.


Sophia did some of the hammering herself, but Lilly couldn't because her wrist really wasn't strong enough to lift the hammer.

Here's what the finished products look like.  This is a picture of the girls in my troop who were able to come.  A few had to miss.   

The Three Amigos

Sophia, Lilly and Summer before going to school one day. 

Visits with Santas

Sophia and I had a "girls night out" as she calls it.  It was last Friday night and I needed her help in picking out her angel tree gift for an 8 year old girl.  The girl requested a long sleeved shirt and/or sweater.  So, we got her both.  Sophia enjoyed helping me pick it out too. I also had to find Lilly's angel tree gift for an 8 month old boy so we hit a few stores looking for his request.  After we were done shopping she asked me if she could visit Santa.  Of course!!!

Here's a picture of her visit with Santa at the mall.

One day this past week when Lilly got home from school I took her to visit with Santa at the mall so she could have her photo taken. She told Santa that she wants the McKenna America Girl Doll.  (Thank goodness I had already ordered it for Sophia before she changed her mind to a karaoke machine because the dolls are on back-order until after Christmas.)


Here's Lilly's photo with Santa.

This morning we attended the Pancakes with Santa breakfast at Sophia's school.  We each at a pancake, gathered up some reindeer food for Christmas Eve night, and Sophia wrote Santa a wish list which included on the very last line:  1 of everything!

Right before we left Sophia decided to pose for another picture with Santa.  This time Lilly was too frightened to even say hello!

 

A trip to the zoo

Since we're studying animals in our Girl Scout troop this semester, the troop treated all the girls to a day at the zoo.  10 of our 14 girls were there last Saturday.  The weather was glorious and we had an amazing time.  We even managed to travel around the zoo as a pack of 35 because all the girls brought their families too. 

Growing Up

Sophia has learned how to tie a knot.  I told her that once she learned how to do it she would never forget.  I'm not sure if that sparked something in her, but the very next time she got it right.  Way to go, my 6 and a half year old!!

Strawbridge Elementary Fall Festival

I took the girls to Sophia's school tonight for the Fall Festival.  They dressed in their costumes.
Lilly - The Popstar from The Princess and the Popstar (A Barbie movie)
Sophia - DracuLaura from Monster High and
Don't they look super cute?

They played some games, got their faces painted and ate a few cupcakes.  Lilly had a rainbow painted on her cheek and Sophia asked for hearts all over her face.

They each came home with a bag of goodies and small plastic trinkets which they love.  Lilly emptied the contents of her bag onto her bed when we got home and refused to let me move any of it when I tucked her in tonight.

Neither of their wigs lasted very long. 


This is a picture of three of the kids in Sophia's class.  We all waited in line for the Haunted Stage together.  Natalie, Jacob, Josslyn, Sophia

Hunt Club Farm, more fall fun....

Last Saturday we went to Hunt Club Farm and then Sophia had her very first birthday party slumber party!  (More about that in a minute)...

Sophia loves this Candy! NOW! shirt.  The monster is fuzzy.  I think it's a little obnoxious, but she's becoming her own little person with her own sense of style.  I only help a little bit in the mornings before school these days.  She usually picks out her own clothes...or at least has an opinion if I pick out her outfit.





Lilly, on the other hand, wants to wear a "pretty dress" every day and seriously gets mad at me if she has to wear pants!

At Hunt Club Farm the girls got to go in the bounce houses, feed the goats, ride on a hayride, and then
we purchased a few tickets to the carnival rides.

Here's a video of Sophia acting a little crazy before we left.



A GIANT PUMPKIN!!!!

Yes, real men wear pink.

 Here's Lilly on the car ride.  It just goes around and around.  It's definitely her speed.

Brave Sophia wanted to try the Fun Slide.  She absolutely loved it as you can see in the next picture.  I think she went on it 3 times before we were out of tickets.

Sleepovers

Sophia was invited to a sleep over birthday party last weekend.  She was so excited to use her sleeping bag for the very first time.

Her friend, Maggie, turned 7 and invited 7 girls to spend the night and watch movies, eat popcorn and stay up late.  Sophia told me she was up until 11pm.  She also told me she was tied with another girl to be the first to wake up in the am.  Will picked her up at 9 and took the girls out to breakfast while I was at church.

Let me back up for a second....Lilly also had a sleep over on Saturday night.  She stayed at our neighbor's house with their two girls, Taylor (11) and Riley (5).  Sophia, Riley and Lilly are the best of friends and play together on most weekends while the adults get together to watch football. 

We even sent Lilly without a pull up and she stayed dry all night, thankfully!  I didn't even think to pack one and I'm sure Will never checked her bag when he dropped her off.  :-)

Since we had a free night we went out to dinner at my favorite casual place, The Baker's Crust and then we browsed around a fru-fru grocery store for a while.  I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Saturday night.

The best part about it all was that I got to sleep for 1/2 hour extra on Sunday morning.  Lucky me.

Lilly without Sophia

Lilly and Sophia wore matching shirts to school the other day.  I forgot to take their picture together....so here's 1/2 of "the look".

Photos from my phone

Here are some photos I found on my phone.  They were taken over the summer and I'm just now downloading them!  Yikes!!!

 

Taken at the Children's Festival in Norfolk two weekends ago

Another cute picture of Lilly

Here's Lilly in the garage one day after school.  (She's wearing her plastic Princess and the Popstar shoes...which can't be comfortable!)  And, the little doggie in her baby carrier is Riff, the dog from the Princess and the Popstar movie.  Told ya she is obsessed! 

Lilly and her costume

Lilly is absolutely obsessed with The Princess and the Popstar movie!  It's a Barbie movie...and now there are dolls, clothes, and accessories available in the stores!  She's going to be the Popstar for Halloween.  We got her costume a few weeks ago at Target and it's a flimsy purple outfit. We got her a purple and white striped "rocker" wig to go with it and I also found a pair of pink cowboy boots to complete the look.  She will carry a microphone too, but unfortunately I don't think anyone is going to know what she is supposed to be.  It's a completely unrecognizable costume.

She's so obsessed with the outfit that she strips out of her school clothes the minute she walks in the door and decides she must wear her purple Popstar costume.  I hope it lasts until Halloween.

Sophia is going to be Ms. Draculaura...from a tween toy series called Monster High.  Another completely unrecognizable costume if you ask me.  Click here to see the full costume
Yes, she got the socks and the wig and we even bought some makeup so we could paint a few hearts on her cheeks.

Both of them will start off in wigs....I wonder how long they will last. 
 

A fun day....from this summer

In August our church had field trips for the girls on a few Wednesdays.  We went to a farm, the animal shelter, a mini golf course, to eat yogurt, and also went swimming.  The girls had a great time!  I volunteered to be a chaperon so Lilly was allowed to tag along.

We took Elizabeth with us to the animal shelter.