Just going to school

It was a rather pleasant morning so I asked the girls if I could take their pictures before school today. Sophia jumped at the chance to pose for me, today. Lilly is still acting a bit camera shy, but I think I got two cute pictures.

Sophia's report card

Last week Will and I met with Sophia's teacher, Mrs. Peeler, for our fall parent/teacher conference. Mrs. Peeler, much like Mrs. Harden, confirmed for us that Sophia is exceptionally bright. She excels at her reading tasks and is breezing through her second phonics book. She will be starting math concepts soon (probably at the beginning of the year).

Mrs. Peeler couldn't stress enough that sending Sophia to public school Kindergarten would be doing her a disservice. She told us that Sophia would be bored and that she'll already be reading! In public school Kindergarten she will NOT be reading and will be learning things she already knows.

I'm all for sending her to private Kindergarten and really want her to go to Beach Manor for all day K next year. Lilly will be there next year too. Let's hope that Digital Fulcrum continues it's upward momentum.

We're really proud of all the hard work she is putting into her reading skills. You can just see the curiosity in her eyes as the words start to come alive on the pages of her books. Nana gave Sophia a Leap Frog "reader pen" handheld computer that allows her to drag the attached pen across the words and the system reads the story out loud to her. I really hope I can find some compatible books/cartridges. I need to take the system with me so I know exactly what I'm looking for because every time I'm out and I think of it, I can't remember what we have. Some refer to this condition as "MommyBrain". (smile)

She's afraid of eating a grape

THIS POST IS BEING WRITTEN IN REAL TIME SO FORGIVE THE MISTAKES.

Sophia has always been a picky eater, but lately she won't even eat an apple. She tells me that it could be poisoned like in the apple in Snow White. Sounds like a new lame excuse to me.

Right now she is afraid to eat even a grape. She been sitting on the couch for 2 minutes licking the skin, deciding whether to take the plunge or not. Um....the skin doesn't have any flavor, does it?

Picture me laughing my head off because as I write this she is currently gagging over the grape and yelling that she can't eat grapes. Please note that initially she asked for them! I gave them to her in spite of my better judgment. She didn't eat any dinner. An hour lately and she's hungry. I offer her a banana. She reluctantly eats it (only complaining for the first bite).

And 1 minute later - It's over. She gave up on the grapes and she just told me that she's hungry. I'm ignoring her, secretly laughing.

She has been on a carrot kick lately. She's never been overly enthused by carrots (and will only eat them raw), but lately she asks for them when I tell her she has to eat something healthy. I'm ok with that.

About 2 weeks ago I got her to eat 4 or 5 tiny pieces of ham. Her very first! She actually said she liked it, but hasn't touched it since.

We all know that Lilly, on the other hand, will eat most of what is offered to her. She also got a bowl of grapes just a few minutes ago and there are only 2 left in her bowl plus I think she's still working on them. She also shoveled in an entire bowl of spaghetti only an hour ago.

Now Sophia is mad at me because I ATE MY WHOLE BANANA SO WHY CAN'T I HAVE A PIECE OF CANDY?

Me: Because you didn't eat your dinner.

Sophia: OH SHUCKS. YOU'RE A LITTLE BABY THEN. MOMMY, CAN WE PUT UP OUR CHRISTMAS TREE TODAY? MOMMY, WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? MOMMY, I'M A LION.

Now she is singing:
Happy birthday to you
You little kazoo
You burp like a monkey
And you smell like one too!

Now she's fighting with Lilly about why Lilly is turning the light on and off. (I usually try to let them work it out on their own these days and if the fighting gets really bad then I step in.)

OK, Gotta go step in.

I love this outfit

This is one of the back to school outfits that I got for Lilly. The little ruffles on the bottom are simply adorable. Of course, she wasn't in the mood to pose for a picture. I snapped one of her running up the stairs to get away from me so you can see the cute back pockets and bottom ruffles, but I also caught her as she was walking out of her room a few minutes later. You can get a better view by clicking here.

Halloween Day

I took Lilly and Sophia to the gym yesterday morning to meet Snow White. Sophia was too shy to even say hi to her. She even told me she didn't like Snow White anymore and that Ariel was her favorite princess now. Lilly was also acting very shy (and I think she was a bit tired), but at least she let me hold her long enough to get a picture taken with the princess. I hope they won't be so shy when we go to Disney this summer.

After we stopped in at the gym we high-tailed it back home to get ready for our "Halloween party". A few of our neighbors and Haley & Carlie came over at 4:30 for pulled pork (and all the fixings) before we headed out for trick-or-treat. We ended up trick-or-treating around our entire loop. We were out from 6:00 - 8:15. WOW! At least I was smart enough to bring the wagon for the girls to take turns riding in along the way. And I was also smart enough to bring a plastic goblet and some wine too.

Sophia and Haley each spilled their candy sacks one time. Sophia on the sidewalk and Haley in the wagon. The little girls moved very slow, but they were definitely troopers and made it to every single house. We came home with tons of candy and also had some left over from what we were passing out. I definitely need to ration out the candy for the girls or they will want to eat all of it in one day. I think my policy (for all 4 of us) will be one piece after lunch and one piece after dinner. The picture below is missing an entire bowl of candy that I just couldn't fit into the frame. Talk about calories...

Halloween Party at the Rec Center

After Sophia's Halloween show I took Lilly to the rec center for a Halloween party. I took Sophia to this party when she was two and three. It took Lilly a little while to warm up to the crowd of kids, but eventually she went on the slide and then she went on the slide again and again and again. She was really having fun. We eventually moved on to other games and she asked me to get her face painted a little too late. We were next in line when the director announced that it was time to begin the craft.

The craft was fun for the moms. Lilly sat there and watched me tie two tissues around a Tootsie pop to create a ghost. Then I drew two eyes and a nose.

Lilly really liked interlocking these puzzle pieces together and then jumping on them. She also got a kick out of her first Sit and Spin ride. Take a look at the rest of the pictures.

Sophia's school Halloween program was on Friday. Here she is standing with Adrianna, her friend from last year.

Sophia was dressed up in her Dorothy costume ...and she was the best Dorothy there. There was at least one other. (There was also a Raggedy Ann costume, but Lilly's blew that one away.)

Will ended up being a little bit late so he missed her class doing their 3 songs, but he was there in time for the group finale where they sang The Safety Song:

Orange/Halloween pictures

I've been desperately trying to get a good picture of the girls wearing orange this Halloween for a frame that I have. Each year so far I have a great one of the girls and, of course, want one for 2010. Here's all the photos I've taken so far. This is the one that I ended up putting in the frame. I will have several more opportunities to take photos since Halloween isn't until Sunday, but I wanted to share before the holiday.

Here's the other ones I took.

Lilly's Halloween Party @ School

Lilly had a fall festival at school yesterday. Since I'm on the parent/teacher committee I was in charge of 85 pumpkins, hay bales and corn stalks. Not to toot my own horn, but I have to admit that the decorations did look great. (smile)

Here's a picture of Lilly with one of her teachers, Ms. Brenda. I didn't see her other teacher, Ms. Tina, or I would have asked for a picture of her too.

Lilly really had fun playing some games, picking out a pumpkin (I think she picked the one with the biggest stem) and getting a pumpkin painted on her face.

There are a few more pictures to view. Click here.

Halloween Party @ My Gym

Last night we went to a Halloween costume party at My Gym. We met Haley & Carlie and Cameron & Trip (all kids) there. Afterward we went to Haley and Carlie's house for pizza and cupcakes.

As you can see, the girls are dressing up as Dorothy and Raggedy Ann. Lilly doesn't like to wear her wig, but everyone says she looks like Raggedy Ann without it because of her red hair. I disagree...I think the wig makes the costume.

The girls had a ton of fun in the ball pit and on the trampoline. Sophia played all the games they offered and Lilly hung out with Will in the background. It might have been a little overwhelming for her because she only had an hour nap instead of her normal 2 hour nap.

There are more photos...but they are mostly action shots of the girls. Take a look.

Here are a few movies that I took of Lilly tonight while Sophia was at soccer practice with Will. As you can see, Lilly has marker all over her mouth. She thinks it's lipstick.

In this video she is doing the Hokey Pokey.



In this video she is making animal sounds (and then I have no idea what she sings, followed by Pat-a-cake and Row Row Row Your Boat).



In this video she is singing/reciting all of the nursery rhymes in her new favorite book. They include: Humpty Dumpty, Pat-a-cake, Row Row Row your boat, Hickory dickory dock, This little piggy, Itsy bitsy spider, Ba ba black sheep, Jack and jill, Little Miss Muffet, Little Bo Peep and Polly put the kettle on.

Sibling picture day

Lilly got her school picture taken yesterday. She looked so darn cute when I dropped her off and I can't wait to see the photos. We practiced how she would smile at the camera and she showed me her pearly whites each and every time. When I picked her up after school her teacher, Ms. Brenda, told me she was a bit difficult and didn't want to smile for the camera. This doesn't surprise me at all because lately she's been pretty camera shy.

And today was no different! The school offered the chance to do pictures with a sibling. I dressed both girls in coordinating outfits and we headed to our 9:15 appointment. Well, Lilly absolutely refused to let me put her down to get her picture taken. She was screaming bloody murder every single time I attempted to place her next to Sophia. Even though Lilly didn't cooperate, the photographer still took a few pictures of Sophia (and her toy cat).

Even when we got home, Lilly still refused to have a nice picture taken of her. I tried. Oh, how hard I tried! Take a look....but notice that Sophia was also being pretty difficult too.

Christina's visit

Christina came to visit us for a few days. She came in on last Wednesday and stayed through Sunday. We had a great time. It was like a mini-vacation for me too. We ordered pizza the first night. We went to a bounce house (see pictures) on Thursday for a few hours with Haley and Carlie. On Friday I hired a sitter and we went wedding dress shopping. Christina looked absolutely gorgeous in a few of the dresses. If I were her, I might have a hard time deciding on which one is the "most" perfect. We took pictures, but since Dear Uncle Rob is a follower of my blog I won't post them. (smile)

On Saturday Sophia had a soccer game. Of course, we were all dreading it because she usually doesn't play and sits on the sidelines crying. This game was different! Maybe it was because Christina was there or maybe it was because I was allowed to go out onto the field with her and play. You should have seen me running up and down the field holding her hand. She had some contact with the ball too. She got in there and kicked it a few times. I was so proud of her...and so was she.

On Saturday night we had our semi-annual neighborhood block party. We all attended, but it got cold pretty early so Christina and I headed back with the girls and called it a night. Of course, we stayed up talking until I fell asleep mid conversation. Sorry, Christina!

She had to leave on Sunday to get back to Northern VA to prepare for the new job that she was starting on Monday. When she left Sophia said I MISS AUNT CHRISTINA.

Silly girls

The girls were playing "Go down to the Bay" the other day so I just had to take their picture. They had a large blanket spread out on the floor and were pretending it was their boat. Cute.

More pictures from the wedding

Here are more photos from the wedding. Will's Uncle Rick took them.

Lilly likes to read

I found Lilly in her room the other day just babbling away, reading a book to herself. She loves to get cozy in her bean bag chair and look through books.

A fun-filled weekend for all!

Where should I start? Over the weekend Will and I went to his cousin's wedding in Texas and the girls stayed home with Nana and Poppy. Nana and Poppy arrived on Friday afternoon so Will and I actually got to see them. Our flight out was at 6 am on Saturday and our flight back into town arrived at 11:30 pm on Monday and they left at 4:30 on Tuesday morning so our paths didn't cross on the back-end of the trip. The girls had an absolute blast with them... you can tell by looking at the pictures.

They went to a fall festival on Saturday and went to a pumpkin farm on Sunday. The pumpkin farm has lots of activities. A petting zoo, bounce houses, amusement rides, pony rides, and much more. Sophia wouldn't go on the Ferris wheel this year even though she did last year. Nana said she spent most of her time in the bounce houses.

Will and I had a great time sans kids at the Lakeway Resort. It was a beautiful place and provided the perfect backdrop for an elegant wedding. We arrived in Texas on Saturday morning and left on Monday afternoon enjoying gorgeous weather the entire weekend.

In between we went to a rehearsal dinner, had lunch out with family, spent time at the outdoor pool, attended a wedding, and ate a breakfast brunch. Again, the pictures can tell the story better than I can.

Sophia at dance class

The last dance class of the month is open for moms to watch. Since Lilly is enrolled in a Mom and Me dance class, I missed the ballet part (which they did for the first half hour). When I joined them, ballet was wrapping up and the tapping was about to begin. My friend told me that during the ballet part Sophia turned around and announced that she was bored.

Just wait until you watch these two videos of Sophia in tap class. She's having an absolute blast. You have to watch the second one all the way through even though you might think it's a little long. The ending is worth it. On the way home she told me she loves tap class. So maybe ballet isn't her thing.

more pictures

Pictures from the Neptune Festival last weekend. Click here to see them.

Painting vanities

I found two really cute small jewelry box vanities on sale at Michaels. They each came with paint, stensils, a brush and a couple of stamps so the girls set up camp at the kitchen table and got busy painting. Incidentally, I found several crafts at Michaels for the girls thinking they would last me a two days. Well they ripped through them at the speed of light in one morning.

(With Will being out of town all week I was trying to come up with something a little different than playing Cat. When we play Cat, Sophia is the cat and I am the lady who doesn't know she has a cat! (Sometimes I have to pretend to call my husband and ask him if we can keep the cat. Other times I have to give the kitty a bowl of milk. And we play the same thing over and over and over and over.)

Back to the vanities. Sophia took her time and methodically painted hers all different colors. Lilly quickly blurred a few colors together on hers and then turned to painting something way more exciting (busted!).

There are a few more pictures. Click to see them.

Going to school

Here's what the girls looked like on their way to school on Monday. I was a bit scared to send Lilly with a white shirt, but she came home as clean and crisp as I sent her.

Sophia was acting like Sherlock Holmes with her spy glass and "spy" dress as she calls it. She actually poses for me now when I ask her too. It's Lilly that is camera shy.

Neptune Festival 2010

On Sunday, before Will left for his 6-day business trip, we went down to the beach to spend the day at the Neptune Festival & Boardwalk Art Show. Here we are arriving at the festival. The girls were sharing a sleeve of Ritz crackers and drinking their waters. They were very pleasant and remained the way throughout the afternoon even though Lilly was so tired she fell asleep in the car the minute we pulled away from our spot.

There's a lot going on over the course of the Neptune Festival weekend. I believe they have a few races on Saturday (8K, etc...), a wine tasting evening party on Friday, a sand sculpture competition, food vendors, and awesome artists selling awesome works of art. We didn't have a chance to browse the art this year due to time constraints.

We basically viewed the front and the back of each and every single sand sculpture because of the way the walking path was set up on the beach. Each of sculptures was so intricate and detailed. It's amazing what the artists can do. I can barely get the sand out of the bottom of the castle bucket when Sophia asks me to build her a sand castle.







Both of the girls wore their "fancy" overalls and looked absolutely adorable. On the walk back to the car we discovered some cut-outs and stuck our faces through. Here are some of the pictures from our "family day".

Lilly @ Sophia's soccer game

Lilly watches quietly from the sidelines and usually entertains herself by eating throughout the entire game. Yesterday she ate a baggie of grapes and then moved onto Trip's chips and fruit punch.

Trip, who's older than Lilly by 1 month, is Cameron's brother. By the way, Cameron is the only one of Sophia's friends on the soccer team. Cameron plays and really gets in there to kick the ball.

Photo sets

I uploaded a bunch of photos. Here's the long list if you'd like to see them.

Trying to get a good picture.

Sophia's first soccer game. By the way, our game on Saturday was a complete repeat of last week. She cried and wouldn't play. She said she was afraid of the ball. The girls on her team were really concerned about her and tried to convince her to play. How sweet.

Lilly's fishing puzzle.

Sophia on her bike.

First day of school.

Lilly's Kindermusik class

She loves her Kindermusik class. As part of the take home materials we got two CDs. I've been playing one in the car nonstop and she's starting to sing along with the music.

The class is really fun. We sing, we dance, we pretend, and we try new things. Lilly's still a little shy in class, but only when we're sitting in a circle and she's got to decide what movement we do next.

The best thing about the class is that it's our alone time each week. We drop Sophia off at school on Fridays and then head to class. I can tell she likes her "Mommy time".

There are a few more pictures of her.

Little Bo Peep

Sophia came downstairs the other day dressed like "Little Bo Peep". Little Bo Peep and her sheep are stitched into the smocking on her dress and, if the hat fits...then why not wear it. She actually wore this get-up out of the house. Lilly tried to get in on the action and jumped into the picture.

Sophia has been completely into dressing up lately. She rotates between Snow White, Dorothy, a royal princess, a wicked witch, and a black cat. It gets exhausting keeping up with what her current name is and when I call her Sophia instead of her present character she really gets mad at me! When she's Snow White, I'm Doc. When she's Dorothy, I'm the Scarecrow. When she's a royal princess, I'm sometimes the prince and sometimes the queen. When she's a wicked witch, I'm a good witch. When she's a black cat, I'm a lady who doesn't know there's a cat in her house. Oh, her imagination is so colorful.

Lilly is back into her baby dolls again. Today she was taking care of one of them and giving her some food, well I should say she was dropping the food on the baby's head/face to give it to her. (Did that make any sense?)

Lilly is getting so big. She ate an entire apple right off the core. She's eating popcorn now too and she's wearing pull ups. She often tells me that she has to use the potty. I don't often think to ask her if she has to go. I sometimes ask her, but not enough probably. Regardless, she's progressing very nicely in the potty training arena.

There are a few more pictures.

The best of friends...almost

On their way to school

Sophia's class is reviewing the letters of the alphabet. Monday was H and I day and on her calendar was: Wear a hat. So, she wore the hat that Grancy got her. It went perfectly with her outfit.

I asked Lilly's teachers about art in the classroom and they assured me that Lilly is being stimulated with arts and crafts. They said they usually send everything home at the end of the month. They also told me that the theme of the month is apples. Hmmmm. I wish that would have been on her calendar. The craft I saw hanging looked like apple stamping.

Our first soccer game of the season

Sophia promised she would play. She was even allowed to eat a piece of candy with the promise that she would play.

She didn't play. In fact, she didn't stop sobbing the entire time. It was a fake sob and that made it 1,000 times worse. She did at least sit on the sidelines where the rest of the team waited to be substituted into the game. When any of her teammates approached her she immediately put her face in her hands and started sobbing harder. I was thinking that maybe it was her embarrassment that was making her cry harder...or maybe that's just me projecting.?

Actually, I'm immune to it at this point, but Will gets absolutely mortified when one of the girls (usually Sophia) has a meltdown in public. It really gets under his skin. Today was one of the last straws with Sophia acting like a baby like this. She was doing this at practice on Thursday too. For no reason. Well, no reason that Will and I can come up with and when we ask her it's always a different reason. I guess maybe she doesn't like soccer, but she's always really excited at home and over the summer she asked to play.

Maybe Spanish will be her thing. She begins Spanish class in 3 weeks. She'll be eating lunch at school and then she'll have Spanish I until 1:15. Lilly and I will have an hour to kill between the time we have to pick her up. I predict lots of trips to Target in our future.