Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Sophia is totally into the book series called Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  She's probably read all of them by now. Nana got her this puzzle for Christmas.  It took the whole family to put it together and as our luck would have it we are missing one piece.  It's either in a really good hiding place or it got thrown out with the torn-up Christmas wrapping paper.

The piece is missing just like the first reader book that Lilly brought home from school entitled I See.  I've searched the entire house including looking through and shaking every single book we own just in case it slipped inside. The very last time I saw it was in a stack of books on Lilly's bed that she was going to read one night after I tucked her in.  Then *poof* it was gone.  Mrs. LaSalle, her teacher, said it will turn up somewhere, but at this point I highly doubt it.

Although I've got to give it to her, Lilly is extremely good at hiding /misplacing/playing with very important things.  For instance, on Monday night she hid Will's keys inside her Monster High toy locker.  It was a night when the girls had to be in two different places at the same time and I also had a meeting at church.  We didn't find the keys in time so I cancelled my meeting end ended up driving both girls around to their activities.  Sophia was late to her basketball practice, but luckily I was able to get back to her and Riley with 3 minutes to spare before the end of practice.  We were giving Riley a ride home that night.  Anyway....as soon as we got home Lilly immediately remembered where she had placed the keys and handed them over to Will.

The nickname we've given to Lilly is Bean.  So, as Will would put it, he got Beaned!

Look Mom, I made a raccoon

Sophia ran across some unused modeling clay the other day and called me over to look at her creation.  I really think she did a great job on the raccoon.  The eyes are perfect if you ask me.  I'm impressed we had all of those colors to work with...

And the final score of today's game: 27 - 3

Sophia's team won and Sophia scored 11 of the 27 points. WOW!  Her team now has a record of 4-0. The girls are showing great improvement at each game too.  It's getting exciting to watch them play.

It is so cold!

Ok, I know I'm being a baby complaining about temperatures below 20 degrees when the rest of our family has been freezing their butts off for weeks, but man that is COLD!  Today started out as a frigid 16 degrees when I drove  Sophia to the bus stop. Thank goodness for automatic car-starting key fobs! When I took Lilly to school an hour later it was only 18 degrees and there was a nippy wind to go with it. I put on a wool hat this morning and basically made it part of my outfit since I knew I was going to be in and out all day, plus I didn't plan to take it off for fear that the static-electricity monster might strike again.

It turned out to be a very pretty day - if you got to stay indoors.  The sun was sunny, inviting and bright in the sky, but the minute an outside door opened we were reminded that it was indeed a freezing cold day!

Temps are supposed to be around 37 tomorrow followed by a steady increase over the next few days until this weekend when we're back up in the high 60s.  Now, that's more like it!

Lilly and her pals on New Year's Eve

They're a little bit blurry, but still cute:

RILEY, LILLY, SUMMER

SUMMER, RILEY, LILLY

Duct tape central

The girls have made everything from wallets and purses to sunglasses and hair accessories with duct tape. The Kansas clan got each of the girls a duct tape kit for Christmas and they had a ball tearing into it the day after Christmas....they eventually ended up duct taping themselves...or at least Lilly.

A star is born

I may have mentioned this before, but Sophia has been interested in taking an acting class for a while. I finally found a place for her to try where you don't need to audition and it's non-competitive. Star Brite Performance Centre is just starting their winter performance rehearsals this week and Sophia went tonight to sample two classes. Here are the class descriptions:

Rising Stars (ACTING): A creative musical introduction to performing. This class helps to build confidence and enrich basic social skills. Introduces students to scripts, improvisation, and theatre terminology. Students will perform the last day of class in a ‘Spotlight Performance’. One hour class, weekly.

and

Group Vocal for Rising Stars (SINGING): Enhance your child's development and love of music through song and movement games With an array of song selections our music classes help children explore the power of rhythm, melody, tonality and beat. Students will perform in a ‘Spotlight Show” on the last day of class. One hour class, weekly.

Well, if we can say anything about Sophia it's that she was in heaven tonight and these two classes are RIGHT UP HER ALLEY. I watched from the "parent lounge" as she enjoyed every last minute of it. I watched the whole first class from behind the glass window. They first had to stretch their bodies, then they made some really strange and loud noises to warm up their voices, then they got to move silly to get the body to come alive, then they did some dancing and singing, then they played some movement games, etc... they even practiced taking a proper bow at the end of the class. In between classes the students got a five minute break during which Sophia came barreling into the parent area to tell me that she got a "practice" solo and that she was going to have to use a French accent. She couldn't remember her lines, but she told me her French accent would probably sound like her British accent. It's quite good, if I may say so.

Then she bounded back to the stage to find out that she had a few more minutes to relax so she returned to me. I asked her if it was alright if I left to run an errand or if she wanted me to stay. It fell on deaf ears, but I assured her that I would be back in a half hour and, in what I predict to be her "13-yr old voice/tone/attitude" she flicked her hair and couldn't wait for the sentence to escape my mouth before she was telling me to go. Then she shooed me! Sometimes I think that she's growing up...up, up and away and I realize she's only seven and she's still young, but she keeps growing up right before my very eyes and part of me felt a little sad that she didn't need me tonight.

Anyway, I left to pick up some thank you notes at Burlington Coat Factory because it was the closest store other than Food Lion. I was pleasantly surprised. I actually found some cute cards, but I also discovered that not only do they carry a giant selection of coats, but they also have a Home Goods and Decor section. It was fun to browse for a bit before I stumbled on the thank you note cards. Did I mention that each class is an hour long...and that Sophia doesn't seem to care if I'm there or not for her classes? Could be trouble.

When I got back the choral group was singing a song from the Lion King. The "Rising Stars" are going to practice and perform The Lion King in March. The final show will be on March 18th and she'll be getting a cast photo taken "in costume and make-up" on March 11th. I will have to come up with her costume on my own. The theater has a costume closet that we can raid, but I have no idea if we'll be able to find anything in it for Sophia specific to her part in the show. Too bad Nana doesn't live closer because she's so good at coming up with or even sewing costumes for shows.

When the second class was over and Sophia emerged with her coat she made me guess which part she wants in the show. These are her words, not mine: "Of course, the lead, Simba! Yeah, but since I'm the tallest, I'm not sure if they'll be able to twirl me around so maybe I won't get that part." It was so cute to see the little wheels in her head spinning while plotting it all out. I didn't even have to ask her if she wanted to sign up. I knew. She asked me if she was coming back next week and when I said yes she pumped her fist in the air and let out a loud "YES!".

Sophia said that they all have to try out the third week of classes so I guess they will determine parts and hand out scripts after that.

We were excited to tell Lilly that her new "bestie" from Kindergarten is in both classes with Sophia. Claire and Lilly have become quite fond of each other. I emailed Claire's mom tonight asking if she can come over for a play date some day after school and we're emailing back and forth trying to figure out the best day. Lilly will be so thrilled when I tell her the news.

When we told Lilly about Claire she immediately said she wants to take the classes too. While I would love for her to do that....I'm not sure if it's even possible. In the last email from Start Brite I read that the Tuesday evening classes are completely full already. I'm going to check tomorrow with the director, Ms. Brenda, to see if Lilly can come and give it a trial run next week, but I'm not sure she would really enjoy the classes anyway. I don't know how she would feel about being singled out to speak or sing in front of a group. She's terribly shy and quiet when I'm her teacher in Sunday School. A few months ago Lilly decided stop participating in the kids choir at church because "the director is mean and always telling me where to stand" according to her. Sophia, on the other hand, loves Ms. Belinda and says only nice things about her. Belinda is also my co-teacher for Sunday School so I know her quite well and I know she doesn't have a mean bone in her body. We tag team teach. I do the Bible lesson, she does the Bible memory verse and then the music, then when she leaves half way through the class to to to the adult choir practice I continue on with the kids playing games.

And here she is: The next Michael Jordan

Sophia had her first basketball game(s) on Saturday. She actually had two games back to back. They won both. Sophia scored in both games!  I was so impressed with her abilities.  She's good and with some dribbling practice and after she has an understanding of the game and knows exactly what she's supposed to do on the court, she's going to be really good!

There are three teams in the league and they just play each other over and over for a 5 or 6 weeks. After seeing all the teams play, I was thinking the deck is stacked in our favor, but Will told me that all of our "bad" players weren't there.  It seems like they play every girl for 4 minutes at a time, then ring a super loud buzzer and switch players for another 4 minutes. There are an agonizing EIGHT 4-minute periods in each game.

At half-time each team lines up on their end of the court and each girl takes a turn trying to make a foul shot. Coach Johanna told the girls to only use one hand when throwing a foul shot.... so Sophia (my little rule follower) only uses one hand. She was 1 for 2 on Saturday.  Most of the other girls on her team not only have to use both hands, but they have to throw their entire body weight into just getting the ball close to the net.

When the scoreboard hits 25 points scored for either team, the board is automatically reset back to 0-0 score. Proudly, I have to say that Sophia's team scored more than 25 points in each of their games. Neither of the other teams can come close to saying that.  Sophia even scored for the other team in the second game...(just to help them out, I'm sure!).

Just a note: all the pictures I took ended up being blurry. Hmmm....I wonder if I can convince Will that we need a camera that will take great motion shots?

Here's she is.....our future high school superstar:

Sophia Amber Alexander #23

Here's a "line-up" of her team, Liberty.  

The second girl in line (on the right) is a really good, aggressive player. From looking at this photo it appears that Sophia is the tallest girl on the team although I didn't notice on Saturday. The other two super tall girls are pretty good...neither are afraid to steal the ball away from the other team and the girl behind Sophia can really run fast while dribbling the ball, but neither of them is as accurate as Sophia at shooting baskets.  This league is for 6-8 yr old girls so we're on the older end of the spectrum.  Riley, Sophia and Lilly's best friend, is also on the team. She's the girl Sophia is talking to. She'll turn 7 in February, but she's tiny for her age.  

Christmas puzzles

The girls got a few puzzles for Christmas. It didn't take them very long to tackle these easy ones.  (I think I only helped with a few clues and maybe a couple of cues.)

The Care Bear puzzle is the one Lilly got.

This dog puzzle which has a fake gemstone on a few pieces is Sophia's.  

Well one of us got her ears pierced

Sophia was so thrilled to get her ears pierced we were the first two to show up at Claire's on Thursday morning at 10 a.m.  When we found out that there was only one employee working we decided to come back later when Sophia could have both of her ears pierced at the same time by two different people.

When we arrived back at 1:00 Sophia selected her earrings and we went through the "maintenance how-to" and then it was time!  YEA!!!  Ok, they marked her ears with purple dots to determine the location.  They loaded the earrings into the "gun" and BAM! That was it.  There was no way Sophia was going to let anyone near her ears with that thing.

We left. I decided to take her to Target and we walked around and discussed that it wasn't going to hurt very much, that she was a brave girl and could handle it, etc.  We even saw a girl in her 20s that must have had 6 piercings in each ear.

In the process I somehow threw out there that I would get my ears pierced again just to show her that it doesn't hurt.  She decided this idea would work and we headed back to Claire's. I have to admit I was a little nervous as I sat in the chair and got marked with purple dots. It actually didn't hurt very much.  Just as I suspected.  A sharp pinch, but once I put on the cooling, calming cleaning solution everything felt much better.  I only noticed it for an hour or so.  I slept fine that night and was twisting them around the next day.  No sweat!

But now I have three holes on each side!

Christmas Day was a huge success

Sophia woke me up around 6:30.  We ran downstairs with the intention of having breakfast and waiting for the rest of the crew to wake up.  Sadie didn't even join us that early.  As soon as she made it downstairs she saw the two packages that Santa had left and she commented that hers was the bigger one (on the left). Then she ran into the other room to check on her stocking to make sure it was filled to the brim with presents instead of with coal.

We didn't even have a chance to make breakfast before Lilly was up and at 'em.  Of course, both girls ran upstairs and woke Will.

The coffee was ready to go and so we gathered around the tree with the camera and let the girls open Santa's presents.

Sophia went first and opened up the exact thing that she told Santa she wanted.  A "feel better" kit for her American Doll.  It included: wheelchair, crutches, leg cast, arm cast, and a sling thing. She was overjoyed.

Lilly went next and opened up a Furby Boom.  She yelled out that it was the exact one she wanted. We put in some batteries and off the Furby went....talking up a storm and moving all around.  The supposed "best" thing about the Furby Boom is that you download an app and can link your Furby to it so you can take care of him, create a city and collect eggs to hatch called little Furlings.  Lilly loves the Furby, but no matter how hard we try we cannot get the app to recognize the animal -  I read so many bad reviews this morning that I'm really super disappointed.  I think Hasbro needs to come out with an update to the app PRONTO!

After the Santa gifts were thoroughly inspected we moved onto all the other presents.  Some were from us, some were from grandparents and some were from aunts/uncles/cousins.  They were very lucky girls.

When were all finished opening up our presents Will and I announced that we had just one more present for each girl.  This was the BIG moment.

     __Earlier in the week Lilly saw the gift that we were about to give her because I was hiding in my car....it was a Slurpee machine....  I got so mad at her for peeking that I told her I was going to take it back to the store and that she would not be opening it up on Christmas day.  She was quite upset about it.__  

Sophia was about to unwrap two pairs of earrings.  This was our way of announcing to her that she was officially allowed to get her ears pierced. She's been asking and asking for over a year now and several of her friends already have their ears pierced.  She was completely surprised and overwhelmed.  It was a great moment!

Christmas Eve

Sophia had to sing at the 5:00 church service on Christmas Eve.  We had seats right in the front because I had to drop her off at 4:00 and had the pick of the litter.  Sophia sang loud and on key, but that's what Ms. Belinda expects from the second graders.  They are the "seniors" of the Cherub Choir.  Next year she'll move up and be a "freshman" in the Carol Choir. This picture was taken at church.

After church service we went to a party with all intentions of making it to the second party that we were invited to, but we never made it.  Considering that both of them starts around 7 it would have been tight to cram them both into one night.  We were all up until about 11pm and the girls didn't even need a story.  They went right to bed so Santa would come.

Of course, I had to prepare a snack for Santa which I placed near the Christmas tree and a few minutes later I noticed that Santa Sadie Paws had eaten all the cookies and left the carrot for the reindeer.  I prepared another snack and we hit the sack.

A Year in Review

Google+ has automatically created a "year in review" for me using some of the photos that I posted to my account.  I thought you might like to take a look:

With Will's Google+ pictures he was able to create a "cheerleading" video of Sophia. I think in reality she only cheered in a single game.  She's signed up for basketball for the winter and so far she loves it. She and Will practice after school when she doesn't have her normal practice on Monday nights.  Her games start on January 4th.  From what I hear from Riley's mom, Sophia might be the second best kid on the team, but I'll be able to tell after the first game. I think Will told me she's the second tallest too.

Another December, Another Day With Temps Above 80 Degrees

Lilly's school holiday program

Lilly didn't even tell us that she was an angle in the show.  She mentioned that she was going to be in a costume, but kept it a secret that she had a "part".  She looked so cute - mostly because she in an angle. (big smile)

There was a little dance to Joy to the World and she was partnered with the kid, Thomas, standing to her right.  He didn't do any of the hand motions at all.  Lilly was left in the lurch, but she still did the entire dance...at least I think she did.  Will was standing in the back and could see her, but I was sitting up front and wasn't able to see that part.

After the show there was a brief reception in the hall and then she was immediately released from school for Christmas break. It was the Thursday before. Sophia had school through the end of the day on Friday.  Lilly's school program ended around 10:30 am and I wondered how I was going to manage to get all of my holiday shopping finished with her around.

I dragged her around for the better part of Thursday, but on Friday we went to Sophia's class party.  It was fun...and Lilly enjoyed a plate of food with the big kids.

Here's a photo of Sophia's class sitting down before they did their book exchange.  Mrs. Burke, her teacher, organized a book swap.  Everyone participated so they were able to play the game.  They sat in a circle and passed a book to the music.  When the music stopped if you were holding a book then that one was yours to keep.  Sophia was pleased with the book that she received, but some of the kids in the class were in tears.  I felt kind of bad for Kaitlyn who lives on our street and happens to be in Sophia's class. When we got home from school we were talking about it and Lilly immediately offered one of her books to give to Kaitlyn.  It's a book that she had two copies of. I was so proud of her for offering.

Sophia had a sleep-over with Kaitlyn on Friday night (the first night of Christmas break).  They had been planning it for a week.

Lilly in my sunglasses

Christmas pictures

The girls have been so well behaved this month...the Elf on the Shelf has been with us since the beginning of December and they know that if they misbehave then the Elf will tell Santa!  It's been wonderful.  I have so many fun things to blog about in the last two months.  Here's hoping that I get some time this weekend to share.

I didn't get around to taking our holiday pictures in time to send Christmas cards this year, so instead I'm sending Happy New Year cards. They will be delivered just in time to send them out for New Years.

We had the girls photographed last weekend and I simply love all the pictures. Take a look at a few of them...

They are both so excited for Christmas this year.  Especially Lilly.  She's been counting down the days for about a week and a half.

Lilly's Christmas Dress and Fancy Headband

Sophia's Girl Scout troop

I organized an ornament exchange for the girls at our last troop meeting of the year.
The girls all got a kick out of it.  

It was a "Secret Santa Sister" exchange and to my surprise all the 

girls kept their recipient a secret until it was time to exchange.  

Yummy Cupcakes

Lilly has a cookbook that she reads all the time.  There are tons of neat dessert recipes in the book that she is dying to make.  We made and decorated these cupcakes one day.  It was a lot of fun and put us in the Christmas mindset.  A great way to start the season.