Good times at Chuck E, Cheese's

If Lila has anything to say about it, we'll be showing this picture at her wedding to Tyler!

Videographer

This is what happens when you let a 4 year old play with a camera. Apparently she didn't know about the video setting, but her talking to Trudy about taking her picture is the cutest part!



Notice how Trudy licks the camera lens in this fine clip. I'm laughing in the background, but not at Lila - I was on the phone with no idea what was going on.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

This is the second year Emma has done this great project for her Gifted and Talented class at school. It's called Night of the Notables. Each student picks a "notable" person in history to research culminating in this night. The kids all come in character and stay in character as they mingle with the families that come to see each of them. The parents have to guess who each person is. We fill out little cards and after 45 minutes, the notables reveal themselves on the microphone. It's adorable! The kids get so into it! They confidently mingle and chat with adults as they stay in their role. What a great project on so many levels!

Here's my Laura Ingalls Wilder - she was, of course, the cutest one!

Enjoying some after-party refreshments with Walt Disney and Albert Einstein (after she removed her wig)

Lila wanted in on the action with Louis Braile, Susan B. Anthony, and Princess Diana.
The students each painted a copy of a VanGogh piece for the art gallery tonight. Emma's is "The Tree" (third from the right) - very impressive as well!

Spring Fever - Part 2

The girls played outside all morning while Ryan and I moved a wood pile.

They played spy (notice the blankets around them, ahem - chilly out, isn't it?) :



And now they're having a picnic lunch:


Happy February!

Spring Fever

Ugh! It's after 10 on a Saturday morning, and I just sent the girls up to get dressed. Lila came down in a coral printed heart t-shirt and pink seer-sucker bermudas and flip flops. Emma came down in a summer capri/tank/short sleeved jacket outfit and flip flops. They wanted to go outside and play like that! It's 36 degrees outside!!!
So I sent them both back upstairs - with their feet stomping, I might add. I told them I could deal with short sleeves, but it is still winter, for goodness sake! Jeans and shoes are a must! Lila came down a second time wearing the same t-shirt, jeans and flip flops. "I told you no flip flops, Lila."
Tearfully and with attitude: "Ooohhhh, Mom! Flip flops are so fun, and now I just have to have another cold day!"
Now they're both playing outside wearing sweatshirts instead of coats. I've learned to choose my battles - especially when it comes to my girls' fashion sense. I don 't blame them - I'm ready for flip flops too!

Pet-Sitting

Lila announced this morning that she'd like to be a "kennel girl" when she gets a little bit older. Once I figured out that she wants to watch people's pets while they're away, I suggested pet-sitting at people's houses. She thought that was a splendid idea, and brought it up many times today.

One of those times, we were in the car with our friend Jessica. Jess and Lila were discussing the responsibilities of being a pet-sitter (I wish you could have heard the whole conversation!), and somehow started discussing the fact that snakes have fangs. That freaked Lila out a little. "I'd better not sitter them, Mom!"

Mini-Vacation

We took a much needed family mini-vacation this weekend. We took exactly 24 hours and went to Easton, PA. The bus dropped Emma off on Thursday, and we were ready to go. Our school had off on Friday, so we took advantage of a non-holiday day off. We checked in to our hotel (free, thanks to Ryan's frequent work travel and points) around dinner time and ate at the Applebee's across the street. Then we had the indoor pool to ourselves for the next hour and half. The girls had a blast! It's just a great feeling to be able to brush up on your swimming skills in February! We played games in the hotel room before falling asleep.
It was great to just be out of our environment and not feel like the laundry was calling, or Ryan should be working on something.
In the morning, we enjoyed our free breakfast and another swim before we checked out and went to the Crayola Factory. What a fun place! We all got to make various art projects at fun stations set up with Crayola products. The girls painted, colored, sculpted, cut, and pasted like crazy. We saw a show about how Crayola crayons and markers are made - very cool. And we came home (just 24 hours after we left), with samples, projects, and a new 150 box of crayons - what fun to color with!


Here they are, posing in front of the giant Crayola color wall:



This is my girls' silhouette on a giant kaliedoscope screen on the wall. It was pretty cool and I managed to snap a picture while no one else was there.

Great Weekend

I had a chance to get away for a women's retreat with my best friends last weekend, and it was great! We learned about choosing joy over complaining, criticizing, and doubting - not that that's a struggle for me! :)

Joy in the friendships

Joy in the quiet

Joy in the fun times

Joy in the eating!

Joy in the beauty

And .... joy in the husband that stayed home with the girls so I could get away and grow in the Lord.

Finally!

We finally got enough snow to play in! Here are some pictures:

The snowman before Trudy attacked it and protected us from the icy intruder

"Where are you going, girls? We don't have a hill!"
"I know, we're just pretending we do."

The crazed mitten thief

Too Funny!

At diner the other night, we got into a conversation about what animals meat comes from - very pleasant dinner conversation, I know. We were having roast pork, so we started with that. Then Ryan made it into a little game - "I'll name the food, and you tell me the animal it comes from."

He started off simple with roast chicken, and beef stew, but then progressively more difficult with hamburger and bacon. -Then hot dogs -who knows, right? Emma was, of course, involved in this challenge, and kept giving the answers.

Then Ryan said, "New York strip steak". With that, Lila jumped out of her chair, raising her hand and shouting, "I know, I know! ........ The Rockettes!!"

I can't make this stuff up!