Ginormous

As we headed out to pick out our Christmas tree this year, Katelyn informed us that we just had to get a "Ginormous" tree this year. Looks to me like she got her wish...

Explaining Famous

I need some pointers. Lindsay is having a very difficult time understanding the concept of celebrities. Last weekend at the Panthers game, she very excitedly watched the game, asked lots of questions, until she asked "When do we get to see Jake for real so I can give him a hug?" To which I tried to explain that we didn't really know Jake Delhomme. She argued and eventually turned to tears. Sad tears - realizing that Jake couldn't come to our house for dinner.

So the week went by, no issues until last night. Mike and I took the girls to the Taylor Swift concert. We sat up in the nosebleeds (but could see surprisingly well). We made it through the opening acts - Gloriana and Kellie Pickler - and then a few songs into Taylor's show Lindsay asks "When do we get to go down there (pointing near the stage) to really see Taylor. I want to give her a hug." After the best explaining I could do when you can barely hear the person next to you she followed with whiny tears. I did love the few times when she was waving to Kellie or Taylor and coincidentally they waved back. The look on her face was priceless!

I know one answer is "Stop taking this 4 year old to places where she sees famous people!" I'm sure I wasn't going to professional football games or big name concerts when I was four :) but it's definitely fun to enjoy these things as a family.

Back to School

So the girls are back in school - Katelyn in 3rd grade and Lindsay in Pre-K. Hard to believe. Katelyn's return to school was more like a reunion - she has the same teacher (who she loves) and mostly the same class. She's thrilled to be back seeing her friends everyday. Lindsay rather enjoyed the more casual summer at Primrose and really isn't that into wearing uniforms. She does love her teachers and is glad to have many of her friends move up into her room.



A funny story from this morning at the breakfast table:

Katelyn (my rule follower) says : "Mom, did you ever get in trouble at school."
Me (since I was such a good girl) responded: "No, not really. Well, maybe a little for talking. Do you get in trouble for talking sometimes?"
Katelyn: "Yeah, sometimes"
Lindsay chimes in: "I definitely do a lot"
After lots of laughter she looks at me with this innocent look and says "What? I do!"


Not that this is news to us....she has a list of friends that she cannot sit next to during circle time. Kindergarten next year? Look out!

Home Alone

The house is soooooo quiet. It's Mike's golf league night and the girls are up in NY staying with parents, so it's just me and Duncan. Very quiet. I actually ran some errands after work and *gasp* did some shopping for myself. It all feels a little strange :) So being here all by my lonesome I am FINALLY able to sit down, collect some thoughts, upload some pictures and update this blog. There is no way I am going to try to recap the entire summer, but holy cow I can't believe it's August already. I'm not really ready for the whole "back to school" thing. Summer has flown by entirely too fast.

We have managed to spend nearly every weekend at the lake - spending time with family and friends. We borrowed a friend's boat for 4th of July and absolutely LOVED it!!!! Stay tuned....my crystal ball might see one in our future :) I got Mike a hammock for Father's Day and I must say I think that might be my favorite spot now. Besides the usual relaxing, swimming, fishing, going tubing has been one of the favorite activities. Katelyn even learned to knee-board! Here are a few of my favorite pics from the lake this summer in random order:

I had to sneak this one in....Lindsay wasn't a big fan of dance class, but she sure looked cute!

Mike & I just got back from our annual August trip to Endicott. He played in the BCC golf tournament -- no big winnings this year :( While he was spending his days golfing, my mom and I took the girls to NYC to visit my aunt Jane. We had a fantastic time. The girls loved every bit of it. We saw The Little Mermaid on Broadway, saw the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, went to the top of the Rockefellar building to see gorgeous views of the city -- all of which the kids enjoyed too. But do you know what their highlights were??? riding the subway....the taxi ride home from the theater....swimming in the pool at my aunt's building (ok it was pretty cool that it was on the roof of a 32 story building).....riding in the apartment building elevator....and last but certainly not least was visiting the American Girl store.

Super fun....but clearly exhausting :)

So now Katelyn and Lindsay are busy tiring out my parents. I'm sure they will come home with lots of stories to share.

Mother of the Year

We spent a wonderful Mother's day weekend at the lake. Nice and relaxing. Wonderful weather - can you believe we were in the lake in early May? Well the kids were in much more than me.

We continued our tradition of Mother's Day strawberry picking and headed home with 3 1/2 gallons after just 40 minutes. Anyone have good strawberry recipes? Send them quick!



Upon returning home I found that my dear friend Stefanie nominated me for Mother of the Year and guess what? ............................. I won!!!

Do you think it was my acceptance of child labor?


Or unsafe working conditons?


Or maybe keeping the kids out so late they fall asleep at dinner? (really it was just 5:00 pm)




How about letting them drive at an early age?



Or for being sure they're dressed in weather-appropriate attire? (yes look closely, that's Katelyn's bare belly showing while making a snow angel)



Who knows? But Click here for the full story (Thanks Stef - love ya!)

Ok, so even I'm not really Mother of the Year,

my kids think I'm pretty special. One of the cards Katelyn made me this year is an acrostic poem (very big with 2nd graders):

M - Marvelous

O - Other than mean

T - Terrified by nothing

H - Hates snakes

E - Entertaining

R - Right all the time

How cool is that?? Her other card started out with a little poem:

Here's a gift for Mother's Day,

I'll try my best in every way.

But when you get upset with me,

Relax and have a pot of tea!

Inside the card - a teabag!! Too funny.

Slow down....please!!!!

As I look at how long it's been since I've written, I found myself thinking about how fast time flies and if only time could slow down just a bit. But as I started remembering all of the things that have happened in past few months, I realized that I really need my girls to stop growing so fast!!! Here are a few glimpses into moments in past few months. If anyone can find my babies please let me know!

It really began with the Father/Daughter dance. Perhaps, something to do with Katelyn being all dressed up complete with rhinestone hair clips, high-heel shows, fancy curls in her hair and notice the necklace - it's the one I wore on my wedding day! Am I really the mother of this beautiful grown-up girl?



And although she wasn't actually going to the dance, Lindsay could not be left out of the dressing up festivities or the pre-dance photo shoot. Here's my "baby" looking quite grown up herself:



Both girls have had recent makeovers of their bedrooms. Katelyn wanted more space in her room and well, it was way past time to get rid of the toddler bed that Lindsay wasn't sleeping in anyway. They both LOVE their new rooms and are even doing a great job at keeping them picked up -- well one better than the other ;)


Katelyn's -


Lindsay's -


We finally caved in to the many pleas by Lindsay to sign up for a gymnastics class. It's actually a combination dance/gymnastics class. She's not so interested in the dance part(though looks very cute), but is a natural gymnast! She's already been invited to join the advanced class in her age group. With her strong little arms she may someday take a medal for the rings event!



Here she is with 2 of her best friends - Ariel and Isa


Here she is practicing the rings in our backyard - look out Olympics!


Both girls have had birthdays since my last post. We celebrated Lindsay turning 4 at where else but The Little Gym. She and her friends had a blast jumping and trying out all the equipment. The party staff cuts and serves the cake, then cleans up. By far the easiest place to throw a birthday party.



She was quite the helper - insisting on decorating parts of her cake all by herself. To my surprise she did a really great job!





Celebrating Katelyn's 8th birthday wasn't quite so easy, but definitely a lot of fun. She had a sleepover party with eleven 7 and 8 year old girls. Our basement was a maze of sleeping bags and pillows. The girls started the party by making their own pizzas. Then we decorated pillowcases and purses. Next came cake - which was an event in itself. I very jokingly told the girls I was too tired to cut and serve the cake and that I was just going to pass out forks. Well....it turns out that's exactly what happened....









Finally we made homeade lipgloss, watched a late night movie complete with popcorn. We heard lots of giggling until about 12:30 and think they were all asleep by 1:00am. By 7:00 the next morning they were ready for pancakes! Whew! Lots of fun, but I'm glad birthday season is only once a year!

Here's Lindsay on her first day of Pre-K looking all grown up in her uniform.


Katelyn before....


and after getting braces!


Lindsay having her first sleepover with her buddy Isa. Lindsay hasn't quite mastered staying over someone else's house yet, but I don't suppose it will be long before she does.



And last but certainly not least, here's Katelyn on the day of her First Communion.







Wow, I knew a lot had been happening in the last few months, but this felt like I was summarizing an entire year!

Snow Day!!!

Today was our second snowfall of the year with a whopping inch maybe an inch and a half of snow - and of course school was cancelled - even daycare! Since Katelyn was quite disappointed that she didn't get to play in the snow last time, we were determined to get out there and do some sledding -- at 9:30 in the morning!

It's quite funny to see kids sledding in the south. Not too many of them have actual sleds. I saw one old fashioned sled with metal blades, a few plastic sleds, several lids to rubbermaid storage bins and lots of "Boogie Boards" really meant for riding the waves.

There really aren't any good sledding hills so the neighborhood kids all head to the golf course. We were right there with them this time. Here is some video of the kids sledding:

It was quite cold so after about 45 minutes we were all ready to head inside for some hot chocolate!

The snow definitely looked pretty and I'm glad the kids got a chance to play in it a bit, but I'm looking forward to the weekend when we're expecting temperatures to climb into the mid-60s!

Stay warm!