How Sweet It Is

The girls are off with Dad tonight for the Father Daughter Dance at St. Barnabas! Woo-hoo! Empty house!!! Oops... I mean, I am SO excited for them!

Charlotte is ecstatic about going to her first Father Daughter Dance. I can't wait to see how she feels, oh, say 8 years from now: "Seriously, Mom. There are no boys there. Just Dads. Do I have to go?" Lillie on the other hand: "Yay! I get to go to my 8th Father Daughter Dance with the BEST Dad in the world! (as she lines up all of the pictures from years past)"

As I was helping decorate last night, we started talking about how many daughters and dads are going. This will be a test of courage for the fathers. Of 225 girls at the school, 200 are going plus Dads. Whew! I wonder what the octave level will be in the gym?

Lillie asked what I was going to do tonight while they were gone. She suggested calling my friends for a "playdate". She then so proudly stated "It would be a pretty boring playdate. You would just drink some vino and chat and laugh and chat some more." She doesn't miss a beat.

Here is proud Daddy with the 2 most beautiful girls ever!

Ghosts, Fairies, and Elves. Oh My!

We all know that the tooth fairy leaves goodies (ok, cash) after you loose a tooth. BUT, did you know that you can write notes to the tooth fairy, ghosts (around Halloween), and your Elf on the Shelf and they will write back and bring you presents? No? Neither did we until this year.

Lillie thought that if the Tooth Fairy brings you money, certainly she could answer a few questions, leave a picture of herself, etc. And, if she can do it, you bet there are Halloween ghosts that do the same and of course Frankie, our Elf on the Shelf.

I have collected many notes to these characters and answered many. The trickiest part is to remember who writes like what and what they have told her. We have Flowerina the Fairy, Frankie the Elf, and Booly the ghost. Flowerina is 18 years old, Booly is 1000 years old, and Frankie is 85. If I can keep them all straight (per chance they reappear after Christmas), it will be a miracle.

I love the creativity and I so look forward to giving her these notes, pictures, and projects someday. Charlotte has dabbled in it a little, leaving a note or 2 for the fairies but that kind of fizzled.

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On to Christmas! We did take a trip this year to Indiana to cut down a tree...

No... that's not it! The girls just had a ball looking at the little seedlings. Here is the real one...

Both of the girls also participated in separate Christmas Pageants this year at school. Charlotte was a shepherd in the preschool pageant and Lillie was an angel in the pageant done with 2nd, 7th, and 8th grade.  

Charlotte on the left

Lillie on the right

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Time for Kindergarten!

Well, our oldest officially started Kindergarten last week. It is hard to believe how time flies. Lillie has officially aged about 2 years since starting, it seems. She is loving every minute of school so far which is fantastic!

Anyone that knows me well enough knows that I am not a morning person AT ALL! Pat was a little concerned about me getting up in time to get everyone ready and out the door to school by 7:50am. Thankfully, Charlotte serves as a great alarm clock between 6 - 6:30am. Not to say I have overslept ... but just in case!

Charlotte will start preschool on September 13 so we have had some bonding time since Lillie has started school. I'm not sure she is enjoying as much as me since she keeps asking me to "take me to the castle today for school". Oh well, she's stuck with me for the next few days!

Yep, we are still here...

Ok, so I just looked at the last post to realize it was 5 months ago. I could go on and on with excuses...laptop died, too busy, etc,etc but I will spare you all.
Here are the highlights-

Our little Charlotte is now 3...well as of May 22. I just took our first trip to the emergency room (and,yes, I gave myself a pat on the back for going 5 1/2 years before it happened) for Charlotte to get 3 staples in her head. Sounds really bad, I know. Fact is, she slipped on the bathroom floor and hit her head on the glass shower door. I took her to her doc first...was hoping for an industrial band aid fix. No go. Too deep. Off to the ER. I know you won't believe this, but she did not shed one single tear. Even when they papoosed her in a contraption on her stomach. I think it was the nurse telling her she was about to become a super hero when they put the cape-like, pillowcase looking thing on her arms to hold them down. I could see it in her eyes..."finally! I get to be a superhero and not the designated villain like when I play with Lillie!" she was a trooper and I almost passed out. The staples were removed on Saturday and all is well.

Lillie is growing like a weed and has lost her 2 front bottom teeth. Mr. Tooth fairy is very generous ...$5 for each tooth. Surprisingly, she did not freak out when the first one fell out. I was impressed. The second one, even easier. Now she checks and hopes every day that more are loose...must be the anticipation of the cash. She has started taking tennis lessons and loves it. She is also swimming like a fish sans life jacket.

Pat...busy, skinny Pat. He is training for the Chicago marathon in October. For those that don't know, he had a more than impressive race in Eugene, OR on May 1. 3:22:29 marathon run. Just awesome. It was a fantastic trip, pictures to follow... So marathons will be his primary focus this season. That and his job, of course, the Lakeshore East retail space will be opening in September so he is keeping busy with that as well.

A lot of snow, a lot of fun

Wow, look at that. The blog is still active. I thought for sure Google would have shut it down for lack of use. Oh, where does the time go?
Everyone here is doing well. Lillie is really enjoying Jr. Kindergarten and we just visited St. Barnabas to tour the rooms and building for Kindergarten next year. Hard to believe she is going... sigh.
Charlotte is also registered for preschool next year. Now this kid is ready. Generally about 2 times a week when I take Lillie, Charlotte is taking off her coat and ready to stay too. Charlotte is, to say the least, a character. Some days it's like a Broadway play-- she just sings everything with very dramatic arm movements and throws in a little dance, too. We're in trouble.
We made it through the snow storm this week. Lillie had 2 snow days and Pat had 1. Funny when you think about it- Lillie gets 2 days off, Pat gets 1 day off (yes, honey, aside from the snow-blowing, shoveling, etc) and mom gets... a full house. yay ;-). Thank goodness I had a supply of red wine handy.
Below are some pics of the girls and the snow. They had a great time. It's only the second time this year they have been able to actually enjoy snow. It's either been too cold... or there just wasn't any snow to play in/with.

Happy Birthday, Lillie!

Yesterday our oldest little girl turned 5. She is about 3 inches taller and I think with each inch also came more personality.

She was as excited the night before her birthday as she was last year on Christmas Eve. She spent most of her day at school and after school we opened presents, had her birthday dinner of choice (pizza) and enjoyed some cake and ice cream.

Today, we followed it up with a trip to the doctor's office for some birthday shots! YAY! No, not tequila. I believe it was a booster for MMR and Chicken Pox. Lillie got 3 and Charlotte got 3. So much screaming.... so much screaming.... They have lollipops for the kids when they are done. How 'bout a little something for the parents?

Here are a few pictures of Lillie's birthday:





Happy Birthday, Lillie. We love you.

What?!?! Summer is over?

Honestly, where did the time go? Wait, I know... parks, pool, pool, pool... you get it. It was a wonderfully hot summer and we definitely got our moneys worth on the pool pass.

Lillie's accomplishments this summer include: going off the diving board, swimming without her life jacket, swimming (occasionally) without her goggles, riding her "big girl" bike more confidently (with training wheels), figuring out she doesn't really enjoy soccer.

Charlotte has the following feats: talking, running, galloping, climbing the rock wall at crescent park (fellow Beverly peeps know this one), swinging (seriously, she will sit in a swing now- NEVER would allow it before), and she even squeaked in riding a tricycle before Labor Day.

It is hard to believe how much the girls are growing in all aspects of the word. They are a challenge at times... "It's MINE." "Mom, Charlotte (fill in the blank here...), "I'm telling Mom!"...but the majority of the time they are just fantastic little girls and each coming into their own.

Pat was able to take some time off and spend some time with the girls. Charlotte experience her first carousel ride at Navy Pier with Pat. Needless to say she would have spent all day on it if she could.






Lillie started Jr. Kindergarten today. It was a full day; 8:30am - 3:30pm. She admitted to me on the ride home that she fell asleep during "rest time." Now how does that work? How many times have I tried to get her to take a nap in a nice cozy bed and she won't...but will fall asleep at school on a mat? Hmmm...



It was weird having just Charlotte all day. A cakewalk, really. Probably just jinxed myself there...

We hope you have all had a great summer and here's to football season. Go Spartans!